As I whiled away a sunny but slightly chilly May Day bank holiday recently (having whiled away another public holiday only a few days prior to that to celebrate the royal wedding and two public holidays the weekend before - what a lazy week of Pimms and picnics it's been lately), it occurred to me that maybe a Hollow Sun blog would be in order ... well - not so much a 'blog' as such but just a kind of diary, documenting activities at Hollow Sun Towers here in The Lab.
So, armed with a robust whisky and Stone's green ginger and a briar full of Borkum Riff, it was off to the blogosphere to have a look at what was on offer. Oh my! What an overwhelming bewilderment of overcomplicated arse that all is. No! Sorry - they all seem far too complicated for my modest requirements so I have decided to roll my own, so to speak. Much simpler I think.
It will have sporadic entries that will bring news of my activities which you can view at your leisure. Hopefully, it will be of interest - it may even be amusing - but given that this is the first entry, let's not be over-ambitious. I may well give sneak previews of things I am working on - in fact, why not kick things off with such a thing now.
I am up to my eyes with a major project (funnily enough, graphics rather than sound design) for 'a major manufacturer' which NDAs (and maybe even DNA) prevent me from divulging for fear of physical harm but in and around that, work begins in earnest on the next release due later this month. This one's not a 'Music Lab Machine' but an authentic representation of the fabled RMI ElectraPiano, much loved by proggers like Tony Banks, Rick Wakeman, Dave Greenslade and others. Old friends of Hollow Sun will be aware that I have had RMI samples available for some time now but they are Zen like in their minimalism and I have given these away or included them as bonus sounds in the past. This new one is full on... a full recreation of the real thing with full length samples of every note for every 'tab' with the added advantage of multi-effects, a handful of presets, etc..
More news to follow. In the meantime, the pipe and tumbler need refilling and Mortimer, my butler, has the evening off so I must refill them myself! Damn all these new workers' rights laws!!! It's political correctness gone mad, I tell you, MAD!
Friday, May 6th, 2011
Well...
It's 2.45am here at HS Towers and things have gone a lot better than anticipated today with the RMI and it's all kind of working. Which is nice.
I can't take the credit for it but must attribute today's successes to Mario who's been beavering away in Croatia on the scripting while I got on with other committments. He's a clever little bugger it has to be said (mind you, slipping him a few kuna yesterday may be behind today's impetus - no doubt he'll squander it all on Japanese anime movies, though! Youngsters, eh?!).
But progress is most pleasing and I am now in a position to show an actual screenshot...
It's sounding damned good too, if I say so myself. It's fantastic being able to just mix and match the various instrument 'tabs' on the fly just like on the real thing ... and the multi-effects add a completely new dimension to this classic sound and can make it decidedly 'modern' and useful significantly outside its prog rock heritage.
I think this warrants a (very) large single malt and a 'La Aurora' in the study. Blissful!
Another great day here at HS Towers. I managed to get a bunch of stuff done for 'the major manufacturer' (although, annoyingly, their spec has changed a bit!) and Mario's been
a-beavering again - he's an industrious young fella!
The presets are in place...
The special 'organ' mode has to be done so some preset slots are left empty to accommodate those. Furthermore, it's been arranged that users can save their own presets (limitless quantity) and load them into the USER PRESET slot. It's all jolly exciting!
We've added a NOISE switch as well. With that switched on, you can add a hint of mains hum, a problem some RMIs were plagued with ... so if you want to be truly authentic, that's the one for you. It also enables 'rocker noise' - that is, the sound of the various rocker switches being pressed when you click them ... which is a bit of a giggle!
The ECO switch is nothing to do with climate change but a means to optimise polyphony. With it switched off, you can switch 'tabs' in and out freely and they will become immediately active but with it switched on, only the voices used for the selected 'tabs' will be played. Could be useful for those with lesser computers which might struggle with high polyphony counts. It's a handy little touch.
On more mundane, domestic matters, Mrs Featherlight, the cook, is having family trouble (her husband has a problem with the gee-gees!) so had to take the evening off. I imagine he's in for a rum time from her - she's a formidable woman! Janet, the housekeeper, and Mortimer both refused to step in (telling me I don't pay them enough or something!) so I rustled up a little favourite of mine for supper which I learnt during my extensive time in the Orient.
さしみ (sashimi - raw fish). Some マグロ (maguro - tuna) and 鮭 (sake - salmon) with 焼きそば (yaki soba - fried noodles) served with 焼き魚の皮 (yakizakana no kawa - fried fish skin ... from the sashimi) and, of course, わさび (wasabi) and 醤油 (shouyu - soy) plus みそ (miso) soup and お酒 (sake).
Unfortunately, the only sake I had in the wine cellar was from Korea but it was pleasant enough... and Mortimer was at least decent enough to bring me that. I did think to wear a kimono for the occasion but the last time I did that, Mortimer gave me furtive glances (I don't think he likes to be reminded of his time in Burma!). Anyway, it was おいしかったです (bloody gorgeous!) and those bottles of Korean sake, while a little crude on the palate, slipped down very nicely.
All in all, another very satisfying day. Time for a malt, I think!
Progress continues apace on the RMI so there are no worries on that score but it's been the usual ups and downs of staffing problems here at HS Towers.
Apart from Mortimer being his usual cantankerous self, Janet 'tutting' at almost everything I do and Mrs Featherlight experiencing further domestic woes, my trusty Underwood typewriter (on which I prepare this diary) developed a problem early in the week. In this day and age, it's a nightmare finding someone competent for such repairs but I put Mortimer onto the job and a few days later, a very personable young man attended to examine the machine. He isolated the problem and said he'd return the following day with his tools. Sure enough, he was good to his word and I left him alone in the drawing room with the deficient typewriter while I donned the white coat and continued work in The Lab.
