Tuesday, November 21, 2017

the idea of a second jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj record was not something that remotely crossed my mind until i started seriously analysing my work from 2002. that was a separate idea; rabit is wolf separated it from the trivial group. however, remixed instrumental tracks over the rabit is wolf period slowly collected to the point that there was enough to justify a whole record. that wasn't a conscious choice at the outset, but it seems to be the conceptual framework collected on the record. i toyed with the idea of releasing it as a rabit remix record, but my influence over it is far too lopsided.

the thematic linkage with the first jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj record is a tendency to lean towards more "serious" ideas. there are strong influences from a few different types of classical music, including jazz, as well as some more modern electronic and noise influences. however, these songs lean more towards more palatable rock or techno based song structures and are less dependent on existing scores.

the stories for these songs are diverse and explained in more detail on the track pages.

these tracks are all based on existing demos from 2001-2002 that were initially intended to be completed with vocal parts and were remixed from july, 2014 to may, 2015 as purely instrumental recordings. final completion date is may 2, 2015. this is my sixth official record; disc finalized as lp014 on nov 21, 2017. as always, please use headphones.

this release also includes a printable jewel case insert and will also eventually include a comprehensive package of journal entries from all phases of production (2001, 2002, 2014, 2015, 2017).
 

credits

released December 1, 2002

j - electric & acoustic guitars, electric bass guitar, effects, synths, electric air reed organ, digital piano, flute, voice, electronic drum kit, drum programming, drum manipulations, drum sampling, orchestral sequencing, sampling, loops, equalization, digital wave editing, sound design, production, composition.

sean - harmonica (2), melody (6)
greg - drum performance sample source (4)

the various rendered electronic orchestras include tuba, french horn, trombone, trumpet, english horn, saxophone, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, flute, orchestra hit, melodic toms, timpani, orchestral drum set, piano, agogo, tubular bells, glockenspiel, koto, violin, viola, cello, contrabass and various full string sections. it also includes choir. 

i'm considering doing a pop record, and calling it "music for children".
so, where am i on this?

i printed inri061 & inri062 yesterday, and the ink still seems fine, although the printer seems to be wasting more & more of it by the day.

61 was a big item, and needed a lot of cyan, and i screwed up 62 on the first print. so, i've already printed around 30 pages and 8 discs, and i'm only a third down. if i get 100 pages out of it, that's $0.20/page. and that's more like something i can budget around, long term.

i need to go in the other room to finish the back for aleph-14, which is the 5th flac dvd disc. 63 is the record, and it's done. then, there's the box set, which is more typing. 64 is the flying single, which is done - but is also the first 2003 release, and the first trivial group release. it's a definite shift. but, the period doesn't end until may, when i leave for bc. 65 is refractions, which is the last one of these that will require any serious input into expansion, and may end up as a 2xcd set.

after that, there's a string of several compilation records that will need to be finalized all at once. that really closes period 2.

but, the last release in this string of items is my eighth symphony, the reflections ep, which i need to expand to be comprehensive. that is dated to may 1, 2003 and represents the absolute end of my second period.

period 3 will pick back up again in september, 2003, after i've come back home and had some time to lose my mind a little bit more. i don't know if i'll get to this before the 1st or not. but, the material coming after this has not been recently published, and in some cases hasn't ever been published.

i need to prioritize the alter-reality. and, the move is going to mean reconstructing all of the electronics in my life. so, this material may sit for a while.

but, i'm turning a corner on this. soon. very soon.
purchasing this release does not come with a download.

inri054: recorded in late 2001 and early 2002. track 6 was constructed in may, 2004 out of files recorded 1999-2001. tracks 1-4 were reconstructed over october, 2014. final mixes were finished on october 18, 2014. disc closed on oct 30, 2017.

inri055: written in early 2002 and recorded in early 2002 and late 2014. the final fuck boxes mixes were finished on nov 15, 2014. the gentle mix was created and then left stranded on may 24, 2015. the ambient mix and the guitar mix were rendered on nov 1, 2017. disc finalized on nov 1, 2017.

