And now what did you do TODAY?

[morphsci]

That is absolutely beautiful. Again, the craftsmanship is just superb.

[Voltron]

I forgot to mention that my brother in law's painting of Death Valley is a nicely complementary backdrop for the chest. 

[n_maher]

Perfection is the enemy of excellence, Al (and Steve). And to my eye that thing surely is excellent, so don't sweat the lack of complete perfection. 

[robm321]

49 minutes ago, morphsci said:

That is absolutely beautiful. Again, the craftsmanship is just superb.

This.

If you guys keep this up, we'll need a wood porn thread. 

[Dusty Chalk]

Gorgeous!

[Augsburger]

Absolutely stunning. I love all the details and the ebony trim.  I vote yes for a woodporn thread.

Love this, love this, love this!

Actually, the only imperfection I see is that I don't have one too. Jealous!

Edited May 18, 2020 by Augsburger

[Pars]

Stunning is right! Nice job boyz!!!

[Kerry]

Absolutely beautiful.  Great work!

[grawk]

that's stunning

[blessingx]

Wonderful work. Really beautiful. 

[swt61]

I have to say that the whole process, even with it's challenges, was quite enjoyable for me. I helped out when extra hands were needed, and did provide an idea or two, but Al was the real force behind the project. He has gotten so good, in such a short time. It's really amazing! Most of the time I set on a stool watching him work away (I just love hard work, I could watch it all day). I knew from the beginning that this would be a difficult project. Lining up four 8" mitered corners on boards that are twisted and warped is no walk in the park. But I also knew that if Al could pull this off, then he could tackle just about any project. It may not be a large project, but it encompasses so many woodworking skills! A fantastic learning experience, from which he had to correct some mistakes, solve some difficult tasks and come up with some unique solutions. I am really impressed with his abilities and perseverance.

Al has also been a stand in for my company lately. As we've quarantined together, and I'm not yet comfortable working next to other crew members, Al has offered on three occasions to be my first mate, so to speak. We've installed a challenging set of kitchen cabinets, built from scratch four closet organizers and installed a floating bathroom vanity into a tiled wall, where the tiles were as hard as diamonds. He catches on so quick, and was just a blast to work with. I'm quite sure though, that he hasn't worked for such a paltry wage in decades. I've been teasing him about getting his pay to him as quickly as possible, in case he's in dire straights. 🤪

My dream is that one day two retired dudes can set up a decent shop and build beautiful stuff. I know how much he'd like this, because he can't get enough of my singing in the shop!

Edited May 18, 2020 by swt61

[Voltron]

That's some high praise from Dr. Wood, and the rest of you, and I'm flattered. He did more than watch, of course, and working with Steve and with Doug has been a great education. Their different styles and approaches have each had an influence and I've tried to meld them into a hybrid.

I wish I hadn't mentioned the lack of "perfection" because it definitely got overblown. I am extremely happy with the results, including the things that were challenging and didn't come out perfectly in line with the picture in my head. 

And as far as setting up a shop, the first order of business is a motion sensor that starts music playing as soon as we walk in to keep Steve's a cappella efforts to the minimum. 🤡

[Fitz]

Using much willpower... to avoid... making... wood innuendos. 😬

[ironbut]

Awesome work!

If you really want to stop Tice from singing, record him and post it here.

Or maybe that's the worst idea yet!

[mikeymad]

Well done DOTU and mentor. 

[Knuckledragger]

Still assessing the damage from this weekend's electrical disaster.  The Blue Icicle is kind of a piece of shit.  I randomly goes into "ear shredding robot" which means I cannot use it for anything serious (like ranting about obscure electronic music.)  I was in a Discord call last night and the Icicle acted up.  The other people in the call began screaming and begging me to stop.  Just as quickly, the Icicle began behaving again.  It repeated this pattern 2-3 more times throughout the evening.  I have to get a new USB audio interface, and I really need a new mic preamp (never buy Behringer.)  This would be a relatively minor issue were we not in the middle of a global health an economic catastrophe.  

