XPRTNovice
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Posts posted by XPRTNovice
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Seems like it has everything you need
It does, and that's why I'm considering it, though I like the 49 key version for space's sake, and it brings down the cost. I'm really irritated by the fact that I have to buy a separate pedal for it though. Like I was irritated when I opened my N64 and found that I had to buy an extra cable because my old-ass TV didn't have RCA.
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A dude posted a job to cover a song and he offered 40 bucks as payment. I think we can all agree that it's not the greatest price.
I remember that job, and I remember thinking "Man, I'm not working for $2.00 an hour!" But I also think that people put too much stock in bottom-line price. I'm a budding author on the side, and my first sales to magazines were in the realm of $5-$20 per story - and that story took me a long time to write. I was writing for pennies on the hour, but now when I talk to agents and they ask me where I've been published, I can list over 15 magazines - some of which paid me over $100 per story, now that I built up my cred - and that lets them know you're a professional who is working hard to climb the ladder.
So, I'd do a high-profile job for free if I knew it was going to get me more business, you know?
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So, here's what I'm using right now:
1. Yamaha Arius Digital Keyboard: Not intended to be a controller, but it happens to have a MIDI output. Nice because the keys feel real (I am a piano player) and I can get really exact velocity out of it. It also has sustain pedals. No mod wheel, no other functions.
2. Moog little phatty: Using a little phatty as a MIDI controller is like using a Ferrari as a taxi. Also, it has no pedal, is awkward on my desk, and I prefer 4-5 octaves to 3.
I've been browsing the older threads on MIDI controllers and found the Axiom 49 and the Emu Xboard 49 as recommendations, but those threads are a couple of years old. I basically need something simple with a mod wheel and a pedal...but I also am still knew at controlling and sequencing, so I'm not 100% sure what other features I'm missing out on that are really nice to have. I don't do a lot of techno/electronica/chiptune stuff so I'm mostly looking for something that is a composing aid.
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After some somewhat heated discussions that have occurred in the Recruit and Collaborate thread, I thought this would be an appropriate place to launch a discussion and repository of information, anecdotes, and advice regarding music (in any form) as a money-making venture.
When someone posts a job offer in the R&C thread, I think we look kind of bad as a community when idiots like me post uninformed opinions, or when people start to make personal attacks on each other. Music + Money + OCR = Arguments, it seems.
The solution is to get informed, start a discussion, and learn from each other as well as provide more professional resources from elsewhere. I'd love to hear the success stories and failure stories from the pros we have here as well as the struggles of newbs like me. I also think this is a place where we can expect potential business partners to NOT look and see us muddling through, whereas if we make a big stink talking about stuff INSIDE their thread, they obviously know where our experience is. I am definitely not against people jumping in the R&C thread and calling out a bad deal, though. That's protecting each other.
So let's hear it. And please keep it civil and respect each other. This thread is about being stronger as musicians through smart business choices, not tearing each other down for having different opinions.
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Many Halcy returns.
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I will.
In other health-related news, I soaked and roasted my own raw almonds to leech the phytic acid out. They are AMAZING.
I actually did the same thing with self-collected acorns last fall, though I don't recommend it. Or, at least, I don't recommend accidentally burning the f@$% out of them and trying to salvage them.
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Were you eating cleanly when you were last off your meds? Aaaand as an aside, the efficacy of allergy shots relies heavily upon the ability of your dendritic cells to function, and they are being inhibited by the antihistamines you are taking. If the shots are working despite that and you really need the antihistamines to feel comfortable, by all means, keep taking 'em, but I just thought I'd throw it out there that we've got a good reason to believe based on the studies we just looked at that stopping your antihistamines will speed up the desensitization process the allergy shots are intended to initiate.
No, I was not whole-30ing the last time I was off the meds; it was pre Born Again. However, I've been trying to wean myself off the meds while on whole 30 to try and give my body room to heal. It's not easy, though, man.
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To be honest, safflower oil shouldn't be too bad being that it's mostly oleic acid (omega-9) which is not inflammatory like omega-6, nor is it the target for a common enzyme like omega-3 and omega-6 are, so there's no need to eat omega-9 in a balance with some other nutrient. So my own best guess is that's not what's preventing you from getting results, but stranger things have happened...
I still think you should try cutting the allergy meds. Here's an article from Nature (one of the biggest scientific journals evar) which makes a case for antihistamines potentiating your allergies over the long term. References are at the bottom in case you want to get a little more info by reading the studies themselves.
And yeah, 80/20 is fine. Maybe 90/10
But 100/0 is no way to live.I'm inclined to agree with you regarding safflower oil not destroying my immune system, especially since I don't have a lot of biological responses (other than the allergies) that suggest my immune system is weird. So, it's plausible to think that there wasn't much damage for me to heal with this diet anyway.
Regarding the removal of meds; I've tried on several occasions. In one instance, I stopped taking 1 of the 2 of them for 3 months, and only took the other one once every other day. the last time I went completely off of them it was for 7 days so that I could get tested, and that really, really sucked. The time I was off it before that I literally was giving my wife instructions on what pills to force me to take if my throat closed in the middle of the night. West TX in a 100-year-old house with a cat in it is NOT the place to be for allergies.
Like I said, I'm getting allergy shots weekly that should help me get off the meds, though. Thanks for the article, it's a good read.
