So here’s my step towards solidifying my place in the palace of Geekdom. I have been interested in this project for awhile, and finally had the time today to take it on. Here’s the PDF I created, that is a chronological timeline of all the produced Star Trek Episodes and films. We’ve been watching Star Trek before bed lately, and it’s been so fun I think I’m going to take this on next. It'll take years, but seriously, what else have I been doing? :)
The Star Trek Complete Film and Series Chronology
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Monday, April 03, 2006
Punk Band Punk Band La La La La
I should rename this blog - "The ongoing saga of two punks to get their album completed". Or maybe "How I learned to frustrate myself on hundreds of dollars of equipment a day".
My personal favorite has to be the VH1 special title - Anything Times Zero - behind the scenes, before the tragedy!
Of course, I don't know of any tragedy coming. It does make for a dramatic title though, doesn't it?? Right now, we are mired in the deepest depths of vocal hell. For those of you out there that are experienced recording vocalists, I envy you. This is definately one of the most difficult things I've participated in. Being a perfectionist, it's extremely difficult for me to accept my own personal failings, and be willing to put up with them. (I suck as a singer. However, I sing my fucking heart out. I think that should count. Let's put a sort of sliding scale into place, as long as I'm on there somewhere.)
Our album is musically coming to completion. We've laid down all the drumwork, the guitar work, and 90% of the basswork, and now it's vocals time!! So we started doing vocals. Over and over and over and over and over until we got drunk enough or tired enough to call them a success. I then proceeded to mix and mix and reverb and tweak and edit and compress and change and push and pull and tweak again and chorus.... and be unhappy. I talked to the other half of my band brain, who was also unhappy with the results. (I have to say, I've never worked with anyone musically I've agreed with more on such a wide variety of problems.... it's the only thing that's kept us going, that we do have a singular vision.)
So I, in my bigheaded I'm a super-mixing-production tech now way (Hey, I've been doing it almost a month, that makes me a pro right?), spent a couple weeks researching vocal styles. Doing critical listening to bands we like, don't like, don't listen to, and love, to find out what makes a vocal track different, what makes it stand out, and what makes it fail. By the time I showed up for the first "experimental" vocal session I had what I thought were some good ideas on where we should go. I termed it experimental because it was really going to be a controlled search for our "sound". We are both experienced and probably better than decent musicians. So of course, we spent all our energy making the music rock, making it sound good and go together well. Vocals were our last thought, when they should've been our first, because of course, as the most inexperienced piece they needed the most time investment.
So we experimented. We tried a variety of vocal styles, from Blink-182 i'm a pissed off 16 yr old lyrics, to Henry Rollins I'm the guy who fucks your mother style. RRRARRRGH. Spent a week doing that. Listened, listened, listened, and found out that's not us. It doesn't fit our style, it doesn't sound smooth, and the Henry rollins thing is a bitch to carry for 45 minutes. Vocal chord ouch.
We come to this weeks recording session. (I know, I know... FINALLY!) Chances are, if you're still reading this, you are so bored off your ass it's sad, or you're sitting at work looking for things to do that aren't work. Good show! Back on topic, this week's recording. We looked at what we'd done, what we wanted to do, and decided. We're going to be us. We're going to sing like we sing, we're going to sound like we sound (for better or worse, probably better for C and worse for me... ;P AND, we're going to be punks like we know how to be.
After all the changes, and all the back and forth, and all the false starts, I'm confident in where we're going. I think that this album will really get done, I think our second album will get done, and I think it's going to sound unique and it's going to sound like us. Hell Yeah.
I never missed a shot
The women think I'm hot
And you know that I've had my fair share
But I've still got the touch
Tu mere knows as much
I am the man, I am Jean Pierre!
My personal favorite has to be the VH1 special title - Anything Times Zero - behind the scenes, before the tragedy!
Of course, I don't know of any tragedy coming. It does make for a dramatic title though, doesn't it?? Right now, we are mired in the deepest depths of vocal hell. For those of you out there that are experienced recording vocalists, I envy you. This is definately one of the most difficult things I've participated in. Being a perfectionist, it's extremely difficult for me to accept my own personal failings, and be willing to put up with them. (I suck as a singer. However, I sing my fucking heart out. I think that should count. Let's put a sort of sliding scale into place, as long as I'm on there somewhere.)
Our album is musically coming to completion. We've laid down all the drumwork, the guitar work, and 90% of the basswork, and now it's vocals time!! So we started doing vocals. Over and over and over and over and over until we got drunk enough or tired enough to call them a success. I then proceeded to mix and mix and reverb and tweak and edit and compress and change and push and pull and tweak again and chorus.... and be unhappy. I talked to the other half of my band brain, who was also unhappy with the results. (I have to say, I've never worked with anyone musically I've agreed with more on such a wide variety of problems.... it's the only thing that's kept us going, that we do have a singular vision.)
