Snow and a Slow Day - Cat and Dog Play

Here is a photograph that I cropped and resampled for display. It is our cat Linus playing with my son's rat terrier, Jack-Jack. Linus hisses and growls but will play infrequently with Jack-Jack and it is very amusing to watch. Just before I took this they were both sunning themselves by the window. Then Jack-Jack got a bug for playing and they began.

It has snowed here again and we were just beginning to enjoy Spring like weather. Bummer. There was some accumulation of snow, even though the ground had been cleared of it and we had days in the upper 50's. Puts a damper on long walks, unless you are a winter person. Unfortunately I am not.

I worked on a song last night using a new chord progression and upbeat tempo. "Make Some Tracks" is a decent song with a positive approach to having a life without greed. That would change the world. But I doubt my song will!

I used CAm and FG with a bridge of G Am G Em ending on a G. I repeat the chords in succession for the beat. I did use a free sample from Dooley Drums again. Which made me play with the up tempo beat. Strictly a simple beat throughout the whole song with a cross fade in and cross fade out beginning and ending. It was a challenge to keep up with the tempo, a lot of fun!

In time I hope to subscribe to Dooley Drums for additional access to real drum loops and mp3's. Right now we are paying for a new roof and front deck and door on the house. It's always something. But I am positive that things are going along well as to be expected.

----------------
Now playing on Windows Media Player: Kirk Mathew Gatzka - Make Some Tracks
via FoxyTunes

Corel's Painter 8 - Hugh's Girl Portrait

A Digital Painting project, done in Corel's Painter 8. Based on a photograph by Hugh Hill.

I did this image back in 2006 and it is one of my best painted portraits done in Painter 8. I am especially happy with the way the hair turned out.

It was done so long ago I am not certain if I used the Oil or Acrylic brushes to paint this. I did it with my Wacom Graphire tablet, which is getting old now and needs replacement.

I am listening to the Doves "Caught by the River" right now as I post. A mellow song with a great feel to it. Nice guitar work and singing, very polished.

I am going to save up for that soundhole guitar pickup I mentioned recently. I have forgotten the manufacturer's name, but it will be a good addition to my recording. It may take a couple of months because I don't want to use credit and pay for the interest. So save I must. Much to my bookkeeper's chagrin I also want to subscribe to Dooley's Drums for some backbeats also for recording. Like many I am always looking for ways to improve my recordings.

I have been rather dry with songwriting lately. I have written three poems that may make it into a song or two, but that remains to be seen. They are rather free form with rhyming no story to tell just experiments with words and rhyme. The title's are "It's All You Need"; " Make Some Tracks"; and "Warm and Green". We'll see what becomes of these poems as lyrics.

----------------
Now playing on Windows Media Player: Doves - Pounding
via FoxyTunes

Two Trees with Mountains

Here is a photograph taken with my Canon Rebel XTi while visiting Alaska. I used the AF with Landscape selected. I am still learning this camera so many of my current photos are an automatic setting, changing only from portrait to macro to landscape, etc.

It's versatility amazes me and I am very content with it's quality and the images I get from it.

I have been using my Toneport UX1 quite a bit for writing and recording songs and doing some covers. It really pushes the envelope of my musical abilities. I haven't played much in groups so it is really interesting to get some real drum loops off of the net and play along with them to create songs with a backbeat.

I have been able to download some free drum loops from Jim Dooley's site at http://www.dooleydrums.com/free_drum_loops.php. Using Audacity the free recording program I import the loop and create a string of them of up to 3-4 minutes or so and then try my best to match the beat, like using a metronome of a real drum sound. It is really enjoyable and a challenge for me. Jim offers all his drum loops and samples for about $29.99, which I hope to purchase some time. In the mean time - Thanks, Jim Dooley!

Toneport offers so many preset guitar styles that it is so much fun to select various types and explore what my acoustic 12-string guitar can sound like electronically. The accompanying software Gearbox has many presets of styles and mix and match amplifier presets that you can create some really wayout sounds with an acoustic guitar with a Woody Seymour Duncan pickup stuck in the soundhole.

It is really just plain fun!