Quicker trips to the Dentist...
My Times
The past couple
of months have been incredibly hectic for me. My legal status in the USA
has finally been resolved after 1 1/2
years of immigration hell, thanks to the bureaucracy in motion department
of the I.N.S.
Finally I can make more of a commitment
to my work and to my friends and of course to all of you and eventually
to this neglected web site. Thanks for your patience and patronage this
summer!
The first major
change this summer has been a long overdue rebuilding and re-outfitting
of my recording studio.
I've been unhappy for a few years
being unable to decide which way to go in regards to Computer based recording
and general integration with the real studio world.
As you may know, I have been using
Pro Tools TDM of late. And though it did manage to bring back a certain
amount of enjoyment to the recording process, it wasn't doing enough creatively
for me to look forward to waking up and working in the morning.
I mean, it's a great recording setup
but it's not much of a help musically. I still had to use other software
to record MIDI and overall it was just too much work!
After 13 years using the near
perfect Notator on an ATARI ST, I swallowed the bullet and now I'm using
Logic Audio. Of course I had to get a new computer and interfaces and converters
and too many other things to mention but I'm still excited enough about
technology to suffer through a lot of pain to get to the pleasure I've
started to feel the past few weeks. It's working and I love it, and I know
I can start to produce the quality and quantity of music that I have long
been capable.
Until now, making music was a bit
like having to spend 8 hours on a bus in order to go to the dentist for
a check up. I knew it was always going to be bad for my teeth...not going
that is...
For those of you interested
in the technical side of what I'm doing, here is my new studio computer
setup:
Apple Mac G4 500/512 Ram/27GB/DVDRAM/ZIP/Superdisk/Adaptec
2906 SCSI Card/7 Port USB Hub
VST Ultratek ATA/66 Raid/2 x 30GB
Seagate Barracuda's (for Audio)
Princeton 21" Monitor
Sony Spressa Firewire10x4x32 CDR
Emagic Unitor 8 MK II MIDI SMPTE
Interface
Digidesign 001, MOTU 2408 MK II,
Apogee A/D's
Logic Audio Platinum, Pro Tools
LE
Emagic EXS24 Sampler, ES1 Synthesizer.
Along with my analogue gear
and a few secret bits and bobs I now have a system that is letting me get
closer to producing music to the degree and quality that I was able to
do in the early 90's when I had a room full of synths and samplers and
just about everything else under the sun!
The only thing missing is Dee!
The first album
project in my new studio world is the James Albin band Tuesday's
Waiting who are playing in LA at the Key Club on the Sunset Strip
this Thursday night.
James is a soulful musician
with a passion for music and the need to express his emotions through his
singing and song writing.
We're just coming to the end of
Pre Production with James and guitarist Peter Zimble this week. Next week
we start putting the other musicians in the band as well as outside people
in the mix. We should be finished recording in October ...
Check out James'
web site and hear some of their older material. We'll try to put some
of our new demo's up for you to hear in the coming weeks.
What started
out as a wonderful summer for Emily
Richard's and her band ended up in total devastation at the senseless
death of Emily's sister Annie at the hands of a teenage drunk driver.
The court case in Salt Lake City is expected to be resolved later this
month.
To Emily and her family and friends
I send my deepest condolences and hope that the trial ends quickly and
that this murderer sees the tragedy he has caused by his reckless and selfish
behavior. Once he can come to terms with what he has done, then, and only
then, can he be forgiven. At the very least the court should never let
him drive a car again as long as he lives.
If there is a heaven then Annie
is in it. I hope that everyone can remember the wonderful person she was
and not the terrible way she left us. God Bless you Annie.
MADD
If you were
wondering why your sunburn has been getting worse this summer then read
this
article from NASA and bookmark their Earth
Observatory web site.
Although I'm
now living in the USA I am unable to vote. I am however more involved this
time than I was back in 1996. I know I'm not supposed to get political
on these pages but to hell with that! The President of the United States
is the most important job in the world. It cannot be entrusted to just
anybody.