So I, in my bigheaded I'm a super-mixing-production tech now way (Hey, I've been doing it almost a month, that makes me a pro right?), spent a couple weeks researching vocal styles. Doing critical listening to bands we like, don't like, don't listen to, and love, to find out what makes a vocal track different, what makes it stand out, and what makes it fail. By the time I showed up for the first "experimental" vocal session I had what I thought were some good ideas on where we should go. I termed it experimental because it was really going to be a controlled search for our "sound". We are both experienced and probably better than decent musicians. So of course, we spent all our energy making the music rock, making it sound good and go together well. Vocals were our last thought, when they should've been our first, because of course, as the most inexperienced piece they needed the most time investment.
So we experimented. We tried a variety of vocal styles, from Blink-182 i'm a pissed off 16 yr old lyrics, to Henry Rollins I'm the guy who fucks your mother style. RRRARRRGH. Spent a week doing that. Listened, listened, listened, and found out that's not us. It doesn't fit our style, it doesn't sound smooth, and the Henry rollins thing is a bitch to carry for 45 minutes. Vocal chord ouch.
We come to this weeks recording session. (I know, I know... FINALLY!) Chances are, if you're still reading this, you are so bored off your ass it's sad, or you're sitting at work looking for things to do that aren't work. Good show! Back on topic, this week's recording. We looked at what we'd done, what we wanted to do, and decided. We're going to be us. We're going to sing like we sing, we're going to sound like we sound (for better or worse, probably better for C and worse for me... ;P AND, we're going to be punks like we know how to be.
After all the changes, and all the back and forth, and all the false starts, I'm confident in where we're going. I think that this album will really get done, I think our second album will get done, and I think it's going to sound unique and it's going to sound like us. Hell Yeah.
I never missed a shot
The women think I'm hot
And you know that I've had my fair share
But I've still got the touch
Tu mere knows as much
I am the man, I am Jean Pierre!
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Being A Producer
Ok, so we're coming down to the point where we're actually having to start putting all the mess we've created together. As a whole, we've been working on this album on and off for over a year now, and it's time to start mixing and mastering.
So for the last week and a half, I've done NOTHING but read about mixing and mastering. It's intense, amazing, and brain numbing stuff. I've remixed our first track about a thousand times, and every time I get closer, and then decide I don't like it and start over. Damn you perfectionism!!
In other words, I'm frustrated. I'm learning such a huge amount, I'll spend all day reading and absorbing information, get home and start work, and by the end of the night I'll be banging my head on the desk because I just can't get that last 3% I want.
I suppose that's part of creation, letting go. If I had my way, everything I ever worked on would just be shoved to the back of a closet, and labeled with a huge marker "NOT GOOD ENOUGH". Thankfully, while my counterpart on this album is the same way, together we refuse to let either of us succeed in doing that.
So it will be released, eventually. Vocals and production continue.
Tomorrow's Monday, unfortunately, but at least we're forging on.
So for the last week and a half, I've done NOTHING but read about mixing and mastering. It's intense, amazing, and brain numbing stuff. I've remixed our first track about a thousand times, and every time I get closer, and then decide I don't like it and start over. Damn you perfectionism!!
In other words, I'm frustrated. I'm learning such a huge amount, I'll spend all day reading and absorbing information, get home and start work, and by the end of the night I'll be banging my head on the desk because I just can't get that last 3% I want.
I suppose that's part of creation, letting go. If I had my way, everything I ever worked on would just be shoved to the back of a closet, and labeled with a huge marker "NOT GOOD ENOUGH". Thankfully, while my counterpart on this album is the same way, together we refuse to let either of us succeed in doing that.
So it will be released, eventually. Vocals and production continue.
Tomorrow's Monday, unfortunately, but at least we're forging on.
Monday, February 27, 2006
Punk rock!
This is one of our picks after a recording session:
Now THAT'S cleaning!
Now that's punk rock!!!
Also, while cleaning the house, this is your friend:
Now THAT'S cleaning!
Friday, February 24, 2006
I look forward to killing you soon.
Ok, so I keep watching these, and the next one was even funnier.
Wanted to share. ;)
Wanted to share. ;)
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Beware!! The Robo-planes are coming to rule us!
Lockheed Martin is now testing Cormorant, a stealthy autonomous spy jet that starts and ends its mission 150 feet under water. Launched from Ohio-class submarines, the four-ton aircraft is designed with folding wings that allow it to fit inside a Trident missile tube, which is about 48 feet long but just 7 feet wide. The stealthy drone quietly floats to the surface and goes about its business of putting the hurt on those who hate America, and then when all the killing is done, slips back under the waves to be retrieved by a sneaky robotic underwater vehicle. Testing should be done by September, when the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will decide if it will commission a flying prototype. So it’s not real yet, but even so, this has to be one of the coolest-looking airplane drawings ever.
