Prometheus v3.78, CD Shelves v2.00

Started the day with more updates to Prometheus. Fixed the peaking filter, which didn't work when Wet was less than 1, and created a new Peaking Filter II, with separate post-amp. Then I updated my website, adding the Electric Sprout albums there, and putting the new album on the front page.

Back to programming. I thought of making the Cathedral Limiter a track as well as a song engine, which would make Prometheus useful for CD mastering (yet with hi-res audio); but it has a problem in that silence of one second in a track causes it to shut off until a note is played, and the look-ahead delay would create that silence. I can disable or extend it, but remembering to do that is a tad awkward. It took me hours to work out that the failure of this effect was due to this! The program also crashed once, which is worrying. It's not crashed in years. Crashes when experimenting with half-compiled plugins may be due to overlooked mistakes in that code. All I was using at the time was a Saw Wave, Peaking Filter, Cathedral Limiter.

At 13:30 I charged into woodwork on this, the last dry day forecast for weeks. With my mum's help I routed the joints and slots for CD Shelves Iteration 2. The Bosch bit is exactly 12mm, a fraction too small to create slots for 12mm MDF, so I needed to rout each joint twice, the second by about 0.2mm wider. This was enough. Then, masking, and at 15:10, spray painting. Even at 5 degrees, the paint dried quickly, perhaps because I kept the paint can inside at a cosy 18 degrees. By 16:20, the shelves were painted. A record time. Spray paint is much faster than my water-based stain.

It's Friday and I've not done a thing on The Modern Game this week. I may charge to finish the shelves first. My mood is low to despairing, but what can we do but ignore such animals and work at our best. Fate plays its hand and we must accept our cards. All we can do each day is try our best, and try to learn as we go.

Onwards we roll our heavy rock.

The Modern Game 4 Continues, Shelf Marking

A full day of work on The Modern Game, 4th version. Created a new edit of the 'Masculinity Two' video for the longer album version, and new lyric overlays for 'The Games Played As Children', and added the new (much better!) vocals for this.

Then more work on the cover, small changes. I've mirrored the 'stave' image, placing it on the left. Then created the CD surface artwork, and more on the rear. Then small updates and fixes to the lyric booklet. Most of the artwork is now done in draft, though the images for the iTunes booklet remain.

Then final volume setting, for mastering, and lots more mixing and adjusting. 'Beyond Mars' gets brighter and brighter with each edit. The pianos are now brash and tinkly compared to the original mix; but they need to be, there are so few high frequencies here. There's more mixing to do on all tracks.

I still need to work on new videos for everything, though I hope that I can use the little animations I've created as Spotify Canvases. I expect it'll be 2 or 3 days work to make 10 or so videos, so this simple remaster will still take 3 full weeks, almost all of November.

Also today, work on the new shelves, marking out. The weather is set to rain and be very cold, so I must work on shelves tomorrow. Only 8 degrees, but still the warmest day, and so the best for spray painting. I have very limited resources here, and must pull the semi-dry work inside to dry after spraying. Steps: routing, spraying, assembly joint by joint, fitting to wall to mark and drill, final fitting.

The Christmas Tails tracks are all in. I need to organise these and master the album next week. This must, and should, take a day.

Just watched a documentary about Richard Burton. Inspirational, at any age, even as I approach the age at which he died.

Looking for a Lover Version 4

Two days of work mostly on The Modern Game. Recorded new vocals for 'Looking for a Lover' and 'Coming Back to Earth' yesterday, as well as Deb's vocals for our Christmas song, and have added all of these today. 'Looking' was always a bit of a production struggle. I always thought of the song as a Thriller-era Michael Jackson song, so I wanted some staccato-style vocals, but these carry a limited tone. The first two versions of this song used relatively normal vocals throughout. Version 3 used band-limited vocals with a scratchy telephone sound, which sounded rather nice. The new version uses a bit of both, and the fourth verse doubles up the vocals in octaves for a time, then breaks into the higher pitch before the chorus.

'Coming Back to Earth' by comparison is very similar to other versions, but does benefit from new, richer vocals for the plain verses, and better bass balancing.

