What made you happy today?

[Notes_Norton]

I recorded 23 demo files for my Band-in-a-Box styles yesterday. I listened to them this morning with fresh ears and none of them need to be recorded.

I've got yellow and purple orchids blooming on one of my Live Oak trees.

It's sunny and will be 79 degrees (F) today.

How 'bout you?

[fortyearspickn]

We got our tree up yesterday. Great fun. Wife took the left half I took the right half!  Watched Hallmark Christmas movies at the same time.  (You don't really have to pay attention. All have the same plot, and the music background drowns out what the actors are saying).   Seriously sprained my left hand while moving furniture - was concerned because I try to protect my fretting hand.  Iced it  and an Ace Bandage and it's as good as new this morning!     Have great red blooms on the poinsettia I've been keeping alive since last Christmas.

Edited December 13, 2020 by fortyearspickn

[Sgt. Pepper]

Watched the Zappa doc. Later today my son is coming over for dinner and to watch some overpaid athletes try to go 100 years to score 6 points.

['Scales]

My kids....son is home for Christmas after his first 6 months of Navy training...boy to man just like that. Daughter has finished her fashion design course and we watched her creations on a virtual live fashion parade on the web, and the young bloke is finishing primary school tomorrow and off to his new school for kids with disabilities in February.  Bless em all. 

[Notes_Norton]

I took down, washed and stored the storm shutters that were on the utility room windows since the last hurricane. Hurricane season is over!!! Now when I go inside to get tools, I don't have to turn on the lights.

I grilled 100% grass-fed Florida grown burgers with bacon and cheese on a slightly cinnamon flavored bun. Topped it off with a glass of Cabernet that was aged in bourbon barrels.

 

[Rabs]

😄

[Notes_Norton]

Looking at that beauty put a smile on my face Rabs

[SteveFord]

I think that guitar would cheer ANYONE up.

[Rabs]

51 minutes ago, Notes_Norton said:

Looking at that beauty put a smile on my face Rabs

Thats why we share   Has been my dream guitar to own for a while now.. Great to finally get there...

[Retired]

Very nice Rabs.  She's a beauty. Congrats.

 

[Dub-T-123]

Too many things to count, but overall my wife, cat, Les Paul, and the joy of music. 

I got to jam with my buddy yesterday and the Les Paul is always so good when I can crank it up it’s still making me happy today

[kidblast]

Work on our house is almost done.   It's been entirely rebuilt, it's amazing.

Our contractor told me yesterday, they should have the whole thing wrapped up by December 28th.  

We've not been there since the fire on March 27th.  It's been a long 9 months.

[merciful-evans]

Going over to Cherry's later today & begin our mini-xmas together. We will have a roast turkey meal tomorrow. Her last plea was to ensure I get parsnips for the meal. "You can forget the cauliflower, forget the sprouts, just get parsnips".

So I have two parsnips wrapped in crepe paper, nestled inside a gold & pink lidded box tied up with a gold ribbon. She's probably only expecting scent.

[Notes_Norton]

Leilani and I woke up this morning -- after that everything else is extra 😄

Had some rain so it was too wet to work on the roof or mow the weeds. Instead I got more Band-in-a-Box 'work' done (I'd much rather do music than house work)

[Californiaman]

On 12/14/2020 at 3:06 PM, Rabs said:

😄

I'm happy with ya' Rabs.

 

[Retired]

Hmmm, Deb was watching some movie when I walked into the room, No idea what it was but when I looked at the screen a total nude good looking gal was standing at the top of the stairs talking to a guy looking up at her. That made me Happy! Now I tell Deb, (We need to sit down and watch that movie with that nude gal at the top of the stairs.) Lol

[Notes_Norton]

I finished recording and uploaded dozens of HD.demo files for my Band-in-a-Box aftermarket styles to http://www.nortonmusic.com/styledemo.html

The new HD demos are recorded straight out of BiaB using either a Ketron SD2, Edirol SD90, or Roland SC55 hardware synth, recorded in Audacity, and ripped by Audacity at 128kbps stereo using the LAME encoder. They are not edited in any way and BiaB does choose different patterns every time you reload a song, I just used the first one.

I used different synths so they don't all sound the same and so people can sense that the tone of the instruments depend on the MIDI synth they use.

