"Streets of Eugene" by Will Foster

Will Foster has published his first book! It is currently for sale over at Blurb:

"Streets of Eugene"

"Why Eugene?" you ask? This is Will's hometown, and anyone familiar with the Northwest has probably been to Eugene at one point or another. The book is not a simple collection 'pictures' for locals to the city, but a fantastic collection of beautiful photography worthy of any collection.

--
“Streets of Eugene” is the first photo book released by artistic photographer Will Foster. Born and raised in Eugene, Will has grown up and experienced the city and surrounding areas for the majority of his life.

This book features 52 pages of full page photographs of Eugene, Oregon and feature a couple different focus areas of Eugene, such as: North Eugene, West Eugene, Whittaker District, and Downtown. These photos were captured using a Nikon D300 utilizing both the 50mm f/1.4 and 18-200mm VR lenses."
--

So check it out. It is available in both hard cover and soft cover.

Wednesday Session

Last night was my scheduled home studio time at night (from about 8pm to midnight). Again I found myself filling out my knowledge of Ableton Live!

I have been wondering about different approaches to using Live! for performances of my music (mostly the dance music) and how to best configure the layout, effects, and arrangement. After some digging around on Google and tinkering with my own creations, I have discovered there are some requirements of my own that don't necessarily fit the mold for wanting to use Live! as a venue for my music.

While I could use audio samples of the instruments I use in Reason, I don't like the idea of having my instrument packages (combinators and the like) set up such that the depth and ambiance of effects and expression are lost to hard starts and stops of samples. I haven't looked at Live! enough to know if I can have loop sections within an audio clip and then have the natural release of notes at the end of the sample play after it stops (i.e. if I have a Rhodes organ with a delay or reverb in Reason, I want the natural release of the instrument and all effects to taper off as they should-- instead of instantly stopping all sound at the end of the sample).

So unless Live! has this feature, I would have to set up MIDI clips for each of the instruments I use from the Reason rack. It makes for a very crowded looking Live! arrangement, but if I add in a "song" separator for each of the packages I put together for a song-- I can more easily set up the next song to start mixing into. HMMMmmmm.. I definitely have some tinkering to do.

Ableton Live! Set

In my quest to learn more about taking music to live audiences, I began an Ableton Live! set that is tailored just for that.

I intend on writing a slew of new dance tracks (from house to trance) predominately inside a single Ableton Live! set. This will allow me to take the package and easily perform it live! It was exciting to piece together some of the routing and standard effects. There is already a solid beat and some supporting instruments going for a cool dance sound-- and you bet your ass I'm using my Rhodes skills for some chilled loops ;D

I have had a Waveidea Bitstream PRO for a few years now and I will finally be taking advantage of the entire board. Each knob and fader and button will do *something*. Since the board does not have any mechanical automation for the knobs or sliders, however, I do not intend to use more than one channel. I'm thinking about picking up something like this Behringer that has the mechanical sliders.

Work will still continue on my vocal tracks and I fully intend on "Ableton-izing" my non-Live! tracks so I can remix them live.

Tomorrow is the deadline to have the artwork finished for my benefit album. I have some ideas to crunch through today and, outside of some house chores that need to be done, expect to crank up the fire tonight and get the artwork finalized for tomorrow's deadline.

The next deadline I have set is to remaster and finalize the tracks for the City Shadows Vol.1 online release. I haven't forgotten about my plans to release this collection of down tempo tracks online. There is only a little more research to be done to determine which services I will publish through, but you can expect the album to be available for purchase on iTunes, and I would like to get it on Rhapsody and SNOCAP as well.

Beyond that, it is still up in the air as to what the track listing will be for the benefit album. I wanted to present a track or two from the project that Jeff and I are working on, but it may not materialize in time (which is okay.. we should have an EP ready mid-summer).

The next "big" (word used loosely) release I have planned is a compilation of the tracks released earlier this year with some remastering, interludes, and additional tracks in the same vein. It will make for a very congruent release.

Tired Thursday

My head just wasn't right yesterday. It was pointed out to me that I can't really be too rough on myself especially when thinking about such an impossible 'either/or' situation.

I scheduled deadlines for my current projects of the month, as well as a weekly Wednesday session from 8pm to midnight for getting down to business and recording music. Last night was the first session.

It was a success!

I'm not sure what has been up with my mindset lately, but a lot of the music that has been coming out of me has been darker shades of trip-hop with some underlying tones of trance. An interesting blend that *definitely* lends itself to vocals-- of which I plan on recording more of.

