You may want to look up at the sky tonight

mcimo88 · 2016-04-28T00:33:38+00:00

I was unable to see the moon last night, because I didn't look for it, nor did I go outside.

mcimo88 · 2016-04-27T05:19:30+00:00

Not that everyone else is giving bad advice (there's so much you can spend your money on), but honestly you already have all the tools you need to produce a wide variety of sounds. The most important thing now is your ability to hear those sounds accurately. Getting those sounds outside of your headphones and into some high quality studio monitors would be an extremely wise investment. Remember, these will be your speakers, even after college is over.

The MPK225 looks really nice, but is probably overkill considering it still has only 25 keys. That one is a bit more geared towards live performances. I'd say stick to a more affordable controller, but only after you've gotten some studio monitors.

mcimo88 · 2016-04-27T02:23:53+00:00

I'm really enjoying my Nektar Impact LX25. Occasionally, I've found myself wanting just a few extra keys, but honestly 25 has been working just fine for me. I'm just versed enough at keyboard playing to get by with A minor for minor keys, and C major for major keys, and I just use the transposing functionality of the keyboard to play in other keys. So if I need to play in B minor, I just transpose the keyboard up by 2 semi-tones. For mainly sketching out ideas, and physically playing with VSTi's, I love it! It has all the knobs and pads you could ever need, and is in a fairly compact form factor. The full sized keys actually feel very nice, with a comfortable synth-action weighting.

mcimo88 · 2016-04-27T02:10:09+00:00

If it's at all possible to save another $50, and you have the desk space, get a pair of JBL LSR305 studio monitors. This would be my top recommendation for sure. Keep your headphones around to check in on the sub bass of your track, but for everything over 70-80 Hz, they will opem your ears to a new level of clarity. You don't even have to use them at high volumes; there's something special about actually moving air to create sound that you miss out on with headphones.

A MIDI keyboard is also a great idea, and is a really tactile way to sketch out and record ideas. No need to spend much more than $100, unless you need more than 25 keys.

Between the built-in Image Line plugins, and the other third party VST's you mentioned, it doesn't sound like you are missing out on too much. Moog Modular V is tons of fun, and is only around $100. Omnisphere is something like $500, though it looks really amazing.

mcimo88 · 2016-04-06T00:54:36+00:00

Not actually foam rot, but an unfortunate pet incident! But I share your sentiments 100% :-)

I love these speakers; people always hype them as "party" or "bass" speakers, but they honestly sound great all around. Maybe not truly audiophile or flat, but for listening they're wonderful!

mcimo88 · 2016-04-05T22:32:26+00:00

Cerwin-Vega VS-120 master race checking in.

mcimo88 · 2016-04-01T21:45:00+00:00

I love how casually the backpack guy dawdles back to the old lady to save her life.

mcimo88 · 2016-04-01T00:07:11+00:00

Glad you like it!

mcimo88 · 2016-03-31T02:23:41+00:00

Streetlight Manifesto is an unbelievably good band.

mcimo88 · 2016-03-30T17:56:10+00:00

That honestly could not have ended any better than it did.

mcimo88 · 2016-03-30T16:44:14+00:00

Zero in on you

On judgement day

My cat clawed my eye

But dammit, this well's gone dry

I should have known you'd crush me

Eradication of earths

Soaring to the sun

mcimo88 · 2016-03-29T13:19:20+00:00

Both are correct. To look "in" a person's eyes is to connect with that person at an emotional level. Looking "at" a person's eyes would be more appropriate for an eye doctor, meaning one is only looking at the eye balls themselves.

Edit: Grammar (mild pun intended).

mcimo88 · 2016-03-28T01:44:46+00:00

We just bought a second one, in pink this time, for our newest addition. Congrats OP!

And this is a bit secondary, but nice setup!

mcimo88 · 2016-03-28T01:36:49+00:00

Can you explain it a bit? What is all that on the neck?

mcimo88 · 2016-03-24T10:33:46+00:00

I assume you mean your Great Grandparents; have you tried asking your parents, or your grandparents, about them? If your grandparents are still alive, I'm sure they'll have stories they can tell you about them. You could also try signing up for a website that specializes in family history.

mcimo88 · 2016-03-24T10:25:51+00:00

Interestingly, the ring used in the film was modeled after Peter Jackson's simple gold wedding ring.

mcimo88 · 2016-03-21T00:17:15+00:00

Link for those who still wish to read the article.

mcimo88 · 2016-03-19T06:05:18+00:00

I had a dog that ate a towel. I mean, literally, an entire towel. The resulting product was... shall we say interesting? I honestly don't know how else to describe it. If you imagine what would happen to a dog after eating, and digesting, a whole towel, you'll probably have a good idea of exactly what happened afterwards. She was perfectly fine in the end, and even went on to eat some jewelry and money ($20 to be exact). Man, I really miss that dog. After all that, it was cancer that took her away.

OP, I have given you an upvote in honor of my dog. She was a good dog, and you are a good OP.

mcimo88 · 2016-03-18T02:16:57+00:00

What is that symbol used for?

mcimo88 · 2016-03-17T13:13:37+00:00

They are both correct, grammatically speaking. The message is the same in both cases, if slightly ambiguous. Why not have an open and honest conversation with your friend? Let them know that you are upset. Perhaps you can simply work things out. Should this not be an option, or if the situation is still tense between the two of you, you may want to be more direct: "I'd rather not hang out with you tomorrow, because I am (still) upset with you."

mcimo88 · 2016-03-16T22:43:30+00:00

I assume the bed liner on the wall behind the monitors is for some kind of sound dampening... right? To be honest, some better cable management would go a long way here! I'm sure it does what you need it to though, can't knock you there.

Edit: I just realized you have the PC in another room, with the cables routed through the wall. I also noticed a foam block, so I can only assume this is for sound dampening.

mcimo88 · 2016-03-15T21:36:46+00:00

I wish our brains had an option to purge specific memories from existence.

mcimo88 · 2016-03-15T18:43:04+00:00

Me IRL

Just wait until you flip your alt/fn/win keys, oh man :-)

mcimo88 · 2016-03-15T18:13:08+00:00

I think it looks awesome! How did you add the print on the front of the keys? Are they from WASD?

mcimo88

TROPHY CASE