Update once more...

So I put in the new power supply, and started getting the system back up-to-date, and a hard drive died. I've got it booting again, but I haven't gotten back to finishing the process of getting it up and running.

Update once more...

Well...I know. It's been a while. I'm still working on it and thinking; however, I've had a few set-backs - partially time with moving into a house, fixing things up, and other stuff of that nature - but also technical - my main desktop has had a power problem for some time. I had fixed it a couple years ago with a new case and a new 500W power supply; but something happened - and I didn't pay enough attention - and the power supply died. Not sure why; but the thing won't turn on.

So, I just got a new 650W power supply, which I hope to be installing in the next couple days. The system hasn't seen the light of day since May when the old one died; and I'm kind of waiting to unpack my keyboard until the system is working again.

Once it's all up - I have some serious recording to do as I have to record some music to send to a friend so she and my organ instructor can get the key signature right for her voice; then I get it back, and get to have fun with the piece for a little while - but will have to get back a new copy for her to practice with. All so I can play it on the piano and she can sing it for a mutual friend's wedding in the spring.

So I do hope to use this experience as one of the first to write about the process using completely free, and open tools and to kick-start this blog - The Open Musician - as I get into doing other things. Though at least for now, I'll be limited to my keyboard. May be in a year or so I can add vocals - but I've got to get money for the microphones and computer hookups first.

Update

Well...it's not that I have forgotten about this blog. Rather, I've changed jobs, moved over 500 miles away, and am working through some computer issues.

While I have had my keyboard with me during the move (for the most part) the computer it hooks up to has had some issues - namely the power supply died, and the (temporary) 'replacement' doesn't quite supply enough power so it doesn't like to turn on.

So, I'm still thinking about the 'Open Musician'.

That said, Groklaw has a great article on a book for Independent music artists. While I have not read it myself, it should prove invaluable to anyone interested in being an open musician. Enjoy!

Introductions...

Welcome to "The Open Musician". Who am I? What is it? And what is the goal?

I am a musician by hobby - not yet by trade, but I'll get to that in a minute. I have played the piano for a number of years, and do a bit with making my own variations/improvisations of the pieces that I play. I've found it easy to pick up other instruments, and my favorite instrument is the classic pipe organ. While I had lessons on the piano in the past, they didn't go very far - namely because of my maturity at the time and because the instructors I had did not meet me where I was, so the duopoly of it all pushed me away from lessons. However, about 6 months ago I started organ lessons under a very reputable instructor, and it has paid off for me tremendously. So that's who I am...you'll find out more over the comings months of this blog.

But the question still remains - what is this blog? What is its goal?

I've entitled this blog "The Open Musician". Namely because it is going to revolve around three things - music, open dialog, and open tools; and by open I am primarily referring to Open Source Tools that anyone can get access to and help out on.

By trade I am a software engineer and computer programmer; however, I have an equal or greater passion for music, which I have been doing longer than I have been in computers. For a long time I have been considering doing some recording of my own, even some song writing; but I don't want to go to the big studio houses to do it - I want to do it myself. I want to record the tracks, mix them, and publish it out. I'll probably seed some tracks on a P2P network, and also look into doing a deal with Apple for iTunes, perhaps Amazon.com, and some others too to yield some income, however small it may be, from this too. So that's my intention on what I am doing with the music.

So what is this open dialog thing? As I go through the journey of writing, recording, and publishing music, and researching everything involved, experiment with software and hardware, etc. I will be chronicling it here - create a dialog between myself as an amateur artist and others so that we may be able to go through this journey together, and perhaps inspire other artists too. Who knows - may be a reader of this blog will grow famous by the ideas presented here.

So, no matter what you take from this, hopefully I can at least give you an impression of the hardware and software that is out there so that you too can record your own music for others.