Life and studio update :-)

Oooops, I did it again - several months since the last bloggy posty thing.

Seriously though, where does the time go? Blink and six months have gone by, just like that that!!!

Anyways, on with the life/studio update ramblings.

I have finally started my work-related diploma course and it's already proving an interesting experience. I'm not really into the idea of discussing what I do for a living because of it's nature, but I'm now okay with saying that, away from making music and taking photographs, I work in the funeral industry. It's a truly amazing way of life and what I do provides me with something I have never really known throughout my adult life to date - job satisfaction. My work is predominantly behind the scenes and as such, it's simply not appropriate for me to go into any details, but I can you that it is incredibly rewarding and I genuinely wish I'd discovered this work thirty years ago. The diploma I am going for will, in the event that I pass all the exams, provide me with a specialised professional qualification and membership of a related institution. I said earlier that it's proving to be something of an interesting experience and that's because this is the first real serious academic learning I have done in nearly 37 years. I'm nearly 54 years old and to be quite honest, it's proving something of a challenge. But I am starting to make head way now as tonight I realised that the reading I've been doing for the last week is now actually staying put in my poor old addled brain. Names, dates and events are the key things for the first module and I struggle to remember what I had for lunch yesterday!!! But, progress is now starting to happen and it's encouraging and a bit of a fucking relief :-D

And the studio update. Yep, more gear. And I am now officially broke, but, I've got some cool little toys ;-)

Added since the last update are the following hardware:

Bastl Kastle digital semi-modular synthesizer

Korg Minilogue analogue synthesizer

Korg Volca Modular synthesizer (based on West Coast style synthesis)

ESI Audio M8u eX 16-port MIDI interface

And software-wise:

Native Instruments Komplete 12 Ultimate

Arturia V Collection 7

iZotope Insight 2 audio analysis suite

Eventide H3000 Factory multi-effects

Eventide Instant Flanger Mk II

Eventide Instant Phaser Mk II

Softube Mutronics Mutator filter

Plugin Alliance bx_masterdesk mastering plugin

I'll expand on the hardware additions in the next blog, with pics and maybe some video, but no promises on that last one.

So, that's it for now. Not much to report as such because my studies are basically now starting to envelope my spare time more and more, but it will definitely be worth it :-)

My new GTK33 Studio!!!

Be warned, this is a loooooong bloggy posty!!!

So in my last bloggy thing, I alluded to an influx of hardware into my . Well I thought for this bloggy posty thingy I would expand upon the hardware thing, with a run down of what's now residing in my wee music making room and a few pics of the set up.

As the studio has had such an impacting level of change, I thought I might update the name a bit - I guess the title of this posting gave it away, but hey, GTK33 Studio is the new handle. I'm nothing if not original......

Now, to be clear, I haven't abandoned software in favour of hardware, no, I have not become a tiresome "only hardware for me" bore, in fact, far from it. Over the last year I have invested heavily into the best I could get so that my production side is now completely "in the box", and the greater part of my recordings will remain software synthesizers - no end of hardware synths will replace the likes of Spectrasonics Omnisphere 2 or ReFX Nexus²!!!

Anyway, digressing. The move to bringing back hardware was in part due to undertaking a course of study relating to my day job - the very nature of my work and studies are quite intense on many levels, so I wanted to be able to do something practical in my downtime from work and study that would help me take my mind away from that part of my life. Small form synthesizers were the order of the day.

I now have twelve hardware synths living in my studio, along with relevant audio and digital interfaces. There is a mix of companies, but the main two are Korg and Behringer. So without further ado, here we go:

KORG MS-20 MINI:

The Korg MS-20 Mini synthesizer is a 2-oscillator semi-modular monophonic unit. It has both hi-pass and low-pass filters, each with their own resonance controls. It also has a patch bay for extended modulation purposes. The MS-20 Mini can hold it's with the biggest of them all with it's growling basses, snarling leads and filters that scream like a bitch. It's got huge playability despite slim keys (I personally have absolutely no issue with either slim or mini keys, but a lot of people do seem to cry about it - hum-ho) and I totally adore it's filth, it's grit and it's rawness. I've been wanting an MS-20 since I was 13 years old - 40 years on, I've got one. Moving on......

