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As much as I appreciated my Sette 270, there were a few things I didn’t like about it: The fine adjustment mechanism is weird and unpredictable (due to the dual-ring thing) It is incredibly loud Grinding for espresso usually took 3-4 cycles due to popcorning The dang felt pretty huge (relative to my tiny kitchen) It’s built for keeping stuff in the hopper rather than single-dosing I was considering a number of other grinders (most notably the Option-O Lagom Mini) but then in April, Timemore announced the Timemore Sculptor series, in a number of sizes and grind profiles. And the requisite Kickstarter had it on a pretty deep discount. So anyway, I backed the 064s (64mm stepless variant) and expected to wait. And wait I did! But the lovely new grinder arrived today. So, I haven’t particularly “put it through its paces” just yet, but I’ve used it to grind and pull a few espresso shots. The actual workflow is very nice. The manufacturer recommends turning it on before pouring the beans in, which means you’ll need some sort of dosing cup separate from the catch cup, and you can’t really use the hopper’s lid either (as I did on my Sette). I ended up finding these cute dip bowls at Target and they’re just about perfect. (Of course, James Hoffmann fans already know about the Tens Hundreds Thousands dosing tray, which I wouldn’t turn down if someone wanted to buy me one as a gift, hint hint.) One slight annoyance with the Timemore is that there isn’t really any good indicator of how your grind setting is lined up. Thankfully, there’s a 3D-printable indicator which is very easy to print. I modified it a little bit to add a black “reticle” stripe, and I’ll probably modify the design further down the road. Attaching it just took some double-sided tape. Anyway. Grinding coffee on it is a joy, and it’s also nice and quiet. Here’s a comparison of the noise level of the Sculptor 064s vs. the Sette 270: It was pretty easy to dial in my espresso; for my home-roasted coffee I’m finding a grind size of around 0.5 to be ideal. I’m not sure how sensible it will be to do ultra-fine adjustments, or how the fine adjustment steps on the Sculptor compare to those on the Sette. The coffee I’m getting has a nice texture and a nice sweetness to it. I suppose that I could say something about it having a flavor profile that indicates its flat burrs compared to the Sette’s conical, but I’m not so pretentious as to think that I have the palate to pick out such differences. So far I haven’t been doing RDT when I grind (although tomorrow I will definitely be doing a comparison for James' current project). Also, there are two more slight annoyances; first off, I opted to buy it in white, which has a somewhat predictable result: Second, the included power cord pushes it rather far from the wall, increasing its overall footprint. Fortunately the cord is a standard IEC modular plug and there are angled alternatives out there (and even more available if I’m willing to buy one in black instead of white). Anyway. I’m quite happy with this grinder so far. comments #coffee #grinders #timemore (via busybee)

It’s December, when people start on the Baby, It’s Cold Outside discourse again. The song was written in a different era when different idioms were in place. It is not a song about aggressive sexual advances (much less date rape!), it’s a song about an unmarried couple trying to come up with excuses to spend the night together, in a society where that was extremely frowned upon. There’s a pretty good explanation of it by Pessoa on Genius Lyrics: In a modern climate, these lines are often seen as Marilyn catching Dean putting a roofie in her drink, followed by simpler date-sexual assault. Dean also defends that his feelings are ostensibly more meaningful than Marilyn’s. When the song was written in 1944, it was seen as scandalous for women to stay the night with someone who wasn’t their husband. As seen earlier (and later) in the song, the girl has a strong desire to stay with the man, regardless of the social norm—not to mention there’s a strong blizzard outside. The line “Say, what’s in this drink?” was a common phrase women would use as a way to attribute their deviance to a strong drink. The phrase was originally a nod to the idea that alcohol is “making” them do something unusual when there is actually nothing in the drink—the drink is to blame. In Frank Loesser’s original version, the girl pretends to resist his advancements so she can tell others it wasn’t her fault for deviating from the then-current societal expectations. There’s also a pretty good discussion about this song in Rolling Stone Magazine. Also the song was originally written by Frank Loesser to have something he and his wife could sing to their party guests when it was time for them to go the fuck home. comments #music #literary analysis (via busybee)

