Yesterday I finished porting my Deep Breathing application to Android and made an ad-supported, fully functional free version as well as paid application.  The application is called Peaceful Breathing and can be found on the Android Marketplace here:

Peaceful Breathing

Peaceful Breathing Lite

I have been using this application for some deep breathing sessions and have been enjoying it for relaxation and calming the mind, as well as to help open up the body.  If you give it a try, I’d love to hear your feedback!  Enjoy!

Life has certainly been interesting of late… after attending this year’s Linux Audio Conference, I returned home to my work life to realize both how little time I had been spending on music and music software programming, as well as how much passion and joy I had for both. It is perhaps serendipidty that on the trip home I had seen an announcement for a new Ph.d. programme at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM) for Digital Arts and Humanities. When I first read about the programme, I thought to myself that it certainly looked interesting. However, I was never really looking to go to graduate school, and as attractive as it appeared, I set it out of my mind.

A couple of days later, while in conversation with Rory, he made the suggestion that I should apply for this programme. After thinking about it and realizing just how incredible and opportunity it could be, I began inquiries into the programme and set out to work on the application. A little over a month after submitting my application I received the good news that I had been accepted into the programme.

I had waited to publish this publicly until after I had worked out the details and notified my current company that I would be leaving. Now that things are settled, I can now say that one month from now, I will be flying to Ireland to begin a Ph.D. programme in Digital Arts and Humanities at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. I will be focusing my work on my music software blue, and by necessity (and of course interest) I will also be working on Csound. I will be working with Victor Lazzarini, a professor whom I have long known and appreciated for his wonderful music and contributions to the computer music community, and someone whom I consider a good friend.

While there will certainly be some interesting things to work out–becoming a student again after 11 years as a professional, being separated for months at a time from my dear Lisa, living in another country–I am overwhelmed by the incredible opportunity to devote myself for the next four years to my passions: my music software and my music. I have been completely inspired and overflowing with ideas for things to build and explore. I look forward to pushing myself and these projects as much as I can and can not wait to see where it all goes.

As for what will happen after this programme, I do not really know. I will focus on my work and I have faith that things will work out as they should. Whatever happens, I am positive that the next four years will certainly be an amazing experience and a time in my life that I will always remember.

This morning was beautiful.  Waking up to brilliant light always sets a good tone for a day… I took a nice walk this morning to get coffee, listening to synth pop on the way and back.  I’ve started to take more walks in the morning and have found that it has be great for me, giving me time to listen to music, to think, to move, to immerse myself in contemplation.

The morning light was temporary though, and now the sky is gray and there is a light drizzle of rain.  The temperature is still in the 30′s but the days are getting noticeably longer and longer.  A lovely morning, a brief prelude to Spring…

I watched a group of birds flying high up in the sky and for a brief moment I felt free from all my burdens. The sky is a rich hue of blue and without a cloud in sight. The light is full though the day is cold and winter will soon be here.

The moment was certainly a gift, as was the morning’s brief meditation. I felt–if even for just a few moments–again connected with both a part of my self and with the world. I will be thinking about these moments throughout the day.

I was very excited to hear today that “The Audio Programming Book” edited by Richard Boulanger and Victor Lazzarini is now available for pre-order!

• MIT Press Book Page
• The Audio Programming Book

This book has certainly been a long time in the making, and I’m very proud to have been a contributor of two chapters (one in print, “Modeling Orchestral Composition”, and one on the DVD, “Developing Music Software Interfaces”).  I also would like to thank Dr. B and Victor for their amazing work as editors, as well as the other authors for contributing such wonderful material.  I am excited that the book will be available soon and hope that the contributions I made as well as those of my fellow contributors help out those working to understand and get into audio programming!

The morning light in SF brings back fond memories.

I was interviewed this weekend on my music software blue and using the Netbeans Platform to develop it:

http://netbeans.dzone.com/nb-csound-music-composer

Many thanks to Geertjan Wielenga for inviting me to do this interview!

This morning I awoke with the brilliant light of the sun coming through the window.  It was strange to see such bright light as it it has been quite some time since I last remember experiencing it like this.  I think I will always associate this kind of intense sun and deeply rich blue skies with California…

Out of coffee at home, I walked across the street and picked up a coffee and sat outside briefly just to sit and take in the sun. The temperature was cool but refreshing and paired nicely with the warm light.  Wanting to move a little bit before having to start work, I decided to take a small, slow walk around the block before returning home to start my work day.

Walking slowly, the gentle breeze was a stark contrast to the gusting winds of the weekend.  The leaves and the grass were a a vivid green.  It was very a very peaceful morning walk.

I have been thinking that lately I have not been satisfied with my job. The work is fine but there are a few people who have become very difficult to work with and I find myself becoming too often frustrated and upset over it all. I simply do not like to be this way. The cycles of frustration and acceptance have certainly gotten old, and most evenings as of late I’ve found myself with little energy or desire to work on more meaningful things (music and other personal projects).

Yesterday I heard sad news that my good friend’s father passed away in his sleep. It was a bit of a shock as I had known his father and remember him quite fondly as good humored and loving person…

I know my situation with work could be better, that I could not get so upset and just let things go, but when it goes in circles it is exhausting. I had already thought that my energies would be better spent focused again on music and other meaningful endeavors. Thinking of my friend’s father’s passing has only highlighted how quick life seems to go by, as well as how uninterested I have become in my daily job life as of late.

For now I have some pressing editing work to do with the Csound Journal. I hope in some ways that working on that and moving on back to other work on my software “blue” will help me to refocus and regain some perspective. I will certainly need to work on not allowing my job to get the better of me.

Time goes by slowly here in Rochester, and I am starting to feel time slowly wearing on me. I feel a sense that I need to make changes in my daily life. Reading poetry and taking walks while listening to Feldman has been exceptional as of late, and I am sure it will become clear soon what I should do next and how I can make the changes to become satisfied once again with my working day.