Paul Mietz Egli
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paul.montereybay.social.ap.brid.gy
Paul Mietz Egli
@paul.montereybay.social.ap.brid.gy
(he/him) Santa Cruz local since 2001 | montereybay.social admin | Specialist Solutions Architect, Data and Analytics @ AWS Nonprofits.

My blog is now on the […]

🌉 bridged from ⁂ https://montereybay.social/@paul, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact
RE: https://mastodon.social/@Mastodon/115989801184595302

MontereyBay.social folks, I signed up to express interest in being on the region-specific recommendations list.

BUT! In order to be listed, we need to follow the Mastodon Server Covenant, which requires “At least one other person with […]
February 3, 2026 at 4:30 AM
Final #jamuary track of the year. I’ve been thinking about the meaning of making art while terrible things are happening in the world. Sometimes it feels frivolous and privileged, you know?

https://music.obscure.com/jamuary-2026/23/
So Long, January
So Long, January
music.obscure.com
February 1, 2026 at 6:59 AM
I wanted to go in a softer, more laid-back direction as we neared the end of #jamuary. I chose a random card from the Troubadeck (5 of Clubs) and put together this little ensemble piece. While I was composing, I noticed a tip on the instructions that read: "Cards of the same number or […]
Original post on montereybay.social
montereybay.social
January 31, 2026 at 6:56 AM
Well, I still have my job after today, but two colleagues on my immediate team were among those laid off by my employer. These people are both smart, talented, and were doing great work, so I don’t understand the decision to let them go. It’s a hard reminder that companies will always act in the […]
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montereybay.social
January 29, 2026 at 5:28 AM
Outside the city limits, off a dirt road and behind a chain link fence is an abandoned factory. Nobody in town ever claimed to work there, and in fact no one knows what they made in that building that’s now half collapsed and partly covered in moss and vines. There’s no power going to it — the […]
Original post on montereybay.social
montereybay.social
January 29, 2026 at 4:46 AM
I was feeling kind of tired so I decided to skip the #jamuary song today. Instead, I sat in bed and played some #cavesofqud. After multiple character deaths, I pulled out my phone and fired up Ableton Note. 20 minutes later I had a weird little song. I learned that Note makes it easy to record […]
Original post on montereybay.social
montereybay.social
January 26, 2026 at 6:04 AM
On the way home from dinner this evening, we were listening to the Indigo Girls in the car. “Down By The River” came on, and I really dug the laid-back drum groove. After we got home, I took a stab at reproducing it for today’s #jamuary song. It came out a bit more on the disjointed side than I […]
Original post on montereybay.social
montereybay.social
January 25, 2026 at 6:12 AM
The #jamuary goal today was to break out of the rigid rhythms that come from producing music using software that is centered around a grid. I explored the Tempo Follow feature of Ableton Live with mixed results. I think it works best with drums or guitar, and I was playing slow notes on a piano […]
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montereybay.social
January 24, 2026 at 5:20 AM
#jamuary 22nd was a struggle. I tuned and patched the modular and hooked it up to the Keystep for sequencing. Played a I-IV-V in F, and quickly realized that I couldn’t keep up with the chord changes and tweak knobs at the same time. So, some good learnings about how important it is to have […]
Original post on montereybay.social
montereybay.social
January 23, 2026 at 5:42 AM
#jamuary song number 16 is an exploration of borrowed chords. I am working on breaking the habit of always staying in a single key when I write music. My teacher introduced me to the idea of chromatic mediants: chords that are not in key but still work well due to shared tones. Substituting […]
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montereybay.social
January 22, 2026 at 6:46 AM
After checking off most of the tasks on today’s TODO list, I took the dog down to the brewery for a beer and a pretzel. I brought the Move with me to do a little #jamuary jamming as well. The beer was great but I wasn’t really happy with the music I wrote. I set it aside, intending to finish […]
Original post on montereybay.social
montereybay.social
January 20, 2026 at 6:36 AM
RE: https://mstdn.social/@Grutjes/115907687819628134