So the new keyboard arrived today and I swapped it into my setup, along with the Akai MPK49 (which I also finally restored to working condition). Here’s some vague unstructured thoughts about it. First of all, the key action is better than the Komplete Kontrol S88 it’s replacing. It’s not as good as I remember my old PX-300 being, but it’s hard to tell if that’s actually the case, as I haven’t used the PX-300 (or nearly any other Privia) in several years. I think it feels pretty similar to Spud’s… I can’t find the model number. But his first-gen Casio digital piano that was the predecessor to the Privia. But it’s hard to tell the specifics due to a bunch of factors, such as: My basement is very cold and so my fingers are stiff Also I have arthritis in both hands now, yay I keep getting distracted by the weird matte finish of the keys So that last point is worth going into detail on. The keys have a texture to them that makes them feel very cheap, like it’s trying to emulate very old ivory on a hand-me-down upright piano, rather than the more professional finish of higher-end modern pianos. It’s weird that they’d have done this, too, because the smooth finish on the rest of the piano would have been perfect. Anyway. The user interface is incredibly minimal. There’s just a few capacitive touch buttons, and there’s no direct instrument selection buttons as part of it; instead you have to hold down the “Grand Piano” key and press keys on the keyboard to select the sound. There’s also a bunch of other functions which are similarly set, which you have to either memorize or keep the rather unwieldy reference card around. Fortunately, I’m not going to be using any of that anyway. Speaking of things I’m not going to be using, the built-in speakers sound absolutely dreadful, like everything’s running through a bitcrusher. I haven’t tried listening to the audio on headphones yet. I did try the line outputs into my recording interface, but that apparently led to some ground loop issues (which I didn’t hear myself but SoniEx2 mentioned them while I was streaming this setup), so it’s not up to scratch for direct recording, but that’s, again, not anything I’m going to be using. On the note of headphones, there’s also a somewhat unfortunate regression: there’s no way to shut off the internal speakers without plugging something into the headphone jack. Which means even if you’re recording on the line output, it’s also playing on the speakers; turning the volume down also attenuates the line output. Which, again, isn’t an issue for me. But might be an issue for someone else. Now on to things that I am using. As I suspected, the ¼" damper pedal input doesn’t support continuous sustain, so I’ll need to build that adapter. My sustain pedal also supports a momentary switch mode but it uses the opposite configuration from Casio, and unfortunately this keyboard doesn’t support any means of reversing the switch mode (I forget if the PX-300 did, but most keyboards I’ve used do in some way). This keyboard is very clearly meant to only work with Casio’s own accessories. It remains to be seen whether the keyboard itself passes through continuous sustain or if it only supports half-pedaling at a protocol level. I don’t actually care one way or the other on this, as the instruments I have which support this stuff only do half-pedaling anyway. Another surprising thing is that the keybed has a little more height than the S88, which in turn was a little taller than the PX-300. So I’ll have to get used to the keyboard being physically a little higher. It’s only around ¼" but it’s enough for me to notice. Oh, also the PX-S1100 comes with a Bluetooth MIDI and audio dongle. From what I can tell, it turns the keyboard into Bluetooth speakers for your iPad/iPhone/etc. while also connecting its MIDI output to the same. I tried briefly to get it to work with macOS’s Bluetooth MIDI stack but didn’t have much luck, but that isn’t a particularly important thing to me (what with having a fully-fledged wired music studio that this is a part of) and I was only trying it out of curiosity. Unsurprisingly there’s no keyboard aftertouch, but I wasn’t expecting that at all. Anyway. I’m using this in conjunction with the MPK49 and that seems to be a pretty nice combination: really good key action on the PX-S1100, and then for the rare times I need aftertouch and pitch/mod and other fiddly knobs I can just switch to the MPK49. One downside of this setup is that the MPK49 blocks my view of the music stand, and the PX-S1100 isn’t deep enough for me to put my iPad on top of it in any reasonable way, so I’ll have to figure out another solution for placing my iPad (mostly for Logic Remote and occasionally reading sheet music). I could probably 3D-print