1. Spent the weekend in NYC to do some audio editing for Meg. It was great. Not sure about the release schedule for the project, but I’ll update when I know. Got stuck there Monday night due to weather Monday morning and the Port Authority. The flight Monday night was actually on-time, but the PA booted all off the Air Train (which would have taken 10 minutes) and made us take shuttles (1 hour). Gotta love that.

2. There is talk of releasing the Leandre/Cooke recording from ISIM. I am very excited about that.  The performance was phenomenol, and the recording came out great.

3. I have an interview for a teaching job in late March or early April. Looking forward to that.

4. Inlay art for “The Passage” is finished, but I haven’t decided if I will do  physical release on this one. It is the only project I am tempted to do one for, but so few people actually want CDs anymore.

5. Started researching a possible paper area (history of audio production) for the written document portion of the dissertation (the only thing left now that all of the music is finished). I have pretty good idea for a topic in this area. I’ll add more as I get it nailed down.

I’m trying to get in the habit of posting at least weekly.

New this week:

1. Mystery Cabal store continues to grow. The score for Erisian Cycles, the piece that won the ISU Carillon Composition Competition in 2006 is up in PDF form.
2. Got Carter Pann’s approval on Composition Project 1 of my dissertation portfolio.
3. I got a request for some second round material from a job search. I did some work to assymble the packet.
4. Started a new semester at CU. I’m teaching the same class, but I’m trying to make a few changes this semester.
5. I did a bit of brainstorming on an ISIM member survey. We are moving into recruitment season, and I would like to have some idea what attracted our current membership to the organization.
6. I did some more assembly work on Composition Project 2. The music is done, but I need to work on packaging and presentation.
7. I got a number of errands taken care of. Busy work.
8. Migrated the Mystery Cabal mailing list to Dada 3.0.2 (from 2.6 or 7). I took it as a chance to move the location of the mailing list over to the Mystery Cabal domain.
9. Started a new project for Mentormeter Media.
10. Assembled package for a fellowship I am applying for. Using the Hide & Seek soundtrack

Just an update

Recent activity:

1. Website: I have redesigned the website and added a lot of audio. It is more oriented to the current job search.

2. Song & Dance recording: I finished the first pass of edits and did a bunch of work on mixes. I put a session in this week doing the second pass. I’m one session away.

3. The Lodge: I have been working on the control room at the Lodge (the Mystery Cabal Project Studio). I added some absorption and diffusion. I’m not done yet, but it is better than it was.

4. Applying for jobs. It’s that time of the year, so I’m applying for a lot of academic positions in composition and music tech.

5. My panel topic was accepted for the ISIM conference this year. It will be on building community amongst musicians.

6. Started work on the Wind ensemble version of Song & Dance. It is a nice back burner for when my ears burn out editing. I’ll hit it hard once I’m done with the recording.

7.  I started outlining topics for a text for the basic music theory class. Not sure where I’ll go with it, but I wanted to sketch some ideas while they were fresh in my mind from teaching the chapters 1-2 of Kostka and Payne.

I haven’t been posting for awhile, so there is a lot of stuff going on. I’ll be brief:

1. I moved Passage to ProTools and began clean-up. I’ve added a few more tracks and identified problem tracks. I put the final heavy chunk in, and started working on the guitar part. It is tough, so I’ll need some time to get a recordable performance. This is excruciatingly slow-going, but I want this one to be right.

2. I finished edits on Distillations Set. I have a few tweaks, but it is more or less done. Finally, something done!

3. I’m working on a few electronics projects. I am racking some Auditronics 110A channel strips. I just built the JLM Audio linear power supply  for them. It went together pretty easily. I’ll be able to test it when I can afford to buy the power transformer. I’m also using them as a vehicle to study circuit design, especially the RLC audio filtering (EQ).I’m going to try a few op-amps (they currently have the original LM709/309, so I’ll compare them to the NE5534 upgrade, then to a few other compatible chips).

4. I’m applying for jobs. Lots of jobs. Hopefully, I’ll find something soon.

5. I’m drinking caffeine again. It has given me an edginess that I missed. I think one needs a bit of discomfort to keep working.

6.  I’ve done a few SPMC shows. For the time being, I don’t have anything else planned until I get my finances stabilized. I hate putting the series on hold, but I don’t have any choice.

7. I’m helping with the ISIM conference at DU.

During a seminar at the ISIM conference, Jane Ira Bloom inquired about the “table” aspect of many computer-instrument interface performance setups. I assume that she was opposed to the idea of being behind a table in performance, especially with the amount of movement that she uses in her work.

Her question opens a line of inquiry in design. I suppose that a person’s performance practice comes into play. A keyboard player would probably be comfortable with a table in front of them on stage. The piano, harpsichord, and electronic keyboard are instruments mounted on tables. The performance tradition of keyboard instruments has developed around this need for a mitigating object between performer and audience.

My performance experience has been split between two worlds:

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Photos from my performance at the ISIM conference:

I make funny faces when I play Read the rest of this entry »

I am now on winter break from CU. I still have a bit of grading to finish, but I can start thinking about projects for the next few weeks.

There are a few things:

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I played a solo set at the ISIM conference this year. It was nice to see some old friends and meet some new ones. I had a wonderful time and thought I’d share some thoughts and memories. These are my daily entries from the last few days.

BV

Sunday, December 16^th.

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I played a solo set at the ISIM conference this year. It was nice to see some old friends and meet some new ones. I had a wonderful time and thought I’d share some thoughts and memories. These are my daily entries from the last few days.

BV

Saturday, December 15^th.

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I played a solo set at the ISIM conference this year. It was nice to see some old friends and meet some new ones. I had a wonderful time and thought I’d share some thoughts and memories. These are my daily entries from the last few days.

BV

ISIM 2^nd Annual Conference.
Dec. 14-16, 2007
Northwestern University

Friday, Dec. 14^th

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