i'm actually temporarily stopping with clarity, because i didn't finish it until a little later.
the next thing up will be that #9 monstrosity. it's likely that i'll upload without modifying it, but i want to listen with a nonsleepy set of ears to determine if there's any way to finish it.
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/redone-original-demo
Sunday, October 5, 2014
actually, this isn't going to require cutting after all, that's not how i
did it - i went along and pasted the sample a dozen times in a way that
just mildly overlaps with the end of itself. so i don't have to worry
about finding the perfect cut, i can just go along and find the place
for the next sample by ear.
this should be fairly simple to construct very similarly, minus the improved sound quality.
and, in fact, i'm going to use cool edit for this part, as i think the blurry sound of the mix is an artefact of it. the song needs to be blurry.
i downsampled too, lol. i remember now that the noise was too intense, otherwise. it was a trade off between losing some of the subbass and softening some of the mid-high noise generators.
i may be able to mix the subbass back in, but one thing at a time....
i mean, now that the thing is downsampled, it will sound like 16bits if upsampled back to 32. so, i could then take the original file at 32, lowpass it and mix it in to bring some of the kick back.
that's a mixing stage thing, right now i'm reconstructing....
the fadeover happens to coincide with a bass beat. i'm almost certain that's what i did in the first place. so the syncing issues i was concerned about for this part are really non-existent.
the eyeing it out part has more to do with comparing the level in the waveform of the mp3 with the level in the reconstruct. how much did i amplify the fade? what percentage did i use for the paste over? i'm lucky that the possibilities are binary, as it allows for a finite number of possible choices. i can be confident it's extremely close to the original.
this should be fairly simple to construct very similarly, minus the improved sound quality.
and, in fact, i'm going to use cool edit for this part, as i think the blurry sound of the mix is an artefact of it. the song needs to be blurry.
i downsampled too, lol. i remember now that the noise was too intense, otherwise. it was a trade off between losing some of the subbass and softening some of the mid-high noise generators.
i may be able to mix the subbass back in, but one thing at a time....
i mean, now that the thing is downsampled, it will sound like 16bits if upsampled back to 32. so, i could then take the original file at 32, lowpass it and mix it in to bring some of the kick back.
that's a mixing stage thing, right now i'm reconstructing....
the fadeover happens to coincide with a bass beat. i'm almost certain that's what i did in the first place. so the syncing issues i was concerned about for this part are really non-existent.
the eyeing it out part has more to do with comparing the level in the waveform of the mp3 with the level in the reconstruct. how much did i amplify the fade? what percentage did i use for the paste over? i'm lucky that the possibilities are binary, as it allows for a finite number of possible choices. i can be confident it's extremely close to the original.
uploading clarity loops to the scratch pad
i'm tired of sorting through the page and finding the sketchpad link, then going through a captcha every time i post the sketchpad link, so i've put the link in the about section and will refer you there when i speak of the sketchpad.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jessica-Murray/41134747113?sk=info
so, i've uploaded a sample of the drums in 32 (i think it's 24, but it reads everywhere as 32) bit audio, and if you can play it without downsampling you can hear how thick they are. that got lost in the mix. my abilities to upsample are now much greater, so i should be able to convert this into a much better sounding mix.
going from scratch is consequently the best way to do it.
even if it's going to require some crucial dicing skillz.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jessica-Murray/41134747113?sk=info
so, i've uploaded a sample of the drums in 32 (i think it's 24, but it reads everywhere as 32) bit audio, and if you can play it without downsampling you can hear how thick they are. that got lost in the mix. my abilities to upsample are now much greater, so i should be able to convert this into a much better sounding mix.
going from scratch is consequently the best way to do it.
even if it's going to require some crucial dicing skillz.
so, i have an early instrumental mix of clarity to build on, but it's in mp3 and i'm not entirely happy about the mix - partly because the samples were in 32-bit and it's lost. depending on how different the result ends up, i may upload it but i think something would be missing from the source if i were to rebuild around that source. unfortunately.
so, i'm going to rebuild clarity from scratch, which means relooping. i have all the loops, but some of them are going to need to be re cut which is going to create something asymmetric. i'm ok with this, as it may improve the piece slightly to process the files more separately. the initial mix was done in cool edit, which is an intriguing but messy tool; i'm going to be remixing in a proper multitrack interface in cubase.
if it's a disaster, i'll have to rebuild from the mp3. i'm hoping i surprise myself with the accuracy of the recuts...
so, i'm going to rebuild clarity from scratch, which means relooping. i have all the loops, but some of them are going to need to be re cut which is going to create something asymmetric. i'm ok with this, as it may improve the piece slightly to process the files more separately. the initial mix was done in cool edit, which is an intriguing but messy tool; i'm going to be remixing in a proper multitrack interface in cubase.
if it's a disaster, i'll have to rebuild from the mp3. i'm hoping i surprise myself with the accuracy of the recuts...
Saturday, October 4, 2014
uploading the wave to youtube
regarding symphony 3....
i seem to have run the file through some reverb or something around the year 2007. however, i also have a rip of the file from a cd-r i made back in 2001. this is a long piece and the a/b is going to take some effort, but i'm currently leaning towards leaving the 2001 mix here just out of principle.
this is absolutely the next inri number, but there's some other things in the chronology before it, which gives me time to a/b it a few times.
this is the youtube upload, which is the 2007 mix:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQdW5_lKtUY
i seem to have run the file through some reverb or something around the year 2007. however, i also have a rip of the file from a cd-r i made back in 2001. this is a long piece and the a/b is going to take some effort, but i'm currently leaning towards leaving the 2001 mix here just out of principle.
this is absolutely the next inri number, but there's some other things in the chronology before it, which gives me time to a/b it a few times.
this is the youtube upload, which is the 2007 mix:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQdW5_lKtUY
i know $50 is a lot for one disc, but it's 7 hours and has six records on it - including one that's not for sale. so, you could look at it as getting a free record, considering the five that are for sale separately are $10 each. the shift in technology doesn't devalue the price of the music, it just makes media filing more convenient.
really, it's more about being realistic about the model. purchasing these records is an act of solidarity, to keep me going. it's not like purchasing a commodity over a market. the mp3 downloads can be thought of that way, but nobody is going to buy a cd-r from me unless it's explicitly to support me. so, it's more like setting a pledge amount.
but i'm honestly of the opinion that 6 full length records for $50 is really a fair price.
really, it's more about being realistic about the model. purchasing these records is an act of solidarity, to keep me going. it's not like purchasing a commodity over a market. the mp3 downloads can be thought of that way, but nobody is going to buy a cd-r from me unless it's explicitly to support me. so, it's more like setting a pledge amount.
but i'm honestly of the opinion that 6 full length records for $50 is really a fair price.
i've decided that there are two rabit songs i'm going to rip up: clarity and 9:46. these are both lengthy, epic pieces that i feel i have total (musical) writing credit over. but i'm going to finish two more that do have vocals, too (#9, wave). also, the vocal versions will continue to exist on the rabit demo, while i place the instrumental versions on j^2. it's not that the vocals aren't important to the songs - they are, in that form. however, they could and i think should both exist in alternate form without vocals. i just consider them pieces worth placing in my proper discography (all rabit releases will be treated as eps or singles, regardless of length). they share a thematic unity with what i was doing before and after rabit, whereas the other tracks mainly do not. i may also finish some acoustic demos, but that's less certain. the rabit material that's been previously released will be only minimally altered.
i'm hoping i don't have to rerecord any parts for those two, but i'm not going to let the idea act as a disincentive. while i want the pieces to sound as close as possible to how i intended them to sound, that isn't necessarily going to mean complete conformity to what already exists. that is to say that they're likely not going to be identical, which gives them their own flavour as alternate versions, rather than karaoke versions.
so, that's going to be the opening sequence of disc #6, whatever i call it, which is going to largely contain material that came out of the cynicide/rabit sessions:
1) to spin inside dull aberrations - 18 minute version. cynicide outtake.
2) clarity (instrumental reconstruction). rabit outtake. ~12 minutes.
3) breaking free of boxes (instrumental reconstruction). rabit outttake. ~10 minutes.
the wave is the next release, i just have to figure out how i'm going to get around the 291 mb upload max, or how i'm going to split it in two.
the clarity single will follow, with instrumental and vocal mixes as well as #9 (probably titled 'zen'), a sped up vocal version of the wave and some other things from nov-feb, 2002.
the demo itself will follow right after. there were two demos released - a 5 track and an 8 track. i'm going to attempt to merge them into one demo. so, the demo will have an extra epic appended to it, but otherwise be unchanged.
i'm also going to release the tour ep i was contemplating. logistics would have made it difficult for the two of us to perform the material, as sean did not play an instrument and it was not written in a way that makes it easy to teach to a musical beginner. so, i derived an evil plan to perform the material as an acoustic duo. there are numerous demos of acoustic material written for that purpose that were meant to be packaged in a tour ep. of course, like everything else in my musical career, that never actually happened. but, it's an idea worth completing, i think. the shape it forms is going to depend on an analysis of the actual material, but i could see myself adding synth parts to a lot of it.
the next thing up is the trepanation symphony, which exists in a dozen different forms that may require two or three discs to explore comprehensively. i do not know exactly how i will scatter this material around, but it dominates the output for the spring of 2002.
there are some scattered pieces in the second half of 2002 that were explorations of ideas developed in rabit that never went anywhere there and will be directed towards j^2. untitled will get it's own single and inclusion. there's another piece with working title 'ostrich' that will get similar treatment. j^2 will be sequenced for release near the end of 2002.
the very end of 2002 sees the beginning of work on the first trivial group symphony, and is a definite shift in period.
my workflow...
- clarity*
- #9 [zen]
- the wave (both)
- clarity single
- time, psi
- 9:46 [instrumental]*
- rabit demo
- rabit live acoustic demos
- trepanation
- untitled*
- atom's*
- taught to twist the affected so low*
- ostrich*
=============
- trivial group
* - j^2
(18 + 12 + 10 + 14 + 5 + 5 + 15 = 79)
i'm hoping i don't have to rerecord any parts for those two, but i'm not going to let the idea act as a disincentive. while i want the pieces to sound as close as possible to how i intended them to sound, that isn't necessarily going to mean complete conformity to what already exists. that is to say that they're likely not going to be identical, which gives them their own flavour as alternate versions, rather than karaoke versions.
so, that's going to be the opening sequence of disc #6, whatever i call it, which is going to largely contain material that came out of the cynicide/rabit sessions:
1) to spin inside dull aberrations - 18 minute version. cynicide outtake.
2) clarity (instrumental reconstruction). rabit outtake. ~12 minutes.
3) breaking free of boxes (instrumental reconstruction). rabit outttake. ~10 minutes.
the wave is the next release, i just have to figure out how i'm going to get around the 291 mb upload max, or how i'm going to split it in two.
the clarity single will follow, with instrumental and vocal mixes as well as #9 (probably titled 'zen'), a sped up vocal version of the wave and some other things from nov-feb, 2002.
the demo itself will follow right after. there were two demos released - a 5 track and an 8 track. i'm going to attempt to merge them into one demo. so, the demo will have an extra epic appended to it, but otherwise be unchanged.
i'm also going to release the tour ep i was contemplating. logistics would have made it difficult for the two of us to perform the material, as sean did not play an instrument and it was not written in a way that makes it easy to teach to a musical beginner. so, i derived an evil plan to perform the material as an acoustic duo. there are numerous demos of acoustic material written for that purpose that were meant to be packaged in a tour ep. of course, like everything else in my musical career, that never actually happened. but, it's an idea worth completing, i think. the shape it forms is going to depend on an analysis of the actual material, but i could see myself adding synth parts to a lot of it.
the next thing up is the trepanation symphony, which exists in a dozen different forms that may require two or three discs to explore comprehensively. i do not know exactly how i will scatter this material around, but it dominates the output for the spring of 2002.
there are some scattered pieces in the second half of 2002 that were explorations of ideas developed in rabit that never went anywhere there and will be directed towards j^2. untitled will get it's own single and inclusion. there's another piece with working title 'ostrich' that will get similar treatment. j^2 will be sequenced for release near the end of 2002.
the very end of 2002 sees the beginning of work on the first trivial group symphony, and is a definite shift in period.
my workflow...
