The Oracle of Apollo Snippets from the life of Apollo Lee

Digeum Mix Session 04A

Jay Def inaugurated the next chapter in the Digeum Mix Session saga today, by opening Volume 04 in peak form.

Jay’s new mix is two hours of lush, ambient jungle and spaced out drum & bass grooves. The music here melts into the background if you want it to, but still keeps a good thump going. In fact, as I write this, I’ve uploaded the mix, but it’s still playing as I work into the night on some other projects I have going. I don’t even want to pause this one to go take a leak.

This tour through the breakbeats is an addictive one. This is going to be interesting tomorrow on the track doing 400 meter sprints with Jay’s beautiful blend in my ears. Jay has some enviable skills as a DJ and his taste in music is impeccable. Now I know I’m going to attack his collection with my portable hard drive at my first opportunity.

Well done, Jay. Welcome to Volume 04.

Digeum Mix Sessions – Volume 04, Session Alpha — Dreaming of Spring. Mixed by Jay Def in Meridian, Idaho, USA, on Monday, March 01, 2010. Running time: 1:58:24.

Go give it a listen and leave a comment with your thoughts.

Digeum Mix Session 03Z

So this is it. The end of Digeum Mix Sessions – Volume 03. Closing out this set feels really good with a spate of mechanical issues I had this afternoon with my computer crashing a heartbreaking number of times. I have to admit, I was really tempted to hurl my laptop off the roof. After I finished picking out a 52 song bin of some of my favorite tracks, I took the precaution of rebooting before the big mix today.

So, we’ve got 26 songs in this finale. On Monday, Jay Def launches us into the next volume. My mix today ran the gamut from big funky house bumps to some Latin flavor and even a few old dusty UK Garage tracks. There was one stall during a fantastic Freemasons cover of an Alanis Morrisette hit, but when I listened to the playback, I couldn’t tell where it was. There are so many vocal tracks here that I’m pretty sure that if we listen to this in the car during a road trip, you’d get tired of hearing me sing along.

Despite the earlier technical issues and the weird stall in the middle, I had a great time with this mix. I found myself playing along on the flute, recorder, harmonica, and guitar. Someday, when I’m extra confident, I’ll turn the microphone on and add a live element to the mix.

Onward!

Digeum Mix Sessions – Volume 03, Session Zulu — Digeum Volume 03 Finale. Mixed by Apollo Lee in Sunnyvale, California, USA, on Friday, February 26, 2010. Running time: 2:18:40.

Go give it a listen and leave a comment with your thoughts.

Digeum Mix Session 03Y

We’re closing in on the end of the third volume of Digeum Mix Sessions. I threw down some bumping funky house music this evening and mixed for almost 80 minutes.

No technical issues on this one, except a reminder occasionally that my ears are better for telling that tracks are beatmatched than the meters in Traktor. Sometimes, the meters miscount a 4 beat loop when it’s actually in time. Realizing this helps me avoid the panic moment of second guessing what my ears are telling me is okay.

This was a fun mix. Nice and mellow. I hope you like it.

Digeum Mix Sessions – Volume 03, Session Yankee — Penultima III. Mixed by Apollo Lee in Sunnyvale, California, USA, on Saturday, February 20, 2010. Running time: 1:18:46.

Go give it a listen and leave a comment with your thoughts.

Digeum Mix Session 03X

What a treat. Jay Def volunteered to snag today’s mix, so I eagerly awaited his newest Digeum mix. I posted it after I got home from hanging out with a friend of mine.

Are you ready? This one is just over two hours of seriously thumping electro house grooves in a very interesting mix. Jay always has choice cuts in his mixes (I wish I knew where he found them all) and inspires me to fantasize about raiding his iTunes library.

Digeum Mix Sessions – Volume 03, Session X-Ray — Electro Thumps. Mixed by Jay Def in Meridian, Idaho, USA, on Tuesday, February 16, 2010. Running time: 2:15:04.

Go give it a listen and leave a comment with your thoughts.

Digeum Mix Session 03W

In celebration of the 75th mix posted on Digeum, I decided to keep this one short enough to burn to a CD. I set the tempo at 125 beats per minute and lined up a number of electro house tracks. You ready to groove? Me, too.

The 75 minutes of this mix slipped by quickly as I anticipated a stall out or system crash. There were no technology fails this time, which is fairly rare for me. I probably could have gone on for a while longer. This was fun to spin and fun to listen to afterwards.

Digeum Mix Sessions – Volume 03, Session Whiskey — Diamond. Mixed by Apollo Lee in Sunnyvale, California, USA, on Monday, February 08, 2010. Running time: 1:15:30.

Go give it a listen and leave a comment with your thoughts.

