So to catch you up a bit:
I got a stomac bug the next day after my last post which laid me up in all sorts of horrible intestinal ways that I will spare you the details of. Then I went to my in-laws place to visit. My wife had gone over two days before leaving me alone with the toilet in my illness. Which is probably just as well because I'm a big baby when I get sick and I wouldn't want to inflict anything on her, also it pretty much guaranteed that if what I had was catching it was also mostly quarantined so nobody else has to suffer because of me.
My wife's parents and younger sister live out in the country and it's always a treat to visit them and their many cats (they have four of them!)
I'm working up the nerve to begin on the second draft of Inferno. I'm still ten cantos away from the end but I'm going to run out of notebook pages soon and I want to start working on it again in a way that will keep the momentum going.
I have inadvertently done some of the later stanzas in Iambic pentameter and I have been weighing the pros and cons of introducing a uniform cadence to my interpretation. Iambic pentameter would give it a more classical feel and it works nicely with the strict syllable structure I've chosen however I'm not certain I can do it deliberately and it would mean that I'd have to re-write 95% of my own work entirely and I might not be able to keep some of the stanzas I'm most proud of. I've been using this inner debate as a reason for not beginning the second draft, I've wanted to talk it over with two writers I know and respect but one is impossible to get on the phone and never replies to answering machine messages while the other I see often enough but I have to go to his book store if I want to have a conversation and he has to sell people books so our conversations take twice as long to say half as much.
I think though that while there is a real temptation to re-work my Inferno again to conform to a classical western meter I think I might be further tempted to let these technical issues hold the work back.
I definitely need to re-word parts, some of the earliest cantos might be better rewritten all together but that notwithstanding I think I have to get down to it. After all it's only a second draft and I'd like to give out a hand full of copies to people for review before I do one more pass at it and try sending pieces to publishers. I wonder how many places will reject my work...
Monday, April 27, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Yesterday was an awsome day.
Best day in a long time.
I got a bunch of modules in the mail! so the East Coast Beast is slowly but surely taking shape.
I'm now thw proud owner of an increasingly formidable and challenging instrument. One of the packages I got contained a new controller it's a ribbon controller that can control midi and control voltages it's great as an interface because it's a bit like playing guitar and it's also moving me away from traditional keyboard oriented synths. I've got my eye on a device which will enable me to play microtonal music and particularly Bholen Pierce music! Also I think I've got an idea how I want to try incorporating the text of The Divine Comedy into music. It's not my own idea actually it's more an homage to William Basinski. I don't want to get to detailed on this untill I've had a chance to try the recording method first but I will probably have something to say on this soon.
Also I'm officially in the home stretch as far as the first draft of Inferno goes. I only have ten more cantos to write before I start transcribing. It's going to be a fair bit of work. I've written plenty in my life but rarely goten past the first-draft stage. If you are inclined to pray please say a good word to The Man Upstairs on behalf of this project for me.
It's appreciated.
I'll try and get some pictures soon but it will probably have to wait until next week when I get back from visiting my in-laws.
until then listen to some haunting music:
ANATOMY OF MELANCHOLY by FRANCESCO ARENA (genoa, italy) & WILLIAM BASINSKI (new york, usa)
I got a bunch of modules in the mail! so the East Coast Beast is slowly but surely taking shape.
I'm now thw proud owner of an increasingly formidable and challenging instrument. One of the packages I got contained a new controller it's a ribbon controller that can control midi and control voltages it's great as an interface because it's a bit like playing guitar and it's also moving me away from traditional keyboard oriented synths. I've got my eye on a device which will enable me to play microtonal music and particularly Bholen Pierce music! Also I think I've got an idea how I want to try incorporating the text of The Divine Comedy into music. It's not my own idea actually it's more an homage to William Basinski. I don't want to get to detailed on this untill I've had a chance to try the recording method first but I will probably have something to say on this soon.
Also I'm officially in the home stretch as far as the first draft of Inferno goes. I only have ten more cantos to write before I start transcribing. It's going to be a fair bit of work. I've written plenty in my life but rarely goten past the first-draft stage. If you are inclined to pray please say a good word to The Man Upstairs on behalf of this project for me.
It's appreciated.
