Blueprints & Seaworthy info + MP3s online September 23, 2006

just a quick note to let you know that the info for the upcoming 12k releases “Blueprints” and Seaworthy “Map In Hand” is now on the website. in addition about 6 MP3s are available from the 2 releases… hurry now!

the good and bad of Decibel September 23, 2006

well.. seattle’s decibel festival was last weekend.. and, i must say, it was REALLY a great festival. i’ve not known much about it for it’s past couple of years getting started, but apparently it was much bigger this year than other years.. and i compliment the organizers and workers for pulling of a fantastic weekend… it was well organized, in great locations, the sound was great… everything really pro.

however, i must apologize to all of those who heard my set for a dreadful performance immediately flawed by technical difficulties. the problem boiled down to having a 10 minute soundcheck (ok, there’s my one complaint with the organization) to remap my entire performance to their surround system. of course, it’s partially my fault for not doing this in advance, but i really thought i’d have more time to do it IN THE SPACE.. which is very important in surround situations.

anyway, i thought it was all set to go.. but as soon as i started i realized that the sound mapping was very bizarre… almost everything coming out of only the left half of the room. additionally, (and this was totally my fault) some major effects i had on my master channels of my software were NOT functional.. and threw me off right from the get-go.

the result of all this was that i was so distraught and frustrated with the technical issues that my performance REALLY suffered and was lackluster at best. to top it off, i was creating 80% of everything heard live on the fly with a single softsynth and a microphone and some small instruments so the concentration needed to pull this off was shot.

i wouldn’t say it was a complete disaster, but it was close.. there were some nice moments, but i could tell the audience wasn’t too happy, and perhaps knew something was up.

it’s a shame, too.. because that set following 3 really lovely sets by yann novak, son of rose, and richard chartier. i must say, son of rose was the highlight for me. there were some “rough” moments, in the beginning (i thought) but that was merely because of how LIVE it was, and in the end didn’t matter, because the pure sound and really detailed work of Kamran was quite beautiful.

a bit of a whirlwind weekend, not enough food, and performance letdown… but, that’s all part of it… i had a good time, anyway.

i am, however, rescuing the last 60 seconds of that performance and turning it into a 20 minute cd…! so something good will come out of it…

more on that later…

thursday afternoon September 14, 2006

rain today. preparing for the gig at Decibel Festival (www.dbfestival.com) this coming saturday. laying out stuff on the studio floor.. it’s probably how i’ll play on sat… sitting on the floor.

took a walk in the woods today, reminds me of why we moved to the country. stunning in the rain.

if you’re in seattle this weekend, stop by and say hello….

pictures of the days events below:

song of the day: “memorial” – Explosions in the Sky

new releases available online September 8, 2006

as some people have found out (a few orders this morning already)… i have updated the 12k webpage and online shop to indicate that the new FOURCOLOR and STEINBRUCHEL cds are available and shipping…. so i’m making the official announcement here, and will send out a newsletter announcement shortly (too lazy/tired right now).

the releases won’t be available at retailers for a couple weeks +..

enjoy.

stargazing September 1, 2006

the last few weeks have been both busy and slow. on vacation now, and it’s been so long since the last post i had to write something. summer is coming to an end. next week should see the availability of the new 12k and LINE cds: FOURCOLOR and STEINBRÜCHEL, respectively. more news and more action then. for now, back to star-gazing in northern california.