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Any Cool Plans for Your Enforced Vacation Time?


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I know quite a few people who have time on their hands, and they're digging it...as long as the living expenses hold out, of course. But they're also finding living doesn't have to be quite as expensive as they thought.

 

What happens when telecommuting becomes the norm, and people find out they don't have to spend two hours in traffic sniffing exhaust? Will the lessons learned from this virus thing change the American "live to work" attitude into a more European "work to live"?

 

Having conferences and public speaking engagements put on hold has opened up some unexpected time for me...can't say that I mind, other than the financial hit. I'm finally going to be able to finish some products for my reverb.com microsite.

 

I'm curious...what are y'all going to go with any extra time that comes your way due to the current crazy circumstances?

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Just wait until the Robots and 3D printing get going here in America.

Recent advancements in both are going to make it viable to let people go home and not come back.

Glad I am old!!!

 

Currently tieing up loose ends. Will start posting and selling very soon.

 

I've downloaded another Metapop remix competition, this time to play with Physion and some other plugins that I haven't used much. Plus I want to win NI Komplete Ultimate. :- D

 

Will be recording my own music and also am collaborating - that will get recorded too.

 

There is more than enough to do!!!!

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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Plus I want to win NI Komplete Ultimate. :- D

 

Yes, you do! Part of what I'll be doing is learning more about some of the aspects I haven't played with much. I also plan to become a master of the Acoustic Strum instrument - not because I don't know how to play guitar, but because it's almost like having another guitar player with a different style.

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I will be recording some videos and audio. I'm "retired" so it isn't much different EXCEPT I made the mistake of ordering a new piece of audio gear to MyDetroitAddress and now the border has been closed.

After almost 2 years, I'm finally getting serious with the MFX3. I'm starting to understand the Editing paradigm, a world where pull down menus are replaced by dedicated buttons and an LCD menus.

 

Dan

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The college kids are home again, this time as adults, with all the accompanying complexities and subtleties. Jam session with my son last night was sheer joy. Time with family is a gift in this otherwise tragic pandemic.
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With the banning of live music most of my income is gone, so there is not much I want to spend my reserves on. With the entire area pretty much shut down, there is no where to spend it anyway.

 

I'll be working on more aftermarket products for Band-in-a-Box. I've got 2 Style "Disks" done and Leilani and I are working on 3 Fake "Disks". As soon as they are finished, checked, double-checked, and triple-checked I'll make installation files, web pages, shopping cart code, and send an e-mail shot out to my customers. That should keep me pretty busy. Of course no income is generated until the mailshot goes out, and that will be in a month or two.

 

Leilani and I will still be playing music, but in our living room to keep our chops up. I'll be working on my guitar skills (it's my newest and 7th instrument).

 

We don't have TV (turned it off in the 1980s) but plenty of books.

 

I live on a xeriscaped half acre that I let run "controlled wild" with mostly native and long-established hardy vegetation. So I'll control the wild a bit.

 

I guess none of that is what most would consider cool, but not knowing when the income will return means I should be prudent. Plus I'm of the age and gender to be at a bigger risk than most so they advise me to stay home. But I have a very healthy constitution so I'm not overly concerned, just cautious.

 

I live in Florida, it's nice enough to keep the windows open, so I'll enjoy the cool, ocean breeze.

 

Insights and incites by Notes

Bob "Notes" Norton

Owner, Norton Music http://www.nortonmusic.com

Style and Fake disks for Band-in-a-Box

The Sophisticats http://www.s-cats.com >^. .^< >^. .^<

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Live music gigs with the band are cancelled but music is just a hobby so I don't depend on it for a living. Still have my day job as an engineer. Because I live in the boondocks there is no broadband service or DSL available so the only internet option is satellite and it doesn't facilitate working from home. Everyone else is working from home so I'm working out of the office and it's a ghost town here.

 

I certainly won't be traveling, even for personal trips except for supplies. I had been very busy the past four years with elder care with both parents; one passed away in September, so I have been hanging low at home recovering from burnout and I'm already adjusted to the self-isolation lifestyle. Since I'm in the boondocks I can venture out for fresh air and still practice social distancing.

 

I feel bad for many people out of work due to the crisis.

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I have lots of empty User Patches in various Synths & MFX, so if I did nothing else for the next few weeks, that would keep me occupied. I'd also picked up a Semi-Modular Synth for my birthday, and learning how to navigate that has been fun.