a shelf to attach somewhere convenient or something. I’ll figure it out when I need to. So, yeah. I feel like the older generation of Privias are a better choice, if you can find one. As a basic MIDI keyboard, this one’s still a pretty okay choice. Definitely try it out in person first though; I’d have probably gone with something else if I’d done so. I’d also wanted to try the M-Audio Hammer 88 (or its Pro version) which seems like a better choice overall assuming it has a similar/better keyfeel, although I’ve seen indications that it uses the same Fatar keybed as the S88 which I’m trying to get away from in the first place. Anyway, after playing on the PX-S1100 for a couple of hours it started to feel totally fine to me, even with the weird finish, and I am fine with my purchase. comments #music #hardware #Casio #review-ish (via busybee)

Hey y'all, I’m trying to sell some music gear that I no longer need or find helpful or which otherwise doesn’t spark joy. Here’s what I’m selling. Local Seattle pickup preferred (except for the software licenses), although I’m willing to ship (but keep in mind that shipping prices will be pretty high, especially for the keyboards). Prices are negotiable. If you’re interested in buying any of this stuff, get in touch with me and we can work something out. All items are in excellent condition unless otherwise noted. Synthesizers Expressive-E Osmose, barely used, $1700 This is a really neat synthesizer with a really cool control scheme (and which I preordered the day that became possible), but after a few years of waiting and a few months of messing with it, it just hasn’t really gelled for me. A lot of people are really into it. I’m not one of them. Incidentally, this synth was the primary instrument on the most recent episode of Transformative Meditations. Yamaha TX7 FM synthesis module (a classic!), $220 PENDING Classic 80s FM sound, in a convenient standalone hardware module. Needs either a DX7 or Dexed to program it, although there’s plenty of SysEx libraries floating around online as well. Condition note: It could probably benefit from a cleaning. It was built in 1985 and has very 1985 crevices that now are filled with vintage dust. Tastychips ST4, glitchy and needs some reworking, $200 This was an interesting DIY kit for a hardware chiptune tracker which I bought on Kickstarter, but I never had the patience to get it working correctly. MIDI Controllers Artiphon Instrument 1 (white), barely used, $200 Not gonna lie, this is kinda gimmicky and I never found it to be all that useful or playable. But maybe someone knows a musically-inclined kid who wants a weird controller to mess with. Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol S88 (original version, sometimes called mk1), $525 (includes software bundle) I’ve mentioned this a few times recently; I bought this keyboard to get better KOMPLETE integration, and also to get a few controls that were missing from my Casio Privia PX300. It’s really great as a KOMPLETE-integrated controller (although it’s stuck on an older version of the software), and even as a standalone MIDI controller it works really well. I just don’t really need its extended MIDI controls, as it turns out, and I much prefer the lighter key feel of the Privia. This also comes with a copy of KOMPLETE 11 Select which is pretty amazing even on its own. M-Audio Keystudio (aka KeyRig 49), $30 This is a nice but extremely basic MIDI controller. Also the pitch bend is a little glitchy, which is a common problem on this model (probably easy to fix but I don’t have the patience for it). I’ll include a damper pedal, which it doesn’t normally come with. It’s also got a few scuffs on it. When I say it’s “extremely basic,” I mean it. All it has is 49 spring-action velocity-sensitive keys, a pitch bend, a mod wheel, a damper switch outlet, and octave transpose buttons. There’s also a semi-hidden “edit mode” that gives you a few additional functions that are occasionally useful but this is at best a secondary keyboard for quick note entry (which is what I used it for) or for a newcomer getting started with music before committing to buying a $500+ keyboard. Other hardware PreSonus FireStudio Project, $80 This is still an absolutely incredible audio interface, and both quality- and capability-wise it holds its own with modern hardware. Unfortunately, it is FireWire-based, which limits its connectivity, and per the support notes its drivers aren’t being updated anymore. From experience it’s possible to still run it on an Intel Mac even on recent macOS versions (using a hacked driver) and I’ve found reports that it still works on Windows machines with FireWire (as rare as they are), but the main reason someone would want to buy this is if they have an older legacy Mac studio setup that they want multichannel audio