Composer, Performer, Developer
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:
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.