 

I was already planning a major overhaul of my own back yard and garden beds, so there's nothing to keep me from moving ahead on that.

 

I always have a stack of books at hand.

 

My "real" work is gardening and landscaping, so I can still get out to work without having to meet with my clients face-to-face, or really see anyone, so I'm very fortunate in that regard. I can have materials delivered, as needed, and just show up with my tools. It also means I get to be out in the sunlight, which isn't a bad thing.

 

My real conflict is trying to figure out how I can help friends and neighbors, without putting myself or others at risk? For now, staying home when I'm not working seems to be the best solution.

"Monsters are real, and Ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win." Stephen King

 

http://www.novparolo.com

 

https://thewinstonpsmithproject.bandcamp.com

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There's no vacation for me, the avionics company where I work as a tech marches on albeit with some company initiated safety measures and options. My wife, who does geriatric psychiatry, was already doing "tele-psych" from home two day a week with nursing home patients and is now doing more of her work from home as well. The gig we had scheduled for Saturday night has been cancelled of course but that only affects our own preconceived notion of a "gear and travel fund".

 

Bars and restaurants are likely suffering the most and we're trying our little bit to help by making carry out orders for our dinners. We have some neighbors that own a fancy restaurant downtown and they are getting hit hard.

 

I'll spend a lot of my free time continuing to work on my backing tracks, perhaps by the time we gig again I'll have enough done to justify taking that gear along.

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Bars and restaurants are likely suffering the most and we're trying our little bit to help by making carry out orders for our dinners. We have some neighbors that own a fancy restaurant downtown and they are getting hit hard.

 

This is becoming a thing in Nashville - people who still have incomes ordering carry out, so restaurants don't have to suffer too much. Great idea.

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I have more than about 30 linear feet of shelves filled with old magazines relating to audio and music - Mix, EQ, Electronic Musician, Sound on Sound, dB, R/EP, Recording, Resolution, AES Journal, Pro Audio Review, Audio Media, even a few issues of Device and Polyphony and house mags like the Roland and Korg User Group publications. I really need to get rid of them even though it's fun to read what was hot 40 or 50 years ago. I've been pulling small handfuls at random, putting them in the porcelain-seated reading rooms and thumbing through them in the hope that I'll get inspired to try something old, build something old, or write a new article about something old. I think that by the time I'm about 125 years old, I should be through most of them.

 

Anybody want some? Free for Media Mail postage.

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I have more than about 30 linear feet of shelves filled with old magazines relating to audio and music - Mix, EQ, Electronic Musician, Sound on Sound, dB, R/EP, Recording, Resolution, AES Journal, Pro Audio Review, Audio Media, even a few issues of Device and Polyphony and house mags like the Roland and Korg User Group publications. I really need to get rid of them even though it's fun to read what was hot 40 or 50 years ago. I've been pulling small handfuls at random, putting them in the porcelain-seated reading rooms and thumbing through them in the hope that I'll get inspired to try something old, build something old, or write a new article about something old. I think that by the time I'm about 125 years old, I should be through most of them.

 

Anybody want some? Free for Media Mail postage.

 

A couple years ago I had to figure out what to do with 25 years worth of guitar and keyboard magazines. I found a place called One Dollar Scan (1dollarscan.com) based in San Jose. I started with the $15 a month plan but later pumped it up to the $100 a month plan to get it done. They scanned all those magazines into PDF files and discarded the original mags. Now I have a valuable collection that fits on a thumb drive, is easily searchable and will suffer no more rot or decay. It costs a bit of money but for me it was totally worth it.

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A couple years ago I had to figure out what to do with 25 years worth of guitar and keyboard magazines. I found a place called One Dollar Scan (1dollarscan.com) based in San Jose. I started with the $15 a month plan but later pumped it up to the $100 a month plan to get it done.

 

The magazines that I have and most care about, Recording Engineer/Producer, Studio Sound, and dB are pretty much all archived as PDFs at https://www.americanradiohistory.com

 

A lot of interesting stuff there. Good reading while you're confined to the house.

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Some of my freethinker friends and I often attend a local open mic night - which of course was cancelled. One of us dreamed up an open mic FacTime withing our little clic. So we did it last night. Four of us played for the others, one at a time. The audio quality was bad, but it was a social connection. We enjoyed it. This coming Sunday we have a monthly coffee meetup that's going to be done on Zoom this coming Sunday.