Digeum Mix Session 03V

Today’s 39-song mix is the longest mix ever posted on Digeum, just a few minutes short of three hours long. I auditioned a whole gaggle of tracks from various playlists in my iTunes library yesterday and this morning, adding more than 130 to @mix-bin. After more culling and an early afternoon library book sale, I headed into my studio, recorded the voice intro, and got to work.

The computer only stalled out during the Miguel Migs track as I was attempting to cue and beatmatch one of my favorite Dubtribe Sound System songs, Nothing is Impossible. For some reason, I find this track a little hard to mix, but I kept on trucking through funky house music and closing with a couple of deeper tracks. Some of the songs here are new (to me), but most of them are classics. I think you’ll get a kick out of it.

I had a great time. The hours just flew by and before I knew it, I was posting the mix and thinking about getting food. I may have to see if I can do a 50 song electro mix one of these days.

Digeum Mix Sessions – Volume 03, Session Victor — Birthday Bumps II. Mixed by Apollo Lee in Sunnyvale, California, USA, on Sunday, January 31, 2010. Running time: 2:55:08.

Go give it a listen and leave a comment with your thoughts.

Tumblrize for Wordpress

Recently, I discovered and installed Tumblrize for Wordpress. I think it’s a neat idea, since I have a tumblr blog with 17 followers. I have no idea why photobloggers who post pictures of cute, fashionable girls are following me, but I’ll take all the readers I can get.

I do have a couple of nits to pick with Tumblrize, though. If I was more motivated, I’d read up more on the Wordpress API and see if I could help fix the issue that I see with this otherwise nifty plugin.

1. It doesn’t work at all with MarsEdit. I blog with MarsEdit, because I don’t have to log into the Wordpress UI on the web to get my blogging done. When I post using MarsEdit, it posts as normal If I want the post sent to Tumblr using this plugin, I have to go into the web UI, delete and retype a period on the post, and “update.” I’m not sure whether this is an issue with Tumblrizer, Wordpress, or MarsEdit, but it really annoys me.
2. Tumblrizer ignores Textile markup. I also use Textile to format my posts, because I’m lazy and when I’m blogging, I don’t want to code HTML. I want to write. Links that I post using MarsEdit, formatted in Textile, post here correctly formatted. When crossposted, the links, lists, strongs, and other formatting appears unformatted in the tumblr post. This bothers me quite a bit.

I guess one solution is realizing how few of the people following me on tumblr give a crap about what I post here on the Oracle of Apollo.

Digeum Mix Session 03U

The computer only stalled once this evening. It stalled a few times during mix prep and once with 90 seconds left in the mix on the very last track (fantastic). Today’s deep house mix at 123 beats per minute was a short 61 minutes, because I ran out of time before I was due to meet a friend in San Francisco.

A few of these tracks are songs I’ve never played in a mix before. A few others were part of my monthly eMusic download this afternoon. I am really happy with the amount of soul in this mix. Some of these tracks are really gorgeous and even the ones I’ve heard a thousand times — like Dubtribe Sound System’s Samba Dub — make my heart sing.

I hope you enjoy listening to it. It’s nice and short and full of great moments. Next weekend, there’s going to be a great big gigantic one — 39 tracks, probably over 3 hours long.

Digeum Mix Sessions – Volume 03, Session Uniform — Psyching Up. Mixed by Apollo Lee in Sunnyvale, California, USA, on Saturday, January 23, 2010. Running time: 1:01:20.

Go give it a listen and leave a comment with your thoughts.

Digeum Mix Session 03T

Today, I decided to head back into electro territory, but to ease off on the tempo and play a set at 124 beats per minute. Unfortunately, my computer had other ideas.

I’ve been plagued with failing motherboard issues on my MacBook Pro for what seems like forever, at least a couple of years, and as soon as I have some money, I’m going to replace this one. It froze up 12 times in 30 minutes during the first attempt at this mix, while loading the songs into Traktor’s memory. During the first pass, the screen went black (which usually means I close the lid and sleep it until the music stops, then open it back up, tap the keyboard, and it wakes up with no gap in the music). I closed the top and there was the familiar reboot chord, right in the middle of my mix.

Welcome to Startover City.

Eventually, I managed to get the computer back up and ready to go. During this mix, the stall happened once, but I was able to close the lid and open it back up a few minutes later and have it wake from sleep without an issue. It still had me seeing a dark enough red that I decided against my originally planned twenty-six tracks.

Pulling the tempo slider back to 124 helped me relax into these electro-house grooves. I like the way it came out, but I really hate this process. I hope some of you listen to this mix, because it involved a lot of yelling at my equipment.

Digeum Mix Sessions – Volume 03, Session Tango — The Ides of January. Mixed by Apollo Lee in Sunnyvale, California, USA, on Friday, January 15, 2010. Running time: 1:17:42.

Go give it a listen and leave a comment with your thoughts.