I've also tweaked the mixes on all tracks. 'Beyond Mars' has higher pianos. I have a book on mixing. The most useful tip, the only useful tip in the book, is that all mixing desks have a high pass (bass-cut) switch and that most tracks are high passed. They cite a piano as an example of what not to high pass, which is terrible advice. Pianos and vocals are almost the only things that are always high passed. Every piano on a rock or pop song is twinkly and pushed into the high frequencies. A natural classical piano is quite muffly most of the time, and fits very closely within the frequency range of a voice, which is why it's best moved up, even the bass notes are high passed; if not especially so because they can so easily boom.

All songs are now finished apart from 'The Trees', which needs new vocals, and the final mixing and mastering. This is only the first half of the remaster; the new art and new lyric videos will probably take longer than the music.

I'm unhappy with my CD shelves, which are drooping in the middle by about 9mm. A shelf should be considerably heavier than the weight of the objects on it; this rule is one I've only just made and discovered after making these. Well, version 1 of everything is always, and should always be, about learning. I can re-use the screws, fittings, and everything apart from the wood, so a second version of the shelves is now in planning.

Another Violet Night Videos Complete, Dowel Joints

A tedious day of computer chugging. Converted all of the new music videos to 8000kpbs and checked them. Some finished early or late, it's amazing how many small errors can creep in to any project, amazing how much proofing matters. I've noted to add a new feature to Argus to warn about events beyond the final render frame. For every error, some preventative action must be taken. Here's a shot from 'Smashing My House of Cards', which uses a card-like vertical flip for the video. I know that a true card flip is a 180 degree rotation, which I experimented with, but that looked ugly at the joint point.

I've also looked up gizmos to guide drill bits. There are one or two metal blocks with holes in made to ensure a perpendicular drill. I'd have liked one that fitted for 2.5mm bits, as I use this for screw pilot holes often. In the end I've ordered one for drilling for dowels, which is what I need this for, for the joint in the mantelpiece shelves. A screw is easier but the aesthetics matter. I considered another option of fitting a dowel haphazardly, then drilling a bigger socket, then to be filled with hot-melt glue. This may hold better than a conventional dowel joint and be simpler too. A plug which was cone shaped, zigzagged, perforated biscuit, or other holes may make a better joint still.

Most of the hours of the day were spent waiting for FFMpeg to build my 13 new videos, then proofing them all, uploading them to YouTube with the appropriate text, rebuilding in archive (lower) quality, and other such tedious tasks. I recall that in the 1990s, computers would often take hours to render and calculate things. The waiting gradually reduced so that rendering time was not at all a problem. Now, long waits for computers are back in vogue.

Thus, the videos are done. Only a few more jobs on this album left. How much work each release is, and I barely do any promotion or performances. Soon I can move on. Tree of Keys is perhaps next. I also need to fully update the sheet music distribution on itch, separating free and basic sheets with full and paid sheets, plus adding tags to this blog on Substack. 3000 posts mean 300 a day is still 10 days of solid work.

Onwards we hack at the rock face of culture, crawling forwards towards a better future.

Violet Night Video Work, Fireplace Shelves

A steady day of music video work. I started on the final edits of 'All Controlled By Someone', and, for some strange reason, everything was now one frame out! I don't know why, but it meant going through the film section by section and correcting it. One frame matters because it made the video part out of sync with the animations.

This made me think that life, life as an anti-entropic force, is about correcting errors. We are born. We work. We die. All life works tirelessly. Humans now perhaps work with the aspiration to make enough money, to earn enough social power, to afford to stop working, or to afford to work 'voluntarily'. Most animals (and plants!) don't, they merely keep working, for their social good (yes even plants work!) and their job is ordering that which is chaotic, because those beings which do not are destroyed by calamity, and those beings which are ordered can endure disasters due to informational resilience.

The video was fixed and the single version edit created, then work on other videos for the album. Most of these were half complete.

'Smashing My House Of Cards' is primarily an edit of falling playing cards, but I wanted to add more, so I did some filming of singing the verses. I had to do this without my darling Deborah to operate the camera, so it took longer than normal, but the results were adequate. This uses the simplest mix method of a mask with addition to layer the video with the animation.

'Violet Night' and 'What You Could Have Won' are wholly animated, and use a simple effect of flight over the sea. I recorded an initial startled face for 'Fear is Everywhere' but it didn't work, so I made it entirely from public domain stock footage from a film about preparations for nuclear war.