- clarity*
- #9 [zen]
- the wave (both)
- clarity single
- time, psi
- 9:46 [instrumental]*
- rabit demo
- rabit live acoustic demos
- trepanation
- untitled*
- atom's*
- taught to twist the affected so low*
- ostrich*
=============
- trivial group
* - j^2
(18 + 12 + 10 + 14 + 5 + 5 + 15 = 79)
Friday, October 3, 2014
i think we all overhyped the new aphex twin record, a little bit
this is a subtle disc that will no doubt grow on listeners that give it the chance to grow, but it's also a big step sideways in terms of the experimental techno movement that rdj was once such an important part of.
i think we're robbed of the context that's necessary to make full sense of his development over the last decade. i'll be blunt: this seems like it completely missed the shift in paradigm that autechre, squarepusher, plaid and others have passed through since the turn of the century. but, we really just simply don't know where his head has been, or the shape his upcoming series of releases are going to take as they unfold.
i have a suspicion that the right way to interpret this particular release is that it's purposefully a collection of somewhat retro sounding pieces that are meant to lay a foundation for future shifts. that is to say that these pieces were isolated and released together because they sound like they could have been released ten or fifteen years ago. it's a reintroduction, if you will. he's picking up where he left off...
what that means is that you need to put it into the context of an incomplete discography to fully make sense of it - and that's extremely difficult to do right now, when the upcoming material is not yet released. in ten years, it will make more sense.
i wouldn't expect him to follow the same path of development as his peers. however, i do expect that there are going to be further signs of artistic evolution in the next few releases.
for now, i'd take it for what i think it is - a gentle introduction.
i think we're robbed of the context that's necessary to make full sense of his development over the last decade. i'll be blunt: this seems like it completely missed the shift in paradigm that autechre, squarepusher, plaid and others have passed through since the turn of the century. but, we really just simply don't know where his head has been, or the shape his upcoming series of releases are going to take as they unfold.
i have a suspicion that the right way to interpret this particular release is that it's purposefully a collection of somewhat retro sounding pieces that are meant to lay a foundation for future shifts. that is to say that these pieces were isolated and released together because they sound like they could have been released ten or fifteen years ago. it's a reintroduction, if you will. he's picking up where he left off...
what that means is that you need to put it into the context of an incomplete discography to fully make sense of it - and that's extremely difficult to do right now, when the upcoming material is not yet released. in ten years, it will make more sense.
i wouldn't expect him to follow the same path of development as his peers. however, i do expect that there are going to be further signs of artistic evolution in the next few releases.
for now, i'd take it for what i think it is - a gentle introduction.
clarity (rabit is wolf version)
right now, i need some rest. but i'm going to be working on stripping clarity down to an instrumental when i wake up.
that is this clarity...
recorded in late 2001 and early 2002. track completed on march 2, 2002.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/clarity
that is this clarity...
recorded in late 2001 and early 2002. track completed on march 2, 2002.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/clarity
that also completes aleph-3.
so, this is a productive day.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/merch/inri023-inri033
so, this is a productive day.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/merch/inri023-inri033
5
jessica
i've been getting a lot of work done over the last few months. i had some problems to start off. i had to order a set of headphone cables from sennheiser, which set me back a month. a hard drive died. i had a bad bios flash which shut my computer off for two months. &etc. but i've got a few hours of mixes done, now, and i've pulled a proper record out of it.
i've been going through chronologically and completing old projects. this is actually the first record i've completed since november, 2000 - and it's all material that was written and left incomplete over the course of 2001. it would be record number 5 if placed in the proper chronological order, which is dec 2001. there's roughly a record's worth of unfinished material per year up to about 2011, but i should be able to move faster through the rest of it.
this is the public bandcamp page with information and writeups:
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj
but i'm going to send you a link to a free download. that being said, please direct people to the bandcamp page if you want to share.
free dl:
(deleted)
it's just a zip file with mp3s in it. if the mac is funny with the %s try this:
(deleted)
and navigate to 33.
sister
sorry it took me so long to reply, i wanted to actually LISTEN to all this stuff, a few times, before responding.
some of it i really enjoyed. some of it i found to be plain noise. i imagine that is consistent with other feedback you must be receiving.
we listened to it through the stereo, and anything that had a steady beat, your nephew danced to. fun. the italian cereal commercial was his favourite. your nephew is getting big, almost a year. seven teeth.
hope all is well. i like getting an update now and then.
jessica
noise is one of the genres i work in, but it's generally pretty ordered - unless it's conceptually chaotic, which is true of a few pieces but is generally not the case. i do find that people often can't hear the compositional aspect underneath the aesthetics, but it has to do with not knowing what they're listening to. it's kind of like how a lot of people listen to jazz and just hear random notes, regardless of how written the parts may or may not be. or how people can't get their heads around the idea of a tone row, and just hear chaotic dissonance. i can't expect random people to hear structure in noise compositions any more than jazz artists or serialists can expect an untrained ear to understand what they're doing; i generally just have to point out that it's there, and it's up to them to spend the time unravelling it or not. that's not frustrating to me. what IS frustrating to me is when much less developed examples of noise are held up as something paradigmatic. but this happens in jazz, too, and is the inevitable result of taking something that requires a trained ear to understand and distributing it to untrained ears for analysis.
i'm expecting another major update some time in december. i'm still hoping to get the sixth record done by the end of the year, but it may be early next year. i'm then going to get stuck in finishing a matlab experiment in converting raw data to sound that i expect may be time consuming.
i've been getting a lot of work done over the last few months. i had some problems to start off. i had to order a set of headphone cables from sennheiser, which set me back a month. a hard drive died. i had a bad bios flash which shut my computer off for two months. &etc. but i've got a few hours of mixes done, now, and i've pulled a proper record out of it.
i've been going through chronologically and completing old projects. this is actually the first record i've completed since november, 2000 - and it's all material that was written and left incomplete over the course of 2001. it would be record number 5 if placed in the proper chronological order, which is dec 2001. there's roughly a record's worth of unfinished material per year up to about 2011, but i should be able to move faster through the rest of it.
this is the public bandcamp page with information and writeups:
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj
but i'm going to send you a link to a free download. that being said, please direct people to the bandcamp page if you want to share.
free dl:
(deleted)
it's just a zip file with mp3s in it. if the mac is funny with the %s try this:
(deleted)
and navigate to 33.
sister
sorry it took me so long to reply, i wanted to actually LISTEN to all this stuff, a few times, before responding.
some of it i really enjoyed. some of it i found to be plain noise. i imagine that is consistent with other feedback you must be receiving.
we listened to it through the stereo, and anything that had a steady beat, your nephew danced to. fun. the italian cereal commercial was his favourite. your nephew is getting big, almost a year. seven teeth.
hope all is well. i like getting an update now and then.
jessica
noise is one of the genres i work in, but it's generally pretty ordered - unless it's conceptually chaotic, which is true of a few pieces but is generally not the case. i do find that people often can't hear the compositional aspect underneath the aesthetics, but it has to do with not knowing what they're listening to. it's kind of like how a lot of people listen to jazz and just hear random notes, regardless of how written the parts may or may not be. or how people can't get their heads around the idea of a tone row, and just hear chaotic dissonance. i can't expect random people to hear structure in noise compositions any more than jazz artists or serialists can expect an untrained ear to understand what they're doing; i generally just have to point out that it's there, and it's up to them to spend the time unravelling it or not. that's not frustrating to me. what IS frustrating to me is when much less developed examples of noise are held up as something paradigmatic. but this happens in jazz, too, and is the inevitable result of taking something that requires a trained ear to understand and distributing it to untrained ears for analysis.
i'm expecting another major update some time in december. i'm still hoping to get the sixth record done by the end of the year, but it may be early next year. i'm then going to get stuck in finishing a matlab experiment in converting raw data to sound that i expect may be time consuming.
publishing jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj (inri052)
with that piece, i also finally finish off my fifth record, which happens to be inri033 (i posted inri032 a few weeks ago). it's been a long time since i've finished a full record; i've been recording fragments and compiling unfinished ideas for a full fourteen years. i came out here to get some work done, and i'm proud to say i've accomplished something. i'm dating the disc to december, 2001 because that's when the ideas were completed.
my fourth record (deny everything, late 2000) was a giant jump forward for me, in moving beyond the synth pop i was recording as a teenager. if somebody ever goes through this stuff and sorts it all out, they're going to draw a pretty big line in the sand there. the third record (inridiculous, 1999) was moving beyond it, but it somewhat purposefully lacked any kind of cohesion. it was, after all, *ridiculous*. deny everything is still fundamentally electronic music, but it's leaning towards something bigger.
this fifth disc jumps head first into modern classical music, while utilizing a lot of electronic textures. there's really very little that ties this into any kind of "rock" or "pop" tradition. i'd have to argue it's a fairly difficult listen, but i like it that way.
it's the full 80 minutes, shy a few seconds of it.
it won't be fourteen years until the sixth disc. in fact, it should require a lot less effort because the pieces are in a more complete state. it will be retreating substantially from the kind of formal pieces that are present here; it's more of a "rock" record. i'm hoping to get it up by the end of the year.
--
this is a full record of material documenting tracks written in 2001 that were in a more "serious" style and completed from 2001-2014.
the intent with the core of the material (1,3,6,7,8) was for it to be performed by live musicians one day. in early 2014, i came to the conclusion that this was not going to ever happen and was pleasantly surprised to learn that the technology had improved enough for a realistic presentation of the material using sequencers. these versions of (1,3,6) also include live guitars.
tracks 2 and 5 were salvaged from an aborted project meant to reinterpret classical guitar music as modern noise. the project was permanently aborted due to the loss of the sheet music that was necessary to finish it. more information here:
jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/js-adventures-in-guitarland
track 4 is an electric folk tune with heavy counterpoint that i was playing live as a party trick at the time.
the ordering is roughly chronological, based on the date the track took the form it exists in. tracks 1, 3 and 8 were written in 2001 and reinterpreted and completed in 2014. tracks 2 and 5 were interpreted and completed in 2001. track 4 was written in 2000 and reinterpreted and recorded in 2001. track 6 was written in 2001 and completed in 2006. track 7 was written in 1998, reinterpreted in 2001 and rendered in 2014. tracks 1-7 were sequenced on sept 9, 2014. final completion date is oct 3, 2014. as always, please use headphones.
credits:
j - electric piano, programming, classical & acoustic & electric guitars, ebow, digital & analog effects & treatments, organ, synthesizers, sound design, sampling, vocals, digital wave editing, loops, production, composition.
the various rendered electronic orchestras include acoustic bass, electric bass, synth bass, distorted electric guitar, clean electric guitar, steel string acoustic guitar, nylon guitar, trumpet, trombone, brass ensemble, orchestra hit, violin, cello, viola, contrabass, piano, synthesizers, mellotron, organ, bamboo flute, clarinet, flute, voice, music box, bells, clavinet, kalimba, drum kit, hand drums, drum machines and electronic drums.
released december 1, 2001
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj
my fourth record (deny everything, late 2000) was a giant jump forward for me, in moving beyond the synth pop i was recording as a teenager. if somebody ever goes through this stuff and sorts it all out, they're going to draw a pretty big line in the sand there. the third record (inridiculous, 1999) was moving beyond it, but it somewhat purposefully lacked any kind of cohesion. it was, after all, *ridiculous*. deny everything is still fundamentally electronic music, but it's leaning towards something bigger.
this fifth disc jumps head first into modern classical music, while utilizing a lot of electronic textures. there's really very little that ties this into any kind of "rock" or "pop" tradition. i'd have to argue it's a fairly difficult listen, but i like it that way.
it's the full 80 minutes, shy a few seconds of it.
it won't be fourteen years until the sixth disc. in fact, it should require a lot less effort because the pieces are in a more complete state. it will be retreating substantially from the kind of formal pieces that are present here; it's more of a "rock" record. i'm hoping to get it up by the end of the year.
--
this is a full record of material documenting tracks written in 2001 that were in a more "serious" style and completed from 2001-2014.
the intent with the core of the material (1,3,6,7,8) was for it to be performed by live musicians one day. in early 2014, i came to the conclusion that this was not going to ever happen and was pleasantly surprised to learn that the technology had improved enough for a realistic presentation of the material using sequencers. these versions of (1,3,6) also include live guitars.
tracks 2 and 5 were salvaged from an aborted project meant to reinterpret classical guitar music as modern noise. the project was permanently aborted due to the loss of the sheet music that was necessary to finish it. more information here:
jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/js-adventures-in-guitarland
track 4 is an electric folk tune with heavy counterpoint that i was playing live as a party trick at the time.
the ordering is roughly chronological, based on the date the track took the form it exists in. tracks 1, 3 and 8 were written in 2001 and reinterpreted and completed in 2014. tracks 2 and 5 were interpreted and completed in 2001. track 4 was written in 2000 and reinterpreted and recorded in 2001. track 6 was written in 2001 and completed in 2006. track 7 was written in 1998, reinterpreted in 2001 and rendered in 2014. tracks 1-7 were sequenced on sept 9, 2014. final completion date is oct 3, 2014. as always, please use headphones.
credits:
j - electric piano, programming, classical & acoustic & electric guitars, ebow, digital & analog effects & treatments, organ, synthesizers, sound design, sampling, vocals, digital wave editing, loops, production, composition.
the various rendered electronic orchestras include acoustic bass, electric bass, synth bass, distorted electric guitar, clean electric guitar, steel string acoustic guitar, nylon guitar, trumpet, trombone, brass ensemble, orchestra hit, violin, cello, viola, contrabass, piano, synthesizers, mellotron, organ, bamboo flute, clarinet, flute, voice, music box, bells, clavinet, kalimba, drum kit, hand drums, drum machines and electronic drums.
released december 1, 2001
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj
publishing existence (inri050)
that completes inri031.
i was going to do a sped up version, but it just sounded goofy. that leaves five versions of this. it's a heavy piece - is 70 minutes of this too much? that's your decision...
==
1) so, the root of the track comes out of a voice leading assignment for choir, but i do remember why i split it into multiple voices, now - i was writing way outside the range for voice. the result is that the higher pitches aren't really realistic, and more or less can't be. this is something close to what i wanted it to sound like, before i realized that. considering it's electronic, there's not really any good reason to conform to reality in this respect. written in the fall of 2001. rendered, remastered and remixed in late september and early october, 2014. this render is from october 3, 2014.
2) this version merely connects the 9 voices to the proper string instrument, based on register. i suppose it's a chamber piece. this simplicity and homogeneity of tone allows for a clearer exploration of the voice leading. written in the fall of 2001. rendered, remastered and remixed in late september and early october, 2014. this render is from october 3, 2014.