I'll try and get some pictures soon but it will probably have to wait until next week when I get back from visiting my in-laws.
until then listen to some haunting music:
ANATOMY OF MELANCHOLY by FRANCESCO ARENA (genoa, italy) & WILLIAM BASINSKI (new york, usa)
Sunday, April 12, 2009
hey look it's post #100
In the studio today. It's been a slow grumpy sort of Sunday. I'm having modular synth issues and I have to take my computer home because my wife's was a piece of crap and now we need a new computer. At least I got to visit with a friend and make some music.
I was playing about with my tape echo trying to find out what settings were best for clear tape echo souds without overdriving it.
It can give of a beautiful dirty tube distortion and it will flutter into high piched insanity really easily so I was trying it out on low gain low swell/sustain levels and geting some very good results.
I guess this might sound pretentious and I don't mean it to be but having both a real spring reverb and a real tape echo is pure heaven, that's really all you need if you want to effect a guitar (in my opinion) I can now say I have both the real things and good quality digital reproductions (I've got a Space Echo pedal and an EHX Holier Grail) and the pedals do a very good job and I'd hate to ever have to move my tape echo for live playing but if you ever get a chance to buy even a cheap shitty quality tape echo (like mine I bought for $200 at a used guitar store) DO IT!! you won't regret that purchase at all.
I was playing about with my tape echo trying to find out what settings were best for clear tape echo souds without overdriving it.
It can give of a beautiful dirty tube distortion and it will flutter into high piched insanity really easily so I was trying it out on low gain low swell/sustain levels and geting some very good results.
I guess this might sound pretentious and I don't mean it to be but having both a real spring reverb and a real tape echo is pure heaven, that's really all you need if you want to effect a guitar (in my opinion) I can now say I have both the real things and good quality digital reproductions (I've got a Space Echo pedal and an EHX Holier Grail) and the pedals do a very good job and I'd hate to ever have to move my tape echo for live playing but if you ever get a chance to buy even a cheap shitty quality tape echo (like mine I bought for $200 at a used guitar store) DO IT!! you won't regret that purchase at all.
Friday, April 10, 2009
A couple of Haiku
As I re-write Dante with my faux Haiku stanzas I'm also learning about the actual art of writing Japanese poetry here are two which I wrote today:
Dull tiles dance under
the flickering neon lights
Good Friday, Men's Room.
Dull tiles dance under
the flickering neon lights
Good Friday, Men's Room.
On Hastings and Pain
The rich drive past the dying
a living bird, thrown.
The rich drive past the dying
a living bird, thrown.
I need to get into the habit of carrying a notepad everywhere because now that I've started writing poetry again I've been finding that I notice poetic situations or otherwise get inspired at some of the oddest times.
That second Haiku I had to mooch a pen off a stranger on the buss or I might have forgotten it.
Anyway enough navel gazing I've got a Canto to write tonight and some other work to do besides.
That second Haiku I had to mooch a pen off a stranger on the buss or I might have forgotten it.
Anyway enough navel gazing I've got a Canto to write tonight and some other work to do besides.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Pinball Syn-phony
Suzanne Ciani working on the music and sounds for the Xenon pinball game from the Omni televsion show.
It's Alive HAHAAHAHAHHAAA! (internet at the studio)
Finally got the web at my studio today. It's great to be here and working instead of siting at home on the end of my couch trying to get shit done. All I've got to do now is get my DAW running and a bunch of other shit sorted out here and I'll be good to go! It's kind of a shame, I spent all day tidying up and moving things around and I haven't even played a single note : ( Of course the place looks fucking hardcore, also my wife found my camera so I'll have to take some pictures of the place and get some gear pr0n goin' on. Also I am very hungry and looking forward to a dinner of perogies when I get home, yum!
I have accomplished one thing, by the time I leave here today I'll have listened to every single thing that the Mahavishnu Orchestra has ever recorded.
Jan Hammer and John Mclaughlin are my heroes. The two of them together are like a musical storm or something.
I have accomplished one thing, by the time I leave here today I'll have listened to every single thing that the Mahavishnu Orchestra has ever recorded.
