Goodbye.

Well friends, that's all she wrote. It's been nice knowing you, but I'm moving on.
- posted by Mason @ 6:23 AM (0) comments

We need that crunch.



Having done hours of research today, it looks like I want a low cost, rackmount 12bit sampler, most likely an Akai s900. Something late 80s/early 90s, but that doesn't use some insane and obsolete storage format (like QuikDisk - ha!). S950s are better, but have scsi outs and are more upgradeable = too expensive.



The other (even cheaper, and in some ways cooler) option is a Roland S550. It's the rack version of the S-50. They're extra cool, because you can hook them up to a monitor or TV and program and edit with a mouse. They're super cheap (this one is $100, shipped!). Since I don't need to take sounds from the computer and dump them to a sampler, and I don't need to make hip-hop music with an MPC style interface, I don't need to spend $1000 on a digital production unit. Basically either one of these is just a super advanced Casio SK-1. I don't really need one, but having spent several hours looking at them, I might as well buy one.

My real plan is to take a look at what sampler software I have in storage from 10 years ago and just buy one of those.
- posted by Mason @ 6:53 PM (0) comments

Now I am unstoppable.



The Ft. Worth Guitar Show once again delivers! Our friend Rod told me about this blue Mystic he had at the Dallas show back in May, so he brought it with him. It's not in quite as good shape as my red-orange Mystic, but it was only $150. I now need to purchase white, silver and metallic red Mystics for my collection to be complete. I've also got a line on a white Peavey Mantis. Then I need a Razer and then it's on to one of every American Peavey manufactured before 1986. Let me know if you've got something you want to sell me.


- posted by Mason @ 8:24 PM (0) comments

The Future is Fucked and so are we.



I've been reading quite a bit lately (hence the not posting). I just finished the fantastic Lathe of Heaven (1971) by Ursula K. LeGuin. Fuck - it was amazing. I've been meaning to watch the 80's newwavevideoart PBS adaptation of it for a while, but now I'm glad that I waited.

Short Description: There's a guy. He has dreams. He live in Portland in 2002. The planet is all fucked up. When he dreams a certain way, everyone's reality except for his changes. Then a guy from the government hooks his brain up to a thing that can control the dreams. Then some bad stuff happens and we learn that utopia isn't worth it's price.

Clearly, it's much more interesting than that. Here's a better review. Also, listen to what God has to say about it:

"One of the best novels, and most important to understanding of the nature of our world, is Ursula Le Guin's The Lathe of Heaven, in which the dream universe is articulated in such a striking and compelling way that I hesitate to add any further explanation to it; it requires none."
—Philip K. Dick

- posted by Mason @ 9:30 PM (0) comments