NABbed

I've recently returned from a quick visit to Los Angeles, San Diego and Las Vegas. I stayed in downtown Los Angeles for a couple of nights, mainly in an attempt to get over the jet lag a bit...Last year we went straight into an NAB party after landing and were exhausted halfway through the evening. This way seemed to work much better and I was more or less back to normal by the time I got the train to San Diego, with a stopover to see family just north of the city.

It seemed a bit strange sipping Margaritas by the pool bar at the hotel watching the hummingbirds flit about, having just left a gloomy England, but it was a very pleasant evening stopover on my way to Las Vegas for NAB 2014.

As usual, I met many old friends, made some new and left with prospects of some new sub-publishers and some potential work writing for different territories too. I was also able to finish a new album using the portable set up and I edited the whole thing too...Some even on the plane. The trip over was especially interesting, as I found myself sitting next to Money Mark, ex of the Beastie Boys, who had been performing at the Barbican with Damon Albarn. We had a good chat about music and gear.

My new infatuation with Apple gear has continued...Just got an iPhone, an Apple Mouse, Time Capsule and another MacBook Air for the business side of things. I'm tending to compose in the garden or out of the studio and then taking it to the studio to mix...Very nice!!!

TX Dates...

Airline USA is still all over Sky1, Sky 2 and Sky LivingIt.

I've got a Mac...And a ThatchPatch!!!

The studio Synergy rack-mounted PC was beginning to creak a bit, so I'd been thinking about a replacement for some time. Eric James of Philosophers Barn Mastering had piqued my interest in a piece of organisational software called Curio which only runs on Mac, so I began to think about going Mac in the studio. Even better, I wondered if the MacBook Air 11 inch would be powerful enough to run the studio and also serve as a portable set up when I'm travelling.

So after bending the ears of several musician friends and the staff of the Apple Store, I am the proud new owner of a souped-up MBA (8GB RAM, 500 flash memory, 256 cache and 1.7 processor). It runs Sibelius with ease and I'm gradually getting a nice set up together for Cubase. Getting some of my favourite old instruments up and running has been a bit of a task as I've been leaning the new OS as I've been going along, but it all seems very stable. I was told that there's a fan inside the computer which comes on if things get a bit hectic, but it's not happened yet.

So, now I have a set up which I can pop in the bag I bought in the Apple Store in Santa Monica last year, before I had an inkling that I'd be using a Mac for music, which can also connect up to the studio with one Thunderbolt connector. This runs into a Belkin Express Dock and then into the DAW controller and Saffire Liquid 56 which takes care of audio duties in the studio.

In amongst all these changes, I finished the latest revamp of the theme music for Wales This Week...First episode of the season starts Monday 3rd March...More details and a video sample HERE

I'll be travelling to the US again in April, starting in Los Angeles for a couple of days and then to Las Vegas for NAB via San Diego to visit family. If you're going to NAB and we've not scheduled a meeting, please send me an email.

The picture above is of the back of the thatch...This is a temporary patch which will last us through to the full job in two years time. It was quite fascinating watching the thatcher go about his business.

Spring is happening here in the UK, but there are forecasts of colder weather before we're into Summer. We have a huge amount of bonfire material due to several trees coming down in the high winds. We're waiting for the wind to be in the right direction before we can spark it up.

TX dates...

Wales This Week begins a new season at 8pm on ITV on Monday, 3rd March.

Airline USA continues on Sky 1 and Sky LivingIt.

Giant Octopus is on at 2pm on Nat Geo Wild on Saturday 8th March.