KORG MONOLOGUE:

The Korg Monologue is a 2-oscillator fixed-architecture monophonic synthesizer, with built-in effects and a 16-step on-board sequencer. As with the MS-20 Mini synthesizer, it has the slim keys (see previous comments about said slim keys) and whilst it might look a basic unit, it appearance belies a powerful sound. It's a very playable machine, it wants to be tweaked and it gives much in return. I was a little hesitant when the salesman in my local PMT store recommended it, but 5 minutes playing it convinced me I needed this little beastie.

KORG MICROKORG:

The Korg microKORG synthesizer is a 4-note polyphonic analogue-modelled affair that has been around since 2002 and shows no sign of falling out of favour or indeed, showing its age!!! Alongside a very respectable sound engine, it can also serve as a vocoder, providing some fantastic electronic voices from robotic to android choirs. It has mini keys, however, any decent keyboardist can work round this. For more involved keyboardisting I simply control it using my Novation ReMOTE 61 SL MIDI keyboard controller. And that vocoder...…!!!

KORG 05R/W:

Another Korg, this time we have a real oldie but seriously good goodie in the shape of the half-rack sized Korg 05R/W digital synthesizer module, based on the Korg 01/W series that uses AI synthesis. The 05R/W contains 340 multi-sampled waveforms, 8-part multi-timbral, 164 drum sounds and the presence of GM (General MIDI) is strongly felt. The 05R/W also has a very effective and superb sounding (considering the time it was made!!!) multi-effect processor that allows up to four simultaneous effects. Another fab addition to this little unit is the alternative tuning scales facility - this allows for Arabic, Werkmeister and Indonesian scales as well as the usual equal-tempered alongside the capability to create and store your own!!!

KORG VOLCA BASS and VOLCA KEYS:

Again, a pair of small form synthesizers that, on first encounters, look like a couple of toys. They are most definitely NOT toys. Built-in sequencers (pitch and motion), impressive filters, MIDI IN and able to sync to the Monologue and the MS-20 Mini as well as to each other, these little units are veritable powerhouses. The membrane touch keyboard can be overcome by controlling from a MIDI keyboard and when fed through studio monitors, they shine brightly. I have the Volcas connected to the system via MIDI and mainly use them for sequencing duties, for which they are more than capable.

ARTURIA MICROBRUTE:

Another small form synthesizer, again with mini keys, only one oscillator and tiny in size, but by golly this little synth has got some seriously hairy bollocks!!! And it has a built-in sequencer. And it has a mini patch bay for CV/gate control as well as CV/gate outputs on the back. It can go from cold and metallic to soft and gentle to aggressive and harsh. I have to say that I was blown away by this little unit. Like the Korg Monologue (to which the Microbrute is a perfect partner), this little synth is very playable and just loves to be tweaked. Coupled with the CV/gate options, it's a very flexible bit of kit and is an awesome component in a semi-modular set up - I 've already had plenty of sleepless nights patching and tweaking the Microbrute with the Neutron, System-1m, MS-20 Mini and Model D.

BEHRINGER MODEL D:

You may have seen a fair bit of comment across the Internet about this little Eurorack-sized piece of equipment. What Behringer has provided here is a small form "clone" of the legendary Moog Minimoog synthesizer, that has proven both divisive and achieved much acclaim at the same time. It's Eurorack-compatible and Eurorack-sized, but it punches well above it's weight and it's sound dominates much like it's inspiration. The leads cut like a knife, the bottom makes yer trouser bottoms flap and it's filters are bordering on orgasmic. This is a veritable wolf in sheep's clothing, it's perverse, it's filthy and I fucking love it!!!

BEHRINGER NEUTRON:

A second Eurorack-sized synthesizer from Behringer, the Neutron is a monophonic 2-oscillator semi-modular analogue unit with dual 3340 VCOs, a multi-mode VCF, two ADSRs, as well as a BBD Delay and overdrive circuit and, get this, a 56-point patch bay. It's had a very positive response since its release in 2018 and with good reason. It's a stonking piece kit. Coupled up to the Arturia MicroBrute, the Behringer Model D, the Korg MS-20 Mini and the Roland System-1m, you have an awful lot of patching capabilities for endless hours of sonic mayhem and creation.

