Scratching and Juggling

Just a quick update here, with a video of last night’s escapades. A few weeks ago I bought two copies of the Juggler’s Roulette, an absolutely stunning collection of breaks and samples, all blended together seamlessly. A far cry from the average battle record I’ve looked at, you basically have to put this thing on and let it play through to hear everything, because there are so many little gems hidden in there it’s ridiculous. I may have to upload my favorites some point later, but the suffice it to say that everybody who gets their hands on this is almost guaranteed to do their own, unique things with it, and it’s one of the best bits of vinyl I’ve bought in ages.

Anyway, I’ve been messing around with this beauty for a while, but last night I discovered this great loop with a simple drum break and that classic “AAAAaaahhhh” scratch sample right before it. It might sound boring as part of a battle set, but it’s pure bliss if you’re looking to practice juggling and scratching together.

Here’s a video I threw together this morning. I’m satisfied with it for now (skips and static from the line-in included), and if anyone has any advice or input, feel free to drop me some comments.

As a side note, this has given me an opportunity to cut with my left hand (scratch with my right) as a seemless part of my practice, and I’ve discovered that it strains muscles in my left hand that I never knew I had. Working on keeping more relaxed with it right now.

Hope you enjoyed!

Boba Fett, Part 1

So, yesterday evening, I figured out what I want to be for halloween. I’ve got some shots of the steps I’ve been taking to make the costume. So far, I’ve reinforced my belief that cardboard and duct tape are incredibly strong when used correctly, rekindled my still-smoldering arts-and-crafts flame, and learned that Safeway people are perfectly happy to supply you with cardboard for your halloween costume. I also learned, that you don’t need perfect cardboard, either. Not for small stuff, anyway. The bigger bits may call for larger, unmarred boxes, but for now, this works perfectly.

Here’s our man. I’ve always favored Boba Fett over most of the rest of the Starwars universe.

THIS IS SPARTA!!!

First few steps: 4 bits of cardboard and some tape

A few more strips…

KaZAM!

Bum bada BUMMMM!!!!

Now we’re getting somewhere…

Word!

You should be able to follow along pretty simply. The mouthpiece was the hardest, because it involved getting it into shape using multiple pieces of cardboard in that T-shape, then cutting out the slit down the center. After I got three layers, it kept it’s shape pretty well, so I just dragged the razor through it, taped it, and added some more layers.

The thing’s solid, too. It feels so wicked just holding it under your arm. No football helmet, for sure, but it’s not gonna break, even with my plans for a tequila-filled squirt gun and silly string fights. Halloween is going to be a night to remember! More tomorrow evening, when I want to have the visor in.

For now, one last topless photo of glory:

A Thick And Murky Dream, With A Light In The Distance

Here’s what I’ve been working on, production wise, for the last little while. Nothing insane yet, but I’m quite happy with where it’s going. My brother’s living with me now, and he plays electric guitar, so at some point, I want to record him and replace the synth guitar that’s currently on the track with the real thing. Most of this evening was spent working out that little white noise line in the background, programming the filter sweeps, and getting the little rolls in there figured out. Getting everything to line up with the congas is a bit of a challenge.

Lots of fun, though, and it’s really nice to be working with something that’s not a 4/4 kick drum. Ever since Shambhala this year, my appreciation for acoustic music has gone through the roof. If I could add live drums, etc. to this, I would, but that’s not really in my grasp at the moment. For now, I’m going to dedicate some time to the electronic part of this, and see if I can’t get something decent.

Check it out!

Wow, Actually Back?

My God, I’ve left this alone a long time. I don’t even know what happened. One thing lead to another in a household that had a little too much appreciation for apathy (not to mention with a psychotic girlfriend), and I just didn’t post anything else. It’s now months and months down the line and I’ve moved to a new apartment in a better neighborhood, bought more vinyl, and gotten a lot better. I am currently just edging back into music production, but during my off-time, during which I spent a lot of time listening to techno, minimal, ambient and IDM/glitch, dubstep, my music taste has changed quite drastically. It has also broadened to include a lot more hip-hop, funk, and world music. Currently I seem to be re-exploring my appreciation for good, smooth, deep and progressive house, but when I went record shopping a few weeks ago, I came home with three records, three different genres.

Anyway, this is to say that I’m getting back at this. Hopefully I didn’t disappoint anyone when I disappeared for a few months. I hope you enjoy what’s to come.

Vinyl Set (Bad Transitions, Nice Tracks)

Well, it’s been ages, but I figure that’s okay. I’m lazy, and I’m alright with that. I’ve been working lots, and now I’m using my paycheque to buy new records! My latest additions as of today are:

Autokratz – Reaktor/It’s On                        Absolutely ridiculously good tracks – some of my favorite electro.
Uffie – First Love/Brand New Car              Just because First Love makes me so ridiculously happy .
Tronic Inc – Nightlights                                Some cool electro stuff. Not too bad, though nothing mindblowing.
Perspects – Motorskills                                 Definitely did NOT belong in the house section. Some good stuff though.

Anyway, here’s a set I did earlier. The transitions are pretty terrible, but for the most part I blame my headphones. I’m mostly just happy with the sound vinyl puts out and the track selection on here. Hope the clashy transitions aren’t too bad. I’ll add a tracklist when I’m not so damned lazy. Enjoy:

http://rapidshare.com/files/99405736/Sugarfix_-_Live_Set_2008-03-13_-_First_Good_Vinyl_Set_.mp3.html

My Laptop and nLite (Smiter of Microsoft)

At last! My laptop finally got back about four days ago. I was saddened to realize that although Staples had fixed my hardware, the operating system was too corrupted to save most of my photos and stuff. However, I keep my important stuff elsewhere, so my music is safe.