inri056: written & recorded in late 2001 and early 2002 and mixed in early 2002 and late 2014. the final mix was finished on nov 18, 2014. the uncorrupted mix was created on nov 18, 2014 and then cut up into the unstuck mix, but not added to the release until nov 2, 2017. the lorentz factor mix and the separated from mix were rendered on nov 2, 2017. disc finalized on nov 2, 2017.

inri057: written and recorded in late 2001 and early 2002. initially sequenced in may, 2002. released in slightly different forms from 2002-2014. resequenced to mimic the original sequencing on november 8, 2014. except to sequence the record, these files have not been altered since 2002. disc finalized as lp013 on nov 3, 2017.

inri058: written over 2001 and rethought repeatedly over 2002, again in 2007, a third time in 2009 and one last time in late 2014. final mixes were completed over the last week of november and the first week of december, 2014. the concept was rethought on nov 3, 2017, which led to the inclusion of five more mixes (from 2002, 2009, 2014, 2015 and 2017) and an expansion from two cds to four cds. disc finalized as symph007 on nov 12, 2017.

inri059: written and recorded in late 2001 and the first half of 2002. mildly remixed in november, 2014 to make the tracks more presentable; nothing substantial was altered, and no new sound was recorded. final mixes were on november 19, 2014. disc released on physical media and finalized as inri059 on nov 14, 2017.

inri060: written in august, 2002. track one was mildly remixed on dec 12, 2014; two and three were uploaded unmodified. final completion date is dec 12, 2014. disc finalized on nov 14, 2017.

inri061 :written over the summer of 2002 and initially recorded in the early fall of 2002. additional recording, production and mixing occurred from dec, 2014 to apr, 2015. initial final completion occurred on april 27, 2015. however, eight more supplementary remixes were added to the release over nov 17-nov 19, 2017 to expand it into a three disc set. disc finalized on nov 19, 2017.

inri062: this track was written in late 2002 and completed over april and may, 2015. final completion date is may 11, 2015. disc finalized on nov 20, 2017.

originally created over the course of 2002, with some files dating to late 2001. this compilation is dated to nov 30, 2002. slowly remastered, reconstituted, compiled, reconstructed, released and finalized from 2014-2017. compilation finalized on nov 21, 2017. as always, please use headphones.
 

credits

released November 30, 2002

j - guitars (electric, acoustic, nylon), electric bass, electric mandolin, sequencers, synthesizers, drum & melodic & orchestral programming, electric air reed organ, digital piano, flute, regular drum kit, electronic drum kit, sampling, digital and analog effects processing, sound design, soundscaping, loops, granular synthesis, noise generators, voice, vocoders, drum & vocal manipulations, digital wave editing, equalizers, production, composition.

sean - vocals/lyrics (inri054-inri059, inri061), harmonica (inri054, inri057), ring modulator (inri057-inri058), vocal concept (inri062)
greg - drum performance sample source (inri056-inri058)
jon - guitar performance (inri057)
bob - hammering (inri058)

the various rendered electronic orchestras include acoustic bass, synth bass, electric bass, brass, french horn, trombone, trumpet, tuba, english horn, saxophone, flute, oboe, piccolo, clarinet, bassoon, orchestra hit, drum machine, electronic drum kit, nylon guitar, electric guitar (distorted & clean), acoustic guitar, synthesizers, synthesizer effects, glockenspiel, vibraphone, hammered percussion, music box, tubular bells, bells, agogo, wood blocks, marimba, melodic toms, timpani, taiko drum, backwards cymbals, synth drums, orchestral drum set, harp, koto, piano, bells, mellotron, violin, viola, cello, contrabass and various full string sections. there is also choir. 
 
