draco @draco@sonomu.club

I'm running the current LTS version of #UbuntuStudio if anyone feels called to give me pointers what might be causing this odd behavior or how to fix it, short of re-installing the whole system from scratch.

I might re-install Ardour and see if that makes it go away.

I tried recording something with #ardour today and it was a total bust. First there was something amiss in alsamixer and that was why I couldn't get my computer to play *any* sound.

Then Ardour wouldn't let me use anything but ALSA, but why would you use ALSA when you have JACK?

Honestly, that's what I sometimes hate about audio. The endless troubleshooting. Wasted the afternoon on it 😠

Now I don't have time to record the thing I wanted to.

The wife and I have our best conversations either out hiking or at restaurants.

Yesterday, she encouraged me to give up on trying to mimic 9-to-5 work structures and to follow my artistic ambition instead. Or even the thing I feel as my vocation.

I don't know yet how I'm going to make that work. A part of me is terrified and wants to run and hide. But another, stronger and deeper one, is like "Fuck yeah, stop wasting your time trying to conform to nonsensical ideals."

"Maintenance practice" is the bare minimum I strive to do daily. But I also allow myself to just do that if I want to make time for other creative endeavours, such as songwriting or learning other music skills.

Thinking about my term "maintenance practice" - I use it to refer to practice that I just do to "stay in training", but without deliberately working on developing specific skills or studying repertoire. Most of the time, this kind of practice is mostly technical for me.

If I apply this definition, my current guitar practice sessions aren't pure "maintenance" because I am working on scales and pretty intentionally working on developing strength for bar chords.

"Maintenance" practice both re: vocal technique and guitar. Bar chords are starting to sound cleaner!

ADHD symptoms really strong today. Feeling anxious and scatterbrained.

Another busy and emotional day. Tomorrow might become busy as well. I feel unbalanced, insecure, vulnerable and anxious. And there are two (non-music) projects I want to get done and haven't been able to work on for weeks and that's vexing me.

But I managed to wedge in both a short singing practice and technical guitar practice and I'm glad about that. I want to improve my bar chords significantly until February!

Today: One of those days that go by so quickly and fade from memory, like you did nothing noteworthy or productive. One of the days that make me anxious when I'm in that headspace where I'm governed by internalized capitalism.

But I did things. Household chores, worked out, had a good singing practice and a short, but sweet guitar practice session before I headed over to a friend's birthday party. Now, I have a purring cat on my lap.

Good night, club!

No music time today, I guess. The wife and I wear for a major IKEA haul, scouting for a decent-ish bed and getting a few smaller items. Now we're on the way home.

We've been sleeping on *very* simple beds for the last few years, and since we've had a pleasant development in our financial situation recently, we are investing in things that will make our life better in the long run.

Alas, no playtime with Supercollider today. I have so many things I want to try, but these days are busy.

On the other hand, I got around to figuring out the chords for an old song by friends of mine. They're really simple and it's a song that lends itself readily to being played in a purely acoustic voice-and-guitar setup.

Now I have an earworm.

Also, I rely on sight-reading a fair bit. And feel lost and guess in the first rehearsal run. Then I gradually figure out how my part fits in with the others.

Singing a fairly low alto part is still hard because I used to be a soprano, and I still am a mezzosoprano. In higher registers, I have an easier time finding my pitch.

It went ok, although sometimes I feel a little left out in the cold. Like, places where I don't find my note aren't addressed.

Also, when we started learning the piece, there were some rehearsal aid videos sent around, only they are for the SATB version, and we're singing an SSAA arrangement, so it's inaccurate for us and the people who used it are confused.

My study process is different, I didn't look at said videos; I study at the piano and rely on my understanding of the harmony a lot.

Today is one of those nights where I dread going out again for choir rehearsal. I have a headache, I'm tired and I have cold feet. But I want to see how much that study session with my fellow altos on Saturday did.

Also, I think it's awesome that in this choir, meeting for additional practice sessions in private seems ok, although studying in the regular sessions in ways that everyone feels secure would be more desirable.
#choralmusic

I can play sine waves with my MIDI keyboard and a few lines of SuperCollider code.

https://some.audio/5dc0ad2668cded6d55282b93