# Greetings from Los Angeles (a bit long)



## motomuso (May 9, 2016)

They call it the City of Angels but it looks pretty dirty from where I sit. You see, I'm a composer.  
But seriously, sometimes it is possible to love this dirty town. 

I was a gigging musician for years and then got into writing music for ads and TV through connections made while working in production, mainly coordinating large film crew shoots for commercials.

Next, as music director/composer for a TV newsmagazine/gossip strip (5 one-hour shows per week) I met the folks from a large production music library and began doing projects for them after the show was cancelled. Library music! What I had disdained in my youth had somehow become my vocation. I can live with that; in fact I'm very happy to have found this niche. 

Now with the help of this forum I'm attempting to upgrade my skills, stretching into virtual orchestral work with better quality instruments. As an observer/lurker I have been very impressed by the talent, the level of expertise, encouragement, and civility I see on these forums. I look forward to being able to contribute in some way.
--
moto

P.S. I'm always looking for motorcycle riding partners in the L.A. area. To ride with fellow musicians is a rare treat.


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## gsilbers (May 9, 2016)

bike yikes! crazy bikers on the 10 and 405 are nuts going between the lane.
but I m jelous to cust my commutes.

anyways... cool to meet other from LA.


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## motomuso (May 9, 2016)

gsilbers said:


> bike yikes! crazy bikers on the 10 and 405 are nuts going between the lane.
> but I m jelous to cust my commutes.
> 
> anyways... cool to meet other from LA.


It's such a joy to split the lanes when traffic is crawling. But I won't do it when traffic is going over 30mph. Those fast splitters may not be around very long. 
Nice to meet another 8-core, RME 800 Logic user too. (Westmere here) I'm balking at the jump to El Cap since everything is working well in Mavericks. I missed the Yosemite bus.


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## givemenoughrope (May 9, 2016)

Greetings!

Yea, a lot of young and stupid bikers splitting lanes on all the freeways and gunning it even if you are changing lanes...turns driving into babysitting even more. But you sound more like the 'stay alive' type!


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## motomuso (May 9, 2016)

givemenoughrope said:


> Greetings!
> 
> Yea, a lot of young and stupid bikers splitting lanes on all the freeways and gunning it even if you are changing lanes...turns driving into babysitting even more. But you sound more like the 'stay alive' type!



Yes, my goal is to stay alive to write and ride another day.


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## owenave (May 9, 2016)

@motomuso Welcome to the forum. I have learned a lot here about virtual instrument libraries and what computers work best for. Also about networking with VEP5. I am in the So California area as well.


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## motomuso (May 9, 2016)

owenave said:


> @motomuso Welcome to the forum. I have learned a lot here about virtual instrument libraries and what computers work best for. Also about networking with VEP5. I am in the So California area as well.



It is a pleasure to meet you owenave. After years of fairly low overhead with regard to tools, I seem to be entering the realm of sticker shock. But I shall forge on, undaunted. Thanks for the welcome.


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## givemenoughrope (May 9, 2016)

motomuso said:


> Yes, my goal is to stay alive to write and ride another day.



Sorry, my tone sounded a bit condescending. I'm certainly envious of motorcyclists but I guess freaked by LA riving in general. carry on..


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## motomuso (May 9, 2016)

givemenoughrope said:


> Sorry, my tone sounded a bit condescending. I'm certainly envious of motorcyclists but I guess freaked by LA riving in general. carry on..


 Not at all taken as condescending. I hope my reply didn't come off as flip or sarcastic. Appreciate the chance to clarify. And yes, it is WILD out there - on two wheels or four. Cheers.


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## kurtvanzo (May 9, 2016)

motomuso said:


> It is a pleasure to meet you owenave. After years of fairly low overhead with regard to tools, I seem to be entering the realm of sticker shock. But I shall forge on, undaunted. Thanks for the welcome.



Hey Motomuso, also in LA (right near the 10 and 405) but gave up bikes when I moved here 25 years ago. It seemed dangerous then and its much worse today.  But it is the golden era of samples (for composers) and the fall of the Roman Empire (for developers). I'm betting East West is missing the olden days of being a big fish in a small pond (2005?). It all flies by too fast. My advice is always check out a walk through video before buying- hear the sounds, see how the interface works (the demos are too slick to trust). If it works for what your doing, great. If not, there are many choices and the list is rapidly growing (especially in the last year). Searching here you'll find opinions on almost every new instrument (very useful). All the best on your music.


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## owenave (May 9, 2016)

kurtvanzo said:


> Hey Motomuso, also in LA (right near the 10 and 405) but gave up bikes when I moved here 25 years ago. It seemed dangerous then and its much worse today.  But it is the golden era of samples (for composers) and the fall of the Roman Empire (for developers). I'm betting East West is missing the olden days of being a big fish in a small pond (2005?). It all flies by too fast. My advice is always check out a walk through video before buying- hear the sounds, see how the interface works (the demos are too slick to trust). If it works for what your doing, great. If not, there are many choices and the list is rapidly growing (especially in the last year). Searching here you'll find opinions on almost every new instrument (very useful). All the best on your music.


