journal

Spent the entire afternoon, evening, and well this morning now upgrading to the latest version of b2Evolution. b2Evolution is the open source content management system that "powers" this site.

I miss the old days where we hand coded everything.

Mind you there is no shortage of coding involved in a system like this - it is just that you have to hunt down where it is you want your code to go. In my case here there were a lot of modifications I made to the system to get it to work the way I wanted. Once I upgraded the new system there were about 15 fatal errors to resolve and a number of nasty things to clean up. And after all that - the site looks pretty much identical to what it looked like when I started. Well, I do have some new smiles I suppose.

Actually the administrative end of the site did get a nice upgrade... its just you can't see that part.

I spent last weekend working on some upgrades to the studio. The final pieces shipped late this week.

In the audio department:

• Replaced Paradigm speakers with Dynaudio BM 5A studio monitors
• Replaced cheap mixer with a Presonus Central Station
• A new Echo Layla 3g to replace the aging Midi-man Delta 66 audio card
• M-Audio Oxygen 61 replaced my broken Alesis QS-6 keyboard
• Put up bass traps in the corners of the room
• Misc Computer upgrades: more ram, more drive space

And in the cosmetic department:

• Swanky new area rug
• Replaced tarnished brass "eyeball style" recessed lighting with cool (and more energy efficient) brushed aluminum halogen models

• Rearranged some furniture, artwork, etc.
• Dusting, mopping, sweeping, vacuuming, dusting, sweeping, vacuuming, mopping, etc...

Several pictures of the new and improved Electrum Studios North below the fold.

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The Lunar Eclipse tonight was the last one we will see till 2010. I tried to take some long exposure shots of it but only this one came out at all well. The clouds rolled in not long after I got out there, which made for a nice effect in this photo but soon eclipsed the eclipse.

click for bigger version

Made some progress over the long weekend on the new piece of music. Guess I'd better start thinking about a title for the thing and some sort of concept for the artwork.

Abstract Expression earns a 5 star review a ProgressiveWorld.net

This is a fabulous CD that features guitar but doesn't overstate its presence. These are fully-fleshed compositions that demonstrate a breadth of styles that flow quite naturally.

Read the whole review here.

In other news I did a little upgrade surgery on my Recording PC which should buy me another year or so before it has to be replaced. A good deal for less than 100 dollars. The really strange part is that it all went very smoothly. I'm also pondering a few other studio upgrades, I think a pair of decent studio monitors are in my future.

Composition goes well on my new piece of music. Right now I'm smoothing out the arrangement on the first 4 major chunks and I have to finish writing a final section. Should get into the tracking process on this by the end of the month. My plan is to again work with Frank Basile to track the drums and I may have found a singer to take care of the brief but important vocal sections as well. With any luck I'll have an EP ready to ship out in May or June.

[update: sale ended Nov 2]

We are just going into peak foliage season around these parts and it occurred to me today while I was walking the dog and checking out the maple trees that it might be appropriate to have a sale to honor the occasion.

These two weeks are some of the nicest days in New England. The landscape explodes with color, the days are usually marked by cloudless skies and light jacket temperatures while the nights are cool and crisp - a well deserved break from the late summer muggies.

As I end up with an abundance of oak leaves in my yard by late October, I also have an abundance of CDs in my basement. So come take some off my hands please (the CDs that is, I'll deal with the leaves).

So from now till I have to get serious about raking I'm reducing the price on Abstract Expression to 6 bucks (down from $9.99). Still free shipping within North America. update: sale ended Nov 2 2007

Also it seemed appropriate to offer up the track Depth of Autumn as a free mp3, so enjoy. offer ended Nov 2 2007

Nearby hiking trail on the Isinglas River.

[update 10.14.2007: added more pictures below the fold from a hike my wife, my dog, and I took today on the Isinglas]

Read more below the fold...