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ectogemia

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Posts posted by ectogemia

    Fit Club ahoy! Where men are bros and women are also bros!

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by ectogemia

    I basically don't know anything about nutrition. I've kept up some vegetarian/vegan habits I picked up last year from my ex but I can't say that those habits are for sure the things that have been helping me, if at all. On the flip side of that though my health is probably better now than it has been in the past. I think I eat less greasy foods and I cut way back on processed stuff. Coupled with the small amount of exercise I think I'm on the right track, but again don't know for sure.

    I'm basically under the impression that a lot of studies in nutrition often seemingly contradict each other because their focus is different or their controls and variables are different as well so confounding factors are an issue. But that's just an impression, since I've never read any nutrition studies.

    I'll get back to you on this later, but yes, there are lots of contradictory studies in nutrition, and in every scientific discipline as well. The easiest way to resolve these conflicts a priori is to apply the sort of "central dogma" of each discipline. Geology has plate tectonics. Chemistry has atomic theory. Physics has quantum theory (though this is constantly being revised), mechanics has relativity, etc. In the life sciences, the central dogma is evolution. If two studies contradict one another, then the one which makes evolutionary sense is the one which should probably be subscribed to more readily. Of course, this doesn't always lead to the correct conclusion, but usually if you're wrong, it's because your evolutionary reasoning was wrong or because the particular aspect of evolutionary theory you used to draw your conclusion is wrong.

    Because evolution is a fact and it is the guiding principle of the development of human physiology and, by extension, nutritional requirements, interpreting nutritional studies in light of evolution should be common practice. In the biology labs I've worked in, evolution has always been a factor in the discussion of our results. My wife worked in nutrition science during undergrad, and evolution was never spoken of. That is the key flaw in the study of nutrition. As it is now, there's a lot of epidemiological studies going on in nutrition to find vague associations and correlations which tend not to be very trustworthy because the data generated relies so heavily on the study design and human memory and classifying the whole of foods available to humans into just a few study categories. A lot of nutritional studies set themselves up for failure in this way. Some don't.

    So the tl;dr is this quote which showed up in basically every biology class I've ever taken (and then stopped showing up in my medical classes... hmmmm...): "Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution" - Theodosius Dobzhansky

    edit: So how do you interpret nutritional studies in light of human evolution? This isn't always entirely accurate, but basically, if a caveman had access to it, you should eat it, and you should do so in a quantity which made sense for cavemen to eat it in. Studies of modern-day hunter-gatherers can be useful, too, to learn about how "natural" populations eat. Trying to replicate that in a reasonable way has been extremely successful for a lot of people, myself included. But this is a really loaded concept, and it's not always as simple as comparing yourself to a caveman, because a caveman you ain't. There's a lot of genetic variation across the human population, so your nutritional needs and foods you tolerate best may be a little different than the next guy's. To find the palette of foods best suited for your palate and your health, it takes a lot of self-experimentation. Here's a pretty decent primer which outlines some of the concepts I'm talking about, but don't take it all for absolute truth.

    Fit Club ahoy! Where men are bros and women are also bros!

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by ectogemia

    Haha, I love this study.

    Synopsis:

    - High cheese consumption is related to low heart attack risk

    - Cooking with lots of butter is unrelated to heart attack risk (found in fulltext, not in abstract)

    - Eating butter on bread was shown to lead to a 34% higher heart attack risk compared to controls

    Not sure I agree with the first sentence of the abstract, though :P

    Dairy makes up a good 800-1000 Calories of my intake on off-days (mostly cheese) and just as much on my workout days (mostly butter). Good to know my arteries are enjoying it as much as my taste buds.

    So pump your bodies full of cheese to speed along those gains AND clear those arteries! The CLA in grass-fed dairy has been shown many times to reverse atherosclerosis.

    edit: and because one study is never sufficient evidence for anything, here's a review of studies stating that "...the majority of observational studies have failed to find an association between the intake of dairy products and increased risk of CVD, coronary heart disease, and stroke...

    edit edit: I am eating a hunk of raw swiss right now, and this shit is so cash.

    What to do when offered a music related job.

    in Music Composition & Production

    Posted

    Contracts are a lot more arbitrary than people think. All you really need is a set of terms and two signatures, between you and the other party, and it becomes a legally binding document.

