The replacement Wingie 2 arrived, and it’s pretty cool. A little flawed, but I like how sensitive the internal mic is and how that translates to lovely pings and resonances. Just pressing the buttons on the built-in keyboard causes it to ring, as does moving your fingers on the case, a little wind, breath, etc. And it’s a feedback champ if you’re using speakers. It might not be the most versatile instrument/effect out there but it’s gonna get some use. Plus there’s the Blippoo Box firmware to try out.
Second track for the next album is recorded… and it coincidentally fit so well with the first one, it sounds intentional, and they’ve now been merged into one track. Also, another snippet that I made a loop from fits well with a semi-generative loop I separately patched in software, and together, I think it fits with the finished parts… lots of serendipity going on here. Overall, I’m expect this to turn out to be a long-form continuous thing like Slow Teleport or Parallax.
Speaking of serendipity, there was a weird, loud, deep bass hum from some passing vehicle right at the end of my most recent listen which totally fit, sounding like the intro to another section. If I could have recorded that right then I’d have done it.
I had a dream last night about being at a concert in a small room. Several people with various synth gear, computers, instruments, including one woman with a sort of hybrid taiko/doumbek, wooden but with a bowl shape like a tympani. They were having some technical issues with some instruments, and wound up doing a sort of live coding session on two computers which they then just let run for a while and sat back and listened. I had one of those dream epiphanies that doesn’t actually make sense in the waking world, something about how the division between composition and improvisation, or manually played and sequenced parts, was both ironic and illusory, which was supposed to be relevant to how I make music. Whatever, I’m gonna keep doing what I’m doing.
My GW2 playing has been continuing. I’ve now got a level 80 staff/rifle quickness Deadeye — which doesn’t use the Be Quick Or Be Dead trait like I first though but is set up to maximize Steal Time. A glass cannon that can solo some champions but gets in trouble when CCd, so I’m probably going to rethink my chosen skills and make sure I have some kind of stun break/escape plan. She’s scary with the rifle, able to clear out a whole bandit camp (or whatever) without moving, but the staff is more fun and satisfying.
The update that adds more new weapons is coming soon. Some look super cool, some a bit more plain but might be fun. So I’m not gonna start into End of Dragons with anyone until that’s here since I might have a new favorite… or might get tired of GW2 again before I get there. (But that’s okay if so, I’ll surely be back later.)
I also just picked up Deep Rock Galactic: Survivors a couple of days ago. Where other “survivors” games seem to be a combination of strategic building and twitch action, this is more about tactical movement choices. Slower pace but it keeps you thinking on your feet the whole time, not just avoiding the hordes. You’re a Dwarven asteroid miner, there are thousands of alien bugs and some specific objectives to fill in a fairly short time. You could tunnel through some rock to force the bugs to go through in single file and set up a choke point, but you move slower doing it and they might catch you. But there’s some health crystals to mine for. And should you let them get a little closer so more of them get squashed when the drop pod falls? Depending on your weapon, upgrades and class, you typically auto-aim at the nearest bug, which means to take out the boss that’s your objective, you have to keep it fairly close but outside the reach of its claws. If you’re the Gunner, you mostly aim in the direction you’re running but you’re trying to run away from the bugs while shooting them…. so yeah, lots of stuff along those lines. Overall, I still think I prefer Soulstone Survivors, but this is a different-enough-yet-similar style to be fun too (despite some slightly-off voice acting and mediocre writing).