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/flac-dvd-disc-volume-5

Monday, November 20, 2017

this was meant to be the last rabit is wolf track, but instead morphed into the first trivial group song. this single explores the track from various angles.

sean wanted a song that just went "lalalala". i think his intent was to try and simplify my thought process, because what i'd been doing sounded more like FTIeikdTY7isdD7E5dk!. he was just kind of like "how about.....lalalala.".

it got a bit of an eye roll from me, as you could imagine, but i played with it. he wasn't really that excited about what i did, and it just didn't move forward. there were no further sessions, as he became interested in working with a more conventional early 00s "emotional hardcore" (think at the drive in) style guitarist and i got very involved in a relationship.

despite his initial suggestion, i'd consider the result to clearly be of my own doing. so, i took the core of what i did and warped it into the first track on the reflections symphony. this track has lain dormant since, comfortably completed.

it's now 2015, and i'm completing my discography. that puts this track in a blurry space: it was completed, but not as initially intended. while there may have been a vocal part recorded, i don't have it any more. yet, the intention is clear enough - and the manipulation would have been thick enough - that i do not consider it to be invasive to complete it on my own.

i'm releasing it as rabit because it's collaborative in the abstract, despite sean not actually existing in the track. this track was written in late 2002 and completed over april and may, 2015. final completion date is may 11, 2015. disc finalized on nov 20, 2017. as always, please use headphones.

the album version of the track (track 3) also appears on my sixth record:
jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj-2

this release also includes a printable jewel case insert and will also eventually include a comprehensive package of journal entries from all phases of production (2002, 2015, 2017).
 

credits

released November 15, 2002

j - guitar, effects, bass, drum programming, soundscaping, sound design, sampling, vocals, vocoders, digital wave editing

sean - lyrical concept 

Sunday, November 19, 2017

republishing inri061

this is the second of two lengthy singles to come out of tracks that were begun in 2002 and not completed to my liking. the mixes in this single chart this song's rather elaborate development over fifteen years, with the first disc consisting of historical versions and the next two discs consisting of finished mixes.

it became clear through the course of july, 2002 that rabit is wolf wasn't really going anywhere and i was better off cutting my losses. we jammed a few times, but it wasn't really serious.

this track was initially written as a folk punk song, but i jumped to the scorewriter with it almost immediately. the expanded guitar demo was written in a scorewriter and then performed, rather than vice versa. it was initially less about explicitly creating a techno song and more about ordering the parts in a way that could be deconstructed more effectively. i wanted a more flexible approach to production that would allow me to take tracks in and out based on sean's input.

i may have gone over this in this space before, but my mixing process up to that point was considerably unconventional. i would record tracks in one by one using a wave editor and then paste them on top of each other. i worked this way because i just didn't have more advanced tools. while there are benefits to this approach (it's additive synthesis, which blurs the mix for soundscaping), it meant that each additional track was destructive. i could not remove tracks once they were added. this meant sean was unable to provide much input into demos i sent to him.

i also picked up a copy of cakewalk to help with this, but i quickly learned that my system couldn't really handle it. at around eight tracks, it just became unresponsive. with less than eight tracks, it didn't matter if the mix was destructive because it was easily reconstructed. so, i went back to the wave editor approach until 2007, when i upgraded to a modern pc.

the taiko drum part was initially just to keep time; it wasn't supposed to be a part of the song. but, as i built it up i began to realize how interesting it sounded as a techno tune and sort of ran with it. once i'd notated it, i had to convert the drums into a soundscape because the midi render just wasn't good enough. this was done using a mix of software drum machines, midi snippets and isolated jimmy chamberlain samples. i then performed the score i had notated, with the exception of a few synths which were sequenced back. unfortunately, the midi file for the synth build up at the beginning of the track has been lost.

the mix never came out well, partly due to ram issues with cakewalk and partly because i got a little pretentious with some of the parts. i was also extremely distracted over this period. despite this all being done to make sean's input more easily integrated into the material, he had no interest in the direction i took it and basically put his nose up at it again. i attempted a few different things over late 2002 and early 2003 to try and salvage it for my own purposes, but in the end i shelved it as unworkable.