The old low-rez demos were a hold over from the Dial Up 14.4k (2400 baud) modem days (I've been doing this since 1992) and I used whatever soft synth that came with BiaB at the time (VSC, Coyote or whatever), and ripped at 32kbps mono.

I gave the new HD.Demos a new icon so they are easy to spot, and they sound so much better. That makes me happy!

I'm proud of my work. I played all the instruments on these styles, and what I played comes out clearer. For each Band-in-a-Box style I can write (play) up to 400 patterns ranging from 1 beat to 8 beats long, and assign data telling them which musical situation they should appear in. I can also add weight numbers so some patterns appear more often than others in the same situation. It's like a musical puzzle that needs to be solved and when it works out it definitely makes me happy.

It's something I've been meaning to do for a long time. I plan to do them all eventually.

Notes

[Mr. Gibson]

On December 15, 2020 at 6:07 AM, kidblast said:

Work on our house is almost done.   It's been entirely rebuilt, it's amazing.

Our contractor told me yesterday, they should have the whole thing wrapped up by December 28th.  

We've not been there since the fire on March 27th.  It's been a long 9 months.

Sounds like you're almost home, I'm glad for you. That'd be hard not being able to be in your house for so long.

[mihcmac]

Having difficulty deciding which of my 2 new guitars to play today....      🎼 🎵🎶

[Retired]

On 12/15/2020 at 6:07 AM, kidblast said:

Work on our house is almost done.   It's been entirely rebuilt, it's amazing.

Our contractor told me yesterday, they should have the whole thing wrapped up by December 28th.  

We've not been there since the fire on March 27th.  It's been a long 9 months.

Thats great Kid. When you can't go home that long it is bad. Our home is over 100 years old and entirely been updated room by room and living in the mess of it isn't fun either. 

[kidblast]

7 hours ago, Retired said:

Thats great Kid. When you can't go home that long it is bad. Our home is over 100 years old and entirely been updated room by room and living in the mess of it isn't fun either. 

Our house was fist occupied in 1910 according to the history.  we are only the third owner.  The guy we bought it from, lived there all his life and bought it from the original owner after WWII  So age wise about the same for us. 

just a side note on the sh-t show this year has  been..  . Talking with the warehouse manager where our clothes were cleaned and stored, they have more claims so far this year, than any other year since they've been doing this (35/40 years)..   winter is usually the worse time of year for house fires, but this year, it's been just about non stop.   2020 can't get on it's way out the door soon enough.

 

[fortyearspickn]

Chimney fires were what I remember most when we lived in Central Mass.  Maybe they just were the type that checked the boxes for sensational reporting.  But we had really old looking, fabric covered wiring in our 1915 house.  Three story old house across the street burned half down - unoccupied but heating system broke down.  Glad you are close to moving back in.  Are you going to celebrate Christmas officially on the 28th?  I'm betting 2021 will  be a 1000% Happier New Year for you all ! 

[Retired]

13 hours ago, kidblast said:

Our house was fist occupied in 1910 according to the history.  we are only the third owner.  The guy we bought it from, lived there all his life and bought it from the original owner after WWII  So age wise about the same for us. 

just a side note on the sh-t show this year has  been..  . Talking with the warehouse manager where our clothes were cleaned and stored, they have more claims so far this year, than any other year since they've been doing this (35/40 years)..   winter is usually the worse time of year for house fires, but this year, it's been just about non stop.   2020 can't get on it's way out the door soon enough.

 

Really? I wouldn't have thought fires rage in winter like you said. Yeah, This house were in now was erected in 1890. It was passed down only to family. According to good years and crops, and they added on to it.  Deb & I were the first ones outside the original family to get it. We're asked all the time, when we will sell it as people are just waiting to bid for it.  I'll be outside mowing when a car will stop and talk to me. 

[Retired]

A bit boring as Deb went to her friends house to sew Quilts with her. Dorthy is retired also and stays locked up at home like us.  So I went down to the safe and brought up some very old ammo from the Korean War that my wife's Uncle brought back to the US.  Someone thought it looked pretty bad so I polished it all with steel wool and it shines like the day it was made. Yeah, That made me smile. 

[Tman]

House building is progressing. Even with 4 hours sleep my back didn't hurt as much this morning. Wife is happy because she closed her office due to the pandemic but she gets to be back home full time while she monitors the house being built and plans a new office sometime next year....here.  Avocado's still hanging on the tree. A lot to be happy about.