Shutup & Play Corporation

Color me colorful

2008-10-15T09:29:00.000-07:00

Lots of work to do

2008-10-06T13:21:00.000-07:00

I had a meeting with the Bobs---:)

Oooh it's a sunny day outside my window.

2008-09-22T10:38:00.000-07:00

What to talk about. well if you are so inclined and want to chat with me I have an embedded meebo window and if I am online then you can chat, no account needed. also if you want to show me your ugly little mug then I have a tokbox embedded so that you can chat and see my sorry looking mug.

I have been looking at getting a new laptop. I am looking at the XPS M1730 which is a gaming laptop and probably good for audio as well. Lots of power for a laptop. The other is from PC Audio Labs and it is built for audio and is pretty sweet. http://www.pcaudiolabs.com/daws_customconfig_image.asp?componentid=576 fast and made for audio right out of the box. I think I will get this and then get a cheapo for web browsing and mail later.

Check out this specs on that bad boy. Probably not the latest processor but still right up there with the best of them.

I will make my decsion today and will likely get the pcAudio labs one---but I have not made the final decision.

All these choices and the more I wait they get better--not a bad deal.

With the economy and coporate layoffs pending ....well...who knows what is going to happen.

Busy busy busy...............................

2008-08-04T23:15:00.000-07:00

All of a sudden I am looking at the options for getting a new pair of speakers I can master with. If I keep doing this and it is going to get more and more fun as I go along. It's hard to explain to people the compromise and decisions that you have to make to get a sub-set of what you would "really" like if there were no price and time barriers. I have done pretty well but I will need to also choose a new interface and that is not going to be easy...do I cave in and go PT-HD or do I go with something else? In the end it really doesn't matter because its all about getting the tracks down somehow and then mixing them and even more so about the performance you are recording.

Ted Talk

2008-06-24T12:48:00.001-07:00

I am going to host a TED speech that I find of interest. This particular one talks about how we educate and how we need to advance in our methods ......well anyway--listen I promise you will make you think.

I like to know stuff!!!

Get your tokbox!!!

2008-06-23T15:25:00.000-07:00

Me fighting myself at a corporate meeting. You never listen I tell you!!! Go an get talk box and come talk to me I'm lonely:()---Look to the left --mini TOKBOX!!!

I can't stop---too much fun!!!

2008-06-17T15:02:00.001-07:00

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new blog two--electric pencil boogaloo

2008-06-17T11:47:00.000-07:00

Bloggin with pencil:)

2008-06-16T11:27:00.001-07:00

Studio Construction finished

2008-05-30T14:21:00.001-07:00

Ok, back to the really real world. The construction phase has finsihed and we are getting a desk made and also re-racking and hooking up all that gear.

I am currently looking into possible upgrades for the recording gear itself, while the PARIS rig is awesome it has slowly become outdated and there are a bunch of new options that can expand our capabilities and reduce size and weight.

There are so many options nowadays it is hard to decide. We will be working towards a mastering type environment.

Is Line 6/Bogner right for you?

2008-05-29T15:35:00.000-07:00

So I never get the time of day from the hot girls in the mail room until today. I bought a Line 6 Spider Valve HD100 and they couldn't keep their hands off me. Perhaps its that marriage of old and new technology that turned them on? Hard to say but I think that is it...they like that fact that you are not scared to try something new (digital modeling) but that you are also grounded in the standards(tube amplification).

I was waiting for this to happen--So if you are like me and was wondering if old spice body wash is right for you?--The answer is a definite NO--cause Line 6/Bogner Tube amplification is the real aphrodisiac and this trip to the mail room proves it.

If you want all the hotties looking at you and bragging on your tone you want this amp!!!

My girl is a bit worried but she understands that is the price you pay to hang with killer tone!! She still calls me shredtastic and worships my guitar playing like no other!!!

Thanks Line 6!!!

Studio Construction update

2008-04-29T13:28:00.000-07:00

Here is a pick of the window plugs. As you can see to the left an "unplugged" window. Here is the link http://shutupandplay.com/photos/thumbnails.php?album=58 to the rest of the pics. I will add the new ones soon.

