Sorry for the lag in writing, I've been off radar with the massive undertaking previously described, undertaken by the process of proofreading and indexing my book. By the end I was totally wasted, but pleased with the result, anyway. Hat's off to my friend geof huth (see his great blog visualizing poetics at http://dbqp.blogspot.com/), who sent some feedback on the index I posted --& also nice to hear from others who found it)
The first thing I did to get back on track to recording new tracks was install Reason on my computer, as I thought it might be useful in doing live sound processing, which is something I need to explore. To be able to sample, loop, process voice and sounds in a live environment (like I used to do with effects pedals, quadraverb, etc.) is a definitely a direction I want to be heading in now. So the program loaded and output wiring was OK but learned I can't record samples with the program and can only import midi files. I'm not midi enabled at this point, and can't figure out a way to make the program work for me unless I just want to lay down (& manipulate) their samples (which don't seem to be loading properly either). Maybe someday such a cool beatbox might come in handy, but still kind of attached to my own sounds.
What's a cyborg to do? Get a midi keyboard and load samples in? I've seen good use of MAX in live processing situations, and hope to get a copy. What other programs might help? I've got a few gigs coming up… just found out that I'll be performing (and lecturing—" Le(s) Mange Texte(s): Creative Cannibalism and Digital Poetry") at E-POETRY in Paris (May), and have some time to work on chops. Anyway, want to move on to something new… to that end, got in touch with Ali in Malaysia and Daniela Franco (wherever she is, Mexico? France?) about collaborating in the Paris gig, and hopeful that we will get the trans-continental mojo gojo. I've been playing the flute a bit, and will definitely travel to France and Brazil com gong. Gotta think, select poems, make new stuff…
What else is new? Pedro Barbosa invited me to be an "external collaborator" for a project titled NUCIT. NUCIT stands for Núcleo de Ciberteatro (Cybertheatre Nucleus), a project of ESMAE - Escola Superior de Música e do Espectáculo at Insituto Politécnico do Porto. This is good, and I do hope that it will somehow lead to a visit to Portugal. Barbosa's research greatly informed and broadened mine, I like his work (see SINTEXT and AlletSator at the site); it is good to know and be in touch with him.
Plenty of little projects, like revising translations of an essay by my friend Wilton Azevedo (& the English-Portuguese go between can be pretty rough), doing taxes, practicing organizing, thinking about the review of the ELO anthology I've agreed to write, ongoing family stuff, never routine…