    Yep. Here's a list of all you need for a legally binding contract. If I remember one thing from some business law class I took (and I really do only remember one thing...) it's this. And it's important because it can save both you AND the dev in legal fees. One of the devs I'm working with now spent $$$ on a formal work-for-hire contract, aaaand that wasn't exactly necessary. The advantage of having a more formal, lawyer-reviewed contract, though, is that there's almost 0 chance of a misunderstanding or a lawsuit arising about contract validity or terms. Like Joe said, it's all a matter of trust, really. If you're working with good people, maybe you don't need to shell out $$$$$$$$$$$ for a lawyer to draft a contract.

    What to do when offered a music related job.

    in Music Composition & Production

    Posted

    Get into a contract with them ASAP to lock in terms for compensation, deadlines, etc. to make the whole process more organized and definitive, ESPECIALLY if it's a fairly large project with multiple, full-length tracks involved. Plus, you'll look and sound professional as fuck.

    Meteo's tips are solid, especially the Youtube one. I've asked everyone who has ever worked with me for reference material because a dev trying to describe the desired music to you with words is begging for the essence of what they want to be lost in translation. There's nothing more frustrating than spending hours writing something only to get feedback that the style isn't what the dev wanted.

    How did you get into the game music industry?

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by ectogemia

    I'm working on 3 VGM OSTs right now. I got one gig because of networking through a personal friend whose brother is an indie game developer, and it's a pretty small gig.

    The next rung up the ladder is for Approaching Infinity. I got this job sort of "accidentally on purpose." I'm a huge fan of roguelikes, and after playing through FTL and loving the shit out of Ben Prunty's soundtrack for it and seeing that zircon is writing an OST for Dungeonmans (another roguelike), I wondered if I could get a piece of the roguelike pie. So I googled something along the lines of "upcoming roguelikes" or "roguelike 2013" and started emailing the devs of ones that I thought were developing a

    promising-looking game. I stumbled upon one dev's blog who had JUST made a post about wanting a composer for his game. So I responded with a bunch of links to my tunes. He replied, asking me to write a sample track, so I did, and he liked it, and now I'm getting $$$$$$$$$$ to write the whole OST.

    For my last and most involved game, I got the gig indirectly through having released a remix album through GameChops. I know that Dj CutMAn (or however he capitalizes it) is pretty well-connected among indie game devs and in the convention scene, so releasing an album through his label would get my music heard by at least some game devs. And it did. And they liked it. And now I'm co-composing the soundtrack for Bacon Man (check out our MAGBooth!) along with Kyle Landry and Braxton Burks.

    I've had several other paid gigs for non-game music commissions as well, and the two secrets to my modest success are to network and get to know as many people as possible in the gaming scene -- not just other composers, but devs, artists, programmers, etc. They'll hook you up with work. Also, they're cool people. Secret #2 is to be able to write in many, many different styles and to do so routinely. Every dev or potential employer who has asked for samples of my music has noted that they like how all of my tunes sound different from one another. That immediately establishes confidence that you will be able to meet their various stylistic needs. Flexibility is crazy important when you're writing in a genre as nebulous as VGM.

    Chilling on indie game dev forums and getting to know people there certainly couldn't hurt, either. Although a lot of composers post their music on those forums, NOT a lot of composers spend time actively posting in topics related to anything but their own music. Again, NETWORK. Set yourself apart from the grayscale of composers and make your personality known. Go to conventions and make your FACE known, as well. In fact, that's how I got my very first VGM composing gig, by talking to a dev at MAGFest about writing music for his game.

    Another random idea is to volunteer to write music for Ludum Dare or other indie game jams to get a foot in the door with various teams of developers. You won't make any money, but you'll be doing a huge favor for game devs who you'll get to know personally, and they won't forget that when it comes time for them to develop a game they'll actually sell. The practice doesn't hurt, either, if you've never had to work with a team which requires you to quickly respond/rewrite based on critiques.

    And no matter how good of a composer you are, if your production isn't reasonably polished and skilled, you're going to struggle to come across as professional enough to write for a game.

    Fit Club ahoy! Where men are bros and women are also bros!

