Yesterday, I said farewell to a loyal, faithful companion of twenty years: my Ensoniq SQ|80 Cross Wave Synthesizer. For years, this was the centerpiece of my project studio, from which I sketched out and recorded musical ideas too numerous to mention.

Now, two decades later, computers have long since become the platform of choice for my recording endeavors. Over the years, as recording technology advanced and virtual instruments became commonplace, I found that I was using this magnificent analog/digital hybrid beast less and less until finally it sat alone and untouched, day in and day out, making me feel guilty for ignoring its simple pleasures. Sigh. It was time to let go.

Luckily, thanks to God and a little help from Ebay, I found a home for my baby. I am confident that galaxiesmerge will provide the loving and nurturing environment that it deserves. After watching Arun’s video demonstration of the Yamaha CS-80 (another classic synth), it became obvious that this was a person who truly appreciates vintage gear like this and will take good care of it. I look forward to hearing how galaxiesmerge integrates this into their unique soundscapes…

So goodbye, old friend.

(sniffle)

As you have no doubt figured out, I’m not the most prolific contributor to the blogosphere. Seeing as how it’s been months since my last post, I think this fact should be fairly obvious. The guitar modifications I talked about last time have long since been completed (with great results, by the way), but so what. That’s just “stuff”. Who really cares?

No, this time I want to share with you this wonderful picture drawn by a young artist named Cora. She and her sister Hattie happened to be on one of the many (unintentional) air flights we took while trying to get back home from Cleveland after Christmas. In the midst of what became a long, drawn-out, holiday travel debacle, we found ourselves on the tarmac for an extended period of time, waiting to take off. So, what else could I do but pull out my guitar to help pass the time? I tried to be as unobtrusive as possible so as not to be a nuisance, but at times the volume would increase and occasionally Carol and Brant would join in for some soul-satisfying three-part harmony.

Along the way we met Cora, Hattie, and her parents. All of us stuck in the same boat, trying to get out of Cleveland and back to the “real” world — in this case via Jackson (Mississippi) and Houston. They, on their way to Phoenix; and us, on our way back to Dallas. It was only later, after I played a few rounds of peek-a-boo with Hattie (the younger), that Cora slipped Brant this picture.

As I looked at the drawing, I was so touched I could hardly speak. It was as if God himself thumped me on the head and said, “Hey stupid! Don’t you see? THIS is what it’s all about!” I was reminded that every moment, whether we are in the comfortable surroundings of home or whether we are feeling the frustration of trying to “get”from one place to another, is a chance to touch and be touched by real people who aren’t simply part of the scenery, but whose lives MATTER. People who are precious in God’s sight and whose dreams are every bit as important (if not MORE so) than our own.

As I write this, I am reminded of Philippians 2:3, which says, “do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves”.

Perhaps, to Cora, this is just one of many such creations she has produced out of the simple joy she gets from the act of drawing. But, to me, this was one of those defining moments where I was jolted out of my cynical, self-absorbed world and, like a computer, rebooted. Maybe we will never cross paths again (or perhaps we may), but either way I will never forget Cora and her family.