- SSAB – December 1, 2021
- SSAB – December 2, 2021
- SSAB – December 3, 2021
- SSAB – December 4, 2021
- SSAB – December 5, 2021
- SSAB – December 6, 2021
- SSAB – December 7, 2021
- SSAB – December 8, 2021
- SSAB – December 9, 2021
- SSAB – December 10, 2021
- SSAB – December 11, 2021
- SSAB – December 12, 2021
- SSAB – December 13, 2021
- SSAB – December 14, 2021
- SSAB – December 15, 2021
- SSAB – December 16, 2021
- SSAB – December 17, 2021
- SSAB – December 18, 2021
- SSAB – December 19, 2021
- SSAB – December 20, 2021
- SSAB – December 21, 2021
- SSAB – December 22, 2021
- SSAB – December 23, 2021
- SSAB – December 24, 2021
- SSAB – December 25, 2021
- SSAB – December 26, 2021
- SSAB – December 27, 2021
- SSAB – December 28, 2021
- SSAB – December 29, 2021
- SSAB – December 30, 2021
- SSAB – December 31, 2021
SSAB – December 1 2021
Happy December! Already! Last month of the year! Start of December Drumming, how does Decedrumber sound? Ha! I’ll get things organized… tomorrow. Right? If this start is any indication, I’ve got to get things better organized. Next week should be a bit easier.
Today’s track: ride cymbal only! 2 minutes and 50 seconds of it! It’s a play around on the ride cymbal and, not going to lie, I kinda thought this was going to be my opening track anyway. I’ve been thinking of this one for a while so thought I’d finally give it a go. I hope I didn’t already do this for Jamuary since it was so easy!
Full disclosure: the riff I play on this track is taken from a track I recorded YEARS ago for a jazz EP. If anything, this is today’s revision of it.
Now, where to publish? Everything’s going on the website for sure, but maybe also on Bandcamp?
And, of course, the daily audio offering. In other news, got the plants planted! I hope I did it right!
Show notes on stevensirski.com, hope your December starts well enough!
SSAB – December 2, 2021
Router or rooter, British pronunciation or general pronunciation?
The anatomy of a power nap:
- black out your eyes,
- take the pressure off of your lower back (lying on your side usually helps),
- relax your eyes or, if needed, close your eyes and then cross them, that is, look towards your nose while your eyelids are closed.
- Finally, use a timer so you’re not thinking about getting up and set it for 4-10 minutes. You can power nap in the first few minutes and then remain relaxed for the rest yet aware.
I always try to maintain some form of awareness while napping just so I can respond if someone might step on my toes or something.
Drum track for tonight. Working on it as we speak. (Drum Solo – Track 5)
Check out my website for the full list so far. stevensirski.com Have a great day!
SSAB – December 3, 2021
Korean food Friday night. When in Beijing, try something exciting?
Future of work? Skilling up? What more can I do to prepare? Where else is hiring these days? Could I maintain my current lifestyle if I shifted location? Back to backpacking days? Early 40s, people still ask, after mid-40s, do they still ask if you’ll settle down?
Today’s drum track, want to try messing around with the Garageband stock music files. Is it possible to create something clubbable? Listenable?
Show notes on stevensirski.com! Hope you had a great week!
SSAB – December 4 2021
All about track #4 for my December Drumming challenge.
This one is called ‘Phone Tap Bap’ (though I could have just as easily left out the Bap) and uses everyone’s favourite device to make sound: the cell phone keyboard.
Recorded with my cell phone, using my cell phone’s keyboard, this is a rhythm played featuring the phone’s haptic feedback system. I then imported the file into Logic Pro, killed as much of the room noise as I could, then added soke FX to give it a little more oomph. Trippy, short, head noddable.
Show notes on stevensirski.com. Thanks for listening!
SSAB – December 5, 2021
All about Track #5 for my December Drumming challenge. This one was a pleasant surprise, and not what I intended at all.
I recorded three takes using three different kits: Chinese, Modern 909, and Big Room.
After listening back a few times, I decided to go with the third take with the Big Room kit. To edit the track a little, I sent the project to my computer to work with Logic Pro. When I opened it, however, Take 3 didn’t work! Nor did it work in Garageband. The other tracks were outputting sound but Take 3 wasn’t.