Jan Hammer and John Mclaughlin are my heroes. The two of them together are like a musical storm or something.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Thoughts on selling a vintage synthesizer
I've found myself in a particular situation. I've thought about it off and on for a few months weighing my options and while I don't like it I think I have to sell my vintage Korg stuff. I've got an MS-20 and an SQ-10. I got them for my birthday last year from my mom and I love them both, they're amongst my prized possessions actually and they form a solid corner of my studio. The problem is that I want to get further into modular synths. Specifically that Surge I've been writing about.
I wish I didn't have to choose between the two but I don't have enough money to keep both without saving for a much longer time. I put them up on Craigslist because I want to sell them locally and I've already found someone who wants the sequencer now I have to find someone who wants to buy the synth... except as I write this I feel a part of me crying out that I'm making a big mistake. I'm not ready to part with these instruments. I've only owned them a year and they were a gift which came at great expense and effort.
I think I need more time... I think I'm ging to have to take these off Craigslist. I really really really want a Serge system, I know I could make great music with one and I'm eager to learn how to use it but I don't think I'm ready to part with my synths.
writing this here is helpful it's putting things into perspective.
I'm going to pull the add and tell the guy who wants to buy my sequencer that I'm not ready to part with it yet.
I wish I didn't have to choose between the two but I don't have enough money to keep both without saving for a much longer time. I put them up on Craigslist because I want to sell them locally and I've already found someone who wants the sequencer now I have to find someone who wants to buy the synth... except as I write this I feel a part of me crying out that I'm making a big mistake. I'm not ready to part with these instruments. I've only owned them a year and they were a gift which came at great expense and effort.
I think I need more time... I think I'm ging to have to take these off Craigslist. I really really really want a Serge system, I know I could make great music with one and I'm eager to learn how to use it but I don't think I'm ready to part with my synths.
writing this here is helpful it's putting things into perspective.
I'm going to pull the add and tell the guy who wants to buy my sequencer that I'm not ready to part with it yet.
This is a picture of my monster about two months after I got it. I just don't feel good about selling it.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Further thoughts on the Serge
This is a three panel system I found using google image search
I've had a lot of time to think about this instrument and I've been researching them and I've come to a few conclusions. Despite some of the innovations which Don Buchla has brought to his instruments, most notably the ability to save knob settings on all his modules the functionality of his instruments goes only so far. The great thing about Serge is that it's function blocks are so fluid you can make it do so much more than a Buchla of equal size. Also the introductory Serge system is a fraction of the price of the entry level Buchla. For a little over 4000 dollars you can get a full Serge panel with everything you could want in a synth except a controller, but that isn't as much of a problem as you might think. Rex Probe offers a grounding kit and adaptors that allow you to plug your Serge into 1/4 inch and 1/8th inch modular systems and there are other interfaces available online as well.
Buchla also has the problem of notoriety, with fame often comes pretension and this would seem to be the case with Buchla the man, the company and the people who use his instruments. When I was still yearning for a 200e I had lots of trouble trying to get any kind of response from the users group and while Don was helpful enough Rex was twice that and much more enjoyable to talk with. It was the level of customer service as much as the flexibility of the Serge instruments which have swayed my opinion.
So that's that, I'm selling my MS-20 to raise the other half of the cost of my first Serge panel and once I've got the cash in hand I'll be mailing my checks to Sound Transform Systems.
I am also thinking about maybe taking a foray into the world of Synth DIY and replacing the 1/4inch jacks on my SQ-10 with Banana Jacks thus providing me an all analogue controller and clock source for any future Serge expansion.
I've had a lot of time to think about this instrument and I've been researching them and I've come to a few conclusions. Despite some of the innovations which Don Buchla has brought to his instruments, most notably the ability to save knob settings on all his modules the functionality of his instruments goes only so far. The great thing about Serge is that it's function blocks are so fluid you can make it do so much more than a Buchla of equal size. Also the introductory Serge system is a fraction of the price of the entry level Buchla. For a little over 4000 dollars you can get a full Serge panel with everything you could want in a synth except a controller, but that isn't as much of a problem as you might think. Rex Probe offers a grounding kit and adaptors that allow you to plug your Serge into 1/4 inch and 1/8th inch modular systems and there are other interfaces available online as well.
