…not. Sometimes you just want to shoot your computer. Today I did some remastering work on three or four songs for the new CD I’m planning to release, and then attempted to burn a test CD so I could listen to it on various playback systems.
My nice new HP computer, which burned an audio CD yesterday without complaint, has now decided that it has other ideas. PreSonus Studio One, which has a swell utility page for mastering CDs, couldn’t manage to initialize the DVD/CD drive at all. iTunes burned a CD, but it had crackling noises in it — on some players, though not on others.
I spent two solid hours on the phone with HP tech support. At least they answer the phone, and the young lady in the Philippines was very patient. But I’m afraid we’re wandering into one of those horrible dead zones where HP says their drive is fine, it’s the fault of the PreSonus software (or maybe the fault of the CD player in my stereo, though it’s fine with every other CD in my collection), while PreSonus (whom I have only just contacted — no response yet) says no, it’s the drive, our software is fine.
Me, I think it’s the drive. I think the burn laser is misaligned. The good news is, the computer is still under warranty. The bad news is, how can I get them to send me a replacement drive if they insist that it’s the software?
If I ever get this squared away, I swear to God, I’m going to lock down this system. No more installs. No more updates. No more swapping out drivers. If anyone even dares suggest it’s the other vendor’s fault, I’m going to drive over to their house with a golf club and break their windows.
Here’s the deal: Computer technology has gotten too complicated. We don’t need all this shit. Hell, I didn’t need Windows 7. I was doing fine with XP. But you know, it’s the new OS, and I’m buying a new computer, and it’s supposed to be better. Besides, up until this month I was busy writing magazine articles on music software. I knew editors would want to read reviews that were written using Windows 7 as a test system.
I think I’ve just retired. Fuck it. I still have an assignment from Keyboard for a product review, but I am finding it more and more difficult to get psyched up to write it. If I had been able to burn a nice CD today, I would have been in a good mood, and this weekend I would probably have started on that review. But now … no way.
Footnote: The next day, it occurs to me that I still have my old PC. Transferring the files, installing the software, and burning a CD on it only took about two hours, and next time it will be quicker. Now I can get back to worrying about what I need to improve in the mixes themselves.
There is more than one way to skin a cat. Personally, I like to dangle them by the tail over a vat of boiling oil and then dip them ever so gently. Falconer’s gloves are a helpful aid in this endeavor, as the cat tends not to be happy about the prospect.
