Radium49 + Reason 3 Power = The Shit
Graphically, that would be
+
=
Seriously though, this keyboard works so well with Reason. I’m up and making music loops already. The book is pretty informative, but the typeface in the book is bold throughout the book. I guess blind people need to make music too.
Anagrams for Life!
Somebody on my buddy list has the nickname “If u scramble “Michael Jackson” = “he can mock jails” …”. That just made my day… sort of. I was going to post it here, but then I thought, hey, how can he (the guy on my buddy list) be that bored to spend so much time figuring out something like this? So I googled it.
Ah-ha! Anagramsite.com.
Some of these are pretty damn amusing:
- Desperation — A Rope Ends It
- Tom Cruise — So I’m Cuter
- Mother-in-law — Woman Hitler
- Funeral — Real Fun
- Snooze Alarms — Alas! No More Z’s
- Eleven plus two — Twelve plus one
Were these words just made to spell something else?
Hi. I’d Like More Money Please.
That is basically what the teachers in Vancouver are saying. They have been on strike for over two weeks now (which has been illegal since last week). Here are some things I noticed these last few days.
- On average, teachers have a strike every year. Most of them last a day long.
- This time, it’s about to bring in a general strike (the last one was 20 years ago in Vancouver) and all the union workers/supporters will go offline.
- Only teachers can generally create a hype and woop up a general strike.
- Since I’m in university, I shouldn’t be affected as my profs aren’t in unions. But the TA’s support the teachers. Bye bye tutorials.
- If you are going to support the teachers, you have to take the muffins or the cinnamon buns they are handing out.
- If you drive and pass by teachers who are protesting with signs, you should either honk or give the finger.
Teachers do not get paid (or very little from the union). The union does not get paid. The government does not get paid (except for the normal taxes and stuff). I see something fundamentally wrong with this picture here right now. Kids have been out of school for 2 whole weeks. That’s a fifteenth of a school year.
When my profs decide to hop to the picket line and all the workers decide to go home, electricity had better not go out, cause then I’m really going to be pissed.
The I/O Brush
Have you always hated painting (with paint) because it’s too messy to mess around with the paint and the brush? MIT Media Lab has come up with a hardware painting system that allows painting with a virtual brush that takes the colours of certain objects and then transfer them to a touch-sensitive screen.
Behold — http://web.media.mit.edu/~kimiko/iobrush/
I know what I want for my next birthday gift.
Everyone Is Giving Out WordPress.com Invites..
Here’s mine!
WordPress.com?!
That home page is not the most aesthetically pleasing yet, but it’s powered by WordPress. It’s a new take on Blogger and Typepad, and hopefully it’ll make a stand.
The Invite
All I’ve got is one invite. For anyone who wants it, find the longest word in English and post it here. It has to be a word that Dictionary.com has and accepts as a real word. And extra brownie points to the word that has the greatest value when its letters are converted to Ascii numbers and are added together.
Go!
How to Be Your Own Music Producer
Music production isn’t easy. It does however allow the music artist to extend his or her abilities and imagination. Now wouldn’t it be great if you could produce your own tracks? How? Here it is.
Let me make a note first — music production here refers to the collective sounds put together to form a song. Each track you hear on a CD or an AAC or MP3 audio file is the final product of the process of music production. We will first explain how this is done generally, then move on to the specifics.
Music Production
Wonder how your favourite artists put together some of the greatest songs you’ve heard? Most medium and large artists sing the songs and need to work with a production team to produce the actual song (the combination of drums, guitars, etc). Nowadays (within the last five years), most of the production work is done digitally for better sound quality and faster development.
Assuming you write your own music (either instrumental or vocal), here are three things to achieve the effects you wish to create.
- Individual sounds that you need for your tracks
- Software (and hardware if you want) to put those sounds together
- A mic to record vocals if needed (this would also require software support)
The Specifics
We’ll first talk about that software that does it all. There are many programs out there that emphasize on different aspects of music production. Not one of them is perfect for everything. These are a few popular ones.
Software: Production
- Sony Media Software — ACID Pro (299.96 USD)
- Ableton — Live ($499.00 USD)
- Image-Line Software — FL Studio ($149)
- Digidesign — Pro Tools LE
- Propellerhead Software — Reason ($499)
- Apple — Logic Pro Mac only ($999)
Note: These prices represent the cost of the most advanced version of the software. There maybe simpler editions for beginners, but the emphasis here is on the functionality.
These programs do almost the same thing. They contain mixers (putting sounds together), step-sequencers (enabling MIDI inputs), and all the other jazz that should get you ready for your first song. Of course, it’s a personal preference to which one you really like (and the list is not limited to those programs only). It takes time getting used to one program and creating a song.
Hardware: Production System
Like a computer, music production might require a central processing unit. A popular prefered choice is the Mbox. It allows you to connect all controllers, keyboards, guitars, and other (digital) instruments to one unit with pre-processing before transfering data to your computer.
Hardware: MIDI Keyboards
To make sure you have the right notes, a MIDI keyboard might be involved. This is not necessary as many production software now include step sequencers that you can put notes into; but it is always nice to have an actual keyboard to perform on. A good one would be the M-Audio Ozonic keyboard. Great for starters.
Hardware: Instrumental Mic
To record your own intruments if you are unhappy with the pre-recorded ones that come with your software, you might like the Shure KSM109 mic. Clarity is the key.
Hardware: Vocal Mic
If you want to sing, use Shure KSM27 mic. No matter how high or low your voice is, this will carry your singing into tune.
Hardware: Speakers
Lastly, speakers for testing your sounds are crucial. Headphones are usually better because they block outside sounds and isolate your music. The Sony Studio Monitors are always good.
And you are good to go! For starters, I recommand downloading the trials of the software and get the gist of what it’s like making music right off the bat. Technically, you can make anything you want with any software alone — it’s just hard. Some programs might be easier to make certain songs while others aren’t. The new Gorillaz CD was produced with ACID Pro 5 (and other hardware of course). So it’s really your choice which one to use.
This post was inspired by the thread over at Ultrashock.
Rock Climbing Rocks!
I usually go rock climbing with my school once a year, but today a friend of mine dragged me to an indoor rock climbing place. It’s so fun! It does get a bit tiring though especially on the ones with a huge step coming out of the wall. Racing on those is fun too.
I Got My iPod!
Courtesy of Macromedia and their sweet generosity, I received my 20GB iPod Color yesterday! Originally I thought it would be a 3rd generation one, but since it’s the new one, I’ll keep it and use it!
I want to get a case for it though — which one?
The Personal Message Doesn’t Suck!
I realized that the personal message introduced in MSN Messenger 7 (see review) actually doesn’t suck that badly. I thought it was just a lame way to create another useless hype like the Winks, but on second thought, it is actually doing quite a good job of keeping my contact list clean.
Prior to version 7 of MSN Messenger, people on my contact list (including myself) have weird and long names that take up the whole screen. But now, the personal message actually allocates a space for the user to dump all the useless information, leaving a constant name for the main contact name. This is good, considering I don’t have to spend time hovering over each contact list for the email to show up when I try to find a specific person to talk to.
It is also pretty nice in a chat window — the personal message does not get displayed.
But this is just an excuse to hide the crap that comes or gets used on MSN Messenger isn’t it?
Track Your Feeds
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