Okay. I promised that I would bring you up to date with what's going on.
For starters, I am having great difficulty in a muscular_skeletal kind of way. Due to my getting hit by a car in 1993 left me with a luxated atlas, along with accelerated arthritis and disc problems with vertebrae C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, C8, L5. Now I am also suffering with Coccydynia, better known as tailbone pain.
The reason I brought this up is these skeletal pains blend in along with the constant barrage of headaches and other maladies of MTBI. So, the fact that I have been able to teach myself how to accomplish getting things done, in spite of morbid levels of chronic pain, is nothing less than a miracle if you're asking me. Which brings me to my next point.
I'm getting very close to ordering a Mac to use with the 01X mixer and launch NASAV_studios. I just ordered extension cables for the component video in order to move the 30 inch LCD over to the studio table. Then I can drill all the table holes, including two 1.5_holes for mixer stands that will come up through the table top. One on the left for the 01X mixer and the stand on the right will be for the vocal processor. In time the vocal processor may go to the floor [where it's home really is] and I am considering putting a TASCAM_2488_NEO HDD recorder in the right stand. So, really, once the LCD gets moved, then the Mac gets ordered. Once that is jacked, the reference monitors and sub woofer (Yamaha HS50M and HS10W) will be ordered. Then I make the stands and by the time the monitors arrive, I can unpackage them and properly mount the stands and acoustic foam, then run some audio tests to tweak the monitor settings for this space.
It's more of a time and space juggling act. This is a 27 foot class C motorhome. So I don't have a lot of space to store MORE things than I already have in storage on board. Back when I was ordering the MOTIF_XS workstation, I was juggling my Korg_i3 and Takamine_12-string in the shower space. My point is I don't have the room simply to order everything and take my time putting things together. In any case, I am about 4 months beyond my initial plans on paper, but like a tortoise, I still will make it happen.
Music! Ahh yes. The reason I am doing all of this! I am working on some new material now which I have decided to use on a separate album of music. These songs are instrumentals consisting of 2 guitars, harmonica, and various percussion instruments such as shaker, tamborine, and triangle. The style of music is folk/pop/jazz and the songs are from the 30s, 40s and 50s with a few of my own thrown in for good measure. I am also toying with various samples of crackling fire [including recording my own] to be mixed in like campfire sound. But I am quickly learning, this background sound must be a very specific kind of fire sound in order not to distract from the music and I believe it will require mixer automation as well. Meaning, throughout the mix of each song, the fire track will need adjustments during the final mixdown and those adjustment are also recorded in real time. If the fire idea doesn't work as I am wanting, I will opt not to use the idea at all. But this music is so lovely, my first thought was that the music is perfect music to sit by a campfire and listen to. Lovers music, if you will.
In lieu of chronic pains I detailed earlier, I began consuming glucosamine which has greatly helped the joints of my bones. When I wake up, I don't feel like I am 90 years old anymore. So, I can say with confidence, if you suffer joint pain, even all over your entire body like I was, get yourself some super_duper glucosamine and eat 3 of those a day and inside of a week, you WILL notice a difference.
Back to fun. I will be glad to get the basics of the project studio over with. I still have the NASAV_studios logo to draft up in Illustrator_9 and email to the shop, but that's like a few hours kind of job. But, having the dedicated work space to sit, compose and record music brings tears of joy to my eyes. Also, the Yamaha MOTIF_XS is a powerhouse workstation and was a good choice. I continue to learn new things each and every time I use it. The downer of using USB sticks to save data is they are not fast. Class_2 memory is common in USB and SD card memory. It doesn't take THAT long to save, it's just that all other operations are nearly instantaneous, so it makes you wish that saving data was as fast as the other operations of the workstation. But, if and when I want to accelerate data saving I can always connect the MOTIF to the LAN via 10/100 Ethernet and save data to one of the 650GB SATA HDDs that are on the network — convenient feature. And, mLAN firewire is always available as well via the 01X mixer.
My search for other musical instruments continues. However, I have decided which 12_string I am going to order. It's a Ibanez AEL2012ETKS. This is a gorgeous black and gold guitar with what they call a Flamed Sycamore top. The rest of the body being Maple, along with a Mahogany neck, gold hardware, abalone rosette inlay around the soundhole and Fishman Sonicore pickups, EQ and tuner. I have not had my hands physically on this guitar to know how it plays. However, being a very accomplished 12_string guitar player, I have watched over 9 videos of this guitar being played by others. The videos gave me enough information to make an informed decision to purchase this guitar. I will order it from American Musical Supply (AMS) online. They provide an additional 1 year warranty over the factory 1 year warranty (2 years total anything goes) plus AMS gives you 45 days from date of purchase to return for exchange or refund, no questions asked. So ultimately, there is no loss involved. The AEL2012 is a "jumbo" style body and I am hoping it will fit my existing hardshell case, but I will play it smart and telephone them to ask. If I need a special size case for this instrument I will need to order one. My case is for a standard dreadnaught 12_string and I get the feeling [now that I am talking about it] that the "jumbo" will require a larger case. Exciting times!
Those of you who are still with me, I am searching for a FOUR_string plectrum banjo. Most of them come with resonators, which usually is a wood cover that mounts onto the banjo brackets and covers the back of the banjo. Ever since teaching myself to play banjo, I never liked resonators for they make the sound "ring longer" or "sustain" where I prefer the short, plunkity_plunk ragtime sound. Many times years ago, I used to stuff a cotton t-shirt or 2 pairs of Fruit-Of-The-Loom underwear into the underside of the banjo in between the torsion-bar and the banjo-skin surface. This would act as a good dampener so the sound would not RING OUT. Banjo's are loud instruments already. Seldom do they require amplification unless you are performing where serious amplication is needed to even be heard. So my homemade attenuation worked well over the years. Anyhow, there is a banjo shop in San Francisco I want to visit, for an entire day. I would like to try out at least a dozen or more banjo's. I think 20 instruments is the magic number. But, honestly, it's been years since I have played a banjo for any length of time. So, the second I recognize "this is the one!" then I will know how many banjos it will take. I will purposely start with say a $500 banjo which I don't plan to spend that much to buy one. Then work backwards price-wise until I find the instrument that plays nice. I expect to find my instrument for about $350 dollars. Then I can record some TUBA tracks on the MOTIF, add small drum kit and bingo! I got my ragtime banjo band. It's really a lot of fun to play banjo. Even people who think they hate ragtime music will find themselves tapping their toe while listening to me play. It wouldn't surprise me if Latin Americans knew the words to Bill Bailey and Oh Susanna! LOL
I've rattled enough. I could continue with all of my web projects news, but I think this is enough for one sitting. I will blog about the web stuff next time. For those of you who waited for me to blog, I duly appreciate you. And for those of you who RSS my blog, I would like to personally give you a big, Thank You" because it means a lot to me. I am reading a lot of RSS using the Flock browser and love how easy it is to just click on that orange RSS icon to have things automatically update to your browser!
;;cheers;;
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