Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

John M Davis

@jdsampo.bsky.social

1.1K followers 590 following 1.6K posts

Musician, composer, garlic grower, and occasional swordsman. He/him, happily monogamous. Co-host at Time is Right podcast. Music is the poetry of the air - Richter johnmdavismusic.com https://johnmdavis.bandcamp.com/ timeisright.fm

johnmdavis.bandcamp.com

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

John M Davis @jdsampo.bsky.social · 4d

When I record an album I build up a virtual "band" and use it for the whole thing. My next album 'Fisher King' is no exception.
Some of the material for 'Fisher King' hasn't made the cut but I love this little guy. Here's the "band" having a laugh between more serious work ☺️

youtu.be/MDV8bLvvDVo

A Fool's Errand

YouTube video by John M Davis

youtu.be

2 1 2

John M Davis @jdsampo.bsky.social · 1h

I feel that whenever I go back to NH. Very little about my little town has changed except the people. It’s like a Twilight Zone episode where everything is the same as always but all the residents have been replaced.
Oh, and more places take credit cards.

John M Davis @jdsampo.bsky.social · 1h

Heads are very heavy so it’s important to have good support while relentlessly staring at humans while they’re eating.

A golden retriever (who has had his dinner already, by the way) is staring at his humans while they eat. He’s reclining on a blue This-End-Up couch with his chin on the arm of the couch. This looks uncomfortable but he does it all the time.

John M Davis @jdsampo.bsky.social · 1d

I saw a lot of dumb shit posing as innovation in my career as a software engineer. Vibe coding to get a 5X increase in productivity out of fewer people, including allowing unskilled people to create production code, is the dumbest fucking shit I’ve ever seen. Hoo boy!

www.wired.com/story/meta-m...

Meta Tells Its Metaverse Workers to Use AI to ‘Go 5X Faster’

Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse chief is urging employees to adopt AI across every workflow as part of a broader shift inside the company.

www.wired.com

Reposted by John M Davis

Helen Whistberry @whistberry.bsky.social · 1d

Happy #Invertober Day 10!

Common earthworm (lumbricus terrestris)

Went for a different style as I wasn't sure how to make an earthworm aesthetically pleasing 😅

#Invertober2025

Black and white drawing of an earthworm in an S-shape on its side. The words would you still love me follow the curve on the left and the words if I was a worm follow the curve on the right. The background is an elaborate symmetrical doodle of teardrop shapes of varying sizes.

2 37 130

John M Davis @jdsampo.bsky.social · 1d

Funny I didn’t realize that you were doing this blog. That’s not on you, I just wasn’t paying attention 🤣
Anyway, I don’t find it complicated or onerous at all. So one of today’s views is me and I will be submitting. And thank you for doing this! Anything that helps build our community is awesome!

John M Davis @jdsampo.bsky.social · 1d

Let me know what you think! 😊

John M Davis @jdsampo.bsky.social · 2d

I was on a Ronald Malfi kick last year. His collection ‘Ghostwritten’ was really creepy.

1 1

John M Davis @jdsampo.bsky.social · 2d

Yeesh 🥶, still bottoming out in the 40s here but we’re keeping an eye on the zinnias too 😊

1 1

John M Davis @jdsampo.bsky.social · 2d

Sounds delightfully spoo-keh.

Since you’re burning through them, are you accepting book recs?

1 1

John M Davis @jdsampo.bsky.social · 2d

That post storm kind of sunset tonight

1 8

John M Davis @jdsampo.bsky.social · 2d

So it’s not just me…

Reposted by John M Davis

UMAW @umaw.bsky.social · 2d

Artists are clear on what we want: fair pay from streaming, no investment in war technology, protections against AI, an end to pro-rata deals, and transparency for artists across all aspects of streaming. Daniel Ek stepping down fulfills zero of those demands.

2 7 24

John M Davis @jdsampo.bsky.social · 2d

I wrote a book review! One of my favorite non-fiction reads of the last couple years is ‘The Work of Art’ by Adam Moss. Taking a peak into the creative lives of 43 artists working today was inspiring, illuminating, and weirdly reassuring. Have a look!

johnmdavismusic.com/2025/10/08/h...

How Something Comes from Nothing, A Book Review

‘The Work of Art: How Something Comes from Nothing’ by Adam Moss I’ve mentioned in a previous post how reading is a huge source of inspiration for my music. Reading about an artist, their craft, an…

johnmdavismusic.com

John M Davis @jdsampo.bsky.social · 3d

This is a great way to spend a day as a composer. I don’t do it often enough but I do head out when I’m between projects. A lot of those sounds end up on the next project in one form or another.

Peretsky @peretsky.bsky.social · 3d

If you’re having writers block as a composer, producer, songwriter, etc I highly suggest you go out field recording for the afternoon on a Saturday instead of locking yourself in the shed.

1 8

John M Davis @jdsampo.bsky.social · 3d

It does! I love happy accidents ☺️

John M Davis @jdsampo.bsky.social · 3d

Hello moon!
Plus a weird phone camera accident 🤔

Moonrise over Island Park, Rhode Island.

Moonrise over Island Park, Rhode Island. I moved the phone before the 3 second exposure was done and all the lights including the moon are long streaks of light. Funky.

1 3

John M Davis @jdsampo.bsky.social · 3d

👎👎👎

Reposted by John M Davis

Cloks Tik @clokstik.bsky.social · 4d

2 3

Reposted by John M Davis

Stan Stewart (muz4now) @muz4now.com · 4d

All the tech companies are so excited about generative AI. But why are so many musicians "buying" into the LLM craze? Is it a "sellout"?
#NoAI #art

Generative AI and the Musician – #LLM #NoAI

Does generative AI have usefulness? Maybe. Generative In Tech In my technology job, LLM (Large Language Models) and generative AI are all the rage. "This will change the world forever." Really? And will that change be for the better? Initially, I experimented with generative AI1 at that tech job and a single post on this blog. These forays into LLM-land left a bad taste in my soul.

muz4now.com

2 5 12

John M Davis @jdsampo.bsky.social · 4d

I think of gen AI tools like Suno as a step beyond creating music by stringing together sample loop “construction kits”. The latter is playing with Legos which can be a very creative endeavor. Suno is having someone play with your Legos for you.

1 1 4

John M Davis @jdsampo.bsky.social · 4d

I am both jealous of the empty theater and the fact your theater sells hot dogs.

John M Davis @jdsampo.bsky.social · 4d

Dogs are way more important ☺️
Glad he’s well

John M Davis @jdsampo.bsky.social · 4d

There I fixed it, thanks to @dellenbon.bsky.social lookin out for me 🥰

John M Davis @jdsampo.bsky.social · 4d

Also on Bandcamp! I'm debating whether to put this on streaming too, I probably will.

johnmdavis.bandcamp.com/track/a-fool...

A Fool's Errand, by John M Davis

track by John M Davis

johnmdavis.bandcamp.com

1 1