Monthly Archives: March 2010

Cheesy Movies

Posted on March 29, 2010 by midiguru

Some of the movies I get from Netflix are unsuspected gems, but some of them are just silly. I like fantasy adventures, so I took a chance on a couple of for-TV movies from TNT. The series title is The … Continue reading →

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Public & Private Faces

Posted on March 27, 2010 by midiguru

I’ve never read anything on the differing psychological characteristics of various cultures and historical periods. I’ll bet it’s a fascinating field of study. But I’ve been reflecting a bit on the Victorian era. I suspect that this period — the late 19th … Continue reading →

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Big Bottom

Posted on March 27, 2010 by midiguru

In trying to wrangle some music into shape for a new CD, I’m confronting my penchant for bass. There’s generally too much of it. With older mixes, I have only a stereo master, so dialing back the bass with EQ … Continue reading →

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Oops! Never Mind….

Posted on March 26, 2010 by midiguru

Picked up the new Michael Connelly novel (a two-fisted Harry Bosch LAPD mystery) at the library. It’s called Nine Dragons. It’s a page-turner, no question. Lots of danger and intrigue. Mysterious Chinese gangs. Guns blazing, knives drawing blood. And then … Continue reading →

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Hot-Swap Tuning

Posted on March 20, 2010 by midiguru

After grumbling a couple of days ago about the dearth of tunable software synthesizers, I belatedly remembered … hey, wait a minute. I have a synthesizer that will do most of that. I built it myself. I used Native Instruments … Continue reading →

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Just in Time Tuning

Posted on March 17, 2010 by midiguru

From the 1930s on, composers in the U.S. and Europe have been exploring alternate tunings. There has been a widespread feeling that the harmonic and melodic resources of 12-note equal temperament (“12ET” for short) have been pretty thoroughly mapped out. The … Continue reading →

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Talk About It

Posted on March 14, 2010 by midiguru

I’m very concerned about the growth of what I would call the radical right in American politics. (I’m pretty sure these folks don’t consider themselves the radical right. They most likely think they’re the mainstream.) One of my Facebook friends … Continue reading →

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The Trouble with Conservatism

Posted on March 12, 2010 by midiguru

Dogmatic belief systems are always wrong. They can’t help but be wrong — it’s guaranteed. A dogmatic belief system is one that starts with certain a priori assumptions, or principles. Whatever they happen to be, they are not to be … Continue reading →

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Peaks and Dips

Posted on March 9, 2010 by midiguru

I compose and record music in a small home studio. I have what I think is a good pair of speakers, but the room itself has odd peaks and dips in its frequency response. I’m finding that this makes it … Continue reading →

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Another Day in Paradise

Posted on March 5, 2010 by midiguru

…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 … Continue reading →

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