Music, Freelancing, Art, Ideas

Numbers in Nature

evankepner — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 01:38:05 +0000

This is something I always find fascinating and it is illustrated very well in this short video. Definitely take the time to check it out

Don’t Worry, I’m Yours

evankepner — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 01:51:05 +0000

This is an awesome mash-up by DJ Dain, just listen to it.

Don’t Worry, I’m Yours (Jason Mraz vs. Bobby McFerrin vs. Israel Kamakawiwo’ole) by DJ Dain

Open Source Phone System

evankepner — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 12:57:04 +0000

Many of you know I’m really into FOSS and Linux development work. Lately I’ve been tasked with learning a new system for VoIP and traditional analog phones built on Linux: Asterisk. It is soooo cool. There is certainly a learning curve with the system, but the flexibility is unparalleled with what you can do. It uses both standard .conf file as well as it’s own CLI (and a GUI if you really want it). For example I can do pattern matching with regex to route calls out specific SIP trunks – this lets the phone system ensure that calls are always routed through the most cost-effective trunk and no extra charges for long distance are incurred. If you’re interested in seeing more about the system check out http://www.asterisk.org/ .

Another Painting!

evankepner — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 13:11:24 +0000

I just uploaded “Abigail’s Hearts” to the Art Page.

Math and Music: Intervals

evankepner — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:04:13 +0000

My latest post for NoTreble is on the math behind music – I love this stuff. To me it is so cool to see the elegance in the mathematics behind what we perceive as music. Obviously there are a lot of non-mathematical emergent properties that are a part of our perception and experience with music and enjoyment, but there is still something beautiful in the underlying mathematical structure. Here’s the article – enjoy!

http://www.notreble.com/buzz/2010/02/04/math-and-music-intervals/

Topping the Charts!

evankepner — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:48:32 +0000

So this is what I get for not paying full enough attention to things. I just learned today that two of my articles for NoTreble (the Zen of Ear Training Parts 1 & 2) are two of the “Top Posts” for DiscMaker’s Blog! To say the least, I’m thrilled! Part 1 definitely got more comments, but it’s a huge honor for me to have both be so popular. 2009 was good for my NoTreble writing as well – “Building Dexterity on the Bass” was my most popular lesson and I wrote the most popular gear-watch article

Here are the links!

http://blog.discmakers.com/2009/11/the-zen-of-ear-training-part-1/

http://blog.discmakers.com/2009/11/the-zen-of-ear-training-part-2/

http://www.notreble.com/buzz/2009/12/31/no-trebles-best-of-2009/

Some new sound ideas

evankepner — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 03:34:45 +0000

This is my latest idea for a motif in a new song with the band. It’s a short sound clip, but I’m hoping to expand it into a complete song with other movements/motifs. This is very much a work-in-progress. That being said I’d encourage any ideas/feedback that you might have (leave it here or at SoundCloud).

The track is me looped with my bass-guitar, playing with a pure tone, through a phaser and through a chorus pedal for different layers.

Harmonic minor ideas – sound clip by Evan Kepner

New Painting!

evankepner — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 12:42:38 +0000

I just uploaded my latest painting “Shadow” to the Art page. More to come!

Planning for Travel

evankepner — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 12:38:29 +0000

Abby and I have made the first plunge! We just set up an ING Direct joint account for travel – our new resolution is to keep contributing to this over time and have it dedicated exclusively to seeing the world. I’m really excited about this idea, and it will be great to have guilt-free travel money accumulating with our normal savings. I also switched my normal brick-and-mortar bank account savings into an ING Direct personal savings acouunt (I’ve been reading a lot of work by Ramit Sethi). First off the phone support is great, and I’ve now got automatic transfers set up to help meet my savings goals (and hopefully a start to my financial freedom life goal). I know saving money is not enough by itself, but it’s a good step.

I’ve determined that my current freelance work generates about 5% of my total income. I’m trying to think of other ways that I can boost this to be a larger percentage and have been brainstorming different freelance ideas. As things develop I’ll post more about the possibilities.

A New Band

evankepner — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 20:18:32 +0000

I’ve been feeling a little musically stuck lately, so I decided to start a new band. I put out a single Craigslist ad for “Interesting Musicians” saying “I don’t care what you play, but you must play it well.” The result – after a handful of replies I’m meeting with two great guys – a keyboardist and a violinist, both of whom are highly musically intelligent and interesting. It will be really cool to develop music with other passionate people that want something more complex and elegant than the norm. More to come soon – our first official practice as a trio occurs tonight!