 

As for my normal Saturday morning chess meetup with my friend. I suggested we meet at a local wooded park (Mead Gardens Winter Park FL) with portable chairs and sit a suitable distance and have a chat.

 

My normal gigs are playing for old folks in ALFs. Fortunately for me I'm retired and it's extra income. Another guy I know is 68 and makes very little Soc Sec income from his lifetime of gigging. The ALFs are a huge part of his living.

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I've been hired to record an album.

 

A good friend who has done very well in life is financing it.

The singer/songwriter is very talented, she has a great voice, a unique style and her lyrics are compact and impactful.

She is a solid guitarist in her own right, excellent timing and tone. Not a fancy player but her parts serve her songs well and that is more important.

 

She has heard me playing live and indicated she would like to work with me some time ago.

 

This just fell into place at exactly the right time, the work and income are most welcome.

Bonus being I can get familiar with my new toys while staying in Engineer mode and have tangible results.

 

It is just all kinds of win and I am grateful for the opportunity.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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I've worked at home for the past 25 years give or take, so not much is different for me. We cook all the time anyway - kids are long on their own - I can spend all day reading and listening/studying/playing/composing music no problem. But in reality, I'm working as usual.

 

My biggest challenge is not being able to go to the gym. Gotta rebuild a new routine with some weights at home. And how to get decent aerobic exercise (can't run or fast-walk on the street due to foot issues...). Don't want to have to buy a treadmill or excercise bike, when, hopefully, this will all blow over in some unknown stretch of months....

 

nat

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I've worked at home for the past 25 years give or take, so not much is different for me. We cook all the time anyway - kids are long on their own - I can spend all day reading and listening/studying/playing/composing music no problem. But in reality, I'm working as usual.

 

My biggest challenge is not being able to go to the gym. Gotta rebuild a new routine with some weights at home. And how to get decent aerobic exercise (can't run or fast-walk on the street due to foot issues...). Don't want to have to buy a treadmill or excercise bike, when, hopefully, this will all blow over in some unknown stretch of months....

 

nat

 

I found a nearly unused Schwinn Aerdyne at Salvation Army for $35. Like you, I have ankle problems. This is low stress and works both upper and lower body. It is a bit noisy, I just pop full ear headphones on, fire up the iTunes and chug away. There is always lots of excellent exercise equipment for cheap at thrift stores. It's bulky and they want it gone so they price it low. Hope this helps! Cheers, Kuru

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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I could use the issues of Device, let me know if you want to get rid of them. Mostly I need the stuff about the AMS-100 analog-based guitar synthesizer.

 

Oy! Now you've chased me down a rabbit hole. That stuff is really interesting reading. I have only 3 issues of Device, numbers 10, 11, and 12. The AMS-100 article in one of those issues is "Multiples" - a box of jacks and switches, but the other issues have your Rhythm Generator and Pluck Follower (don't say that one too fast).

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I found a nearly unused Schwinn Aerdyne at Salvation Army for $35. Like you, I have ankle problems. This is low stress and works both upper and lower body. It is a bit noisy, I just pop full ear headphones on, fire up the iTunes and chug away. There is always lots of excellent exercise equipment for cheap at thrift stores. It's bulky and they want it gone so they price it low. Hope this helps! Cheers, Kuru

 

Ok, about 2o minutes after this, I get an email from eBay:

 

 

"Need home gym equipment, home office, or workout gear?"

 

Sheesh....

 

nat

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Another find in the dead magazine dept. with a life beyond dead trees.

 

They have lovingly preserved some issues of the UK magazine Recording Musician here:

 

http://www.muzines.co.uk/mags/rm

 

I was not aware of the magazine when they were publishing. I found it this week after a chance hearing of Sting's "If I Ever Lose my Faith in You."

 

Of course the lyrics are a pretty good choice for this week, but I went looking because I was very curious about the drums.

 

http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/sting-and-hugh-padgham/3116

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You using your cell phone for interwebz?

I don't, ever.

 

Google for searches?

Switched to DuckDuckGo, far less invasive.

 

No ad blockers?

I forget which one I am using but once i a while a website makes it a condition of visiting that I disable it. No, buh-bye.

 

Pretty peaceful round these parts, sorry about the Insta-Spam.

They probably know your shoe size and what your favorite fast food is too...

Yikes!!! Cheers, Kuru

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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