Yesspaz
01-01-2015, 04:22 PM
Dear, Moonatics:
So, my computer died, and when I say died, I mean it’s deader than the possibility of a Steve Howe/Trevor Rabin Mutual Appreciation Tour. I lost the large majority of everything on it. I have quite a few external hard drives that are safe.
I lost GOBS of music that was on my hard drive that there wasn’t room for on my external drives. I’ve since bought a 5TB drive, bringing all my storage to 8TB, so that shouldn’t be a problem for a while. But, and dig this, because I lost lots of this and some of that and whatnot, I decided to undertake an undertaking: I am re-ripping all my CDs into high quality .wavs and then converting them to 256kps-320kps VBR .mp3s for the maximum quality-to-storage ratio possible, now that storage is less of an issue (many of my .mp3 files were 128kps or 192kps – relics of the smaller-storage era). Then I take my new, high-bit-rate file, retag them, then delete the older version. I’m trying to do one CD a day. Sometimes I do five; sometimes I miss two or three days. Some CDs are quite easy to do. Some require a little work to combine tracks.
I’ve had to develop a filing system - an ever-mutating, revolving-stack, filing system. Just to give an idea, here are some photos of all the music I’ve dragged out of various places and stashed around my office. I’ve got stacks of CDs.
856 858
I’ve got 18 long-boxes full of CDs.
857
I’ve got 15 zipper cases full of CDs.
859
I’ve got more CDs than a bank.
860
Point is, it is quite an undertaking; however, it’s like a sort of therapy. I get to revisit every single tune I’ve ever bought. It’s quite fun, actually.
Now, I haven’t even mentioned video files, text documents, and other stuff of that nature, but lots of that is being pieced together as well. All this, of course, I’m doing as I teach junior high and run three side businesses.
Why am I telling you all this? Well, I also lost all the Digressive Rock Hour files; they are gone. Every show I ever made – gone. All files sent to me by you awesome Moonsters – gone. All beds, liners, bumps, sound effects, lists of songs played, playlists, databases – gone, and I made most all of those too. Nada. Poof. Zilch. Nubs. And holy crap, did I have lots of great music still left to play. I also lost the FTP software and VNC viewer needed to interact with the server and SAM.
So, not having the heart, volition, or wherewithal to redo all the Digressive Rock Hour stuff from scratch, nor bug all of you for months to send music in, nor “reboot” or “reinvent” the show, I’ve decided (and it took me a month do to so), to hang up the headphones. It really, really sucks to do so. I mean, even as I type this, I’m asking myself if I really want to quit, and the answer is “No, I don’t want to quit, but I need to.” I have a world of other things that need attending to, and I just really don’t have time to do the DRH for now. Could I bring it back in the future maybe? Maybe.
So, with a furrow in my brow and ennui of spirit, I resign from making this show. I will still hang out at Aural Moon, make requests, donate music, faff, and generally make a ruckus, but for now at least, I won’t do a show.
To quote a Moonster, “Spaz has a show?” Well, for now, no. No, I don’t. But if Jim is willing and I am able, I may again.
I want to thank everyone that’s tuned in, donated music, and supported the Digressive Rock Hour all these years.
“I want to tell you ‘everything will be okay; ‘
You wouldn’t hear it, so we go our separate ways
with our headphones on.”
-Jars of Clay (http://vimeo.com/5499063)
Love, Spaz
P.S. This would have been the first song of the next show. It’s call “Loneliness and Alcohol (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e4qaR75uvQ&list=PLp3WAI8tCfShOODzS8eXnJNIUlXom9gXV&index=7).”
So, my computer died, and when I say died, I mean it’s deader than the possibility of a Steve Howe/Trevor Rabin Mutual Appreciation Tour. I lost the large majority of everything on it. I have quite a few external hard drives that are safe.
I lost GOBS of music that was on my hard drive that there wasn’t room for on my external drives. I’ve since bought a 5TB drive, bringing all my storage to 8TB, so that shouldn’t be a problem for a while. But, and dig this, because I lost lots of this and some of that and whatnot, I decided to undertake an undertaking: I am re-ripping all my CDs into high quality .wavs and then converting them to 256kps-320kps VBR .mp3s for the maximum quality-to-storage ratio possible, now that storage is less of an issue (many of my .mp3 files were 128kps or 192kps – relics of the smaller-storage era). Then I take my new, high-bit-rate file, retag them, then delete the older version. I’m trying to do one CD a day. Sometimes I do five; sometimes I miss two or three days. Some CDs are quite easy to do. Some require a little work to combine tracks.
I’ve had to develop a filing system - an ever-mutating, revolving-stack, filing system. Just to give an idea, here are some photos of all the music I’ve dragged out of various places and stashed around my office. I’ve got stacks of CDs.
856 858
I’ve got 18 long-boxes full of CDs.
857
I’ve got 15 zipper cases full of CDs.
859
I’ve got more CDs than a bank.
860
Point is, it is quite an undertaking; however, it’s like a sort of therapy. I get to revisit every single tune I’ve ever bought. It’s quite fun, actually.
Now, I haven’t even mentioned video files, text documents, and other stuff of that nature, but lots of that is being pieced together as well. All this, of course, I’m doing as I teach junior high and run three side businesses.
Why am I telling you all this? Well, I also lost all the Digressive Rock Hour files; they are gone. Every show I ever made – gone. All files sent to me by you awesome Moonsters – gone. All beds, liners, bumps, sound effects, lists of songs played, playlists, databases – gone, and I made most all of those too. Nada. Poof. Zilch. Nubs. And holy crap, did I have lots of great music still left to play. I also lost the FTP software and VNC viewer needed to interact with the server and SAM.
So, not having the heart, volition, or wherewithal to redo all the Digressive Rock Hour stuff from scratch, nor bug all of you for months to send music in, nor “reboot” or “reinvent” the show, I’ve decided (and it took me a month do to so), to hang up the headphones. It really, really sucks to do so. I mean, even as I type this, I’m asking myself if I really want to quit, and the answer is “No, I don’t want to quit, but I need to.” I have a world of other things that need attending to, and I just really don’t have time to do the DRH for now. Could I bring it back in the future maybe? Maybe.
So, with a furrow in my brow and ennui of spirit, I resign from making this show. I will still hang out at Aural Moon, make requests, donate music, faff, and generally make a ruckus, but for now at least, I won’t do a show.
To quote a Moonster, “Spaz has a show?” Well, for now, no. No, I don’t. But if Jim is willing and I am able, I may again.
I want to thank everyone that’s tuned in, donated music, and supported the Digressive Rock Hour all these years.
“I want to tell you ‘everything will be okay; ‘
You wouldn’t hear it, so we go our separate ways
with our headphones on.”
-Jars of Clay (http://vimeo.com/5499063)
Love, Spaz
P.S. This would have been the first song of the next show. It’s call “Loneliness and Alcohol (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e4qaR75uvQ&list=PLp3WAI8tCfShOODzS8eXnJNIUlXom9gXV&index=7).”