The past week was pretty busy. Asheville last weekend, then Hamptonville the next weekend. Busy busy busy!
Strum GS-2!
I just got my hands on the new version of AAS’ VST, Strum GS-2, and I’m in love! I love how it makes playing realistic acoustic guitar sounds so easy! Read on for my impressions.
Shady Art Business
The Pencil Kings Shading Drawing Challenge is starting this March, and I’m going to try to get better at shading my artwork.
Computer Music Also Does Free/Alchemy and SFZ
If you can’t read Japanese, and you’re still interested in free plugins for your DAW, then have a look at the March issue of Computer Music Magazine. They’re also doing a big issue on free VSTs and samples. Also, if you have the Alchemy player, it’s also a good way to play those SFZ format samples I talked about a few posts back.
Lots of Free VSTs in the March DTM Magazine
The March issue of DTM Magazine, a Japanese electronic music magazine, boasts 122 free VSTs. They do a good job breaking them down by 32/64-bit, plugin type, and OS. BUT! You need to know how to read Japanese. If you can do that, click on to the rest of the article.
Live School
There’s a really good Intro to Ableton Live course going on right now on Coursera, taught by Erin Barra of the Berklee College of Music. It’s only three weeks long, but it’s a good way to meet a bunch of different people who are into Live, make some music, and pick up some tips.
Free Orchestra Sounds and Free Sample Players
Here are some links to some free samples and sample players using the SFZ format. I was primarily interested in Sonatina Symphonic Orchestra to expand my symphonic sound pallette. (And I don’t have $2,000 to burn on orchestral samples!)
Figure Drawing Challenge
I use art and photography to feed off of each other. So that one helps the other. Art helps me be creative with photography, and photography helps with art. Pencil Kings rebooted their Figure Drawing Challenge this January, and I had a blast. It was just enough work to learn some useful stuff and make … Continue reading
The Best $50 Lens Ever.
I found a great gently-used manual focus 70-210 zoom + macro for a steal at a local camera shop. Now my A7 lens setup is pretty much complete. Don’t overlook old lenses!
Sony A7 Mark II
I got the new Sony A7 Mark II recently, and here are some of my initial thoughts about it. I’m not going to go too much into specs, more into “Do I like using this as a camera?” Short Answer: Oh, hell yeah.
The Cheap Guide to Making Music, Part 3: Why Are You Paying Full Price??
Paying full price is for Suckers. Ouch, that’s harsh, isn’t it? But it’s true. When it comes to music production software and hardware, just about everything software (and some hardware) goes on sale 2-3 times a year. There are a few products that never go on sale, but those products are a minority. A small … Continue reading
The Cheap Guide to Making Music, Part 2: Free/Cheap Synths, Effects, Sounds!
In Part Two, you’ll get a lot of links to useful info about free (or very cheap) software synths, effects plugins, and a couple of good sources for low-cost batches of demos and samples. And the best free drum library ever. EVER!
The Cheap Guide to Making Music, Part 1: Get a DAW!
Time to start learning real stuff– let’s get a starter DAW, and talk about hardware a little bit. (But we’re still going to keep it cheap!)
The Cheap Guide to Making Music, Part 0: Get Some Knowledge For Free!
I’m finally putting out my Cheap Guide to Making Music. I’m aiming this at the vast army of people who keep asking the same question over and over, “How do I get into production for cheap?” Part 0 starts with getting your mind set right, and finding some knowledge.
Mac Pro Video
Thanks to a $15/month deal, I signed up for MacProVideo’s monthly service. It’s been good so far. I like the mix of audio and video oriented tutorials. Very useful for someone like me, who works in both areas!
The JOI of the N1.
I signed up for the JLPT N1 again, and for classes at JOI. Meanwhile, I ditched Anki for now, and I’m working on improving my reading speed. We’ll see if there’s any change!
Ya Big MOOC.
Just a MOOC update. I’m finishing up some stuff on Udacity and Coursera. Took a look at edX, but for a non-profit, it was even more expensive than the two for-profit programs. What gives?
Pencil Kings
I’m working on my visual sense in order to improve my photography and design. So I’m giving Pencil Kings a shot to see what it’s like.
Mid-Summer Scribbling (Pencil Pondering?)
I decided to cut down on the number of pencils I carry around, so I went obsessive over lead holders and mechanical pencils for a few weeks. Here are some of the results from my madness (and spending spree.)
Fireworks!