Digeum Mix Session 03S

I decided to take it deep this evening, after a few electro house mixes. I pulled the tempo slider back to 124 bpm to start the year off nice and deep. Yeah, that feels really good. These tracks are so pretty and full of soul that I locked into a good groove right away. I’m getting better and better at ignoring the temptation of the sync button and matching the beats by ear. This is really good experience.

This is a long mix, weighing in at over two hours. I’m really hoping you have as much fun listening to it as I had playing it. This one felt so relaxing, I could have kept going a while longer.

Digeum Mix Sessions – Volume 03, Session Sierra — Twenty Ten Deep. Mixed by Apollo Lee in Sunnyvale, California, USA, on Thursday, January 07, 2010. Running time: 2:13:45.

Go give it a listen and leave a comment with your thoughts.

Rediscovering the Oracle of Apollo

I’ve reached the conclusion that I’m kind of a terrible blogger. The only blog I keep that I maintain religiously is Digeum, where I post DJ mixes relatively soon after I finish mixing them. This site used to be the flagship of the blogs I maintain, but that torch has passed on to Digeum, perhaps permanently.

Ten years ago, I started blogging here with a post about a rave massive I attended in San Jose to ring in 2000. A lot of things have changed on the internet since then — namely several billion new blogs. I’m in the old guard of ancient bloggers, but I set myself apart from the other old guard members by never figuring out how to consistently attract an audience.

This is something I’m aiming to correct in 2010.

These days, we have a myriad of web presences to distract us from our core web sites, including Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and a host of other distractions. I think, for many of us, the core web site is still important, if only for its historical legacy and the notion that this here is something that I own, something in my control — something that lives on my server.

In the days ahead, I’m thinking hard about the future of this web site. I’m tempted to blank the whole thing and start afresh. I’m also tempted to delete entire categories of posts and purge the old outdated crap. For now, the correct course of action is to forge onward and try harder to write content that matters. Interspersed among the rote crossposts letting the two of you who read this that are interested in my DJ mixes or my music, I’ll try to write more things that are useful or insightful or revealing.

Digeum Mix Session 03E

Today is the autumnal equinox. I decided to do a banging house mix full of delicious love songs as I thought about the amazing thing I participated in this weekend.

Some transitions still give me a little bit of trouble, but I think my mixing skills are dramatically stronger than they were just a year ago. One of these days, I’ll follow Jay Def’s advice and do some of the tutorials over on DJ Tech Tools.

Digeum Mix Sessions – Volume 03, Session Echo — Thumps for the Newlyweds. Mixed by Apollo Lee in Sunnyvale, California, USA, on Tuesday, September 22, 2009. Running time: 1:11:40.

Go give it a listen and leave a comment with your thoughts.

Peter the MacBook Mechanic

Last week, I got a new right fan for my MacBook Pro, which has been having crash problems for most of 18 months, possibly because the right fan hasn’t worked at all for a long time. I’m pretty used to seeing temperatures, according to smcFanControl, of 165 – 185°F. So, after some frustration, I found the correct fan, ordered it, and received it a couple of days ago.

I opted to continue with the wedding music preparations rather than tear the computer apart and risk not getting it back together before Saturday. So, tonight, I took the machine over to my friend, Peter, who has tools and the desire to tinker with machinery.

I didn’t take my stopwatch with me, but he took about 20 minutes to break the MacBook Pro down, install the fan, screw everything back together, and hand it back to me. I’d have procrastinated installing the fan until March, in all likelihood.

So, thanks, Peter. I owe you one.

Congratulations, Steve and Nan

Yesterday, in a stunning redwood grove near Ben Lomond, California, my friend, Steve, married Nan, a gorgeous brunette with a quick laugh, bright smile, and upbeat personality. I was honored to be asked to be one of the groomsmen. The ceremony was touching. I don’t have the words to express how thrilled I am for the couple.

I am also incredibly honored that the bride and groom asked me to handle the music for their reception. That they trusted in my taste and skills to get their family and friends dancing at the end of the night makes me really happy.

Steve and Nan, I wish you both good health, opulent success, and blissful happiness. Thanks for your friendship. Thanks for inviting me to witness your beautiful ceremony and allowing me to share a little music with your guests. I am at your service.

95 Minutes of Wedding Music

Today, I played music in front of a crowd for the first time in a very long time. In addition to my duties as a groomsman and usher, I closed the evening after a bluegrass band finished their live music. The Front Porch Band played a selection of bluegrass songs. The lead singer led a group of people in several square dances. Soon, it was time for the bouquet toss.

I was getting antsy behind my little table with my VCI-100 and precariously crashy MacBook Pro. Nan got ready with the bouquet and I faded up “Hot Stuff” by Donna Summer. Since the band started a little late, I started about an hour late. I went for broke, throwing down a fun set of funk, disco, and soul — including the likes of Earth Wind & Fire, James Brown, Rick James, Hot Chocolate, Soul II Soul, and Prince.

