Monthly Archives: July 2010

The Illusion of Free Will

Posted on July 31, 2010 by midiguru

We like to think that we have something called “free will.” But do we? I don’t think the term can even be defined in a way that makes sense. The subject came up in conversation today, so I figured I’d … Continue reading →

Posted in evolution, religion, society & culture | Tagged , | 12 Comments

Reason 5 Sneak Preview

Posted on July 30, 2010 by midiguru

Right now I’m working on a review of Propellerhead Reason 5/Record 1.5 for Keyboard magazine. I’m certainly not going to rip the lid off the review prematurely. After all, Keyboard will be paying me! So you’ll have to buy the magazine … Continue reading →

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Book Report

Posted on July 30, 2010 by midiguru

Details coming soon. Right now we’re nailing down a few details in the contract, but it appears this fall I’ll be writing a book on cello technique. For beginners. To be brought out by a major publisher of instructional books. … Continue reading →

Posted in cello, music, writing | Tagged | 2 Comments

Talking about Music

Posted on July 29, 2010 by midiguru

Tonight’s email brought a bulletin from Electronic Musician. These emails are just junk, and I mostly just delete them, but this one caught my eye. The bulk of each eMusician XTRA email is, frankly, repackaged press releases from manufacturers. This is … Continue reading →

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So You Want to Compose…

Posted on July 29, 2010 by midiguru

One of my projects for this fall is to do more composing. On finding myself at the local library last night, I thought to check their catalog for books that might give me inspiration or fresh insight. There was nothing in … Continue reading →

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QuteCsound 0.6.0 Released

Posted on July 26, 2010 by midiguru

Good news — Andres Cabrera has officially released version 0.6.0 of QuteCsound. It’s available for download at SourceForge. If you’ve never used Csound, this won’t mean anything to you … unless you’re tempted to try it. QuteCsound is a very … Continue reading →

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Angels Dancing

Posted on July 25, 2010 by midiguru

Medieval theologians, or so I’ve heard, engaged in vigorous debate on such subjects as how many angels could dance on the head of a pin. This sort of thing is what happens when humans develop an elaborate intellectual discipline that … Continue reading →

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Danger! Old Fogey Alert!

Posted on July 24, 2010 by midiguru

When I was 20-something, the bitter, out-of-touch old fogeys who had grown up with Benny Goodman and other big jazz bands would listen to the Amazing, Wonderful pop music of the ’60s, growl dyspeptically, and say, “That’s not music! You call that … Continue reading →

Posted in music, random musings, technology | Tagged , | 2 Comments

The Microtone Zone

Posted on July 23, 2010 by midiguru

Having nothing better to do tonight, I searched YouTube for “microtonal.” I had never heard anything in 26-tone or 7-tone equal temperament, so I learned something. They’re both wildly exotic temperaments, and that seems to be part of the point … Continue reading →

Posted in music, technology | Tagged | 5 Comments

Instead of Instead

Posted on July 21, 2010 by midiguru

Today the topic of optimizing your Inform 7 game code so that it will run faster came up on the newsgroup (rec.arts.int-fiction, for those of you who just wandered in from the music industry). Ron Newcomb, who knows a whole … Continue reading →

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