3) this is the arrangement i developed in 2001 after i determined the choir was infeasible, but upgraded from the soundblaster to vst instruments. written in the fall of 2001. rendered, remastered and remixed in late september and early october, 2014. this render is from october 3, 2014.
4) the final version of this track is a mix of tracks 2, 3 and 4 on this record. written in the fall of 2001. rendered, remastered and remixed in late september and early october, 2014. this render is from october 3, 2014.
i was going to do a sped up version, but it just sounded goofy. that leaves five versions of this. it's a heavy piece - is 70 minutes of this too much? that's your decision...
==
this was a
piece i wrote up in the fall of 2001. i can't remember exactly what the
root of it was, but it had something to do with a voice-leading
assignment for what was the equivalent of a course in music theory 101.
the root of the piece may consequently come from what was presented to
me. i can't recall exactly - but i believe the assignment was to build
the different voices up.
my negative relationship with music theory is stated throughout this page and was well established well before the end of 2001. i had an interest in the music theory course for the purposes of deconstructing the theory - in the context of writing, specifically, and not performing. i actually have one of those classic stories - i failed this course. it is actually the only course i have ever legitimately received an F in. hey, if einstein can fail math, i can fail music theory.
the story actually revolves around sight-reading aspect of the course, and specifically it's vocal content. there were three aspects of the course (theory, vocal sight-reading and african drumming which i'm thinking was meant to be a rhythmic component but was really just a ridiculous waste of time). i really wish they would have let me sight read on a guitar, or even a piano, because i'm just simply not a talented singer; i've never had aspirations to become one, and i had a lot of problems controlling my vocals. even with that being said, the reality is that i had a very low level of interest in this. i probably could have passed the course if i spent less time on abstract algebra and more time singing in the mirror, but i just couldn't be bothered...
i really disapprove of the way the course was designed. i was interested in learning about music theory, and needed the course as a pre-req for more advanced courses, which i never ended up taking. i still don't fully understand why i had to pass a singing exam to take further composition courses. the best answer i got was that the school didn't want graduates who couldn't pass a singing exam, but i was at no point enrolled in a b. music so it's a pretty weak response.
anyways, this was a voice-leading assignment that i perverted into something mildly atonal and then built up into something else. you can hear it if you listen, except that it's all "wrong". i'd have to sit down and analyze it to come to a more detailed exposition on it's "wrongness", and i'm not going to, but it's not hard to hear how "wrong" it is, either.
i was clearly listening to a lot of glass at the time, but this goes beyond his medievalism. i'm using so many "wrong" notes that it's ultimately just chromatic - although there's no tone rows or anything that's formally serialist about it. it's not meant to abolish the structure so much as it's meant to just flaunt the rules. that gives it an almost satanic feel, in the context of a vocal piece using "forbidden" intervals.
but, looking back, i think that what the piece really explores is existential anguish. i was in the second year of a math degree (after switching from physics after switching from software engineering) and really had little idea where i was going with it. i was considering switching into music and probably would have had i not failed the singing exam. the thing is i actually knew i was going to fail the course at that point, and was just feeling lost as a result of it. i ended up in math as this sort of default choice, vaguely thinking i might end up teaching somewhere but not having any real interest in it...
so much choice, so few options. i suppose that this is how i expressed what i was feeling about this reality at the time.
i can't remember the exact way this happened, but i believe the piece was initially written for voice (as a voice-leading assignment) and then expanded into further voices and then converted into a composition for nine instruments. i believe the primary reason i converted it from a vocal piece is that i ended up writing well outside a realistic vocal range, but i've kept the electronic choir parts as they are because i'm not really restricted to reality in this way. i've picked halloween as the date, but that's symbolic - it was around then, anyway. it would have been around december that it was put aside, because i don't remember working on it after i moved.
i've included the midi files of the original composition, if you'd like to mess with it on your own.
written in the fall of 2001. rendered, remastered and remixed in late september and early october, 2014. as always, please use headphones.
my negative relationship with music theory is stated throughout this page and was well established well before the end of 2001. i had an interest in the music theory course for the purposes of deconstructing the theory - in the context of writing, specifically, and not performing. i actually have one of those classic stories - i failed this course. it is actually the only course i have ever legitimately received an F in. hey, if einstein can fail math, i can fail music theory.
the story actually revolves around sight-reading aspect of the course, and specifically it's vocal content. there were three aspects of the course (theory, vocal sight-reading and african drumming which i'm thinking was meant to be a rhythmic component but was really just a ridiculous waste of time). i really wish they would have let me sight read on a guitar, or even a piano, because i'm just simply not a talented singer; i've never had aspirations to become one, and i had a lot of problems controlling my vocals. even with that being said, the reality is that i had a very low level of interest in this. i probably could have passed the course if i spent less time on abstract algebra and more time singing in the mirror, but i just couldn't be bothered...
i really disapprove of the way the course was designed. i was interested in learning about music theory, and needed the course as a pre-req for more advanced courses, which i never ended up taking. i still don't fully understand why i had to pass a singing exam to take further composition courses. the best answer i got was that the school didn't want graduates who couldn't pass a singing exam, but i was at no point enrolled in a b. music so it's a pretty weak response.
anyways, this was a voice-leading assignment that i perverted into something mildly atonal and then built up into something else. you can hear it if you listen, except that it's all "wrong". i'd have to sit down and analyze it to come to a more detailed exposition on it's "wrongness", and i'm not going to, but it's not hard to hear how "wrong" it is, either.
i was clearly listening to a lot of glass at the time, but this goes beyond his medievalism. i'm using so many "wrong" notes that it's ultimately just chromatic - although there's no tone rows or anything that's formally serialist about it. it's not meant to abolish the structure so much as it's meant to just flaunt the rules. that gives it an almost satanic feel, in the context of a vocal piece using "forbidden" intervals.
but, looking back, i think that what the piece really explores is existential anguish. i was in the second year of a math degree (after switching from physics after switching from software engineering) and really had little idea where i was going with it. i was considering switching into music and probably would have had i not failed the singing exam. the thing is i actually knew i was going to fail the course at that point, and was just feeling lost as a result of it. i ended up in math as this sort of default choice, vaguely thinking i might end up teaching somewhere but not having any real interest in it...
so much choice, so few options. i suppose that this is how i expressed what i was feeling about this reality at the time.
i can't remember the exact way this happened, but i believe the piece was initially written for voice (as a voice-leading assignment) and then expanded into further voices and then converted into a composition for nine instruments. i believe the primary reason i converted it from a vocal piece is that i ended up writing well outside a realistic vocal range, but i've kept the electronic choir parts as they are because i'm not really restricted to reality in this way. i've picked halloween as the date, but that's symbolic - it was around then, anyway. it would have been around december that it was put aside, because i don't remember working on it after i moved.
i've included the midi files of the original composition, if you'd like to mess with it on your own.
written in the fall of 2001. rendered, remastered and remixed in late september and early october, 2014. as always, please use headphones.
credits
j - programming, effects, mixing, production, composition.
the various rendered electronic orchestras include voice, piano, bells, synthesizer, violin, viola, cello, contrabass, electric bass and guitar.
released october 31, 2001
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/existence
the various rendered electronic orchestras include voice, piano, bells, synthesizer, violin, viola, cello, contrabass, electric bass and guitar.
released october 31, 2001
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/existence
1) so, the root of the track comes out of a voice leading assignment for choir, but i do remember why i split it into multiple voices, now - i was writing way outside the range for voice. the result is that the higher pitches aren't really realistic, and more or less can't be. this is something close to what i wanted it to sound like, before i realized that. considering it's electronic, there's not really any good reason to conform to reality in this respect. written in the fall of 2001. rendered, remastered and remixed in late september and early october, 2014. this render is from october 3, 2014.
2) this version merely connects the 9 voices to the proper string instrument, based on register. i suppose it's a chamber piece. this simplicity and homogeneity of tone allows for a clearer exploration of the voice leading. written in the fall of 2001. rendered, remastered and remixed in late september and early october, 2014. this render is from october 3, 2014.
3) this is the arrangement i developed in 2001 after i determined the choir was infeasible, but upgraded from the soundblaster to vst instruments. written in the fall of 2001. rendered, remastered and remixed in late september and early october, 2014. this render is from october 3, 2014.
4) the final version of this track is a mix of tracks 2, 3 and 4 on this record. written in the fall of 2001. rendered, remastered and remixed in late september and early october, 2014. this render is from october 3, 2014.
Thursday, October 2, 2014
the buses in detroit end ridiculously early. 9, 10 o'clock. yeah - absurd. i'm still mad that i can't take my bike under the tunnel, but it's been a non-issue so far because everything i've been to has been within walking distance from the tunnel. i was thinking about going to hamtramck tonight but it doesn't seem like i'm going to be able to get home until the morning - even if the show is over before 11:00. the show would have to actually end before 10:00 to catch the bus back...
it's not far, either - it's a twenty minute bus ride. the buses just end at 9 or 10.
i know, it's detroit - everybody has a car. says the 85 year-old. that hasn't been true in decades. it probably has more to do with public safety, but it's hardly safer to walk an hour and a half back to the tunnel.
they're building a light rail up woodward and i think this might help a bit. but i'm very seriously considering getting a bike and just parking it in the parking garage at the border.
there's advertisements all over the buses in ottawa - take the bus if you're out drinking. they even have free bus service on certain days where people are expected to drink a lot.
with a bus schedule that ends that early, i'd expect that detroit would have a pretty high dui rate.
i will probably purposefully strand myself in detroit over night at least once in the upcoming year, but the show tonight isn't worth stranding myself for.
it's not far, either - it's a twenty minute bus ride. the buses just end at 9 or 10.
i know, it's detroit - everybody has a car. says the 85 year-old. that hasn't been true in decades. it probably has more to do with public safety, but it's hardly safer to walk an hour and a half back to the tunnel.
they're building a light rail up woodward and i think this might help a bit. but i'm very seriously considering getting a bike and just parking it in the parking garage at the border.
there's advertisements all over the buses in ottawa - take the bus if you're out drinking. they even have free bus service on certain days where people are expected to drink a lot.
with a bus schedule that ends that early, i'd expect that detroit would have a pretty high dui rate.
i will probably purposefully strand myself in detroit over night at least once in the upcoming year, but the show tonight isn't worth stranding myself for.
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
existence (soundblaster mix)
written in the fall of 2001. rendered, remastered and remixed in late september and early october, 2014. this render is from october 1, 2014
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/soundblaster-mix-6
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/existence
(bandcamp is being weird with me with the upload. they're identical. the single version is working; hopefully, the thru version will be up shortly.
that was actually the time consuming part. the next five vst mixes should be rapidly constructed. there will be one for voice, one arranged the way i had arranged it, one for stings, one that is a combination of those three and one that is sped up a little.)
i somehow lost my original render of this, which was spliced from two soundcards and put through some pre-amps, so it's not exactly as it was back in 2001, when i initially constructed it. it captures the idea, though.
there's a longer write up on the page.
this is the last midi-oriented piece in the archives for a little while - about six months.
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/soundblaster-mix-6
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/existence
(bandcamp is being weird with me with the upload. they're identical. the single version is working; hopefully, the thru version will be up shortly.
that was actually the time consuming part. the next five vst mixes should be rapidly constructed. there will be one for voice, one arranged the way i had arranged it, one for stings, one that is a combination of those three and one that is sped up a little.)
i somehow lost my original render of this, which was spliced from two soundcards and put through some pre-amps, so it's not exactly as it was back in 2001, when i initially constructed it. it captures the idea, though.
there's a longer write up on the page.
this is the last midi-oriented piece in the archives for a little while - about six months.
15,000 views
the curve hasn't updated yet, but it's beat. significantly. enough that i plowed through something else, too - 15K hits.
ok, so i got the soundcard mix done, i think. i ended up sending the eight separate mixes out through cubase into one, so it's a bit thicker than i remembered, but that was what i was trying to do in layering them, anyways. i want a fresh set of ears to hear it, so i'm going to wait until the morning, but that will likely be up shortly after i awake.
it's probably going to be the only published soundblaster mix, due to time restraints. the other 4 full choir mixes will be vst-based, and then i'll post a sped up version, as well.
it's probably going to be the only published soundblaster mix, due to time restraints. the other 4 full choir mixes will be vst-based, and then i'll post a sped up version, as well.
took off for a few hours to see cloud nothings in detroit
i caught cloud nothings in detroit tonight....
i'm actually not going to write much of a review. i've been listening to their newest record quite a lot this year, so i was very familiar with the material; it was nicely loud, harmonically dissonant, ironically obnoxious and just a little bit catchy, and that's what you're looking for with this. did i mention it was loud?
they closed with wasted days, which was the most obvious thing possible, but a nice head cave, nonetheless.
obviously, the stage was a little smaller...
http://dghjdfsghkrdghdgja.appspot.com/categories/shows/2014/09/30.html
i'm actually not going to write much of a review. i've been listening to their newest record quite a lot this year, so i was very familiar with the material; it was nicely loud, harmonically dissonant, ironically obnoxious and just a little bit catchy, and that's what you're looking for with this. did i mention it was loud?
they closed with wasted days, which was the most obvious thing possible, but a nice head cave, nonetheless.
obviously, the stage was a little smaller...
http://dghjdfsghkrdghdgja.appspot.com/categories/shows/2014/09/30.html
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
wow; i was getting all kinds of noise from all kinds of places. yes, the sound font is noisy. i'm almost wondering if it's meant to emulate a mellotron, because it sounds like tape noise. but it's not at all the real core of the problem
i was actually getting a steady, but inaudible, hum coming from the cd player. muting everything except the midi out cleared up a ton of it - and, again, i do explicitly recall always doing that, back in the day. not something i've had to do recently. you don't really notice it in general, but it was badly exaggerating the hiss under certain high notes...
the eq on the card was weird, too; just turning it down a little cut a bit of the edge off.
so, i'm rerendering yet again. all of it. this is going to be the last render, though - it's silly to be neurotic about the midi mix, when it's the vst mix that is the final version.
what i really need to do is just get the 8 renders into cubase, and play with the eq from there, rather than try and remember what i did in cool edit 14 years ago....
i don't remember when i deleted the old render. i think it was like '08, and by accident. don't do that...
i was actually getting a steady, but inaudible, hum coming from the cd player. muting everything except the midi out cleared up a ton of it - and, again, i do explicitly recall always doing that, back in the day. not something i've had to do recently. you don't really notice it in general, but it was badly exaggerating the hiss under certain high notes...
the eq on the card was weird, too; just turning it down a little cut a bit of the edge off.
so, i'm rerendering yet again. all of it. this is going to be the last render, though - it's silly to be neurotic about the midi mix, when it's the vst mix that is the final version.
what i really need to do is just get the 8 renders into cubase, and play with the eq from there, rather than try and remember what i did in cool edit 14 years ago....
i don't remember when i deleted the old render. i think it was like '08, and by accident. don't do that...