ROLAND SYSTEM-1m:

The Roland System-1m is a keyboardless Eurorack-sized version of their System-1 synthesizer, lacking the arpeggiator and control wheels of the latter but instead enjoying CV/GATE patch points. As well as being a 2-oscillator, 4-note polyphonic virtual analogue synthesizer, it is also capable of hosting and controlling several of Roland's AIRA Plugout synthesizers, such as the Promars, SH-2 and SH--101. It is able to conjure up a multitude of sounds ranging from dreamy pads and sparkling plucks to raw metallic lead and fierce basses. And those lights!!!

IK MULTIMEDIA UNO:

The diminutive 2-oscillator UNO synthesizer from Italian music gear manufacturer IK Multimedia is a curious little thing. It's small, very light in weight and really quite plasticky. I bought it pretty much on a whim as I had heard it in action at the 2018 SynthFest in Sheffield. When it arrived, I wasn't sure that I had spent money wisely as the build is not and it's very finicky when hooked up the computer. In fact, whilst trying desperately to update its firmware and get its app to work I was fast reaching the decision for sell it on. It really was too much trouble and had it not been for my chum and fellow synth enthusiast Rob Puricelli (of "Failed Muso" blog fame), it would have gone. And am I glad he guided me through the darkest waters of the UNO's reluctant updating procedures because this is one synth that is not a book to be judged by its cover.

MODAL ELECTRONICS CRAFTSYNTH:

Okay, the CRAFTsynth from U.K. synth company Modal Electronics is not a recent purchase as I bought mine in the Summer of 2017. But I include it here because it's seeing a new lease of life since the arrival of the new hardware. It's a very cool digital monophonic synthesizer which has some amazing features for it's size that you might only find on more expensive synths. The CRAFTsynth has two oscillators with sine, triangle, sawtooth, PWM, Noise and FM, as well as an LFO with six destinations that include VCA amplitude, filter cutoff and PWM. As with the Korg Volcas and IK Multimedia UNO synths, don't let yourself be fooled by size, this little unit can kick some serious arse (sorry/not sorry it's "ass" - I'm English, not American).

DIGITECH VOCALIST II:

Now, I love vocoders. No, I really do. I was VERY satisfied by the Korg microKORG, but I still had a hankering after the Vocalist II from U.S. company, Digitech. I had one a few years ago and I really enjoyed using it, but the desire for a more software based studio saw it go. Anywho, I just got one for an absolute steal on evilBay and no postage costs wither because the seller was in my home city of Norwich!!! Love a bonus. Anyway, I digresss. The Vocalist II is not a new machine. Nope. It was originally released in 1993 and found favour with one of my musical idols and inspirations, John Foxx. It's basically a pitch shifter that can do the traditional vocoder thing, but it's more immediate strengths lie in it's capapbility to provide you with 5-part harmonies, played from a MIDI keyboard or sequenced from  a DAW via MIDI. It's a bit of a challenge to program at times, but the results are more than worth the effort.

BEHRINGER UMC1820 8-CHANNEL AUDIO INTERFACE:

I've been using a terrific little Mackie Onyx Blackjack 2-channel audio interface for the couple of years. It's sturdy, stable and reliable as well as sounding great. However, the advent of hardware synthesizers saw my needing more audio inputs into my computer and so I opted for the Behringer UMC1820 audio interface. This gives me eight separate audio input channels so that each input (I.ie. hardware synthesizer) has it's own track and can be both recorded simultaneously with and processed separately from the other hardware synthesizers. It also has MIDI IN and OUT, as well ADAT connections. The eight inputs are combined XLR and line in sockets, and each input has a MIDAS preamp.

