FlowFX

Using Automator to create an Emacs.app for running Emacs Client & Server

Or: Back To The Mac 1

After using only Linux machines for work for the past 5 years, my next machine will be a MacBook. That's why I'm working on improving my development environment on macOS as best as I can now, something that's not really been necessary when using my personal Mac.

First order of business: how do I start the Emacs server and connect to it with the emacsclient?

I'm using Emacs+ from homebrew:

brew install emacs-plus@29

Once installed, it works fine, but neither do Spotlight - or Alfred - see any Emacs.app, nor do I know how to start the server or start multiple clients that connect to it.

I found the solution on the blog of one Alex Balgavy: Setting up Emacs as a daemon on macOS. Then I simplified it for my purposes.

All I needed to do is create a new Automator document of type Application that runs this shell script:

export PATH=/opt/homebrew/bin:$PATH
emacsclient -c -a '' >/dev/null 2>&1 &

-c creates a GUI frame, and -a '' connects to the server named '' - or starts it if it's not already running.

Every time I call Emacs.app, I get a new fresh Emacs window, just like I'm used to on my Linux machine that runs the Emacs server from systemd.

Rhein-Neckar-Tour mit den Uplifters

Dafür, dass The Uplifters eine Freiburger Band sind, spielen wir dieses Jahr außergewöhnlich oft in der Rhein-Neckar-Ecke. Gut für mich, denn dann ist die Anreise nicht so lang.

Am 26. August dürfen wir beim wunderbaren Brückenaward in Mannheim spielen. Anfang September geht's nach Speyer zum Nagelklotz aufs Altstadtfest.

Im Dezember spielen wir dann im Café Leitstelle in Heidelberg, gemeinsam mit meiner alten Rock-Cover-Band Marshall Pfefferle. Das wird groß werden!

Die nächsten Konzerte mit meiner Band: 26.08. Brückenaward in Mannheim, 08.09. Altstadtfest Speyer, 02.12. Café Leitstelle in Heidelberg

The Uplifters - Live im Proberaum

I have an awesome band! In December we recorded a few songs "live" in our rehearsal room in Freiburg, both audio and video. Over the winter everybody but me put a lot of work into pulling both together and making it look and sound good. And what can I say, they did an amazing job. I'm truly impressed. Plus: everything was done using free and open source software: Ardour and kdenlive!

Well, here they are, two of our original songs, live in the studio:

Be Free

Change My Life

If you want to see us play live sometime, head over to theuplifters.de and sign up to our newsletter! We only send out emails when we have public gigs to announce. Of course you can always book us for your private garden party as well. 😃

How to hold a trombone

Last week I bought a brand new trombone. Following my teacher's recommendation, I made an appointment at Musik Bertram in Freiburg and spent a good few hours in their practice room trying out different instruments. I fully expected to get a light, small-bore, jazz or pop music tenor trombone. Instead, I somehow chose a medium-bore, classical Bach 36, with rose brass bell and everything.

What made the difference compared to the other instruments I tried is the incredible, full sound this instrument is able to produce. My guitarist Max, who was with me at the store, put it this way:

The other instruments are good, too. But this one sounds like it has a built-in compressor.

Guitarists...

So, amazing sound, yes, but there's a drawback. This instrument is heavier than anything I have played before. And its geometry is weird, too. I'm still figuring how to hold it comfortably.

Luckily, there's YouTube. And there's one of my favorite YouTubers: Trent Hamilton. Trent is a New Zealander that collects brass instruments like others collect stamps. He also plays them very well, and he plays all of them. Naturally he knows how to properly hold - even a heavy - a trombone:

Training week August 6 to 26

Yes, my training week starts on Saturday.

DayExerciseWeights and repstiming / notes
Sat 6/8Single Arm Inside Circle6kg x 11 x 5/52min rest before next exercise
Single Arm Outside Circle6kg x 11 x 5/52min rest before next exercise
Single Arm Shield Cast6kg x 11 x 5/5
"FlowFX Heel Drop Complex"*20kg x 3 x 4/4start every 115s (~35s rest)
SunKB Clean & Press16kg x 10 x 3/3/2/2/1/1start every 2:30min (~60s rest)
Goblet Squat16kg x 10 x 5EMOM
MonRun
TueRestso important!
Wed---:|
Thu?
Fri---
Sat 13/8---:(
Sun---
Mon---/o\
Tue---
Wed---
WedSingle Arm IC/OC/SC4kg x 20 x 5/52min rest before next exercise
ThuRun
FriKB Clean & Press16kg x 8 x 3/3/2/2/1/1start every 2:30min (~70s rest)
Sat 20/8Run
SunSingle Arm IC/OC/SC4kg x 17 x 6/62min rest before next exercise
MonKB Clean & Press16kg x 10 x 3/3/2/2/1/1start every 2:30min (~70s rest)
TueRun
Wed
Thu
Fri

*: x reps of slow (!) heel drops with a bent knee, then x reps with a straight knee. Repeat on the other side. The weight is held on the side that's doing the drops. Full range of motion, but don't hold the bottom stretch (my damaged achilles tendon doesn't like that).