oscillations

Maus Haus, Religious Girls, Chambers - January 2nd at Ghost Town Gallery

2009-01-12T09:20:00.000-08:00

We played with Religious Girls and Maus Haus on January 2nd. It was really good.

Here's a couple pics:

I think the guys who's setup this is is named Dylan.
Studio Electronics Mod Max Filter
ElectroHarmonix Holy Grail Reverb
Boss Super Shifter
Boss DD-20 Giga Delay
Tama Electronic Toms
Behringer Xenyx 802 Mixer
There was also a MicroKorg and two (i think) Roland Keyboards.
And a number of extra floor toms.

Have you heard of "The Loudness War"

2009-01-09T13:41:00.000-08:00

This is a very strange little dilemma that's going on within the world of audio recordings.
I'm going to try to explain this in the simplest terms I can. Essentially, when you make a CD, you record the actual album, and it tends to be a little quiet, with big dynamics between the quietest and loudest parts. It's then given to a mastering engineer, who then takes the album and adjust the dynamics of it so that it is louder and the dynamics are usually adjusted in a way to add to the "groove" of whatever the recording is. For a long time, it was considered best to have an album with a decent amount of dynamics, which is usually perceived as being about 5-8 decibels quieter than what is usually done now. Essentially, people are making their albums as loud as they can (I think it's to make poor quality MP3's sound better through computer speakers and crappy iPod headphones- however it sounds much, much worse on a nice stereo), which sacrifices a large amount of the dynamics and definition of the actual recording.

For more info go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war

It's a weird dilemma, and I honestly don't know where I stand on it. On the one hand, I personally know a tiny bit about all this, so I understand that if I turn up my CD player, my "less-loud" CD will actually sound a lot better than the "louder" one. On the other hand, I know a lot of people don't understand this, and for example, I know the singer in my band in particular got pissed when a couple of our recordings where mastered considerably quieter than say, the new MGMT record or something.

Here's a visual comparison, where the compressed level is brought down to the same perceived volume. You'll notice that the newer version has much less dynamics, and is just all peaked at the same volume:
Original:

New:

Anyways, I'm writing all this, partially just to spread the word and get people thinking about it, but also because I found, via the TapeOp message board, a website called "vLoud" (http://www.vloud.com/), that takes mp3's and makes them louder. This is a really, really weird thing to have a website for. I don't know if this would seem weird to someone who doesn't spend time recording their own music, but trust me, this is a strange thing. But, however, unlike the TapeOppers, I actually think this is kind of genius. Essentially, people could master things to a great volume, and have all that quality, headroom and definition that you really want in a recording, and then people who are listening to their music on piece of shit iPod headphones or through their built-in computer speakers can go to this site, upload their mp3's and have a version that sounds appropriate for what they're using it for. Quite frankly I can't wait to try it and tell people such as the singer in my band to try it if they so choose. (Who knows if they do a good job or not).

Quite frankly, most people I know can barely tell the difference between a low res mp3 and a high quality CD, let alone get the difference between a heavily compressed and well-balanced recording. And I don't necessarily have a problem with that. When it comes down to it, most people probably just want a large variety of music on their iPod, and probably actually prefer volume over quality and definition. However, I really do think it's sad that we're loosing so much of the dynamic of our recordings, and have actually gotten tot the point where I can hear the difference on a lot of the new music coming out these days. I honestly feel that I understand both sides of the problem. So yeah, I guess I think vLoud is a great way to allow people who want that the option, without having to make every album sound distorted and muddy.

blah blah blah blah. Sorry I ranted. It was a good way to spend my lunch break.

Takeshi Murata

2009-01-03T08:29:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty into these. They're pretty cute.

Umm Wow.

2008-12-21T22:20:00.001-08:00

Originally uploaded by Will Govus

I don't like a lot of photography, but this is AMAZING.

by Will Govus

Insight Winter 08 Collection: "Hood Rats to Upper Class Heroes"

2008-12-18T10:01:00.000-08:00

via HypeBeast

VIdeo Stuffs

2008-12-15T14:26:00.000-08:00

Here's some video art clips and other stuff that I've been into from Youtube.

2001: A Space Odyssey

Punch Drunk Love (Jeremy Blake):

Beck "Round the Bend" (Jeremy Blake):

Norman McLaren "Lines Vertical":

Norman McLaren "Spook Sport":

Kanye West backing video

2008-12-15T13:16:00.000-08:00

Kanye West was on SNL on Saturday:

LL SNL
by yardie4lifever2

I was honestly not that impressed by his performance (though I think the way hip hop artists are using auto-tuners in live settings is really funny and sounds totally strange), but was really, really into the video in the background. Something about it reminds me of one of my favorite artists, the late Jeremy Blake:

I've been making some video of my own to project behind CHAMBERS when we play, which you can see in a couple photos from Strike of the Synapse:

I'll post some more clips of interesting stuff later! (I'm technically working right now)

I got it!