Anyway, as I write this, I’m reloading all my music onto my data partition after reformatting and installing a customized version of Windows XP, modified with possibly one of the greatest programs ever to happen to (not by) Microsoft – nLite!

You can read about it on the site, but quite simply, nLite takes your current, in-tact Windows installation and makes an installer out of it. It then allws you to strip away all the parts you don’t want. At last, Microsoft haters can be rid of crap such as Internet Explorer and that laughable software suite, Microsoft Security. You can also disable everything from themes to tooltips to those moronic sounds that windows has that seem to always play way too loud right in the middle of class, coffee shops, etc. You get the idea. MSN doesn’t work anymore, but I’m using Miranda IM, which is better anyway.

So yeah, that’s the latest update, and I will make a concerted effort to get back into production. Probably some time midweek. Later today or tomorrow I will be reinstalling Traktor and I’ll start mixing again during the week. Until then, take it easy, and check out nLite!

Vinyl At Last

Something like three years ago, I figured out how DJing was done, and what turntables were used for. I’ve been wanting them ever since. Yesterday, I got my wish

So, this is my new setup: two SL-1200MK2 turntables which I bought from my good friend Lazy Rich who recently switched over to some CDJ-1000Mk3s (amazing things. About $1700 worth of amazing, each ), the BCD2000 midi mixer I’m borrowing from my friend Jannus (DJ Loki. His website’s not up right now, but I’ll shoot it to you later), my boom box, my roommate Joe’s laptop (mine is STILL away being repaired. It’s been there for 38 days so far), and some duct-taped, 3-year-old KOSS headphones that are absolutely trashed (UR-20’s – I don’t think they even make those anymore).

The turntables were $700 in total, and Rich threw in cartridge and slipmats, and is even letting me borrow a few vinyls until my collection gets moving. Oh, and by the way, get moving is something it will be doing with a vengeance (my eyes are set on “Risingson” and “Butterfly Caught” by Massive Attack, along with some Trentmoller). Up until a few weeks ago, I’d been intending on saving up for Serato Scratch Live. That way I could save money on vinyls and just mix my mp3s in… but earlier today I was messing around with the few records I’ve got right now, and I tried mixing in some mp3s with B-DJ, and the sound difference is staggering. Now, admittedly, B-DJ is a terrible piece of software, and the mp3s were low quality, but even so, it was actually painful to listen to them. The other thing is that with records, I think each track would get the appreciation it deserves. With mp3s, you can pick up cheap or free tracks and not even really listen to them, but with vinyl, you don’t buy it unless you really like it.

Anyway, some point I’ll pick up Serato Scratch Live just because I want to be able to play my home-produced stuff. But for now, this works. Here’s a few more pictures of my setup. Enjoy!

These three and the first one are my favorites. Just some quick snaps from last night with my phone camera (hence the bad quality). Here’s a couple of others, including a really bad shot of B-DJ on Joe’s laptop. I wouldn’t use it if I didn’t have to, but the BCD2000 only does analog inputs if it’s hooked up to the computer.

     

Anyway, it’ll be a while before I get to upload any mixes with these things, I think. I’ll need to pick up some records, and I don’t want to install anything more on Joe’s computer than I have to. But hopefully Jannus will be up for jamming some point, and he has Serato Scratch Live and a very sexy mixer, so that should be awesome.

Until next time, I recommend anyone who hasn’t heard them to go listen to some Massive Attack, Morcheeba, and Tricky.

Why I Don’t Like Technology

I think I’m going to invest in two tape recorders, and some good old-fashioned blank tapes. Not because they have good quality, or because they’re efficient, or because I have that classic love of the good old fashioned analog feel a.k.a. distortion (I’ll take digital any day), but because they’re reliable. Six days ago my computer broke down, and I had to send it in to claim warranty. This will take two to three weeks, with a likely additional half a week due to holiday madness. I’ve had the common withdrawal symptoms, but they all pale in comparison to the inability to work on my music!

Asking Kirk to use his computer is a possibility, I suppose, but truth be told, I don’t think it would feel right. It’s very hard to concentrate on (at least somewhat) artistic activities when you’re worried about screwing up somebody’s stuff or – even worse – they decide they need it back, right when you’ve really gotten rolling.

Having tape recorders would be great, because I could record things as they come to me, without having to worry about the fact that my phone’s mic sucks. With two, I could also overdub and record onto the second tape. It’d be quite nice to make music with purely unsynthesized instruments for a change…

In other news, I’m really starting to get a feel for identifying how minimal tracks go together, and get my head wrapped around the fact that each element sounds totally wrong by its self. Fun stuff. When I get around to getting a job, I would like to do an analysis essay of some of the tracks I have access to.

‘Til then, Happy New Year!

Dead Laptop…

Hey guys, got some bad news. I can’t do any updates for a fairly indefinite amount of time because my laptop’s power source just died. It was smelling kind of like burnt plastic for a while, so I should have seen it coming, but that’s the way it is. Anyway, I’m back in Vancouver, so I’ll see what I can do to get it fixed tomorrow. Hope to be back up soon.

In other news, happy new years!

Merry Christmas (And Electro)

Well, merry Christmas , bah humbug, etc. So I wasn’t in bed last night, like I was supposed to be. I was up working on this until about 1. Let me know what you think. I’m a little too tired to fully explain this right now, but I added reverb to the bassline (which makes it dramatically fuller on a high-quality version – not sure about this one, but I’m on dialup), and threw in a cowbell-type synth. I’m really, really stoked about it, but like I said, I AM tired. Maybe it doesn’t sound as good as I think. Simple enough for me, though. Here’s the patch for the synth:

Merry Christmas,

- Pat