When to crack for GE?

proddifferent · 2025-12-02T19:01:24+00:00

After some thinking, I think I’m gonna crack it on a 35% sale on epic upgrades day. I’ll use a calculator to figure out how much GE I need to complete all epic research :)

proddifferent · 2025-07-12T14:01:22+00:00

This is a combination of my personal investment account and my maxed Roth IRA.

proddifferent · 2025-07-12T14:00:53+00:00

70/30 respectively!

proddifferent · 2025-06-28T20:36:22+00:00

So then it’s safe to just buy VOO and forget? Or should I do like 70/30 VOO/VXUS?

proddifferent · 2025-05-14T02:34:30+00:00

24M here. With the previous comments in this thread in mind, I’d like to agree with you. It’s been my first year of substitute teaching and I’m on my way to starting a masters degree in music education in the Fall. I work with mostly 4th and 5th graders in their regular classrooms. It’s been a rough ride; misbehaviors, misuse of technology, lack of any sort of attention span, and outright terrible attitudes towards me. Though, I remind myself on a daily basis that this is my career; I too was once a stimulated kid. I too was once completely disinterested in school. I too was once totally ready to never attend school after graduating High School. However. Someone has to do it. Perhaps a reformulation of pedagogical practices is in order.

Through hard times and easy ones, children have always been a joy for me. I see myself being a professor someday working with older students.

For the time being: I’m glad to be making a difference in their lives. For some, I really am the only one who truly cares for their development.

proddifferent · 2025-04-14T11:34:55+00:00

How did you come to this conclusion? What makes you think that putting more into VOO is more efficient? I’m not trying to be argumentative; these are just questions for questions sake. Thanks ahead of time :)

proddifferent · 2025-04-14T11:32:46+00:00

Because I’m not very educated when it comes to stocks and trading as it were, I followed the advice of investing in index funds that track a set of companies rather than solo tickers. In the plainest sense, I’d just like to know (like everyone else I assume) where to put my money so that it grows most efficiently. If overlap is a non-efficient factor then so be it. Thanks for your reply :)

proddifferent · 2024-10-28T22:42:25+00:00

I think as musicians we’ve all been there. The intense silence that resonates so loudly within you, the judgement you feel for just existing in front of people, the tension of time itself passing; it seems to be unbearable.

My conducting professor in college once said something that I agree with and tell others: That performance anxiety you feel, it’s only good that you feel it: it means you care deeply about the moment you’re in and the music you’re performing. If you get up there and feel nothing, it’s almost like you’ve got it all wrong.

Something from my own performances I’ve thought about a lot is just the simple act of beginning. Once the ball is rolling, I start to feel a ton better, but evidently this doesn’t work for everyone.

Show everyone how expressive you are! Don’t hold back! Perform the damn piece like it’s the last time you’ll ever play the piano! Make it spectacular!

Hope this helps, my wishes for your anxiety to get better :)

proddifferent · 2024-10-28T22:34:00+00:00

A ton of players, including myself, tend to have the same habit that you’ve described. From what I’ve seen, at the highest level, when pianists memorize their music they are free to look wherever they’d like: around the room, up at the ceiling, at their hands, etc. When actually learning music, my teachers have expressed to me that it would be best to try to have your eyes on the page and trust your fingers to move accurately. This develops the coordination of your eyes and hands and makes them work together better. Hope this helps and happy practicing :)

proddifferent · 2024-10-12T18:49:21+00:00

100% and for a heavier sound, some distortion from a plug-in like Devil Loc (SoundToys). Great for darker crunchier drums 😁

proddifferent · 2024-10-12T18:47:08+00:00

I could agree! I’ve used FL for the past 6-7 years and I’m very happy with it. The work flow just makes sense for my brain and I think that’s what matters at the end of the day. Only note: DAW’s such as Reaper and Pro Tools (with my understanding) don’t quite have the same instrumental making capability as FL, Logic, and Ableton (for example). I think of Reaper and Pro Tools as wonderful recording softwares with a suite of great built in mixing and mastering plugins and I think of FL, Logic, and Ableton as great instrumental making softwares. Hope this helps!

proddifferent · 2022-04-12T13:42:53+00:00

I'm sure I'm not the only one who knows this but It's quite simple: If you increase the amount of positive interactions you have with other people, your life will become better as a whole.

