Gregory Kimball

Rocking out in Campbell

Posted on May 20, 2018 by gregorykimball

Me and the band were down to two members, but we took to the streets anyways! Here’s midnight busking in Campbell, CA.

Struggle – “Lung is full”

Posted in Music | Leave a comment

Far Cry 2 trainer

Posted on May 2, 2018 by gregorykimball

With the recent release of Far Cry 5, I started getting interested in (what in my opinion is the best game of the series) Far Cry 2.

Modding is tough for Far Cry 2, but Gibbed published some new tools that help a lot!

Here is my interface to streamline the modding process: FarCry2_trainer.

Still the best game in the series:

Posted in Software | Leave a comment

Catio

Posted on April 28, 2018 by gregorykimball

We’ve been trying to find a way to open up our patio to the cats, but we want to make sure they don’t escape! With this goal in mind, I went overboard and created the following architectural application:

Application PDF

Unfortunately this application was denied… (which we kind of knew would happen).

So, on to Plan B. Instead we built a barrier on hinges, so that it can be raised only when the cats are outside. The barrier uses 2″x3″ welded wire as the structural element and bird netting to prevent climbing. So far so good!

Posted in Cats, Home projects | Leave a comment

IPA kit pt 2

Posted on April 27, 2018 by gregorykimball

So it’s been two weeks since IPA kit pt 1 where we made the wort and started fermenting. That means it’s time for bottling! My first tip is to go out and buy some “craft beer bottles”. They’ve got an extra lip on the neck of the bottle that makes seating the caps way easier.

When it comes to taking the labels off, my recommendation is HOT water with a little soap. Soak the labels for 30 seconds and you should be able to peel them off with care. At the end of the process we got 8 bottles – now hopefully it’s time to condition and carbonate.

Posted in Home projects | Leave a comment

IPA kit pt 1

Posted on April 8, 2018 by gregorykimball

I finally made some time to set up my beer-making kit! It’s a west coast IPA from Craft-a-Brew. I was pretty concerned about contamination at first, but I eventually got the kitchen cleaned up and went for it.

The best part is definitely the active fermentation! Those yeast were ready to go – also the recipe called for an extra cup of table sugar, so no reason to hold back!

Posted in Home projects | 1 Comment

E-drums

Posted on April 3, 2018 by gregorykimball

I’ve been trying to find a good way to practice drums in my house, but drums are LOUD. I’ve been interested in electronic drums for a long time, but never figured out how to choose which kit to buy. Eventually I found 65 Drums on YouTube and it has been very helpful!

My main requirements were a 3-zone ride, very good hats, and $$$ as low as possible. I ended up purchasing a used Roland TD-25 on Reverb.com. It took me a while to get used to the kit, but it has been a big success for me. I used to set up my acoustic kit in a nearby Caltrain parking lot whenever I wanted to practice. It makes me tired just thinking about it, but it was good practice for quick set-up and tear-down.

News flash: e-drums aren’t silent! I was disturbed by how loud the tapping was! In particular the hard rubber hi-hats and cymbals are quite loud! Also the kick pedal makes a serious thump.

My solutions include:

Hi-hat – Microfiber cloth with pillow stuffing, also around the vertical position sensor
Kick sensor – Canvas bag with pillow stuffing and microfiber pad
Cymbals – foam drum mutes

Also I’m impressed by a real advantage of electronic drums – ease of recording. With my complementary version of Ableton Lite, the USB Midi interface works great!

What you want is the ability to record MIDI from the TD-25 while playing to a track for overdubbing. Then you can tweak the MIDI, bounce the MIDI to the TD-25 and record audio from the TD-25. Here’s the setup I recommend:

Track 1 = Midi IN/OUT from TD-25
Track 2 = Recorded audio IN from TD-25 playing Track 1
Track 3 = Overdub track

Posted in Music | Leave a comment

Struggle in China!

Posted on February 10, 2018 by gregorykimball

Hey guys, me and the band came back from the craziest trip to China to play at the Hanergy new year’s party! I still can’t believe this happened!

Here’s some shots from backstage and rehearsal:

And also a montage of all the cool drums I got to play!

We got lucky for the trip because it was so clear. The locals in Beijing told me the sky was “Olympic blue” because it was so clear the sky was blue – just like in 2008 for the Olympics! I took this shot from the Olympic Park Observation Tower in Beijing:

Good times!

Posted in Music, Travel | Leave a comment

It’s a table!

Posted on December 28, 2017 by gregorykimball

I’ve been working on making my patio a workshop and home office space, and the first thing you need is a TABLE. I looked for my perfect table online but couldn’t quite find it, so then it’s time to go to Home Depot and start hacking.

My main design criteria required plentiful clamping space around the corners, and no cross beams for me to hit my legs on. Also I was only allowed to use my drill and skillsaw – no buying tools!

Here’s what I ended up with!

Posted in Home projects | 1 Comment

Busking kit

Posted on September 24, 2017 by gregorykimball

I’ve been working on a good configuration for playing drums on the street, and I think I’ve got my formula:

This configuration has a 13″ snare, 14″ hats along with my favorite tiny crash: the 14″ Paiste fast crash Signature series. The secret weapon is the 14″ floor tom on top of this stand:

The wood plank has notches cut for the tom leg bracket and kick pedal, with drywall screws to grip the ground and balance the shell. Simple but effective!

By the way, this video was INSPIRING so check it out.

Posted in Home projects, Music | Leave a comment

Cat Tree Mk II

Posted on August 30, 2017 by gregorykimball

Cat Tree Mk I was a huge success, but even good things can be improved upon!

I thought Jasper would like hiding out in the tunnel of the Mk I design, but he never ended up doing that. To make better use of the real estate, I decided to make one horizontal tunnel into two vertical steps!

“What are you doing to my tree???”

“Much better…”