I figured it was time for at least some kind of update from me. There wouldn't be much point in my getting Twitter...heck, I'm lucky to check in once a month with a blog sometimes, let alone doing multiple daily updates on my goings-on!
I'm still hammering away at new material. I have over twenty new songs recorded, but as I told a friend in a recent email, they're kind of scattered stylistically...so much so that I think they wouldn't all hang together on one album so well. What I've finally latched onto as the direction for this album is the more electronic, synth-heavy side of what I've been doing. So, I'll take what I feel are the best of the tracks I've done that fall into that category, record a few more and, with luck, finally wrap it all up by the end of the year. That's the plan and I need to stick to it - it's been WAY too long since I put an album out. After all this time immersed in recording, I'm almost looking forward to the change of pace of working on things like the graphic design, shooting a video, etc.
For those interested in the techno-geek side of things (my standard disclaimer, since I know some just like to listen to music and don't care that much about the "making-of" details), I've made some major changes and additions to the tool box (and no, I'm not talking about that gay bar in Toronto that shut down a few years ago, LOL).

I just switched to Reaper as my main recording software. I had been using Sonar for most of this project, but Sonar has not been entirely stable on my system and I got tired of the quirks. Reaper seems more efficient and less problematic so far and is enabling me to use my software synthesizers more effectively with less glitches. Spectrasonics Omnisphere was always problematic for me in Sonar, but in Reaper, it runs like a top. It's a great synth that's being used in film soundtracks like "Terminator: Salvation" and "District 9," and now I can finally use it properly myself. Another fairly exciting addition is Synth Squad from fxpansion, a collection of synths that more accurately model the sound of classic analog hardware than probably anything thus far has managed to do. I've now pretty much settled into a lineup of stuff that works for me (finally) and can just focus on writing and recording and getting this project finished.
Aside from working on music, I've also just started enjoying watching the series thirtysomething on DVD. I loved that show when it ran originally, even though I was in my teens rather than my thirties when it first aired. I don't think I ever really was a teen in the sense that most go through it - I was more serious-minded and maybe a bit of an "old soul" even then, so the more gritty, real-life stuff the characters were grappling with was much more interesting to me than the kind of entertainment fare most teenagers gravitate towards. Now, being a thirtysomething myself all these years later and having more experience with the dynamics of relationships, I can appreciate the show all the more.
Guess I'd better get back to recording and get a bit more done before Scott gets home at 5:00. We're going to the casino after dinner...which basically means I'll probably sit there sipping a Coke and reading a book or something while he gambles (I can honestly say gambling has never interested me in the slightest). It's fun for him, though, and he needs to get out of here for a few hours and enjoy himself.
Catch y'all later...have exciting fun day!
DV







