The summer before my senior year of college (way back in '02, believe it or not- I choose not), I "borrowed" my dad's old record player, a Luxman PD272 that had been gathering dust for decades in a storage warehouse. I then accessorized with a big stack of aging vinyl, which, despite weighing in at what must have been at least fifty pounds, barely scratched the surface of the mountains of dusty gems he had hidden away- but that's another story. Thus I acquired a complete "Baby's First Deck!" beginner set, and all was good in the world. Reduce, reuse, recycle, right?
Cut to Berkeley a few months later. I was walking past Amoeba Records on Telegraph when I noticed a big cardboard box full of vinyl 12's sitting on the street. The box itself looked like it might have been peed on, and the entire stack of record sleeves inside had been unflatteringly spray-painted with a big pink stripe across their tops. I wasn't sure what to make of any of this, but I decided to do what any self respecting citizen would, and whisked the whole mess back to my apartment. I'm a hopeless public servant, always have been.
As it turns out, the box hadn't been peed on (that I could tell). It had, however, been filled to the brim with crap: musical crap! All the records that wouldn't sell even after being marked down to the magical price of $0.99. Obviously I was pleased to no end. If you think browsing random stuff on YouTube is fun, you should try sifting through the aural detritus of generations past! I carefully filed my newfound treasures away, brushed my teeth, and proceeded to dream sweet dreams of crackly barbershop quartets and rico/suave country crooners of yore. Or at least that's what I would have done had this been the dramatic re-enactment of that night. In reality I probably dreamed something much weirder and then forgot it fifteen seconds after waking up the next morning. But I digress.
Over the next year or so, I came across a number of similar boxes of free records outside of Amoeba and Rasputin, never failing to rescue them and add them to my growing collection of reject history. Every now and then I'd pull one out for laughs, but for the most part they just sat there masquerading as "real" music and making me look cool for having oh so many impractical yet charmingly-retro petroleum products. They gathered dust and took up space, and I loved them for it. And I dreamed of their limitless potential... or probably just of weird stuff that, again, I forgot upon waking. But for the story's sake, let's say I dreamed of potential because it seems more poetic that way.
The point of all this rambling is that, over the last few days, I actually, finally, started pulling out, wiping off, and going to work on my flock of orphan recordings. And lo and behold, they have potential! Whoa, and I have WYSIWYG formatting, that's pretty cool. Italic and bold text in one paragraph? I really did major in Computer Science!
OK sorry about that, I get a little excited sometimes.
Anyway yeah, I ended up finding quite a lot of interesting tidbits, and have a few new pieces I'm working on that incorporate what I've found so far. I know sampling vinyl is the oldest idea in the electronic music book , but it's an exciting "discovery" for me! And so I can't help but share a couple of very early clips- all disclaimers apply, but I think I like where they're headed.
(Side note: I'm writing Clip B for the eventual incorporation of vocals. I don't know by whom, but if you'd like to give it a shot please let me know! If you live in Germany and are related to me you get automatic first-dibs.)
Clip A
Clip B
I'm pretty tired, so I'll leave it at that for now. Away I go, to dream of... well, something I'll probably forget.
Showing posts with label Clips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Clips. Show all posts
Monday, April 30, 2007
Thursday, April 12, 2007
OK Fine!
It's about time I posted a few new clips to prove that I really am doing more with my time than waking up late and being hard to reach on the phone. As a compromise between (probably) paranoid secrecy and idealistic full disclosure, I've decided to post pieces of tracks, instead of the tracks in their entirety... though in a couple of cases "their entirety" isn't much more than the short clip. Still, something to whet the appetite- or destroy it!
Clip A
Clip B
Clip C
Clip E
Production wise, I feel like I'm maturing a lot- I'm generally finding it easier to actually achieve the sounds that I hear in my head. Of course, "easier" still generally means "fucking hard," but it's a step in the right direction. I'm also working more and more exclusively in Ableton Live, leaving poor Reason a little dusty. Could be I'm just in the honeymoon period of my relationship with VSTs, but Live really gives me the freedom to muck with audio in a way that Reason never did. And I'm starting to really love a few of these free instruments and effects I've downloaded. I'll write up a little summary of the ones I've found most useful in a later post if anyone's interested. Not that I'm planning on ditching Reason anytime soon- it's still an inspiring production environment for me, and has a lot to offer. Anyway, it can't be bad to have two DAWs to work with- get tired of one, switch on over to the other! Or go outside I guess. Hmm.
If anyone's interested in hearing the "full versions" of any clips I post, just let me know and I'll send them your way.
In the words of my good friend Eric, then: until soon.
