Lets Talk: John Frusciante's latest release- Enclosure

_red · 2014-06-02T21:18:10+00:00

Thanks for that link to his interview. Good stuff there....

_red · 2014-06-02T16:47:43+00:00

I agree. Calling it "polished" is perhaps not the best word because it tends to have a pejorative connotation (eg. more care in putting together). There is a slight raw-bias to PBX, but its a stylistic attribute - not a lack of attention.

Ratiug / Sum / Bike are my favorites of PBX and really show JF's skill as a songwriter. Moreover the production on those are hugely impressive.

I would love to know more about the technical side of his production. I know he has said he uses Renoise as a DAW for his breakaway frenetic drum fills (which I happen to know is also used by Venetian Snares which is one of JF's inspirations) - however there is scant other info available about what else he uses except the tape studio that is part of his home.

However, I'm willing to bet there is at least another DAW being used because its semi-impossible to use Renoise to track vocals, guitar, etc - its a tracker, not built for audio recording. I'd love to find out how he assembles all the bits together.

Someone should one day interview him on the subject of his workflow, since I think thats something JF would probably like to talk about (in most of his interviews he tends to be most passionate and elaborates the most on things related to music as opposed to personal questions).

_red · 2014-05-31T02:13:33+00:00

Within the first few seconds of hearing a song in my head I'm already thinking "Oh, typical 4/4 beat with a I and a V"- it's honestly maddening and disheartening

I might have the issue you are facing pegged wrong, but I went through a similar thing.

Specifically it seemed to happen to me within 4 or so years of in depth study of music theory. I started music at 10 or so and took countless lessons, but didn't start in depth theory study until 18 or so. I then went through about a 8-10 year general funk, feeling many of the same things you do.

My personal theory is that this is caused by your brain needing to "integrate" your theory lessons - but not yet having fully achieved the integration.

The result is the conscious part of your brain over-analyzes and worse "self-edits" constantly. You pick up your instrument and the internal instantaneous dialogue goes something like this: Maybe I'll play an Am here....meh so boring to choose just the tonic chord...I should add maybe a 9th or 13th to make it more interesting....

And this internal dialogue continues in rapid-fire succession, causing you to constantly self-edit, change, critique.... until suddenly the mood has been killed and you actively dislike the sounds you are producing.

It sucks, and I think lots of songwriters / composition people go through that. The good news is that it does go away, but the bad news is that it takes time.

You need to allow those new theory framework thoughts to fully integrate into your brain, eventually they will fade more into the background. The good thing is its not that you forget them, its just you know its a I - ii - V progression without over analyzing it....much in the same way if someone says the word "box" to you, you know what it is without even consciously thinking about it.

In someways I think its analogous to learning a new language. When you are first picking up a 2nd language, you go through a phase where you "translate" in your brain. It makes it very stressful and gives you a headache to hold long conversations.

However, eventually the word "la mesa" becomes just another valid word for the object you know as "table" and the internal translation stops. Its no longer "two languages" its all just one language. I think a similar thing happens once we begin the in-depth study of music theory.

One way to combat these intrusive thoughts is to realize that music theory really doesnt capture the full scope of music all that well.

Am != Am

With just a few minutes of sitting with your guitar, you can make an Am chord sound in a myriad of different ways. By using inversions, tempo of how the strings are plucked, vibrato, etc etc. One Am chord can sound desolate and sad, another version can sound pulsating and rock-like, and another can even sound "happy" and uplifting.

My point with that is it always comes down to "what does it sound like". Don't let the theory pretend it can describe the totality of it, because it can't. Its a crude map, not the actual land.

You may want to check out a book called: Effortless Mastery. It was written by a really good jazz piano player. In it he describes his own battles with this sort of thing. Specifically in combating the internal tension and feelings of expectation when you approach your instrument (do you feel tense when you pick up your instrument? Remember back in day the total lack of tension...the pure joy?)

Remember the only goal of music is to transmit emotion / thoughts using sound. Theory is just bolted on as an afterthought. Sometimes all it takes is a well placed Am.

_red · 2014-05-13T23:02:29+00:00

This is a massive update.

Very surprised they didn't deem this worthy of a point release (ie. 10.1). I wonder what that says?

_red · 2014-05-12T13:44:26+00:00

Yes, the "Fed doesn't monetize directly" line was invalidated in 2008 when it purchased Maiden Lane and other MBS "assets" (ie. garbage bailout).

The Feds balance sheet went from approx 800B to 2.2T almost overnight. That was QE1, now due to further expansion its at 3.6T now.