I will post the clip of the raw track, which has some of the instrumentation and ideas, to the fan club. Oh, and another track I had started about 2 weeks ago. ("Envisioning the West" and "Through This Beauty" respectively).

Time to keep on keepin' on.

A Terrible Thing

I haven't posted to my blog in a very personal way in such a long time that this may be somewhat surprising to a lot of people.. but I need to be completely honest with myself and others... and this is the way things have been for a few years now.

I had a terrible realization this morning while getting ready for work. It was one of those 'good god' moments that sobers you up and snaps you into a different place and mind set.

If I were asked to give up one thing right now, either my IT career or my music, and never have anything to do with my choice again, I would choose to give up my music.

That dropped a nuke on my entire line of thinking this morning. My job has entrenched me into the subtle drudgery of every day life. It appears that up until I figured it out (and gave myself the either-or-scenario), I valued my stable IT career way more than my abilities and desires as a blooming musician. That is sad. Sad and pathetic.

At times it seems that the iri$ of my eye$ i$ green, and all I can $ee is the luxurie$ of life afforded by my day time job (and cho$en career path). With our failing economy, and how expensive things are in the Seattle/Bellevue area, I definitely am trying to do the best I can to properly put away money for things like a home, retirement, family trust funds and investments.. but is it all worth sacrificing for a "hobby" that is responsible for a large part of shaping who I am and how my soul is?

NO!

I sit back and I view my good friends who are doing what they ultimately love to do. Starting from essentially nothing and putting in the hard work and efforts to throw themselves and their skill sets out there in the open world, battling for a scrap of a chance to start careers in their dream jobs. Photographer, 3D effects artist, web designer.. I have surrounded myself with friends who are artists at heart.. and for the most part didn't sell their soul to corporate America in exchange for a comfortable means of living (better yet.. for luxury.. which is beyond comfort).

Around me are the tools, the people, and the time availability to do something with my abilities as a human being. To go beyond the simple act of "wash, rinse, repeat" in daily life and make a difference in the world around me.

What am I so afraid of? Why can't I just let loose and write the music that is swimming in my head? Am I so caught up with trying to infuse popular elements into tracks that it's like trying to force blood the wrong way down a vein? It just won't work.

I remember being a teenager and listening to everything I could get my hands on (that was electronic at the time). From Daft Punk to Paul Oakenfold (before he was involved with Maverick), I loved it all. The sweet spots for me were particular styles of- and feelings in trance, and the seasonal shifts and regenerative properties of house music (akin to Ian Pooley & Miggy Migs). Add in the down-tempo tunes from just about any ESL artist and you had the three genres I found myself in the most often.

I have another collection almost ready for release. I have things on a billion different side burners waiting to be brought over and fully cooked. It's high time I get my shit together and stop fucking around so much.

I am Sean Armstrong. I am an artist.

Thinking About the Music

What's the status of things?

On one front, Jeff and I are gearing up for an audio assault of the best kind. A "wall of sound" feel mixed with some of the electronic pinnings of our beloved house/electro beats with some mixed flavors of acoustic and guitar work. Piano and Organ heavy, we aim to take the package to live shows.

The other side is my personal projects consisting of trip-hop musings, mixed with some longer progressive style "techno" tracks that take from just about all disciplines of electronic composition.

The last batch of songs will make their way onto an album that will debut *after* the benefit album and City Shadows Vol.1. I will be making at least 2 more congruent songs in line with "Always", "On Approach", and "Everything That We Love" to wrap up that project.

It's going to be a busy summer stuffed full of musical goodness.

Missing Downtown

It's approaching 7:55 AM. I'm at work. I'm reviewing some of my music that may make it onto my next release. I'm thinking about the incredibly fun weekend I had. I'm realizing that I miss living near downtown Seattle.

I certainly miss the atmosphere, the hustle and bustle, the commerce, the accessibility to Pike Place Market, the photographic opportunities, the artwork, the architecture, the style, the *good* smells, the hum of humanity... I miss just about all of it.

I don't necessarily miss the constant droning of traffic and people when I'm trying to get some quiet time at home.. but then again it wasn't THAT bad... it was only ever bad when people were being shot at, stabbed, beaten up, or swearing outside of the apartment in the Central District.