for. There’s also a few scratches and other physical blemishes on this unit. What do you want from something that’s 13 years old? Echogear 20U open frame rack with caster wheels, power strip, and a cable management panel, $180 This is an amazing freestanding equipment rack which can also work for network gear or whatever. Right now it’s just taking up space in my basement. I have no complaints with it, I just ended up not needing this much rack space. Excess software These are all Native Instruments packages which I bought separately before getting on the Komplete train, so these licenses are redundant. Thankfully, Native Instruments provides an easy license transfer mechanism. I still use most of these packages in a lot of my music! I just don’t need the extra licenses. So this is your opportunity to get it at a huge discount if you want some good instruments without spending $1800 for the full version of KOMPLETE or whatever. Retro Machines MK2, $15 Session Guitarist - Electric Sunburst, $20 Session Guitarist - Strummed Acoustic 2, %20 Session Strings Pro 2, $75 Symphony Essentials - Collection, $100 The Mouth, $15 Akoustik Piano, $2 This is a major pain in the ass to get running in this day and age, and while it was a relatively-amazing piano back in 2008 when I bought it, there are definitely better piano instruments available these days. But it’s still a nice upgrade from the cheap/free ones, so I figured I’d offer it anyway. This is also the product which got me into the Native Instruments ecosystem to begin with. Not that it’s relevant to anyone reading this, I just thought I’d mention it. comments #music #for sale #hardware #software (via busybee)

So, at the beginning of this year I got a solar panel system installed on my house. After a year of collecting data I think we can do the math about how well it works out, financially. First of all, the initial cost was around $40,000. There was another $6,000 which ended up happening later due to needing to get it removed and reinstalled due to roof replacement, which wouldn’t have been the case if I’d been guided to replace my roof first. So I won’t count that in the cost since it wouldn’t have affected the calculus if things had gone right to begin with (and instead I count it as part of my roof replacement cost). There’s a tax credit on the solar panels worth up to 30%. I will probably not get that full amount, because of being unemployed since mid-2022, although I do get a carryover credit as well so maybe it will work out? I don’t know. I’m just trying to compute the financial benefit of solar panels vs. other investment strategies. So anyway, let’s say that the actual panel cost (for most people) would be $28,000 after tax credits. Over the past year, the panels have generated 12.3MWh of power. Because of the way that Seattle City Light does its solar billing, this generally works out as a credit against the normal bill. Power in White Center is currently around 15¢/kWh, so this is equivalent to reducing my bill by $1845. So that’s a rate of return of $1,845/$28,000 = around 6.6% annually. At least at present, that’s a pretty good rate of return! And this will only go higher as power costs go up. Also, keep in mind that I live in Seattle and that my panels mostly face East and West. The same solar panel system would generate considerably more energy in a lower latitude and with an equatorial-facing roof. So, yeah, I’d say solar power is financially worth it, if you can afford it. It does cut down on liquidity significantly. Also, very few investments can say they actually help the environment! Enphase estimates that I removed 8.8 tons of CO₂ from the atmosphere (not counting the amount generated by the manufacture of the panels, of course). I don’t quite know where they get that number from because Seattle power generation is mostly non-carbon-emitting, but assuming they’re thinking in terms of national averages and grid-level fungibility, I think all those various factors cancel out and I can say that, yeah, I helped the planet overall, too. So my takeaway is: if you are able to, and your state’s utility regulatory commission isn’t terrible, get solar power. (But that said there’s a huge caveat in that many states do not handle billing for private solar power even remotely reasonably, and to get the full benefit of solar power you might need to get an off-grid battery system which raises your costs considerably. Do your own research.) comments #solar power #energy #finances #environment (via busybee)