Yes and learning great info like what Mac Pro's work good for streaming and using SSD drives.
I wish I had read before I bought an older MP 1 instead of a MP 5.1. I guess I will use my old MP 1 for plugins via VEP5. 
And regarding Bikes. I had a good friend who made custom choppers back in 70's sold his bike and quit riding in LA because of the danger.


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## kurtvanzo (May 9, 2016)

owenave said:


> Yes and learning great info like what Mac Pro's work good for streaming and using SSD drives.
> I wish I had read before I bought an older MP 1 instead of a MP 5.1. I guess I will use my old MP 1 for plugins via VEP5.
> And regarding Bikes. I had a good friend who made custom choppers back in 70's sold his bike and quit riding in LA because of the danger.


Last year there was an article saying 50% of all bike riders in LA get into a major wreck at some point, but that's probably because cars and trucks drive crazy too, sometimes crossing lanes without warning or looking. I've swerved from several, and I'm in a decent sized car. In a small bike, they never even see you and speed off. You have to assume people can't see you and are distracted constantly just to survive. I still see people my age (50) texting while they drive- nuts!


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## owenave (May 9, 2016)

kurtvanzo said:


> Last year there was an article saying 50% of all bike riders in LA get into a major wreck at some point, but that's mostly probably because cars and trucks drive crazy too, sometimes crossing lanes without warning or looking. I've swerved from several, and I'm in a decent sized car. In a small bike, they never even see you and speed off. You have to assume people can't see you and are distracted constantly just to survive. I still see people my age (50) texting while they drive- nuts!


I agree most people also don't have respect for those on 2 wheels. And yes people texting while driving is just plain dumb. Makes you want to reach over and bang on their window when traffic is stopped on 405.


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## chillbot (May 9, 2016)

Just sold my bike. :(

Best way to get around in LA, hands down. But now I have 2 little girls... and there are some terrible terrible drivers around LA... especially in Glendale holy shit. I had already cut down so much... stopped riding it at night, stopped riding on the freeways, it just sat in the garage and made me sad so I sold it. But someday when my daughters are not dependent on me I will ride again.

If you're looking for a beautiful, popular, and dangerous drive, take the 2 north into Angeles Forest. You'll pass my house on the way.


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## motomuso (May 9, 2016)

kurtvanzo, Thanks for the advice on the VI purchases. Currently my favorite instruments are from Spitfire. Paul is the king of walkthroughs. I'll probably be getting HZ1 shortly and then the Brass Phalanx bundle to fill out a bit since I have a sports project beginning. Beginning now. Yikes!

As for bikes, folks seem to like to recount horrible wrecks to me but I often warn them to guard against the feeling that they are safe in their cars. We all accept a certain amount of risk when we use the road and not everyone explores methods of mitigating that risk. It's a whole art unto itself.


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## motomuso (May 9, 2016)

chillbot said:


> Just sold my bike. :(
> 
> Best way to get around in LA, hands down. But now I have 2 little girls... and there are some terrible terrible drivers around LA... especially in Glendale holy shit. I had already cut down so much... stopped riding it at night, stopped riding on the freeways, it just sat in the garage and made me sad so I sold it. But someday when my daughters are not dependent on me I will ride again.
> 
> If you're looking for a beautiful, popular, and dangerous drive, take the 2 north into Angeles Forest. You'll pass my house on the way.


 Been many times on that road. It's extremely unforgiving. I will not go up on a Sunday with all the clueless boy-racers up there, bikes AND cars. Only weekdays or Saturday at dawn. Newcomb's is the place for breakfast.


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## chillbot (May 9, 2016)

motomuso said:


> I will not go up on a Sunday with all the clueless boy-racers up there, bikes AND cars.


Every single weekend since I've lived here (about 3 years), a couple hundred bikes go up in the morning, and the sirens and ambulences go up in the afternoon, without fail.

What gets me is that hundreds of cars commute from Palmdale every morning and afternoon via the 2. It's a crazy drive it's fun once or twice but I can't imagine doing it twice a day every day. It's not even the concentration that it takes, I get more worried about the cars going the opposite way who like to drift into your lane around all those turns.

Sorry... off topic. What were we talking about?


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## motomuso (May 9, 2016)

owenave said:


> I agree most people also don't have respect for those on 2 wheels. And yes people texting while driving is just plain dumb. Makes you want to reach over and bang on their window when traffic is stopped on 405.





chillbot said:


> Every single weekend since I've lived here (about 3 years), a couple hundred bikes go up in the morning, and the sirens and ambulences go up in the afternoon, without fail.
> 
> What gets me is that hundreds of cars commute from Palmdale every morning and afternoon via the 2. It's a crazy drive it's fun once or twice but I can't imagine doing it twice a day every day. It's not even the concentration that it takes, I get more worried about the cars going the opposite way who like to drift into your lane around all those turns.
> 
> Sorry... off topic. What were we talking about?


 Uh, I think I *was* saying I'd like to go riding but now I'm too freaked out. I'm not going out there with these texting maniacs when I can sit here in my studio and safely spend money on VIs. Oh, and maybe write some music as well.


