I find myself wishing to spend the day programming an electronic song in MIDI and shit and I really have no idea where to start. It is this thing:

https://soundcloud.com/cameron-heck/pai ... electronic

I was practicing try to use the arpeggiator on the Microkorg to eventually create a loop but I am too sloppy triggering the keys to get a very consistent sound. So, what would you dudes use to create that sort of sound with dem MIDI mapz and whatnot?

EDIT: Thoooough, I guess I could just cut and paste each rung out arpeggiation like a TOTAL cheat bastard..

Nailed it.

Hopefully hear back soon, but who doesn't want to hire a motivated white guy?

Why the fuck would you want a more consistent sound?

Because of this: https://soundcloud.com/cameron-heck/ele ... ue-outline

Ahhhh hell yeah, brother.

The problem with buying cheap electronic components direct from chinese marketplaces, is occasionally feeling like you might need a hundred tiny humans while you are there:



Also, because it takes solidly three weeks for anything to arrive, the problem also becomes, forgetting that you bought a hundred tiny humans, by the time you receive the order.

Well, I have a bit of good news in my life for once lately. (Unless it decides to take a swing at my naughty bits, as life is wont to do.)

Me landlady just called; the upstairsfolks are moving out in the middle of July, right when Ms. Jen gets back from España. We've had dibs on the place for a good while. I said yes for all involved right away. We get two floors and a free piano out of the deal. I of course have long decided to place my studio on 3, and I am allowed a drum kit as well. This could work out.

Two floors out of how many? Three? Or is it essentially that you will be renting the whole house? Either way, sounds righteous.

Two of three. Hopefully we are bringing our friend Anastasia along for the ride as well. If we could just get the whole place, that would be glorious, but it would be a bit out of our price range.

Awsum.

That is some good news. You were in need of some.

I may or may not be developing an axe-buying problem.

I have also begun to feel over the last few weeks and in a very general sort of manner, slightly at least, that the universe might not currently want nothing more than to fuck me over in all things.

Is this because it knows i have so many axes now, and that i will cut it if it comes down to that?

Whatever the case, it is a welcome sort of shift.

How many axes do you have, and of what sorts?

Perhaps you should poast your axe collection. Perhaps even have an axe for an avatar, to scare the universe off. Maybe I should drag out my longsword for the same reason.

The universe is a sadistic thing. It'll dick you over as low as it can, then throw you a bone or two- maybe build it up back higher, even, so it can fuck you down lower still. Truly, it is a prick.

Counting hatchets, five so far with a sixf on the way.

Started harmlessly enough, just kind of feeling like i wanted an axe to go with my saws and handplanes.

So i bought the one, but i tried to go cheap and bought a small $25 one, because you know, really do i need an expensive axe, really?



But the steel was too soft(being that the thing was made of shit) and so the first time i used it, the edge went all to hell with one swing. I have that one re-sharpened now, but more as a splitter than anything useful.

So i looked a bit more and found that Husqvarna, as i mentioned before, has nice axes made by good Swedish makers and relabels them as Husqvarna axes. So i bought this one:



Which is a "small forest axe", less than two pound bit, and pretty thin at that. Designed for limbing, and for maybe taking down small trees. It was made by Hultafors which is i believe the oldest forge still going in sweden at this point. The edge was rough finished but cleaned up easily to be properly sharp, and it is proper swede steel so it stayes sharpe tooe. It was only about $60, which is solidly about half of what Hults or any of the other swedish makers sell this type of axe for.

While i like that just fine, as i thought of it, this axe in this house is not really likely to see a ton of use. It is not quite heavy enough to really use in felling a large tree efficiently, and the big curve in the edge limits its usability for shaping/carving somewhat.

So i bought this one shortly afterwards(the place was having a sale on the Huskys and included free shipping so i wanted to act relatively quickly).



It is known as a carpenters axe. The edge is flat, and the bit is kind of heavy for a short handle, around three pounds. It is made specifically for shaping wood though, kind of a transitional tool, not quite a saw, a really huge knife, or a handplane. Sharpened up nicely, and it is great for flattening a rough timber so that it is flat enough for a handplane to actually run across the surface.

Now, a carpenters axe has a relative that is even more useful for certain types of wood shaping stuff, the hewing or broad axe. They are usually bigger and heavier than most other axes in the bit, but usually on a almost hatchet-short handle. The bit is only sharpened/beveled on one side, kind of like a chisel, so that it can leave a very flat surface on a log. They are often used in pairs, one beveled on the left side, one beveled on the right side, so that one can go whichever direction down a timber or board, is necessary to work correctly with and not against the wood grain.

My first broadaxe test should be leaving canada sometime this week.



$20 shipped on ebay for a survivor that i am hoping can be brought back to life. Has rust and needs a handle, but looks like it might be workable to clean up and put an edge on. The price was right though. Broadaxes from any new source are usually very expensive, up in the $300 range. Which, considering that you might need two or three of them(double bevel, single left, single right) adds up right quick. I am going to keep looking out for used ones that might be workable though. Solid antique ones seem more in the $100 range, with occasional ones going for less, and a wide variety of handle-less bits sometimes showing up on the cheaps in varying states of abused-/trashed-ness. Hopefully this one gets here in good shape and i can work with it.

Lastly, i have two hatchets, one cheapo chinese one that i don't trust due to its excessive steel hardness(which could make it prone to shatter in use - tool steel hardness is a fine balance), and one nice old Plumb branded BSA one that was either my grandfather's or my uncle's scout hatchet.



Hatchets aren't really that useful to me though. For what they do, i would be more likely to use the first small forest Husqvarna. Essentially it is almost a hatchet head on that, just mounted on a 26" handle instead of an 10" one.

Next on the list, aside from whatever broadaxes might fall into my pricerange, is probably a proper big olde felling axe(3-4 pound bit, 36-ish inch handle), and then a couple of less axey sorts of sharps like a large-ish drawknife, a riving froe, and a timberframing slick(which is like a pretty amazing four foot long chisel).

Basically, i have decided that i should have as many pre-industrial era carpentry tools and abilities as possible at my disposal. I am not sure why exactly, but for sure, my mindset for working with wood has been drifting this way for a couple years now.

That sir, is a fine array of axes.

On the real.

The broad axe looks properly medieval.

I had to look up "drawknife" and "riving froe" as I had no clue what they are, but I recognize them now having seen them. Pre-industrial hand tools do seem to suit your aesthetic, and I'd be curious what, exactly, you wind up building with them.

Also, this was a fine looking broad axe:

For realz. That shit is beast. Even though it almost says Bieber on it.

I am going to resist the temptation of the really huge broadaxes until i feel reasonably comfortable(and strong) using the small/medium ones.

As for what my aim is, i am currently thinking to start smallish and maybe build a new shed, for learnding porpoises.

At some point though, i will probably wander off into the wilderness and build a cabin proper. I may need to when this structure i have been habitating, inevitably collapses.