Today is Bandcamp Friday. That makes it a very good time to support independent musicians. Right now I could use a bit of cash, as I’ve been hit with some unexpected expenses and I don’t have much of a safety net regarding money I can access right now. So, if you have any interest in my music, right now is a very good time to buy some of it. Or my whole discography, even. I have around two dozen releases each in a wide variety of genres, almost all written by me. Some particularly good songs to get an idea of my whole Thing: Wilfa Svart Uniform: lo-fi music about a high-end coffee grinder Mortar and Pestle: chamber music EDM Behind a Mask: alt-rock about social media-fueled isolation Mer-made: Aquatic chill beats A Better Day: A thing I wrote to feel better about a bad day Feed: It’s about munching pellets or something idk Deer Drinking from the Catacomb Stream: A song that came to me in a dream about childhood friendship with video game characters Strangers: An emotive electropop song about senile dementia Softspoken: An ancient chiptune-based thing that I composed in silence Anyway as usual I’m also going to buy other musicians' music as well, even with my tight finances. Here’s the main stuff on my list for this month: Bird Streets: Burnout Remixes Mitski: Bury Me At Makeout Creek L.A.K.E.: Let’s Build A Roof Two of the three above are because of Adventure Time. comments #music #Bandcamp #Bandcamp Friday (via busybee)

Just the current haps, yo. Disability stuff I am finally scheduled to have a disability medical evaluation. It is at ass o'clock in the morning on a Saturday, in downtown Seattle. It’s also listed as a “mental status exam, adult” which sounds like they’re going to be focusing on my ADHD and possibly expecting me to be, like, mentally disabled, not physically. But they’ve requested that I bring all my meds and mobility aids, so I just need to remember to bring my cane, wrist braces, and knee braces, and of course my many, many meds. Music stuff Choir-wise, the TDOR concert went amazingly well, and the next performance I’m participating in is at fucking Benaroya Hall, oh my god I keep being super inspired to work on music but then stupid stuff gets in the way of actually doing it. Also I ended up ordering that simpler piano keyboard I’d had my eye on (without actually getting around to trying it out in person) since it was on sale and I know from history that the Casio Privia keybed is just plain amazing, or at least is a really good fit for my keyboard preferences. I also learned that it actually supports continuous sustain (or at least half-pedaling), which is something I was worrying I’d have to do without, although the plug for it only accepts Casio’s own overpriced three-pedal unit. Fortunately, the plug has been reverse-engineered so if I can find a PS/2 male plug (which is surprisingly difficult) I might be able to wire up an adapter for my existing sustain pedal. Or maybe I can try my hand at making custom PCBs or something. It’s also possible (although unlikely) that the ¼" damper pedal input also supports continuous sustain so this might not even be something I have to worry about (I have absolutely no use for the una corda and sostenuto pedals). Obviously I’ll be selling my Komplete Kontrol S88 mk1. It’s a much more capable keyboard but I just don’t like how the keys feel, and being unable to use its accessibility software recently has made me realize that I don’t really care that much about the accessibility features. On a related note, I’ve been pretty disappointed with the Osmose and I might end up selling that too, and repairing that old Akai MPK47 that Jeremy gave me to use for the extended MIDI controls that aren’t on the Privia. I also got sucked into taking advantage of Black Friday sales to upgrade Komplete Kontrol (mostly for its updated guitar accompaniment instruments but there’s a bunch of other synth stuff I want to mess with) and also finally bought Pigments, which has been fun to play with so far. I sure am spending a lot of money on music stuff right now, though. Oh also I don’t think I ever mentioned it here but I’m now a staff musician for VRC Trans Academy. So far that’s just consisted of me making my existing music available for upcoming videos but in the future I’ll hopefully be composing original works for the world, its events, and promotional videos. TV stuff I’ve been rewatching all of Adventure Time from the beginning, mostly because I loved the heck out of Fionna and Cake and wanted a refresher on all of the deep lore behind that show. Originally I watched the show when it first aired but hadn’t really revisited it ever since. I remember kind of disliking the direction it took starting in late season 5, and felt like it had lost its footing and never recovered. But this second time around it actually feels a lot better overall. There’s still a bit of a slump towards the end of season 5 and most of season 6, but it definitely recovers much better than I remembered, and some of the late-series episodes have an amazing emotional impact. It definitely gets a different tone after the lull (which is also when Pen Ward stepped