Other updates--Added a meebo chat box for customers and friends that don't use an IM and added twitter (twitter.com) go check it out and start following me.

Studio Progress

Completed

flooring
lights
sub-floor
wiring
sheetrock
demolition

To-Do

baseboard trim
move in Gear
sound check
jam my ass off

Good intention

2008-01-01T13:23:00.000-08:00

Thoughts

If I were to measure the potential power of heart felt intention at the start of every year the readings would be off the chart. I am sure if I were to measure the disappointments those readings would be similar:)

Some things come to mind that are similar in the way that they all start off with great intention but can turn out so00 bad....almost all held together by a thin thread of hope and luck that this year or this time/love/election/thing will be different and better and it is not always who pushes and works the hardest sometimes it is just your turn...I hope this year is your turn.

....
12 steppers...this one is fascinating because you don't know who wins until death!
new year of school...They may be valedictorian now but who knows after college:)
weddings..no need for comment here
family vacations...movies have been made about this:)
bands....refer to wedding comment
new job....that one is an oxymoron as well.

Well I could go on forever and usually do so this year I am really going to try and listen more (No my girlfriend and friends didn't suggest this but will likely enjoy the show)

Studio Progress

Complete
demolition
sub-floor
wiring

To-Do
Sheetrock
flooring
lights
gear
done---being done is a step:) the only one that really counts!

All the big decisions have been made and the execution is moving at a nice pace.

Just like all projects...I am exactly where I thought I would be and not where I hoped to be...living where you think things will really be is a lot more exciting anyway because you can gauge and guess what people will do and most of the time be spot on but on occasion someone will surprise you and I have been trying to thank and acknowledge those that do and encourage them.

Product Review

Been trying out a Digitech vocalist II. Very different from others in the fact that it will determine harmony based on the live chord you are playing...Nice but you know what i am going to do with it.......I love experimenting and I will soon be giving a demo of these experiments if that studio ever gets finished!

Happy New Year

Here comes the Sun

2007-12-06T11:46:00.000-08:00

But not in Oregon----damn I miss you come back...

Studio--Soon----Construction is on and the walls have been stripped. Electrician comes next week and then the floor and move in and we will be broadcasting live to stickam---then the adventures begin-

Please for the love of all that is good let the sun shine in!!!!

Some words from one of my favorite artists

2007-04-27T18:03:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I will read something or listen to something that makes me think that someone has been following close behind me and taking notes. That was the case for many things that Frank Zappa had said over his career. Here is a snip from an interview that is much longer but thought I would share.

Begin Quote>>

Marshall:

What is "Information"

Zappa:

Any data that comes in. Somebody presents you with something. Like, I walk up to you and say, "Two and two is eleven". That's some information. It's bad information, but it's information. O.K. Now, if somebody comes up to you and says "Two and two is eleven", and they have the Presidential Seal on their coat, and they got bunting waving in the background, and balloons go up, you might consider it for a minute. So, that's information. Information is not knowledge. Knowledge is the point at which you know something, O.K. Now, wisdom is the idea that you have a bank of facts. To behave wisely, you have to deploy those facts in some way. You can deploy them stupidly or you can deploy them wisely. So, information is not knowledge. Knowledge is not wisdom. Wisdom is not truth. You can take all the sorted pieces of information which gives you a knowledge base. You can act in what you believe is a wise procedure, but that is not necessarily any ultimate truth. And just because something is an ultimate truth doesn't mean it's beautiful. And just because something is beautiful certainly doesn't mean you have to love it. Because there's lots of ugly stuff that you could love, too. I mean, I love my dog. Not a particularly attractive dog, but that's a wonderful dog.

Marshall:

How did it continue after Beauty? What are the rest of the lines?

Zappa:

Oh, well, it's: "Information is not knowledge, Knowledge is not wisdom, Wisdom is not truth, Truth is not beauty, Beauty is not love, and Love is not music. Music is THE BEST"

Marshall:

If "Love is not music", what is "Love"?

Zappa:

It's chemical, merely chemical.