And this is where the surprise happened.
Since both Takes 1 and 2 were playing at the same time, there was a bit of a relationship between them. Listening to them all the way through, I did a little bit of editing, shortened the track a little, and voila! Done! It bounces, it’s ethnic, it’s modern, it works!
And since it’s a meld of the Chinese kit on my iPad and the Modern 909: that’s where I took the name from.
Hope you enjoy the fifth offering of my December Drumming challenge! Show notes on stevensirski.com!
SSAB – December 6 2021
St. Mykolai today! Gold chocolate coins and Mandarin (easy-peel) oranges!
December Drumming along, new tracks posted on my website! Have a listen! I like what I’m hearing so far.
Website has been slow. Not sure why. May need to look into hosting mp3s somewhere else.
Work week begins, more busy than I thought it would be.
Spent the morning creating word lists for my Chinese class. Target remains March 2022 for HSK 5.
Show notes up on stevensirski.com Have a good week!
SSAB – December 7 2021
Watching Wolyn (Volhynia), translated as ‘Hatred’. Polish movie about a Polish guy and a Ukrainian girl falling in love… and then a World War erupts. Oops. Poland, Russia, Ukraine, all vying for their land. Historical. Makes me appreciated where I’ve come from and where I am.
December Drumming continues as I work on a few solos to catch up to things.
Show notes up on stevensirski.com
SSAB – December 8 2021
Finished watching Wolyn, gruesome movie. I was warned that it was worse than Schindler’s List and I can see why: the violence is excessive and personal. Truly horrifying to think things like this could have happened, even though this movie’s story is itself fictional.
Onto December Drumming and making my way through the tracks. Look on my website for more. I’ve posted tracks under each day.
Pushing through and making time for Chinese studies, what about Russian?
Show notes on stevensirski.com
SSAB – December 9 2021
Drum rudiments on tablet, practice pad, and a real drum, what’s the difference? Tomorrow will be catch up day!
Trying out… ‘intermittent fasting’! Hip term for what’s commonly referred to as ‘skip a meal’! Pushing back when I eat and stopping at around 830 pm. Nothing but water and coffee in the morning. How is this different ftom the Chinese belief (often repeated by young students) of not eating after 9 pm but you must have breakfast. We’ll try it but I don’t think it’s sustainable.
Show notes up on stevensirski.com. Have a great day!
SSAB – December 10 2021
Vaccine MANDATED. Would we have the same response if it was an alien creature? Would we reject vaccines for any sort of virus from outside of Earth? Something to think about anyway.
Updated website, archives, etc.
Morning with Chinese grammar, 1. 可… + verb + 的 = is it worth it? 2. …好…以便 = prepare well so that… 3. 除非 (chu fei) = unless…
Working on tracks. Hard to hit the proper notes on the iPad, they need editing. Not easy to play live.
Found an old track I can post.
Work tomorrow! May be one of my last!
Show notes on stevensirski.com Have a great end of week!
SSAB – December 11 2021
SSAB – December 12 2021
Today’s offering for the December Drumming Challenge! A little ditty I made combining a couple of MIDI tracks into one!
SSAB – December 13 2021
How late is too late 😀
New tracks up
Bombers for the W! Two in a row! Grey Cup Champs! Feels like when I was growing up.
Vaccine mandate: Beijing only, and mainly if you’re in a customer service position, which I am distanced from because of teleconferencing.
Applied to work from home. Mixed feelings but I know I’ll save A LOT a of time.
Starbucks busted for unsanitary practices!
Intermittent fasting, to skip breakfast or not? How do you compress your eating?
Show notes up on stevensirski.com
Have a great week!
SSAB – December 14 2021
Early to work on a late start morning. #yey
New tracks up for December Drumming: homages to the office worker. Use what you got to make rhythm! My offerings: pens and hands.
Getting another NAT test tomorrow, some meetings with folks later in the week.
Show notes and music tracks up on stevensirski.com. Have a great week!
SSAB – December 15 2021
These hours and days are flying by. Not bad when you’re having fun! Solstice coming up, then Christmas, then New Year’s, then Olympics, then Spring Festival… I almost can’t wait until the end of February!