I have a good friend who is a studio nerd with a very good day job.  For the last ...22 years I've advised him on synthesizer and other electronic music production gear.  He's amassed a collection of over 100 EuoRack modules (he estimates he has "under 150" of them.)  His gear budget is just a wee bit bigger than mine.  I've asked him about getting an audio interface and when I told him "I mean under 4 digits in cost" he said he had no idea.   🤦‍♂️

Ideally I'd like something class compliant (meaning 2 channels, 16/44.1 max, but doesn't require drivers so it's future proof.)  My experience with outboard audio equipment that requires drivers has been lousy at best.

I should add: I have no idea what this means for future radio shows until I un-fuck the situation.  I've worked out a bunch of different ideas in my head, but there's no real replacement for an audio interface ...except for an audio interface.  SMH my head as the kids say.

Edited May 18, 2020 by Knuckledragger

[Dusty Chalk]

How many channels do you need on the USB/audio interface?  I presume at least 3?

MacOS, I presume?

Would you still need a separate mic pre if one was built in?

I like Steinberg UR series, looks like they introduced Rupert Neve transformers (!) since I last shopped for them.  URRT2 is 4x2 w/ 2 Neve transformers.  There’s also UR242.  

I can also ask my friend, he’ll know everything except driverless installation (he’s a windows guy).  I don’t either.

It’s he who told me to stay away from Blue, as he’d never seen one in a real studio.

[dsavitsk]

59 minutes ago, Knuckledragger said:

The Blue Icicle is kind of a piece of shit.  I randomly goes into "ear shredding robot" which means I cannot use it for anything serious (like ranting about obscure electronic music.)  I was in a Discord call last night and the Icicle acted up.  The other people in the call began screaming and begging me to stop.  Just as quickly, the Icicle began behaving again.

Some of the older TI USB audio chips would do this if the USB voltage dropped too low. PCM2707 IIRC.

[Knuckledragger]

22 minutes ago, dsavitsk said:

Some of the older TI USB audio chips would do this if the USB voltage dropped too low. PCM2707 IIRC.

Interesting.  I have my Icicle pugged into a USB hub.  I have a PSU for the hub, but I have to leave it disconnected ...or the PC won't boot.  For reasons that are unclear to me, the PC won't power on when the hub has a wall wart attached.  Fortunately, my motherboard has a bunch of free ports.  I just have to find a longer USB A to USB B mini (AKA the size no one uses anymore) cable to make it work.  Thanks for the info.

[MexicanDragon]

2 hours ago, Knuckledragger said:

Interesting.  I have my Icicle pugged into a USB hub.  I have a PSU for the hub, but I have to leave it disconnected ...or the PC won't boot.  For reasons that are unclear to me, the PC won't power on when the hub has a wall wart attached.  Fortunately, my motherboard has a bunch of free ports.  I just have to find a longer USB A to USB B mini (AKA the size no one uses anymore) cable to make it work.  Thanks for the info.

I've found that with USB mics, they work best (or at all) out of a USB2.0 port. USB3 seems to fuck with it. May want to do a non-blue one.

[Knuckledragger]

I've been testing all night with the Blue Icicle plugged straight into a (USB3) port.  So far, the yammering idiots in Discord haven't reported me going robotic once.  Also, I should note that after I wrote the above message I remembered that my HeadAmp Pico DAC uses Micro USB.  "The size no one uses anymore" indeed.  Hi, Justin!  😁

[Knuckledragger]

I dunno if I've mentioned this before, but I'm a crazed redneck who lives in the woods.  I have an artesian well and the groundwater here is hard as a black metal album.  I have not one but two filters between it and what I drink.  The first is a grit filter, the second is a taste & odor (charcoal) filter.  They needed to be changed when I locked myself in 9 weeks ago, and I was out of spares  Today I arranged pickup of new filters and replaced them.  This is what the grit filter looked like when I removed it:

The filters are pure white when new.   For two decades, I have snarkily referred to the filter swapping process as "changing the house's tampon" because I haven't matured terribly much in the last ~35 years.  Mr. Frog was not at all impressed the proceedings.

[morphsci]

[Dusty Chalk]

Really enjoying him in Season Three of Westworld.

Me:  while respecting social distancing, socialized (we met outside a restaurant and kept 6 feet apart while we waited for our food, then took it home and ate it separately)

...just for practice...gotta put on pants once a week or so, just so's I don't forget how...

[Fitz]

7 minutes ago, Dusty Chalk said:

...just for practice...gotta put on pants once a week or so, just so's I don't forget how...

You put your arms through first, right?