When everyone looked sweaty enough, it was time for the slow jams and then back into the bumps for the last half hour, closing with a quick dance off with the groom and ending the evening with his favorite song, “Louie Louie.”

It was great fun playing for such a responsive crowd. Lots of people I wouldn’t have expected to work it on my dancefloor stuck around. Everyone was really positive about the music and I had a blast.

Wedding DJ Preparation

So, over the last week or so, I’ve been shoring up the playlist for my buddy’s wedding. I have a big bin of wedding staples, including a ridiculous amount of disco, funk, pop, and soul. According to iTunes, I could play continuously for 18 hours without playing the same track twice. That should suffice.

Early yesterday, I tested out the sound system I’ve cobbled together from bits and pieces of gear from my music studio. I’ve borrowed a couple of speakers from the groom, Steve, and a pair from my housemate, Ray.

I set everything up on my little printer cart on which the sound mixer and amplifier usually live, got everything wired up, and carted it all in the back of my Vibe to the Santa Cruz Mountains for a late evening sound check. After sussing an issue stemming from a disconnected speaker cable, I had everything set up and ready for tomorrow. One quick breakdown and back down the hill.

This morning, I got up extra early, because my computer’s been having crash issues for more than a year. I wanted to make sure that there’s music even if the computer crashes. In order to ensure that, I plugged in a little USB powered speaker and spun a 2½ hour set of what I’m planning for the reception, loaded it onto my iPod, and got the car loaded up. The computer behaved remarkably with nothing even resembling a hiccup. No stalls, no issues, all tracks previewed in Traktor. We are go for disco.

My luck was not to last. I climbed the mountains, unloaded everything at the venue, set it all back up (I broke it down last night, because I’m not leaving my gear in an unsecured building 40 miles from home, ever), and started my sound check. Loading Deck A and previewing Deck B: screen goes blank and we have the freeze. Ten minutes after putting the computer on the card table in Ben Lomond and we’ve got two reboots.

Maybe this third time’s the charm. No tracks are previewed in Traktor now, but it’s not house music. We don’t need a beatmatched continuous mix. Fade and thump, thump and fade. I got everything back to normal and made sure the iPhone was on Airplane mode just in case.

Fortunately, that was the end of the drama. I played my 95 minute set without a hitch. At last, I can stop worrying. A great group of people danced their hearts out to my mix. I’m a happy man. I’ll write about that later.

Two Years of CrossFit

This afternoon marks two years since I switched my training program to CrossFit. While I still don’t have a barbell and bumper plates, I’m making progress on plenty of my fitness goals and I’m in better shape now than I’ve been since I was 20 years old.

Hopefully, soon, I’ll add that barbell to my equipment roster. I am also going to try to take the CrossFit Level I Certification some time in the next year. In this economic climate, however, I’m really pinching my pennies hard.

That doesn’t stop my from trying to put new times in my roster of personal bests.

(See also: One Year of CrossFit – Sep 18, 2008)

Digeum Mix Session 03D

Jay Def treated us to another set of aggressive electro house thumps. His track selection is superb and the groove just keeps kicking. I’m totally going to raid his iTunes library the next time I’m in his presence.

Don’t mess with Jay Def. He’s bringing it tough and relentless. Damn, brother. Nice job.

Digeum Mix Sessions – Volume 03, Session Delta — One Year Out of the Emergency Room. Mixed by Jay Def in Meridian, Idaho, USA, on Tuesday, September 15, 2009. Running time: 1:11:47.

Go give it a listen and leave a comment with your thoughts.

Digeum Mix Session 02M

Another mix, another 4 stalls, and 5 restarts. I threw it down. I need to make double sure that my track selection is good, that I know the songs I’m mixing well enough to understand when the beat changes in the transition. Once I got this one going, though, I put down a set of grooving deep vocal tracks. It was fun, once I cooled down and got it done.

Digeum Mix Sessions – Volume 02, Session Mike — The Ides of May. Mixed by Apollo Lee in Sunnyvale, California, USA, on Friday, May 15, 2009. Running time: 1:20:07.

Go give it a listen and leave a comment with your thoughts.

Digeum Mix Session 02L

Today, I decided to throw down a deep house mix. I tried to keep it mellow, but I had to start over a couple of times. But, once I got the groove moving, I kept it going for just over 80 minutes. There were a couple of trainwrecks, but I’m happy with the mix overall.

Digeum Mix Sessions – Volume 02, Session Lima. Mixed by Apollo Lee in Sunnyvale, California, USA, on Monday, May 11, 2009. Running time: 1:20:24.

Go give it a listen and leave a comment with your thoughts.