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So, a little bit of a Whole30 update. Since I was expressing some frustrations with the lack of results over the last 3.5 weeks, I realized that I have unwittingly been including seed oils in my diet.
Before you say it's totally invalidated (and it may very well be) the consumption wasn't that crazy. Maybe a handful or two of vegetable chips in the evening that had safflower or some other seed oil as an ingredient. My wife and I thought these were a Whole30 approved snack, and we were wrong. Whoops.
But other than that, I've been 100% virtuous. Friday, I'm stopping a day early because I'm going to a BBQ and I'm tired of this bull in a social setting, but I plan on continuing a 80/20 lifestyle.
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Well guys, I hit a milestone today. I'm down 20 lbs and I'm officially overweight according to BMI. (yes I know all about the BMI)
Only 30 more to go. I won't be happy until I'm under 200. And I won't be satisfied until I'm 180. Good luck on all of your own journeys as well.
Congrats TC!
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A play on the word Avatar. Which I though was a cool name for something on a forum. Funny thing it's one of those handles tons of people pronounce differently.
I thought maybe you were greedy
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Passion will elevate our industry.
Quote of the day
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Expertly Novice is the state at which I consistently feel my skills are sitting...I always said I was an expert among the novices, but a novice among the experts.
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yeah. at this point they're working towards getting a 'major fantasy writer' to write a book about the universe.
Yep...aaahhh...they're talking about me. *sticks thumbs in belt loops and struts*
Looks cool tho
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It looks great Pirate Crab; I hope you're happy with it. Ignore people who think that because they're behind a computer they can abandon all tact.
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Ack, I got annihilated. Congrats to all the winners and runner ups.
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Level up! 1-week of work=studio remodel. Also added an oud to my family.
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As I said, I'm not a font of experience. That's what I'd been told I should charge by some other people, and it appears I've been mislead. You (Dan) and I have never talked, but if you have as much professional experience as you seem to say, I'd love to talk to you about it and learn. As I've expressed, I'm new; I've had 2 music clients in my life. Both of them loved what I did, but both of them paid me not so much for it. Both of them also touted me as amazing and advertised for me.
However, in the example you provided, you ended up not getting the job, so I'm not sure how your position helped you, there. You made zero dollars instead of $2.50 an hour, and your name didn't get out there in the credits. How does this advance your career?
I absolutely understand the idea that musicians need to sort of band together and not undercut each other...but it's basic supply/demand economics as well as someone saying "I could either make $7 an hour, or I could make $0 an hour. I'll take the $7." It might be sad, but it's also true.
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While the indie marketplace can be all over the map with respect to pay for composers, the earlier mention of $1000/min is a bit closer to the map.
In the professional world, for advertising, you could be expected to make anywhere between $3,500-15,000 for a trailer.
Well, unfortunately, s/he's in luck, because composers are stupid gits who will also do whatever it takes to get the job, even if that means undercutting the shit out of each other.
"Hi. I have very little street cred, as I'm new, but I've been a musician for 20 years. You'd be my third client in the history of my professional career. Pay me $15,000."
No.
Taking low jobs is called paying your dues. You do it in everything. An indie designer approaches you with the idea for a concept trailer, you don't puff up your peacock feathers and tell him that musical dignity requires that he pays you $1000 for it. You establish your credentials and get some experience - the kind of experience that makes someone say "Hell yeah that guy is worth 15k for a trailer, and I have money to burn."
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Quick AC resume:
- Beatboxer and baritone/low tenor
- Founder of the a capella group at a military service academy
- My AC arrangement of "Circle of Life" performed in front of President Obama in 2009
I'm in.
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Nope. No dairy during the entirety of Whole 30. I tried pulling back off the meds, but it makes life kind of unbearable. Oh well. Still have a week left to see some tangible results.
I've had canker sores every once in a while since I was like 5.
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Now that I've completed week 3 of whole 30:
Still no real changes. Still need to take 2x allergy medications to not sneeze every 3-5 minutes. Still have some funny skin issues (my hands feel like paper and things slip out of them all the time).
Those two things - sniffly allergies and skin issues - are my only two persistent health issues, and I was expecting them to go away at least a little bit. So far, nothing.
I also have a canker sore (not a cold sore, they're different and I don't have herpes) and it's making me cranky.
Ballin' on your deadlifts, tho.
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That's pretty strange - any time I have a weird problem like that, I reinstall my soundcard drivers and it fixes it 80% of the time. Try that yet? I had issues once where if I opened my DAW and closed it, no other sound would work on the computer until I rebooted. Drivers fixed that.
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How many minutes of non-looping music will the video require? That helps give potential composers an idea of how much time they're going to have to put in. 10 minutes of original music is a huge amount to ask for $50, for example. Most people will charge you $50-$100 per minute (though I'm not a font of experience).
MIDI Controller Advice?
in Music Composition & Production
Posted
Oh, absolutely; maybe I wasn't clear. I will always switch the midi cable out for the Arius when I need very sensitive and realistic touch, if I am sequencing piano, for example. If it had a mod wheel, I might even just keep the Arius. But the features aren't meant for composition, you know?
Feel is not as important to me when I'm doing one-hand composition that I intend to quantize and clean up later, which is why I'm seeking a controller. If I'm thinking about this the wrong way, I'd love some course correction.