Archive for November, 2006

Differing interpretations

Wednesday, November 29th, 2006

I teach a seminar in electro-acoustic composition at UCLA. It is morphing into the first course of a three term seminar in film composition for our new MA degree. Jerry Goldsmith taught film music at UCLA some years back and when he gave assignments to his young film-composers-wannabes, he insisted that everyone work with the [...]

Leonardo’s symmetrical bookplate

Wednesday, November 29th, 2006

“Let no one read me who is not a mathematician.” [Da Vinci]
A bookplate on the inside cover of an early 16th century version of The Annals of Ulster (MS. Rawlinson B. 489) – a chronicle of medieval Ireland from 431 AD.

Speech Accent Archive

Tuesday, November 28th, 2006

Visit Speech Accent Archive for an overwhelming study and aural museum of speech accents.

Voyage: David Crosby’s new compilation CD

Monday, November 27th, 2006

Rhino Records has just released a 3-CD set of music by David Crosby that spans his career from the Byrds through his current work with CPR. The publication is a stunningly beautiful document lovingly curated by Graham Nash and Joel Bernstein. The first two CDs includes music from the Byrds, Crosby, Stills and Nash, and [...]

Taking a bath

Sunday, November 26th, 2006

One of my favorite things to do is to take a hot bubble bath. I use some aroma-therapeutic product made by Kiss Your Face, and add one drop of patchouli. I like to read, or do a Sudoku puzzle, or just sit and think.
For my 50th birthday, many of my friends chipped in and bought [...]

William Burroughs reads “Thanksgiving Prayer”

Saturday, November 25th, 2006

Surreal reel-to-reel

Friday, November 24th, 2006

I borrowed a reel-to-reel tape recorder from work to begin transferring performances I’ve had from tape to digital. As I reacquainted myself with this old technology, streams of old terminology thankfully came back into my memory: rock to stop, head out, tail out, 7 1/2 and 15 ips, big reels and small reels, DBX, and [...]

Beatles: You’re Gonna Lose That Girl

Tuesday, November 21st, 2006

Here is a smoky video of the Beatles “You’re Gonna Lose That Girl” from what sounds like the original recording session.

The beatlesUploaded by Hanvak

Wine, Wine, Wine

Tuesday, November 21st, 2006

Flipping through the ever entertaining collection Levy Sheet Music I found this fun cover that sums up my week (Well, I wasn’t able to find one that said “Friends, Friends, Friends” or “Martini, Martini, Martini” or “Food, Food, Food”). This cover reminded me that I’ll get to sit down with friends and a tasty bottle [...]

Dept. of Silly Walks presents: Mannequins on Skateboards

Saturday, November 18th, 2006

This is the silliest thing I’ve seen in a while but is worth sharing. No, music, just silliness.