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November 30, 1997
News
Information about Ty Davison straight from the horse's mouth.
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Years worth of mind-numbing details, ponderings, and events.
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November 30, 1997
Watched the multiple Oscar winner The English Patient, a morally ambiguous tale of forbidden love and horrible ways to die. Exquisitely well-crafted, the film nonetheless never holds onto any of the themes it touches for any significant length, leaving the viewer (or at least this viewer) grasping to make sense of it all. I know I've seen something very well done, I just don't know what I'm supposed to do with any of it. The picture simply seems like a series of major bummers punctuated by occasional moments of humor and tenderness. Not my cup of tea.Also not my cup of tea was the Pierce Brosnan-starring, non-Oscar winning, special effects laden Dante's Peak, one of the numerous volcano pictures which came out last year. As much as I like Pierce (and I think he's a terrific James Bond), there's little he can do to keep this picture from being utterly overwhelmed by the special effects. They're okay special effects, for what it's worth, but there's something seriously wrong with the pacing of the film—this should have been much more exciting and tension-packed than it turned out. Okay flick if you've got nothing better to do, but that's hardly a recommendation.
November 26, 1997
Seven babies, one womb. Odds of this occurring naturally are in the trillions. While I grant you that every life is a gift from God, it's more than time to start some heavy regulation of fertility drugs. This scenario came to a relatively happy conclusion, but these types of situations are unhealthy for the mother, the unborn babies and ultimately the family. I can barely fathom trying to raise twins—imagine when these 7 all hit the "terrible twos" at the same time. The fertility doctor in this case ought to be drubbed out of the medical profession.November 22, 1997
Among other nifty things that happened today, I received the Session expansion board for my Roland XP-80. As the name implies, this board contains sounds designed for the "session" musician. The piano and guitar sounds are fantastic, and those are only a sample percentage of what's on the card—I haven't had time to fully explore everything else. It's a lot like getting a brand new synthesizer.November 18, 1997
Plenty of nervousness today, since boys' soccer plays their first game of the season. We look to be vastly improved over last year's squad, but, as they say, the proof is in the pudding.In music news, I've got the songs of my album aligned into a general framework. Now it's a question of finding the right sounds for the music, refining music and lyrics and recording MIDIed demo tracks. For me (a guy with no experience in any of this), the process is fairly difficult, albeit a very enjoyable one.
November 17, 1997
I had decided to finally shut-up about the wonders of Rancho San Antonio, figuring that even the heartiest of viewers must crying tears of frustration and boredom by now. Nonetheless, get out that Kleenex because not only was today's run the fastest yet, but I saw 12 deer!November 15, 1997
I forgot to mention this during the week: On Wednesday I attended a neighborhood meeting at City Hall regarding traffic, stop signs, etc. at our cross streets. I'm happy to report that my suggestion of additional signage (specifically "Cross traffic does not stop") was heartily approved, and we should have those signs up in a couple of weeks. Additionally, the neighborhood will be balloted about putting a traffic circle at our cross streets. I'm in favor of it—we've had too many accidents and too many speeding cars for my liking.November 14, 1997
Good run at San Antonio. My times are getting faster and I'm not nearly so winded at the end. The last two times now I've been disappointed that I've not pushed myself harder because I'm not very tired at the end. At the same time, I've probably never run the course faster, so I guess I can feel good about that. No marathons any time soon, though.November 13, 1997
Anyone else think that the use of nannies may drop dramatically? Now that the case of the British au pair has reached something of a conclusion commentators are weighing in with their opinions, and I find myself in rare agreement with Ellen Goodman, the syndicated Boston Globe columnist, who writes: "I do not dispute the judge's decision to reduce the crime to manslaughter...[but] in the numbers game, [baby Matthew] lived 262 days. [British au pair Louise Woodward] served 279. This is what the sentence says to his parents: tough luck."November 9, 1997
Finally figured out how to record multiple parts for the same song. Still tons I don't know (including quantizing, track editing, note editing, etc.) but I feel like I'm off to a good start. To a certain degree the recording process will get easier once I have a MIDI setup going because I'll be able to edit the music on-screen instead of via a little LED window. I hope to have the MIDI arrangement working by the end of the year.I continue to be astounded by the sound quality of the XP-80. The quick and dirty blues song I wrote for my multi-track recording test, 2nd Try, features only a piano and clarinet. It sure sounds like the real things to me.
November 8, 1997
Finally a chance to catch my breath. This week seemed to just roar by, and I'm not sure that even my extended Saturday afternoon nap was sufficient to get me back to 100 percent.I've formed some general impressions of the Roland XP-80 music workstation. Overall it has exceeded my expectations, and I consider it a superb machine. The arpeggiator alone has given me different musical ideas to use in my music. But what's more important is that the XP-80 sounds great. It will be an ideal starting point for the creation of my album.
In terms of instruments, there are at least a couple hundred different sounds (called "patches") to play with (each of which can be drastically modified to create other sounds), and I've got the Session expansion board with yet another 255 sounds on order. Used correctly XP-80 sounds are remarkably life-like. (Note that it's certainly possible to use instruments in ways that are abnormal or impossible. I could play a an alto saxophone on the XP-80, for example, well out of the range of a regular alto sax. Knowing how to use instruments correctly—or incorrectly if appropriate—is another of the many hurdles I'm facing in my on-going electronic music education.)
One thing that I've enjoyed a lot is playing with different patches to find out how the sounds themselves inspire me. I wrote a theme today based on a patch called "Greek Power" as pictures of ancient Greek gods and wars filled my head. What's fascinating is that when I play it back with a piano sound, it's clearly nothing I ever would've written on piano—it's not even an interesting theme. But with Greek Power, it takes on a life of its own.
Perhaps the most exciting thing is that I've not begun to tap the power of this synthesizer. There is so much I have no idea how to do. The best, clearly, is yet to come.
November 7, 1997
The SF boys' soccer team held a BBQ prior to watching the football team beat Riordan 20-6. Great BBQ, great game.Did my run at San Antonio, but it was definitely more chilly than it's been in a while.
November 5, 1997
It's been a bit of a chaotic week which partially accounts for why the site hasn't been updated in a few days. Today I got my new Roland XP-80 via UPS. It might be a few more until it's updated again.
