Kourosh Dini's Blog, page 24

Experiments with the Rast-A Synthesizer – Sand Surf

This is a fun piece written in an odd sort of scale. I first composed it somewhere in a summer between semesters of college, played it in various bands, performed it as a piano only piece, and well… it’s always in an evolutionary state.

I’ve been having fun with this new software synths, Rast-A. The synths come in about mid-way through the piece…

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The Keyboard Maestro Field Guide

David Sparks has put out another solid field guide, this time on Keyboard Maestro.

I’m only about a quarter ways through it and already I’m making new macros. You can check out one that I’ve made to call up the Inbox quickly using Control and swiping up on the trackpad.

As always, David’s field guides are well crafted and organized, stepping a user from the simple to complex. His ease of presence makes learning a smooth process.

The Field Guide site makes it easy to stop and start again wher...

Emerging Calm from a Restless Piano

It’s fascinating how much mood flows through sound. Further, its communication is not often straightforward.

While the sound of the piano here is restless, it is heard as calming. That is because the sounds must reach the restlessness within a listener in order to bring calm.

Test

This is a test post. Please pardon the mess.

The Beatles & The Outstanding Hey Bulldog!

Hey Bulldog is such a darn good tune.  I’ve been a Beatles fan ever since a friend of mine introduced me to Abbey Road in high school. I would start picking up whatever albums I could.  The Yellow Submarine album had this treasure. I’ve played it in bands through college and later solo.  Here’s a piano rendition I did at a Nitida Ridge performance.

There’s are neat transitions of minor to major keys and back throughout.  Just masterful song-writing.

Another neat thing about the original is t...

Rice Wine (piano) and — What is relaxing music?

 

Brian Eno once said,

“Ambient music must be able to accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting.” But how does that happen?

Relaxation is more than soft sounds. We find it between tension, release, movement, and stillness. We find it in a flowing reflection of nature. Calm often appears as we reflect on nature. A piano’s single voice presents a simplicity that blooms into a complex garden. A synthesizer’s...

Peace at Night (piano)

Peaceful piano work in C minor.

My currently used apps

I’ve put together a list of apps that I tend to use. The ecology of apple apps is so rich at this point. In any case, here they are:

Password Management 1Password Excellent password manager Menu Bar Alfred 3 Application launcher and more Amphetamine Keeps my mac awake Display Menu Quickly adjusts the display size Little Snitch Limits the traffic apps seem to think they have the privilege of using Sound, Music, and Broadcasting Audio Hijack Useful for broadcas...

Enjoying a Dandelion Wine at the Piano