revisited, retouched, redoubled, and redirected
first order of business: music. here're three pieces which i'd finished before the new year. i went back and fixed a number of things. for each piece, i split the drum track into its component parts and processed and produced them individually. the result is a less compressed (relatively) drum sound, and much more natural sounding toms. if i come back to tweak the drums, it'll probably just be a matter of mix. in addition, i pulled back on the mastering compression (i didn't realize how much i'd overdid things, 'til i revisited them with fresh ears... my diagnosis: yikes), and redid some of the volume automation to make things more dynamic. i think i'm satisfied (for now at least..).
for ports unknown (formerly stress and fatigue; and i think that former name suites it better. i just gotta find a better way of naming it to get that across but less explicitly [naming songs is definitely much harder than writing them]), i also (mostly) completely rewrote the drum parts for a couple of the sections (mostly in the first half). i'm still not sure i'm happy with this piece. it's a bit better with less boring drums, and the melodic and harmonic aspects of the voices are fine (great even, at points), but i think the transitions between parts, and altogether the bridging could use some work, some... spicing up. i duno. i'll probably be revisiting this one a couple of times.
next up, watching the waves (wax and wane) (formerly titled distress and unease). i like the new name much better (although it's a shame dis-ease can so easily be mistaken for disease [and the hyphen ruins the symmetry/parallelism]; oh well). i'm pretty pleased with this one. it has direction, progression, and (i think) it sounds good. i'll probably leave this one be.
finally, i of the swarm. less progressive than watching the waves, but it makes up for it with dynamics, urgency, and impact. i may come back and make this (even) more dynamic (you know, make the heavy hitting parts, hit even heavier [in relation]). otherwise, this one's not going to be changing much in the future either. on second thought the mix could use a bit more work (distorted guitars're a bit too buried in some of the earlier parts of the piece).
i would've uploaded the v0-quality (vbr compressed) ones to boomp3 and embedded those, but i was having trouble uploading to them earlier. maybe at a later date. for now you'll have to do with the (slightly [and really only in comparison]) crappy 128 kbps versions (c/o the skitdjibong soundclick page [as embedded above]).
as for the shape of things to come, it'll be another backwards glance, as i run a couple of older (only in relation to these ones) pieces through the steps. specifically, tangential drift, and ouroboros. i've embedded the midi versions below (to jog your memory [should it be out of shape and in need of some excercise]). you'll pardon the cheesy midi nature of them, of course, and let your imagination fill in the blanks (until my software and production does it for you [natch]). it's interesting to note the similarities and differences. i still love the first section (specifically, but it's all good) of tangential drift (and even more specifically the bass [but even moreso the harmonic intermingling of the instruments throughout). but especially the rest of it as well. anyways enough rambling, listen.
tangential drift
ouroboros
so radio and television doesn't want me, i don't want theatre, and ryerson is a tumorous testicle (not to be confused with a humourous testicle). here's the deal. this acadmeic year i've been taking RTA (radio and television arts) courses, so as to not lose any time as i awaited the right time to apply to transfer programs. i did this 'cause i felt their courses (as put forth in the course calendar) and subject matter (well the audio part of things) better suited my needs and prime directive (so to [nerdily] speak [to seek out new sounds and.. nevermind]). no issues arose during the fall term, and so i assumed all was well and nothing amiss. the winter term started. not two weeks in i decided to talk to the rta folks (that is the people-in-charge, as i think they like to be called) to sort out why one of my courses which was worth 2 credits was only showing up as being worth 1 to the osap people (or government loansharks, as i don't think they like to be called), as well as to get some info about this whole transfer business.
that's where it all went wrong.
