When the current died

I experienced some computer scares this week and reformatted / backed up my Powerbook's internal HD, which needed to be done. Judging by the performance of the machine since, I came to the conclusion that the new 2 gigs of RAM I installed a week and a half ago were not right for my system. Specifically, it was causing constant reboots without warning, which was scary.

Finished the MAX tutorials this week -- my pace was OK, I guess I thought through #25 was due last week, and I'm glad it isn't because it gives me some more time to both revisit what I've already looked at, and play around with the program today. It's one of my "free" days until class at 6pm. In general, it's easy to get sidetracked making sounds with the MIDI-based patches. I'd like to mess around more with the different controls on my Oxygen8 and see what kind of noise I can make -- I never really dived into synths as more of an "organic" instrumentalist looking for synths that would just come close to "real" sounds like the B3.

Note to self: one really needs to explore the sensor-building / use aspect of the MAX community in depth if one is to have any success creating patches that interface with dance.

On that note, this week I'm going to meet with my good friend Adrienne, choreographer for VIA Dance, to talk about logistical and conceptual issues for the piece I'm going to set in motion for this class. Being able to shape my designs to her neeeds will definitely sharpen my focus.