Clip A
Clip B
Clip C
Clip E
Production wise, I feel like I'm maturing a lot- I'm generally finding it easier to actually achieve the sounds that I hear in my head. Of course, "easier" still generally means "fucking hard," but it's a step in the right direction. I'm also working more and more exclusively in Ableton Live, leaving poor Reason a little dusty. Could be I'm just in the honeymoon period of my relationship with VSTs, but Live really gives me the freedom to muck with audio in a way that Reason never did. And I'm starting to really love a few of these free instruments and effects I've downloaded. I'll write up a little summary of the ones I've found most useful in a later post if anyone's interested. Not that I'm planning on ditching Reason anytime soon- it's still an inspiring production environment for me, and has a lot to offer. Anyway, it can't be bad to have two DAWs to work with- get tired of one, switch on over to the other! Or go outside I guess. Hmm.
If anyone's interested in hearing the "full versions" of any clips I post, just let me know and I'll send them your way.
In the words of my good friend Eric, then: until soon.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
He's Alive, or "What's in a name?"
Fancy meeting me here, huh!? The project was delayed but not forgotten- I had a ten day visit from a special someone (that'd be Jess for the uninitiated), followed by a somewhat impromptu trip to Southern Mexico with Nick and Oliver that ended with our triumphant(ly bug bitten) return this Monday night. I'm just now getting back into the swing of things, but I think the break did me good; I feel energized and ready to get back to work! Music work, that is.
Quite a few new projects in the works right now, and even a finished track! Though that one was for a special occasion (Jess' birthday), so maybe it doesn't really count. I'm reconsidering the whole "secret respository" thing- might just throw up a myspace page with some rotating tracks to make things easier. But if I were to do that, I'd probably need...
A name.
I've struggled for a long time with the idea of an artist name- part of me likes the idea of having an alias that I can assume, but another part feels like that'd be the equivalent of a five year old playing dress up. Or even worse, a self-absorbed twenty-something who thinks he's way cooler than he is. You know, like those kids that start calling themselves "DJ Awesome!" before UPS has even delivered their shitty new belt drive turntables. Hmm, maybe I'm being too harsh- that came off sounding a little jealous didn't it? Not very mature of me to judge others, even if they're named DJ Awesome!. On second thought I kinda even like that name. Ahhh! Now you see what a struggle this whole question has been for me.
So, any suggestions? One caveat though: I'm really not interested in a "DJ" name, since I don't consider myself a DJ. At least not for this project. If you're not convinced, here's a little six-minute impromptu "DJ set" I recorded God knows how long ago, found on my computer this afternoon. If that's not party-rockin', I don't know what is! So we'll leave the "DJ" prefix out for now I think.
All your favorite club hits!
More soon, I promise!
Quite a few new projects in the works right now, and even a finished track! Though that one was for a special occasion (Jess' birthday), so maybe it doesn't really count. I'm reconsidering the whole "secret respository" thing- might just throw up a myspace page with some rotating tracks to make things easier. But if I were to do that, I'd probably need...
A name.
I've struggled for a long time with the idea of an artist name- part of me likes the idea of having an alias that I can assume, but another part feels like that'd be the equivalent of a five year old playing dress up. Or even worse, a self-absorbed twenty-something who thinks he's way cooler than he is. You know, like those kids that start calling themselves "DJ Awesome!" before UPS has even delivered their shitty new belt drive turntables. Hmm, maybe I'm being too harsh- that came off sounding a little jealous didn't it? Not very mature of me to judge others, even if they're named DJ Awesome!. On second thought I kinda even like that name. Ahhh! Now you see what a struggle this whole question has been for me.
So, any suggestions? One caveat though: I'm really not interested in a "DJ" name, since I don't consider myself a DJ. At least not for this project. If you're not convinced, here's a little six-minute impromptu "DJ set" I recorded God knows how long ago, found on my computer this afternoon. If that's not party-rockin', I don't know what is! So we'll leave the "DJ" prefix out for now I think.
All your favorite club hits!
More soon, I promise!
Thursday, February 08, 2007
'N Stuff
I finally got the server problems worked out (which, of course, ended up being me problems- computers are never wrong), so as promised, a few clips of stuff I've been working on:
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
Clip 4
The usual disclaimers apply of course: these are, for the most part, just initial sketches that I "stretched" into something longer than 20 seconds. If they seem a little repetitive at times, that's why, and of course almost everything about them is subject to change. But they give a general idea of what I'm doing... hopefully. (Oh, and world: please don't steal my brilliant ideas and turn them into your own thus achieving commercial successes beyond either of our wildest dreams. That really wouldn't be fair at all.)
