A super-productive day. Up at 7am, I started by reprogramming the Axial Pan plug-in, converting the 16 or so sequences that used it, then updating Prometheus a little with small improvements applied during batch processing, such as stopping when encountering an unexpected error. Then I updated the batch-file converter spreadsheet so that I could automatically copy over the new sequences to the correct album folders.
Then, started work on the final section of the album, now called 'We Robot'. This involves three tracks, starting with a long and slow series of chords I played on the MODX a few days ago. I added some atmospheric white noise, filtered up and down, but with a strong compressor added which created some wonderful sizzles at certain points. I added an irregular random 'bleep' using one of Prometheus' procedural generators, Edward, which creates music at random from a table.
After lunch, a pause for a 90-minute round trip to deliver my paintings to Bickerton, with extreme thanks for the lift from Chris. I'd forgotten to attach a label with the price and the people there wanted to write the price in pen on the back of the painting, which I wasn't happy about. I can't remember this being an issue before. Normally, if I recall, the painting's number is simply stuck to the front and the catalogue lists the price, not the back of the painting. If the back is written on I'll have to reframe it. I also hope that this doesn't harm the chances of a sale (ie. the price being listed). It was a chaotic drop-off, with many people at the desk at once, and I left my packaging there by mistake. It was nice to meet Janet Tweedy there though, from my first art club, one of the very few artists of distinction there.
Once back, I continued work on the music, and added the sequence to the song, the piano tune Silicon-Carbon Genesis. I separated out the lead melody from the chords and imported that into the sequencer to give me an exact guide to the timing, then rewrote the music as a counter-melody. I then loaded the full piano sequence as a midi file and changed the instrument to strings to follow the lead. This sounded good, but perhaps a little too simplistic as it merely followed the piano, so I deleted all but the F, B, C, D, and E notes which led to some unusual sonorific effects.
Finally, work on the last track, a dreamy chord sequence like the angelic choirs at the end of The Arcangel Soundtrack (which I also used on Synaesthesia, and emulated on The Spiral Staircase too - I realised the potential cliché).
Then, this evening, some sampling of waves from the MODX. The auto-loop detector in Prometheus is a vital tool. I'd have no hope of looping these by hand.
Of other jobs, I've researched more on music publication, which I'm certain to do for my 1000+ works one day. Joyously, Acrobat can join several pdf files to make one, and Amazon can print at A4 too, so I could make books of my sheet music without the extreme problem of formatting everything in Muse Score. I created a new series of xcopy batch scripts to copy over any updated scores from my master files to the album's folders. A day of full, work at robotic speed, intensity, and efficiency.
Speaking of robots. At lunch and tea, I watched a 1950s film called Gog, which was remarkable for being very focused on the awesome potential for science. It reminded me of The Andromeda Strain (the theme of science going haywire evoked Michael Crichton, though this film had a surprisingly positive view of radiation and killer-space rays). The elements of a Film Noir detective thriller helped it. It was a poor film, and the robot villains comical, but I feel that there's a good idea in there somewhere.
