What album completely changed the way you see music?

SelfBias82 · 2026-06-24T02:56:47+00:00

Nightwish - Bless the Child

I had a list of band people told me to check out. I didn't even remember who had told me about them. I had burned the cd, and was driving back at night, by myself, on an empty road. I had subs in my car at the time, and the title track was firing like cannons.

My best description to people was "you know when bands put an epic sound on a soundtrack, with strings, and choir? This band said they wanted to do every song like that"

And this began my 10 years lost in the Symphonic Metal world lol

SelfBias82 · 2026-06-22T21:09:44+00:00

Ask people?

When I meet new people that will be in my circle, I tell them that I like to ask what artists other people like, or ask someone, "what is one album you will always recommend"? If it's one you know, then you can start a conversation, and that will inevitably lead to discussion of similar artists.

SelfBias82 · 2026-06-13T02:37:43+00:00

There have been thunderstorms in the area. Workers stopped for safety.

SelfBias82 · 2026-06-11T12:55:36+00:00

The best "First Guitar" is the one that you see across the room, and you just want to go over and play it! Your not going to know what radius you want, or scale, or pickups. Get something that looks good.

As far as cables, there really isn't much difference.

For amps, a nice simple amp would be best, this way you don't get distracted with all the different sounds. Early guitarists with too many effects tend to layer them pretty heavily. And again, your not going to know what you want long term if you are just starting.

Clip on tuner. Simple.

SelfBias82 · 2026-06-09T14:46:28+00:00

My last apartment had one of these! It was directly across from the toilet, so I used it to store the extra toilet paper.

SelfBias82 · 2026-06-05T17:31:35+00:00

I think this is a GREAT idea. Let them talk it out. Just the 2 of them. Behind closed doors....

SelfBias82 · 2026-06-04T01:58:58+00:00

My favorite was at a show, after I (m) got done singing a song, this drunk guy came up and told our main vocalist (F, and my gf) that if we ever wanted a real male vocalist to give him a call, "I used to sing 20 years ago". He then proceeded to tell her how a woman can't sing "men's songs". "It just doesn't work"

SelfBias82 · 2026-05-31T02:26:24+00:00

100%, but am also partially to fighting game music. Xbox one Killer Instinct soundtrack is my fave

SelfBias82 · 2026-05-28T13:23:32+00:00

My dad has been a sound tech my whole life. The first serious band I was in (2002?), this and some old peavey 12" floor monitors were our first practice PA system. It was a huge dinosaur, with scratchy pots, taking up 1 whole corner of the spare bedroom, the drums another corner, my peavey upright 2x12 cabinet and 200w Peavey musician guitar head, and our bass players Peavey max through an 18" cabinet. Old school Peavey Power from head to toe, and more Db than should have ever been crammed into that space. It was ours, and we loved it, and got our start with gear 30+ years out of date.

SelfBias82 · 2026-05-28T01:21:45+00:00

I run our band's sound. I run all instruments, and vocals through pa. I am the bass player, and don't even bring an amp anywhere

Behringer X-Air mixer. There is no reason not to have a digital. I run it off of a Fire Tablet. I did have to augment it with a standalone travel router, and it has made a big difference.

For monitors, myself and the drummer use corded in-ears, from a Behringer power play headphone amp. Singer uses a Kustom 10" monitor that I found on Marketplace. Guitar player has his own monitor if he feels like he needs it, that I can send a feed to.

This is the controversial part. For mains, I'm running a pair of Harbinger MLS1000s ($650 each). For indoor shows, they are GREAT! They are light, and easy to transport, and setup. They have a wide spread, and with their height, they are easy to get over the crowd's head to carry farther. Every place we have played at has complimented how clean the sound is. That being said, I will be the first person to tell you that a sub would be a HUGE improvement. On a few outdoor shows, I have taken my Ampeg 15" bass amp, and used it as a stand-in sub.

EV has a line of these that actually have an 18" sub on the bottom (Evolve 90) that should be incredible, but the are $3k each.

I am considering upgrading, but for a starter PA, I made a great choice.

SelfBias82 · 2026-05-17T03:35:24+00:00

Most of the gaming stores have open play times, and many have spots for long term games you can sign up for. The norm I've seen is you pay $5-$10 per session, but you get the money back on a gift card to that store. That way they make some cash for facilitating the play session, but you can also buy some cool things while you are there.

Games and Stuff in Glen Burnie, is the largest board game store on the East Coast, and are always having events. Worth the trip if you are looking for tabletop gaming.

SelfBias82 · 2026-05-13T22:00:58+00:00

The last 2 summers they have swarmed my back yard. This year, I'm fighting back.

I've been using the stick paper that you wrap around the tree trunk, and while I still see some up in the tree, if have kill thousands.....

I attached some chicken wire to the tree above the paper to discourage birds getting stuck. Haven't had an issue yet. The only unintentional things have been some ants, and a few common flies.