Well, you can imagine my horror when, upon checking to see how he was getting on, on opening the door, I found Mollie, my secretary, in flagranté with the young fella.
Mollie's a spirited young thing at the best of times but it's this characteristic that appealed as the lass brings a certain ditzy, youthful exhuberance to HS Towers which is a marvellous antidote to the crustiness of some of the other staff employed here. Not just that but she is also extremely nimble of finger with a delicate and efficient touch, a quality sadly lacking in many a young woman these days who seem only capable of fumbling like amateurs - Mollie's a professional in every way.
But this young fella was obviously uncomfortable by this display of what can only best be described as brazen 'strumpetry' as is evident from the photograph.
Not knowing what course of action to take, I made myself scarce - I mean... what DOES one say in such a situation? To take her to task then and there would have only exacerbated the problem and caused the young lad further awkwardness. I do so dislike a dilemma!
Having beaten a hasty retreat, I thought it wiser to not say anything for now and to maybe have a quiet word with Mollie at a suitable time ... perhaps when she's taking something down for me.
An hour or so later, Mortimer announced that the repairman had mended the problem and was leaving so I went to atrium to meet him and settle up. You can imagine my surprise when I asked him how much I owed him, he said (with something of a wicked smirk on his face and a knowing wink) that Mollie had already 'paid' him. I have no idea what that means - I can only imagine she will submit an expense claim for the amount at some point.
Anyway, it's good to have the old thing back in action and the Underwood is, indeed, better than ever - the young fella did a very good job and it was a great pleasure to sit down again with a full briar and a single malt to continue with my diary entries.
Time for another snifter, I think, before returning to The Lab.
Well! Closer than ever and on the very cusp of the RMI's release with much excitement here at HS Towers ... so much so that Mortimer's preparing the bunting in the orangery in readiness. He may be a grumpy old bugger at times but he does tend to get caught up in our revelry at times like this, bless him.
All the finishing touches are done - web page, user's guide, audio demo (albeit a touch rough and ready), etc. - just a few presets to make up and we're pretty much complete and I am anticipating a formal announcement in a day or two.
Time for a wee celebration - I'm thinking a rugged oak-aged blend is in order.
As I sit here in the drawing room pounding away on the old Underwood in the wee hours with my favourite nightly medicine at hand and a cigarette case containing roll-ups of my own creation, I am looking back on a most excellent day.
This morning saw the release - at last - of the RMI resulting in much jubilation here at HS Towers. Mortimer had bunting up in the orangery and at lunchtime, was excitely serving generous helpings of sandwiches, Mrs Featherlight's legendary canapés, Pimms and rum punch rounded off with some marvellous almond fancies Mrs Featherlight also prepared for the occasion. Even Janet was in unusually good spirits.
I left Mollie to deal with orders as a few of the chaps and I made our way to the club for a few celebratory snifters. Sadly, our piggy back races were greeted with some opprobrium but it only added to our enjoyment to see the doorman and Mr Ficklesworth, the club secretary, fulminating over our playfulness.
Back at HS Towers, I was to learn that Mollie had been inundated all day. Good girl that she is, she stayed over time to fulfil orders so it seemed only appropriate to let her stay and join our evening antics. To say she was game would be understating things - she's quite the obliging lass! And in fairness, Mrs Featherlight also joined in and prepared some magnificent lamb cutlets for the party's supper in an homage to the RMI's audio demo. I have to admit that hers were superior, suffused as they were with rosemary and garlic and served with a wonderful mint gravy and roast vegetables.
All in all, a most satisfying day all round.
Now, of course, the challenge is to develop the next HS product and I am favouring another Music Laboratory Machine I've had on the bench for a while.
The festivities continued unabated here (Mollie's not been home yet much to Janet's chagrin) and after a magnificent lunch courtesy of Mrs Featherlight, we retired to the lawns for a relaxing afternoon.
As we took in the warmth of a delightful (but slightly gusty) Spring afternoon armed with nothing more than some jugs of Pimms chilled so expertly by Mortimer, who should turn up out of the blue but an old acquaintance of mine from Collinston Prep School, 'Binky' Billingsworth. This in itself was not much of an occasion but the motor vehicle he was driving stopped us all in our tracks...
Never before have I seen an automobile of such exquisite beauty. I fear I may have physically drooled as he pulled up in it!
It was a 1936 Mercedes 500K Roadster. It seems that only 30 were made to order and they now sell for around £3 - £4 million apiece (so I fancy I am going to have sell a lot more RMIs to fund one of those little beauties!).
Anyway, it transpires it's not Binky's - he was lent it for the weekend by some insanely wealthy Johnny Foreigner type he's doing some (no doubt dodgy) business with and he just turned up here in it to show off (he always was a bit of a flash bastard!). Sadly, he wouldn't let me take it for a spin in case I pranged it ... which was a damned shame. Instead, we just admired it while the smug git looked on.
Everyone seems to have dispersed now so it's peace and tranquility here at last as I cogitate on our next move over a very fine Taylor Fladgate port. A new MLM is most definitely on the cards I think.
Overall, a very splendid weekend and I am very grateful to those who not only dug into their pockets for the RMI but who were also gracious enough to write to me to express their satisfaction. Very splendid ... or as they express it so succinctly in Japan...
I have never been at one with all the new fangled modern keyboards with their superlight touch and silly arse buttons - keyboard keys need to MOVE and make a noise ... you need to feel them under your fingers (which is why I prefer my trusty Underwood).
So you can imagine my delight when today, I heard of these...
Now, THAT'S a proper keyboard. I shall have Mollie look into this pretty damned pronto.
