Patrick Burns

funny you should ask, since I just posted this elsewhere: http://igor.richmond.edu/3p/ (also check back on previous years) http://www.ircam.fr/?L=1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHNTwFjxNP4

I've been setting up audio equipment all day for this event: http://igor.richmond.edu/3p/ One of the pieces to be performed is for "amplified children and trampoline." Last year there was a dude who hooked up a couple dozen bike tire pumps into different whistles in all these weird, weird combinations, and then he put it all through a bunch of delays and sequenced electronic stuff--all going through an 8 channel concert hall speaker setup. That's instrumentally innovative I guess, then there's just plain ole contemporary art music--which there's a ton of. Innovation is relative, and you'll be surprised just how far out it can get. The stuff you've been posting feels like a folk song compared to some of the stuff I've been exposed to lately (read: assigned to listen to). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJaC1tVoSm4 They also performed one of my compositions: http://www.patrickmusick.com/music.html (Corporate Ladder) Also, it's a big mistake to lable certain things you find distasteful a random mash-up. Some things are a mash-up, but some things have a ton of thought and experience behind them, and lots of people may find it beautiful. (Eighth Blackbird's most recent concert here at Richmond garned really positive, even spiritual reviews by many attendees. There was one couple there asking the group which CD would be best as a lullaby CD for their toddler.)

Getting better and more varied samples will invariably make things better, but if you don't want to invest in that, getting more plain (but not cheesy) samples and sequencing them better will give you nice results. Here are two songs I did a couple years back. I wanted electric guitar, but I only owned/played acoustic. Very simple sample, no velocity switching or down/up picking--just a pluck. It's going through the basic Logic Express guitar amp plugin (not Guitar amp pro) with a little chorus and reverb. Link (guitar starts at 2:52) Link (guitar starts at 1:22) One good thing to learn is knowing when to let certain strings bleed together. It adds a nice crunch in the distortion. Also, most electric guitarists use a vibrato that ascends in pitch and returns to the original note--it doesn't alternate above and below the note. However, if you want a more realistic clean tone lead or just rhythm in general, getting better samples is really the best way to go.

After using it a while and after the addition of the search bar, I like it. It looks more intuitive (not that I would ever know, already being so used to the site) and balanced. I'm always a fan of simpler color schemes, but since the main fields of the home page are always going to have lots of color, maybe injecting some color in the headphone/controller logo area would balance things out a bit more. Thanks for all your work, djp.

By no mastering he means no CD mastering and also no 44.1k 16 bit files. (The definition of mastering is in transition these days.)

100% wool necktie - with sophistication comes sacrifice

'tis of the Donkey variety

Wheres the exctement?! Pump up the volume! *pumps fist* HOO HOO HOO HOO *pounds chests repeatedly* HOO HOO HEE EEEE HAA *scratches right armpit with right hand* AAAAH EEE EEE EEE HOOOOOOOOOOO

Loved his energy and soul, and how he could broadcast those even louder through his dance. I used to listen to the Thriller LP all the time when I was little, and I've listened to him tons over the past few years; iTunes alone shows 500 plays this past year, and I listen to him on my iPod more. Definitely in my top 3 favorite performers RIP man, I hope you are repaid for your actions, both good and bad, and through that you find resolution to a unique existence

Mazedude would reach out from his interview and smite you.

Speaking of evolution, as the submissions have continued to increase (as I assume they are), the queue age is now about 7.5% of the site's age. Will this function continue as the site and submission #s grow?

As DJP said, it's only natural for a nostalgia community to be nostalgic, but I think there is a little nugget of truth coming from the current dissenters. There's nothing wrong with the guidelines or the system in place, it's just that the social atmosphere has changed unavoidably as site's traffic has increased. With longer queue times and a bigger distinction between readers and artists, I think things feel more serious than they used to, and experimentation, risk, and humor (the bedrock of creativity, imo) aren't as balls to the walls as they used to be. Of course, other sites such as OLR and VGM have arisen to fill-in where OCR has moved on from, but I think people understandably miss having the single stage for everything. And I think that's the main issue. As the VG music community has grown, OCR has taken the necessary position of herding the most "polished" arrangements and productions while other focuses have been fragmenting around it. It's not anyone's fault, it's just evolution. That said, I think having more social features on OCR, or web 2.0 as it were, is the right direction to remedy some of this.

It appears our alternate forum has been upgraded, and in the process we lost a few of the more recent posts.

Before I moved to college last year, Knoxville was my home for 18 years. BGC also lives in Knoxville

Coincidentally, yesterday one of my music professors was talking about IRCAM, the place where that guy worked in the 70s. It's basically a place where acoustics scientists, performers, and composers get together and play around with really avant garde stuff.

Here's a great relevant TED talk given by a Stanford law professor, and it's especially relevant to us remixers. In any event, there's some interesting history in it, and TED talks are almost always always engaging.

My university is lucky to have Eighth Blackbird, a world renowned ensemble of flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, and percussion, as our ensemble-in-residence. At the end of each semester, they do readings for the composition students, and here is the recording of [only] their second time through my piece: Corporate Ladder. edit: for flute, bass clarinet, piano, violin, and cello

Well, they're actually the in-ear ones: http://www.apple.com/ipod/inearheadphones/ [/Apple_whore]

I'm doing my latest mix on laptop speakers and iPod headphones. Towards the end, I'll pull out my AKG K240 headphones: http://www.amazon.com/AKG-K240-Semi-Studio-Headphones/dp/B0001ARCFA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=musical-instruments&qid=1239162459&sr=8-3 and listen on some bigger speakers and maybe my car stereo. The only microphone I own is a Studio Projects B1: http://www.amazon.com/Studio-Projects-SPSK-Shock-Mount/dp/B0002GYDCS

Mostly the same; one kind of compressor, one kind of limiter, 3 kinds of EQs (but mostly that channel EQ, and the other EQs were just simpler EQs which didn't require all of the options of the channel EQ)

I'm not much of a gearhead when it comes to music software/hardward, and I was not able to find any of the plug ins you mentioned with a quick google search. I've received very positive feedback on the mix of my songs here at OCR and by some faculty at my school, so I guess that means you can put some faith in what I'm saying. I just opened my latest project, and here's the breakdown on the inserts for each channel. 21 tracks total, mostly synths, some instruments EQs (channel, parametric, pass/cut): 27 compressors,limiters: 16 modulation (chorus, phaser, etc.): 5 delay/reverb: 3 stereo imaging: 2 Good mixing is straight forward: EQ & dynamic processing. Of those 27 eq inserts I had, 21 were a simple channel EQ (Logic Studio). Otherwise, find a compressor and a limiter. If you can use all of those, you win. Modulation effects can be used to improve the mixing, but only as the icing on the cake. What I did: made songs, mixed them, got feedback here, repeat. Along the way, I read many of the articles you can find linked at various places on this site. First lessons: endeavor to make sure all parts/instruments have their own slice of the frequency pie; that is, don't have two or more instruments competing for the same range. Learn to roll off or cut a lot of the low frequencies on most instruments - let the bass and bass drums have their space. Don't spend too much time mixing on tired ears. Mix your songs on different sets of speakers and in different rooms (more a final step). Always alternate frequently between headphones and speakers (always!). Take time out to listen to other songs while you are working. Save recordings of the whole mix every so often so you can see where you've been and where you're going. Whatever you're working with, take the changes TOO far first so you can see where your playing field is. So often, you'll make little changes that, in your mind seems important, but are actually way off from having any real impression on the song. I'll add anything if I think of it...

Iron Mic: Liontamer vs Txai