Monday, September 29, 2014
caulking gun
hi.
i got a third coat in today, then ran out of caulk. it *looks* like it could use another coat, but, putting my hand up against it, i no longer feel a draft. so i'm content to leave it like that, but the truth is that i don't really know if it's enough. i'll check again tonight when the temperature comes down a bit, but it really seems tight. clearly, the gap was pretty deep to need three coats and still look like it needs more. but i think you can take your caulking gun back when you want.
j
i got a third coat in today, then ran out of caulk. it *looks* like it could use another coat, but, putting my hand up against it, i no longer feel a draft. so i'm content to leave it like that, but the truth is that i don't really know if it's enough. i'll check again tonight when the temperature comes down a bit, but it really seems tight. clearly, the gap was pretty deep to need three coats and still look like it needs more. but i think you can take your caulking gun back when you want.
j
i was on track to beat august most of september, but it's dipped the last few days and it's now very unlikely that i'm going to get there. it'll be off by about 100 hits.
i therefore don't care about the curve any more....
it's actually probably for the best. i think i was wasting too much time trolling to beat the curve, with little concrete return. i simply wasn't generating much of an audience out of it. just empty metrics.
i'm not going to stop trolling altogether, but the recent trolls i've been posting on viral videos are going to stop. the audience is too broad for the music i'm making, so it's just a waste of time.
in a broader scheme, i guess i have a bit of an internet addiction, and that's how it's been working itself out. it's worked itself out in a lot of ways for a long time - usenet, mailing lists, forums, facebook, now youtube....i jump...i should really stop just for that reason. i get lost in it and it eats away time i should be spending doing something else. i pried myself away from facebook about a year ago by deleting almost everybody, and a few months later i'm basically glued to youtube wasting my time the same way...
so, yes: the internet addiction has been restricting my progress in completing these pieces. i'm aware of it. i have been the whole time, but i was rationalizing it with the curve. i'm increasing views! it's productive! but the curve is gone. i've gained some perspective on it. i'm going to show more restraint..
i think the key for now is just avoiding the "youtube trends" page altogether and retreating back to the habits i had a few months ago, which weren't destructive.
so, i'm going to have to expect a bit of a dip for october. but the reality is that getting less hits from better traffic sources is better than getting more hits from weaker traffic sources.
the other thing is i've started smoking again. some people connect smoking to coffee. i connect it to internet debates. post a reply, go for a smoke, check for replies, repeat. i need to stop that, too.
so, i'm rebooting yet again - no youtube trolling, no smoking, more focus on the tunes. hopefully this one sticks....
there's a lot of addiction in my family, but i really don't have any problems with alcohol or drugs - although i should clarify that i haven't done any serious drugs for the precise reason that there's addiction in my family. i've turned down every opportunity i've had to try cocaine because i *know* it's going to get me. the idea of staying up for days at a time is something i'd get very attached to, so attached i'd be dead within a year. i'll just drink two pots of coffee a day instead, thanks.
the only thing that's ever really gotten me hard is the internet. i'm not in denial when i say i don't have much of a problem quitting smoking (i do it all the time...for weeks...but then go back to it...), but more of a problem in *wanting* to quit smoking.
with the internet, it's really more the classic problem of wanting to spend less time ranting and having difficulty controlling myself with it.
i therefore don't care about the curve any more....
it's actually probably for the best. i think i was wasting too much time trolling to beat the curve, with little concrete return. i simply wasn't generating much of an audience out of it. just empty metrics.
i'm not going to stop trolling altogether, but the recent trolls i've been posting on viral videos are going to stop. the audience is too broad for the music i'm making, so it's just a waste of time.
in a broader scheme, i guess i have a bit of an internet addiction, and that's how it's been working itself out. it's worked itself out in a lot of ways for a long time - usenet, mailing lists, forums, facebook, now youtube....i jump...i should really stop just for that reason. i get lost in it and it eats away time i should be spending doing something else. i pried myself away from facebook about a year ago by deleting almost everybody, and a few months later i'm basically glued to youtube wasting my time the same way...
so, yes: the internet addiction has been restricting my progress in completing these pieces. i'm aware of it. i have been the whole time, but i was rationalizing it with the curve. i'm increasing views! it's productive! but the curve is gone. i've gained some perspective on it. i'm going to show more restraint..
i think the key for now is just avoiding the "youtube trends" page altogether and retreating back to the habits i had a few months ago, which weren't destructive.
so, i'm going to have to expect a bit of a dip for october. but the reality is that getting less hits from better traffic sources is better than getting more hits from weaker traffic sources.
the other thing is i've started smoking again. some people connect smoking to coffee. i connect it to internet debates. post a reply, go for a smoke, check for replies, repeat. i need to stop that, too.
so, i'm rebooting yet again - no youtube trolling, no smoking, more focus on the tunes. hopefully this one sticks....
there's a lot of addiction in my family, but i really don't have any problems with alcohol or drugs - although i should clarify that i haven't done any serious drugs for the precise reason that there's addiction in my family. i've turned down every opportunity i've had to try cocaine because i *know* it's going to get me. the idea of staying up for days at a time is something i'd get very attached to, so attached i'd be dead within a year. i'll just drink two pots of coffee a day instead, thanks.
the only thing that's ever really gotten me hard is the internet. i'm not in denial when i say i don't have much of a problem quitting smoking (i do it all the time...for weeks...but then go back to it...), but more of a problem in *wanting* to quit smoking.
with the internet, it's really more the classic problem of wanting to spend less time ranting and having difficulty controlling myself with it.
Sunday, September 28, 2014
ok, i think i got it...
i had to remap the default midi mapper out to the soundblaster because the m-audio card just sounded weird - it's accenting different notes and stuff. most of what i've been dumping has been through the soundblaster's wavetable directly, so this wasn't necessary before. i do remember that i had the file playing through the windows out. so i've now got the raw components as i remember hearing them back in '01, it's just a process of cutting them up and mixing them a bit.
i think i may have actually had this through the soundblaster's pre-amp, as well. i'm not sure where to find that software, or if it's even compatible with xp. i would have been running 16-bit 98 or me up until about 2004, when i finally upgraded to install matlab. i'm still running xp on this box...
i wouldn't remember the patch, anyways.
so, i don't think i can get this as close as the others. i think i've got it as close as it's going to get for the morning...
i'd actually kind of like to get that "environmental audio" reinstalled. i think i ended up uninstalling it because it was eating too many resources and pissing me off, but it's not going to be a problem on this machine. i've lost the disc, and this is so old and who knows if it's compatible with the image...
i have lots of other pre-amps. but these ones were actually very heavy, and very clear. in general i'd rather do processing on a clean signal on the way in, and if i really want to use that kind of dsp i have lots of options in the mixer, but it's still kind of silly to not have the option, when it's sitting there.
there was a soundfont app in there, too, which i think i only used once.
next reinstall, i'll experiment with it. somebody remind me...
in the end, with this, *you* don't know what it sounded like 14 years ago, and i need to remember that. i want to get it as close as i can, but it's not like anybody's going to call me on it, either.
i had to remap the default midi mapper out to the soundblaster because the m-audio card just sounded weird - it's accenting different notes and stuff. most of what i've been dumping has been through the soundblaster's wavetable directly, so this wasn't necessary before. i do remember that i had the file playing through the windows out. so i've now got the raw components as i remember hearing them back in '01, it's just a process of cutting them up and mixing them a bit.
i think i may have actually had this through the soundblaster's pre-amp, as well. i'm not sure where to find that software, or if it's even compatible with xp. i would have been running 16-bit 98 or me up until about 2004, when i finally upgraded to install matlab. i'm still running xp on this box...
i wouldn't remember the patch, anyways.
so, i don't think i can get this as close as the others. i think i've got it as close as it's going to get for the morning...
i'd actually kind of like to get that "environmental audio" reinstalled. i think i ended up uninstalling it because it was eating too many resources and pissing me off, but it's not going to be a problem on this machine. i've lost the disc, and this is so old and who knows if it's compatible with the image...
i have lots of other pre-amps. but these ones were actually very heavy, and very clear. in general i'd rather do processing on a clean signal on the way in, and if i really want to use that kind of dsp i have lots of options in the mixer, but it's still kind of silly to not have the option, when it's sitting there.
there was a soundfont app in there, too, which i think i only used once.
next reinstall, i'll experiment with it. somebody remind me...
in the end, with this, *you* don't know what it sounded like 14 years ago, and i need to remember that. i want to get it as close as i can, but it's not like anybody's going to call me on it, either.
i've been aware for a while that people seem to be subscribing to the wrong feed. putting a like up on this page or subscribing to me on youtube indicates you're interested in the music - and i've certainly had a few people interested in the music, but not nearly that many, from what i can tell. my channel is an artist channel. if you want to follow my comments, you should be following me on google+, because that's where they get sent from.
so, what i think is happening is that people are liking my comments and subscribing to my artist feed, then interacting with the "wrong" content.
the reason it can be a tad offsetting for me is that it builds up false expectations. i'd like to think that uploading a video with 200 subscribers might mean at least 50 will watch it. but that number seems to be more like 10. i'm getting far more hits from random surfing...
so, i said i don't "get it". i do "get it". i perhaps should have said "i don't see the use of this subscribers thing, but...".
from my perspective, i'd probably argue they should consolidate the feed so that "subscribing" to deathtokoalas is a one-click operation that sends both comments and uploads to the feed. the user should then have the option to subscribe to comments, uploads or both - and i should get the metrics, so i can measure how much interest is tied into what.
as it is right now, i don't really have a clear understanding of how many of the 200 people are interested in reading my comments, are interested in listening to my music or are just subbing out of a sense of solidarity.
i do realize that it's weighted very heavily towards the comments, though, and that the result in most cases is just a dead feed, creating a dead sub.
it's especially confusing, considering that i comment on a lot of social issues. i'm not really that close to either, but i'm closer to deadmau5 than la dispute; most of my stuff is instrumental, so deadmau5 is a better comparison just on that basis alone. there's some possibility that a deadmau5 fan may get something in the feed and dig it. but, there's really little reason to think that the subs that come out of solidarity for a feminist statement or a geo-political analysis or an anarchist rant are going to translate into any kind of interest in the music - that solidarity could be coming from the world's biggest folk fan, or a hip-hop purist, or an older person that listens exclusively to "classical" music. having that all mixed up into a confused user base that doesn't seem to know what they want to subscribe to just creates a number that doesn't really have much meaning, in the context of what i'm creating and what i'm doing to promote it.
so, what i think is happening is that people are liking my comments and subscribing to my artist feed, then interacting with the "wrong" content.
the reason it can be a tad offsetting for me is that it builds up false expectations. i'd like to think that uploading a video with 200 subscribers might mean at least 50 will watch it. but that number seems to be more like 10. i'm getting far more hits from random surfing...
so, i said i don't "get it". i do "get it". i perhaps should have said "i don't see the use of this subscribers thing, but...".
from my perspective, i'd probably argue they should consolidate the feed so that "subscribing" to deathtokoalas is a one-click operation that sends both comments and uploads to the feed. the user should then have the option to subscribe to comments, uploads or both - and i should get the metrics, so i can measure how much interest is tied into what.
as it is right now, i don't really have a clear understanding of how many of the 200 people are interested in reading my comments, are interested in listening to my music or are just subbing out of a sense of solidarity.
i do realize that it's weighted very heavily towards the comments, though, and that the result in most cases is just a dead feed, creating a dead sub.
it's especially confusing, considering that i comment on a lot of social issues. i'm not really that close to either, but i'm closer to deadmau5 than la dispute; most of my stuff is instrumental, so deadmau5 is a better comparison just on that basis alone. there's some possibility that a deadmau5 fan may get something in the feed and dig it. but, there's really little reason to think that the subs that come out of solidarity for a feminist statement or a geo-political analysis or an anarchist rant are going to translate into any kind of interest in the music - that solidarity could be coming from the world's biggest folk fan, or a hip-hop purist, or an older person that listens exclusively to "classical" music. having that all mixed up into a confused user base that doesn't seem to know what they want to subscribe to just creates a number that doesn't really have much meaning, in the context of what i'm creating and what i'm doing to promote it.