At 13:30 I went out for wood and brackets for more building projects. One is a cabinet integrated into the mantelpiece, making a shelf-rack where the fire used to be. It will feature Z-bend doors with a seamless wallpaper covering to make the cabinet appear invisible when the doors are closed. There are a few complicating factors. I don't want to permanently damage the mantelpiece, so it must be removable and have minimal effect, it will be fixed by two thin (but very long) screws. The shelves don't have to bear much weight, but enough so that it will need to rest on the floor, or else those two screws would hold all of the weight, because the shelves are fitted only into my section via slots; that way I can avoid adding shelf supports into the mantelpiece alcove. Finally, my frame will have to fit exactly, sub-millimetre accuracy, or it won't look pretty. As I work on the videos, I'm occasionally thinking about the challenges here.

Several music videos need work from scratch, but I can't spend long. I often have problems with what I think of as the 'best' songs. 'Style Guru Fashion Queen' from my last album was one of the best songs, with real hit potential, and I had really clear images in my mind of drag queens and Diana Dors-type glitz and glitter, and all sorts of things, but all of that is for the future. In the end, the video became a placeholder, almost a looping animation while it rests in the slumber of potentiality.

'More', 'Tainted Pain', 'Daytime Teevee', 'Breakfast of Delight', and 'Walls (And How To Hit Them)' remain to do. I may end up using simple animations.

So much other news. Three songs are now complete for the charity Christmas album 'Christmas Tails'. I noticed in the local news that Parveen Smith, who I interviewed on my radio programme, and she in turn interviewed me about my art and music on her radio station, has won a United Nations award for humanitarian causes. My sound effects set for SFXEngine, Army Sounds, has been released. Plans for Deb's poetry book launch on the 7th are moving ahead. So much to do. I must finish all of the music videos in 5 days.

Onwards we charge.

All Controlled By Someone Video, and Wardrobe Repair

An excellent day of productivity. I woke early and pulled my wardrobe drawer to cause it to collapse into a pile of wood with a 'Weetabix' texture. My ancient, and very cheap, wardrobe has been repaired so may times that it's more glue than the paper-like material it was made from.

I have plans for a new one, practical plans. Some artists make beautiful artworks as furniture, I err towards the practical. Still, this new piece of furniture is a year or more away for now for reasons of time and funds, so my first job of the day was to fix this drawer. It had fallen apart completely, the back was held in by nails (my nails, is was originally not held at all apart from the by plastic veneer which folded around it). I glued each joint and the base and clamped it all with my two brilliant Bessey Band Clamps.

Then, I needed to make a new drawer runner. The ultimate cause of the collapse was the lack of a runner, so I made some measurements, and glues two pieces of wood together to make a piece 10x15x300mm.

These glued, so I charged into work on the 'All Controlled By Someone' video. I'd assembled video clips up to and including the first verse. Yesterday, Deb filmed me singing those. One clips had string dangling from fingers. I thought that these needed to be in the sky, heaven, so I decided to set some parameters for the mix of video and animation; limits are always good for inspiration. The 'Cat Covid!' video had lots of layers, too many, so I decided on two; a video with mask, and global 'additive' layer of animation. I used the latter to add some sky to the strings, so went through the video to establish the edit points, and set some 'sky' in Argus to appear there. I animated some clouds too; this was actually a photo of the summer sky taken in Chester - I simply made the clouds gently move and gyre.

So, the video was now black areas, mostly actual film footage, and some blue sky when 'strings' were present.

I went back to the video. I added more edits of existing footage for the chorus, and went back and forth to check it all, then added the next verse, and final chorus, but things were too repetitive. I thought I needed more of a link with the words and hit upon the idea of myself, the protagonist, now becoming a string puller for a lower being, another puppet below; this is the main message of the song, so I filmed a lone hand pulling and matched it with earlier footage of Kasperle being pulled. Thus, the circle of the story was complete.

Then, some masking effects. The video alone was a bit too simple, so I had the idea of adding a clown/makeup mirror with lights, so photographed Deborah's 'Clown Face' performance mirror, and used this as a frame for my puppet-self. I kept thinking that there was something of a 1930s Charlie Chaplin link, perhaps because of my makeup, so added a silent-film style iris effect for the opening and piano playing parts.

