Monday

02005-08-01 | Uncategorized | 10 comments

On Saturday I started working on Silence: No More Longing (link leads to a LIVE recording). I identified 5 sections. The piece starts with section A, which flows without a strong rhythm. When that ends with the Bm chord and the hammer-ons, a 4/4 section B starts. I will play section B to a click track in order to make it feel more solid, like a plateau or mesa, and because I want Jon to play a bass melody over it. No percussion. Section C follows, which is mostly a repeat of section A but with some additional lines and rasguados. The last sections will be played to a click again. Section D is in 4/4 and will again have Jon playing a bass melody over the guitar tremolos. Section E will be the beginning of the percussion. It starts out in 6/8, then moves into 12/8 (Bulerias) and returns to 6/8. The section ends with the Bm chord and the hammer-ons and is followed by the last chord, an Emaj9, which is played out of time/rhythm.

I played the piece quite well, but discovered that I did not have enough gain on the mic and started over with a new setting on the mic-preamp. I finished recording section A and stopped after that because something was wrong with the index nail of my right hand. Spent some more time in the studio figuring out the tempi for a new Bulerias – we started playing the beginning of it as a new intro for Duende del Amor on this last tour.

Boris mentioned that Germans don’t use credit cards very much – they don’t know what they are missing – and indeed in Europe the LL has sold tracks to folks in England, Switzerland and Italy, but not one person in Germany. It is truly satisfying that people in India, Australia, Czechoslovakia, the Philippines, Mexico, Ecuador, and of course Canada have downloaded music. I know in my heart that this is the way I want to be delivering my music. It may take a few years to establish our LL, and that’s OK because I am in it for he long haul. I am confident that Up Close, the album I am currently working on, will be my best music ever. I don’t feel I have come close to the zenith of my creativity. Now, accessability and popularity may not coincide with what I might feel to be my best work, but those are elements I don’t have control over. What I do control are my guitar playing, my compositions/productions and the delivery of my music via the ListeningLounge – everything else is more or less out of my control and therefore not to be overly concerned about.

Sometimes it feels strange to devide thoughts between this Diary and my Journal for Integral Naked. Eventually I should find a way to add all of those I-N posts to this Diary.

Lovely morning. Spanish Market is behind us and the city should be a little less crowded today. Lunch with Canton, to celebrate the launch of the LL.

I heard that Santa Fe is the number one travel destination in the world this year.

Last thought for this morning: I haven’t set foot in a mall, except for when we are on tour, in years. I prefer ordering online to dealing with incapable sales people who have no information to offer and who often don’t even know where what I want is to be found. Assuming that there are many people who do same, I wonder what will happen to malls across America. How will they change? Will some morph by adding residential living spaces?

10 Comments

  1. Malik Derendinger

    About that credit card and germans thing. I watched a few tv documentations about payment with c-cards on internet a while ago. And well, their opinion seems to be, that it is still very insecure and if you use it too regular, its just a matter of time ’till you get robbed… only one hysteria more if you ask me.

    PS: I’m the one from Switzerand ;)

    Reply
  2. keats79

    Europe as a whole is quite averse to borrowing money. Credit card usage is seen as a close cousin to borrowing.

    Reply
  3. Victor

    About the future of retail… In many places already you can easily subsist without ever leaving your house – even groceries are available by Internet.

    I think a lot of people still like the “touch and feel” experience of shopping for some things, but even that will give way as we get more used to virtual shopping. Maybe there will still be showrooms for certain things. Seems like there must be big growth in shipping and delivery on the horizon!

    Reply
  4. keats79

    If the regular AIFF is too large is that based on time or number of tracks for the song? What is the relation between tracks mixed and AIFF size? What does AIFF-C or AIFC do to the size? Is there a standard bit rate for the MP3 files you are offering i.e. do we have to have 128 or can we go to 256?

    Reply
  5. keats79

    I saw the answer to the last question. No need to answer that one. Sorry, thought I had deleted that. The question I added was; Does my iPod use the extra frequency of the 320 and when I import it using the AAC what is my optimum bit rate?

    Reply
  6. Ottmar

    We don’t sell AIFF files when the AIFF file for a song goes over 100MB. In that case one can download the 320kbps mp3. We also do this for all LIVE recordings. We do not sell AIFF-C, which is a compressed version of the AIFF file. We sell straight, uncompressed AIFF files – as you would find on a CD. Compression will obviously make the file smaller. If you would like to compress our AIFF files, you will find that there is software available for you to do that with. Lastly, why would you convert an LAME encoded mp3 file at 320kbps to a AAC file. What advantage would you gain by that? Mp3 files at 320kbps sound great on an iPod.

    Reply
  7. Borya

    Some people might be frightened to the extent of being hysteric, yes, but I think in general it’s simply that we have dealt with other means which are working pretty well. Change may be good but no need to enforce it … hysterically, I’m tempted to say. A friend from France has told me recently that the normal French is convinced that what the French do is best and they can’t understand why the rest of the world is not doing it the same way. I fear a bit mentioning the French here but this attitude is the same as the Americans have and the Germans a long time had (and partly still have). So a change of habitude as the increased use of credit cards may come – or not because it will be overtaken by another method of payment. For the moment, when I’m out on the street, I don’t see it coming with the speed that maybe needed. It may be fast enough for Ottmar to get his efforts paid, though.

    Btw, another example I can give you is that PayTV is not selling at all in Germany.

    keats79 has made a point too concerning the use of cc, imo …

    There will be at least one German soon having used a cc purchasing files out of the LL. Please notice that in the meantime – while watching what and how many files you put up – last weekend I placed an order for some conventional CDs in your store. :)

    Oh, and you might like to read that there has been an informal agreement among some Fanmencos that there will never be an exchange of files you put on sale in the LL. Those who don’t download – as I so far – have that way decided not to get the tracks at all (for the time being). Hey, we are reliable and trustable!

    Reply
  8. keats79

    OK, I would convert a file because it is the default setting for iPod importing = ignorance. Also the music I bought before through the iTunes store was 128 AAC so I thought that should be a good place to start.

    I guess I should re-import all your music at 320 now that I have changed the defaults.

    Hey when I did radio in college I had the analog wired :)! With more choices comes the need for education. I used to just buy the CD’s but I despise the jewel cases that break and all the freaking packaging!

    Reply
  9. Ottmar

    Hola keats79! Trust me, a 320kbps LAME mp3 file kicks a 128kbps AAC file’s ass!! You will hear the very obvious difference.

    Reply
  10. Wendy

    Interesting thought, you mentioned about the division of IN Journals and your diary. In a way they are two separte worlds and they overlap in the middle somewhere…I don’t know, one goes into the expansion of things and the other goes into the essence.

    Reply

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