BEHRINGER ADA8200 DIGITAL INTERFACE:

So, the Behringer UMC1820 audio interface has eight inputs. I have twelve synths and a mic. Doesn't add up does it. No. I really needed more inputs so the best way forward was add the ADA8200 digital interface to the equation. The ADA8200 (the unit with the red, blue and yellow leads coming out of it), which is connected the UMC1820 via an ADAT connection, basically gives me another eight audio inputs, taking the total number of audio inputs to sixteen. Each input has both XLR and line inputs as well as MIDAS preamps. It was a breeze to set up, hitting the ground running as soon as it was connected and switched on - within a half hour, I was running seven synthesizers, sequenced from Reaper on my computer. The UMC1820/ADA8200 combination is quite a formidable one for the home project studio, and I'm very much looking forward to the expanded possibilities these two units will offer me.

So there you have it, the run-down on the current state of hardware affairs in the GTK33 Studio. It's a nice little collection of synths, both digital and (predominantly) analogue, that give me the option of a multitude of sonic possibilities, and as a whole, they are a cool addition to the many software synths I already have at my disposal. When I have some time (hopefully soon!!!), I'll be sorting a run-down of the studio software - now that'll be a long'un!!!

End of year blog-thing......

You know, I really have no idea where this last twelve months have gone. I feel that I have just blinked and WHOOOSH, it's mid-December!!!

So much has happened in 2018 and it has certainly been a year of unexpected change and altered directions in many of the different parts of my life.

The "day job" has been quite eventful, all in a good way. I've moved to a different aspect of the work and  I have to say that I genuinely love it. I am fortunate as I wake each morning with no feeling of dread for the day ahead, my colleagues are generally decent people and the work is both fascinating and fulfilling. The shift to a different aspect of the job will, hopefully, lead me to a professional qualification and a skill set that is quite unique and definitely unusual, but the level of satisfaction will, I already know, be high. This change to the work side of life has had a pronounced effect on other areas of my existence on this blue marble, mainly the photography and music sides - in January of this year, I had a pathway set out that would have seen me upping my game on both these things, particularly photography. However, both the scale of my work and the new directions that were put my way enabled me to review everything long-term, and it was very clear that the opportunity to study for a work-related qualification was too good opportunity to pass by, plus it is something that I have been wanting to do foe quite some time.

Okay, so basically, work has really dominated my plans this year, but that doesn't mean I haven't been able or willing to do some of the photo/music things. No. Back in June I released a collection of left-field electronic pieces in n album called "Loom of Light". It's not done badly considering it's rather limited appeal and I'm more than happy with the responses to it. I've also had one or two trips out with the cameras, but I do feel that maybe my concert photography is now pretty much dormant. I'm okay with that.

My little GTK2 Studio has seen some pretty significant change as well. I've got hardware again. Actually, I've got quite a bit of hardware. And that's meant changes to the studio in terms of audio interfaces, organisation of the studio and actual set up. Here's a list of the new gear now sitting in my little room:

Arturia Microbrute analogue synthesizer

Behringer Model D analogue synthesizer

Behringer Neutron semi-modular analogue synthesizer

Behringer UMC1820 multi-channel audio interface

IK Multimedia UNO analogue synthesizer

Korg Monologue analogue synthesizer

Korg MS-20 Mini analogue synthesizer

Korg Volca Bass analogue synthesizer

Korg Volca Keys analogue synthesizer

M-Audio MIDISPORT 4x4 MIDI interface

Roland System-1m synthesizer

Yeah, nine synths, a MIDI interface and a new audio interface.

I'll do a post that goes into a little more detail about the new gear soon, along with some photos. Now, I've always been a big advocate of "in the box" recording and production, and that hasn't changed. I bought the hardware as an electronic music system that I can go to when I'm having down time from work - my job is very intense both physically and psychologically, therefore, when neither studying or working, I wanted something that I could just go to and make a lot of different noises with to help me relax and shift my focus away from what I do. And make different noises this lot certainly can - it's been quite fun twiddling knobs and shifting sliders.

Alongside this I've been working on a new version of my first album "The Garden", which was released under the name Geigertek through U.K. instrumental music label AD Music. The publishing contract reached it's ten year point back in August and I took the option to take back the rights to the album as I wanted to several things with the music. The biggest thing has been to completely re-record it. Using data files and audio stems that I still had (and didn't lose when a hard drive died on me a year or two ago!!!) , I reconstructed the tracks in Reaper 5 and set about applying new synths and effects to bring the album up to date and give it a little more weight and depth. I'm hoping to release the album, which has been renamed as "The Garden Revisited" (I'm nothing if not original huh?), very soon as a download on my Bandcamp microsite.

