SYNERGY STUDIO UPDATE 2009

Synergy Studio update: I've added Spectrasonics Omnisphere to the soft synth collection, and ironically SampleLogic's "Synergy" software. (Though I don't have any connection to the creation of that software package, Samplelogic now has a license to use the trademark). I've also added an updated version of Apple's Final Cut so I can keep up with the audio for video projects.

UPDATES JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2009

January-February 2009: Though there are some recording and broadcast projects brewing, this has been the first block of time in over a decade when I have been able to explore what will become the next Synergy recordings. I'm not foolish enough to go out on a limb and predict an end date for a release, but some new things are finally happening. I've amassed a lot of new thematic material, and some old, old pieces that I'd like to explore (old, like around 200 years old...). I find that I'm beginning to lean rather heavily on software synthesis instead of the parade of hardware that I've been using for over 35 years. This might be the tipping point for me. I'm also beginning to review the concert video shot (in HD) at last summer's NEARfest. If that looks as good as the few bits I've checked so far, I'm planning on moving ahead with a concert DVD from that show.

THE END OF XM AS WE KNEW IT

November 2008: After a nice 10 year run, XM Satellite Radio has all but ceased to exist following the merger with Sirius. My favorite XM channels, many programmed and helmed by people who have become my friends, have disappeared. The XM staff has been decimated. I can't even begin to go into the intrigue and market forces that have once again intruded into the creative arts. My audio logos which had been heard across the 170 XM channels since the operation went live in 2001, and circulated as the service was being built since late 1998, have been taken off the air by the new SiriusXM management. It was nice while it lasted.

UPDATES LATE 2008

September-October 2008: The last few months have been spent working on various projects, both technical and those not even related to Synergy music. My broadcast roots have been evident with work widely heard creating music logos and sonic beds for a major superstation carried on most cable systems, and as small as helping to set up a fully-digital community broadcast TV station in the town where I live. My new studio Macintosh has been handling the workload, including digital video editing, very nicely. It has gone so smoothly that while I once thought that I would keep my readers posted about the troubles of a major studio update, that just hasn't happened. Every software install, like the latest Waves® plug-ins, have been completely uneventful.

Next up, some producing work on two album projects for other artists. Too soon to give the particulars, but watch this space.

As some of you know, my volunteer work in historic preservation (something completely outside of my music career) has taken more of my time and attention as I have been appointed to some positions of regional responsibility by different levels of government here in New Jersey. That, and my work with technology for the hearing disabled, has conspired to push my own Synergy composing projects lower on my priority list. But, I'm hopeful that some of those other projects will wrap up later this fall and there will be enough time to get back to the Synergy projects.

SYNERGY AT NEARFEST X 2008 AND ON XM

June 2008: NEARfest X (2008) The show has happened. We recorded video of the show in hi def. If it looks worthwhile, a DVD will eventually be issued.

On June 30, 2008 I repeated the performance at the XM Satellite Radio studios in Washington DC. Watch the XM broadcast schedule for the times when it will air, possibly on XM Live Channel 120.

SYNERGY on iTUNES

May 2008: All the rest of the Synergy albums are now available on iTunes. We have to get a listing glitch straightened out, but for now search for "Synergy" to find all of the albums and titles with the exception 'Reconstructed Artifacts' which for some reason is found under "Larry Fast". We are aware of the other "synergys" that are listed. Some are beyond our reach outside of the US trademark jurisdiction, and some are not.

INTERVIEW ON GEARWIRE

March 2008: Interview on Gearwire. There's a nice audio interview that I did with Gearwire's Bill Holland. It's called "From Memorymoog to MOTU: The Electronic Journey of Larry Fast." Click the link to listen.