when i first set up the bandcamp site around 2010, i realized i had a collection of tracks that fit a sort of techno-guitar description and compiled them together under the name "tetris". i uploaded an incomplete mix for that project, but it was never really done and i never really felt good about it.

it wasn't until late 2014 that i came back to the track, to authoritatively finish my discography. first, a mix was reconstructed from source to include all of the existing sound files. next, three separate sequencer mixes were sculpted out of the score - a jazz fusion mix, an overture mix and an ambient mix. pieces of these sequencer mixes were then isolated and mixed into the reconstructed original mix. finally, a series of extra lead guitar parts were recorded and mixed separately into a final mix and the orchestral mix, creating the end result and an accompanying guitar concerto. the recording process for this was very lengthy, which was ironically partly due to consistent distractions.

this release was revisited in november, 2017 as a part of the process of finalizing period 2 and was expanded from two to three discs through the addition of multiple supplementary mixes.

i've included the midi file of the original composition, if you'd like to mess with it on your own.

written over the summer of 2002 and initially recorded in the early fall of 2002. additional recording, production and mixing occurred from dec, 2014 to apr, 2015. initial final completion occurred on april 27, 2015. however, eight more supplementary remixes were added to the release over nov 17-nov 19, 2017 to expand it into a three disc set. disc finalized on nov 19, 2017. as always, please use headphones.

the album version of the track (track 7) also appears on my sixth record:
jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj-2

this release also includes a printable jewel case insert and will also eventually include a comprehensive package of journal entries from all phases of production (2002, 2014, 2015, 2017).
 

credits

released September 15, 2002

j - guitars, effects, bass, synthesizers, drum sampling, drum programming, sequencing, sound design, soundscaping, digital wave editing

the various rendered electronic orchestras include electric bass, synth bass, distorted electric guitar, clean electric guitar, acoustic guitar, violin, viola, cello, contrabass, harp, koto, french horn, trombone, trumpet, tuba, english horn, flute, oboe, piccolo, clarinet, bassoon, synthesizers, piano, glockenspiel, vibraphone, hammered percussion, music box, tubular bells, bells, agogo, wood blocks, marimba, melodic toms, timpani, taiko drum, backwards cymbals, synth drums, orchestral drum set and choir. 

good news and bad news.

the bad news is that i just lost my screen on my backup laptop. it's been flickering for a few days. so it's not unexpected. and i can see the screen if i look closely enough, so it seems to just be the light that's out. this is essentially the same thing that happened to my main laptop, so i'm suspecting that it's a power issue in the unit. i may learn, once i've moved, that a lot of the problems i've been having down here are from bad wiring.

when i rebuild my access point, it's going to be on a desktop. but, i'm going to need to have a laptop of some sort. i was hoping it would be this one...i'll have to see what it costs to fix it...

for right now, there's not much to do besides send the signal out to a monitor.

the good news is that i'm finished with inri061 and will be spending the rest of the night doing the write-up for it, with the intent to ship in the afternoon.

Saturday, November 18, 2017

it's the end of the day for me, but i think i've got this put together into a third disc set, and will be able to finalize it when i wake up.


Friday, November 17, 2017

so, i got my first print with the new ink done, and it actually seems to be a little more accurate than the official ink.

so, i'm not worried about quality.

but, i'm a little concerned about leakage, and will have to keep an eye on it.

right now, it seems fine. let's hope i can at least get through the month with it.

and, i'll have to keep track of the exact number of pages i print, as well. even if i only get the same 50 i got last time, i'm paying $20 this time instead of $100, so, it's down into a more reasonable price. and, if i get 100, it's closer to what i initially budgeted for. so, as long as it doesn't leak, this is probably a permanent solution.

the main black ink is supposedly out, too, after something like 30 pages. that's laughable - there must be ink left in the cartridge. so, i guess i'm putting all these cartridges aside for later, to figure out how to get the remaining ink out of them.

right now, i'm going to eat and get back to inri061. 60 is now ready to ship. i could potentially get this out on sunday.

the mail woman left my ink in the box.

she shouldn't have done that. but, ok.

i'll be trying to print the back of inri060 soon.
yeah, my ink's in windsor. but, my mailwoman just always leaves the slip. that's fine, i can get it tomorrow.

getting it today wouldn't help much, as i'm going to need another for 61. but, it looks like i'm expanding this to a third disc by adding some further orchestral reworkings, a percussion mix and maybe a drone mix, to start with. i got the string mix done this morning, and i'm happy with it, but it's bed time.