Lockheed Martin is now testing Cormorant, a stealthy autonomous spy jet that starts and ends its mission 150 feet under water. Launched from Ohio-class submarines, the four-ton aircraft is designed with folding wings that allow it to fit inside a Trident missile tube, which is about 48 feet long but just 7 feet wide. The stealthy drone quietly floats to the surface and goes about its business of putting the hurt on those who hate America, and then when all the killing is done, slips back under the waves to be retrieved by a sneaky robotic underwater vehicle. Testing should be done by September, when the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will decide if it will commission a flying prototype. So it’s not real yet, but even so, this has to be one of the coolest-looking airplane drawings ever.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Supermodels
So I ordered the MFX supermodels for my GNX4 yesterday. Apparently, they are amazing. What the GNX4 is designed to do is allow you to simulate any amplifier and amp cabinet. (*Woosh*). Ok, I know I'm talking over the head of the 98% of you out there that are not guitarists and have never played with this thing, but it's awesome. The only problem is, there's a HUGE time investment based in creating your patches, mainly due to the fact that the amplifiers that are included with the unit are not very good. They are extremely basic, and mostly a shallow impression of a real amp, because the guys designing it had time to do that.
Enter Mike, the guy who made these supermodels.. he's an acoustic modeller who's been doing it for 25 years, and he had the equipment available to acoustically model all these amplifiers.
So I'm kind of excited. I'll let you know how they sound when I get them, but I spent a good portion of yesterday reading and they're getting only raves from the prosound community.
In addition, I purchased this : The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World, 2006 (Paperback)
We're planning to go in the fall, this book apparently has some good info and pulls no punches.
For those who were watching (I got no guesses)... the movie was John Woo's Paycheck. Cheesy I know, but fun on the day off.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
The failure of the movie game!
Ok, so apparently in all my template changes, at some point blogger decided to revert to the locked down "only registered blogger users can comment."
Obviously, this was a detriment to the movie game, since 98% of people don't HAVE a blogger account, or WANT to get one. (Most of us have enough accounts already, right?)
Regardless, I have fixed the nazi setting, now it's 75% less nazi. I did leave the "type the stupid jumble of letters" setting on, to prevent all the spambot posts, I'm assuming most of you didn't want a bigger penis, or nasty love from a transexual.
I'm not here to judge.
Obviously, this was a detriment to the movie game, since 98% of people don't HAVE a blogger account, or WANT to get one. (Most of us have enough accounts already, right?)
Regardless, I have fixed the nazi setting, now it's 75% less nazi. I did leave the "type the stupid jumble of letters" setting on, to prevent all the spambot posts, I'm assuming most of you didn't want a bigger penis, or nasty love from a transexual.
I'm not here to judge.
Monday, February 20, 2006
The movie game
Ok, so since i'm home today and it's a holiday, I figured I would make it a game.
Can anyone figure out what movie this is??
This is a hard one (didn't want the first one to be too easy).. if no one gets it I'll post an easier pic later.
Ok, here's the 2nd easier pic, both of the big names right there.
Mr. Adams
Since I'm on a Douglas Adams rant tonight, here's another great quote :
1) everything that’s already in the world when you’re born is just normal;
2) anything that gets invented between then and before you turn thirty is incredibly exciting and creative and with any luck you can make a career out of it;
3) anything that gets invented after you’re thirty is against the natural order of things and the beginning of the end of civilisation as we know it until it’s been around for about ten years when it gradually turns out to be alright really.
1) everything that’s already in the world when you’re born is just normal;
2) anything that gets invented between then and before you turn thirty is incredibly exciting and creative and with any luck you can make a career out of it;
3) anything that gets invented after you’re thirty is against the natural order of things and the beginning of the end of civilisation as we know it until it’s been around for about ten years when it gradually turns out to be alright really.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
You'll never watch them the same way again..
This was pretty hilarious, truly tells you how horribly things can be taken out of context. ;)
Brokeback to the Future
Brokeback to the Future
It must be Thursday. I could never get the hang of Thursdays.