Saturday, September 27, 2014
i spent most of the day yesterday rendering through different cards. i have a rough memory of rendering the file twice through separate outs and then pasting it together near the end. i've been trying to jog my memory in reconstructing that with mild success...
as this track is very long (14 minutes), i'm going to have to be careful in restricting what i upload until the listing is final. the single may end up being non-comprehensive due to time restraints. i'm currently thinking of the following.
1) raw midi choir
2) raw midi arranged
3) 1 + 2 merged
4) 3 sped up
5) vst choir
6) vst arranged
7) vst strings
8) 4 + 5 + 6
9) 8 sped up
currently, (8) is the most likely candidate for final version.
as this track is very long (14 minutes), i'm going to have to be careful in restricting what i upload until the listing is final. the single may end up being non-comprehensive due to time restraints. i'm currently thinking of the following.
1) raw midi choir
2) raw midi arranged
3) 1 + 2 merged
4) 3 sped up
5) vst choir
6) vst arranged
7) vst strings
8) 4 + 5 + 6
9) 8 sped up
currently, (8) is the most likely candidate for final version.
roach update - good news
hi.
i just want to give an update on the roach situation because it's the end of the summer and proper communication on the subject is a lease obligation on my behalf.
i guess it would have been the end of may or the beginning of june that i blocked the holes up and did a significant amount of spraying around areas that i thought they might be considering nesting. as mentioned, i didn't ever get the impression the nest was in the apartment, but that they were coming through holes in the wall from somewhere else. the concern was to stop them from nesting. i have not seen an adult roach in the apartment since the beginning of june, so this has been mostly successful.
i think what i did eliminated everything except any possible egg populations, which i couldn't get at (there may have been some deep under the sink) and which the spray would not be effective against. so, the concern was that they would repopulate as they hatch,
however, that doesn't seem to have happened. i've seen a handful of baby roaches in odd places that probably were hatched in the apartment, but they've mostly been found dead.
i also noticed a spike in the centipede population after i sprayed, but this is probably a function of them coming out looking for food. when you see a lot of centipedes, it means you probably have roaches near by; certainly, there is a source of insects for them to eat. that also indicates that the roach population was dwindling or gone. note that the centipedes will also eat the egg sacs. based on what i can observe, it seems like they may have gotten almost all of them.
the next thing i noticed was that the spiders started disappearing. i'd rather have a few spiders near the windows than flies floating around, so i prefer not to kill them, but the centipedes must have been eating the spiders. now i've got more flies than i'd like, but hopefully the spiders come back...
the centipedes then mostly disappeared altogether, indicating the food source had been exhausted.
it's still too early to declare them gone. i think they must be around somewhere, not too far from here, but they don't seem to be present in the apartment right now.
we'll find out in the next few weeks if they have another entry point, as the temperature begins to fall and they seek refuge indoors for the winter.
j
i just want to give an update on the roach situation because it's the end of the summer and proper communication on the subject is a lease obligation on my behalf.
i guess it would have been the end of may or the beginning of june that i blocked the holes up and did a significant amount of spraying around areas that i thought they might be considering nesting. as mentioned, i didn't ever get the impression the nest was in the apartment, but that they were coming through holes in the wall from somewhere else. the concern was to stop them from nesting. i have not seen an adult roach in the apartment since the beginning of june, so this has been mostly successful.
i think what i did eliminated everything except any possible egg populations, which i couldn't get at (there may have been some deep under the sink) and which the spray would not be effective against. so, the concern was that they would repopulate as they hatch,
however, that doesn't seem to have happened. i've seen a handful of baby roaches in odd places that probably were hatched in the apartment, but they've mostly been found dead.
i also noticed a spike in the centipede population after i sprayed, but this is probably a function of them coming out looking for food. when you see a lot of centipedes, it means you probably have roaches near by; certainly, there is a source of insects for them to eat. that also indicates that the roach population was dwindling or gone. note that the centipedes will also eat the egg sacs. based on what i can observe, it seems like they may have gotten almost all of them.
the next thing i noticed was that the spiders started disappearing. i'd rather have a few spiders near the windows than flies floating around, so i prefer not to kill them, but the centipedes must have been eating the spiders. now i've got more flies than i'd like, but hopefully the spiders come back...
the centipedes then mostly disappeared altogether, indicating the food source had been exhausted.
it's still too early to declare them gone. i think they must be around somewhere, not too far from here, but they don't seem to be present in the apartment right now.
we'll find out in the next few weeks if they have another entry point, as the temperature begins to fall and they seek refuge indoors for the winter.
j
got an interesting question today.
"would you turn on ads if one of your videos went viral?"
i would, but i'd have to be sure of it and it would be temporary.
am i being a fool? am i getting ripped off? given that i have a little less than 15,000 views, if i had ads on i'd have generated around $15 since december, 2013 - and i'd have to give half to the government. for that amount, it's not worth alienating possible listeners. as i've stated before: the video *is* an ad. the product is at bandcamp. youtube is an advertising portal to try and generate bandcamp traffic. it's worked about as well as i could hope it might, but hasn't generated any actual income. you have to be realistic in this market - an independent, abstract artist that manages to sell even one album in this climate of entitlement to free downloads is extremely lucky. that's reality. there's some talent involved in herding the horses, but it's just bullshit luck underlying any decision to or not to drink.
so, i slap an ad for some movie or something on the video that is itself an ad, and i'm just redirecting traffic away from bandcamp. that's a far worse proposal than the $7.50 i might have in my pocket right now could justify offsetting for.
if i ever see anything start to pick up at over a few hundred hits a day then the whole calculus changes and i have to be rational about accepting revenue. but that's not realistic, given the nature of the music. there's really little reason to think i'm ever going to be in a position where generating ad revenue from youtube becomes more attractive to me than directing traffic to bandcamp and consequently little reason to think there'll ever be ads on anything.
but, would i, if it made sense? sure. there's no principle underlying the decision other than rejecting putting somebody else's ad on my ad.
and, i mean, i used a movie as an example. even worse would be google using it's algorithms to place another music video in front of mine that is specifically tailored to the individual's tastes. that is just about the *worst* thing i could possibly do.
it's like, "great, i've got your attention. now, listen to this other person's music instead.". derp?
i really only need to sell a handful of records to make up that $15 in "lost" revenue. it hasn't happened yet, but i think it's better to place my hopes in that than to think i'm ever going to generate anything worthwhile from ads.
"would you turn on ads if one of your videos went viral?"
i would, but i'd have to be sure of it and it would be temporary.
am i being a fool? am i getting ripped off? given that i have a little less than 15,000 views, if i had ads on i'd have generated around $15 since december, 2013 - and i'd have to give half to the government. for that amount, it's not worth alienating possible listeners. as i've stated before: the video *is* an ad. the product is at bandcamp. youtube is an advertising portal to try and generate bandcamp traffic. it's worked about as well as i could hope it might, but hasn't generated any actual income. you have to be realistic in this market - an independent, abstract artist that manages to sell even one album in this climate of entitlement to free downloads is extremely lucky. that's reality. there's some talent involved in herding the horses, but it's just bullshit luck underlying any decision to or not to drink.
so, i slap an ad for some movie or something on the video that is itself an ad, and i'm just redirecting traffic away from bandcamp. that's a far worse proposal than the $7.50 i might have in my pocket right now could justify offsetting for.
if i ever see anything start to pick up at over a few hundred hits a day then the whole calculus changes and i have to be rational about accepting revenue. but that's not realistic, given the nature of the music. there's really little reason to think i'm ever going to be in a position where generating ad revenue from youtube becomes more attractive to me than directing traffic to bandcamp and consequently little reason to think there'll ever be ads on anything.
but, would i, if it made sense? sure. there's no principle underlying the decision other than rejecting putting somebody else's ad on my ad.
and, i mean, i used a movie as an example. even worse would be google using it's algorithms to place another music video in front of mine that is specifically tailored to the individual's tastes. that is just about the *worst* thing i could possibly do.
it's like, "great, i've got your attention. now, listen to this other person's music instead.". derp?
i really only need to sell a handful of records to make up that $15 in "lost" revenue. it hasn't happened yet, but i think it's better to place my hopes in that than to think i'm ever going to generate anything worthwhile from ads.
Friday, September 26, 2014
the choir should be relatively quick to render and mix, but it actually existed in two formats, both written in 2001. one is entirely voice and the other splits the vocal parts into different instruments. both versions are going to end up uploaded in some way or other to the following places, but i'm not sure how, yet.
1) midi version to thru
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/thru
2) updated version to jjjjjjjjjjjjj. this will complete the record.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj
3) multiple versions to the choir single, as with other singles for the period:
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/unnamed-choral-piece
so, inri031-034 will be up in a day or two, and i'll jump to inri035 (which will take a bit longer) from there.
1) midi version to thru
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/thru
2) updated version to jjjjjjjjjjjjj. this will complete the record.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj
3) multiple versions to the choir single, as with other singles for the period:
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/unnamed-choral-piece
so, inri031-034 will be up in a day or two, and i'll jump to inri035 (which will take a bit longer) from there.
yeah, no. this is a rabit song. it's not that i can't get the bass out (i'm half done), it's more that i don't really want to anymore....
it was really orchestrated very strongly around the vocals. the reason i wanted to deconstruct it is that i consider the synth build to be one of my more surreal moments and wanted it to have it's own space on the second side of the double i'm working on, but separating all that noise out from the guide vocal is just going to leave a sloppy mess. i like sloppy messes and everything, but this isn't the best sloppy mess by itself - because it was written around the vocals. sometimes, you can't really separate a thing into parts. in this case, it would be separating an effect from a cause.
the record isn't really about sloppy messes, either, it's more about structured writing. as a contrast? it's not good enough, without the vocals to drag it along. and the vocals do drag it along, that's the best way to understand it - through a haze of mud and filth. like linus pulling his blankie through an unkempt garden....
further, there is a structural guitar part that i added in februray, 2001 and is not in any inri029 version but would need to be in a final instrumental mix. without the vocals, that guitar part becomes the structural focus, and it's simply too repetitive to become the main motif of the song.
so, that's done. the final version will for sure be on the rabit demo, and something or other will appear on the clarity single. there will also be a live, acoustic mix of it that i'll probably redo from scratch in the next few months.
clarity, however, will appear as an instrumental single and will be my focus after the choir, which is what i'm moving to for the rest of the day. clarity is a different story altogether. it's something i wrote the core of before rabit started jamming with the intent of it being the opening of "trinri" and that sean really had minimal influence into. i never really got the impression that sean was that impressed by the tune, but i consider it to be one of my more substantial pieces. it became rabit sort of by accident; it never really was, though, and it needs it's own space. the vocal version is not going to be incinerated - it will appear on the rabit demo - but it's going to be as an instrumental piece that i will be presenting it, moving forward.
so, yeah.
1) choir. (oct-nov, 2001). inri031.
(inri032 released - nov 11)
2) clarity (nov, 2001.). for inri035, jjjjjjjjjjjjjj^2.
move date: dec 1, 2001. inri033 complete.
3) the wave (dec-jan, 2001/2002). inri034.
4) #9 (dec-jan, 2001/2002). for inri035.
5) clarity (completed), me myself (completed), other rabit demos (jan-may, 2002). inri035-37.
6) trepanation (may-july, 2002). inri038.
7) untitled, atoms (july-aug, 2002). not yet clear.
life changed quite a bit in aug/sept, 2002. i think i'm going to focus on getting to that point. it's mostly unfinished demos over the fall of 2002, with the first real trivial group release in early 2003.
it was really orchestrated very strongly around the vocals. the reason i wanted to deconstruct it is that i consider the synth build to be one of my more surreal moments and wanted it to have it's own space on the second side of the double i'm working on, but separating all that noise out from the guide vocal is just going to leave a sloppy mess. i like sloppy messes and everything, but this isn't the best sloppy mess by itself - because it was written around the vocals. sometimes, you can't really separate a thing into parts. in this case, it would be separating an effect from a cause.
the record isn't really about sloppy messes, either, it's more about structured writing. as a contrast? it's not good enough, without the vocals to drag it along. and the vocals do drag it along, that's the best way to understand it - through a haze of mud and filth. like linus pulling his blankie through an unkempt garden....
further, there is a structural guitar part that i added in februray, 2001 and is not in any inri029 version but would need to be in a final instrumental mix. without the vocals, that guitar part becomes the structural focus, and it's simply too repetitive to become the main motif of the song.
so, that's done. the final version will for sure be on the rabit demo, and something or other will appear on the clarity single. there will also be a live, acoustic mix of it that i'll probably redo from scratch in the next few months.
clarity, however, will appear as an instrumental single and will be my focus after the choir, which is what i'm moving to for the rest of the day. clarity is a different story altogether. it's something i wrote the core of before rabit started jamming with the intent of it being the opening of "trinri" and that sean really had minimal influence into. i never really got the impression that sean was that impressed by the tune, but i consider it to be one of my more substantial pieces. it became rabit sort of by accident; it never really was, though, and it needs it's own space. the vocal version is not going to be incinerated - it will appear on the rabit demo - but it's going to be as an instrumental piece that i will be presenting it, moving forward.
so, yeah.
1) choir. (oct-nov, 2001). inri031.
(inri032 released - nov 11)
2) clarity (nov, 2001.). for inri035, jjjjjjjjjjjjjj^2.
move date: dec 1, 2001. inri033 complete.