Thursday, November 16, 2017

my ink might be here tomorrow, actually. have to keep an eye on that. if so, i could ship as early as saturday. if not, it's looking like it will probably be tuesday.

i wanted to ship more today, but i was only able to get inri058 out. that's the 4 cd set. it's shipped.

my drop by odsp was a little underwhelming, but only in the sense of it not being at all formal. i had to write a request by hand. i'll probably type something up before tuesday. i know this is all discretionary, but the situation is rather ridiculous; i can't afford to pay a mover, so if i can't move the furniture then i'll have to leave it here and then go to charity to get more furniture. and, i'd guess that the owners of this place will probably end up donating this furniture to charity. that would be kind of outrageously stupid, right? in the end, the city ends up paying for the moving costs, anyways. but, i know better than to expect pristine logic from the city.

i updated my accounting to reflect the price i actually paid for ink over the last two years, and it makes less of a difference than i thought, overall - my profit decreased from $42 to $34, and sean's went from $6 to $4.50. it's disappointing, but not catastrophic. most of the records i've sold don't have sean on them; i'm actually splitting things 50/50. but, if i get 50 pages out of $20 ink, it's closer to the profit margin i expected.

the actual truth is that i still haven't covered start-up costs.

i'm otherwise fed and am in or the weekend, so i'm going to shower and get to work on inri061. i'm hoping this is the last stretch before i get to the compilations next week.
so, i'm about to get back to work for a few hours over night, but what did i do today?

i gave odsp a call when i woke up this afternoon and realized that i'm going to have to go in and talk to somebody tomorrow. my worker's not in this week. but, i need to get the forms running. and, i need to do that before i call about utilities and estimating moving costs. if i can just get the forms tomorrow and bring them in on tuesday, i'll be happy with that.

after the saga of serving the appeal last week, which was largely a consequence of not being able to find the right tube for my bicycle, i had to make sure i got the thing right, so i went down to the local bicycle store and grilled him on what i needed. with my rain jacket, i maybe seemed a little like the spanish inquisition - but i called ahead, so he had what i needed there when i got there. he talked me into buying a tire. i didn't need a lot of convincing, because i'm going to need a new tire eventually anyways, right? or, to put it another way: i can always use a spare tire.

we can all always use a spare tire.

they should put that on the side of the space shuttles. it's maybe the closest thing to a universal human truth that i've ever fucking seen. really.

anyways.

what was the problem with the tube i got at canadian tire last week - not once, but twice? see, i showed it to the guy and he said my tire must have some glass in it because it's ripped. that's why i bought a tire.

we can all always use a spare tire.

but, i think it actually ripped on the rim, because it didn't fit right. the first one just inflated into it. and the second one felt like i was riding a balloon animal for a few seconds before it popped.  it just didn't fit. that's all there is to it.

i actually got the technically correct correct tubes, this time. see, i'd been hacking out a 28-32 for i don't know how long. the tubes that burst were 23-28, and they were floppy. i should have actually been using 38s the whole time. imagine that. hrmmn.

after a brief stop at the grocery store (with the tire around my neck), i went home and fixed the tire - and fixed it is, yes. i took it out for a spin to make sure. i'm good to go.

so, at the end of the ordeal, i ended up spending a total of about $70 and i got a working bike pump, a spare tire and a spare tube out of it, in addition to getting the thing working. about $15 of that disappeared on bad tubes. but, i learned something from it.

i didn't sit down to eat until close to 9:00, and i had to do dishes and clean up in here after all of that. but i'm ready to finish the cover art for the second mp3 disc and get back to the rest of it after that.

i might be able to print in grey scale, but i have to wait until the ink gets here before i can print the rest of the covers. so, i'm going to go ahead and make the actual discs, and then see if i can print greyscale on them or not. either way, everything should be ready to go when the ink gets here.

and, i should be able to get around and do some things on my bicycle in the morning.