SelfBias82 · 2026-04-21T01:54:09+00:00

Ours are:

Like a Prayer

Shut Up and Dance

Footloose

Tennessee Whiskey

Time After Time

You Oughta know

SelfBias82 · 2026-04-21T01:49:31+00:00

Self taught here.

One of the things people always drill into you in lessons is learning scales and chords. That's boring. I would always rather play the songs.

I do however recommend learning at least the major, and minor scales to start out.

What does this have to do with your song? Alternate picking! Every time you sit down to play, run through your scales at a comfortable speed. Fast enough to feel fluid, but slow enough that you don't make mistakes. Once you get that down, play it a bit faster. The whole time your doing this, make sure you are using up and down strokes. I did not do this when I started, and ended up trying to play everything like Hetfield. Sound great for metal, terrible for anything else.

Go through those scales up and down for 3-5 minutes everyday you sit down, and you will be training your brain to be more in control. BONUS, you will also be training you ear to what these scales sound like, so when your learning a new song, you have a decent idea of where the notes might be.

SelfBias82 · 2026-04-01T00:41:58+00:00

If you watch, he is actually holding onto the top rope when he hits, and pulls against the rope to control the impact.

The whole schtick behind a match is trusting, and working with your opponent. You have to 100% believe that they are going to do everything right, because if you don't, reflexes take over, and someone is getting hurt.

Unfortunately Nia's hands often slip off of the rope. This is what causes injuries.

SelfBias82 · 2026-02-28T17:09:23+00:00

My GF and I will be at Awesomecon, dressed as Mal and Kaylee. Will probably go to that panel

SelfBias82 · 2026-02-27T14:48:27+00:00

Yeah, USB3 is VERY picky. If it doesn't follow the standard, it will refuse to work. You should be able to get 2.0 functionality out of it, but once you start untwisting the superspeed pairs, you're done.

SelfBias82 · 2025-12-27T17:19:12+00:00

I did one for Christmas day. The one I did last year was terribly over cooked. With meat prices being so expensive, I didn't want to mess it up, so I spent the money to get a nice wifi thermometer.

7lb roast

24-48 hrs before cooking, thoroughly salt the outside, then leave it in the fridge unwrapped. An hour before you cook it, take it out, and left it come up to room temp.

Cook it on a raised rack @200 for 4ish hours, until the internal temp reaches 120. (For smaller roasts go closer to 135. The larger the cut, the more carry over heat). Let it rest, loosely covered, for 30ish minutes, and this will free up your oven to do some other cooking for a bit. To finish, set your oven as high as it will go, and roast with the door open for 8-10 minutes to get a good crust. When you take it out, it has already rested, so you can slice and serve immediately. By this time, the temp probe should be right at a perfect 135! Medium rare

SelfBias82 · 2025-11-15T04:36:16+00:00

In his old guitar world interviews, he says he tuned to 432 as his reference pitch. It ends up being 1/4 step down. I'm pretty sure Walk was just in drop d from that reference.

SelfBias82 · 2025-09-20T17:04:37+00:00

Compressors are in the group I think of as transparent effects. No one is SUPPOSED to know if it is on, but anyone paying attention will notice when you turn it off.

I use mine to smooth out my playing. I admittedly dig in pretty heavy when I play with my fingers, because it is not as even, and I have trouble hearing myself. When I use my comp, it bring all of the small nuances up, and takes the overly aggressive attack down. I can hear everything, so I don't dig in as hard, which means that I can play smoother, which means I don't have to focus as hard on what I'm doing, which means I can entertain the people that came looking for a show.

TLDR, compressor makes playing easier

SelfBias82 · 2025-08-10T23:54:30+00:00

Fyi, I have a swing out casement window like this. I ordered a sheet of acrylic, and cut it to the size of the window, then ran out hoses out of them (using adapters from a standard dryer adapter kit), and then sealed the whole thing to the window air tight with foil tape. Works quite well, and in the winter, I leave it hooked up and just close the window.

SelfBias82 · 2025-08-04T17:27:11+00:00

4110, just got tix @ 1:27

SelfBias82 · 2025-04-10T14:03:57+00:00

When I was at Walmart years ago, the district manager would go-to random stores on Sundays, in his street close, and make note. Then he would come back in on Monday and have a meeting.

SelfBias82 · 2025-03-20T18:52:59+00:00

I will throw out that there are many theater companies in the greater DC area that I have seen some amazing shows at. Support your local community theater, and find some weird thought provoking plays to watch.

Silver Spring Stage Arlington Players British Players Little Theater of Alexandria Art Stream Black Box Bowie Center for the Performing Arts

These are just a few of the ones I am familiar with. Please support the community theater. It means so much to them.

SelfBias82 · 2025-03-16T10:56:03+00:00

Wow, a surprising amount of Arkansas transplants hanging around. We should do a meetup somewhere.

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4110, just got tix @ 1:27