It doesn’t matter how prepared you think you are, you’re never really fully prepared for everything that can happen, even at a fireworks show.
Beach Report
I just got back from a week at Wrightsville Beach, NC, with my extended family. All 14 of us. In one beach house. For a week!
Kindle Paperwhite: Powerful for Japanese Study
I finally bit the bullet and bought a second Kindle Paperwhite, this time for my Japanese language library. And I don’t regret it one bit. It has become an incredibly powerful tool for improving my Japanese, because I read more books, faster, with the Paperwhite than I have with any other reading platform.
And I’ve tried a bunch of different ways to read Japanese books.
The Cintiq 13HD
I finally bit the bullet and got a Cintiq 13HD. So far, it’s a delight to use for creating graphics. I saved a few hundred bucks by getting a refurbished model.
Answer for Juan (Formatting Anki Cards for the A+ Test)
Juan had a question about how I did the Anki cards for the A+ exam. I started to write a reply, and it turned into a book. So I figured I’d post the reply as a blog post instead.
Snowmageddon For Real
We finally got hit by the a decent blizzard a couple of weeks ago, so I took a bunch of pictures. This is a placeholder until I get the photos done.
Slide Duplicating Rig Completed! (Converting FL Bellows to NEX Mount!)
I finally got the parts I needed, and a free hour, so I removed the retaining ring on my Canon FL Bellows, removed the inside of a L39-NEX adapter, and slapped it on the FL Bellows to make it a much better slide duplicating rig than it was with a Canon FL – NEX adapter. Instructions in the main post.
Snowmageddon 2 Aftermath
The Snow Apocalypse of 2014 didn’t take place here last night. I’m still waiting for it.
Snowmageddon Round Two? (Random Stuff Post)
As I’m waiting for a ton of snow to fall, I figured I might as well summarize what’s going on these days. I’m taking more music classes at Coursera; Bitwig Studio is coming out in a couple of months; I found an easy way to ReWire the Yamaha Vocaloid Editor into Live and Cubase; Piapro Studio now accepts non-Crypton voicebanks; the monitor stand works; and finally, my slide duplicating project is taking off as soon as some parts show up.
Great Support
Isn’t it great when you get great support? I got great support recently from Arctic Cooling, when my CPU fan’s bearing went bad. Also, my USB extension cable showed up.
Snowmageddon? Not Quite.
It snowed enough to cancel my piano class, but it never stuck.
More Coursera Fun
I love Prof. Hornstein’s lectures. If you’re interested in Environmental Law, he’s teaching on Coursera right now. I’m also taking a music composition class there that follows the rules in Mozart’s time. Also, Paddy may be one of the coolest Lightroom plugins, ever!
All-in Ableton, Reaktor, New Graphics Tablet
I went ahead and upgraded to Ableton Live Suite while it was still on sale. I did a bunch of Reaktor tutorials on building synthesizers in Reaktor while I downloaded Live. Also, my Intuos 2 finally died, so I had to get a new graphics tablet. I went with an Intuos Pro. It’s a nice tablet.
Monitor Stand is Done!
I finished the monitor stand! It took a few days to get the finish right, but it looks smashing. Now it’s off-gassing in the garage for a few days, so the fumes don’t kill me.
Push or “What Happened to Today?”
Push, I choose you! I chose it over Maschine because I think it’ll work better with the way I like to write music. Maschine has a lot of strong points, too. I lost track of the majority of a day messing around with Live and Push. It’s fun stuff. Also, the monitor stand is almost done! It just needs finishing.
Reason Book and Other Stuff
I’m turning the corner on the cold. My Reason book showed up. It’s awesome~! I’m also agonizing over getting Push or Maschine.
Woof Woof. Books.
I’m sick as a dog, so no New Year’s going out for me this year. I ordered what looks like it will be a great book on Reason, and I started reading “BasicSynth,” a book about synthesizer programming. Good times. Happy New Year.
Aaand, I’m Back Again.
I’m back from the mountains. I took some nice photos, which I will post as soon as possible. Other than that, it was a nice, quiet Christmas. I’m totally exhausted.
Push Off to Asheville
Ableton Push looks damn sexy as a composition tool. I love how scales are laid out on the device. I need to do more research to make sure. Also, I’m headed to the mountains for Christmas. I’m going early to help the folks out a bit.
Everything Breaks at Once
My idea to use pocket screws to attach the parts of my monitor stand together was undermined by a crappy pocket screw jig. So I just glued and screwed it from the top down, and filled the holes with wood filler. Also, the garage door and security system broke on me this weekend. Yay.