Then, the wardrobe gluing was dry enough. Titebond states to wait 24-hours to set. It actually sets about twice as fast as PVA, and can clue cardboard well in 20 minutes. I temporarily fitted my new runner to the wardrobe, choosing hole locations that might be moveable, should disaster strike and the need to move the whole thing. The runner was in the right place, but too deep. I removed it, and planed off 2mm. This worked fine, so I fitted it, and fitted the drawer. All complete.

Then back to the video.

The final step was editing the video so that it could fit the album version (which is about a minute longer, and includes the much better intro) and the single version, which is identical after the intro, which makes thing a lot easier.

So, draft 1 is complete, but there now there's the final stages of proofing, small changes, things to consider.

Backups, DIY Plans, Sprouts Assemble

A productive day. Monthly backups completed, then designed some CD and box shelves for me room, and some for Deborah. All would use two large sheets of MDF, so it's optimal to design and build all three structures at once. Much was planned here, and I realised I needed a new, 80mm long, 2mm drill bit for precision drilling pilot holes for the 6mm shelves, so I ordered these.

In the afternoon I made soem initial enquiries about a new charity Christmas album, a sequel to the 2023 Electric Sprout Foundation project. No replies as yet.

Then, collected a second M-Audio expression pedal. The keyboard has two pedal inputs, one for volume, one for super-knob, so I thought two wouldn't hurt, and it would give me the chance to see if a second pedal would also range 0 to 125 rather than 0 to 127 as it should. Alas, it does also range 0 to 125, and requires, ideally that it remains at maximum at all time, so if connected I'd really have to keep it at the annoying 98.5% of maximum at most. Well, at a mere £11.50, I don't regret the experiment, and it's good to have a backup, so I'll disconnect it, and keep it as a backup.

New new album requires a new song and time spent organising, and I have paintings to complete, Morecambe to attend and perform at, and a music video to make this month alone. I must work and rest efficiently to manage this. I've decided to enter the, as yet unseen, Descartes painting into the Castle Park Open, so I'll need to frame this month, as well as frame and photograph the other two entries. Ideally I would upgrade my photography stands too... I must observe and note wood and bracket options when I visit B & Q.

Memory Of A Lost Boy, Practical Projects

Overcame extreme weakness to painted 'Memory Of A Lost Boy' yesterday. After that, a painted colour study for the new 'terror' painting.

Today, lots of practical projects on a day of heatwave. Created a new poster for Deborah's forthcoming poetry book launch:

Then, upgrading the huge corn dolly so that it can stand vertically. I made a wooden block fitted with a tripod nut, this glued to the back of the dolly with wood glue. Then a 90-degree adapter for the tripod to fit into the dolly. Everything took longer because I wanted to try fixing these things with my experimental Paraloid glue. It was too thin, too much acetone, so I evaporated it for a few hours. It tended to form a skin, which is not good for a glue (although, I note that UHU does this). I needed less acetone in the first place. As glue, it is sticky and must be quite strong. It almost seems harder with chalk than without.

I contacted a friend and sold the new Lost Boy painting, instantly spending the money (before the painting is yet finished or dry, though it is mostly complete) on many new paints which have been on my want-list for some time. I note that Blockx now make a 'natural umber' colour; raw umber I presume. This is welcome to me, will it beat my favourite Harding umber? Over the years I've grown to dislike Michael Harding paints. Advertised as buttery they are more like olive-oily, and very yellowing. I wonder when Blockx started to produce natural umber? I've also ordered their Mars Red. I've loved all of their mars colours, and look forwards to trying this one. Perhaps it will be like Venetian, or perhaps Terra Rosa (a more neutral red). I love and use their Light Red a lot. It is notably more scarlet than Winsor and Newton's (theirs is more orange and fleshy, closer to Blockx' Mars Yellow Orange). Blockx' Light Red is also notably weaker in tint than Winsor and Newton's.

I've also designed a CD cupboard for Deborah, it will have Z-fold doors with 'invisible' joins when closed, giving the impressing of a hidden cupboard, and should hold about 420 CDs. The new Cycles & Shadows CDs are due to arrive tomorrow.

Thrones

Music work on Synaesthesia and Animalia is complete. I've spent the past few days seeking the next project. I had the idea of recording a few existing songs, mainly ones that I've done before or had ready... Two Parents of a Child, Light Blue Evening... and a few others, but I'm unsure if I like them enough to release or do anything with. I feel I need to structure them or group them. I'll keep working on them and thinking. Is it better to release them than not?