2008-09-03T10:42:00.001-07:00

My Korg DS-10 cartridge came in the mail yesterday (all the way from Japan!). I'm too impatient to wait for the US release so I ordered it off of eBay. I haven't gotten to mess around with it too much (can't wait to try it through my Kaoss Pad), but will post some thoughts on it asap. My lunch breaks will never be the same!

chambers

2008-08-09T09:31:00.000-07:00

A couple months ago I started a new band, Chambers, with Dawn, Andrew and Gareth. We recently started recording a demo, and have made a Myspace page and a blog en lieu of a website.

Also, you can also always check out my old/other bands, Death of a Party and Red Voice Choir.

Nintendo DS Synth!

2008-07-28T10:08:00.000-07:00

I found out about this via Analog Industries who found out about it via Matrixsynth (check my links on the right). It's an old school Korg for your Nintendo DS! RAD!!! Here's a couple YouTube videos:

I've always wanted to mess around with something like this during my BART commute. It looks like they go for between $55 and $65. A Nintendo DS is about $125.

Radiohead - interactive video for "House of Cards"

2008-07-15T09:48:00.001-07:00

Click Here

Pretty Penny Par-tay

2008-07-11T18:14:00.001-07:00

Triple P:

My Dad is in a group show in LA

2008-07-11T15:00:00.000-07:00

My dad, Michael Beck, is in a groups show called Direct Encounters: The Essence of Portraiture at Forum Gallery in LA. Here's a link to the press release.

If you are in La, you should check it out for me.

Found on Flickr - Ancient Egypt

2008-07-09T14:09:00.000-07:00

Bronze at Cellspace in SF, 4th of July, 2008

2008-07-08T21:14:00.000-07:00

Dawn and I went to see Bronze for the 4th of July. After sitting through multiple bands, (which I won't mention because I didn't really find them exciting enough to pay much attention,) Bronze took the stage in smocks, had their heads shaved and then played the set in Military outfits. After all, this was the 4th of July. They had a quick, silly little choreographed dance number, ending with a few middle fingers, and then began playing a hearty set of odd, rhythmic spaced-out songs, reminiscent of Can and Silver Apples, but also of some contemporary electronica and noise.

Rob sang into a SM57, which then ran through a Roland Space Echo that he would often tweak mid song into self modulation, while Joe was playing an amazing handheld synth of his own making through a Studio Electronics Ring Modulator, a wah, Boss Tremolo, and some rack mounted effects.

I really, really wish I could figure out what his synth was. It was not only great for noise and odd sound effects, but also completely playable for melodies, with some sort of mechanism that made it skip to different notes when he would turn the knob (ala an Atari Punk Console, but much more in tune and controllable). That thing is absolutely amazing.

Anyways, while surfing around the net looking for information on them, I ran across a decent, but kind of dissappointing interview with them on Fecal Face, which mentioned a couple things about their song writing process and a few of the ideas they go for. I guess they make loops at home with all three of them playing synthesizers, and then create songs based around them.

I'm really into what they are trying to do and can't wait until they release something so that I can dive a little deeper into it. For the most part I find them completely enthralling, but since their songs are really about subtle dynamic changes over long, repetitive loops, I sort of wonder if their songs might get a little monotonous when listening to them recorded. I'm crossing my fingers that they don't.

New at The Squarewave Parade

2008-07-07T17:45:00.002-07:00

The Squarewave Parade makes some of the raddest equipment. Unfortunately I'm always broke and can't afford to buy any of it.

His most recent creation is called Teaspoon, which will soon be available in very limited quantities through audiobulb.com I can't really describe it, but it's sort of like a sampler with a stutter. Check out the Youtube clip to get an idea:

He also recently made more of his Downgrade pedals, which seem fucking AWESOME. They are a sample rate reducer, (similar to a bitcrush pedal), but the options on this thing really make it much more. It's even capable of being used as a standalone synth. Argh. I really want one but decided to save up for a Kaoss pad instead.

If you end up interested in any of his stuff, be sure to buy it quickly. I almost bought a Downgrade before and right as I was going to he ran out.

Michelle Blade at Jack Hanley

2008-07-07T15:41:00.000-07:00

I went to Michelle Blade's opening at Jack Hanley the other night with some friends.

I really enjoyed her work. A lot of the pieces seemed to reference large scale events and had a strange mob/group mentality, but without ever really revealing what the events were (although, I never read the titles, so maybe the titles gave it away, but I kinda hope they didn't.) I of course didn't remember to take photos of most of the more figurative ones that I'm talking about... duh.... But I loved the way they would reference a narrative, but still leave you up in arms as to what that narrative was.

Anyways, in all the craziness I never ended up taking very many photos of the artwork, but here's a couple. The floor piece was awesome.

The show is up at Jack Hanley until August 8th.

This one was a painting of a rug, with a sort of portal looking abstraction on it, that went on the floor. Unfortunately, a lot of people accidentally walked on it.

Hey look, I have a blog

2008-07-07T13:09:00.000-07:00

you're looking at it.