Throughout my time of making music, I have come up with numerous hair brained ideas that I thought were fantastic, but ultimately did not come to fruitition. Chances are most artists have these crazy ideas floating around, but we are mostly to scared to tell people about them. I would safely bet that they are just as crazy as the ideas that I am about to type about here.My first crazy idea came a few years ago when I was trying to find new and creative ways to make music. At the time I was beginning to stumble upon different forms of algorithmic music and I thought making an algorithmic album would be fun. For those who do not know what algorithmic music is, it is essentially music created by the computer from some parameters set by the user. The artist does not really create the music and the results are largely random each time.While this seemed like a good idea at the time, the implementation of the idea was extremely difficult. I really could not develop anything beyond crazy noise.My second crazy idea was to develop an art show where I showcased fractal artwork that I dabbled in while playing live music to the fractals. Again, while this idea sounded really cool, the actual execution was hard. As I began to create more and more fractal artwork I found that the costs of printing art for display was extremely expensive. When I initially researched it, the costs were around $100.00 per piece.The third crazy idea was to develop my livepa act into a storytelling session. If any of you out there reading this are familiar with livepa shows or electronic music events, video and visuals are a common theme. The thing that was bothering me at the time however is that no matter where you seem to go the visuals are largely the same; abstract, random images that randomly or partially sync to the music.My idea was to develop something with a little more meaning, where the music and the visuals were more closely connected and had direction. What I planned on doing was developing a shadow puppetry show where the music told a story. After again researching these ideas the difficulties of telling a story like this live without the feel of it being pre-recorded was extremely difficult. If I planned on doing live visuals and music then it would take many people to successfully execute the project. On the other if either the music or visuals were pre-recorded then the show would lose its live feel and ability for improvisation.That brings us up to our forth and final crazy project. This one is actually still on my to do list, but we will see if this ever happens.....This final project was initially designed to be a computer animated movie that chronicled the diary entries of a soldier in a future war. In this story no one knew the identity of the solder or which side he was on. The war would be one that had no inherent good or evil and the reader in this case would be able to take sides with either aprty of the war. To what this topic is exactly I don't know. (Ideas would be great.)As the years sort of rolled by the idea has slightly changed. I have now modified it into a blog book format where the journal entries are posted on a blog and audio clips in the form of podcasts act as supplementals in forms ranging from music, to news broadcasts, to whatever. While this current idea seems a little more feasible, my excitement for the project grows while my realization for the project dwindles.It seems every time I want to begin it I have another reason to push it off.Tags: personal thoughts ideas failed
This is a new track that I have entitled Flutter By. It is a chill/ambient techno piece that features some really cool panning synths that almost talk to you. The track slowly builds throughout the piece and then finally ends in an odd relaxing climax. Flutter By:
.:Lofi:..:Hifi:.Tags: Flutter By ambient techno mp3 release
.:Lofi:..:Hifi:.Tags: Flutter By ambient techno mp3 release
Ok, here it is. The first of one of the two new tracks. This one isn't entirely new, because it is actually the last track that I posted a few weeks ago as a work in progress. I changed so much of this track however, that it really is a new piece. This one is much more technoy and features a nice little bubbly acidline, with counter point digital synths. I added a new more rolling bassline and developed the middle section of the piece into a more relaxing break from the begining half of the track. Raging Bull
.:Lofi:..:Hifi:.Tags: Raging Bull ambient techno mp3 release
.:Lofi:..:Hifi:.Tags: Raging Bull ambient techno mp3 release
Well, despite a rather frustrating morning (read below) the day actually ended up being extremely productive (musically that is). I spent about four hours this afternoon writing and re-writing some material and then about two hours this evening recording the two new tracks. I'm actually surprised at how quickly I got the tracks recorded. It only took about three takes for each track. For those who don't know about audio recording three takes is a surprisingly short time.I have the tracks recorded to minidisc, so hopefully they should be up sometime Monday after I get back to my apartment and put them onto the computer.Tags: music writing recording personal thoughts
Well......After working on a song for about three hours and finally coming up with something that I found useful I accidentally just ruined the song. I am sure everyone has done this with some project at least once in their life. You have something that looks our sounds pretty good, but you can't leave it alone. You just have to poke and prod at it trying to extract a little something more. Then BOOM!!!! Everything blows up in your face.In my case I accidentally hit song mode or something on my EMU Command Station changing all of the synth and percussion sounds I had so carefully programmed in into something else. Thankfully all of the patterns I wrote are still there, but now I have to re-program the sounds from scratch.Here is some good advice for life. Always hit the save button.Tags: personal thoughts music composition music writing
Ok, I am planning on selling my SP-808. The thing is just frustrating me beyond belief. While I love the effects on the thing, the sequencer is just a nightmare. So I am in the market for a new sampler. I sort of wanna keep the price in the $500 or less range. Anyone have any tips?I know a lot of people really like the the Korg ESX-1 for live. Another option I am considering is the Roland SP-404. Now, while the demos look great online I am weary of purchasing another SP coming fresh off of my nightmare experience with the SP-808. It does look to have some great features though and with the small size and ability to have upto a 1Gb smartcard it is very appealing. It even allows me to still be able to do the drone loops. I have never been a hardcore sampler so options of spending a little less for an old SU700, ES-1 or something are certainly open. I suppose I should go for the more sampling memory to grow into though. I know someone will probably ask what will I be using the sampler for. To be honest, I am not really sure. Probably a little bit of everything. My 808 was so frustrating that I manily used to for drone loops and ambient noise and just could not wrap my head around the sequencer on the thing.Tags: Roland SP-808 hardware sampler for sale