What’s with the no uploading of podcast videos? I’ll tell you why…
And what about those drum tracks?!
Show notes up on stevensirski.com, have a good one!
SSAB – December 16 2021
Whooops… not getting that done today! Workout complete though!
Guess I gotta practice my rudiments after all since my sticking is all over the place… and slow! R L R R L R L L!
Learning Chinese by reading a menu? Easier when the menu is variations of the same thing, not so easy when each item is completely different!
And… if you could, what age would you go back to? How old would you return to if given the chance?
Show notes up on stevensirski.com. Have a great day!
SSAB – December 17 2021
Cold outside, windy cold.
Being the old guy, what does it mean to be ‘old’? Do you feel old? When ‘kids’ say ‘adults’, do you think they actually think you know what you’re doing?! Yea, think about that…
New track! Arkan on a Desk! Great reverb and rhythms on this track. Natural, one take.
Intermittent fasting / restricted eating / 16 / 8 / whatever… fewer calories means deficit means loss of weight. But my target is fat.
New issue of Foreign Affairs is up, do you read the mag?
Show notes, tracks, and more up on stevensirski.com. Have a great end of week!
SSAB – December 18 2021
How about playing the drum set with one hand? Think it’s possible? It is, but it’s not easy to play very fast.
This track is an attempt to play at around 120 BPM with only one hand, similar to playing the keyboard or piano with only one hand. It can be done but, as you’ll hear, there are quite a few missed notes and places where the beat should be louder than it is. I’ll leave it as is, this is take 2, since, when I tried to do a third take, I started over-thinking it and it got messy quite quickly. It seemed best to keep things simple and I’m sure if I simplified even more, this could be used in a live setting.
Show notes, tracks and more up on stevensirski.com!
SSAB – December 19 2021 – Found Snare
Today’s track: Pulled from the archives of a project that I never completed, part of a larger “Snare Drum Symphony” I envisioned, this here is me hand drumming on a beautiful-sounding Tama Bubinga snare drum. One of the best drums I’ve ever played or purchased, this was one of those drums that I think anyone could hear how good it is. At least I think so. This portion was taken from a much larger take but, after editing quite a bit of it, I decided to just use this portion as it had most of the unedited, raw, “movement” to it that sounded best and most natural.
Shows notes and tracks up on stevensirski.com!
SSAB – December 20 2021
Dec 20/2021! Can only do this for another 79 years before it’ll be moved another day ahead!
Reading Michio Kaku’s The Future of the Mind. I remember seeing it years ago but, after reading his other books, I felt this one was very much like a summary of what he had written before. Now, however, ten years later, it’s a good refresher. Interesting to see how the understanding of the human brain has only really taken off in the last 30 years or so!
New tracks are up on the website! Uploaded quite a few as I needed to catch up. Also updated Audio Blog section.
Thinking about how to make my life easier by possibly posting to my website first and then grabbing that info and posting to Anchor. Not sure which would be easier. Could I even automate the creation of a blog post with the proper HTML tags, etc. and then somehow append that to the current page? Then grab that and add it to Anchor.fm?
Looked into various audio mixing APPs for my phone. Dolby On seems to be the top suggested free audio mixer / post-production APP out there. Found a few others but some that have been written about aren’t available in my Play store for some reason. Having an audio editor on my phone would make some things easier, but it lacks the ability to give a “big picture” of what’s going on. Good for a simple podcast, but maybe not for audio post just yet. The screen is too small!
Shows notes up on stevensirski.com Have a good one!
SSAB – December 21 2021
Shortest day of the year with the Winter Solstice! Did you notice?
Inducing a change… what if I changed my workout time to the morning? Like 430am or 530am? Can it be done? Gives me more time in the evening, better restricted eating schedule, but will it be as intense? This is the question that needs to be answered. We will try… tomorrow!
Show notes up on stevensirski.com! (ง •̀_•́)ง
SSAB – December 22 2021
Up early and working out, here is the review… Not as bad as I thought it would be.
Could still drink coffee in between sets (don’t tell me to drink water, I was), Squeaky floor made me self conscious, Still able to do my full workout with high amount of intensity, Fitness band didn’t work. Could I be working out lightly every day?