Along with "The Garden", I have also been given back the rights to two other releases, "The Timeless Mind" and "Endless Night E.P." as well. "The Timeless Mind" is also going to have the "redux" treatment (might even use some of the new hardware!!!) and tracks from "Endless Night E.P." will see new life on "The Splendour Cascade" project (four out of the six tracks were originally written during the same time period as the other proposed tracks for this album).

Hopefully, it won't be another five months before my next bloggy-posty-thingy :-)

New studio toy......

After a fair bit of deliberation, picture gazing and review reading, today I finally bit the bullet and bought a rather cool little gizmo at my local PMT called Faderport, made by U.S. music gear manufacturer PreSonus.

Did I say it was a rather cool little gizmo - I lied - it's a seriously cool piece of kit. I've had it for nigh on 4 hours and I completely love it already!!!

Okay, I'll stop the gushing.

It's a MIDI control surface whose principle function is to control your DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), plain and simple. And I think that's why it is so good, it's plain and simple. Apart from 5 buttons out of 24, it's pretty much one function per button, with the added luxury of a motorised fader, which you will soon realise is one of life's necessities and wonder how the fuck you did without one!!!

Installation was simply plug and play - Windows 10 picked up and set up the Faderport before my log-on was complete, I use an SSD for my system drive and it's QUICK. As I use Reaper 5, I have access to the innumeral scripts that users concoct and share with the Reaper community, and I very quickly found a marvellous little hack that allows a little extra functionality from the fader pot and "shift" function.

All the standard transport controls are present - stop, play, record, rewind, fast-forward and loop, as well as basic channel controls such as mute, solo and record-arm. There are the usual controls for the fader being read, write and touch. You can also switch window views if you so desire with buttons for your mixer (very useful - I have a two monitor set up with the mixer full-screen on the second monitor), project and transport. Faderport also has a nice little undo/redo button (used with the shift button) and the ability add markers and move between them, again using the shift button. A "user" button is also provided, I haven't assigned it to anything yet, but I will!!! And you have a pan pot, another basic, but useful control. Channel select button allow you move through your tracks and used with the "bank" button, you can move 8 tracks forward or back - a small function, but again, one that I really like. With the Reaper hack, the pan  pot can also do other things - I won't bother listing those here just yet as I've only just got the thing and I'm still cruising through the cool features.

It has coloured back-lit buttons and something I like that's really simple but so good - a solid click when you press the buttons. Not everyone's cup of tea, but personally, I really like that.

The afore-mentioned motorised fader (swoon!!!) is very smooth and very responsive, I messed about moving the fader on some random tracks and found the movement to be top notch, and so important when automating volume levels.

PreSonus also do 8-channel and 16-channel versions - much as I would love either, they would be too big for my desktop, and that's the point I'm making, the Faderport is small but not in anyway does that affect it's operation or ease of use.

As I said earlier, I'm 4 hours in with the PreSonus Faderport and I'm a big fan already.

Best buy this year so far - I love it.

"The Splendour Cascade" Update No. 1

Finally found some time for myself, and as such, I've started the serious ground work for this new album. The chosen tracks that are viable for the project have now been digitised from the original cassette tapes, recorded into Reaper 5 from the Fostex X-15 multi-track tape recorder and I'm in the process of re-learning how to play them as well as transcribing lyrics.

In addition to this, save folders have been set up on the GTK2 Studio computer and various instrument tracks have been created for things like drums and bass guitars.

"The Splendour Cascade" is going to have quite a few songs, as well as instrumentals, so I'm of the mind that a certain continuity should prevail throughout. Where possible/appropriate/applicable, I'm creating a sort of "virtual band", comprising of the basic essentials of drums, bass, guitar, piano, vocals, orchestral stuff and on some tracks, a brass section (yes, a brass section). To that end, I've set up a "band template" within my DAW of choice, Reaper 5, to reflect that train of thought

With regards to drums, once I made the decision that I was going to approach "The Splendour Cascade" as if I was recording a band, I set about choosing a drum kit to use within Toontrack's terrific EZDrummer 2 that I felt would be good for the project and reflect the sound I was after. And the kit of choice is to be the "Rock Solid" expansion, it's bold, brassy and packs the right kind of punch for the backing band this album needs.

