Samuel Johnson said, "Such is the state of life, that none are happy but by the anticipation of change: the change itself is nothing; when we have made it, the next wish is to change again."¹ But Samuel Johnson was an idiot. I hate anticipation, because "anticipation" is just another way to say "waiting". If I could always go immediately from the desire for change to achieving that change, I'd be a truly happy guy. Instead, I often have to wait. Usually for FedEx or UPS.

But while I wait this time, I'm dreamily browsing through all the new features of SONAR 3,² planning what I'm going to do with them. I'm wading through the posts on the Cakewalk SONAR forum, and I must say that compared to my experiences with some other software's user forum, it's refreshing to see people allowed to actually compare software to its competitors, grumble about the things they don't like or even propose new features without the forum moderator warning them to "End this thread NOW!!!"

I'm also eagerly reading the manual for the M-Audio Delta 1010LT in anticipation of its arrival. (Insert Homer Simpson's drooling noise here.)

After the holidays, the Consort's getting together to hear rough mixes of the stuff we've already recorded for our second CD, and decide which ones are worth keeping and which need a little more work. And then, back to recording. It'll be interesting to see how different our subsequent recordings will sound, what with new microphones, a new mixer, a new A/D interface (24bit/96KHz!), new software, and — thanks to the gigs and the radio show — a rejuvenated energy all around.³

1. Or, to put it in a form more familiar to a certain subset of science fiction fans, "After a time, you may find that having is not so pleasing a thing as wanting. This is not logical, but it is often true."

2. Note for thrifty consumers: SONAR 3 Producer costs $720 on Cakewalk's Web site, but it can be purchased at Musician's Friend for $500. But if you buy Cakewalk Home Studio 2004 at MusiciansFriend ($90), then upgrade to Sonar 3 Producer at Cakewalk's Web site, it'll end up costing a total of $439. Weird pricing scheme, but I'm certainly not complaining; I saved a wad of cash on SONAR 2 via the buy-entry-level-product-then-immediately-upgrade method.

3. There is a distinct possibility that I suffer from Gear Acquisition Syndrome, a common malady amongst musicians.