So I was curious about the origin of President's day, when it was changed from Washington's/Lincoln's seperate days, so I did some searching. Here you go:
History of the Holiday - The original version of the holiday was in commemoration of George Washington's birthday in 1796 (the last full year of his presidency). Washington, according to the calendar that has been used since at least the mid-18th century, was born on February 22, 1732. According to the old style calendar in use back then, however, he was born on February 11. At least in 1796, many Americans celebrated his birthday on the 22nd while others marked the occasion on the 11th instead. By the early 19th century, Washington's Birthday had taken firm root in the American experience as a bona fide national holiday. Its traditions included Birthnight Balls in various regions, speeches and receptions given by prominent public figures, and a lot of revelry in taverns throughout the land. Then along came Abraham Lincoln, another revered president and fellow February baby (born on the 12th of the month). The first formal observance of his birthday took place in 1865, the year after his assassination, when both houses of Congress gathered for a memorial address. While Lincoln's Birthday did not become a federal holiday like George Washington's, it did become a legal holiday in several states. In 1968, legislation (HR 15951) was enacted that affected several federal holidays. One of these was Washington's Birthday, the observation of which was shifted to the third Monday in February each year whether or not it fell on the 22nd. This act, which took effect in 1971, was designed to simplify the yearly calendar of holidays and give federal employees some standard three-day weekends in the process. Apparently, while the holiday in February is still officially known as Washington's Birthday (at least according to the Office of Personnel Management), it has become popularly (and, perhaps in some cases at the state level, legally) known as "President's Day." This has made the third Monday in February a day for honoring both Washington and Lincoln, as well as all the other men who have served as president.
So there you go. Sort of interesting.
I'm also finally brought up the proposition of getting myself a music studio. It doesn't look like it's going to happen just yet, but at least Stace knows it's high on the priority list. Unfortunately, we just don't have enough rooms in our house now to squeeze one in. However, I do have an excellent entertainment room right now though, so I can't complain too much. I will be happy when I get a music studio with full drum kit setup for recording though.
Currently, I'm watching Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy (hence the title of this post). I've read the series of books too many times to start thinking about counting (but I don't think i'm up to 42 yet.) Initially, I wasn't extremely happy with the movie, however I did like it enough to buy it on DVD when it was released. After seeing it a couple times, I have grown to enjoy it more. There was so much material for them to cover, so many amazing parts of the book that had to be left out, which I'm sure means that when I walked into the film I had extremely unrealistc expectations. At this point, I think that it's well done, that Zooey Deschanel is extremely cute, and that they make a couple more of them (which is probably unlikely). It is too bad that Douglas Adams didn't survive to see it on the big screen, I know he had been working on a film version for a LONG time. You did it my friend. /Salute
History of the Holiday - The original version of the holiday was in commemoration of George Washington's birthday in 1796 (the last full year of his presidency). Washington, according to the calendar that has been used since at least the mid-18th century, was born on February 22, 1732. According to the old style calendar in use back then, however, he was born on February 11. At least in 1796, many Americans celebrated his birthday on the 22nd while others marked the occasion on the 11th instead. By the early 19th century, Washington's Birthday had taken firm root in the American experience as a bona fide national holiday. Its traditions included Birthnight Balls in various regions, speeches and receptions given by prominent public figures, and a lot of revelry in taverns throughout the land. Then along came Abraham Lincoln, another revered president and fellow February baby (born on the 12th of the month). The first formal observance of his birthday took place in 1865, the year after his assassination, when both houses of Congress gathered for a memorial address. While Lincoln's Birthday did not become a federal holiday like George Washington's, it did become a legal holiday in several states. In 1968, legislation (HR 15951) was enacted that affected several federal holidays. One of these was Washington's Birthday, the observation of which was shifted to the third Monday in February each year whether or not it fell on the 22nd. This act, which took effect in 1971, was designed to simplify the yearly calendar of holidays and give federal employees some standard three-day weekends in the process. Apparently, while the holiday in February is still officially known as Washington's Birthday (at least according to the Office of Personnel Management), it has become popularly (and, perhaps in some cases at the state level, legally) known as "President's Day." This has made the third Monday in February a day for honoring both Washington and Lincoln, as well as all the other men who have served as president.
So there you go. Sort of interesting.
I'm also finally brought up the proposition of getting myself a music studio. It doesn't look like it's going to happen just yet, but at least Stace knows it's high on the priority list. Unfortunately, we just don't have enough rooms in our house now to squeeze one in. However, I do have an excellent entertainment room right now though, so I can't complain too much. I will be happy when I get a music studio with full drum kit setup for recording though.
Currently, I'm watching Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy (hence the title of this post). I've read the series of books too many times to start thinking about counting (but I don't think i'm up to 42 yet.) Initially, I wasn't extremely happy with the movie, however I did like it enough to buy it on DVD when it was released. After seeing it a couple times, I have grown to enjoy it more. There was so much material for them to cover, so many amazing parts of the book that had to be left out, which I'm sure means that when I walked into the film I had extremely unrealistc expectations. At this point, I think that it's well done, that Zooey Deschanel is extremely cute, and that they make a couple more of them (which is probably unlikely). It is too bad that Douglas Adams didn't survive to see it on the big screen, I know he had been working on a film version for a LONG time. You did it my friend. /Salute
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