Wednesday, November 15, 2017

so, i bought some cheap ink.

it's high yield for $20. the last package i bought was normal yield for $80. so, this could be less than 1/5th of the price.

i know that there are risks involved with this. i'm feeling like i need to take them.

it should be here before wednesday. and, the truth is that i won't be totally done by then, anyways.

so, i'll hold off on jacking up the price, for now. let's see what i get out of this.

it's 7:00. wow. lol.
i may have less ink in there than i thought.

i think it's worse than that.

1) the size of the cartridges is steadily decreasing.
2) they base their metrics on very minimal coverage, and cover art tends to be very ink heavy. if they say you get 500 pages at 5% coverage and i'm printing at 50% coverage, each page i'm printing is 10 pages in the metrics. so, i'm only getting 50 pages, but it's fifty pages at ten times the metric - and there's your 500 pages.

i'm going to look for something more efficient. but, i think the reality is just that the price of ink is extremely high, and if you want a package like this it's going to cost me some money to make it.

again: it's not so so bad, really.

maybe i lowballed the cost.
i still have a lot of extra cash.

maybe i can do some research into a more efficient printer, before i boost these prices too far.

$15 canadian for an lp is still pretty good. and most of my eps are lp length. $12 isn't too bad at all.

but, i have the prices low for a reason. and i don't really want to have the downloads priced differently than the physical media.
no, i just need to boost the price.

singles are now $10.

eps are now $12.

lps are now $15.

that's what it costs.

sorry.
my printer is out of colour ink, already.

that's about 40-50 pages printed, for an $80 cartridge - meaning it costs $2/page. and, if the disc has a front and a back, it's costing me $4-5 in ink per disc.

i had to do the experiment to figure it out. and, these are the results.

they're outrageous...

i can't sell eps for $7 if i'm spending $5 in ink. based on some basic research, i had ballparked $0.15/disc. so, i'm either going to have to find a cheaper source of ink, or i'm going to have to increase the price.

my estimated static costs were $1.75/disc, meaning that i was clearing $5.25 on an ep and $8.25 on an lp. if my static costs are now $6.45/disc, i'd need to charge $12 for an ep and $15 for an lp to balance out the costs.

i think that's unreasonable.

so, i'm going to have to search for a cheaper source of ink.

i know that the printer cartridge is not out. it has a chip in it. but, i have to find a way around it. maybe i can trick the machine into finishing off the cartridge, to start.
the only really feasible path that i have there and back is via bicycle, and it's going to be cold and raining. there's that ten mile strip with no bus service.

if it was in the summer, i'd probably do it. it's part of the reason i got the bike.

but, for tomorrow, i don't think this makes sense.

i missed st. vincent tonight. everything else aside, it's a big venue, and i just don't enjoy big venue shows. i haven't heard the new record yet, but the lead tracks were underwhelming. and, i get the impression that she's intending to tone it down a little. i'd like to hear what she has to offer on the other side of mellowing out a little in the context of something more orchestral, but i'm not going to get too excited about an americana phase. i guess i'm waiting that out. i hope it doesn't take too long. but, i'll give the new record a chance when i get time to, too.

john mclaughlin is tomorrow night and it's tempting but i don't even know if he's actually playing it. the way he's talking about it is that he's hanging out on stage while somebody else is actually playing. and, he's 75 years old - i can't fault him for not being able to play this material, anymore. this is tough guitar work. but, i'm apprehensive about going all the way to ann arbor if he's not even playing. i'm going to try and find some footage. it's possible.

i've just never seen him play, and if this is my last chance then this is my last chance. but, it's a journey there and back, and i need to make sure it's worth it.