Making a Stand
I’m making a special monitor stand to get the monitors up and off the desk, so I can shove my keyboard and graphics tablet underneath. That way, I can use my MIDI keyboard while facing the screens. I hope this works out!
You Komplete Me
Komplete showed up today. Installing took a while, but just skimming the surface, it looks like a ton of fun. I also picked up SynthMaster and Chromaphone, which are also on sale, as well as a second monitor for photo and audio editing work.
N1, Take Three
Another year, another N1. I feel okay about how I did. If I passed or failed, I’m sure it was close either way. (I hope I passed!) In general, I’m going to focus more on writing to improve my Japanese, as well as reading “meatier” stuff, like literature, as opposed to light novels. That sort of thing. Heading home tomorrow morning. Also, my hotel room is creepy.
Off to DC
Traffic was heavy on the way to DC today. I made it safely to my hotel, and studied some. I’ll study some more in the morning, then go take the N1.
Thanksgiving, Black Friday, N1 Coming
We had a nice Thanksgiving. Then I went deal hunting on Friday, all while getting ready for the N1 on Sunday. I’m leaving for DC on Saturday.
Music Composition // Bargain Hunting
I finished my second musical doodle the other day. I’m also starting to scope out some potential deals coming up next weekend. It’s a great time to pick up audio-related software. (And a lot of other things.)
Going Home in the Snow
I left New York to go back home today. It snowed a bit in the morning and in the evening, but it never stuck to the roads. Time to get into serious mode for the N1 now.
Celebrating Pocky Day in Manhattan
I spent Pocky Day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, then went to Kinokuniya. Dinner was with friends in Greenwich Village. Tomorrow I go back home. It’s supposed to snow.
Back in Manhattan.
I made it safely to Manhattan, went to Kinokuniya, then settled down for the evening.
Career Forum Day Two, etc. etc.
I was done with the Career Forum by early afternoon, so I went to the USS Constitution, took some photos, then went to Shiki again.
Career Forum, Day One.
Day one of the Career Forum started with a thud. My new Nexus 5’s alarm clock didn’t go off because it didn’t like my USB charger. I still got there on time, and talked to a lot of companies. Then I fought the wind back to the hotel.
Lots of Yellow and Red…Made it to Boston Anyway.
It was a long, frustrating drive up to Boston from Delaware. I wound up fighting with Google Maps a lot. I don’t like not being able to choose an alternate route at all.
Off to Boston… Again.
I’m off to the Boston Career Forum again, to see what’s going on in the world of bilingual workers. I got as far as Delaware again, and stopped at the same place I stayed at least year.
Nexus 5 Arrived
The Nexus 5 showed up today. It’s a good improvement over my old Galaxy Nexus. Like anything, nothing it going to be 100% perfect, but it’s a good phone. I’ll write a longer review later. I have to pack!
Kindle // Nexus 5
I finally caved in and bought a Kindle Paperwhite, and a new Nexus 5. I’m still waiting on the N5. I’ll give a review of it when I can.
A+ Certified (Part Two: Pass!)
Man, that was nerve-wracking. Part two of the A+ exam was trickier than I thought it would be. I know a lot of this stuff just because I’ve been messing around with computers all my life. I’ve built every computer I’ve used for the last 20 years. (Except for laptops.) But if you ask me … Continue reading
A+ Part One: Pass!
Passed the first part of my A+ Certification. Woot. Now I have to get ready for my sis and nephew’s visit this weekend. Part two is in ten days. Gotta hustle!
Glass in Durham
I got to see what all the fuss about Google Glass was about. It’s pretty cool. I’m also cramming like crazy for part one of my A+ certification test next Friday.
Miku In The House // New Computer // Glass Coming to the RTP
Tenso delivers my software in one piece. The new Miku v3 software installs/runs just fine. The new computer is up and running. I upgraded to Cubase 7.0 full version, and Google Glass is coming to Durham on Saturday. I’ll check it out.
Getting Stuff Done Music
The hunt for good ambient sounds/music never seems to end. I heard from Tenso that my Vocaloid software showed up safely. I may use them more often for shipping stuff from Japan. Also, my desktop is dying, so it’s time to build a new one: one with the best airflow ever. (And an SSD!)
Eyes on Fire
Two words you never want to hear from your eye doctor: viral conjuntivitis. Yeah, it’s been a fun week.