3) the wave (dec-jan, 2001/2002). inri034.
4) #9 (dec-jan, 2001/2002). for inri035.
5) clarity (completed), me myself (completed), other rabit demos (jan-may, 2002). inri035-37.
6) trepanation (may-july, 2002). inri038.
7) untitled, atoms (july-aug, 2002). not yet clear.
life changed quite a bit in aug/sept, 2002. i think i'm going to focus on getting to that point. it's mostly unfinished demos over the fall of 2002, with the first real trivial group release in early 2003.
i've figured out the way i'd like to suggest (forcefully.) my cult organizes itself.
the basic mystery of the cult needs to be my musical releases. only the listener doth familiar with the music of deathtokoalas shalt truly understand the words of deathtokoalas. so, the way the cult needs to work is to begin in my discography and work it's way forward. the amount of time required to jump to the next level in the cult (i.e. buy the next record in sequence) will vary, but will roughly be about once per week. suggested donations are published on the level instruction pages. the maximum level in the cult is reached when all of the music is purchased.
this is the only way to truly discover my greatness.
there should also be spontaneously organized discussion groups in a central, easily accessible location so that people can get together and discuss how the level they're going through is changing their lives and whether they're ready to move to the next.
i, deathtokoalas, am on the same journey as all of you in my path to discovering myself. i'm just a few steps ahead of you. the music is the truth, the way and the light! all who wish to be righteous must understand it!
the basic mystery of the cult needs to be my musical releases. only the listener doth familiar with the music of deathtokoalas shalt truly understand the words of deathtokoalas. so, the way the cult needs to work is to begin in my discography and work it's way forward. the amount of time required to jump to the next level in the cult (i.e. buy the next record in sequence) will vary, but will roughly be about once per week. suggested donations are published on the level instruction pages. the maximum level in the cult is reached when all of the music is purchased.
this is the only way to truly discover my greatness.
there should also be spontaneously organized discussion groups in a central, easily accessible location so that people can get together and discuss how the level they're going through is changing their lives and whether they're ready to move to the next.
i, deathtokoalas, am on the same journey as all of you in my path to discovering myself. i'm just a few steps ahead of you. the music is the truth, the way and the light! all who wish to be righteous must understand it!
Thursday, September 25, 2014
200 subscribers
deathtokoalas
i don't really get this subscribers thing, but the number seems to be increasing steadily.
i don't really get this subscribers thing, but the number seems to be increasing steadily.
Faust Skelter Noize
You post really musically informative comments on videos. Lol. I was listening to la dispute and deadMau5's new record. You had the top comment on both vids.
deathtokoalas
i've been aware for a while that people seem to be subscribing to the wrong feed. putting a like up on this page or subscribing to me on youtube indicates you're interested in the music - and i've certainly had a few people interested in the music, but not nearly that many, from what i can tell. my channel is an artist channel. if you want to follow my comments, you should be following me on google+, because that's where they get sent from.
so, what i think is happening is that people are liking my comments and subscribing to my artist feed, then interacting with the "wrong" content.
the reason it can be a tad offsetting for me is that it builds up false expectations. i'd like to think that uploading a video with 200 subscribers might mean at least 50 will watch it. but that number seems to be more like 10. i'm getting far more hits from random surfing...
so, i said i don't "get it". i do "get it". i perhaps should have said "i don't see the use of this subscribers thing, but...".
from my perspective, i'd probably argue they should consolidate the feed so that "subscribing" to deathtokoalas is a one-click operation that sends both comments and uploads to the feed. the user should then have the option to subscribe to comments, uploads or both - and i should get the metrics, so i can measure how much interest is tied into what.
as it is right now, i don't really have a clear understanding of how many of the 200 people are interested in reading my comments, are interested in listening to my music or are just subbing out of a sense of solidarity.
i do realize that it's weighted very heavily towards the comments, though, and that the result in most cases is just a dead feed, creating a dead sub.
it's especially confusing, considering that i comment on a lot of social issues. i'm not really that close to either, but i'm closer to deadmau5 than la dispute; most of my stuff is instrumental, so deadmau5 is a better comparison just on that basis alone. there's some possibility that a deadmau5 fan may get something in the feed and dig it. but, there's really little reason to think that the subs that come out of solidarity for a feminist statement or a geo-political analysis or an anarchist rant are going to translate into any kind of interest in the music - that solidarity could be coming from the world's biggest folk fan, or a hip-hop purist, or an older person that listens exclusively to "classical" music. having that all mixed up into a confused user base that doesn't seem to know what they want to subscribe to just creates a number that doesn't really have much meaning, in the context of what i'm creating and what i'm doing to promote it.
i have a new top track...
'boogeyman' and 'mom' have been bouncing back and forth for a few months, but it's actually balancing off two aspects connected to usability of the site rather than an implication of popularity. i've stated this before: youtube hits measure marketing reach, not audience size. i mean, i'm a hair under 200 subscribers and it seems like less than ten of them have bothered checking out the song i uploaded yesterday morning. i've been through this before and it's just a function of the site: i don't read my feed often, either. it's just daunting to get twenty minute videos thrown at you every few seconds. you want to sit down and watch youtube content; it's not a feed that you can really check on the bus, like facebook.
'mom' has in truth generated far more interest, but that's because it's placed second in sequence and has an outlandish name, causing people to jump over the first track to it. boogeyman is fourth in sequence, meaning it's rarely the first point of engagement.
but, this file has three tracks in it - 9,10,11 - so it's been up on the front of the page for the longest. that's why it has the most hits.
it'll cycle out on monday morning, and 'mom' will no doubt catch up within a few weeks. the first demo cycles out at the end of october. i'd have to guess that 'mom' will catch up before then and will be most likely to hit 2000 first, depending on any spikes or lack of spikes i get as i'm entering the promotion cycle for the second demo. i would expect that a newer track will be the first to hit 3000 and start climbing higher.
i'll have a better statistical breakdown of my first demo promotion period at the end of october.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gTfycvt1VU&list=PL3JSjmqp0cbslW9qCBKT_nEcwUt1DY0aN
'boogeyman' and 'mom' have been bouncing back and forth for a few months, but it's actually balancing off two aspects connected to usability of the site rather than an implication of popularity. i've stated this before: youtube hits measure marketing reach, not audience size. i mean, i'm a hair under 200 subscribers and it seems like less than ten of them have bothered checking out the song i uploaded yesterday morning. i've been through this before and it's just a function of the site: i don't read my feed often, either. it's just daunting to get twenty minute videos thrown at you every few seconds. you want to sit down and watch youtube content; it's not a feed that you can really check on the bus, like facebook.
'mom' has in truth generated far more interest, but that's because it's placed second in sequence and has an outlandish name, causing people to jump over the first track to it. boogeyman is fourth in sequence, meaning it's rarely the first point of engagement.
but, this file has three tracks in it - 9,10,11 - so it's been up on the front of the page for the longest. that's why it has the most hits.
it'll cycle out on monday morning, and 'mom' will no doubt catch up within a few weeks. the first demo cycles out at the end of october. i'd have to guess that 'mom' will catch up before then and will be most likely to hit 2000 first, depending on any spikes or lack of spikes i get as i'm entering the promotion cycle for the second demo. i would expect that a newer track will be the first to hit 3000 and start climbing higher.
i'll have a better statistical breakdown of my first demo promotion period at the end of october.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gTfycvt1VU&list=PL3JSjmqp0cbslW9qCBKT_nEcwUt1DY0aN
after inri029 is inri030, which i uploaded a few weeks ago.
that is indeed a different person singing, and that voice will define a handful of things in the next couple of inri-numbered releases. the 'rabit is wolf' material includes the vocals of this other person.
what i'm actually going to be focusing on for a bit tonight is trying to reconstruct the bass part in this track. it's actually a very simple tune - there's really only 6 parts in it. but, i initially recorded the vocals and bass to a single file. basement recording in 2001 didn't include fancy things like mixer interfaces and digital audio workstations; i had one 1/4 inch jack in, and at most two tracks to record in with, by splitting the single into left and right with a 4-track tape recorder. so, the initial file had the bass on the left and the vocals on the right (or vice versa). unfortunately, the only thing i have to work with at this point is a single stereo file with the bass and vocals together.
i can't really redo this. the synthesizer parts are mostly improvised, around a melodic theme. further, everything is just a little bit out of time - which i fully realized and exploited fully to make it sound unusual.
the vocals and bass are mostly separated, though, enough that i may be able to salvage most of the bass part with a wave editor and very carefully overdub what i can't. the key thing is making sure the timing is identical to what exists in the recording.
i'm not going to kill myself over this, though. if i run into problems, i'm likely to quickly abort. if not, expect a mix up in the next day or two.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/me-myself-and-the-time-i-thought-this-was-a-good-idea
that is indeed a different person singing, and that voice will define a handful of things in the next couple of inri-numbered releases. the 'rabit is wolf' material includes the vocals of this other person.
what i'm actually going to be focusing on for a bit tonight is trying to reconstruct the bass part in this track. it's actually a very simple tune - there's really only 6 parts in it. but, i initially recorded the vocals and bass to a single file. basement recording in 2001 didn't include fancy things like mixer interfaces and digital audio workstations; i had one 1/4 inch jack in, and at most two tracks to record in with, by splitting the single into left and right with a 4-track tape recorder. so, the initial file had the bass on the left and the vocals on the right (or vice versa). unfortunately, the only thing i have to work with at this point is a single stereo file with the bass and vocals together.
i can't really redo this. the synthesizer parts are mostly improvised, around a melodic theme. further, everything is just a little bit out of time - which i fully realized and exploited fully to make it sound unusual.
the vocals and bass are mostly separated, though, enough that i may be able to salvage most of the bass part with a wave editor and very carefully overdub what i can't. the key thing is making sure the timing is identical to what exists in the recording.
i'm not going to kill myself over this, though. if i run into problems, i'm likely to quickly abort. if not, expect a mix up in the next day or two.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/me-myself-and-the-time-i-thought-this-was-a-good-idea
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
updating inrijected (inri022) & inrimixed (inri023)
i've also converted two tracks on this record (3,4) from mono to stereo.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inrijected
as well as tracks 1 and 2 here.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inrimixed
that's all of them.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inrijected
as well as tracks 1 and 2 here.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inrimixed
that's all of them.
updating inrisampled (inri003)
today is a listening day and i heard something i didn't like.
these songs were created in mono, and i didn't see any reason to convert them to stereo; i actually thought the mono sound added a bit of a charm to it. they played through both channels in cool edit, on youtube and on bandcamp, but i just got the annoying left-ear thing through the downloaded flac, so i converted them to stereo for the upload.
it won't sound any different through the streaming. maybe there's a slight loss of character in moving from the original to the mono, but i think the ability to play it on modern equipment is more important.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inrisampled
these songs were created in mono, and i didn't see any reason to convert them to stereo; i actually thought the mono sound added a bit of a charm to it. they played through both channels in cool edit, on youtube and on bandcamp, but i just got the annoying left-ear thing through the downloaded flac, so i converted them to stereo for the upload.
it won't sound any different through the streaming. maybe there's a slight loss of character in moving from the original to the mono, but i think the ability to play it on modern equipment is more important.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inrisampled
to spin inside dull aberrations (final album mix)
written in the summer of 2001. remembered over july, 2014. completed august-september, 2014.
publishing to spin inside dull aberrations (inri048)
that completes inri029.
i want to see how much of the main track of inri030 that i can salvage for the j-squared part, but i believe the vocals are inseparable from the bass, permanently placing the track in rabit. i may have a trick or two.
the next project is that choir.
i don't expect a track to cost me as much time as this did for quit a ways, looking forward. the pace of uploads is going to increase quite a bit.
--
credits
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/to-spin-inside-dull-aberrations
i want to see how much of the main track of inri030 that i can salvage for the j-squared part, but i believe the vocals are inseparable from the bass, permanently placing the track in rabit. i may have a trick or two.
the next project is that choir.
i don't expect a track to cost me as much time as this did for quit a ways, looking forward. the pace of uploads is going to increase quite a bit.
