Author: ashleyelsdon

Storyteller - Poet - Explorer

First impressions of the Orba 2

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I’ve had an Orba 1 for a while now, and when the Orba 2 was announced it looked like just the update I wanted. The form factor of the the devices are identical, which is good as the accessories all fit both devices. The original Orba was fun to play with but lacked the ability to use samples, amongst other things. It was still fun, but kind of like a musical fidget toy rather than something that I could finish a piece of music with, (not that I have finished anything in a very long time).

The Orba 2 is a different story. Size wise it is exactly the same as the Orba 1.

In fact they are almost indistinguishable. However, from a functionality perspective they are very different indeed and the Orba 2 is a big step up, as is the app that is used with it.

Thus far I’ve done little more than play around with it and tried out the sound packs that come with the app. I haven’t quite got the hang of getting my own recorded samples into it so far. But I probably will in the new year, or at least that is what I intend to do.

I’m not sure if there is any real benefit to having two of these. You can’t really play them together and I don’t think that there is anything in the technology that brings them together. Perhaps that will come later.

Anyway, for now this is a nice toy, and an improvement on the original. As I get more familiar with it I will post a bit more about my experience with it and maybe even make something to listen to.

The Star Wars Timeline

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Some time ago I decided that I would try to watch the entire Star Wars Timeline. It seemed like a reasonable thing to do and Disney+ makes it nice and easy to do. The start was nice and easy, then I got into ‘The Clone Wars’, the animated series, which I wasn’t really looking forward to, especially as there are seven seasons of it. However, it really picked up in season three onwards, and I have to say that I really enjoyed it.

I am now in the first season of ‘The Bad Batch’, and season two will become available before I’ve finished that. It is going to take a while to get through. I may get it finished next year. If I find any surprises, or at least surprises for me anyway, I expect I will write something about it.

The field recording device I would really like

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All too often I miss interesting sounds. All too often I start recording just after it would be useful. I have often thought that what would be useful was a device that records continuously, but has the ability to capture the last fifteen minutes or so of recording. That would be so amazing.

Does anything like that exist?

Arpeggio might still be a thing

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Back in 2015 I wrote about this device on Kickstarter. It looked like a cool idea and I backed it. Seven years later I have received nothing, and, what’s more, heard nothing for quite some time about it. Then, the other day, quite out of the blue, I got an update from Kickstarter. It appears that it is still progressing. Although the timeline is months away, apparently due to the global chip shortage.

Whilst I could take that as a good sign, I still have my doubts about this ever arriving in my hands. I had pretty much given up on it.

Of course this is always the danger of Kickstarter. There have been a number of things that I have backed that never came about. The most annoying of which was the Blocks Smart watch. That one in particular was annoying as they appeared to have spent a good deal of the money on enjoying themselves rather than creating a product. I got nothing back. It still hurts.

These days I am much more careful about what I back on Kickstarter, and I back a lot fewer projects. It would be nice if this one did come about, but in many ways I have resigned myself to never seeing.

Goodbye Mutable Instruments

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I read this on CDM the other day and it made me think about when Bhajis Loops came to an end. If you were unaware, Bhajis Loops was an application for the PalmOS that was the nearest thing to a DAW for Palm devices. It lasted for some years, but, like all things, it came to an end. It’s creator went on to start Mutable Instruments, which has been infinitely more successful.

But the closing of Mutable made me wonder what, if anything, might be next. Of course the simplest answer is nothing at all, and that is entirely possible. In fact I’m not suggesting that anything will follow. However, if it does then I think it will be entirely unexpected.

Masami Tsuchiya, Life in Mirrors

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I have been a fan of Masami Tsuchiya for a very long time. In my teenage years I heard the album ‘Rice Music’, and it is still one of my favourites of all time for a whole host of reasons. However, my sampling of his other work has, for the most part, not resulted in a similar experience. Which is a shame, but something that I accept.

This album ‘Life in Mirrors’, was one I had never heard, and one that also featured other musicians who’s work I admire. Namely, Mick Karn and David Sylvian. I had this album on my want list at Discogs for a while, and then, just the other day, one turned up, so I bought it.

As albums go, this is no way as good as ‘Rice Music’. But then it was unlikely to be. I knew that. But, it does have a few good tracks.

Reviving a PDA

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Over the last few years I have sold off almost all of the PDAs I once owned. Probably a good thing overall, I had way too many of them to do anything with, and, for the last few years most of them languished in a drawer or cupboard for most of the time. I like to think that the ones I have sold off have all gone to good homes. Who knows.

What I have left is a handful a what I like to think of as select and somewhat unique devices. More about those another time perhaps.

One of the devices I have kept is a Palm Treo 750. A device running the Windows Mobile Operating System. I originally bought this with the thought that it would replace a Palm Treo 650, which runs the original Palm Operating System. However, not too long after I bought it the iPhone emerged and the smartphone era arrived in earnest. I kept both Treos and I still have them today.

I have often thought about reviving the 750 to see what I could use it for. To see how I could put it to real use, something I actually need it to do.

The first step is to see if it actually boots up. But sometimes old tech lasts a lot longer than new stuff. It booted up fine. Which was great. However, I remembered one of the issues with the Treo 750 was the casing. For some reason the outer casing had become tacky and sticky. Very unpleasant to handle. For that reason I have this white case for it.

It makes it usable anyway. As you can see, the device is up and running. The next step was to get a SIM in it and establish if it could even send texts. Well, after some messing around with SIM card holders, I got it working and sending texts.

So far this has all worked well. Next comes the more interesting part, but that will require another post.

Phoenard

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This device has been with me for seven years now, and so far I have never found a reasonable use for it. Most recently I tried to get it working again with a few ideas of what I might use it for. I bought this, or rather funded it on Kickstarter, and now, sadly, the company that made it has long gone. These things happen of course, all too frequently.

As a device it has a lot of potential, but potential doesn’t always equate to actual usefulness, or at least that is always the case with me. I have a few ideas about using it, or possible uses for it, but right now, as I’ve decided to revive it, I cannot seem to get it to work at all. Which is somehow typical.

I have a sense that this happened the last time I tried to revive it. I will continue to try and get it running again, but it may be that it has simply had its day.

Willow

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I was really looking forward to this. The original film was so much fun, and stands up even now. So the thought of a series around the story was fantastic. Having watched the first episode I can safely say I am truly disappointed. It feels like it wants to be a teen comedy, which is about as far away from the original as it could be.

After starting to write this I watched the second episode, which was a little better, but not much. I will probably stay with it though, just in case it gets better, but I have very little hope that it will.

What a shame.

Pact Coffee Advent Calendar

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This is a lovely way to celebrate advent. A different coffee every day. So far these have been rather lovely coffees. Normally I grind my own beans each day, beans that I get from Pact Coffee, who make this advent calendar, and I would thoroughly recommend their products.

Over the next few days, in the run up to Christmas, you may hear some some about these coffees.