Hey montereybay.social folks: any objections to an explicit “No ICE” rule on our server? It’s totally symbolic, I know, but our rules define our community, and I think this is in line with our values.
mstdn.social
January 19, 2026 at 7:08 PM
I’m often surprised by what comes out of the Moog Subharmonicon. This evening, I started with one of the “presets” in the SubH manual and started messing with the sequencers. I found this interesting 6/8 rhythm, then spent some time building a patch on the DFAM that sounded something like a bass […]
Original post on montereybay.social
montereybay.social
January 19, 2026 at 6:53 AM
This morning as we prepared our breakfast, I noticed that the dishwasher was making a rhythmic sound. I made a joke of it with Heather, saying that I should use that audio for my #jamuary song today. I captured a short clip on my phone. Then we got a bit silly, recording the eggs boiling, the […]
Original post on montereybay.social
montereybay.social
January 18, 2026 at 7:37 AM
#ca, #ak, and #gulfstates residents, please take a few minutes to oppose new oil+gas leases off our coasts. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management accepting public comment on Trump's proposal to reopen our coasts to offshore drilling through January 23rd […]

[Original post on montereybay.social]
January 17, 2026 at 6:41 PM
I went back to Tidal Cycles to create my #jamuary jam today. More accurately, I went back to The Manual and learned a couple of important features, like xfade/xfadeIn for transitions and some of the probability modifiers in the mini-notation. The synths I used reminded me of “Blue Monday”, which […]
Original post on montereybay.social
montereybay.social
January 16, 2026 at 6:32 AM
I’m coming down with something. My eyes itch and my throat hurts. However, #jamuary must go on. In my music lesson on Monday, I asked my teacher for help in writing basslines that sound more natural. He gave me some ideas to try. After the lesson, I looked at my Fender P-Bass hanging on the wall […]
Original post on montereybay.social
montereybay.social
January 15, 2026 at 5:28 AM
Back to music notation for #jamuary no 10. My prompt was “Short notes only. Keep everything choppy, using as many pitches as you like. Do this for as long as you can.” Sure, I could load up some plucky arps and built some skittery drums in Ableton but where’s the challenge in that? I fired up […]
Original post on montereybay.social
montereybay.social
January 14, 2026 at 6:11 AM
Today was a two-fer for music: #jamuary and Two Hour Album Challenge! The theme for #2hac Volume 33 was “Scatter”, and my thoughts must still be on rhythms because I decided to do an all-percussion song where the instruments move around in stereo space. I combined an acoustic drum kit, Brazilian […]
Original post on montereybay.social
montereybay.social
January 11, 2026 at 11:40 PM
I took a couple of days off of #jamuary, but I’m back in it today with a deeper dive into the Moog DFAM. I started re-reading the manual and experimented with basic sound shaping, and quickly got to some interesting places. I hit record and captured a live performance. The result is a bit […]
Original post on montereybay.social
montereybay.social
January 11, 2026 at 7:33 AM
Wrapping up the first week of #jamuary with an ambient song. I’ve been itching to feature my DIY modular system in my jams this month because it’s finally in a state where it can produce tones that I feel are musical; that is, they have dynamics and evolving textures that are interesting to […]
Original post on montereybay.social
montereybay.social
January 8, 2026 at 6:03 AM
For today’s #jamuary song, I decided to stay off the computer and work with the Moog Subharmonicon and DFAM. The sequence fell into place really quickly, though I struggled to get really crisp drum sounds from the DFAM. I think I need to spend more time with that machine. The Werkstatt added a […]
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montereybay.social
January 7, 2026 at 5:13 AM
#jamuary tune number five, in which I get lost in the synth sounds of the 80s. I’ve had a number of Kontakt instruments installed for a long time but haven’t really used them (pack rat mentality, maybe). Today, I decided to take a look. “Analog Dreams” was right at the top of the list, and I […]
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montereybay.social
January 6, 2026 at 5:46 AM
Today's #jamuary prompt was "Read a piece of text from a book or magazine using your instrument. Try to express the rhythm of the sound of the words." My music teacher has had me do this before, and it's a great way to discover new, organic rhythms. I pulled "The Peripheral" by William Gibson […]
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montereybay.social
January 5, 2026 at 5:20 AM
I had an idea that I would write today’s #jamuary piece in TidalCycles, but I don’t know that software well and was spending too much time looking at the manual. I punted and went back to Ableton Live, where I produced this sketch. The chord progression I picked sounded like the old “Peanuts” […]
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montereybay.social
January 4, 2026 at 6:18 AM