I tried to work on some music last night for my band, Spiral Galaxy Collision. For those not in the know, this is a joint project with Van (furiousBall) and Kingo (also of Halaka). We have been inactive for some time, but I think we’re ready to start making music again.

One of the Cubase projects opened fine, and everything seemed to be in order, but the other one — a song that we started a few years ago — was plagued with problems. I had to dig out copies of old programs (soft synths/samplers) to get it to open. I really wish that if you open a project with, say, an Absynth 2 patch, it would just open using Absynth 3 instead, with the same patch data. But alas, it looks for that specific version of the program. I haven’t used Absynth 2 in a long time now, so I had to really dig to find it.

Then, once I got the missing software installed, I realized I was missing some samples. I eventually found them, but realized I had to convert them to another format (a lengthy process, especially given that there are 4 CDs of samples) before I could use them. Now, I’m crossing my fingers and hoping that once I have all the samples, it’ll automatically load the right ones. If not, I may never be able to get it to sound exactly like I had it before.

Making music on a computer can be incredibly frustrating when things like this happen. I love soft synths and samplers, and I get some great sounds out of them. However, it’s at times like this when I want to throw my computer out the window, pick up an instrument, and just play it, recording into some kind of simple device when necessary. Maybe I should just buy a 4-track tape recorder. I’m only half kidding.

Seriously, though, the thought of finishing some old songs and starting some new stuff is pretty exciting.

I received an e-mail yesterday asking for permission to use my song “Mercury,” which I wrote during FAWM last year, in a 15-minute promotional version of a full-length documentary called “Taking Shape.” The film will be about the creation of an art installation by Virginia Scotchie called Floating Spheres of Continuity.

Floating Spheres of Continuity consists of 77 ceramic spheres of various colors ranging between 17 and 30 inches, placed in a pool at the Taipei County Yingge Ceramics Museum in Taiwan. The spheres weigh up to 200 pounds apiece. Some articles about the Floating Spheres of Continuity can be found here and here. There’s also a video interview with Scotchie. I haven’t been able to find any photos of the installation online yet.

If the producer likes how the music fits, there’s a possibility that the song could be used in the full-length documentary, which is intended to be aired on national television. We’ll have to wait and see what happens.