Today is a slightly sad day. Samplecity.net has offically announced that it is closing its doors for good. Samplecity was one of the first music production communities that I was a part of and really became involved with. I have learned more from that site and made more friends online then through any other source. It really has made me the producer and artist that I am today. It will sorely be missed.Quote from the site:
Bow your heads folks. After years and years of good times on samplecity.net we had a catastrophic HD failure and lost everything. Since I do not really have much time for SC these days there were no backups (there was one 1 year old So, say goodbye gents (and females) and give each other a pat on the back for all the good times, music shared, and production skills learned. There are several former members of Samplecity and .:Serious-Sounds:. who are trying to round up the people we knew as well as some of the more active members of Samplecity. Many of the users at .:Serious-Sounds:. were also members of Samplecity and most of the staff considered Samplecity to be our sister site. This is a sad day because a great music community is closing. If you happen to know members from Samplecity please pass the word on. Lets try to keep those contacts that we have made over the years intact. If you or anyone is intrested in re-creating the community direct them to .:Serious-Sounds:.Maybe Serious-Sounds can help re-build the community that was lost and help take what was once two worlds and make it one.Tags: Samplecity.net Serious-Sounds.net Music Forum
Bow your heads folks. After years and years of good times on samplecity.net we had a catastrophic HD failure and lost everything. Since I do not really have much time for SC these days there were no backups (there was one 1 year old So, say goodbye gents (and females) and give each other a pat on the back for all the good times, music shared, and production skills learned. There are several former members of Samplecity and .:Serious-Sounds:. who are trying to round up the people we knew as well as some of the more active members of Samplecity. Many of the users at .:Serious-Sounds:. were also members of Samplecity and most of the staff considered Samplecity to be our sister site. This is a sad day because a great music community is closing. If you happen to know members from Samplecity please pass the word on. Lets try to keep those contacts that we have made over the years intact. If you or anyone is intrested in re-creating the community direct them to .:Serious-Sounds:.Maybe Serious-Sounds can help re-build the community that was lost and help take what was once two worlds and make it one.Tags: Samplecity.net Serious-Sounds.net Music Forum
I have a lot of people ask me these days "Why did you quit making music with software?"Well, a lot of my points can be extracted from my previous post .:Are We Utilizing Our Gear to its Fullest?:.I have found that for me personally the unlimited choices and opportunities afforded by software has actually stunted my creative abilities. Instead of learning the tools that I had, I continually fell back on presets instead of trying to create new sounds. When I looked back at the tools I used I might have had 100 synths, but in actuality I had probably thousands of pre-sets.The simple process of just sorting through prests is an extremely time consuming process. As you can imagine, this did not lend itself to very a efficient production schedule.Not only did the sheer amount of tool options become distracting but the computer itself becam distracting. Internet, email, blogs, Stumbleupon. I just could not operate in that atmosphere. While the 2" LCD screen of my Command Station is not the most intresting thing in the world, it is more intresting then my wall and it forces me to concentrate on the audio and not the visual aspect of the process.I have found that my hardware setup, while "limited" in sound possibilities has actually made me more efficent. I have learned that I work better with a tactile control interface, being able to play the instruments, rather then simply program them. Electronic musicians have often recieved a lot of criticism because most of the songs these days are simply created on the computer and then exported from the project file. Many people feel the musciality is lost.While I personally don't neccisarily share these thoughts, there is a certain amount of satisfaction that comes from having to actually sit down and record the tracks that I make, while playing the instruments instead of simply hitting "render".While I find more creativity and personal appeal in using hardware over software, I understand that each person works differently. I do dabble on occasion with some software for 8-bit music creation, namely the .:Raster Tracker:. Raster Tracker stays consistant with my personal philosophy of simplicity and minimalism in music creation.I encourage all of the producers out there however to try not to be one minded in your production tools. Remember, there is no "one best way" to the creation of music. Look at music creation with an open mind and an open heart. Find your own path and find what works for you. Tags: music software personal thoughts production techniques
This is a must watch video for every American out there. An in depth exploration demonstrating the conspiracy, flaws and coincidences behind the 911 tragedy. The video is about 120 minutes long, but I ask that you please sit through this or download the video for your own viewing. I think you might learn something.
On January 6, 2000 a group of musicians and music-loving technologists came together with the idea of creating the most comprehensive analysis of music ever. Together we set out to capture the essence of music at the most fundamental level. We ended up assembling literally hundreds of musical attributes or "genes" into a very large Music Genome. Taken together these genes capture the unique and magical musical identity of a song - everything from melody, harmony and rhythm, to instrumentation, orchestration, arrangement, lyrics, and of course the rich world of singing and vocal harmony. It's not about what a band looks like, or what genre they supposedly belong to, or about who buys their records - it's about what each individual song sounds like. Over the past 5 years, we've carefully listened to the songs of over 10,000 different artists - ranging from popular to obscure - and analyzed the musical qualities of each song one attribute at a time. This work continues each and every day as we endeavor to include all the great new stuff coming out of studios, clubs and garages around the world. It has been quite an adventure, you could say a little crazy - but now that we've created this extraordinary collection of music analysis, we think we can help be your guide as you explore your favorite parts of the music universe
.:Music Genome Project:.