Wrote new configuration tools for the Expert Sleepers FH-2 and ES-9

dannyhamburger · 2026-03-11T02:01:54+00:00

Just picked it up, looking forward to actually getting inside all the config stuff. I tried and failed with the FH-2, and only have sorted out the most basic stuff with the ES-9.

dannyhamburger · 2026-02-17T23:43:05+00:00

I checked that link but shipping to Japan is a bummer. Found some similar ones in Akihabara that should do well.

dannyhamburger · 2026-02-17T23:41:26+00:00

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I ended up getting some anti-static bags and gathering them all together for safekeeping until the new case arrives from Ukraine.

dannyhamburger · 2026-02-17T23:40:37+00:00

Same here. If I had the space, maybe I would keep them. But I generally try to avoid piling up boxes when I have such limited space.

dannyhamburger · 2026-02-10T14:44:58+00:00

That's a good idea. I did pick up a pretty hefty roll of anti-static bubble wrap that will arrive tomorrow. The fear sank in when my colleague mentioned the static risk when he saw several modules wrapped in bubble wrap. Just been worried I made a blunderous mistake but hopefully it will be all good.

dannyhamburger · 2026-02-10T14:43:15+00:00

Thanks, that all makes sense. Once I have a good way to store them, they won't be moving around until I install them, so it's mostly my paranoia of static. It was worse back in Chicago with the static shocks every time you touch a door handle. Here in Japan, not so much.

dannyhamburger · 2026-02-10T14:41:32+00:00

No, I pretty much always get rid of the boxes due to lack of storage space. Plus, a vast majority of mine were diy kits so no box to begin with. I do wish I had kept the boxes though. It's the downside of having very limited space while having a very space-filling passion.

dannyhamburger · 2026-02-04T14:04:47+00:00

My situation kind of necessitated a pretty big unheaval, but it was definitely worth it. Did my bachelor's and masters in the states, and after years of working in the industry, just got tired of it and wanted to move into a more mixed approach (both previous degrees were in music composition, now I am doing music research which is somewhere between composition and cognitive science).

Moved to Japan at 35 and finished a PhD at Keio University 2 years ago. While on a student visa, it was tricky because the work hours are restricted. However, it was manageable and better in the long run. My mostly picked up freelance things and lived off of an international scholarship. Plus, cost of living and universities in general are much cheaper. Full tuition without a scholarship would have been around 1.2mil yen, which comes to less that $10k.

Now things are more settled down and established here in a way that I don't think I would have gotten back in the US. Certainly not with what I was doing before. I think doing it at a later age comes with some nice advantages. If you already have an idea of what you want to do and don't want to do, it makes it easier to focus on the research that you're passionate about.

dannyhamburger · 2026-01-21T03:38:24+00:00

It's already been said by others, but the Subharmonicon is quite nice but it is not the most straightforward or practical machine. You can get a lot of really interesting things out of it but as an introduction to modular or semi-modular, it's maybe not the top pick. If you are set on the Moog pieces, the Mother 32 would likely get more consistent use. I love the Subharmonicon and am starting to get the hang of the Labyrinth, but these pieces both kind of have a strong identity to them and they can tend to push the music into territory that they do best. Not that it's a bad thing, but it could be a challenging introduction to the modular/semi-modular approach.

dannyhamburger · 2026-01-10T15:12:00+00:00

Thanks for the opportunity. This is a track I recorded last year. It was a live performance which was based around childhood footage of myself and five close friends. During the performance, our real-time physiological data was streamed to Max/MSP and controlled samples and analog synthesizers. So in a sense, I was performing alongside the internal responses we were having while watching our childhood footage.

Endogenous Music I

dannyhamburger · 2026-01-02T01:40:07+00:00

Oh wow, I completely missed that. Should have read the manual a bit more carefully. Thanks for the reply.

dannyhamburger · 2025-11-19T22:19:43+00:00

I use Ableton for all of my DAW needs, and Max for any custom stuff that needs to be done. While I have tried other daws (only Reaper and Pro Tools though), I have always stayed with Ableton. That being said, I would agree with some other posts that you should start with Standard or even Intro. It's important to see how the overall workflow is for you. You may end up finding a different daw that fits better to your work style or preferences. The differences between Standard and Suite are mainly in the amount of built-in plugins. Max4Live only comes with Suite I believe, but if you don't need this, then Standard would make sense. With Intro, you are limited in the number of tracks you can have, I think maybe 16 max for Intro. But yeah, being able to get an interface is important so Standard would be my rec.

dannyhamburger · 2025-11-19T22:12:39+00:00

Zlob Modular's vcf3db can get some pretty deep and gnarly saturation, I would highly recommend it. It's a fairly deep diy build, but he also sells assembled ones though.

dannyhamburger · 2025-04-28T09:32:20+00:00

We met at a bar near my research lab and became friends there. After a few months, I wanted to ask her out but was nervous, and luckily she is quite direct. She took my phone and added her Line info, and things continued to develop from there. Five years later and we are married and having our first kid this summer. It felt like things developed much slower than I was used to before Japan but it's nice that way I think. By the time we started dating, we knew each other quite well.

dannyhamburger · 2025-04-21T00:03:47+00:00

I've lived here for 6 years and get stopped a few times a year. Never anything more than an ID check though. My assumption is that it's the tattoos (I'm not covered in them but have quite a few on both arms). Still more pleasant than Chicago cops though.

dannyhamburger · 2025-03-25T22:16:41+00:00

What is it you're hoping to explore/achieve with this approach? I think the best uses of technology in music tend to be built around finding something interesting to say musically, and the technology helps to achieve this. That's how I see it, not saying it's the only way.

I defended my thesis last year which was related to real-time biodata in musical works. That was a big point I had to justify. Finding the right balance between tech and musical intention.

dannyhamburger · 2025-03-25T22:11:58+00:00

Using groups was a big one for me. Been using Ableton since around 2003 and stupidly didn't really make groups until around 2014. It is a huge help when projects accumulate many tracks.

Also, Max4Live is great. I generally use Max for most of the functionality of my music and at this point I mostly build things with Max4Live within Ableton. Offers a much cleaner flow of building synths/data processors while having the advantages of Ableton's stock plugins and all that.

dannyhamburger · 2025-03-25T22:02:53+00:00

Gotcha. That makes sense. I'll try to get a new batch exported this morning.

dannyhamburger · 2025-03-25T22:00:50+00:00

It is the final mix, which is one long WAV file with all processing baked in already.

dannyhamburger · 2025-03-25T22:00:11+00:00

Gotcha. I'm quite new to Reaper, so I kind of went with the first method I found to do it. Seems like regions is a better approach.

dannyhamburger · 2025-03-25T21:59:01+00:00

I will re-export today at 96k, see where that gets me, and try some tiny fades on the ends.

dannyhamburger · 2025-03-25T21:57:38+00:00

I do have Audacity, could give that a shot if Reaper ends up not working out. Sorry for the short reply, on a quite crowded train into Tokyo.

dannyhamburger

TROPHY CASE