Author: Don

Fourteen in twenty-eight

If you’re musically-inclined and have wondered if there is a challenge like the (defunct) NaNoWriMo for musicians, there is February Album Writing Month, or “FAWM.” The goal is to write fourteen songs in four weeks. “Song” is broadly defined; it can be anything from an abrupt miniature like Melt-Banana to an inflated prog rock epic. Expertise doesn’t matter — much — and it is possible to get by with just your pocket moloch. How to do it and what to use are discussed here.

I haven’t decided yet if I will join in myself this year. I’ve been trying to get the hang of yet another DAW, Presonus Studio One Fender Studio Pro. While all digital audio workstations do essentially the same thing, each is just different enough that skill with one doesn’t transfer to another.1 If I by the end of January I spend more time writing music than yelling at the computer, I might give it a shot.

A note on Dilbert

James:

From time to time I had reason to stroll through some of the engineering buildings, or chemistry or math3, and now and then the business school. Fifteen/twenty years ago Dilbert was all over the place in physics (I had some) and computing and engineering, but not at the business school. Other cartoons appeared there, so it wasn’t a department dictum on decorum….

Since Dilbert so often skewered pointy-haired bosses and HR, it’s no surprise that the strip wouldn’t pop up on grad student doors so much in those regions….

From the speed with which the strip was dropped I suspect there was great relief in the relevant management and HR corporate quarters at the excuse for revenge.

I expect everyone visiting here has a collection of Scott Adams’ books in his library, so I don’t need to post my favorites. The Silicon Graybeard posted some of his here.