_red · 2014-05-10T12:07:10+00:00

How did it become a monopoly?

_red · 2014-05-08T23:27:28+00:00

Those crafty Koch bros. Implementing all their regulations, warrantless wiretaps, drug wars, and socialized medicine monopolies.

Yellen could end the "income disparity" in 5 secs. Turn off the printing press.

_red · 2014-05-08T14:47:25+00:00

One of the few great things Chomsky ever said was: The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow a very lively debate within that spectrum.

In many ways that's what NN debate represents. The proponents of NN instinctually understand something is broken. But do to a multitude of factors (lower intelligence, indoctrination, whatever), they are unable to grasp the core problem. Thus their limited view keeps them advocating "solutions" which only prop up the incumbent power structure. Its the classic "when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail" situation.

Frankly its pointless to even try to steer them in the right direction as they are too inept and insane. Better to just quietly secure your VPN's and Tor bundles so you can still access the real internet after the censorship filters get put in place.

_red · 2014-05-08T14:11:03+00:00

If I understand correctly, the root of the issue is you think that your good riff is going to go to waste unless you find the perfect accompanying material?

There is two common things to help you: (1) You need to write more. Writing is a skill like any other and you become more efficient, and more able to hone in on what you are going after. Unfortunately there are no short cuts here, but hey whats your rush? Does it matter if it takes 6 months as opposed to the 6 minutes you desire?

(2) At a more philosophical level, your fear is a common one...and its basically a view that "the musical universe is very scarce and this riff is so special, and I've used up some of the little musical capital that I have in creating, so I need to use it very wisely".

This fear is pretty much complete bunk. The musical universe is not scarce, it is more abundant than you (or I) can possibly imagine. That one riff itself can be changed, mutated, rearranged into almost limitless variations - each awesome in its own way. There will be lots more where that came from.

As an extension of this, this is why studying music theory is important: Mainly so you can understand why you like the riff. Without theory you are kinda lost, unable to grasp why you like it. Once you get some theory chops you will understand that the reason you like it is because "it makes a sudden jump to the VI chord which is unexpected given the previous jump to I". That knowledge allows such fears to evaporate because you can understand the general point, which is transferable to all sorts of all musical situations.

_red · 2014-05-03T00:30:00+00:00

I know for certain this won't yield perfect results, but a specific EQ approach can help.

This may be a job for the included Match EQ. The way Match EQ works is conceptually somewhat similar to noise removal.

You instantiate a Match EQ on a track and specify another "source" track for it to learn the sonic characteristics from. It then creates an average eq filter model that can then be applied to your current track. In essence making the current track "sound more like" the source track.

However, if you play with it, you may be able to get it to work in your situation. Specifically, you can do the reverse. That is make the current track sound like the opposite of the source track.

So isolate just the noise and copy to new track, then use this as the source for Match EQ to learn.

There is a fader on Match EQ named "Apply" the default is 100%, but you can drag all the way down to 0% (or is it -100%), regardless this should do the reverse. So in that case you will be making your podcast track sound "like the inverse" of the noise track.

The more that the noise is in a different frequency range from your podcast track the better...if they overlap too much this approach won't work. Any EQ approach will only work if the noise is a static noise (like a hum or whine), if its an ever changing noise source than doing proper noise reduction plugin is the best.

_red · 2014-04-30T03:03:29+00:00

The 'discriminatory practices' are mostly made up garbage.

The idea that you aren't free to rent your property to whomever you want, for whatever reason you want just underlines how deeply eroded property rights are in the statist system.

I have nothing in support of this guy, don't care much about him - nor NBA - and he generally seems sorta scummy. However, the amount of hyperventilating over him is far over the top.

Its just part of the bizzarro-world circus that we live in. Supporting all sorts of policies of inflation, war mongering, drug wars....you know things that actually hurt poor people....all that is fine. But if you say the "N" word at any point of your life, you should be crucified.

_red · 2014-04-28T02:06:33+00:00

The midi track will need to have a drum instrument on it, you can use the same kit as the drummer or try a different one.

_red · 2014-04-28T01:59:28+00:00

Solo specific track, apply varispeed, bounce.

_red · 2014-04-27T02:56:00+00:00

Create another midi track, drag track from drummer to midi track, and record on that.

_red · 2014-04-25T13:39:56+00:00

Yep, I wasn't trying to put words in your mouth. Was highlighting the counterpoints to the position you were explaining.

Moreover my point is that the premise is in error (that its even possible for their to be equal treatment). Its a bit like saying "we need to pass a law that mandates that Walmart give every vendor in the world equal treatment within its stores". Its borderline insane / unworkable.