turns out they (the rta folks) don't like people outside of their program taking their courses without permission ('cause their program is oh so popular, don't you know?). which would lead one to believe that it wouldn't be so easy to enroll in their courses (as nothing stopped me and i enrolled in the same way i have in the past with all of my courses [that is via their online dealie [<--technical name]]) so i had to get a form (four copies, of course [one for each course]), get it signed (i.e. permission) from my people (well the theatre department, not sure if i'd really consider them my people anymore [more like acquaintances if you ask me..]), get it signed by their people (rta, that is; and here i was thinking i'd found a new people), and finally get it signed by the people (the school... not sure i'd consider them people, to be honest). the first part went smoother than i expected (despite my sense of foreboding [to borrow a phrase]). the second part stalled, with doors jammed and parachutes out of commission, before going into a freefall and exploding into a fiery wreck somewhere in the middle of the pacific where no one would find it ever again. apparently, "in anticipation of a transfer to the program" isn't a good enough reason. apparently, since my transfer application wasn't guaranteed (hah!), i'd have to be accepted into their program first (did i mention [that they kept mentioning] how popular their program is?) before taking their courses. the fact that i'd already passed a term of their courses meant nothing. of course, based on the regular majority of air-headed imbeciles that i'm beginning to believe make up a (frightening) majority of ryerson's population, and my in class observations of the level at which things were being taught (at least, in their first year, where i'd have to recommence), getting into the program wouldn't be a problem. except...
given this (in my eyes) opportunity at a change (proper), i'm not sure i want to do the rta thing, having now had a taste of it (same goes for ryerson as a whole). i mean sure, it's fun, and mostly interesting and all, but so was theatre. those qualities alone aren't what i'm looking for. progression towards doing what i want is pretty much key. so to rewrite my route once more, i'm going to do what i should've done last year (instead of this hare-brained and [apparently] half-baked rta scheme): i'm enrolling (well, i've already filled out the forms, just waiting on a teacher to be selected now) in private guitar and theory lessons at the royal conservatory in an effort to prepare to apply to U of T for music (preferably composition, otherwise theory [but that's not 'til second year anyway]), next year. that's right, if things go as planned (and i don't expect them to [why should i? experience has taught me otherwise]) in september of '09 (that's if i can get up to scratch in the just over a year i've got ahead of me), i'll be in 1st year music at U of T. but now for it's time for a taste of life as a university drop out (not officially, but effectively; and let's be honest, it was bound to happen sooner or later). in the meanwhile it looks like i've got a lot of practising to do.
so that's what happened, this is where i am, and that's what lays ahead. questions, comments, concerns? what'd you think of the music? am i terribly non-commital or do things i wish to commit to just not seem to crop up? has anyone tried to use the overlap from all of philip k dicks books to create some kind of pkd-iverse? with the joker dead, is batman free to take off his tights and chill in the hot tub with robin more often? will boris badenov and natasha fatale get away with their dastardly schemes?
all this and more on the next episode of rocky and bullwinkle! (same bat-time, same bat-channel! err..)
for ports unknown (formerly stress and fatigue; and i think that former name suites it better. i just gotta find a better way of naming it to get that across but less explicitly [naming songs is definitely much harder than writing them]), i also (mostly) completely rewrote the drum parts for a couple of the sections (mostly in the first half). i'm still not sure i'm happy with this piece. it's a bit better with less boring drums, and the melodic and harmonic aspects of the voices are fine (great even, at points), but i think the transitions between parts, and altogether the bridging could use some work, some... spicing up. i duno. i'll probably be revisiting this one a couple of times.
next up, watching the waves (wax and wane) (formerly titled distress and unease). i like the new name much better (although it's a shame dis-ease can so easily be mistaken for disease [and the hyphen ruins the symmetry/parallelism]; oh well). i'm pretty pleased with this one. it has direction, progression, and (i think) it sounds good. i'll probably leave this one be.
finally, i of the swarm. less progressive than watching the waves, but it makes up for it with dynamics, urgency, and impact. i may come back and make this (even) more dynamic (you know, make the heavy hitting parts, hit even heavier [in relation]). otherwise, this one's not going to be changing much in the future either. on second thought the mix could use a bit more work (distorted guitars're a bit too buried in some of the earlier parts of the piece).
i would've uploaded the v0-quality (vbr compressed) ones to boomp3 and embedded those, but i was having trouble uploading to them earlier. maybe at a later date. for now you'll have to do with the (slightly [and really only in comparison]) crappy 128 kbps versions (c/o the skitdjibong soundclick page [as embedded above]).
