January 23, 2009

           That’s Wallace in the forest. It is becoming a tamed forest as he cuts back the vines and yanks the roots out. The forest looks great at first, then you realize it hasn’t been kept up. There is street trash and weeds to be removed. Once the vines are gone the area looks even better. Privacy has not been affected for the remaining plants keep people off the swale near the patio fence. He’s been at it for four days, in case anyone thinks I was exaggerating about the amount of work I did there myself. You could not even get in there to do the trimming.
           Music dominates the day. I tested the new system for “live” Karaoke and of course, it was full of trade-offs. Like all contemporary software, if there is a shortcoming, it is carefully down-worded or not mentioned at all. But you can always count on me to get you the facts. Just a reminder that I use some terms loosely as I am describing the operation, not listing specifications.
           The software, Serenade, works as described and only that. It attaches lyrics to any MP3 and plays them back in synchronization with the music. How could anyone screw that up? Easy. The resulting file is really several files. They must be played back with the Serenade interface and only the MP3 part plays on any other device. It will do, but none of the bad part was spelled out in the advertising. For clarity, you cannot play back the file on regular CD equipment because Serenade does not output MP3+G format.
           That caused me to follow up by searching for software that performs the chore. Serenade was not expensive and taught me what to be wary of. First of all, MP3+G disks require a disk player that is compatible. This leads us back to the format. I refer to CDG and MP3+G as the same, but CDG has the same problem as CD. Only around a dozen songs will fit on one disk. Nor can I find out if CDG is the same as Super Video (SVCD), but that would be too easy. These people like to make life complicated.
           That leaves MP3+G, but for some reason, these are hard to find. I wanted a free sample to test my equipment. No dice. But I did notice that what was for sale was in the zip (compressed) format. Now MP3 files are already one-eighth the size of CD, so what is it with compression? That means the file must be decompressed before it can be played, as if you don’t already have enough to do up on stage. When all the above is tallied, it looks like it several manufacturers tried to tweak a system that was not designed to be manipulated. Folks, never let engineers work on a project without a babysitter.
           I got a phone call about joining a band. Very funny, because I am in a working situation and the other party is not. It is plain dumb to say I can't get gigs when I've just played 72 weeks in the past 78. Some people think a singer-guitarist is even necessary. (Put it to the test. I can regularly pack a room without having a singer or guitarist, and I don't mean Karaoke. If some people would try that, they'd quickly learn a hard lesson about what they are really worth as an entertainer.) If the guy was phoning to join my band, his choice of words was bad. Something about me learning his material and following his philosophies, something known to break up every band he ever started. Well, that's the New Age type for you. Getting things exactly backwards.
           Let me tally things up. I have a growing, successful, on-going operation with a steady following, regular money, and a house gig. As far as I know, other musicians dream of that and I seem to have pulled it off on the first try. I won't mention the the rave reviews I've gotten, or people who've jammed with me, or the fact that I have never been fired. The other person is offering... Well, um, let me see... Can I get back to you on that?
           Demo tape, my eye.