theshaggyfreak

Yes! This would most certainly be an optimal situation. I second the motion.

You guys are part of my family and every year MAGfest turns into a bigger and better reunion. The concerts and the games are cool but it's the people you hang out with that make the memories. I'll have tons of photos to share soon! Love you guys!

No offense guys but maybe it's time to take this conversation to another thread?

I guess the slimes are pretty close by too.

Oh, I'm enjoying the gifts immensely. The kids in our neighborhood are actually pretty decent and we haven't had any packages taken in the 7 years we've been here. So, it's fine. By the way, mysteriously hand delivered gifts are the best! One more thing...

SQUEEE!! Thanks Diodes!!! BTW, Mario is now hanging out with Jesus in Stone Henge. Just sayin.

http://bsod.bandcamp.com/yum Here's 20 codes to download my EP, Binary Birth - Act 1. First come, first served! uk27-gex7 vymv-3ua5 7tg8-xqfr mnk3-e8el f5y5-u2fe w7k9-jlju em3z-yetp brvk-773n axbk-vvlj rqa2-6y5y arf5-6f7r vvd5-5afz 6gq9-72e6 k2rn-5hfy zmmx-7e5f zg8j-vu2a 3kur-g5x7 5z55-bfa5 bt6g-xmfr auyn-etel

I'll sometimes grab stuff from Freesound depending on the situation. I've also been trying to get into a habit of creating my own. One of these days I'll release a little library of sound design stuff like this.

So, I was given a copy Vocaloid V3 (with Miku English) to use on a video game project I'm working on. While the interface isn't too bad, it's not extremely intuitive. Yes, I'm having to actually read the manual. Has anyone used this before? If you, do you have any tips or tricks or know of some good sources for them? Most of the information I tend to find is often vague or in Japanese which I don't speak.

The only one it seems I need to add to that list is Bahamut. I haven't received any other requests from people who aren't already there. So, the list is being sent in.

Okay, this is important! This is the list of people they have who requested rooms in the OCR block. If you're not on this list, I need to know within 24 hours! This is the time limit they've given me to get back with them. So, please respond to me ASAP if you're not on the list and you need to be!!! b_gyongyi@yahoo.com Balog-Pazmandi wchrapcynski@gmail.com Chrapcynski andrew.m.goth@gmail.com Goth jingajin@gmail.com Jones vikindrums@gmail.com Lepley binjovi@gmail.com Snider brandonestr@gmail.com Strader janusite@gmail.com Sweeney

Actually, here's all my pics from last year. I've gotten a bit better at things since then since I had just got my DSLR not long before MAGfest 11. https://picasaweb.google.com/116294723695410258054/MAGfest11?authuser=0&feat=directlink

By the way, if anyone wants to have some nice pictures taken, I'm one of those people who always carries around a DSLR at cons. I take your pikcha!

I watch concerts, hang out in the OCR room block, and there's just a lot of hanging out with friends in general. I do spend a bit of time in the arcade playing some of my old favorites too.

You know, in a few ways...we have some of the same goals. We should do some work together at some point since we live so close together.

Thanks to all for the encouraging words! I am going to give it another go next month and I'm confident that I'll do better the next time around. The difficult things are indeed worth doing.

Add conquering performance anxiety to my list.

I've been reflecting quite a bit on the experience and trying to rationally find ways to possible change certain things to help make things easier on me. First off, I really need to memorize the lyrics to songs that I'm doing. Reading and playing at the same time is a bit like the whole 'walking and chewing gum at the same time' or at least it is for me. Memorizing lyrics I can do. It's just something I have to practice with. The other major issues that I think I can deal with has to do with keeping my mouth in front of the mic. I feel more comfortable singing and playing at the same time when I'm able to see my hands. This can be difficult to do depending on where the vocal mic is. So, I'm getting myself a headset mic so that I won't have to think about that. Lastly, I think I just need to find songs that feel more natural to me. I think that writing some of my own tunes will definitely help that but I can also pick better cover songs too. Last night was certainly a learning experience and I'm going to give it another go next month.