down as showrunner and Adam Muto took over), and it pivots hard from being whimsical random adventures to an extremely serious story with a laser focus on continuity, but there’s some really good moments and some incredible storytelling on it. I think the fact that now I can recognize a lot of the foreshadowing in retrospect helps a lot. “Ketchup” was a gigantic emotional suckerpunch, holy cow. Anyway after I’m done with Adventure Time (which will be really soon, I only have season 10 left and that one’s pretty short) I’ll be watching the new Scott Pilgrim anime, which everyone says great things about. I guess I also have a bunch of other queued-up shows and movies. My Plex and HBO Max backlogs are gigantic. Cat stuff Fiona’s been especially grumpy as of late. I wonder if she’s developing arthritis or something? She’s around 12 years old and I remember that’s when Werner started to decline as well. She still loves to play but the kinds of play she’s interested in has become a lot more limited, and when she wants to jump up on a high shelf she’s definitely weighing the pluses and minuses. She had a recent vet appointment and the vet said that it sounds like she might have a heart murmur. Getting it properly diagnosed would cost huge amounts of money and I’m not sure what I’d be able to do with the information that I’d glean from it. I tend to take a standpoint of acute/palliative care only. Pain stuff On that note, I’ve definitely been developing arthritis for a while. It’s primarily been in my left hand, but now I’m getting it in my right hand too. So, that’s fun. Sigh. I’ve always had some amount of hypermobility in some of my joints (even as a little kid I remember having issues with my kneecaps wanting to fall out of alignment and needing to pop them back into place) but it’s way worse these days. I finally have an appointment with my new primary care doctor in a week, at least. She happens to be an osteopath so maybe that’ll be helpful too. Eye stuff I got the non-prism-adjusted glasses from Zenni and the new prescription is pretty great. Hopefully I can work with my eye doctor to get better prism adjustments on the expensive ones, because I think that’ll help me a lot when I drive. Art stuff I’ve been cranking out sea urchin planter pots for a pop-up art sale next week, for the First Thursday at Seattle CoCA. I’ll also be selling comics and enamel pins while I’m there. It’ll be December 7 from 5—9 PM, at 114 Third Ave S. Seattle, WA 98104 (in the Pioneer Square neighborhood). Please stop by and buy some little cruelty-free sea urchin friends. The more I use my Bambu X1C the happier I am with my decision to upgrade to it, and the more I need to figure out some way of monetizing it. I don’t really have the capacity to do a proper print farm but maybe I could be a bit more aggressive about selling stuff on etsy/ko-fi/gumroad/etc.? Also right now I’m kind of glad I never got around to selling my Artillery Genius or my Palette, as I’ve had ancillary uses for them while cranking stuff out on the Bambu. I also ended up buying a filament dryer since it was on sale and is a lot more convenient (and efficient) than using my oven’s dehydrator mode, and works way better than using the Bambu’s filament-drying mode (which of course also ties the Bambu up for several hours at a time). I should sell my Phrozen though. I absolutely hate working with resin, and it’s just taking up space. (I also should figure out what to do with the Cerambot, which was also supremely disappointing.) Comics stuff It’s been a year and a half since I’ve worked on any comics at all and two and a half years since I’ve worked on any of my series. I really want to get back to them but doing so would, I think, require having someone else do the art. Which is super frustrating because I don’t want to be in a situation where I’m relying on someone volunteering their time and energy, but I sure as hell can’t afford to pay someone as well. If someone were interested in doing them as a team effort, please let me know. IndieWeb stuff There’s some more attention happening to Ticket Auth and this has made me realize I still need to update Publ and Authl to the latest IndieAuth spec. Also, around a year ago I switched all the images on this website to render in WebP mostly to prove a point about improving the state of tool support for it (it’s not as if my site has enough bandwidth utilization for it to make any real difference), but right now I’m pissed off enough at Google and the Chromium browser monopoly/hegemony that I’ve changed back to using jpeg+png for everything, because fuck Google. I do think it’s funny that I have gotten a total of zero complaints about the use of WebP over the last year, though. comments #blogging #disability #choir #music #Adventure Time #cats #pain #health #art (via busybee)