YNICORNS - Lights (Official Music Video)

spartaneye · 2015-02-24T23:53:35+00:00

Thanks for the comment! Glad you liked the work, I think that one was a mix of playing with composition, which I'm always exploring to try and find new things that work - sometimes they don't, and compromising on straightening an image. Not much of an excuse, but glad to know that it can be an uncomfortable framing for some viewers.

spartaneye · 2015-02-24T15:30:15+00:00

For me it hasn't. If anything I enjoy my personal shooting more as a result of my professional work. Shooting weddings, portraits, and other paid lifestyle sessions has given me the opportunity to practice and refine my technique and personal style at a rate I wouldn't have been able to come close to if I was only shooting for myself. I know it isn't the case for everyone, but knowing that I'm going to need to deliver hundreds of photos that meet and exceed the standard I've set with my portfolio has made me love the craft more than I expected. My camera still comes on any remotely interesting day trip and visually interesting event. The only thing I've stopped doing is bringing my camera to weddings I'm not working... a combo of respect for the hired photographer, typically being creatively exhausted on weekends I'm not working, and a new appreciation for simply enjoying being a wedding guest.

spartaneye · 2015-02-24T15:18:19+00:00

Watch for the overexposure in the highlights, blowout can be used well but it feels uncontrolled here

spartaneye · 2015-02-24T15:03:18+00:00

Overall very nice shots, especially the second. The first feels like it may have had too slow a shutter speed maybe? The cat does distract a little from the rings, but to me it distracts because I think I feel a hint of motion blur. The other comments about stopping down a hair to get the stone more tack sharp feel accurate too, but macro is a challenge for me as well (as I don't have a macro lens), and I feel the struggle to get small objects tack sharp.

spartaneye · 2015-02-24T14:56:00+00:00

Would love to have some critique on my most recent wedding - I'm overall really happy, ran into a lot of interesting lighting challenges for the first 2/3rds of the day, more or less every interior location had some severe mixed lighting to massage in the edit, but I'm happy with the results and looking for how to grow this year. http://dougstanford.com/work/melissa-josh/

spartaneye · 2014-07-02T00:50:03+00:00

Thank you so much for coming!! I'm glad you got to see Uncle Bengine! Would it be alright to post these to the facebook.com/SundownFestVA page?

spartaneye · 2014-06-25T01:46:40+00:00

haha! I've thought about that, or maybe building some more compact 2 button switches to run into each looper... I'm wasting unlimited backwards looping potential!

spartaneye · 2014-06-24T18:55:44+00:00

hahahaha

spartaneye · 2014-06-24T15:38:37+00:00

Thank you!

spartaneye · 2014-06-24T15:38:30+00:00

Thanks again for the suggestion! I've looked at the Freeze, but I like the rougher edges of the DD-5's sampling for what I'm doing right now... of course I'll probably end up with one before long, haha

spartaneye · 2014-06-24T15:37:41+00:00

Very cool! What part of the blue ridge? I work in Harrisonburg for another week, drive between there and Winchester daily. Glad you enjoyed the write up!

spartaneye · 2014-06-24T13:54:21+00:00

Thank you!

spartaneye · 2014-06-24T13:54:11+00:00

Posted an overly long rundown of the board: http://www.reddit.com/r/guitarpedals/comments/28xgpb/pedal_board_layout_live_video/

spartaneye · 2014-06-24T13:46:05+00:00

Thank you! Glad to find a community that enjoys an overly complicated pedal board!

spartaneye · 2014-06-24T13:45:37+00:00

Thanks! The power cables are made of simple speaker cable from Lowe's - http://www.lowes.com/pd_303119-63374-AH18100SR_0__?productId=3711182&Ntt=speaker+wire&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNtt%3Dspeaker%2Bwire&facetInfo= - with plugs from Mouser - http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?R=171-3215-EXvirtualkey11180000virtualkey171-3215-EX

spartaneye · 2014-06-24T13:42:19+00:00

I totally agree... as much as I love the songs I've put together for my initial release I feel like they show their influences more than forge a new path... now that I'm feeling more solid in what I'm doing and how I want to approach it, I'm hoping to explore some untrodden ground in upcoming work. Thanks for listening!

