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::Friday, March 28, 2003::
㉰
Broadband vs CD Writer
Etc...
I'm having a rough time getting old Tyrell back on line. Tyrell is a 400Mhz self-built pc from about 4 years ago. I couldn't get it to network to my laptop, so I installed Windows 2000, and now all it does is network. The soundcard, CD Writer, Modem and USB ports don't work. So it won't do the 3 things I need it for: 1. Internet Access | 2. CD Player | 3. CD Burner Arg..
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4:56:45 PM :: permalink
Keywords:
㉮
Intense Times
But not unproductive!
I'm all confused about what sort of music I like. I keep going to trance nights and having a really good time, but I don't know how much of that's about the music... The lasers and smoke and smiliing faces make it very addictive. Consistently danceable! But, not much room for particular individualism on the part of the dj/performer. I've seen a couple of bands over the last week - one was pretty good, the other was so shit I spat venom for an hour after they'd finished.
Either way - band or dj - both ways seem best when they appear effortless. A lead singer can say something small or silly and it seems really funny. Or the dj can play back-to-back similar sounding tracks and the subtleties make things come alive. Do you know what I'm getting at? It's something to do with relentless rhythm vs idiosyncratic performers. Anyway, All Tomorrow's Parties next week should bring this all into focus. Or out of focus in a good way...
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4:48:23 PM :: permalink
Keywords: Life Music
::Tuesday, March 18, 2003::
㉧
Another little breakthrough
No looping! I've realised I was just building things up on a loop (cos it's easier) and not getting very far with progressions of any sort. Working with Ben helped to highlight this. Once again I say Ableton + Reason - a killer team, expecially with the sequencer synchronisation!
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1:16:05 PM :: permalink
Keywords: Smunk
::Monday, March 17, 2003::
㉾
Jings
It's been an intense week in many ways. Strange things keep happening, some very good, some very unpleasant. Unfortunately, without a great deal more anonymity than this blog affords me, I am reluctant to go into further detail. Let's keep it about the music shall we?
I haven't worked up the courage to call MC Lee yet. Not sure how to approach him really. It's just a conversation I will have to launch myself into at some point. This week. Oh yeah - I was gonna check he's cool with putting the mp3 up here! Okay. Blogging is useful...
I've managed to recreate the sounds I had in Reaktor within Reason now. So it's infinite onwards and upwards from hereon in. Although a faster processor would be sweet. There's always something else! I got more than enough equipment! And now, a workable synth bass.
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4:47:59 PM :: permalink
Keywords: Smunk Life
::Tuesday, March 11, 2003::
㊜
...Getting away from that for a bit...
1. What is it?
2. What is it?
3. What is it?
4.
5.
6.
7. What is it?
8. Stop.
Making a CV is itchy. Getting dumped is just plain shit :-(
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2:49:16 PM :: permalink
Keywords: Rants
::Monday, March 10, 2003::
㊮
Ableton Live + Propellerhead Reason
Yup. That's the ticket! ASIO driver useable so 4 inputs and 4 outputs, an array of virtual synths wired through whatever I want and a latency of 23ms. Fantastic. Also, it's nice to have some ready-made electric piano and piano sample maps. They're pretty good with the cutoff frequency pulled down a bit. The two programs sync nicely too, so sequenced beats are straightforward to add. Impressed with the roughness of (some of) Reason's factory preset library. I'm currently trying to recreate my favourite synth bass patches - then I'm up to where I was before and the sky's the limit!
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2:16:57 PM :: permalink
Keywords: Smunk Music
㊯
Club Scene
The tune went down well, I'm told (though it could still do with some phattening up in my view) - I wouldn't have expected a trance crowd to respond like that to be honest! Sorry the mp3 still isn't here - we made the decision to check with MC Lee before going ahead with this. I hope he's still got the same mobile cos otherwise I have no way of contacting him! Anyway - keep watching this space.
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2:09:17 PM :: permalink
Keywords: Music
::Friday, March 07, 2003::
㉾
Addicted Fanatic Rhyme-addict
Last night Ben the DJ came over and we mangled some structure into the hip-hoppy track I played last week. It is to be dropped tonight for the attendees of the Medusa club in a night called "BoingBoingBoing". I will post the mp3 today...