END Quote<<

BTW --2 new additions------

We are going to have a custom guitar built >

All the specs are in the link but the 27in scale is going to be the difference that sets this guitar apart from any other guitar on the planet ...What that means for recording are some nice meaty piano clean dripping with flavor from the wood pure tone.

The one you see on the right was ordered today and should be here by Wednesday for live gigs.

**************

Studio planning is still underway and we have decided to add the control room to give the recording area and musicians more space and also gives us less to have to tear down in the existing area.

Until next time

30 days without it

2007-03-20T20:14:00.000-07:00

That' s right....30 days since I had an internet connection @home:)

Yes there is a connection at work but now that isn't the same is it? :) It seemed like everything was closer as soon as I could connect to the internet, that was a wierd false sense of security:) ..................Then after that moment there was a long pause. I had gone so long without that I had nothing to search for. I went back to what I was doing and later after talking with my hot lady friend she decided we needed to buy a shelf for the printers and things now that we can use them....we often buy stuff after we talk.

So what is it that makes me feel better? Maybe its the ability to send a quick im to a friend or send a thoughtful email to my mother(she would faint). This internet is really no different then the Radio, TV ....except that this device lets us talk back and allow others to hear it the way we said it without a sensored mass appeal approval system albiet hackers and malicious kinids aside.

I will leave with a poem...

I have really been looking into real things instead of virtual things, things of quality, things that last, things that are fun, there are so many things that are not on the internet.....and I'm so glad they have not ported them over yet:)

It's only been 74 years--thats like three dead rock stars

2006-12-27T16:45:00.000-08:00

Quote from NPR

"Until about 74 years ago, musical instruments remained pretty much the same as they were for centuries. Then a new invention changed modern music and popular culture as well -- the electric guitar. For the continuing series Present at the Creation, NPR's Christopher Joyce traces the origins of an instrument that changed popular music forever. "

The rest of the story if you are interested...http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/patc/electricguitar/ " End Quote

Like I said guitar still rules. It really hasn't been around in its present form for long and there is so much more ground to cover. I am still just as fasinated with the guitar today as I have always been. Being a player, many of the mysteries are gone that use to baffle me and as I have said time and time again...nothing is what it appears to be:) This is a lesson learned daily on the guitar and life in general.....Rock on d00d!

When its time to go its time to go, maybe?

2006-12-19T16:18:00.000-08:00

I'm not even sure where to start. I woke up in the middle of the night and was unable to breath, rushed out of bed scaring my loved one to death(sorry)...It was just all so unreal. I was dreaming that I was having a hard time breathing and trying to burp then after the ordeal I suspect that is was some combination of digestive/breathing freak event ...Basically all I remember is that I was trying to burp but could not and then woke up and then eventually I got some air and some water and I was fine but I am still left wondering...What in the hell happened? Exactly...What the hell did happen.

I think it really was that I had eaten a lot that night and then went to bed with a slight bit of congestion and then bam, you wake up thinking shit I'm going to die trying to burp up this pizza, it's not a pretty thought ...It's just such a cruel world and you never know what's gone happen or how it's going to happen.

I feel mostly bad for the lady of the house as this just freeked her out, hurt her neck getting up so fast and I have been letting her know she is on death watch and she is not thinking that is really that funny:)

I keep thinking of the Indian guy that told me some freaky things once and they have all come true but that's another story........Remind me it's a doozy and still freaks me out to this day.

Guitar just still rules

2006-11-20T09:26:00.000-08:00

"Quote From Recording Mag"

Begin Quote<----"It seems that for every drummer who moves on to using (or losing out to) loop and programmed percussion tracks, for every synthesist who puts his black-and-whites up on ebay, and for every horn section the now riffs virtually on a hard drive, antoher "real" guitar springs up. There's no denying it----Guitar is hard to simulate, never fails to excite the crowds, and is not about to go out of style no matter the cold shoulder it gets from the "urban" crowd."--->End Qoute

It's a new guitar era. With many big name guitarist recording in the privacy of there homes we are in for some inovative new guitar works.

The New Studio ----it is coming soon!!!

