Long Journey

Another Voice Lost

Sad news this morning, BigBulkyAnglican has died. There is a simple note on his blog, from his daughter.

Prayers any blessings to the family and community he leaves behind.

Blog Link

Getting Ready for Greenbelt

Its getting closer to GB again, with the last set of months before the big weekend.

I am helping run the Tech Team for New Forms again this year, and as ever the team is coming together nicely!

The usual suspects have offered to push the sliders again, but there are still a couple of open places if you are interested.

GB looks like its going to be another good one, so come along. You don't need to camp, but it is more fun that way!

I am working on the equipment list and the proto schedule this weekend, and will probably set up a web group to help support the various groups this year.

Get your ticket here, or volunteer and get a free ticket!

Warning this is a Plug

This is an unashamed plug for Proost. Some fantastic, and I mean fantastic downloads on the site. With more added nearly every month.

If you don't know about Proost, go here

This months offering is a new album called Harronell, and it is great (I already used fantastic!).

"You may remember we ran a project Unusual Suspects when we relaunched last August with three talented and as yet unpublished artists. Well the project continues and Laurence is the first Unusual Suspect of 2008 which we are excited about. We have lifted the age limit on it as we have met several people a little above the 25 age we had set."

Great piece of work,and a good achievement from Proost to give this new artist some web air time...

The subscription is well worth it, so go on you know you want to!

Sound system coming along

So, I've been looking to build a small sound rig to use for Sanctum, and over the Christmas Period I've managed to put it together for an acceptable price.

The Kit in the arsenal so far is:

1 x Soundcraft Spirit M4 Mixing Desk, which is just perfect for my needs. Having four mic channels, plus four "instrument" channels. This lets me process a couple of macs, plus a couple of ipods and still leaves four channels open for mics. Got it second hand and in perfect nick!

2 X Phonic PA 550 active monitors, from Andertons in Guildford. I can't recommend them highly enough (Andertons that is!). I took up their test room for most of a morning, and they let me configure a rig and test everything out. No pressure and ended up selling me the monitors from ex-demo stock so saved at least 50% on the street price and then gave me £40 worth of leads for free.

So the rig will power at around 800+ watts which is more than enough, and so far I have spent around what I could of spent on a single monitor.

Next to come, some speaker stands, and some cheap mics.

Probably looking at a couple of these, as GAK in Brighton have the kit for £30 in their sale: Its a peavey PVi 100 mic with stand and bag for the same price as a stand......

And Finally I will add in a radio, but not too sure what is best to go for, as I won't spend more than £130 and it must be UHF. Basically It comes down to a sennheiser freeport or an Ashton. Either-way both would be great at Greenbelt as we always seem to be lacking a radio at New Forms.

The freeport is better known, but the Ashton can use 16 channels. Anyway I will need to wait a couple of months on the mics, as the bank account needs a chance to recharge!

Undersound

Steve Collins has posted this link on his Blog

Undersound

Overview:

Not all subways are created equal. What if technology designers recognized this fact and attempted to create an interface that took a deeper look at what being mobile means to each of us? What if they tried to reflect and enhance your sometimes conflicting, but always meaningful and situated, experiences? What if they designed for your underground? They did. They created undersound.

Sounds like a very interesting idea, one that could be applied in many locations. How about in spots around the village and outside venues at Greenbelt?