Slow progress, but still happening

Hi Patrons!

It's been a few weeks since my last update, and I like to keep my patrons updated regularly with what's going on. I haven't really been doing much work on the Music Theory stuff lately, with so much shuffling of priorities as the really hot summer weather rolls by. I have been working on some prototype orchestrations of my composition work, anticipating that I'll pitch it at some orchestras next year (depending on how things go with the massive financial impact of cancelled seasons); and I have been making tiny corrections to the online resources here and there. But I've made not much progress on the book, and I haven't made any new videos. I'm hoping that later this summer I can really dig in and concentrate on getting some large sections of the book completely polished and finished.

The great news is, patronage from you is covering the server hosting costs for all the "scale detail" pages at ianring.com, plus a little extra! That is a fantastic milestone. It means that the monthly bill for that hosting is covered with no impact on my personal expenses. FWIW, I do keep my costs as low as I can, by renting a Linux box from DigitalOcean, and managing the server myself. The extra bit of $, well, this month I've spent it on a music theory book by Philip Tagg: "Everyday Tonality II" in which he explains (in 598 densely packed pages!) a novel approach to analysis of modern popular music, and an alternative approach to harmonic analysis. Fun times! I haven't started reading it yet, but I want to put it on my kobo to bring to the beach later this summer.

I hope you are all well and staying safe. No one in my immediate family or social group have been sick, and I hope it stays that way. I do know three people (as acquaintances) who have contracted COVID, and it is _A_W_F_U_L_.

Imagine: having a NORMAL yule season this winter where you are allowed to visit your elderly relatives, hug your friends, and have a joyful new year celebration. This fantasy is POSSIBLE if everyone takes precautions to slow and stop the spread of the virus, and the easiest & most effective way to do that is to wear a mask any time you're in public. So please, wear a mask!

Stay safe, and thank you from the bottom of my heart for your generosity in helping me continue to develop and share music theory resources with the world.

Regards,
Ian