--
this track represents somewhat of a refocus, but it never found itself to fruition in the way it was meant to.
over the summer of 2001, a friend of a friend decided he wanted to start a band and asked me to play bass. now, we didn't really have a lot in common besides both being musicians. i was spiralling out into obscure independent music, and he was into all the mainstream rock bands. 2001 was the point where grunge was losing it's last bit of mainstream potential, and giving way to nu metal and various watered down, corporatized offshoots of hardcore. so, i was sitting around listening to tortoise and writing jazz compositions and he was sitting around listening to limp bizkit and writing mtv/radio rock. how could this legitimately work?
there was a small amount of overlap, centred mostly around tool. it so happened to be that tool had just released a new record, we were both listening to it and neither of us really had anybody else to talk to about it. so, something formed out of that.
now, when you're an isolated twenty year old that's never been lucky enough to meet another musician you can start a band with, you take what you can get. it seemed implausible that it was going anywhere, but wasn't that the case for every other band that ever went anywhere when they first started off? i don't think either of us thought we were natural creative partners, but we had a set of common goals and if we could put aside our differences...
see, the thing is i knew that the only way anything was going to happen is if i sat down and recorded a bunch of stuff. but, i also knew that this is a guy that defines himself in terms of his oversized ego and that the whole purpose of it from his perspective was to give himself a way to explore it. that's not the worst trait to have if you want to start a band, either. my overwhelmingly shy introversion hasn't exactly got me filling stadiums, has it? nor is it ever going to, and i realized it even at that stage. so, a natural role would be for me to play the producer (along with the bass guitar) while he throws some stuff at me. if that meant i'd be doing 90% of the actual recording, that would be ok, but i realized i had to let him provide the actual song structures or he'd storm off and pout about it.
so, i waited for him to provide some material. and waited. eventually it became clear that he didn't actually have any serious songs. we did a few demos, but he could barely play what he was trying to demo and the tracks were not of a gigging quality level.
in the mean time, he'd recruited a guitarist. he kept saying he was talking to a drummer (no drummer ever appeared), and he also recruited another friend of a friend as a singer. so, we had what seemed like a full band, if you include the imaginary drummer. what i saw was an opportunity. if he wasn't going to write some songs, i guess i'd have to...
the other guitarist almost immediately dropped out, and the whole project really fell apart rather quickly when the guy that initiated the whole thing stopped showing up to practice. it was several weeks in a row that only the singer and i showed up. i had a few songs i had written, so we started working on those instead and that became rabit is wolf. predictably, there was much pouting.
that leaves this particular song in an isolated limbo. when it was reworked for rabit is wolf (jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/the-day-i-saw-you-cry ), it took on the epic and experimental nature i was exploring at the time and lost the crux of itself as a stadium rock song. i feel something valuable was lost in this process, if for no other reason that this is so dramatically different than anything else i was doing at the time.
thankfully, i still have the original drum files, and i remember how to play the guitar part, so it's simply a process of recreating it. the raw mix sounds exactly as the track did in 2001. the complete mix takes it to it's final conclusion.
written in the summer of 2001. remembered over july, 2014. completed august-september, 2014. as always, please use headphones.
over the summer of 2001, a friend of a friend decided he wanted to start a band and asked me to play bass. now, we didn't really have a lot in common besides both being musicians. i was spiralling out into obscure independent music, and he was into all the mainstream rock bands. 2001 was the point where grunge was losing it's last bit of mainstream potential, and giving way to nu metal and various watered down, corporatized offshoots of hardcore. so, i was sitting around listening to tortoise and writing jazz compositions and he was sitting around listening to limp bizkit and writing mtv/radio rock. how could this legitimately work?
there was a small amount of overlap, centred mostly around tool. it so happened to be that tool had just released a new record, we were both listening to it and neither of us really had anybody else to talk to about it. so, something formed out of that.
now, when you're an isolated twenty year old that's never been lucky enough to meet another musician you can start a band with, you take what you can get. it seemed implausible that it was going anywhere, but wasn't that the case for every other band that ever went anywhere when they first started off? i don't think either of us thought we were natural creative partners, but we had a set of common goals and if we could put aside our differences...
see, the thing is i knew that the only way anything was going to happen is if i sat down and recorded a bunch of stuff. but, i also knew that this is a guy that defines himself in terms of his oversized ego and that the whole purpose of it from his perspective was to give himself a way to explore it. that's not the worst trait to have if you want to start a band, either. my overwhelmingly shy introversion hasn't exactly got me filling stadiums, has it? nor is it ever going to, and i realized it even at that stage. so, a natural role would be for me to play the producer (along with the bass guitar) while he throws some stuff at me. if that meant i'd be doing 90% of the actual recording, that would be ok, but i realized i had to let him provide the actual song structures or he'd storm off and pout about it.
so, i waited for him to provide some material. and waited. eventually it became clear that he didn't actually have any serious songs. we did a few demos, but he could barely play what he was trying to demo and the tracks were not of a gigging quality level.
in the mean time, he'd recruited a guitarist. he kept saying he was talking to a drummer (no drummer ever appeared), and he also recruited another friend of a friend as a singer. so, we had what seemed like a full band, if you include the imaginary drummer. what i saw was an opportunity. if he wasn't going to write some songs, i guess i'd have to...
the other guitarist almost immediately dropped out, and the whole project really fell apart rather quickly when the guy that initiated the whole thing stopped showing up to practice. it was several weeks in a row that only the singer and i showed up. i had a few songs i had written, so we started working on those instead and that became rabit is wolf. predictably, there was much pouting.
that leaves this particular song in an isolated limbo. when it was reworked for rabit is wolf (jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/the-day-i-saw-you-cry ), it took on the epic and experimental nature i was exploring at the time and lost the crux of itself as a stadium rock song. i feel something valuable was lost in this process, if for no other reason that this is so dramatically different than anything else i was doing at the time.
thankfully, i still have the original drum files, and i remember how to play the guitar part, so it's simply a process of recreating it. the raw mix sounds exactly as the track did in 2001. the complete mix takes it to it's final conclusion.
written in the summer of 2001. remembered over july, 2014. completed august-september, 2014. as always, please use headphones.
credits
j - drum programming, orchestral sequencing,
guitars, effects, synths, electric bass guitar, digital wave editing,
sampling, loops, equalization, vocals (5), production
the rendered electronic orchestra includes tuba, saxophone, flute, clarinet, orchestra hit, piano, violin, viola, cello, contrabass and various full string sections.
sean - vocals (track 6)
jon - guitar (track 6)
released september 16, 2001
the rendered electronic orchestra includes tuba, saxophone, flute, clarinet, orchestra hit, piano, violin, viola, cello, contrabass and various full string sections.
sean - vocals (track 6)
jon - guitar (track 6)
released september 16, 2001
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/to-spin-inside-dull-aberrations
to spin inside dull aberrations (reprise)
the second half, split off, to make the first more attractive to certain people, but still allow for full listening pleasure.
created over a few days near the end of september, 2014.
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/reprise-2
created over a few days near the end of september, 2014.
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/reprise-2
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
uploading to spin inside dull aberrations (reprise) to the scratchpad
pretty rough, but this is the idea of the end of the track. i spent the morning "mastering" it to sound a little bassier. i need to add some noise, but it's not going to be very structured.
i also spent last night enjoying my track in the state it's meant to be enjoyed, and i have to say i'm very, very happy with how it came out...
http://googledrive.com/host/0B5JfVE9XTZikMS1zek9ER0xSU1E/scratchpad/
i also spent last night enjoying my track in the state it's meant to be enjoyed, and i have to say i'm very, very happy with how it came out...
http://googledrive.com/host/0B5JfVE9XTZikMS1zek9ER0xSU1E/scratchpad/
Monday, September 22, 2014
to spin inside dull aberrations (final single mix)
so, part 2 ended up being a bit more minimalist than i was initially thinking, but i think it's the better way to get the idea across. the busier piano part didn't really segue well, it just sounded kind of hokey. maybe it's 'cause i'm sick right now, but this really feels like the right way to end it.
the reprise is quite large and may take a few days, but it's actually very much rooted in a monotonous sort of minimalism so it's not going to be nearly as ridiculous to build up. i spent two months on this. if you take a flip through the page, you'll see it was actually quite a struggle: broken guitars, fighting with headphones, sequencing strings, etc. but it's done...
bandcamp offers high quality downloads (not yet for this track, after the reprise - i don't do single tracks, full album dls only) but compresses a little on playback. try to boost the bass just a tad to compensate.
written in the summer of 2001. remembered over july, 2014. completed august-september, 2014.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/to-spin-inside-dull-aberrations
the reprise is quite large and may take a few days, but it's actually very much rooted in a monotonous sort of minimalism so it's not going to be nearly as ridiculous to build up. i spent two months on this. if you take a flip through the page, you'll see it was actually quite a struggle: broken guitars, fighting with headphones, sequencing strings, etc. but it's done...
bandcamp offers high quality downloads (not yet for this track, after the reprise - i don't do single tracks, full album dls only) but compresses a little on playback. try to boost the bass just a tad to compensate.
written in the summer of 2001. remembered over july, 2014. completed august-september, 2014.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/to-spin-inside-dull-aberrations
ok, got it, think i can refocus...
also, the coughing has started. i'm going to need some cough syrup.
there's a song for that.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/01-jesus-gets-fucked-on-robitussin
also, the coughing has started. i'm going to need some cough syrup.
there's a song for that.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/01-jesus-gets-fucked-on-robitussin
Sunday, September 21, 2014
must have picked up a virus. it's weird though because it's only three symptoms: sore throat, sore muscles and tiredness. no coughing, fever, stuffinesss, anything like that. but it means i've been sleeping quite heavily since thursday. i wasn't sure at first that it was a virus, but i'm sure now...
so, it's going to get put back another day or two.
there's a yearly event in detroit tonight called the noise camp that i was going to check out, but the virus/rain/sunday combination is going to keep me in. the hope was that it would be done completely before i left; it's not even close. i may actually even crash (again) within minutes...
i'm at least more awake than i've been in a few days and think i can get some work done tonight....
so, it's going to get put back another day or two.
there's a yearly event in detroit tonight called the noise camp that i was going to check out, but the virus/rain/sunday combination is going to keep me in. the hope was that it would be done completely before i left; it's not even close. i may actually even crash (again) within minutes...
i'm at least more awake than i've been in a few days and think i can get some work done tonight....
Saturday, September 20, 2014
of course, now i'm having trouble with figuring out that segue point.
i don't want it to sound too similar to the time machine, but my brain is producing a similar sort of collapse and fade. i know what i want the third part to sound like, and the framework is constructed, i just need to fill it in. but how i'm going to get from a to c is currently eluding me...
i don't want to skip tracks, but i might have to. i'm going to give it a few more hours.
i don't want it to sound too similar to the time machine, but my brain is producing a similar sort of collapse and fade. i know what i want the third part to sound like, and the framework is constructed, i just need to fill it in. but how i'm going to get from a to c is currently eluding me...
i don't want to skip tracks, but i might have to. i'm going to give it a few more hours.
Friday, September 19, 2014
to spin inside dull aberrations (overdub mix)
i've included the raw mix to document what the track sounded like in 2001. so, i've included an overdub only mix as a counter to it to document what was added in 2014. paste the two on top of each other to get the cubase output of the track.
created over august and september, 2014 to augment track written late in the summer of 2001.
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/overdub-mix
created over august and september, 2014 to augment track written late in the summer of 2001.
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/overdub-mix
i'm actually going to skip the part altogether...
it's a neat riff, don't get me wrong, but it works in contrast to the cracked out white zombie riff - if it's played once. maybe twice. but over a four bar repeat, playing them off against each other ruins both.
i can't put it at the front or the middle as that would be anti-climatic. and it doesn't work at the end, either.
there's enough pizzicato bass in the world. the song doesn't need it.
that means i'm done the first part. amazingly.
well, let me sleep on it...
it's a neat riff, don't get me wrong, but it works in contrast to the cracked out white zombie riff - if it's played once. maybe twice. but over a four bar repeat, playing them off against each other ruins both.
i can't put it at the front or the middle as that would be anti-climatic. and it doesn't work at the end, either.
there's enough pizzicato bass in the world. the song doesn't need it.
that means i'm done the first part. amazingly.
well, let me sleep on it...
uploading to spin inside dull aberrations to the scratchpad
finally. give it some volume. final bass part should be quick to do...
http://googledrive.com/host/0B5JfVE9XTZikMS1zek9ER0xSU1E/scratchpad/
http://googledrive.com/host/0B5JfVE9XTZikMS1zek9ER0xSU1E/scratchpad/
Thursday, September 18, 2014
so, i lost two days due to shows. i was hoping i wouldn't lose all of yesterday, but those drinks at the andy stott show last night were really very unexpectedly strong. like, i think i got something like three-four shots in a six dollar drink - of which i only had two. it's the kind of drunk that usually sets in around 2:00 after you've been drinking mixed drinks since 8:00, and yet hit me immediately after one drink. i don't think the "bartenders" were licensed, they were just eyeballing it, and it resulted in the kind of 40% vodka drink that your already-drunk friend mixes you at midnight. i'll have to be aware of that in the future.
i really hope to be done the mix by the morning and am almost certainly going to start throwing myself into the walls and flapping around in the corner if i don't.
i really hope to be done the mix by the morning and am almost certainly going to start throwing myself into the walls and flapping around in the corner if i don't.
experiencing some manchester in detroit
"you're in the wrong washroom, sweetheart."
as incredibly complex and slightly patronizing as that statement is, it actually means i'm in a cool place. i've been over this a few times, but allow me to reiterate why i usually (not always.) use the dude's room.
1) the primary reason is that i can use the urinals and will choose to in most circumstances. i find something disrespectful about forcing women to listen to it fall in the toilet, cause it's just obvious. the reality is that public washrooms are gross. if you did a random survey of women, you'd learn that something like 98% of them would urinate while standing if they could, because it avoids the ickiness of squatting. it would be irrational of me to not take advantage of my biology in this sense, considering virtually any woman would do the same thing if given the opportunity.
