Ezomz Productions

At long last, Pro Tools, Reason, and 99% of my software is fully functional again! The only thing that’s still acting up is CoreAudio (Apple’s utility that lets you rout audio from any program through an external interface, in this case my 003), and that’s not really a problem currently as it only seems to affect iTunes, which I can work around. And yes, I did end up laying down the $150 for the upgrade to Pro Tools 8. Was it worth it? Thus far, no. Pro Tools 8 seems like nothing more than 7 with some pretty makeup on (in other words, a redesigned GUI). Of course, I haven’t messed too much with the new comping and Sibelius-esque notation features, which are supposedly the biggest parts of the upgrade, so I’m withholding final judgement for now.

Either way, with Pro Tools back online, I can finally move forward with the various projects of mine that have been on hold for the past few months. First on the list is Whisper Wind, the pop song featuring Miranda Hempel that I mentioned in the last post. It’s currently in the final stages of mixing and should be ready soon. Next is Swiftransit, a fast-paced electronic piece that got its name because it sounds (to me, at least) like the music for a luxury car commercial. FInally, I’m working on a remixed version of one of my older songs, Rokugani Meditation. This version will be fully orchestrated (instead of just solo piano like the original). It’s sounding great so far!

So stay tuned everyone…great things are coming soon!

Digidesign’s Pro Tools music production software has to be one of the most innovative and at the same time frustrating programs ever created. Pro Tools has the most efficient and easy to navigate interface I’ve encountered out of all the music software I’ve used. It is the only computer program I have ever seen that has the mysterious ability to find new ways to malfunction and crash despite all other factors (installed and running programs, track edit density, etc.) remaining constant. Currently in Ezomz Productions I’m dealing with the dreaded “Kernel Panic” error, which causes random crashes of the operating system (yes, the whole system crashes, not just Pro Tools…you get Mac OSX’s equivalent of the “blue screen of death”, which I’m happy to say I’ve never encountered outside of Pro Tools). This problem started occuring about a week ago for no apparent reason. After reviewing the initial crash report log and doing some quick Google searches, I found that I am not the only person experiencing this error, and most others have had similar experiences: no changes to software or hardware configuration, no unusually large or complex sessions running…it’s almost as if Pro Tools got bored and decided to mix things up by malfunctioning.

Currently I’m corresponding via e-mail with Digidesign’s tech support team and they’re working on figuring out the problem. I have a sneaking suspicion, though, that the solution I get back from them will be the same answer I got the last time my system had a problem like this: “Pay us $150 for an upgrade to the latest version of Pro Tools and we guarantee it will be fixed!” Yes, I’m not using the latest version…I’m using version 7.4 and version 8 is now out. I had put off upgrading though, as there were other areas of my studio that I felt had a more pressing need for upgrades. But, depending on what Digidesign’s tech support team says, I may not be able to put this annoyingly expensive upgrade off any longer. We’ll see.

Luckily, the problem has only affected certain aspects of my Pro Tools system, and I’ve at least been able to isolate most the things I can do that will trigger a system crash. So I’ve been able to work around the problem for most of this past week, and I’m still making steady progress on finishing my biggest project: a vibrant new song called “Whisper Wind” featuring Miranda Hempel (who also sang on Resurrection). Hopefully this annoying problem will be fixed soon, one way or another, so I can finish up Whisper Wind and post it here for your listening enjoyment! Stay tuned, and wish me some digital luck!

-DS