Big Snowstorm Report and Remembering a Blizzard From the Past.

 Well the big snow storm of Sunday was definitely big, though not exactly the monster that was forecast.

The forecast was for 20 plus inches of new snow. But here in Dover NH we got 13 inches, which is not nothing, but seems like not much compared to the predictions.

Many years ago, one of my more memorable victories was during a huge snowstorm.

I'm not 100% of the year, but it was in the early 70s. I was working as a messenger for the alternative weekly newspaper, The Real Paper, in Cambridge Mass.

My usual job was to drive one of their cars around Greater Boston picking up ad copy, dropping off proofs, delivering any sort of paperwork that needed to go to an advertiser or anyone else involved the publication.

When this storm hit, it quickly became impossible to drive the cars. There may have actually have been a prohibition of "non-essential" driving for the duration.

But it was deadline day for the paper. The printing shop in Connecticut was expecting our material that night, and missing that window would be a big problem. And we didn't have all the ad copy for that week.

We could have published without those ads, but we wouldn't have been paid by those advertisers, and a couple of them were a big deal. Their ad artwork was at an advertising agency in downtown Boston, we were in Harvard Sq Cambridge.

I volunteered to get on the subway, which was reported to be running, if slowly, and go get the packages.

The Red Line got me there with not too much delay. I walked from the station to the agency's office building, and got the stuff.

But when I got back to the subway they reported that it had stopped running. It would be hours before another train came by. And the busses had long since stopped.

The snow had been falling all day and the wind was howling. It didn't seem like a good day to be out on foot. But I was a fearless 20-something who had no doubt he'd live forever. I'd just walk back. I headed out into the howling snowstorm, and started the hike back to Cambridge.

I trudged across the wind whipped Harvard Bridge. Started up Mass Ave. Stopped a couple times in the few business that were open, to warm my toes. And continued on.

It was a long cold walk. And maybe I was in some danger, but it never occurred to me. Even way back then I instinctively believed the idea that, "the show must go on". Or in this case, the newspaper.

This was long before cell phones, I may have reported in from a pay phone once or twice. but I'm sure my coworkers back in the office wondered if I'd make it. But eventually I walked into our office, snow covered, a little worn-out, and smiling.

I was greeted like a conquering hero. The package I had been protecting from the snow, under my coat, was whisked away to the production department, where it filled the lucrative gaps in the week's paper. 

And for a while anyway I was toasted at The Real Paper as the guy who saved the issue. Or at least a big chunk of the revenue for that issue.

Applying Adobe Audition's Audio Effects to your Podcast Post Production

 I've been producing my podcast Uncontrolled Airspace for many many years. For the past 6 years I've been using Adobe Audition to do the post-recording edit of each episode.

One of the Audition features that I use is various "audio effects".

There are multiple Audition audio effects that I apply to the multitrack session tracks when editing my podcast.

There are three effects that I apply to each voice track. And there is a fourth effect that I apply to the combination of all the voice tracks.

To each of the voice tracks I apply...

1. Adaptive Noise Reduction
2. Graphic Equalizer
3. Single Band Compressor

Simply using the default settings for each of these effects will improve your audio quality. Or you can experiment with the sliders to find a sound that you like.

The order of these effects in the Effects Rack is important. The order I show above will give you the optimal processing and fine tuning of your track's sound.

You should apply these three effects to EACH of your voice tracks. In my podcast I usually have three or four tracks. Your production may be different.

Next I change the output, aka "Mix", of each track to combine them all into a single "Bus" track.

Create this Bus track by first clicking Mix on one of your tracks. Then select Bus -> Add Bus -> Mono. Then on the remaining tracks click Mix -> Bus A.

Then you can select the Bus track and apply the audio effect: 

1. Speech Volume Leveler

Open the settings for this effect you can use the defaults. Or, I've found that the "Soft" preset works well. Or you can go crazy and play around with the settings.

There is a lot more I can pass on about my experience with Audition if people find it useful. Please let me know in a comment below. 

Lowell Massachusetts Kinetic Sculpture Race

Yesterday's visit to the Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race was pretty seductive.

The crowd at this event was very impressively diverse, both in terms of culture and age. I didn't feel like the oldest person in the place, which is not usually the case these days.

It's got me really thinking that Lowell could be the place to settle.

Still Drawing

 I'm still doing the Javi Drawing exercises. I haven't quit the program.

I'm not doing them quite daily, but I am doing them. I've paused posting them here because the result are cruder. I'm trying more challenging things, and the result are not something I want to post. But I hope to get back to posting them soon.

Here's one I did yesterday.

Freehand digital drawing in Procreate from a pic I took a couple months ago.

Javi Drawing #6

 Trump Caricature. 

Digital Drawing in Procreate on iPad. From CWeyant cartoon in Boston Globe.

I'm not unhappy with this one. If this is as bad as it gets, then that's good. 

I'd like to be able to draw a Trump caricature for meme making over the next 4 years.

Javi Drawing Day 5

Day 5 Of Javi Drawing exercises. A very crude drawing of Iron Man.

 

Digital drawing in Procreate on Apple iPad.

I've always liked this pose of Iron Man.

This is a poor drawing, but I learned some things from doing it.

As I wrote in the notes underneath, I like the proportions and a bit of feeling the expression of the character.

I'm beginning to realize that this stage of "learning to draw" is not simply about learning to "draw". It is also about learning to "see". To become sensitive to the subtleties of the angle of the head, and the shape of the torso. With experience I think that I will be able to more quickly recognize these attributes of a scene, and thus be able to try and draw them accurately.

Learning.

Javi Drawing Day 4

 Today we begin phase two of these drawing exercises. Now we're reproducing a drawing that we like. Here's the Jedi Droid Huyang from the Ahsoka comics.

Digital drawing in Procreate on Apple iPad.