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Over the next couple weeks, the usual stream of weeknotes* will be interspersed with photos from our trip to Japan. I’m going to try to post one or two really interesting** photos a day. We’ll see how long that lasts.

*Weeknotes are 99% of the content here, maybe I’ll change that one day.
**Interesting, maybe, to me, your mileage may vary

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We recorded our jam again this week since last week’s didn’t take advantage of the our multi-client Jamulus setup to separate our vocal and instrument tracks. I think it sounds better, although, one might be hard pressed to tell the difference unless they are doing the mixing.

Speaking of mixing, I think I need some guidance. This week, I bumped up the bass per request (hopefully not too much), but I’m at a loss on what to do with the vocals. I’m going to ship one of the songs off to a friend with a degree in audio engineering and a ton of experience. After he finishes laughing at my attempts to mix this, perhaps he can give some direction.

Unfortunately, there is more noise in this week’s recording. I think it’s coming from network delays. I’d like to verify that this is the case to understand if there is anything we can do to minimize it.

Here’s a taste of the session. I only flubbed a couple times.

Look Sharp! (Joe Jackson cover) recorded from a Jamulus session on 22 Nov, 2024.

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Here are a few tips, or things I think one should consider before buying a sailboat (or accepting a free one). With the exception of the “learn to sail” one, these aren’t necessarily mandatory; at least think about them before diving into boat ownership.

These aren’t unique, but they immediately came to mind when I was penning my thoughts on sailboat ownership after selling my boat. So, I thought I would share them.

  • Learn to sail
    This may seem like common sense for those in the market for a sailboat, but I’ve seen several people take the leap without knowing their aft from their ebb. Poke around the waterfront, or the sailing forums online and you’ll find many claiming that the best way to learn to sail is by finding an old salt to “take you out” a few times. Nothing against sailing with old salts, but taking an accredited, basic keelboat class (US Sailing, ASA, RYA classes are widely available) will give you a taste of what sailing is like and a great foundation for a lifetime of learning. That structured learning coupled with some time on the water with an old (or young) salt, and you’ll be well on your way to becoming quite salty yourself.
  • Join a club
    If this is your first foray into boat ownership, being part of a sailing community is going to be a great asset. While I’m sure this exists at some marinas or town mooring fields. Boat clubs offer community in spades: Lots of helping hands, advice and opinions (sometimes too many). There are a lot of online communities as well, and I encourage you to participate there as well, but nothing beats spending time with people.
  • Know the costs, but don’t get too hung up on it
    Before purchasing a boat, you should understand what you’re getting into. There are a lot of expenses beyond the boat itself. Do some research and estimate your annual all-in costs, including maintenance, insurance and storage. Don’t forget any upgrades you might want like new canvas or a really sweet sound system. That being said, tracking every cost down to the penny probably isn’t a good use of your time and certainly won’t add to the enjoyment of your sailboat.
  • Look for a boat that fits your style and region
    Budget is important, but not the only thing you should consider when looking for boats. Also think about the kind of sailing you’re going to be doing and where. A 42 foot, blue water cruiser isn’t necessary if you’ll be day sailing on a lake. Bigger boats come with more systems to maintain–an unnecessary headache when you aren’t using them.
  • Remember, it is a lot easier to buy a boat than to sell one
    Even beautiful and fairly priced boats can sit on the market for a while. Remember, this is not an investment, and it is far from liquid.

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We recorded the Friday jam this week, very exciting. In comparing a couple of the songs from the last recording, I did notice some improvement. Not bad for a bunch of guys that don’t practice enough. Here’s a select track from that session.

Rock n Roll Ruby (Warren Smith cover) recorded from a Jamulus session on 15 Nov, 2024.

In spite of our effort to separate the instrument and vocal tracks by running multiple Jamulus clients, we ended up with vocals on one of the guitar tracks. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice until working on the mix. It was just a setting in Jamulus we’d missed. Lesson learned: Take a minute at the beginning of the session to ensure you’re recording what you think you are.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with the recording. There are a spots with garbling and noise from somewhere in the network, which is to be expected. There isn’t much audio engineering here aside the volume levels and some panning. There is some compression and reverb added the vocals. And, I tried to highlight the guitar solos. Early reviews are that there wasn’t enough bass in the mix. I didn’t want it to sound like the bass guy mixed it, perhaps I overcompensated.

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