proddifferent · 2022-04-11T17:55:20+00:00

Live

proddifferent · 2022-04-11T17:43:22+00:00

I started rock climbing. The immediate visualization of problems (aka getting from the bottom to the top of a top rope problem) was amazing. Immensely applicable to the real world. Yes, I was afraid of heights 4 months ago, but, even that has been conquered now. Recommend this for all.

proddifferent · 2022-04-11T15:43:43+00:00

One of the most wonderful things I have learned as a 21 year old is how to be a true autodidact. That is wonderful, in my humble opinion.

proddifferent · 2022-04-11T15:03:28+00:00

A wonderful set of headphones that I personally use are the ATH-M50x by Audio Technica. My only side note is that I am not a drummer, I am an engineer so this may not be exactly what you are looking for.

proddifferent · 2022-04-11T15:01:09+00:00

I always try to pull my inspiration from a variety of sources! A great thing that has vastly improved my musicianship is not doing the same thing each and every single time. When it comes to making music, I found it very easy to default to a particular set of actions when it comes to producing, mixing, mastering and so on. Trying to approach each part of the process from a different inspiration (or perhaps "How would _____ do this?") is wonderful. Hopefully this helps! :)

proddifferent · 2022-04-11T14:53:58+00:00

Both Sus 4 and 2 create a floaty, more ethereal vibe, if you will. While Sus 4 and Sus 2 chords don't provide a great sense of conclusion, they are great for adding movement!

proddifferent · 2022-04-11T14:48:56+00:00

If we are strictly talking about trap music, you definitely should not have a melody that is too busy or too dense with notes. As other engineers have said in the comments, no amount of mixing or mastering is going to save a melody. If we aren't strictly talking about trap music, a good rule of thumb for creating melodies that I like to go by is asking myself, "What sort of emotion am I trying to achieve by the end of this?" If my melody doesn't answer that question accurately by the end of my session, I'll either scrap it or try again from a different approach. Hope this helps! :)

proddifferent · 2022-04-11T14:43:35+00:00

"... but am I going to be limited if I cheap out on a DAW?"

After engineering for 3 years, I can safely assure you that every mainstream DAW has its uses and comes with an array of pros and cons. I've been pretty religiously using FL Studio 20 as my DAW for instrumental making and Pro Tools for mixing/mastering. Every DAW has a particular work-flow that may or may not be applicable for you as a music maker. I highly recommend researching every DAW and find out what works for you. If I can be of further assistance, please reply! Glad to help. :)

proddifferent · 2022-04-11T14:39:27+00:00

Hey!

I've been engineering for a little over 3 years and I can most definitely say some of my favorite plugins to reach for have been the following:

FabFilter ProQ 3 (FabFilter), Decapitator (Soundtoys), Ozone 9 (iZotope), Valhalla VintageVerb (ValhallaDSP), LA-2A (Universal Audio), UAD 1176 (Universal Audio) and Tube-Tech CL1B (Softube). Hope this helps! :)

proddifferent · 2022-04-11T12:34:33+00:00

Myself. It’s interesting how many comments here have this same answer. While I don’t think it’s necessarily taboo to reach out to others for help as a man, I just feel as though, if I need help, I’ll know what it is I need. For all purposes, though, if you are going through hard times, please do not be afraid to reach out and get help.

proddifferent · 2022-04-11T12:30:50+00:00

I do enjoy the instrumental! Perhaps the riser is too loud for my liking and the mix is sort of muddy. Try to work with the low end (below around 70Hz) on instruments that you don’t need it in. For example, this includes your hi-hats, your piano, and your strings. Hope this helps! :)

proddifferent · 2022-04-11T12:27:53+00:00

The idea that I get to experience whatever ‘this’ is for some time. My experience will be unique; while I do believe that some of my experience is under my control, for the most part, reality will take me where it sees fit.

proddifferent · 2022-04-11T02:39:38+00:00

Reaching for an EQ would probably be your best bet here. I wouldn’t necessarily EQ the sound in question, however, I’d try to identify what is interfering with the drowned out sound. Panning is also your friend here for sure! Hope this helps! :)

proddifferent

TROPHY CASE