Buchla also has the problem of notoriety, with fame often comes pretension and this would seem to be the case with Buchla the man, the company and the people who use his instruments. When I was still yearning for a 200e I had lots of trouble trying to get any kind of response from the users group and while Don was helpful enough Rex was twice that and much more enjoyable to talk with. It was the level of customer service as much as the flexibility of the Serge instruments which have swayed my opinion.
So that's that, I'm selling my MS-20 to raise the other half of the cost of my first Serge panel and once I've got the cash in hand I'll be mailing my checks to Sound Transform Systems.
I am also thinking about maybe taking a foray into the world of Synth DIY and replacing the 1/4inch jacks on my SQ-10 with Banana Jacks thus providing me an all analogue controller and clock source for any future Serge expansion.
Wave Goodbye
Another track from The Empire of Crime. This is an oldie but one of my favourites. I wanted to post it with the last batch of sound cloud files but ran out of space for the month. I've been waiting ever since to upload it so here you go.
New Denver
This song is from my last album.
As the Community Doukhobors left Saskatchewan, the "reserves" there were closed by 1918.
The Sons of Freedom, meanwhile, responded to the Doukhobors conflict with Canadian policy with mass nudity and arson as a means of protesting against materialism, the land seizure by the government, compulsory education in government schools and, later on, Verigin's supposed assassination. This led to many confrontations with the Canadian government and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (continuing into the 1970s).
Peter V. Verigin was killed in a still-unsolved Canadian Pacific Railway train explosion on October 29, 1924 near Farron, between Castlegar and Grand Forks, British Columbia. The government initially (during investigation) had stated the crime was perpetrated by people within the Doukhobor community, while the Doukhobors suspected Canadian government involvement...
...W. A. C. Bennett's Social Credit government, which came to power in 1952, took a harder stance against the "Doukhobor problem". In 1953, 150 children of the Sons of Freedom were forcible interned by the government agents in a residential school in New Denver, British Columbia...
Abuse of the interned children was later alleged, and a formal apology demanded. The B.C. government made an official Statement of Regret that satisfied some, but not others. The Canadian Federal government still has not apologized for its role in the removal of children from their homes, saying that it is not responsible for actions taken by the government in place 50 years ago.
Excerpts taken from Wikipedia
As the Community Doukhobors left Saskatchewan, the "reserves" there were closed by 1918.
The Sons of Freedom, meanwhile, responded to the Doukhobors conflict with Canadian policy with mass nudity and arson as a means of protesting against materialism, the land seizure by the government, compulsory education in government schools and, later on, Verigin's supposed assassination. This led to many confrontations with the Canadian government and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (continuing into the 1970s).
Peter V. Verigin was killed in a still-unsolved Canadian Pacific Railway train explosion on October 29, 1924 near Farron, between Castlegar and Grand Forks, British Columbia. The government initially (during investigation) had stated the crime was perpetrated by people within the Doukhobor community, while the Doukhobors suspected Canadian government involvement...
...W. A. C. Bennett's Social Credit government, which came to power in 1952, took a harder stance against the "Doukhobor problem". In 1953, 150 children of the Sons of Freedom were forcible interned by the government agents in a residential school in New Denver, British Columbia...
Abuse of the interned children was later alleged, and a formal apology demanded. The B.C. government made an official Statement of Regret that satisfied some, but not others. The Canadian Federal government still has not apologized for its role in the removal of children from their homes, saying that it is not responsible for actions taken by the government in place 50 years ago.
Excerpts taken from Wikipedia
raw audio from The Inferno sessions
This is roughly one quarter of the raw audio from The Inferno sessions. I'm sick so I can't really get out to my studio right now but I'm hoping that very soon I'll be able to take this and all the rest of the recorded footage and re-arrange it into the sound scape for Dante's Inferno.
I will no longer be making the tracks available fr download like I was before. From now on I will try and release pieces through sound cloud and make them available to stream from here. This has the advantage of accessibility, there are no time restrictions on this file you can listen to it or share it as you please. I only ask that if you use it for any purpose that you get my permission first. Thanks.
I hope you enjoy this sneak peak into hell.
Chris
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Blargh
I finished Canto 20 today and on Friday I'm getting Internet installed at my studio! I have a cold right now.
ugh.
ugh.
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