John Maar

Not sure I'm one to give life advice. I suffered a TBI in September 1965. American football. Been living with PTSD-like symptoms ever since. 0 for 3 on wives. 0 for my adult life on relationships. I'm lucky my dogs love me. I managed a great career, which I feel proud of. If I can offer any advice at all, it's to not let your job consume you. When you leave work, leave the work behind. Forget about it. Really enjoy the time you've got with your friends and family. Once a moment has passed, it's gone for good. Be joyful. Smile. Be kind to those around you. Love your neighbor as you do yourself, regardless of their color, gender, who they sleep with or who they pray to.

😅Got sidetracked.

Well, as long as we're copping to our business heritage, I'm the dude on the ground.

The SDX Value Pak on Thomann.fr is 349 €. When I go to their U.S. site, it's $289. The site isn't (at the moment), forcing me to the European site (.de/fr). I may try to buy it via my U.S. PayPal account and see if they force me to euros and VAT. Later today.

Thanks for posting that. MS pushed the update to me this morning, so I ran it. Surprised it's already out. I'm used to more like November for the H2 releases. That video is almost an hour long! Sheesh. Watching it was have to wait until after I walk and feed my dogs. The only thing I noticed so far was Do Not Disturb for notifications. It's either a new feature or it just got turned on by the update. The download and installation process was very smooth. Let's hope I don't run into a BSOD later today.

My first computer programming experience was on an IBM mainframe that was housed in its own building at U.W.-Madison in 1974. There was a room full of keypunch machines. Each card was one line of code. We used Ditran (Diagnostic Fortran). You'd write your little program (e.g., a bubble sorter), submit the card deck to the computer gods on the other side of the glass room that housed the mainframe, and come back in an hour or three or the next morning to get your printout and card deck back, only to find out that you'd made a typo on one card, and had to go through the whole process again. My first professional computer programming was on a DEC PDP 8e (the last model with a wire-wrapped motherboard instead of the newer PCB motherboards). It had 32K x 12 of core memory (non-volatile) on 4 8K x 12 cards. You had to load the bootup program via paddle switches on the front (12-bit octal (which suuuuuuucks)). Storage was on a 1 MB 14-inch unsealed platter. It used the TED line-based text editor for programming and had a 3-pass paper tape assembly language compiler. I used it to write control programs for the Neutrino beam line at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in '78-'79, before I went to work for Amoco Oil. It was my first job out of college. I got so wrapped up in work and had a heavily progressive travel schedule, that my music life was relegated to listening. My last 15 years of work was at Motorola. I was laid off at 54 when the original Motorola dissolved, which probably saved my life. I spent the final 8 years in the consulting group in Motorola University, finishing with managing the consulting business in Asia and Europe. I was spending 200+ nights a year sleeping in hotels and another 40+ sleeping on airplanes. I spent my severance package playing golf 4+ days a week for 9 months in Scottsdale. I got completely bored with that, bought a master blaster Sony VIAO PC and got into music production. That was around 2006, so I'm a late-comer to the MIDI world, even though I've been programming since the mid '70s.

Another one bites the dust Another one bites the dust And another one gone and another one gone Another one bites the dust Hey I'm gonna get you too Another one bites the dust

I haven't tried exporting a GP file to MIDI. I just checked, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of control (type 0 vs type 1, individual MIDI channel assignments per instrument, etc). I just found this video on YT, so I'll have to give it a watch after taking my niece out for her birthday lunch today.

640 KB seemed like a LOT back then. My first personal computer was a home-built S100-buss box with a Z80 CPU card and two (count them, 2) 8K by 8 RAM cards for a total of a whopping 16K. Each RAM card cost me about $500. I had a Tiny BASIC 3K ROM, but mostly I programmed in assembler. My external storage was on a cassette. No floppy. No hard drive. ADM3 TTY terminal. But I had a personal computer! I eventually upped the RAM and added twin double-density, double-sided 8" floppies (which I had to write the driver for myself). Ran CP/M great. My first DOS computer had an 8088, ran CP/M and CP/M86 and DOS. It was a Heathkit that came with 192K of RAM. It had a great color display controller that DOS2 on an IBM PC couldn't match. Spent the bucks and maxed out the RAM to 640K. Twin floppies and a small hard drive. Used it for years. My new phone, a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 (bought for my birthday last month) has 512 GB of storage and 8 GB of RAM, and cost way less than my first S100-buss computer. And that's not accounting for inflation! My, oh my!

