Roots of Inspiration

It starts with a metronome; common time, seventy beats per. I just turn it on and let it play: tick-tock-tock-tock tick-tock-tock-tock.

I pick up my guitar, an older electric with mismatched pickups. It never seems to stay in tune for more than ten minutes at a time. I’ve just learned to live with it.

Start simple. Em. Then G. Back to Em. G again. I learned this nearly thirty five years ago; the basic of basics.

tick-tock-tock-tock tick-tock-tock-tock.

Just start somewhere. It’ll show itself eventually.

Em. G. Em. G.

I try adding in other basics; the variations of A minors and F sharps. Maybe even a C. They’re all bland. Everyone has heard them before.

Pause. I sip my beer.

tick-tock-tock-tock tick-tock-tock-tock.

Em with G again, but a slight mistake makes it G add9. Without thinking about it I bend the A up slightly. For a just breath, it becomes a G ♭3.

There it is.

tick-tock-tock … I stop the metronome. Play it through a few times; Em, G add 9, bend to G ♭3 for a 16th of a beat then bend back down to G add 9.

I hit record in the DAW, let the click run for an 8 count then play the new bit for about two minutes just so I have it.

Stop recording. Listen back. Smile.

“Yeah, there it is.”

-=-=-=-=-=–=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Dramatic, isn’t it? I mean, it is the truth, but come on.

Continue reading “Roots of Inspiration”

A Sorta Update

Covid is still a thing. And there were truckers everywhere protesting about … I’m pretty sure they don’t even know what they were protesting about in the end. Needless to say I’ve been a bit of a shut-in. Or rather, more than I normally am. I’ve gone shopping for groceries, but haven’t been looking for good deals on music equipment. Like most others, I hope we’ll be in the clear at some point in the near future and can move on with whatever the post pandemic normal will look like.

In lieu of that, here’s a sorta update.

Continue reading “A Sorta Update”

Ashes To Ashes

Midsummer 2011, I purchased a base model 11″ MacBook Air; 1.6 Intel Core i5. 4GB ram. 128GB SSD.

This past week I went to turn it on. It gave me this:

bork bork bork

I held down the power button until it turned off. Hit the power button again and…

… nothing.

So this was it. It didn’t go put with a whimper. It just decided to pack it in.

For ten and a half years, this little MacBook Air:

    • Was my portable recording unit across two bands; countless demos and jams were recorded using GarageBand and Reaper.
    • Powered MainStage at home, rehearsals, and on stage.
    • Was my backup when my work computer freaked out (and, at one point, used for a full year because a company I worked for didn’t provide computers).
    • I’ve written who knows how many blog posts on it.
    • Was my teleprompter when recording video.
    • Was very decent at photo/image editing thanks to Pixelmator.
    • Has traveled with me to many countries. It was so small I just tossed it in the front pocket of my carry-on; I didn’t need an extra laptop bag.

In all those years the MacBook didn’t have a single issue. I did replace the battery in 2019; it wasn’t dead, it just wasn’t holding a charge for any more than an hour and and that just comes with age and heavy useage.

That’s value.

RIP little MacBook. You more than earned it.

Deep Breath

It’s been over a week since I got the Dell back. It’s still going strong except for the issue where the touchpad stops working when the laptop is plugged in.

Told Dell Support I’d live with it after they offered yet another motherboard replacement. I just can’t right now with that. The XPS has decent battery life so I’m pretty ok with using the touchpad when the laptop is not plugged in and a mouse when it is.

I then started thinking about my wanting one of the new MacBook Pros and cooled my jets a little. As mentioned previously, the XPS is a very decent laptop when it’s working. Also, the new MacBook Pros are very expensive and it’s money I can’t justify spending right now.

In the end I opted for a minor (and much cheaper) compromise: I ordered two 32 GB sticks of G.SKILL DDR4 which will max out the RAM on the XPS. I have a year left on the Dell ProSupport Plus so I’m going to tough it out and if the issues get any worse than the current touchpad shenanigans, then I’m going to milk every last second of their time and resources.

I really believe that Support is the Achilles Heel for any company not named Apple.  I’m sorry, but the having Apple Stores puts them in a class by themselves.

Computer Update.

Got the XPS back from Dell on January 7. It works!

… except when I plug in the power adapter, then the touch pad stops working.

Logged a ticket on January 8.

January 10 I get a reply asking if I want to ship it to the Advanced Resolution Center. “It should only take 3-5 days.”

I let them know I just got this thing back from the Advanced Resolution Center and asked what other options there are.

In between all this, the touch pad starts randomly working while plugged in; maybe two out of every five attempts.

January 12 I get a reply asking if I want to have someone come to the house and replace the motherboard.

I take a deep breath and reply telling them the motherboard has been replaced twice now and that another motherboard seems like overkill. I tell them I’ll deal with it for now and open a new issue if it becomes completely unusable.

This is unfortunate because when it’s working, this XPS is a great machine. I just can’t get past the issues I’ve had in the past five months.

As with everything from Dell, it’s all turning into ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

Never 100%

I was working on a new video detailing the last few months of 2021, but we all know how my video & audio work is going.

In the meantime, I’ve been transcribing my video scripts to blog posts. I don’t feel pressured to finish videos because I’ve no plans to become a full time YouTuber. It’s been six months since my last video and no one is kicking in my door looking for a new one. This is just fun for me.

So what’s been happening? Let me tell you …

Continue reading “Never 100%”

The Saga Continues

I Hate Dell

I’m worried this page is going to become nothing but an anti-Dell site.

Current XPS status: The tech showed up. The computer worked fine for him so he didn’t replace the motherboard. He updated the BIOS. We turned it on and off again more than a dozen times. It worked. I thanked him and he left. I worked on it for the rest of the afternoon. Turned the computer off. Later that evening I opened the lid…

It wouldn’t boot up. Same shit as before.

Called Dell. The guy on the phone was apologetic. I roasted his company a little.

Me: “You realize I am now doing my work on a ten year old Mac Mini?”

Him: “Wow, that must be slow.”

Me: “Sure, but it still turns on.”

On Christmas Eve, Dell shipped me a box. I packed up the XPS and dropped it off at Purolator.

Current Status: “A tech is fixing your computer. One or more parts are Delayed.” ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

If I get this thing back and it acts up again, I’m going to take it outside and back over it with my car. More than once.

The Low Budget Lifer – Episode Four – 5/26/2021

Episode Four: “Can Cheap Drums Sound Better?”

Today we’re going to talk about improving the sound of cheap drums without spending a fortune. Hear the difference fresh drum heads make to the cheapest drum set on the planet!

Evans D2 Coated Heads: https://www.daddario.com/products/percussion/evans-drumheads/drum-set/drumset-tom-batter/g2-coated-tom-batter/

Episode notes:

      1. This is the first time I’ve ever changed drum heads; I’m still learning how to tune so they may be a little off.
      2. By the time I was editing, the cost of the Evans Tompack had gone up from the $40 I paid to just over $50. While that’s still a good price, don’t give up! Keep searching for deals.