Samuel Beckett

Samuel Beckett died twenty years ago today. I didn't read waiting for Godot until the summer of 1993. I taught it for the first time this year. None of this really matters.

Live Soundtrack for Nosferatu

My electroacoustic music duo will be doing a benefit soon; here are the highlights from the press release:

The Rosendale Food Pantry will be hosting a benefit concert on the night of November 20th, featuring the haunting music of Broomhead/Snyder. The artists will perform a live, electronic improvised soundtrack for the classic silent horror film Nosferatu.

The fundraiser will take place at the Rosendale Recreation Center on Rt. 32 in Rosendale, NY 12472 at 8 pm.

Tickets prices for adults are only $10 and children are free. As always, the Rosendale Food Pantry greatly appreciates any non-perishable food donations as well.

Tickets are available from Brown Paper Tickets.

Nudge Audio Tool

Check out Nudge, the new audio tool from Hobnox
inudge.net/inudge#/2l7

Korg Wavedrum WD-X

It seems that Korg is going to release a new Wavedrum. Hopefully, it will be available in the U.S.

Here's a website with pictures, video, and translated text: http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.miroc.co.jp%2Fmagazine%2Farchives%2F6765&sl=ja&tl=en&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

Since I don't understand Japanese, I don't know what the presenter was talking about in the video. However, judging from what he did with it, it appears that there's now a velocity sensitive rim trigger, along with the pressure and position-sensitive drumhead. According to the text, the sound engine might have elements of physical modelling, but I'm not sure. That said, I'm not sure how one edits sounds on it. The interface appears minimal, with only a few buttons, so it may require an editor. I don't know how that would work, because although outputs and power connections are labeled, I don't see any sign of a MIDI or USB port.

I'm really looking forward to finding out more about this instrument. I've only seen the original wavedrum used once, and I was less than impressed. I actually prefer my own Roland HPD-10 Handsonic, which is currently my favorite piece of music gear. If the new wavedrum is impressive, though, I would definitely consider it as a sister instrument to the Handsonic.

Here's the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHxERq4hWfI



(By the way, I like the fact that the intro music in the video is the same music used on the morning announcements in my school.)

Comic Book Club

When I was a kid, I used to go to a comic/baseball card shop called TJ's. I was a member of their comic book club, which meant that each week I went in the shop, I would have a green plastic bag waiting for me with the new issues of the books I read regularly. If I bought the books in the bag, I received (I think) ten percent off. I loved it.

This lasted for a while, until "TJ" dicontinued the club so he could make more money. Soon after the club stopped, my comic book reading did, too. It's funny, but I have fond memories of picking up my new issues of The Uncanny X-Men, New Mutants, and Wolverine, among other things.

When I was in middle school, it was cool to wear Skids(z?), Umbro shorts, and Z-Cavariccis while listening to Vanilla Ice. It was not cool to read comic books. But I'm pretty sure the comics in my parents' attic are worth more than a twenty year old pair of Cavariccis.

One Sentence

I love being a dad!

I Love Poughkeepsie Two

We had a great experience driving past the Price Chopper today. We saw a van waiting to pull out onto Route 9. Driving the van was a man with a long white beard, a red shirt... and a red Santa Claus cap.