This place will be awesome for independent artists to complete their solo album in their spare time as well as the ability to record the entire band. We will be putting in a drum room and vocal booth. We will document and film the the construction of the drum room and vocal booth in the new studio so you can see what goes into creating a professional recording environment.

In addition to the music this will be where the audio books are read and voice overs for done for media creation.

Talk to you soon. We will keep you updated on the progress.

I couldn't find her

2006-10-05T11:33:00.000-07:00

I looked all night on the internet and I could not find pics or vids of your mom so I think we are all safe. If I do find them I will make sure they are removed right away.

Harddrive in the laptop dies last night, time to go get a new one. Thank goodness for Ghost...I made an image of it just about two weeks ago and hopefully I will get the new drive and plop and image on it and we will be god to go.

It is computer upgrade weekend coming up if the KVM comes. We will be combing two flats screens to share for the vid and audio machines and the new Ghost/file server will be online and we will be able to keep fresh images available for different functions.

I will report on how it all goes.

And those of you who's mom's are planning on posting pics/vids of themselves on the internet please check with everyone to see if they are hot first......This is really important for those that surf porn and may see their mothers we want to make sure they are pictures to make a son proud.

Thats all the twisted shit for now.

Your Mom on the Internet

2006-10-04T13:54:00.000-07:00

We had an interesting conversation at lunch. I will let you finish your own.

This conversation had some interesting twists and turns and brings up some questions about the nature of doing things now as opposed to 15-20 years ago.

We basically came down to one thing and it was undisputed-----

Hot or not? You decide.

The Confrontation and Construction Plans

2006-10-03T14:05:00.000-07:00

The Confrontation:
I confronted the girls about my fear of being consumed by the estrogen blanket and they assured me that they were no longer hungry as they went to Marie Calendars or something and I have nothing to worry about. I'm still watching my back cause there is no good reason to trust either of those girls.

The Cat:
Ok, so I have built a cage for our cat that has FIV(This is HIV for cats). He has to stay inside all the time and I feel sorry for him when I see him gazing out the window. This also has a very selfish side to it----as soon as I move Earl(the cat) out to the cage then I will be able to setup the guitar repair and lesson shop as well as have a place for the stop motion sets.

The Construction:

We are searching for a new special place to upgrade the studio atmosphere so keep your eyes open for cool places the Studio can go to that can have horses running all over the place. In the meantime we will still be upgrading the current Studio for better function and sound and getting ready for those winter months. Hopefully we will find a new place before next summer sets in because it was hella hot in the Studio in the Summer...Almost unbearable so we can't wait to get the Studio into a climate controlled area.

Make sure to read the CEO's blog as she will be writing up reviews on the acts we go out to see.
I will try and post at least every other day. Next acts up---Fatecage and The Accident Experiment.

Rock has not been buried yet--tim for a seance

I think my girlfriend is going to eat me

2006-09-26T08:50:00.000-07:00

Lately my girlfriend has been trying to plump me up but I am uncertain why. I think they plan on cooking me and eating me. Maybe as a last BB-Q for the summer with her and and her girlfiends. How can you tell? Last night she bought an Angel food cake and said...here have as much as you want with that evil look in her eye and then added and oh....I got you some Ben & Jerrys ice cream to have with your cake. Maybe I'm making this up....maybe not. She is starting to scare me. I will keep you updated if I live to tell about it.

Husk Mixdown

2006-05-08T15:35:00.000-07:00

Time to mix the Husk boys. Got to be in that mellow afternoon mood. Hopefully we will get a lazy summer night and I will finish up the mix. On a side note we have done many upgrades and soon will be upgrading the site with Samples for customers to listen and view. Have fun and keep on playing!

2006-01-30T10:03:00.000-08:00

Husk has been by to record. These guys are great people and great music. We have done some rough mixes and will be doing some final mixes after contact with the guys.

NWR (Sixteen Chokes) video kicks Ass!!...These guys get better and better everytime I hear them. I still can't figure out which one had the operation but hey it doesn't matter they ROCK!!

New gear coming soon!!!