Bass and guitar are yet to be decided as the choices are very wide and I need to see what fits the workflow, but the piano software of choice will be, without any hesitation, Arturia's Piano V 2 - it's hugely flexible, highly responsive and sounds amazing.

Earlier today, I was working on the brass section (yes, a brass section) and was really torn between the numerous brass options that are available in Native Instruments Komplete 11 Ultimate, the Roland Cloud Orchestra SRX and the Roland Cloud JV-1080 - at this moment in time, I'm favouring the JV-1080, but I'm going to need to set up a few songs first and see how each sounds.

It's now quite late on a Saturday night and considerable head way has been made on the first track, being the title piece, "The Splendour Cascade". I am really so very very pleased with how it is already sounding, and it's hugely encouraging because the piece sounds so much bigger, brighter and tighter than the original recording. It's nowhere near finished, but it is most certainly a truly wonderful start.

Time to sleep :-)

What's next......

Musically speaking, now that "Loom of Light" has been released, I can focus on two projects that have been on the back-burner for a few months.

The first is a collaboration, of which I'm not really going to go into detail at this stage, but suffice to say it might prove to be quite interesting.

The second project is my next album under my own name, and it has the working title of "The Splendour Cascade".

"The Splendour Cascade" will be made up of songs and pieces of music I wrote in the mid-late 1980's, during what was a very interesting, but inspirational time in my life - more of that another time as it will provide something of a backdrop story to the album. I started work on this project quite a few years ago and some of the material collected at that time found their way onto other releases of mine under the Geigertek moniker - for reference, the "Endless Night" E.P. released through AD Music in 2010.

This album is gong to take some time to do as there are quite a few tracks and I have a day job, so I really don't anticipate anything seeing the light of day until at least this time next year. But, now that my little GTK2 Studio is now fully up and running, the making of "The Splendour Cascade" will, from a production point of view, probably be the easiest of my albums to do thus far.

One of the first things I have had to do with "The Splendour Cascade" has been to collate the original recordings I did between 1986 and 1989, that were done on a Fostex X-15 multi-track cassette tape recorder. Not so long back, I sourced myself another X-15 from evilBay as my old one went to the way of the "sold it when I got married" scenario. Listening to these old recordings brought back a lot of memories of a time that was something of a turning point in my life, I was also cringing at the awfulness of the recordings and my singing was quite dreadful!!! Thankfully, the utterly brilliant Ozone 8 mastering plugin from iZotope Inc. proved very useful in sorting out many of the out of control frequencies that littered the tracks. Might be fun to include some of these old recordings as bonus tracks when the album is eventually released. We'll see.

And of course, I now need to learn how to play everything all over again, thirty-odd years on!!! Love a challenge.

As well as the nostalgia element of listening through the cassette tapes, I was surprised by the amount of stuff I had done that I had completely forgotten about, and I have to tell you that there is at least one piece of music that has really captured my imagination and I am looking forward very much to doing it with everything that I have at my disposal now.

The journey starts here.

"Loom of Light"

And so it's out there, making it's own way in the world.

Sales have been interestingly more than expected as this little album is a little left-field in places, but hey, no complaints. And no complaints from the people who have both bought and listened to it via the Bandcamp streaming service.

Encouraging.

So, here is the link to it:

https://neilfellowes.bandcamp.com/album/loom-of-light

And here's the album cover again 😀

New album on the horizon - "Loom of Light"

The two main things in my life, aside from my loved ones, are music and photography, and it's the former of these that is of interest for this posting.

On the 1st June 2018, I will be releasing my third "solo" album, called "Loom of Light", as a download on my Bandcamp page.