Raleigh Greek Festival
We went to the Raleigh Greek festival last night, and loaded up on some great home-made Greek food. It’s a bit of a drive, but worth it.
Miku 3.0 Bundle
Crypton announced a great deal for people who own previous version of one of their Vocaloid sound banks, but getting it at that attractive price took a few extra steps. Still, it’s a great deal, and using a forwarding service, it’s pretty easy to get. (If you know Japanese!)
Anki Assault / Piano Practice
I’m dumping tons of new content into Anki now, which I’ve finally upgraded to 2.0. The upgrade wasn’t that bad. And I’ll need it for the N1 and A+ exams. Greenshot and e.Typist are making my exam prep a lot easier, too, helping me OCR stuff and dump it into Anki. Also, the piano class is a lot of fun.
Music School
This fall is going to be hectic. I’m going to take a couple of music classes at UNC’s new Community Music School. I’ll also be preparing for the N1, and getting ready for the Boston Career Forum by getting my A+ certification. Somewhere in there, I’m going to need time to breathe!
Enter Samsung
My Motorola Xoom is dying, so I replaced it with a Samsung Note 8.0, because I thought I would really dig the stylus made by Wacom. I like the stylus a lot–I just wish Samsung would let me remove the preinstalled software I don’t want. Otherwise, it’s a great little 8-inch tablet.
Raise the Mast!
I created a new masthead for the website in Photoshop. I explain how I did it, and how I got it to work in Suffusion so that if you click on the top graphic, you wind up at the home page for the site. (It’s actually a little complicated.)
Cash Is Still King.
Always carry some cash on you, just in case those servers go down, and the credit cards turn into useless slivers of plastic. This was reinforced for me today.
Fahrenheit 451 or What Do I Do With These Things You Call “Books?”
It seems like everyone is getting rid of paper copies of books these days, and I’m joining the herd. I’ve donated 8 boxes of old books so far, and I probably have another 8 or so I can get rid of. Companies like O’Reilly that let you get DRM-free e-books make the transition a lot smoother.
Progress Report
I bring up a lot of ideas for personal projects… so what’s going on with them? Well, some are moving forward, and some are on the shelf for now. GTD helps me figure out what I have the energy and time to work on, and what I don’t.
Learning Lightroom 5 with George
I just went through George Jardine’s latest video series on the develop functions of Lightroom 5, and I recommend it. Even if you’re just upgrading from 4 to 5, it has a lot of useful info. I also recommend his library/cataloging videos, too, if you have trouble organizing your digital photos. I love his approach. Very straightforward.
Fireworks!
Fireworks in Chapel Hill. I didn’t have the optimum setup to photograph them this year, but I’ll get ’em next year. I know what I need to do now.
Wrightsville Beach
Another busy week as the entire extended family gathered for our annual trip to Wrightsville Beach, NC. It was good seeing everyone, but I’ll need to cut back on the food intake for a while.
Back Home Again
Back from Asheville. Lots of photos to process, including some fireworks in the valley, and a trip to Mt. Mitchell. Also, the new job is going well.
Headed to Asheville
I’m headed to Asheville for a few days to help the folks out. Also, JOI is pretty good so far. I’m pleased with the classes and the pricing.
Grabbing the N1 Bull by the Horns
My calligraphy class in Raleigh has ended for good, unfortunately. So to fill that gap, I’m going to try taking some online classes at the Japanese Online Institute, which has an online speech/chat/whiteboard way of group learning for pretty reasonable prices.
Done with Intro to Music Production
I finished the Berklee intro to music production class on Coursera. It was educational and fun. I wish they had more free offerings that went into more depth, but that’s all we get.
AB!
Alton Brown came to the DPAC in Durham, NC. I’m a long-time “Good Eats” fan, so I enjoyed the heck out of it.
3D and 2D Resources for Blender, Metasequoia, Inkscape, and Sketchbook
I picked up some Japanese books on using Blender and Metasequoia to help me get a better handle on those two programs. I also started working on improving my 2D drawing skills, because the 3D stuff was looking somewhat “bleh.” I tried Autodesk’s Sketchbook, and it’s okay. I fell in love with the open-source vector graphics program Inkscape.
Digital Sound Design Class
The sound design class on Coursera is over, and it went well. Now I’m starting up an introduction to music production class being taught by a guy from the Berklee College of Music. Should be fun!