Speaking of doing, I discovered a great cure for writers block (and writer's apathy) today: listening! I've been focusing so much on getting stuff cranked out that I forgot about actually listening to music that I enjoy. Seems crazy, but it happened. I was feeling really pretty stuck in some ways, not interested in working at all, but it turned out that I just needed a little infusion of real talent =). It reminds me why I used to get inspired so much at work or in the car- I was listening to music that inspired me! I'm glad I figured that out now and not eight months from now. Jeepers.
Status updates:
Productivity has been pretty low these last couple of days, but thanks to the aforementioned epiphany things are looking up. I of course have already failed to stick to my one-sample-per-day goal. I just need to force myself into the habit I guess. We'll see.
The SPCA continues to be great. I solo-socialized my first puppy yesterday, a two month old Golden Retriever / Rottie mix named Cinnamon. I don't know how they do it, but those baby dogs sure know how to turn on the charm! I'm looking forward to more tomorrow morning/afternoon, though you can only socialize one puppy (or puppies from one litter, I can't remember) per day due to restrictions aimed at keeping them healthy and away from diseases that other dogs might have. So after my excursion to ridiculouslyadorableland I'm trying to spend as much time as possible walking dogs in the medical ward as I can. Those poor guys have it pretty rough, as they're in the old kennels and away from the adoring public, so they really need attention. JB to the rescue, huh?
I also went to the Project Open Hand orientation meeting today, which lasted a whopping 18 minutes from walking in to walking out (it seemed really short so I had to check). Not that I would have preferred more- they pretty much just told us what we could do (food prep, grocery fetch, delivery, serving seniors, etc), had us fill out an "intent to volunteer" form, and sent us on our way. Apparently someone's going to call me to set up a schedule, so hopefully I can get going soon. The food prep stuff sounds fun, and their kitchen is right there on the ground floor, complete with windows so you can see it from outside, which should do well to feed my already almost overpowering sense of self worth. But first I'll have to go get a TB test. We'll see how that fairs with the 'ole ego.
Think I'll leave it at that for now. JB: out.
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
Clip 4
The usual disclaimers apply of course: these are, for the most part, just initial sketches that I "stretched" into something longer than 20 seconds. If they seem a little repetitive at times, that's why, and of course almost everything about them is subject to change. But they give a general idea of what I'm doing... hopefully. (Oh, and world: please don't steal my brilliant ideas and turn them into your own thus achieving commercial successes beyond either of our wildest dreams. That really wouldn't be fair at all.)
Speaking of doing, I discovered a great cure for writers block (and writer's apathy) today: listening! I've been focusing so much on getting stuff cranked out that I forgot about actually listening to music that I enjoy. Seems crazy, but it happened. I was feeling really pretty stuck in some ways, not interested in working at all, but it turned out that I just needed a little infusion of real talent =). It reminds me why I used to get inspired so much at work or in the car- I was listening to music that inspired me! I'm glad I figured that out now and not eight months from now. Jeepers.
Status updates:
Productivity has been pretty low these last couple of days, but thanks to the aforementioned epiphany things are looking up. I of course have already failed to stick to my one-sample-per-day goal. I just need to force myself into the habit I guess. We'll see.
The SPCA continues to be great. I solo-socialized my first puppy yesterday, a two month old Golden Retriever / Rottie mix named Cinnamon. I don't know how they do it, but those baby dogs sure know how to turn on the charm! I'm looking forward to more tomorrow morning/afternoon, though you can only socialize one puppy (or puppies from one litter, I can't remember) per day due to restrictions aimed at keeping them healthy and away from diseases that other dogs might have. So after my excursion to ridiculouslyadorableland I'm trying to spend as much time as possible walking dogs in the medical ward as I can. Those poor guys have it pretty rough, as they're in the old kennels and away from the adoring public, so they really need attention. JB to the rescue, huh?
I also went to the Project Open Hand orientation meeting today, which lasted a whopping 18 minutes from walking in to walking out (it seemed really short so I had to check). Not that I would have preferred more- they pretty much just told us what we could do (food prep, grocery fetch, delivery, serving seniors, etc), had us fill out an "intent to volunteer" form, and sent us on our way. Apparently someone's going to call me to set up a schedule, so hopefully I can get going soon. The food prep stuff sounds fun, and their kitchen is right there on the ground floor, complete with windows so you can see it from outside, which should do well to feed my already almost overpowering sense of self worth. But first I'll have to go get a TB test. We'll see how that fairs with the 'ole ego.
Think I'll leave it at that for now. JB: out.
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