Musical Notes and Thoughts

Well… it has been interesting. Lots of 14 hour workdays over the past three weeks or so, mostly to do with the combination of music and computers. To say there has been a degree of frustration would be a bit of an understatement. I’ll start with the very bad, progress to the merely unfortunate, and then end with the good stuff.

The very bad: the upgrade to Windows 11 did not go well. My music computer blew up in the process: I did have it looked at, but no one could fix it, and the only option was a fresh o/s install. While I didn’t lose any work, I will lose legacy programs that no longer exist, and there will be complications getting some other programs reauthorized. It is a real mess.

The unfortunate: Windows 11, as I suspected it woud—hence why I delayed—takes even more control away from the user. There are now some new areas that I cannot change the color scheme. Given my limitations, that makes certain screens more or less impossible to read. I especially like all the new black boxes that display no text (I have to use a black background) in the upper right hand corner when hovering over that area. Note that dark mode is not an option, as too many things don’t conform to it.

Also, and this has generally been confirmed: for live content creation, Windows 11 is not as good as Windows 10. Buffers and adjustments must be set higher to compensate for that inefficiency. It took me awhile to figure that out.

The good: in the context of that one computer blowing up, I’ve come to realize that now is the time to at last enter the 21st century in terms of workflow. Since I’m at ground zero, I might as well embrace being at ground zero, and start over. In the long run, my setup should be more streamlined and in that sense, more capable and less cluttered. That is a good thing.

The major good: for the first time in a couple of years, I’ve completed writing a new piece for string orchestra. It is a lament, very dark, deep, and dissonant. It is not the typical thing I write. But in view of all that is going on, from the ongoing slaughter of Christians in Nigeria by the followers of “the religion of peace” to what is taking place in Europe, to the partisanship and hatred so evident here, there are numerous reasons to lament. One of the things I most appreciate about the Psalms is that one will find lament there. Nevertheless, it is good to finally be writing some music again.

In the contxt of this post, that is the truly good news.