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## givemenoughrope (May 9, 2016)

Not to be a bummer...this guy was pretty lucky though:


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## motomuso (May 9, 2016)

givemenoughrope said:


> Not to be a bummer...this guy was pretty lucky though:



I remember seeing this one. I study crash vids - mainly motorcycle crashes - to hone my "Trouble Radar" and reaction time. Glad nobody was coming the other way.


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## chillbot (May 9, 2016)

Yup that's my street. This was trending on facebook a few months ago for some reason but it actually happened over a year ago.


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## motomuso (May 9, 2016)

chillbot said:


> Yup that's my street. This was trending on facebook a few months ago for some reason but it actually happened over a year ago.


If I was to score this I'd end it with a trumpet with plunger mute playing "Weemp-wah".


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## gsilbers (May 10, 2016)

motomuso said:


> It's such a joy to split the lanes when traffic is crawling. But I won't do it when traffic is going over 30mph. Those fast splitters may not be around very long.
> Nice to meet another 8-core, RME 800 Logic user too. (Westmere here) I'm balking at the jump to El Cap since everything is working well in Mavericks. I missed the Yosemite bus.



I actually upgraded the cpu recently. so now its 24 core. its a nice 20-30% power up. but no el capitan for a while


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## gsilbers (May 10, 2016)

chillbot said:


> Every single weekend since I've lived here (about 3 years), a couple hundred bikes go up in the morning, and the sirens and ambulences go up in the afternoon, without fail.
> 
> What gets me is that hundreds of cars commute from Palmdale every morning and afternoon via the 2. It's a crazy drive it's fun once or twice but I can't imagine doing it twice a day every day. It's not even the concentration that it takes, I get more worried about the cars going the opposite way who like to drift into your lane around all those turns.
> 
> Sorry... off topic. What were we talking about?




that is a crazy commute. 
damn LA and its lack of (good) public transportation/urban planning.
cant believe like 4 major highways turn into a 4 lane highway in downtown.

hopefully that expo line will help. (doubt it)


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## motomuso (May 10, 2016)

All the way from Sandy Monica to downtown! We should have had this a long time ago. 
Oh wait, we did and then it was scrapped it in 1953.


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## givemenoughrope (May 10, 2016)

If you are just looking to get to the beach quickly, having a fast pass means I can get to the South Bay in under 30 min from Northeast LA. Once you get over the downtown hump on the 110 it's a breeze. Although, I'd totally use the train to go to SM if it's easy.


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## owenave (May 10, 2016)

Hey any of you LA Folks. I need a place to live. Rent a room, garage w ac, guest house. 
I need to move by June 1st. I am on Disability so have reliable money each month, just not a ton.
If you know of someone that is trustworthy let me know. I can put most of my stuff in storage if
need to. I am respectful of others. I am also up to doing a combined Studio thing also. Give me a shout if you know of anything. Thanks..... now back to the train to santa monica... that would be nice.


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## gsilbers (May 11, 2016)

givemenoughrope said:


> If you are just looking to get to the beach quickly, having a fast pass means I can get to the South Bay in under 30 min from Northeast LA. Once you get over the downtown hump on the 110 it's a breeze. Although, I'd totally use the train to go to SM if it's easy.



Im finding myself more often than not like these guys


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## gsilbers (May 11, 2016)

owenave said:


> Hey any of you LA Folks. I need a place to live. Rent a room, garage w ac, guest house.
> I need to move by June 1st. I am on Disability so have reliable money each month, just not a ton.
> If you know of someone that is trustworthy let me know. I can put most of my stuff in storage if
> need to. I am respectful of others. I am also up to doing a combined Studio thing also. Give me a shout if you know of anything. Thanks..... now back to the train to santa monica... that would be nice.



prices went through the roof in the past year and seems there are going up some more due to housing shortage.


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## givemenoughrope (May 11, 2016)

SNL was funny like 30 years ago...I heard...and none of those people are from New York anyway. 
"Take 2 to 5 to 110 to 10 to 405..." Sounds weird w/o the "the" at this point. "Take the 95 to the 76 to the 610..." Nope..


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## kurtvanzo (May 11, 2016)

owenave said:


> Hey any of you LA Folks. I need a place to live. Rent a room, garage w ac, guest house.
> I need to move by June 1st. I am on Disability so have reliable money each month, just not a ton.
> If you know of someone that is trustworthy let me know. I can put most of my stuff in storage if
> need to. I am respectful of others. I am also up to doing a combined Studio thing also. Give me a shout if you know of anything. Thanks..... now back to the train to santa monica... that would be nice.



Hey Larry, I have a small extra room at my place- I've been using for recording- if you really can't find a place. I'm a short walk from the train stop off Bundy, and the Westside Train opens officially May 20th (they've been testing it for a few months). But I work at home, and would need quiet during the day. PM me if you want more info.

I hope you find the place your looking for, there are still some deals if you drive around the area you want and look for signs. Many old rich couples with guest houses still don't know what craigslist is or how to use a browser. Those are the only people who think $600/month is fine.


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