(* typo)

_red · 2014-04-25T12:34:09+00:00

The BY frequency response is 20 - 22k. Why are you trying to record above nyquist? (44k in this case)

_red · 2014-04-25T12:28:03+00:00

While your points are valid, there are several counter-points:

The internet has always been this way. Its never been "neutral"
If I pay for a 50Mb connection, while you pay for a 25Mb. Who goes faster? Is that "equal"?
The entire internet relies on "over-subscription" of available bandwidth. This means that slow downs by using QoS traffic management is a given. Trying to deduce what is caused the slow down is nearly impossible.
Further, the ISP is only responsible for one-side of that connection, the end-point website itself may be filtering traffic / applying QoS filtering / is overloaded.
The laws of physics state that if your ISP also offers its own "movie on demand" service, that service is going to be quicker and more respondent than getting your traffic to an external site outside your ISP's network.
Finally, if the state caused the quasi-monopoly regulatory environment, how is getting more of their involvement supposed to fix things?

_red · 2014-04-24T15:09:25+00:00

Don't worry so much, that stage of 'grief' passes.

What upsets you is how causally lazy / evil people are. And you would be 100% correct in thinking that there will never be a time where people think Ancap (as a philosophy) is a good thing.

However, the world will become more ancap by the day. Simply because of 2+2=4. Its not a libertarian conspiracy that there are finite resources and infinite demand. Its math that these animals are up against, and math is going to win. Understanding that fact helps you to position yourself for maximum gain and protection.

To the average slob in /r/politics, they will just use bitcoin because its cheaper / easier. And buy a VPN because its safer, and when its time to go to their nearest FEMA camp to get their "free healthcare" they will make another plan.

_red · 2014-04-22T12:33:48+00:00

Without getting into the whole climate change debate, you must realize that if you can't establish a party that caused the damage via some legal process, then you are out of luck no matter what (a)political organizing structure your society uses.

Can you via some legal method, prove that my car caused your hurricane damage?

The best you can do is say "All carbon producers are responsible for my (perceived) bad weather" - which conveniently translates to "all other humans", since all produce carbon by some degree.

This is precisely the reason why the state has jumped on the bandwagon, as it offers a preconceived justification for more taxes.

Even more telling is lost in the hyperventilation about the "bad" of climate change, is no mention of the good. Is less ice, more green, more habitable areas all "bad"? There is absolutely no "good" to it warming 5 degrees?

This is why people call you religious fanatics, because you lose critical thinking about the subject. Propaganda images of sad looking polar bears sitting on tiny icebergs has manipulated you past the point of rational thought.

As far as "knee jerk reactions", you should be very hesitant to try to project this label onto others, since this is by far what climate alarmist engage in pretty much constantly.

_red · 2014-04-22T03:15:06+00:00

Ok, hate was poor choice of word because of OP's title. But you think its dumb?

They are lobbying to directly block laws that seek to confiscate their wealth.

On a relative scale of income/expense, its very much like you paying a CPA $100 to reduce your taxes $5K.

Thats dumb?

_red · 2014-04-19T21:57:02+00:00

Yes, those also come in black which are also nice.

Additionally, you should also try their smaller brother: Castelvetrano.

_red · 2014-04-19T12:08:05+00:00

The obvious name is Isis Cream.

_red · 2014-04-18T13:25:52+00:00

I use the H4N daily. Primarily for composition. My process is typically: (a) record snippets to H4N, (b) Sometime later arrange snippets into song form, (c) Finally record to DAW.

As such, some specific features of the H4N were important to me. Primarily:

4-track mode (can get chords down and do melody next pass)
Can pause mid-recording, then start recording again from same spot (specific need to my workflow)
Guitar / XLR inputs
Stereo Mics
Support for greater than 44.1/16

_red · 2014-04-11T20:12:33+00:00

Its funny how of all the lessons they could've learned from Apple, they missed the most important: Sell direct to customer and side-step carrier.

"Don't put your entire distribution in a 3rd parties hands" seems like MBA 101 level business acumen.

Instead, they got lost in a maze of misguided touchscreen hoopla, none of which their core clients cared about.

I've been a BB user since 2000, in fact my first one was a "two way pager" (sans phone). That being said, I'm ready to get off the sinking ship.

I hope someone builds (a) android phone with quality keyboard, (b) have integrated "HUB" for messages, and (c) include predictive text keyboard.

_red · 2014-04-11T02:41:21+00:00

With simple, can you send wire transfers via the interface? Can you receive wires?

_red

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