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by ectogemia

    So I like the idea of doing sit-ups and have been doing them in my routine, but I'm unsure of how to keep the correct form. I've been noticing that I've been doing some of them wrong lately because I feel it more in my lower back than my abs. This mostly happens when I start getting really tired during my set. Does anyone have any tips for making sure that I keep correct form?

    This isn't exactly an answer to your question, but sit-ups -- in my opinion -- are sort of a lie. They don't do anything that heavy lifting requiring core strength doesn't do. Almost nothing strengthens the core like requiring it to support, say, your 5-rep-max while squatting or doing deadlifts.

    The abdominal muscles are muscles of support, not really muscles intended to move loads from point A to point B. So if you treat them as such, they tend to grow better as a result. Exercises which require lots of core stability tend to grow the abs best, and I believe weighted exercises which require lots of core stability grow them best. Unweighted exercises, such as yoga, pilates, parkour, and planks/leg lifts, are solid ways to work on your abs because they make the abs function as intended. In my own experience, though, my abs have grown faster from squats and deadlifts.

    If I do modest workouts 3 times a week rather than soul-draining ones, should I up the number of days? I know the common advice is to work out 3 times a week. But they don't specify the intensity of the workout.

    3 workouts per week is what I do, and I've gotten awesome results from it without any symptoms of overtraining. My intensity is pretty high, though. I only do maybe 8-12 sets total at each workout which totals up to around 50 minutes apiece, but I'm working at an intensity where I take at least 3 minutes of rest between each set, and I NEED every second of those 3 minutes, sometimes more. 3 sets of 5 of everything (with warmup sets) does the trick for me.

    Fit Club ahoy! Where men are bros and women are also bros!

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by ectogemia

    SMH moment today. Some guy's poor spotter got way more than he bargained for. Maybe it was because there was a girl in their group, but the guy on the bench loaded up 230 and tapped his friend to spot him. Not only did he not get the first rep on his own, he proceeded to try for a second, third, and fourth rep. I was wondering if I needed to go help when he finally racked it. His spotter was a wee bit flushed after having to teabag the guy to help him get the weight back up.

    At least someone got in a good set of barbell rows.

    edit: In other news, I'm back in the gym after several months of injury time. And I'm up 10 lbs in 23 days, and my lifts are coming back way faster than expected! I'm pretty stoked about that momentum. Maybe I'll actually be at 175 for MAG like I was hoping...

    Do You See Drum Loops as Cheating?

    in Music Composition & Production

    Posted

    Drum loops are great. So are recorded instrument loops and phrases. Use anything and everything in order to properly recreate the music in your mind. Don't get hung up on silly principles like "Oh I didn't program this loop myself" because most people listening to your song wont care.

    The less of the "process" that is evident in a song, the better received that song generally is, so if your song sounds more natural and flowing with a drum loop, keep the drum loop.

    Stylus and all other loop libraries exist so you can pass them off as your own. Once you buy a loop library you're entitled to use it and even make money with it.

    So yeah, if it's legal and it sounds good, get over your misguided principles and fucking use it.

    SnappleMan speaks the truth once again.

    Which VGM was the first that really made you listen?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    FF6 and FF7, probably, though I do remember being super young and thinking Double Dragon's and Contra's soundtracks were amazing. But a lot of the early Squaresoft RPGs really stuck out to me, and I remember downloading huge MIDI packs of Squaresoft music back in maybe 1998 or so and listening to everything, even tunes from games I'd never heard of. Definitely my first foray into listening to VGM for its own sake as opposed to listening to it as part of a game.

    How important is age and talent?

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by ectogemia

    Here's a cool quote from Ira Glass, host of the radio show This American Life that seems relevant to this thread. He's talking about making stories, but it applies just as well to making music.
    What nobody tells people who are beginners — and I really wish someone had told this to me . . . is that all of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, and it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not.

    But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase. They quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story.

    It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.

    Thanks for posting that. It's just what I needed to hear at the moment, and I agree with it 100%. I've only been making music for just over 2 years now, and although I've come a decently long way in that short period of time, I pretty much always find myself feeling as though my music is lacking in some essential capacity, but it has been lacking less and less the more I listen critically, think critically, and respond to the insights I get from paying attention to what I hear in my music and in others' music.