This is something I suffer from. My fear of playing an instrument and singing in front of people is great. Here's a copy of a blogpost going through how I felt about my first steps in conquering this fear. For those who have this problem as well, you're not alone. *** I’ve been a musician for quite a long time. I started out when I was eight years old which is about 31 years ago. I’ve played in several bands but it has been a long time since I’ve done any sort of performing. I’ve always wanted to be able to play as a solo guy but the anxiety of doing so has always kept me from giving it a try. Playing and in instrument and singing (at the same time) in front of a group of people is actually one of my greatest fears. Last night I took the first step towards conquering that fear. I’ve spent the past two or three months practicing with my ukelele and I taught myself a few songs that I liked. I practiced till I was satisfied enough to give an open mic night a try. I did my best to mentally prepare myself for what might happen. When I have an anxiety attack, my mind ends up going blank and my hands won’t do what I tell them to do. I almost end up doing a sort of stutter that I can’t get past. I knew that there was a good chance that one of these anxiety attacks could happen. So, I put myself in a situation where I knew I would get support from my friends no matter what happened. I would play my first time out at my friend Rob’s open mic at Teavolve. I told myself that I wouldn’t count the experience as a failure no matter what happened. You can’t drown as long as you keep your head above the water. The three songs I chose were as follows: Mad World by Tears for Fears, Grave Digger by Dave Mathews, and Mellow Yellow by Donavan. The first song was very rough but I made my way through it only stopping and starting a few times. The second song actually didn’t go to bad but I was feeling the pressure build up inside of me which led to a crash and burn during the final song. I got about half way through Mellow Yellow and my mind went blank. I made a little smile and said that I was done. I didn’t get angry with myself. I didn’t chalk it up as a disaster. It was the very first step towards my ultimate goal and that’s a really big deal for me. I even learned a couple of things that will help me on my next try. First of all, I need to memorize the lyrics of the songs I’m going to sing. There’s just too much for my brain to deal with if I’m trying to play an instrument and read lines from a piece of paper. If I do need to have a cheat sheet of sorts, I must bring my own music stand. I ended up having to use a chair as a makeshift stand and that most certainly didn’t help. Another thing that I learned is that I may need to pick some other songs that might work better for me. Grave Digger is definitely a keeper. I think I may even try to write something original. No one knows how a new original song is supposed to song like and I’ll probably feel a bit less stress about my performance. It may help me find my voice and make me more comfortable. I have to say that my friends from ilyAIMY were very supportive. Even the the featured artist, Greg Klyma gave me a few words of encouragement. After I posted a short blurb on Twitter and Facebook about what transpired, many of my friends came forth to reassure me that I wasn’t alone. I’m a lucky man to have such a family of people which provide me with the extra strength I need to push forward. I want to publicly thank everyone who has been there for me through this including my wonderful wife, Kate. Lastly, there’s pictures! Yes, I still took a lot of pictures last night as per usual. Playing the photographer is something that I find to be very soothing and it helped keep my emotions in check before and after my turn on stage. It’s a strange sort of security blanket but I think it’s a productive one. *** Please feel free to share your experiences with this sort of thing. Talking about your fears and working through them can be quite cathartic or at least it is for me.

As long as a persons flight lands early enough on Thursday, I can bring them over with me to the hotel. I'd be able to take at least two people. Three if there's not a ton of luggage.

Dulles can be easy. Depending on circumstances, I can give people a ride from Dulles since it's 15 minutes from me.

Brandon - Very nice piano stuff! Was this played live or programmed in via piano roll? If it's the latter, then I'm even more impressed! It's a great piece but could use some cleaning up. Eino - Great beat! I think I would have loved to hear a bit more low pass filter stuff on the lead lines. They're a bit buried mix at times. Chimpzilla - Nice and jazzy! I dig it! And the horns give it that 60's/early 70's vibe! This would be a nice tune to hear a barbershop quartet do. Chernabogue - Another jazzy one! Yes! The lead line with the clarinet is a bit on the weak side. It would certainly benefit with a bit of automation to humanize it a bit. Even better, find someone to play it with the real thing! The composition itself is quite nice but there could be a bit more dynamics. Great job all!

That's really about the best way to do it. I've used Super shuttle a few times now and they've always done me right.

I'll take Virus Battle 1: FEVA!

Get more compositions done in general. I did just recently submit my first tune to the OCR judges. I'm hoping to keep that trend going. I also will be working more on the virtual novel game that I've been hired to work on. I really want to get back to playing live again. I've been working on some solo stuff and will hope to do something with that in the near future. I really want to get some of myself out of the studio and in front of people. Eating better, exercising and losing weight is always on my list of goals. It's always been a tough situation for me, though. That's about all I can think of at the moment.