Didn’t eat till 1128am… HUUUNNGRY! And a bit groggy in the morning but not too bad. Overall? Yea, I could see how I could make this work.
Christmas get together tomorrow, don’t want to be out too late if I’m waking up at 5.00.
How to make kutya? With rice? Is it the same? Could I also make perogies this year?
New tracks are up! Today’s track: an older track I recorded. Was going to create a new one but saw this one was still in there so decided to fix it up and publish it.
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
SSAB – December 23 2021
Unofficial get together of current and former work mates. Great to see and talk to the Next Generation and their hopes and dreams. Cynical Old Workers… look who’s talking! Morning workouts… will they continue?!
Show notes up on stevensirski.com
SSAB – December 24 2021
My own take on the idea of a “Drummer Boy” being present at the birth of a baby, Ie, The Little Drummer Boy. Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com!
SSAB – December 25, 2021
Today’s track is Shchedryk which is more commonly known as “Carol of the Bells”, but the two differ in that the original was about a little bird while the adaption hearkens the ringing of church bells. Shchedryk was written by Mykola Leontovych way back in 1916 but was adapted into what we know as the Christmas carol in 1936. Carol of the Bells is copyrighted but Shchedryk itself doesn’t seem to be. The original was actually based on a traditional Ukrainian folk song which Leontovych adapted to the music we know now. It’s an attractive melody and one that inspires the Christmas season. Here is an inspired, drum-derivative of the song.
Show notes and tracks up on stevensirski.com.
Thanks for listening and have a great Christmas!
SSAB – December 26 2021
An homage to a famous song about not wanting to work but to bang on the drum all day. Simple, but it’s appropriate for this month’s challenge! Show notes and tracks up on stevensirski.com
SSAB – December 27 2021
Monday already! Last week of 2021, last work week for this year! Hope you had a great weekend and are having a good holiday season!
Writing up a post about my year, should have that up later in the week. Was going to post over the weekend but got rather busy!
Friday I DID get up for my morning workout but Saturday was spent sourcing ingredients for… Perogies and kutya. Potato and cheddar cheese perogies Kutya made with rice and no poppy seed. Is it still the same?
Website updated, lots of new tracks on December Drumming. Last week to get them all in! Jamuary starts up soon and may be easier in some ways.
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com!
Enjoy the last week of the year!
SSAB – December 28 2021
Pay day! Bills! All the things I want, I need, but haven’t had, so do I really need them? How to save money for rent and put your money to use. Guess I should go pay that hot water bill already.
New tracks, DnB, and more in the works.
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com!
Hope your day is productive!
SSAB – December 29 2021
Out and about! Talking to a few people who have studied English at the academic level and are able to write ESSAYS in it? Could this be a challenge for myself in 2022? To write an essay in Chinese? Something to think about… Could happen at the HSK 6 level but HSK 5 would still be a little bit tough. Huge difference between reading, writing and speaking a language.
Show notes up on stevensirski.com
Coming to an end for December Drumming!
SSAB – December 30 2021
Second to last day of the week, month and YEAR! Can’t believe it’s already the end of the year! Feels like only yesterday we were wondering if THE VIRUS would disappear with the likes of Trump and the year 2020. Turns out not.
Was it a productive year for you? Did you get done the things you wanted to get done? What are you planning for next year? Looking to get a fitness band or watch or chest strap, but not sure I really want to spend too much on it. What am I even tracking?
End of December means end of December Drumming and into Jamuary for the Song-A-Day challenge.
Hope you’ve got some good plans for the New Year, I’ll probably celebrate the Australian or Japanese new year and be in bed by 11! Ha! Hope you’re well!
Today’s track: All of the breathes, breaths and stops I take and do during the recording of my daily audio blog. Or at least a lot of them. No processing applied, natural sounding breathing and speech stops at its finest!
Show notes and tracks up on stevensirski.com!
SSAB – December 31 2021
It’s New Year’s somewhere! Kiribati marks the day first, even New Zealand is already done! Was told I stink and I have to put away my cycling clothes soooo… working from home to begin in 2022?! A business idea I had… Watching Office Space (1999), remember that movie? Finishing up those December Drumming tracks and getting ready for Jamuary 2022. Let’s get after it!
Show notes and tracks up on stevensirski.com!
Have a good night and Happy New Year!