    So to offer my own take on the question at hand here, I had very, very little musical ability when I joined OCR and absolutely zero knowledge of production, nor did I have a natural ear for music or production. I spent a ton of time near the beginning improvising on piano (which I played for a few years as a kid, but I *never* did anything except play some sheet music and practice scales -- boring, uncreative "piano lessons" from some lady down the street). That helped me to develop a functional musical ear. Then, I watched a ton of tutorials, talked to a ton of producers who were and are still better than myself, applied what I learned, experimented on my own, and incessantly sought out the theory behind various mixing techniques and acoustics to understand at a fundamental level what I was doing when I turned X knob. That helped immensely, and I still feel and hear my production and musicality improving significantly from track to track, and I credit all of that to being aware all the time of what I'm hearing and considering ways to improve it. If I don't know how to improve what I'm hearing, I ask someone who knows better how to improve it. This mindset doesn't just go for my own music. I listen to Pandora in the car, and I "practice" my theory and production by listening critically to what I'm hearing, noting what I like and dislike, and putting it into practice when I finally get the time to sit down and write.

    So I would say that I've cultivated 99% of my musical skills in the past 26 months or so. Am I a world-beater? Nope. But I'm definitely not a novice anymore, and I have a pretty solid grasp on what I'm doing most of the time when it comes to theory, composition, and production. No one in my family has any natural musical talent, and I don't believe I have much, either. Hard work, curiosity, not being too proud to ask for help, awareness, and acting on that awareness have been what I've found to be most helpful in overcoming my slow learning curve for music compared to more naturally gifted artists I know.

    I absolutely believe in talent as that which defines one's rate of progression and, to a lesser degree, one's ceiling, but enough passion and curiosity and persistence can get anyone to be pretty proficient at just about anything they're physically/mentally capable of doing.

    Fit Club ahoy! Where men are bros and women are also bros!

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    This is seriously the post I've been looking forward to reading for about...6 years now? My girlfriend in college kept trying to get me to exercise and run with her but I hated running and I asked her if she had tips for reducing or eliminating the pain and she just shrugged at me and went running by herself. Anyone else I asked just said I was running the wrong way and didn't offer any help. -_-

    Glad I could help! Taking that sort of evolutionary mindset with most physical and even mental issues will very often lead to great results.

    Fit Club ahoy! Where men are bros and women are also bros!

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by ectogemia

    Yeah I hate running unless I'm on an elliptical. There's something about my stride that puts a lot of feedback or stress into my lower back and it kills me even after like 10 minutes of running.

    Thanks for the advice!

    Maybe try wearing minimal shoes like Vibram Fivefingers. Big, puffy, modern shoes are pretty biomechanically unstable, and our joints certainly didn't evolve to handle the altered stress distribution they confer to our legs. In fact, before those types of shoes were invented in the 1960s or so, the standard running gait was to land on the ball of the foot first, then fall back to the heel, almost like a prance. It put no undue stress on the ankle, knee, hamstring, gluteal, or lower back regions. Just think about it as a controlled fall.

    You've heard running described as such before, I'm sure, but a controlled fall would be an inaccurate way to describe running in standard, thick-heeled tennis shoes. Instead, when you wear shoes like that, you tend to strike heel first because the brain tends towards the path of least resistance, so it adjusts your gait to take advantage of the bounce you get from the thick rubber heel. The flipside of that is that if you slam your leg into the ground heel first (doesn't sound like a controlled fall, does it? Sounds more like a "stroke"-based gait), you have a tendency to hyperextend many, many joints and muscles along the back of your leg, hip, and back. It ain't natural. So perhaps it's not your gait or some anatomical issue you have that makes running painful, but instead it could be that you wear shoes which aren't suited to your anatomy or natural gait, and THAT is what is making running painful.

    If you do go down the minimal shoe route, you'll also need to retrain your gait which doesn't take all that long. Just watch some youtube vids about barefoot running and practice a bit to get it all figured out. It feels amazing to run with a barefoot gait :D Very effortless compared to a heel-first, forceful gait. Lots more gravity, lots less of Newton's 2nd law.

    edit: The fact that you only feel comfortable "running" on an elliptical is the smoking gun :P Get yourself a pair of minimal shoes (or go barefoot on grass!) and run 4 real!

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