My music keyboard is placed underneath my window, making it a great platform for my cats to walk on. They would constantly step on the keys or buttons, disrupting my Logic sessions by changing MIDI channels or programs. But the last straw was when one of my cats vomited on the keyboard. I decided to take steps to protect it.

After stopping at two hardware stores, I couldn’t find acrylic sheets thick enough to protect the keyboard, but got a referral to Gavrieli Plastics, who were helpful and had what I was looking for. For about $200 I got enough 1/4″ clear acrylic to encase the keyboard, acrylic hinges, Weld-On 16 Solvent Cement, cuts to the dimensions I wanted, and at the last minute, holes drilled in the back of the case for the cables to go in.

I peeled off the masking, assembled the box outside using bookends and books to create the right angles, and applied the adhesive. The adhesive stinks and is toxic so it’s good to do this outdoors, though I’ve seen youtube users touching the stuff. Most tutorials recommend using gloves to protect your hands.

Now that I know more about acrylic, I would have preferred Weld-On 4 and a syringe-type applicator. There are tutorials on youtube on how to weld acrylic, and using a syringe and capillary cementing looks easier and more secure if you have clean cuts in the plastic, which I did. The Weld-On 16 proved to be more difficult to work with because it poured out of the tube quickly, and you can’t wipe off the remaining residue, so I’m left with a few blotches. However, it did the job. I essentially applied the Weld-On like glue on the edges and let it set. The solvent cement actually melts the plastic and fuses it together, which is why it is more similar to welding than to gluing.

The hinges simply welded on as well; I just held them in place for 3 minutes each. You just have to be careful to apply the Weld-On away from the moving parts.

After a few hours, my roommate helped me move it indoors (I was worried the cold night temperatures would expand the plastic and interrupt its setting–some websites recommend welding at temperatures above 60°F), and after 24 hours I installed it with the keyboard.

The case has a hinged top and an open front for playing and accessing controls. Its dimensions are 55.5″ long x 8″ high x 16″ deep for my M-Audio Keystation Pro 88. Because the Acrylic is 1/4″ thick, I had the sides cut 15.75″ deep (instead of 16″) so that they would be flush with the front. The drilled holes for the cables are 2″ wide and 5″ apart centered in the back. I left extra room in the back for cable clearance, and extra height for playing. For the most part, aside from plugging in the cables, because the box is clear, I can play and access all controls without opening the top.

The case does its job nicely. It can handle light objects on top of it near the hinges. If you have irregular shaped objects and not a lot of space, this is one way to get more surface space. It does feel a little fragile – the bottom bended a lot when I put it on an X-style keyboard stand, so I reinforced it with wood underneath. The top bends a little too, because it is only attached by the hinges. If you don’t need it to be hinged, it would be a lot stronger. I might have gone with a thicker type of acrylic, but I didn’t want the thing to be too heavy. At 1/4″ it is pretty light (I can move it around myself).

So far, the cats have stayed away from it.

I am credited as a music programmer and score performer on the film, and my original work can be heard on the tracks “Room Service”, “Hunter’s Release”, and “End Rollers”. A digital soundtrack is also being released.

I wrote the song in the music video and co-wrote the lyrics with Louisell. I am excited to be working on a film that deals with transgender issues in a positive light, as it is part of my identity as well.

Stay tuned for the release of the film as well as an MP3 release of the song.

The music on the official website features a track I wrote:
http://www.6giornisullaterra.info/

The film’s tag-line is: “Dr. Davide studies the alien abductions. From the abductees under hypnosis, he has understood that some alien races have been installing, for millennia, their active memories in the people’s brains, to exploit a special energy: the Soul.”

Official facebook page | IMDB page | More screenshots

I am one of three orchestrators arranging for Dirty Vegas’s Synesthesia concert with live orchestra at the New World Center in Miami next week. The event will present the unique combination of a live 30-piece symphony orchestra performing with grammy award-winning Dirty Vegas along with other featured artists, while also incorporating visual projections by Laurence Gartel & Psyberpixie, together with scent creating technology previously only utilized by entertainment giants like Cirque Du Soleil and Disney.

I composed additional music for “Days Go By,” “Pressure,” and “Emma.” They will be played live with electronics with Dirty Vegas in medleys along with other orchestrations by fellow composers, friends and Columbia grads Alexa Ramirez and Victor Hernandez Stumpfhauser. Please come join us!

June 4, 2011, 7:00 pm
New World Center
500 17th Street
Miami Beach, FL
www.synevent.com

Saving Jake can be purchased here:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1930076150/newleafbooks/103-7494912-6890200

Trailer Animation and Photography by Dashiel Hermann:
http://www.frontendback.com/

Additional Photos by Carmon Elliot:
http://www.pbase.com/taliesin

You can visit Ophelia Julien’s website here:
http://www.opheliajulien.com/

The results were not that surprising, but it’s still helpful.

Wordle link:
http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/1920760/Britney_Spears_Complete_Lyrics
Vector PDF download

Another version with over 1000 words:
http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/1920824/Britney_Spears_Complete_Lyrics_2
Vector PDF download

I know I’m not the only one with this problem: You have this giant MIDI keyboard that doesn’t produce sound on its own, and most of the time, playing it doesn’t do anything. You have to launch logic, or mainstage, or ableton, or digital performer, open a new project, setup a new patch, and then start playing. In music classes, this can be a distraction, and compositionally, it can get in the way between you and your creativity.

I’d keep MainStage open all the time, but there are times when I don’t want a secondary keyboard sound when I’m using Finale or Logic. Ideally, anytime I’m not using Finale or Logic, I’d like MainStage to be running.

I’ve written a simple OS X application in applescript that checks every 30 seconds to see if Logic or Finale are running, and if they’re not, launches MainStage in the background. It takes up very little CPU and can run continuously. Here is the code:

If you’re on mac you can open that code in the script editor by clicking
here. (Thanks to Mac Developer tips for that trick.)

Download
I have created two downloadable versions, a regular version and a silent version that does not appear in the dock.

Note that the silent version is VERY silent, i.e. you do not see it in the dock, nor in the force quit window. A quick way to kill it is to run “killall applet” in the terminal, though this will kill other applescripts you have running as well.

A more precise way to kill it is to run this command in the terminal:
ps -ax | grep -i “keep mainstage”

Get the first process number listed (usually 5 digits) and then run:
kill XXXXX (where XXXXX is the process number)

You can point to either of these apps in your System Preferences > Accounts > Login Items to have them run automatically when you start your computer.

You should set MainStage’s startup action in preferences to “Open Most Recent Concert”. I have a simple concert with just a piano that I keep open.

Included in the download above are instructions on how to make the silent app run in the background again if you modify it.

Known Bugs with 1.0:
For some reason you have to force-quit the non-silent version, quitting alone does not work.

MainStage has an annoying behavior of grabbing focus once a concert has loaded. The script hides MainStage after it does this, but you will still see it briefly pop up when it launches.

The script will not launch Mainstage if you have Logic or Finale running but with no documents open.

The script may launch Mainstage at annoying times (such as shutdowns or software updates). I’d recommend just shutting down with mainstage running, and clicking “don’t save” if it asks.

The mp3 download version of the album is on sale at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Teufelskicker-Original-Soundtrack/dp/B003DEN4TE/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1269214968&sr=301-1