Here's the cover:

Over the past couple of years, I have been putting together a small computer-based studio in my home, month by month filling the hard drive with the very best software I could get my hands on - hardware is not an option for me as I literally have no room in my little room (it's 6'x9'!!!). And in with that comes the fact that you need to learn how to use the things you buy. In time, my "ideas and learning" folder accrued quite a large number of musical sketches and phrases that came about as a result of my trying out new software and new techniques that I have picked up along the way.

And weirdly, that's how "Loom of Light" came into being.

Several of the pieces had a similar feel to them, largely because of my getting to grips with software-based modular synthesis, thanks to Softube's Modular and VCV Rack. I've also enjoyed learning about additive synthesis courtesy of Air Music Technology's Loom II and Arturia's Synclavier V synthesizers, hugely digital but very capable of providing some wonderful spectral washes of sound. 

So I layered, I arranged and I mixed numerous passages of music and sounds to create a highly experimental ambient album of electronic music. It won't be easy listening, apart from one or two tracks that have some element of melody to them, structure and form do not really play a part, it's random, it's sometimes noisy and in places, it can be quite jarring to the ear. Deliberate distortions and repetition are the order of the day, "Loom of Light" is about atmosphere, mood, ambience and a sense of, well, I'm actually really pleased with it.

Release will be download/streaming only through my Bandcamp page - a physical product simply isn't going to happen as it's too much of a financial hit.

All change, out with the old and in with the new......

If you've been here before, you may be wondering where everything has gone.

No need to wonder any more.

Everything has gone.

I took a long hard look at this bloggy thing of mine, along with my actual presence and participation in social media as a whole, and I came to realise that it wasn't working for me. It wasn't doing what I wanted it to do. It wasn't helping me to make music. It wasn't helping me to take photographs. It wasn't helping me to "see what's out there" in the wider world.

In this modern world, I've taken a huge step by moving myself away from the detritus-filled pit of Facebook and Twitter. I've moved away from LinkedIn and deleted everything that was on this blog page from the last ten years.

I found that life, and more importantly, my head was filled with unnecessary clutter and chatter and fragments of people's lives that really had no meaning or importance in the greater scheme of things on my journey through life. I found the negativity of Facebook and Twitter had become utterly draining on so many levels, and to the point whereupon a half hour wading through a muddied landscape of zombie fodder, desperately trying to find the good stuff that was both interesting and relevant, was leaving me feeling a tad despondent, angry, annoyed irritated and sometimes unhappy. The stupidity of people and their endless tirades about things that really aren't that important, over which they have some measure of control, but choose instead to take to the keyboard instead of taking action. The tiresome complaints and miserable bleatings of souls, unhappy and out of sorts with their lot, seeking solace in the darkest void where nothing but empty pity and false empathy dwells. And the basic nastiness of those sad, spiteful and pitiful two-faced individuals who choose to use people's social media postings as a weapon to further their own standing, when in actual fact they only serve to deepen the distrust and dislike from those around them.

Negative things (people and situations alike) are like a cancer that eat away at your soul and they need to be cut out. Act, not react. Do, not don't And this is the approach/moves I've been making over these last couple of weeks, and already, it's like a weight that's lifted, a grey cloud that's dissipated in the sunshine, the warmth of summer chasing away the coldness of Winter.

Heavy stuff.

And that's kind of it for the heavy stuff.

The world, and life itself, are simply full of possibilities, so this is what the pathway ahead of me will be all about, doing the Captain Kirk thing and seeking out new life and new civilisations, to boldly go where no ma......oh hang on, sorry......got a bit carried away there. But, you get the drift.

Music, photography, adventures and nonsense.

I make music, I take photos and I enjoy little adventures, both in my little GTK2 Studio and out in the wider world. I love movies, I love science fiction, I love spy stuff. I love food (though these days the food doesn't love me quite as much!!!) and I love meeting up with people from all walks of life. And talking of life, I don't lead an ordinary life, I don't fit into the worlds of routine and normality. Never have, still don't and never will. I live life one day at a time. Planning isn't something I do, it isn't something I'm particularly good at and it's certainly something I don't like. Planning and routine are for other people, they are welcome to it. In short, at the time of writing this, I'm 52 and a half years old and I haven't grown up. And you know what? I never will.

That's more like it ;-)