After growing up in the suburbs of Reno, NV, how do I balance the desires for things offered only in suburban living (space, high level of privacy, a garage, music studio space) with my lust for urban living and culture? Yes, the sacrifices can be made and I suppose that's just not something I'm interested in doing quite yet. I'm enjoying the space afforded in the upper east side, not to mention my commute to my job (now in Bothell) is cake.

I'm a glutton for cars. I couldn't bear to get rid of my truck. I'm considering a project car in the next year.

I *love* having a dedicated space to make my music. I can turn it up when I need to. I'm not disturbing neighbors at night with my toiling over beats and textures.

BBQ's in the summer are one of my favourite things to do (I love to cook.. small tidbit about me not many people know right now).

Live in the burbs.. Playing in the city sometimes.. I suppose that's how it's going to be for awhile.
---
Amy and I had an awesome time on Sunday. We went to the gym in Bellevue and did some weight training, then I had my daypack loaded with some weight and did the treadmill thing for awhile. Getting ready for Ranier and the hiking season is fun. I can't wait to go hiking!

After we sweat'ed it out at the gym, I hit the showers, got changed into normal clothes, then we headed out to Seattle. Street parking is free on Sundays, so down past Virginia we found an angled spot and strolled up to the SAM.

First we stopped into Caffe Ladro to get some espresso. I love my "organic white mocha" (of any size.. usually tall or grande). While chillin in 'Ladro we played some Sudoku. It was uber relaxing.

Next on the agenda was a walk through the market to scrounge for some food. It was decided that Humbow was the best snack to have. We picked up BBQ Pork Hum bow and a Sesame Bun (with red bean paste!) and sat on a bench at the end of Post Alley. I enjoyed the crap out of just sitting there snacking on my delights and watching the people go by.. some tourists, some locals, some dressed in business attire and some dressed like transients.

After the snacks we went up to the SAM and, to our dismay, bypassed the incredibly long lines (yay being a volunteer!) to see the Roman Art exhibit. Seeing the pieces on display from the Louvre was awe inspiring. Open air exhibits of marble sculptures, mosaics, art work, every day items, and an amazing LEAD sarcophagus burned their images into my brain. It will be awesome to see some of this stuff in person in Europe one day ;)

The last stop in the afternoon was at Whole Foods to pick up some odds and ends, then back home for a relaxing Sunday night.
---
This week.. music music... video games.. music music. RJD2 on Saturday.

Getting Along

I suppose it's time I make an entry, yes?

The past week or so has been busy.. full of.. slacking. Well not entirely I suppose.

Work is work. I busted my butt last week and cranked out a script and report.. essentially learning AWK from scratch (cake, it's a dumbed down, crippled version of more robust modern day languages), and writing my first script and AWK program to generate a report for the cn=monitoring account for LDAP... oh wait.. I'll spare you all the technical crap, that's not something I like to go into here anyway!

So yes.. work keeps me fairly busy during the day. Outside of work, Jeff and I made great progress in our musical adventures. We cranked up the production and got together a solid 70-80% of a song. Surprisingly, the track is somewhat up-beat feeling and incorporates a lot of more 'traditional' instrumentation and arrangement sounds. I think we will be able to flop back and forth between the alt-rock/indie-rock and wall-of-sound/electronic-biased music fairly well.

Next is some arrangement, adding a section, and then we'll be mostly done with the composition. We may need to re-record some of the acoustic guitar but that's no big deal at all. The last piece which I'm still thinking about-- does it need lyrics? It's a very groove-centric track that could easily be sans-lyrics, as it contains a certain "Zero-7" stripe down the middle.

That being said, Jeff and I will hopefully have a song or two available on the upcomming "For the Cure" benefit album I plan to release this month (or early May). Right now it is slated to have 6 tracks: 2 new "Sliptide" tracks, 2 previously released "Sliptide" tracks, and 2 tracks from the yet-t0-be-named project that Jeff and I are working on. More info will be posted as the artwork gets created and a tentative track list is composed. The plan at this point is to release online and provide iTunes, Rhapsody, and SNOCAP store options with all proceeds donated to my 3-Day walk (more on that soon, too!).

Sorry to be such a tease on that stuff!

I upgraded to a Flickr PRO account yesterday. I'm trying it out not only for my own use (the social integration is missing from Picasa.. Flickr really is the bigger deal), but for Amy's future online use for her photography. So far I'm enjoying it. I am going to work to get some of my archived trip photos up there, as well as more of the 'artistic' shots. Fun!

Alright.. back to "work".