as for the shape of things to come, it'll be another backwards glance, as i run a couple of older (only in relation to these ones) pieces through the steps. specifically, tangential drift, and ouroboros. i've embedded the midi versions below (to jog your memory [should it be out of shape and in need of some excercise]). you'll pardon the cheesy midi nature of them, of course, and let your imagination fill in the blanks (until my software and production does it for you [natch]). it's interesting to note the similarities and differences. i still love the first section (specifically, but it's all good) of tangential drift (and even more specifically the bass [but even moreso the harmonic intermingling of the instruments throughout). but especially the rest of it as well. anyways enough rambling, listen.
tangential drift
ouroboros
so radio and television doesn't want me, i don't want theatre, and ryerson is a tumorous testicle (not to be confused with a humourous testicle). here's the deal. this acadmeic year i've been taking RTA (radio and television arts) courses, so as to not lose any time as i awaited the right time to apply to transfer programs. i did this 'cause i felt their courses (as put forth in the course calendar) and subject matter (well the audio part of things) better suited my needs and prime directive (so to [nerdily] speak [to seek out new sounds and.. nevermind]). no issues arose during the fall term, and so i assumed all was well and nothing amiss. the winter term started. not two weeks in i decided to talk to the rta folks (that is the people-in-charge, as i think they like to be called) to sort out why one of my courses which was worth 2 credits was only showing up as being worth 1 to the osap people (or government loansharks, as i don't think they like to be called), as well as to get some info about this whole transfer business.
that's where it all went wrong.
turns out they (the rta folks) don't like people outside of their program taking their courses without permission ('cause their program is oh so popular, don't you know?). which would lead one to believe that it wouldn't be so easy to enroll in their courses (as nothing stopped me and i enrolled in the same way i have in the past with all of my courses [that is via their online dealie [<--technical name]]) so i had to get a form (four copies, of course [one for each course]), get it signed (i.e. permission) from my people (well the theatre department, not sure if i'd really consider them my people anymore [more like acquaintances if you ask me..]), get it signed by their people (rta, that is; and here i was thinking i'd found a new people), and finally get it signed by the people (the school... not sure i'd consider them people, to be honest). the first part went smoother than i expected (despite my sense of foreboding [to borrow a phrase]). the second part stalled, with doors jammed and parachutes out of commission, before going into a freefall and exploding into a fiery wreck somewhere in the middle of the pacific where no one would find it ever again. apparently, "in anticipation of a transfer to the program" isn't a good enough reason. apparently, since my transfer application wasn't guaranteed (hah!), i'd have to be accepted into their program first (did i mention [that they kept mentioning] how popular their program is?) before taking their courses. the fact that i'd already passed a term of their courses meant nothing. of course, based on the regular majority of air-headed imbeciles that i'm beginning to believe make up a (frightening) majority of ryerson's population, and my in class observations of the level at which things were being taught (at least, in their first year, where i'd have to recommence), getting into the program wouldn't be a problem. except...
given this (in my eyes) opportunity at a change (proper), i'm not sure i want to do the rta thing, having now had a taste of it (same goes for ryerson as a whole). i mean sure, it's fun, and mostly interesting and all, but so was theatre. those qualities alone aren't what i'm looking for. progression towards doing what i want is pretty much key. so to rewrite my route once more, i'm going to do what i should've done last year (instead of this hare-brained and [apparently] half-baked rta scheme): i'm enrolling (well, i've already filled out the forms, just waiting on a teacher to be selected now) in private guitar and theory lessons at the royal conservatory in an effort to prepare to apply to U of T for music (preferably composition, otherwise theory [but that's not 'til second year anyway]), next year. that's right, if things go as planned (and i don't expect them to [why should i? experience has taught me otherwise]) in september of '09 (that's if i can get up to scratch in the just over a year i've got ahead of me), i'll be in 1st year music at U of T. but now for it's time for a taste of life as a university drop out (not officially, but effectively; and let's be honest, it was bound to happen sooner or later). in the meanwhile it looks like i've got a lot of practising to do.
so that's what happened, this is where i am, and that's what lays ahead. questions, comments, concerns? what'd you think of the music? am i terribly non-commital or do things i wish to commit to just not seem to crop up? has anyone tried to use the overlap from all of philip k dicks books to create some kind of pkd-iverse? with the joker dead, is batman free to take off his tights and chill in the hot tub with robin more often? will boris badenov and natasha fatale get away with their dastardly schemes?
all this and more on the next episode of rocky and bullwinkle! (same bat-time, same bat-channel! err..)