Because 32 GB of RAM was what my Gen 1 Lenovo ThinkPad P17 came with. It was a preconfigured system that was discounted 50%. The Gen 2 P17s support up to 128 GB of DDR4 RAM, but I'm really happy with what I got for the money. One external drive is a TB3 SSD for my samples. The other 2 2TB SSDs are USB3.2, still super fast. One's for song development, the other's for backup.

I see G.A.S. in your future. 🎸 I have licenses for Studio One Pro, SONAR Platinum (now Cakewalk) and Reaper. I've settled on Studio One exclusively. I have a LOT of virtual instruments and FX plugins. I also have 3 2TB external SSDs to compliment the 1TB internal SSD on my laptop. Plus the Thunderbolt 3 port extender and an audio interface. Looks like a rat's nest behind my laptop when I close the lid. 🤪

No, not really. Good enough for making a backing track to practice to? Yes. You'll need a DAW and the appropriate virtual instruments or Band in a Box (BiaB) for that. BiaB isn't cheap. List for the Ultra Pak (which can be upgraded to from lesser Paks, but where you'll want to wind up anyway) is $469, with annual upgrades with a bunch of new content at $129. Black Friday is coming. BiaB is a really good tool. It has been around a LONG time and shows its DOS roots in some places (like the menus), but their forum is excellent. Company reps and even Dr. Peter Gannon (BiaB founder) respond to questions. If you're not a current DAW user and know your way around a tool like that, BiaB is great. RealTracks played by real musicians and and tons of Styles for songs. Band in a Box Check out Henry Clarke's YT channel for songs he's recorded using BiaB and for his BiaB tutorials. Henry Clarke on YouTube (BiaB songs and tutorials) Here's a tutorial video example.

Guitar Pro is one heck of an app. Tons of features developed over the years. The UI is lovely. Soloing/muting instruments for practice/learning purposes is a breeze. Its use as a notation/tab editor is also well executed. Superb piece of software for $29. I've been using Guitar Pro since v4 at least (that's all the further back this geezer's mind can go). I have two "GP" apps, Guitar Pro and Gig Performer. I always think "Guitar Pro" for Guitar Pro and "GP" for Gig Performer since I'm on their forum daily. Gig Performer isn't cheap, but it is a superb VST/VI host for live performance and studio work. Too many great features to get into here. Forte is no more, and GP blows Cantabile, which I was using way back, out of the water. Mainstage, too. And I've never even tried the live performance feature of Studio One Pro since it was added. No need. Worth a check-out, IMO. Gig Performer

I mentioned above that I haven't used UG in a long time, but they haven't forgotten about me. I just received an email from them announcing the coming end of their 80% discount for a subscription. Talk about timing! 😅

Also responding to @daveiv I never had a subscription to UG, or to MSB for that matter. I purchase individual tabs for the songs I want (not enough on a monthly basis to justify a subscription). I purchased individual UG tabs way back, so I assume they were the same tabs I'd have gotten if I'd had a sub. The MSB tabs I've purchased don't disappear; they're always available. They are normal GP files, but I suspect that Dave is right that any you've been working with disappear if you had a sub and dropped it (another reason to buy the few you really want directly).

MySongBook tabs feature (usually) very good transcriptions. A lot of UG tabs have lesser quality transcriptions. I stopped using UG a long time ago. MSB is not too expensive, and they do have a free tab per day (that they choose), which is a nice way to try out a song you may not be familiar with or weren't actively looking for. I'm a bass player, and have been happy with the bass transcriptions in MSB tabs. You can gat to MSB directly from the home page in GP. Worked fine in v7. Even easier in v8.

