We went to see “The Handmaid’s Tale” at SF Opera last night. I read the novel back in … I dunno, 1988? 1989? Somewhere around there. I knew this was going to be a megadowner. Then again, it’s not like “La Bohème” is a laugh riot or anything. But here’s the thing: it’s modern, andContinue reading “Modern Opera – Just Say Ouch (The Handmaid’s Tale)”
Category Archives: Music
Music Software: Ensemble
Ensemble is billed by its creators as music score software specifically intended to make piping and drum scores for pipe bands. It claims to be able to play the scores so you can hear what the arrangement sounds like. It even claims to be able to import scores from other music software packages. It andContinue reading “Music Software: Ensemble”
Sounds Like a Job for Perl
In which I write a continuous build system for bagpipe music using Perl and a Makefile. The problem: the band has sheet music that everyone is supposed to memorize, the membership is geographically dispersed and not everyone can make it to every practice, and during practices and workshops and after competitions the music can getContinue reading “Sounds Like a Job for Perl”
It Could Be Better
A long time ago, my housemate (who is one of the only people who reads this – Hi, Kurt!) had this great explanation for why his homework wouldn’t compile: “It was perfect, so I fixed it.” Man, that so describes every programmer I’ve ever worked with. (Incidentally and orthogonal to the point of this post,Continue reading “It Could Be Better”
Nonrandom Thoughts on a Holiday Afternoon
Oh, lots of things going through my head. No real coherence to speak of, though. Let’s see, a useful life lesson from Victor / Victoria happy outcome from reading the release notes not everything in the 80s sucked (X still makes me happy) (but most of the 80s sucked) Victor / Victoria Before I everContinue reading “Nonrandom Thoughts on a Holiday Afternoon”
Minor Lesson Today
I know that a lot of people use BWW for writing bagpipe music. But I’m cheap, and I use a Mac, and I tried the demo versions of the music notation software my teacher and bandmates use and I hate them (the programs). Iconoclast that I am, I have chosen to transcribe all my musicContinue reading “Minor Lesson Today”
If I Were Better, I’d Be Good
As I put my pipes away from this morning’s practice, feeling wrung-out and self-critical, I panted, “Well, if I didn’t suck I’d be pretty good!” I thought about all the evenings when the Badb had been skimming through her viola practice, not really paying attention to her playing just in a rush to get itContinue reading “If I Were Better, I’d Be Good”