I'm also thinking about throne designs, inspired by the circular Carlo Bugatti throne; I'm sure this is something I could make. It appears, if anything, to have been inspired by Napoleon's throne and ancient Roman seats, although it superficially looks eastern or Mongolian. Mongolian thrones are actually far more box-like.

Waiting

My clock design 'Waiting' is finished. The ropes were a tad bent and limp at first. I used brass wire, but no matter how taut you stretch it it'll still be the wrong length! Something stretchy was needed so I solved the problem by using elastic. here's the finished clock.

Elastic will probably rot over time, so it was also important to make the chains replaceable, if needed, so these hoops were embedded into the clock and the ropes tied to them.

I glued a tiny chain link onto the hoops that go around the gold plated man.

Butterfly Mirror

This is a mix of media on glass; acrylic, oil, epoxy resin, polystyrene, gold, pigment, glitter and gem stones.

The plan was to represent escape using the butterfly shape, dividing the picture into two approximate zones, one of high chromanance to the top left and one of greys to the lower right. The work was started with heavy body acrylic on a mirror, mainly phthalo blue, phthalo green and dioxazine violet. A butterfly mask was cut and this was sponged over to create butterfly positives and negatives. A plain section was covered, allowing the mirror to shine through. PVA glue was used to stick glitters onto the picture, often using masks to limit the area. Glue was mixed with acrylic to make a frosted glass appearance in the lower right area.

After that, oil paint was applied to accentuate details, some veins on the butterfly wings, and some sky clouds. The same pigments were used. 24kt gold leaf was applied using an acetate mask and PVA glue. Parts of the acrylic were rubbed away to reveal scar shapes in the glass behind, also helping to convey the escape motif.

Once touch dry, a border was cut for the butterfly mirror area in foam board. This was painted in acrylic and covered in dusty gold pigment before being stuck to the mirror and carefully sealed to prevent leaks. Then liquid epoxy resin was poured into the whole area of the mirror's recess and pigments danced into the plastic lake. These were painted and spread to create deep areas of colour, like explosions of violet frozen in transparent ice. Gold pigment was sprinkled into the liquid to create a gold fur like the dust of a moths wing caught in disturbed air.

When the plastic was set, the two gemstones were added; amethyst and emerald.

Despite the complex mix of media, much of this artwork was improvised. The initial idea of escape using a butterfly motif was all I began with. With so many options and media, a detailed plan would have been unwieldy, and indeed undesirable. Sometimes it is best to feel your way, create with panache and aim for beauty. As a result I've created something different from my usual style, but not unique. This is one of a small number of "resin" pictures and I plan on making more artworks like this in 2010.

Monday

I'm working on several things at once today. The light is rather poor for painting but I'm working out the composition my largest painting to date and working on the design for a lamp. I need to arrange some exhibitions for 2010 too.

Sirius Table Design

I've been inspired by a website, decorative ideas, to think up some furniture designs. At the moment these are more stylish and practical than the surreal designs for mobile phones that Andrew and I bounced off each other (my favourite was a wooden phone that had actual mushrooms for the earpiece and speaking part). My first table design was inspired by the Sirius star system and the way that matter from one small star can leak in a stream to a larger partner, thus the Sirius table is two circles, linked by a stream of matter. The actual design involves five circles; one large one for the edge, two solid ones, one hole and a missing one to space the others. The legs are mapped to an exact isosceles triangle with one point centred on the small (Sirius B) part. I've made a 3D model of the design (shown) and designed an alternative with a triangle shelf and also a chair to go with it. Making the Sirius table is quite easy.

Scorpion Chair Design

I've been having some design ideas over the past two days. The picture shows the sketch of a chair design based on a scorpion. There are six tubular steel legs and segmented elliptical cushions that curve upwards to form the back of the chair in emulation of a scorpion's tail.

Chair

Life is like an incomplete circle. After the inspiration for chair design that was the last 'Imagine' programme on BBC1, I've displayed one of my chair designs. It's fundamental idea is that it slopes b about 45 degrees, allowing the sitter to lounge at an angle. A second chair design idea is to make each leg a spring, add a footrest and screw the legs to the floor, this should be a bouncy but comfortable design.