Years ago I had worked for an e-commerce brand at a large CPG company. This was in the early 2000’s and at a time when the majority of website traffic was desktop. Everything was designed to fit a relatively large display. We watched our analytics over time show an increasing share of traffic shift to mobile. We called the “jaws of death” - the point at which mobile traffic overtook desktop....
There may come a day where I follow through on this seeminlgy annual reflection. In the few years that have gone by since regularly posting here, I’ve jumped in 100% into the self-employed pool. The amount of learning that has come as a result makes me look back the things I’ve done (here on this site and everywhere) with a new lens. Part of me would like to re-do it all....
Sometimes music is short. Sometimes it’s long. This is a shorter piece about taking short moments to refect. Moments that you might be avoiding. They can come out in unexpected ways. For example, this stretch of music that was inspiring to write. This piece is an update to a simpler version that was a backing track for a video of a balerina moving in slow fluid motions.
First written in November of 2018, I thought this piece of music was lost. I came upon in while doing a site redesign this year and I am overjoyed. This piece is inspired by one of my guitar heros, Andy McKee. It is written in a standard tuning and using a Shubb Capo C7 depressing 3 strings on the 5th fret.
Capturing the feeling of Christmas memories There always exists a magic at this time of year. Remembering the glow of those large light bulbs illuminating a sparse tree decorated with ornaments and tinsel. It created a soft glow that is so unique to the time. Christmas music playing on the old stereo at the bottom of the stairway. Laying around lazily in the days after Christmas. I put into music some of those feelings that are evoked from this time and these memories....
Sometimes the quality of an instrument’s sound is inspiration. As is the case with this short piece of solo piano. It evokes a dark and subdued mood.
Whether your playing alone or with others, a well tuned guitar will sit in the music as it should. Similar to when someone sings off key, even a single string slightly out of tune can stick out like a sore thumb. Don’t be a sore thumb. Here are some thoughts and practices to tuning your guitar. Basic Tuning Use a chromatic tuner. This is the most common tuner you can find for stringed instruments....
Late in Februrary of 2018 I wrote this guitar piece to cope with the overwhelming emotions stirred from my Dad’s failing health. Coming to grips with the mortality of a loved one is a lot to process. A year and a half has gone by since his passing and I felt a tugging to engage with this song again, playing it every chance I get. It seems right to re-record it as a rememberence on his birthday....
This repeating pattern builds over time to a crescendo of pads, drums, and electric guitars. It’s a built off of the simple melody line enhanced by multiple layers of a “plucked” sound and delays.
I appreciate good design. I get super geeky and techy about design for the web. And over the past several of years, the tools for web design have grown by leaps and bounds. I’m talking about the technology and browser advancements that have made it possible to do new things all the time. Typography is a big part of that. An endless array of fonts have become the answer to the technical limits of the sacred seven fonts of the 90’s....