Blog

Army living has its perks. Getting stationed in a haunted house isn't one of them. Arguello Boulevard. The Presidio. San Francisco. 1979. Truth be told, we never saw the ghost, perhaps because our dog slept where prior tenants reported seeing the uniformed apparition. Not that I was anxious to meet anyone from the Great Beyond - not at thirteen. Twenty years and eight homes later, I received another chance.

Last year, I produced a clean, respectful TR-909 drum solo to celebrate 909 Day. Well, this time around, we're going crackers. I'm an industrial musician and it's time we got filthy.

Today, I began an entirely new sort of audio recording project, narrating course notes from a road race into what you might call a "virtual rally navigator" audio program. To explain, imagine a traditional audio tour through the Louvre, but in a Lamborghini Diablo, at 110 MPH. "Hairpin left at 'La belle jardinière' in 3, 2, 1...." Buckle up, buttercup.

I really need to stop buying instruments and start playing them. Last week, I came across an orphaned 2012 Fender Deluxe Jazz Bass in a (pop-up) window and thought it inhumane not to give her a good home. So, let's call it an act of charity. I'm selfless that way.

This year, I'm celebrating 909 Day with a quick little drum solo. No bass. No guitar. No vox. Just pure, glorious Roland TR-909 goodness, with a touch of environmental darkness and overdrive. But not too much. After all, we want to honor the venerable 909 without distorting it beyond recognition.

This week, I continued my mission to fill the holes in my "high-definition" audio palette, aiming my sights squarely on acoustic drums, or rather, high-resolution digitally-sampled acoustic drums. I know. "Whatever."

This week, I started thinking about the instruments I'll need to realize the music playing in my head. [Help me.] It's complicated by the fact that high-resolution audio is my new medium of choice. It means going all analog or, at a minimum, being very selective with digital instruments and sample libraries. First up: electronic drums....

This week, I've been burning in a new computer for the recording studio. For the record, this is probably my sixth scratch-built audio workstation since the mid-80s, though the first few couldn't really handle audio - they merely provided MIDI sequencing while synced to outboard multi-track tape recorders. And outboard mixing consoles. And outboard effects devices.

Last week, I revealed my new recording studio, along with a candid pic of my crotch. You're welcome. As promised, I'm still compiling a few hundred-thousand images from the construction site into a time lapse video - stay tuned. In the meantime - I know you're anxious - here's a quick photo album.

After three labor-intensive years, I'm happy to report that my new recording studio is officially done. Done, I tell you! And it's a thing of beauty: High-definition audio @ 24-bits / 192 kHz, surround sound, professional-grade acoustics and rack space galore (for all the synthesizers on my bucket list). My wife is even happier (with or without the synths). The power tools are back where they belong and two and a half rooms in our home are habitable again.

Happy April Fool's Day, me droogies. And welcome to my brand new, disgustingly eponymous website. No, it's not an elaborate Wordpress-machined joke. Nor is it a coincidence that I've chosen this day for launching it. No, I'm doing something unquestionably foolish with my life and have chosen to celebrate it out loud: As of this moment, I am a professional musician.