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11:31:49 AM :: permalink
Keywords: Smunk
㉸
France
The reasons to move to France have all but evaporated for now. Suddenly music is moving for me again so that could be how I travel. I'm also moving into a more corporationny job, also with possibilities of travel. I have been informed by my new housemate and fellow hip-hop afficionado Alex that the French are not all open-minded about music as I believed - it's the 60% french music radio law that's done it - any old shit gets played. The discrimination is not so much in terms of quality as it is in terms of race. Which we all know is not a good thing. Also - I was expecting the smunk style to induce blank stares and heckling in the English audience, but in fact, it got much dancing and laughing. Also, I've got new friends and I am not so desperate to escape my life any more.
That said, if Ezgi had said yes then I'd already be there. C'est la vie.
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11:26:27 AM :: permalink
Keywords: Life
::Wednesday, March 05, 2003::
㉽
What is the difference between thoroughness (good) and perfectionism (bad)??
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2:22:17 PM :: permalink
Keywords: Life
㊊
Addiction
Love is a chemical addiction, plain and simple. Various glands pump various hard-core drugs directly into my blood-stream when I'm with the girl I want, and my volition is compromised. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but on realising that the girl in question is not doing one any good, one has to break the addiction in the same way that one would get off, say, the smack. In thinking about things this way, I am able to regain control over my will. The weak point in this approach is in the decision that 'the girl is not good for me'. The drugs are persuasive; the addiction makes one's mind explore the possibilities until one finds some 'reasonable' way in which another fix can be obtained. Well - that, convulsions, vomiting and sobbing psychosis. When the comedown's worse than the high, that's when you gotta stop.
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11:31:58 AM :: permalink
Keywords: Life
㊊
Youthful Folly
The image of water flowing through the mountain. Because it is thorough in filling up the nooks and crannies it is able to move continuously forward. By fully exploring the range of available experiences the young man furthers himself.
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11:13:21 AM :: permalink
Keywords: Life
::Saturday, March 01, 2003::
㉼
Listening back to last night's performance...
Well... what can I say? Lots, I think. I can't believe the grin on my face as I listen back to this. I can do this thing. God it's nice to listen back to a complete performance - just sitting back, not worrying about touching anything!
Okay.
1. I didn't give myself enough to do. More sample availability and clearer tunes required.
2. My attention was brought to the fact that I kept turning the volume down. I hadn't realised I'd been doing it. I have now realised it was a bedroom-related reflex. When I'm working on tunes in a house of other people, I'm conscious that I'm making noise, and the beats are always loud, so I reflexively turn down the volume a notch when the beat kicks in. This is obviously defeats the point of the phatness in a loud context! I will break it. It will be fun to break.
3. Stage expressions. I tortured the audience by showing anxiety at things that I considered to be mistakes, but if I hadn't, they wouldn't have noticed anything. But hey! I never did this before! I will be better next time.
4. The computer froze. It froze in a new way - Ableton kept playing but wouldn't respond to any button clicking. I could have used a backup sound source while I was fixing it. I don't really like the idea of a CD player, but a delay-loop or something might do the trick next time. I'll cover up the crash and tell people about it when I've seamlessly incorporated it.
5. I said sorry about 10 times. Like a sapling. I got nutin to be sorry about! But - first time out 'nall. Fear etc...
Can't think of anything else just now (I'm all hanged-over).
Heartfelt gratitude to Travis and Kaye for taking my (heavy) stuff back to Brixton for me. I'm overwhelmed.
Thanks to Chris for putting me up there without having heard very much of anything.
Thanks to the sound man for pressing record on the minidisc (I was too nervous to remember I had to do it when the time came).
Thanks to Jase in New Zealand for putting me onto Ableton Live.
Thanks to Bruce for his unerring, unflappable support throughout, well, everything really.
Thanks to every single person that came and danced and offered views and advice.
Thanks to Ezgi for letting it be funky after all.
Who have I forgotten?
Add comments on the performance in the yellow box to the left, up the top of this page. It's blank so far.
M
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2:11:25 PM :: permalink
Keywords: Smunk
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