2) i transitioned late. it's generally clear that i'm trans, but few people are going to confuse me for a cis. i completely grasp why the idea of me walking into the women's washroom would be a little unsettling. if i were cis, would i want the actual me waltzing in there? the truth is that i probably wouldn't. i know there's going to be a spectrum of reactions, but i feel obligated to be respectful of this concern and aware of how other people feel about it. the converse is that the worst that's going to happen from using the men's room is a funny stare or a concerned reaction. in the end, it's not really important enough of a concern to me to start pissing people off.
i mean, i support the whole bathroom rights thing. but, personally? i don't really care if the bathroom door has an M or an F on it and i'm willing to compromise pretty dramatically to keep the peace on the issue.
it's not absolute. if i'm wearing a dress, or some other particularly effeminate clothing, and i feel safe in doing so, then i'll probably use the women's washroom. it's pretty rare, though. i really default to standing when i pee....
i actually had a good time tonight at the detroit museum of contemporary art. the drinks were exceedingly strong, it got me a little drunker than i planned to be and i ended up dancing a little. i actually kind of needed that, it'd been a while. reviews in the comments...
got distracted there...
so, the opening dj was actually mildly interesting. he was playing with max or audiomulch or something in real-time, which, yes, tends to unfold somewhat predictably. but it's not clear to me why people will knock some software for this, while not bothering with others. any software system is going to colour the output in a roughly equal manner.
he had some syncing going on with the background films. as one example - bucephalus or not - he had some kids bouncing balls synced to some beats bouncing.
http://shop.overlap.org/album/chris-mcnamara-vague-cities
this is what i pulled myself out to see, and it was quite enjoyable. there's a lot of process in their approach to deep bass music, which tends be very dark ambient and integrate a lot of glitchy noise. you can't dance to this, but it's nice to get as a blast of sound. it was plenty loud, but i do kind of wish it was just a bit louder.
there's an improv inherent in the design, but they did something quite similar to this.
here's a full set:
so, reading up a little on the show, it became apparent that what was driving it was an attempt to pull a little manchester into detroit house. true or not, detroit gets a lot of credit as being an epicentre of electronic music that has sort of lost it's way. so, from detroit's perspective, the idea is to try and bring a little bit of that british artistic genius in (a british invasion, if you will) to kickstart a more interesting electronic music scene in detroit.
but, i can only assume that the opposite perspective is of a sort of a pilgrimage to mecca - detroit being where it all came from. these are a bunch of lanky brits that have never been near to the city, remember.
so, you have to think that andy stott was maybe a bit nervous about playing detroit, and that the overly minimalist start to his set had something to do with playing to the audience - who was visibly a little restless, apparently looking for a drop. whether by design or reaction, he seemed to become very british all of a sudden and morphed into some solid danceable idm - we're talking amen breaks, autechre melodies and rdj basslines. in fact, it seemed like it was just about to break into some kind of totally mental squarepusher chiptune freakout before the clock turned to midnight and we all turned into pumpkins on the floor.
it really wasn't what i was expecting. andy stott is known for morphing minimalist house beats into these sort of impressionist soundscapes, which is something he leaned towards in the first half of the set but didn't really give enough time to develop as it's meant to. i've never heard of him being associated with that warp sound the way that demdike stare is often compared to autechre. unexpected or not, it sure was a lot of fun, though.....
i doubt i'll find much like what i heard out there. this is more the kind of thing he's known for - and did play around with a bit at the beginning of the set, although it was more stripped down.
http://dghjdfsghkrdghdgja.appspot.com/categories/shows/2014/09/17.html
as incredibly complex and slightly patronizing as that statement is, it actually means i'm in a cool place. i've been over this a few times, but allow me to reiterate why i usually (not always.) use the dude's room.
1) the primary reason is that i can use the urinals and will choose to in most circumstances. i find something disrespectful about forcing women to listen to it fall in the toilet, cause it's just obvious. the reality is that public washrooms are gross. if you did a random survey of women, you'd learn that something like 98% of them would urinate while standing if they could, because it avoids the ickiness of squatting. it would be irrational of me to not take advantage of my biology in this sense, considering virtually any woman would do the same thing if given the opportunity.
2) i transitioned late. it's generally clear that i'm trans, but few people are going to confuse me for a cis. i completely grasp why the idea of me walking into the women's washroom would be a little unsettling. if i were cis, would i want the actual me waltzing in there? the truth is that i probably wouldn't. i know there's going to be a spectrum of reactions, but i feel obligated to be respectful of this concern and aware of how other people feel about it. the converse is that the worst that's going to happen from using the men's room is a funny stare or a concerned reaction. in the end, it's not really important enough of a concern to me to start pissing people off.
i mean, i support the whole bathroom rights thing. but, personally? i don't really care if the bathroom door has an M or an F on it and i'm willing to compromise pretty dramatically to keep the peace on the issue.
it's not absolute. if i'm wearing a dress, or some other particularly effeminate clothing, and i feel safe in doing so, then i'll probably use the women's washroom. it's pretty rare, though. i really default to standing when i pee....
i actually had a good time tonight at the detroit museum of contemporary art. the drinks were exceedingly strong, it got me a little drunker than i planned to be and i ended up dancing a little. i actually kind of needed that, it'd been a while. reviews in the comments...
got distracted there...
so, the opening dj was actually mildly interesting. he was playing with max or audiomulch or something in real-time, which, yes, tends to unfold somewhat predictably. but it's not clear to me why people will knock some software for this, while not bothering with others. any software system is going to colour the output in a roughly equal manner.
he had some syncing going on with the background films. as one example - bucephalus or not - he had some kids bouncing balls synced to some beats bouncing.
http://shop.overlap.org/album/chris-mcnamara-vague-cities
this is what i pulled myself out to see, and it was quite enjoyable. there's a lot of process in their approach to deep bass music, which tends be very dark ambient and integrate a lot of glitchy noise. you can't dance to this, but it's nice to get as a blast of sound. it was plenty loud, but i do kind of wish it was just a bit louder.
there's an improv inherent in the design, but they did something quite similar to this.
here's a full set:
so, reading up a little on the show, it became apparent that what was driving it was an attempt to pull a little manchester into detroit house. true or not, detroit gets a lot of credit as being an epicentre of electronic music that has sort of lost it's way. so, from detroit's perspective, the idea is to try and bring a little bit of that british artistic genius in (a british invasion, if you will) to kickstart a more interesting electronic music scene in detroit.
but, i can only assume that the opposite perspective is of a sort of a pilgrimage to mecca - detroit being where it all came from. these are a bunch of lanky brits that have never been near to the city, remember.
so, you have to think that andy stott was maybe a bit nervous about playing detroit, and that the overly minimalist start to his set had something to do with playing to the audience - who was visibly a little restless, apparently looking for a drop. whether by design or reaction, he seemed to become very british all of a sudden and morphed into some solid danceable idm - we're talking amen breaks, autechre melodies and rdj basslines. in fact, it seemed like it was just about to break into some kind of totally mental squarepusher chiptune freakout before the clock turned to midnight and we all turned into pumpkins on the floor.
it really wasn't what i was expecting. andy stott is known for morphing minimalist house beats into these sort of impressionist soundscapes, which is something he leaned towards in the first half of the set but didn't really give enough time to develop as it's meant to. i've never heard of him being associated with that warp sound the way that demdike stare is often compared to autechre. unexpected or not, it sure was a lot of fun, though.....
i doubt i'll find much like what i heard out there. this is more the kind of thing he's known for - and did play around with a bit at the beginning of the set, although it was more stripped down.
http://dghjdfsghkrdghdgja.appspot.com/categories/shows/2014/09/17.html
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
cymbals eating stale, mouldy guitars in detroit
so, i've come to the conclusion that it's going to be a while before i get used to the fact that the magic stick really shakes when a band gets going. it's on the second level of a structure that looks like it was built a very long time ago and has been redone repeatedly since the 30s. the additions are quite obvious, and there's been a lot of them. there's this nagging fear that somebody fixed something with duct tape and it's just waiting to give...
on the one hand, an upper floor structure built to handle large standing audiences (that may get a little rowdy) and loud bass music should either be solid concrete or built to give a little in response. it's clearly not concrete. so that little bit of elasticity is hopefully actually a safety mechanism. a rigid structure is going to develop cracks and fall apart.
i don't know that it was engineered that way, though. nor would i have much faith in the architecture if i knew that it was, to be honest. all i know is it sways a little and it's unnerving and that i'm not likely to get over it quickly.
the show tonight was a little lacklustre. allow me to explain...
i knew it was an early show, likely to make space for a long set by bob mould, but i slept in a little late and missed the first few songs. so i need to be careful in the review of cymbals eat guitars' new disc, which i have yet to hear in it's entirety. i didn't hear the opening tracks...
...but this video is a decent representation of what i did see, and what you'll notice is that it's a little bit unadventurous relative to past efforts. the edges have been smoothed over a little, the excesses have been pared down, etc. now, the band seems to be being praised for this by the indie press, but that's what the indie press wants - predictability. what attracted me to the band was that they were a little different, a little rough, kind of coming apart at the seams...
it's not that it seemed dramatically different, it just seemed as though they cast out the parts that made them different and interesting and all that was left was the now ubiquitous generic indie formula. that's not something i'm going to be interested in or connect to.
so, i'm not going to comment on the disc, yet. i'm giving it a first listen right now. and i'm willing to accept that the kinds of things that make their records interesting may be difficult to transfer to a live setting. but i found the set underwhelming in it's move towards a more predictable sound.
this is a full set from a few days later:
i wouldn't have gone just to see bob mould, but i'd hardly skip out on him without giving him a few songs, either. i planned to give him a beer to win me over.
that may seem a little disrespectful, given his status in rock music history, but the truth is he's never really clicked with me and i'm really not familiar with or all that interested in exploring anything he's released as a solo artist. as for husker du itself, i put them on the fence in terms of holding up. i've spoken before of the 80s rock canon and the need to pare it down. i'm not going to forcefully argue against husker du's inclusion, but they're far from a lock within it the way that sonic youth or rem are. there's that one album, and not much else, really.
so, i wasn't sure what i was going to get or how i'd react. the bulk of the set was in the power pop variety, with minimal gazey excursions and really nothing approaching any kind of noise. it was a bit of a nice groove at first, but something became very apparent a few songs in: all his songs sound the same. a few more songs in and it just started getting monotonous. i got bored about an hour in and went downstairs to try the magic stick pizza.
i know his output is more varied than what he provided, and i'm not sure what kind of age-related crisis has got him playing power pop at this stage in his life, but i'd advise avoiding him until he goes back to acting his age.
here's an older tune...
http://dghjdfsghkrdghdgja.appspot.com/categories/shows/2014/09/16.html
on the one hand, an upper floor structure built to handle large standing audiences (that may get a little rowdy) and loud bass music should either be solid concrete or built to give a little in response. it's clearly not concrete. so that little bit of elasticity is hopefully actually a safety mechanism. a rigid structure is going to develop cracks and fall apart.
i don't know that it was engineered that way, though. nor would i have much faith in the architecture if i knew that it was, to be honest. all i know is it sways a little and it's unnerving and that i'm not likely to get over it quickly.
the show tonight was a little lacklustre. allow me to explain...
i knew it was an early show, likely to make space for a long set by bob mould, but i slept in a little late and missed the first few songs. so i need to be careful in the review of cymbals eat guitars' new disc, which i have yet to hear in it's entirety. i didn't hear the opening tracks...
...but this video is a decent representation of what i did see, and what you'll notice is that it's a little bit unadventurous relative to past efforts. the edges have been smoothed over a little, the excesses have been pared down, etc. now, the band seems to be being praised for this by the indie press, but that's what the indie press wants - predictability. what attracted me to the band was that they were a little different, a little rough, kind of coming apart at the seams...
it's not that it seemed dramatically different, it just seemed as though they cast out the parts that made them different and interesting and all that was left was the now ubiquitous generic indie formula. that's not something i'm going to be interested in or connect to.
so, i'm not going to comment on the disc, yet. i'm giving it a first listen right now. and i'm willing to accept that the kinds of things that make their records interesting may be difficult to transfer to a live setting. but i found the set underwhelming in it's move towards a more predictable sound.
this is a full set from a few days later:
i wouldn't have gone just to see bob mould, but i'd hardly skip out on him without giving him a few songs, either. i planned to give him a beer to win me over.
that may seem a little disrespectful, given his status in rock music history, but the truth is he's never really clicked with me and i'm really not familiar with or all that interested in exploring anything he's released as a solo artist. as for husker du itself, i put them on the fence in terms of holding up. i've spoken before of the 80s rock canon and the need to pare it down. i'm not going to forcefully argue against husker du's inclusion, but they're far from a lock within it the way that sonic youth or rem are. there's that one album, and not much else, really.
so, i wasn't sure what i was going to get or how i'd react. the bulk of the set was in the power pop variety, with minimal gazey excursions and really nothing approaching any kind of noise. it was a bit of a nice groove at first, but something became very apparent a few songs in: all his songs sound the same. a few more songs in and it just started getting monotonous. i got bored about an hour in and went downstairs to try the magic stick pizza.
i know his output is more varied than what he provided, and i'm not sure what kind of age-related crisis has got him playing power pop at this stage in his life, but i'd advise avoiding him until he goes back to acting his age.
here's an older tune...
http://dghjdfsghkrdghdgja.appspot.com/categories/shows/2014/09/16.html
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
so,i've been spending a large amount of time mixing the section between 3:30-4:00. i've got over a dozen string parts (two contrabass, two cellos, electric bass, electric guitar, several violas, several violins) ranging across seven octaves, all distorted and compressed slightly differently, and running three countermelodies simultaneously. finding that sweet spot where i'm able to get the overtones to blur just a little, particularly on the bottom, but can still hear all the different parts at the right proportion, has been challenging. that's a complex problem. every time i alter one channel, it puts something else out of balance. but i'm almost there.
i wanted this done this morning, but i'm hitting cymbals eat guitars tonight and don't want to be falling over so i need to get a few hours of rest.
it's very close...
i wanted this done this morning, but i'm hitting cymbals eat guitars tonight and don't want to be falling over so i need to get a few hours of rest.
it's very close...
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