The year 2000 probably feels quite
a lot like things did 100 years ago. The press of the day were only interested
in the party line, happily reprinting press releases handed to them by
their buddies in the Capital.
Today more than half of all eligible
voters in the USA don't vote. Either they don't have the time or they don't
have the interest to look into what the candidates are really about. Those
that do vote tend to vote the way their parents did or choose a candidate
for their personality. With only two media choices for President
there might be even less people voting at the coming election.
How can we let the media and the
2 main parties hijack the election?
If this were China the Wall Street
Journal would be going on about the state controlled media and undemocratic
elections! ( Why isn't there a law making a candidate
win a minimum percentage of a countries eligible voter's in order to be
elected leader? Like say, 50%? If not; new election!)
If you don't do anything else between
now and the big day, please, please, read 1 or 2 of Ralph
Nader's speeches! and his Candidacy
Announcement to the Green
Party
If you can manage the 10 minutes
it takes I am sure you will have a different outlook come voting day. With
the consistent lying and cheating that goes on in Government and in Big
Business around the world, it is way past time to do something about it.
Voting for Ralph and the
Green
Party is a positive step in the right direction.
On the other hand, you might be
one of the 1% of Americans who has 95% of this countries money. You don't
need to vote. The way things are going both the Republicans and the Democrats
will make sure that your share of the American Pie will increase as it
has for 100 years.
If you're one of the 70% of
families in Los Angeles County living under the Federal Poverty line or
the rest of the 99% of Americans who have 5% of the countries wealth; get
out and vote for someone who actually knows what's going on in this country!
The main parties are only concerned
with keeping the status quo. And that means keeping the ant's in line by
doing everything possible with the help of the media to keep the average
citizen out of their business! Don't let them keep on doing it! You can
change it and make America and the world a better place for everyone, not
just for Corporations. Go out and Vote!
By now you
know that the truth is finally spilling out about the use of Depleted Uranium
in Iraq. Soldiers from the allied forces who were near the action have traces
of DU in their bones according to a recent report.
Entire villages have been contaminated for millions of years and people were and are still dying because of this reckless use of an industrial waste product. How many more people have to die before this madness stops?
I'm not finished
yet...
Ford and Firestone verses the public:
If you ever read the articles from
the past that I linked to about rollovers in SUV's and how dangerous they
are you are not being convinced by Ford that Firestone tires are the cause
of the Explorer deaths.
In my opinion it is simple what
is going on. Ford lowered the pressure in their SUV tires so that the Explorer
would pass the NHTSA rollover test. This makes the truck marginally more
stable but puts the tires at risk of overheating and blowing a tread when
driven at freeway speed's, especially in the hot South West where most
of the accidents have occurred.
There are 2 problems here. The first
is the most serious and that is that SUV's are not safe at high speeds
period. If the tires are properly inflated the vehicle becomes more unstable
at speed. These things are trucks! They are not big cars like most people
seem to think as they fly around our streets and highways feeling safe
because they are so big. They should be driven with great care at all times
and in the Explorers case they should not be able to exceed 50 miles per
hour.
What the public should really be
told is just how important tire pressure is to any vehicle. It is the only
part of the car that touches the ground! When was the last time you checked
your tire pressure? Of course most cars can handle a tire blowing on the
freeway...
Aside from the dangerous instability
when all 4 tires are intact, it's obvious it gets a hell of a lot worse
when one of them blows!
And of course this is almost without
mentioning the disgraceful burning of gasoline with no concern for the
environment or the future of our children and our planet.
Ok, I'll stop now...
| "The shallowness of Clinton's approach was further
demonstrated by his acquiescence to Ehud Barak's position that Israel might
consider 'understanding' and 'noting' the suffering of the Palestinian
people but would assume no part of the blame for causing it." |
Edward
Said; Shadow play at Camp David
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