Back to the knobs (a blog of sorts)

[Metrosonus]

For the last ten years i've been in a rut of sorts.... (music wise). Most of my time has gone to grad school, work and my family. I pretty much lived in the second bedroom as we had opposing work schedules and my wife has a thyroid condition that left her tired and sleeping alot back then.

 

I had a sweet semi bachelor pad setup going on in there.. Widescreen monitor which I used as a tv with a multimedia PC that ran internet, movies, surround sound, a couch (which I also slept on) and a desk for my laptop from which I did school work and music.

 

I didn't really have the room for a full time setup nor the time / interest to haul out a keyboard or two in the closet and set it up on occastion. So I relied upon software to give me my musical fix for the last few years. I'd spend an hour or two several nights a week clicking with my mouse or on my small controller I had putzing around... I got into a rut thinking "well this is just the way you make music" which became an unchalleneged assumption that I had, much in the same way I was so engrained in using FL I couldn't comphrehend Live the first few times I tried it.

 

These days, my wife works 8-5 and we are on a schedule together and I haven't really needed the room as seperate living space. I took this spring off from school to cool off from a stressful year last year and it hit me sometime in Febuary that I hadn't even gone into the room at all; if and when I did last year, it was just to use my laptop for scool.

 

Having this term off, me and my wife have really committed to getting the house fixed up as that was just something I hadn't wanted to do with all my energy tied up in classwork over the last couple years. Eventually we got around to discussing what I wanted to do with my room and I said what I'd like is to get rid of everything, repaint the room, get some really nice stuff instead of the RTA / dorm ish stuff, and turn it into a nice office in which we can put all of our music stuff (she plays guitar and my son, maybe drums some day ). I dragged my feet for a couple of weeks until one weekend she decided she was going to take pictures of everything and list it all on craigslist. Well, long story short it was all gone by Sunday afternoon. I had enough money to buy a nice L shaped office / industrial grade desk (which is on it's way) and few other things.

 

One of those things was a Korg EM1. I found one on the evilbay for pretty cheap. I used to have one way back when, when it drove me nuts trying to figure it out. These days im much more educated about these things and I didnt even need to pick up the manual this time around. Granted it's a simple box by today's standards.. but it was the most liberating experience I had had since I don't know when.

 

All it took was taking a term off to slow down and reevaluate myself to make a little happen. With a proper, dedicated space and a new commitment to the "one knob, one function" philisophy, I can't really see myself using software to a large extent in the future. It'll have it's purpose and I'm not knocking it, but with a larger budget and the time and space for the gear I want, all I can say is

 

buh bye

buh bye now

take care

take care now

buh bye

 

So what's on the want list?

 

Access Virus C Desktop

Roland SH201

Roland JD-800

Yamaha RX5 drummachine

Oberheim OB12

Korg ESX / EMX1 (maybe on these)

Korg mini or KP3

and to finally finish my suitcase modular.

 

I dont blog much... so I figured id stick this where maybe people could relate to it

 

anywho.. thanks for reading.

[enx]

very nice, always fun to change things up a bit