Just in case there is anyone desperate enough to swing by here, I thought I ought to make a post. It's been over a year since I last posted anything, so this is just an update to let you know what's been happening.
Well - not a lot musically actually, although there have been the odd moments of creativity but not a great deal to show for it. The main reason for my lack of activity here has is because my (limited) available time has been devoted to the completion of a house extension which, as always, is taking a lot longer than I would like. Basically, I had the main shell built by a builder which has left me with the job of completing everything internally from plumbing, woodwork to electrics, plaster boarding, minor building jobs, etc. etc.. Although it has been a long process, for me it has one distinct advantage: allowing me to implement new ideas and design changes along the way that I might have otherwise just made do with. Of course, there is another reason I should have perhaps mentioned first of all and that's the small matter of costs! Well, there is a significant cost saving in doing this myself of course and if I wasn't doing this work then we would most likely not be having the build done at all. I'm working on the electrics at the moment and have just started drylining the main room. I can mix and match jobs as well - so I can put my electricians' hat on one minute and switch to chippy, plumber, builder, etc. next. The job is coming along but there is still a huge amount to do but I just have to focus each job at a time and be patient. The only job that I intend to sub out will be the skim plastering very near the end.
My earlier studio build was perhaps a great learning experience in preparation for this although, in many ways, the studio was a more technical challenge than this. That said, I did need to do a lot of research in terms of planning/building control and regulations for this project. I did all of the planning and build drawings for this job, so I had to get myself up to speed with the process. All-in-all, I'm very pleased so far with the way things have gone and it's something that I seem to enjoy at the same time. I had to employ a structural engineer to sign off my design to ensure that it satisfied building control and, more importantly, didn't fall down!
In terms of music/studio, I have just been keeping things ticking over and ensuring that the studio systems/software are updated. There have probably been two updates to Cubase since my last post and the latest v 10.5 was only released a short while ago. I still enjoy finding out what the latest version brings to the table and I like to keep things up to date so that, when I can devote more time to music, I have the latest and greatest available. I am planning to build a dedicated desk for the studio, replacing the ad-hoc setup I have now. Although functional, the current setup consists of an adapted dual keyboard stand with some additional pieces of wood to stand the monitors, etc. on. It works better than it sounds but it's time to make an improvement in this area.
Anyway, that's enough for now - turned into a long post in the end.