Support Your Local Hackerspace (Blender and Metasequoia)
I traveled to my local hackerspace, Splat Space, to learn about Blender. Then I spent the next couple of days messing around with it and Metasequoia. It’s interesting stuff.
FM Synthesis
My copy of “FM Theory and Applications by Musicians for Musicians” showed up at the library today. I’m hoping it will give me better insights into how FM synthesis works. Also, I’m really enjoying the Sound Design Class on Coursera so far.
Snow and NEX BIOS Update
It snowed long enough to take pictures, but not so long that it stuck too much. Also, Sony released a new BIOS for the Nex 5N with a proper +/- 3.0 EV auto-bracketing function!
Coursera-sera // Nektar Panorama P4
I’m trying out an Intro to Sound Design class in Coursera. It looks pretty interesting. I’m really getting more and more into music production (as a hobby for now), and I want to learn more how to do it. Having a MOOC teach it makes it easier than wading through thousands of YouTube videos. Also, my Edirol MIDI controller finally gave up, so I replaced it with a Nektar Panorama P4. I love it.
Snow in the Mountains Again.
Snow! Well, only half an inch, but still, snow! I love snow, and taking pictures of it. I’ll put all of my mountain photos from the last few days in this post when I’m done editing.
In the Mountains Again
I spent the last few days in the mountains. I took a lot of photos of the mountains, and got some good macro shots of Christmas tree ornaments.
Photography Stuff
I want to copy a bunch of old slides I have over to digital. Sounds easy, right? Yeah, not really. My slide scanner is dead, and the bellows/slide copier solution is still buggy.
Another December, Another Try at the N1. (Day Two.)
The N1 was a bear again. After the bear mangled me, I went to Georgetown for a bit, then headed back to the hotel. I’ll be heading home tomorrow.
DC and the JLPT (Day One)
I made it to Washington, DC today for tomorrow’s JLPT N1 exam. I listened to podcasts on the drive up.
Flick(r) on the Forehead
Getting Lightroom to publish to Flickr takes a bit of setting up, but it’s worth it for the improvement in workflow speed. I have listed a bunch of resources for figuring this stuff out, so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
Lighting up Lightroom
I have finally seen the Light-room. With the right set of training videos and a freshly calibrated monitor, my photo life is good.
Liberated from Leica Lens Limbo (or Nex!)
I’ve been stuck in Leica Lens Limbo for about 5-6 years now, because there isn’t a digital body I can afford to put my M-mount lenses on. I finally picked up a Sony Nex 5N, and I think I’ve found something that will get me out of that purgatory for a bit. It’s not perfect, but it’s a good start.
Books and Hot Pizza
I ran around Manhattan and checked out Book Off and Kinokuniya, then burned my tongue on good pizza at Frank’s. After that, I high-tailed it back home. I got back in around 1:30 a.m., and got to bed at 3. Oof.
Boston to Manhattan
I made it safely to Manhattan. The trip wasn’t too bad. I checked out B&H and Kinokuniya, and I’ll check out Book-Off and maybe Mitsuwa tomorrow.
Career Forum, Constitution, Shiki
I took one last trip to the Boston Convention Center for the Career Forum, then did some touring around the USS Constitution and Bunker Hill, and I finished the day in Brookline for dinner. Tomorrow I head to New York City.
Boston Career Forum, Day One
First day at the Boston Career Forum. I was there mostly to do some recon work, to see what the whole deal is like, and hear what the companies there are interested in.
Made It To Boston
A long day of driving, and I made it to Boston. You can read all the grisly details about the drive here.
Off to Boston.
I’m heading to Boston to check out the Career Forum there. Now if only my car can make there in one piece, all will be good. Also, I rant about speeding laws, which irritate me in how they’re implemented.
Jamming With Meg
In one of my stranger ideas, I’m thinking about writing “Grammar Rock” style songs using Vocaloids to help me remember Japanese grammar. You know, writing this out makes it sound even weirder.
Penciling Some Notes
I dug out my old Edirol keyboard yesterday, and surprise, surprise, a large number of keys didn’t work. Apparently over time, the contacts will lose the graphite they need to make the keys work properly, and according to this video, you can just fix it with a mechanical pencil and a 2H (not 2B) lead. … Continue reading
Buying Japanese Software Online
There are a lot of really useful online software stores you can legally buy Japanese software from, and it’s a lot cheaper than importing and shipping it all. They can be tricky to use sometimes, but if you already know Japanese, it’s a good way to go.