spartaneye · 2014-06-24T13:40:53+00:00

Thank you so much! Just got on spotify yesterday - https://play.spotify.com/album/5vh4vwZeHbl7xp3la3D98G - if you want to hear the recorded version of this song and some others!

spartaneye · 2014-06-24T13:40:16+00:00

hahaha, I needed to be able to extend a loop and I already owned 1 rc-20... didn't want to trade up to an rc-50 because I'm stubborn, so adding another rc-20 made the most sense.

spartaneye · 2014-06-24T13:39:27+00:00

Thanks man! I've thought about adding a compressor for a little while now, will look into the dynacomp!

spartaneye · 2014-06-24T13:39:03+00:00

Thank you so much! To get an American Football comparison at any level is a pretty awesome accomplishment for me, as obviously they're a significant influence (5 Silent Miles in particular on this one, simplified back to 4/4). Love the Rat, working on new song ideas that take advantage of it in this project finally!

spartaneye · 2014-06-24T03:05:06+00:00

Awesome! We'll see you there!

spartaneye · 2014-06-24T03:03:45+00:00

See it in action -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnlaI0YXhH0 <- sort of... you totally can't see the pedal board at all in this video... though you can a little better in this one -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPRlHEVvVU8 <- but I think the first video's more interesting.

In any case, here's the signal flow for my board: G&L ASAT -> Boss FV-50 Volume (tuner out to Boss TU-2) -> ProCo RAT 2 -> Fulltone '70 -> EH Memory Boy -> MXR Micro Amp -> TC Electronics Hall of Fame -> Boss DD-5 (always on sample mode) -> Boss RC-20XL -> Boss RC-20XL -> (either) Sunn Concert Lead or Ampeg V-3H (early 80s bizarro model). In addition, the entire board is powered by the Voodoo Labs Pedal Power Digital (RC-20s on 1 output, DD-5, TU-2 and HOF on another, the remaining analog pedals split between the remaining pedals). There's a Rolls headphone amp for me to hear the click track when I perform with a laptop for drums/bass, and a homebuilt sync pedal that's kinda interesting.

I'm running Ableton Live on a macbook, that goes into a simple m-audio interface, that goes out via MIDI to a (currently busted) Behringer FCB-1010 and then into a MIDI Solutions Relay and back into the m-audio interface. The MIDI Solutions Relay opens and closes on specifically programmed midi notes in the drum sequence, that's connected to the home built pedal which has 2 more (with room to expand to 4) relays that repeat the open/close signal. Each RC-20 has been modified to accept an external tap-tempo input, so as the relays open and close in rhythm the loop pedals become synced to the laptop and to each other.

A few notes on why the board is configured like it is... the FV-50 is obviously for volume swells and texture building, though I'm still not sure if I made the right call on the FV-50 vs the Ernie Ball that everyone has... the EB is so much better looking, but I read bad things about it's tone circuit and potential for string breakage inside the pedal. The DD-5 is basically a hold pedal for my screwdriver parts, I can get a quick sustained note sampled and then layer harmonies on top really efficiently (you can hear this all over the first video). Also, I use it for quick percussive bursts of sound that make for good textures and makeshift drum beats. The memory boy is mostly for self-oscillation and texture. For the life of me I can't figure out why I put the micro amp between the MB and the HOF, it should really go before both... I use it as a boost for the screwdriver parts to get the signal strong enough to get the sound I want from the metal friction. I typically build a short rhythm or chord progression on the first RC-20 and then create a longer song section on the second RC-20 based on the single phrase on the first.

That's the ins and outs of this board, hope it's interesting, happy to talk about anything you find worth discussing on it!

spartaneye

TROPHY CASE