General Update

I’ve not blogged for a while, so here’s an update on all the random stuff going on in my head and life – well some of it,  anyway.

Thursday night we went to see Little Sister at the Hare and Hounds.  Apparently they now practice is bursts of a week, because one of them lives in Wales and one in Copenhagen.  This must have had been a good week, because their new stuff was great.  The opener had an Indian feel, after which they continued to work their way around the world’s folk music via Wales and Southern America.  One of the most striking aspects of the four girl group is not just their harmonising, or the range of instruments that they play, but the great big harp that sits on the stage, looming like a Renaissance sculpture while the support acts play.  Unfortunately, the sound often gets lost on pub stages, but the soundcheck had obviously been successful, so Sammy Fox’s glissandi were able to beautifully counterpoint the accordion.

This weekend @katieday is down in Bristol doing something related to interactive gaming that I’ve been struggling to explain to people, so in the meantime I’ve been getting to grips with Reaktor from Native Instruments. This program lets you create synthesizers and audio effects by stringing together blocks. I’ve been meaning to get back into effect design since my final year project at University, a DSP board connected to a MFC C++ program which would let you genetically evolve audio effects. Nowadays, these things are much easier to do, though you can still make something look absolutely horrible…