Starling Whistler

I've been keeping the blackberry trails pruned for access and was curious how many ripe berries were out there. Filled my little red bucket more than halfway, enough for a pie I think. Lots more to come.

@Nonya_Bidniss@infosec.exchange I took it earlier this year without anything bad happening. Part of an antibiotic cocktail for a severe infection. Good luck & hope you feel better.

@TeflonTrout@beige.party @alice@lgbtqia.space Um, this Starling’s on Mastodon and tries not to be troublesome

@aliceamour@beige.party So fun,still watching. Thanks for sharing this.

@aliceamour This band is one of my favorite guilty pleasures. I’ve watched lots of their concert videos. So much fun.

For your bandcamp friday consideration: Alien Country by Drug Pilots. Tentacled funk from uninhibited space people. I was the token earthling. The album's cheap, or just listen if you're curious:

https://drugpilots.bandcamp.com/album/alien-country

I've been experimenting with U-He's new Zebra 3. Some observations:
+ I've never liked so many presets on a synth. They're complex and multi-layered. I keep favoriting patches I want to use. Just terrific sound.
+ Most patches have 1-4 macro knobs enabled, very like Pigments.
- There's no MPE support (at least not yet). I can use an instrument rack and an MPE control to work around this in Ableton.
- It's resource-hungry with no performance levels like Diva has.
Anyway, I like it.

Started working on a new deep gray sea track. It's got hip-hopish drums, a punchy, sparse synth bass, and piano so far, and sounds a bit like disco. I think I like it. No telling what shape it'll be when done.

Thinking about what a strange year I’ve had so far. Started out so incredibly sick, hospital, IV drugs, and then… health. Lost weight I needed to lose, have energy, getting things done, cut my hair. Like a hard reboot of me.

@aliceamour I learned to after a while, but I was getting older then and even bruises took a long time to get better. I gave away my longboards after one ill-fortuned hill-bombing escapade.

@aliceamour Ouch! Hope you heal up quickly. I used to always skin my knees when skateboarding.

Sorry I'm late with my #Caturday homework, had a lotta music stuff going on yesterday. To each cat, an appropriately-sized box.

New Starling Album 2:
Alien Country by Drug Pilots. It’s tricky describing this one. It’s got some hard funk on it, but there’s also what might be a zydeco piece, plus a vast drum and bass track with middle eastern hand drums laying down the rhythm. Anything goes with Drug Pilots, except my space alien bandmates told me no piano. Drug Pilots has a Faircamp site with a link to Bandcamp. The album’s on mirlo too. Recommended tracks: Alligator People, Drone Remorse. #Music

https://drugpilots.com

New Starling Album 1:
The Long Glide Home by deep gray sea. It’s a jazz piano trio augmented by strings and synthesizers (credited as The Breathing Orchestra). All original, leaning into smokey late-night flavors. You can listen on the band’s Faircamp site, and it has a link to Bandcamp if you want to buy it. It’s on mirlo too if that’s your shop of choice. Recommended track: Night Bus to the Software Factory. #Music

https://deepgraysea.com

Hi, I’m Starling, a musician and writer from the Pacific Northwest. It’s been a while, so this is a re- #Introduction. I play keyboards mainly; the piano’s my special friend. I spend a lot of time working outside and gardening. Two half-wild cats assist me in the studio. I’ve just released two new albums by two different bands. Links and notes on my website if you want to take a listen. Thanks for having me.

https://umbrere.com

I was surprised to see the price of U-He's new Zebra 3. I bought an older version years and years ago, so they offered me an upgrade for $35 bucks. Nice people. Been going through the presets and listening. Some really interesting new sounds there. Wonder if I'm clever enough to make my own? I've used the older Zebra a lot, often layered with Diva for more heft. The new one seems plenty meaty on its own.

I’m closing in on releasing two different albums by two different bands. Lotta moving parts to align. I’ve been a musician all my life, but this is the first time I’ve done albums on my own. It’s a little bit scary.

Our Amazon driver said we had the best snacks on her route. Feel like I’ve accomplished something in life. In honor of her praise, I added hostess twinkies to the cooler.

I've been pruning trails through the blackberry thicket last couple days. Kinda feeling it in my wing muscles from using the big hedge shears. I used to have a battery one, but it croaked, so I'm back to oldschool. What would your job be in the middle ages? Grunts and points out back.

@elsemusic I’ve got one. I did the whole years-long kickstarter thing. I love it for what it’s good for: expressive, sustained leads. It feels slow when I try to play fast lines, and if I play wide chords it’s tricky not to bend a note in the middle. I like bass lines in tune so I mostly play those on something else. I end up mostly using it with Pigments. They’re a perfect match. Hope this helps.

@claesdevreese I’ve never loved Denmark so much