{"id":35839,"date":"2020-04-10T09:00:55","date_gmt":"2020-04-10T16:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/?p=35839"},"modified":"2020-04-09T11:34:10","modified_gmt":"2020-04-09T18:34:10","slug":"thom-dunn-writermusician","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/thom-dunn-writermusician\/","title":{"rendered":"Thom Dunn, Writer\/Musician"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Our guest this week is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thomdunn.info\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Thom Dunn<\/a>. Thom is a writer, musician and terrible dancer whose work can be seen on Wirecutter, Boing Boing, Upworthy, Vice and more. He&#8217;s also published fiction, plays, poetry and comics. Thom is the singer\/guitarist of the Roland High Life and a solo performer and he really hates, &#8220;Don&#8217;t Stop Believin\u2019\u201d. You can find him on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/thomdunn\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/thomdunn\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Instagram<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/thomdunn\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">SoundCloud<\/a> @thomdunn. <\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" allow=\"autoplay\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/794740663%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-4zc5ZewmWYx&#038;color=%23ff5500&#038;auto_play=false&#038;hide_related=false&#038;show_comments=true&#038;show_user=true&#038;show_reposts=false&#038;show_teaser=true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/cool-tools-show-and-tell\/id605920446?mt=2\">Subscribe to the Cool Tools Show on iTunes<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/feedpress.me\/cooltoolsshow\">RSS<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1pCLIsSkU47L6IsaVQKflV79YcNUTeXNS\/view?usp=sharing\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Transcript<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/tag\/cool-tools-show\/\">See all the Cool Tools Show posts on a single page<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Show notes:<\/strong> <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/files\/2020\/04\/blueyetimic.jpg\" alt=\"blueyetimic\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-35840\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/files\/2020\/04\/blueyetimic.jpg 500w, https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/files\/2020\/04\/blueyetimic-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/files\/2020\/04\/blueyetimic-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/exec\/obidos\/ASIN\/B002VA464S\/cooltoolsshow-20\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Yeti by Blue Microphone<\/a> ($129)<br \/>\nTo be clear, there are many microphones that are superior to the Yeti; I also own some of those. But none of them are as versatile or easy-to-use as the Yeti. Whether I\u2019m taking phone calls or video conferences, or I want to record some quick guitar-and-voice song demos, or even if I need a decent stereo overhead mic for recording live drums for my rock band\u2019s album (which happened!), I\u2019ve done it all with the Yeti, and the Yeti can do it all.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/files\/2015\/07\/scrivener.jpg\" alt=\"scrivener\" width=\"475\" height=\"339\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-24586\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/files\/2015\/07\/scrivener.jpg 475w, https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/files\/2015\/07\/scrivener-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/files\/2015\/07\/scrivener-420x300.jpg 420w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 475px) 100vw, 475px\" \/><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.literatureandlatte.com\/scrivener\/overview\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Scrivener<\/a> ($49)<br \/>\nScrivener is a modular writing app that offers an almost overwhelming amount of customizable features, but presents them in a way that\u2019s adaptable and accessible, so you can make it work for your own unique writing process. One of the most basic features \u2014 and the thing I personally love most about it \u2014 is how it lets you break up your documents into individual scenes, without having to worry about scrolling or page breaks or anything else. This makes it easy to focus on a single part of whatever manuscript you\u2019re working on, and allows you to visually re-organize the entire project with a simple click-and-drag. Scrivener also lets you fold in all your research documents into a single app, and then saves everything in an archive file that\u2019s accessible from cloud drives like Dropbox, making it easy to work on the go.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/files\/2020\/04\/minimetro.jpg\" alt=\"minimetro\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-35841\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/files\/2020\/04\/minimetro.jpg 500w, https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/files\/2020\/04\/minimetro-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/files\/2020\/04\/minimetro-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.chromeindustries.com\/bags\/messenger-bags\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Chrome Messenger Bag, Mini Metro<\/a> ($120)<br \/>\nI got my first Chrome bag in 2008 and only recently retired it because the outside was getting too discolored \u2014 but the inside was still perfectly fine. I\u2019ve only ever owned the smallest Chrome size, and the variety of pockets and compartments allow me to carry a wide and wild variety of tools with me wherever I go. That, and the Chrome is fashionable. I carry my Chrome everywhere \u2014 whether I need to or not \u2014 because it\u2019s lightweight, comfortable, and just plain cool lookin\u2019, and it helps me to ensure that I have all the things I need for any possible situation. Plus, it helps my dumb ADHD brain stay organized, which is a miraculous feat inandof itself.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/files\/2020\/04\/woodrow.png\" alt=\"woodrow\" width=\"500\" height=\"244\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-35843\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/files\/2020\/04\/woodrow.png 500w, https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/files\/2020\/04\/woodrow-300x146.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/thewoodrow.com\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Woodrow Appalachian Dulcimer<\/a><br \/>\nThis was one of the first big gifts my now-wife bought me when we first started dating. We were at a craft fair in Vermont, and I heard \u2026 something. Not quite a mandolin. Not quite a banjo. So I explored, and discovered the Woodrow, a proprietary string instrument that\u2019s basically an upright Dulcimer made by an artisan in Appalachia. Mine has 4 strings \u2014 tuned D, A, and a double D \u2014 and it\u2019s fretted in a major key. So while it\u2019s simplistic, it\u2019s a great tool for songwriting, as it forces me to keep things simple, and focus on the basic melody and chords above all. While it\u2019s fun on its own, it\u2019s also become my ultimate songwriting test instrument. Can I make this song work on the Woodrow? Then it\u2019s good enough, and I can figure out the key and the weird chords later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cool Tools Show 221: Thom Dunn<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13684,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[1559],"tags":[1555,1472],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35839"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13684"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35839"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35846,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35839\/revisions\/35846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}