I first heard of the demise of NI's version of Absynth 5 from PluginGuru. Hopefully, Brian will update it to v6 and release it himself. Skippy has updated his Absynth 5 Power Pack for Unify (which is WONDERFUL). I didn't install Absynth 5 (from Komplete 9 Ultimate; haven't updated since; just purchased a Kontakt 6 update separately), but I'm going to install it now and purchase the updated Power Pack ($20 vs. $39 October 1st). Here's Skippy's statement on the update: Special $20 Price for this library until October 1st! Library now includes all 149 Patches in Unify format. NOTE: for some reason pitch bend down causes Absynth 5 volume to go away. I’ve confirmed both the plug-in in Logic Pro X and in Unify do this. We can’t fix this because it’s an issue in Absynth 5. Please be aware of this problem and don’t use the Pitch Bend wheel (ironically a few patches DON’T have this problem, but the majority do). Absynth Mind Melt – a bonus library by John Lehmkuhl and Brian Clevenger also included (this library has not been Unified). If you have played thru the patches in Absynth 5, you will quickly notice it was voiced very heavily as an “out there” synth with spacey patches that are more useful as added sprinkles on top of a production. My goal was to re-invent Absynth 5 into a thundering virtual synth capable of epic bassline wobbles, ferocious synth leads, wild FX, twisted vocalisers, incredible pads and more. So in this library, I worked hard at turning Absynth 5 into an unstoppable main-room monster! This is still one of my favorite libraries ever because of how it transforms Absynth into a powerful synthesizer for ALL SORTS of musical jobs in many different genres. Listen to the audio demos, watch the patch walkthru video (and the MANY other support videos including an interview with Absynth creator, Brian Clevenger!) and you will see that Absynth 5 is no slouch for any type of music production. Absynth 5 Power Pack from PluginGuru

Kind of like every release after the K9U license I bought. I purchased the upgrade to Kontakt 6, but never purchased a Komplete update, and have no plans to this time either. I will buy the upgrade to Kontakt 7. The VIs from K9U that I use, except for Kontakt 6, are still on the same major version number and update via Native Access no problem. No Komplete update required.

An outstanding audio editor, with a bunch of very useful audio restoration plugins. Supports ARA2. The Premium Edition has an excellent spectral editor and supports up to 7.1 audio. Loads and runs super fast and has an excellent GUI. I love it. Highly recommended. Now on version 7.4.7, which is a free upgrade for any v7 license. Free trial version available at the Acon Digital website. Acoustica Audio Editor

Agreed. Others do too. Waves is one obvious one. All of the plugin resellers. Another one that does, but whose approach makes sense to me is Melda Production. They have have a sale every week, but each week features 4 different plugins. If I'm waiting for a specific one to go on sale, I may have to wait a long time. I bought a license for their Free Bundle (which is excellent), and I've bought licenses for around 10 other MP plugins. All good stuff. The thing about IKM's sales is the confusion I feel. I have almost no clue as to whether I'm getting the best deal or not. Things get bundled and unbundled. BOGOs. BOGFs (buy one, get four), group sales. And on and on. Back when I had to work for a living, I regularly dealt with the Sales and Marketing staffs of my clients, and know that confusing customers can be a conscious decision. One of the worst offenders is car sales in the U.S. After I got laid off from my Motorola consulting job when they went to s**t in '04, I sold new Hondas for about 6 months before I walked off the job in the middle of a shift. What I saw, and what I was trained to do was (in my mind) unethical and in some cases downright illegal. Confusing customers was a core concept. That was just not me, and I hated it. And that's why I have trouble with the sales approaches of so many vendors in so many different product spaces. For what it's worth, I'm still buying IKM software products but did not install a single one of my many Waves licenses when I bought a new DAW. AmpliTube 5 Max does rock. I never bothered to upgrade Guitar Rig when v6 was released. I have a number of amp sims, but AT5 gets almost all of the work. Syntronik 2 rocks, but I just can't wrap my head around SampleTank 4, partly because the UI just doesn't work for me. I much prefer Kontakt 6.

I'm still waiting for this IKM announcement: "Today, NOTHING is on sale!" That day will never come. 🤣

I turned 71 last Friday. Quit dating 6 years ago. I've not been hit on once since then. Younger women think they can change you. Older women know better. I can't change the PTSD, but at least I don't have to deal with being left anymore. My 3 dogs handle my bad moments beautifully. They hide. When I get through one, they come back out best buddies, still with all the love in the world. My 3 sons! What's a "gig"? 🎸😄

How would she do here in France, where topless happens? Or some of the French islands were bottomless also happens? Hopefully, she's like the wife of one of my friends. They returned from a trip to Tahiti, and all she could complain about was that nude men lay on their stomachs and nude women lay on their backs. 🤣

I haven't yet received the update email that MP always sends, so that's why I asked. Downloading now. Thanks.

Thanks. Downloading and installing now.