Category Archives: slacking - Page 3

updated bio

Posted by on September 8, 2009 No comments

I updated my bio. Good? Bad? I’m hoping for 50% less suck when compared to the previous version. Man, I hate writing bio things and artist’s statements and whatnot almost as much as I detest doing up program notes. But what I had before in that space was physically painful to read.

umbrella!

Come to think of it, the whole self promotion thing is a drag. Someone with more tact might call it a necessary evil, but I’m not that guy. Hopefully I will release something soon and make all of these posts seem worthwhile in retrospect. Here’s to hoping!

summertime

Posted by on June 22, 2009 No comments

The academic schedule is ingrained almost instantly into the consciousness of children. There is the time when school and the associated work is all that there is and then the blessed summers. Days that stretch forever and only the responsibilities created by parents. Sure, there are things like camp and for some there is the summer job, but for the most part there is the freedom from being compelled to produce anything of worth. Perhaps this is shifting a little with the more and more common two income household and the proliferation of daycare. Maybe it’s the year-round school that we dreaded back when I was in grade school. But it’s too late for me. Summer is here and I have run out of steam.

My wife tries to put it into perspective for me. She has noticed my pattern of simply coming to the end of my idea rope with the first of the seemingly endless 90F+ days. I have been told that the best thing for me to do is read. Do some research. Putter around with some of the less intense ideas that I have had floating around since who knows when. She is right. But I hate it.

At the end of the day, I desperately want to be productive. I want to put out a piece of music every week. But with three months of upper 90s and 100+ temperatures, the well has run dry. Or pretty close to it. The wise thing to do at this point is to get back down to brass tacks with some of my reasearch items since the garage is a place where I can spend no time until September. I still have some ideas for pieces that I can work on without microphones that will pick up every turn of the ceiling fan overhead. But the motivation has dropped significantly.

What does all of this mean? It means that a change of course is indicated. One that should have been forseen. With that said, I will continue as indicated by circumstances.

I will still try to post every week. I doubt that I will have musical items to include in my postings, but I won’t say that it’s going to stop. The time for culling the songs produced this year is here. As such, there will be edits and plans for going back into the studio when the time comes.

Flexibility is the new name of the game.

refactoring

Posted by on May 13, 2009 No comments

due to a somewhat minor health issue, i am getting exactly squat done this week. not cool, yo, not cool. top it off with a bit of a vacation coming up and i’m pretty sure that there will be a couple of weeks with no new tunes. i can live with this and i’m hoping that the 3 or 4 people who check this site out regularly can too. if you can’t, well, um…yeah. i’ve got nothing.

all that said, i might not be producing a lot in terms of my ongoing projects, but i’m thinking about them a lot. there are some things that i need to finish up and that pile is high. it’s been too long since i put out some kind of album-ish collection. i think i have actually picked a genre and i’m going to get something out in the near term mostly to feel like i have some sort of milestone on whatever path i’m traveling.

and i’m going to actually finish some instruments. my biggest problem with the building process is that we’re back to the 90s here in texas and that’s not really conducive to, well, my existence. but i can’t exactly quit working on cool stuff just because it’s hot outside. i’ll simply have to get the things that need doing in the garage done before the sun is up and in full effect. this means early days on the weekend. not a big deal as the dude is usually up by 6:30 am anyway. little boy takes after his grandfather.

i also want to start posting more. i feel like there’s a lot to say in the context of creative work and some things that i’d like to work on out loud. who knows, i might start another great discussion with one of my friends that involves two really intense emails and then two or three months of silence as we reconcile our creative time with families and other life commitments. it’s all about choices. i’ve made mine and i’m happy with them.

more music soon. in the mean time, go hit your favorite music download site and build a mix tape. i just did and it’s awful. awful awesome, that is! mr. mister…we hardly knew ye…

things done and not done

Posted by on April 30, 2009 No comments

no sketch this week. why? i blame my mom. because i can. it’s not really her fault at all, but her visit is pretty convenient. a more honest explanation is that i haven’t had it in me this week. too much going on and too many things competing for my mental attention.

that said, i have been working on my guitar building. i’m still finishing up the kit. the progress has slowed now that i’m in the detailed sanding and preparations for finishing. the neck is almost done with the shaping, the frets are in and the fretboard is installed. all i need to do is finish smoothing out the back and sides and glue the neck on. after that, it’s many days of french polish and getting the nut and bridge ready.

part of my kit progress has been derailed by my starting a new guitar from scratch. my progress can be found in this gallery

[ http://othertime.com/galllery/main.php?g2_itemId=840 ].

see, it gets really hot and humid in houston pretty soon and i hate it. working in the garage becomes painful even in the early morning on the weekends. i want to get as much of the garage work done as i can before that heat sets in. so far, so good. most of the bandsaw stuff is done and i will be able to minimize my time out there soon. i also finished bending the sides (i’m quite proud of the results!) so that piece of temperature intensive work is all done. important note: don’t use an electric heat gun as a part of your bending iron. go propane all the way. that solved all of my problems. also, work with wet hands so that you can hear your finger touching the pipe before you feel it. that is solid advice.

with all of this done, i’m down to carving the neck. i’m going to do it spanish-style. that is to say, the neck goes through the sides without any dovetail joint or bolts. the difficulty and time traded around works in favor of my current skill set, so that’s my plan. of course i will post pictures as i get there.

also, Classical Guitar Making: A Modern Approach to Traditional Design by John Bogdanovich is brilliant. it’s an excellent companion to the Cumpaino book that every guitar builder has somewhere. brilliant pictures and some really nice prose on the art of building as well as the craft. i know i have found it useful. it bounced me to A Cabinetmaker’s Notebook by James Krenov which should be required reading for anyone who does any creative work. great stuff there.

next week i will be back with a sketch and maybe some good pictures of a guitar that looks like something. i have never done any real finishing so this will be an adventure.

when nothing gets done

Posted by on April 2, 2009 No comments

what do i have this week sketch-wise? nothing. my germ incubator son gave me the crud and i’ve been in bed before 9 pm most nights this week. i doubt that tonight will be an exception to that despite my recent turn in the general direction of the road that might lead to recovery.

i feel like crap.

i will double up my efforts this weekend and maybe get out a sketch and plenty of work on the new guitar. not holding my breath mind you, but i’m going to get a pile of stuff done. just like i talked about for a thousand or so words in my last post. yeah. that looks good.

more soon…