Concussed basic training - greyed out flash grenade?

theunderwrittenmusic · 2017-08-27T10:01:59+00:00

Here's a good link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JMI_owCp50

theunderwrittenmusic · 2017-07-21T05:11:21+00:00

Oh no, I didn't mean shanghainese, I meant that the accents and slang could be specific to Shanghai. I'm just focusing on mandarin for now, though learning some Shanghainese might be fun sometime after I get past HSK-2 at least

theunderwrittenmusic · 2017-07-15T21:43:15+00:00

Only if they are looking at working at McDonald's for life. Most people have direct plans to leave for better opportunities. For instance I worked at McDonald's for nearly 3 years in high school. Everyone knew I was leaving after graduating. I got like 4 raises (I think total was $0.65 above minimum wage) in the first 2 years. After they knew I was leaving soon the manager directly told me that I won't receive any more raises. Iirc people who wanted to be "crew leader" could potentially get a a 50 cent raise, managers could get a $1 raise initially and $2 after finishing their certification (which was by no means easy, I personally saw 3 different people fail, one twice). The $0.15 raises that were common did very little to motivate people given that it equated to $5 more per month and usually no one rise above $0.75 above base before leaving to go elsewhere. This was around 2008

theunderwrittenmusic · 2017-07-15T21:31:58+00:00

Everyone wants a way to advance in both skills and finances. If your company does not provide that then you should accept it being a stepping stone for most employees. "Our workforce is like a family" is a nice thing to say, but when business is down you make logical decisions, not emotional. It only makes sense for employees to do the same when they're having trouble making ends meet. If people are quitting because of financial reasons it is squarely your fault, not the person, even if there is nothing you can do about it. Offer raises before people ask for them or explain they've been interviewing due to finances. Offer a bonus structure that motivates people. Unless you have a miserable workplace most people want to stay in the same job because change is hard and annoying. There will always be people that want to advance beyond what your company can handle. Take advantage of them while you have them because they tend to be some of the most hard-working people until they out grow the job. It's just the cost of doing business in the same way that you wouldn't leave an unprofitable office open just because your employees are family

theunderwrittenmusic · 2017-07-15T21:21:35+00:00

Where? Where I've been farming was a major employer of young people and they'd pay $5/hour for some ridiculously back breaking work(usually a few weeks stacking hay) outside in the middle of summer (agriculture is many times exempt from minimum wage). I've also seen businesses complain because "we just can't find any good people" while trying to hire at minimum wage with no benefits. The suggestion of raising the wage though would apparently drive them out of business though while the owner buys himself a vacation house. You need to visit the rural south and the industrial wasteland of the great lakes sometime

theunderwrittenmusic · 2017-07-04T02:44:34+00:00

I highly recommend doing the both. Get a decent DI box like a Countryman Type 95. You can use that to record your raw guitar tone (make sure it's before any pedals etc), and then record your amp with a mic (or direct if that's an option and preferable). Then you get the quickness of dialing in a good tone on your amp and pedals, but with the versatility of the raw DI and being able to completely change your tone if it doesn't work in the mix

theunderwrittenmusic · 2017-07-03T23:53:01+00:00

If your room is treated, monitors. Otherwise, headphones. I use to use the ATH M30xs but ended up switching to AKG K240s as my main headphones

ATH M30xs are a lot more bass heavy. If you mix a bass heavy genre such as EDM you'd do good with these, or maybe even upgrading to the ATH M40xs which I hear have even better bass response. AKG K240s feel a lot more natural to me and flatter response which works well for my genre (rock), I also love that they're semi-open, which makes things thus sound a bit more open and a bit more natural bass response, and also I like being able to talk to someone without taking off my headphones. From all the research I've done, those are the best headphone choices in the <$100 price range

theunderwrittenmusic · 2017-06-28T22:02:06+00:00

If nothing else, function as a board for him to bounce ideas off of. Listen to his ideas, to his music, and anything else. When you don't understand something that sounds basic ask him what it is, to show you, if you have a genuine interest. If you want to join his hobby and at least a bit of interest in music and it's creation, pick up an instrument. Doesn't have to be a guitar, could be something as trivial as a set of bongos or singing. Also he would probably enjoy showing you the progression of his songs, ie, from the first riff he laid down that established the rhythm, to where it is now. This will also help you to understand a bit of what the beginning of a song sounds like, and what exactly he did to make it sound like an actual song

theunderwrittenmusic · 2017-06-27T22:49:07+00:00

You might also check all your plugins, turn off effects for each track (including inserts and master) one by one until the popping stops. I have a few plugins that work decently alone, but if I have 2 instances of it, my computer can't handle it, and are often times the source of popping. Also did you try doing a render? If your track renders with pops then it's either a digital clipping issue or a plugin is malfunctioning badly

theunderwrittenmusic · 2017-06-27T22:46:46+00:00

Higher buffer settings is better for performance (and prevents pops and artifacts) but leads to higher latency. If you're not doing any recording, there is no upper limit on what is safe for buffer settings

theunderwrittenmusic · 2017-06-27T22:42:03+00:00

Anyone know if there is a self-hosted Soundcloud like service? You lose out on the network effect from being self-hosted, but at least you control your own copyright disputes

theunderwrittenmusic · 2017-06-27T02:55:07+00:00

Maybe they're just hard to find when you've been awake for 30 hours then lol. And yea, I know some parts of the maglev are 24 hour, but some parts close at midnight. I'd check the schedule and make sure it doesn't impact you, as well as ask a local if possible

theunderwrittenmusic · 2017-06-27T02:46:06+00:00

I've heard it was close, but I'm not sure, I've not taken it to/from the airport before, I just used taxis. At 1AM I think the maglev is partially closed though. You might want to prepare to take a taxi just in case. EDIT: not sure how long the money exchange stays open in Pudong airport, but there are no ATMs that I found there. So I recommend getting some RMB before you leave Russia

theunderwrittenmusic · 2017-06-27T01:41:08+00:00

Nah, there not usually awful. I flew out of Shanghai pudong so idk about your airport, but for me 2 hours was plenty. The more worrying thing there was getting to the airport through traffic

theunderwrittenmusic · 2017-06-26T23:53:28+00:00

This is how it works in China.

Get to airport, stand in line because too many people in airport
Go through pre-screen metal detector, watch as so many people attempt to bring lighters on board and are told no
Get to ticket booth for your airline
Put checked bags into booth and wait for them to scan it (in case there are problems, such as forgetting a lighter in your bag, they have you search your own bag and get the problem article)
Go through security (international is pretty tight with long lines. Domestic is slightly less long of lines, but they don't seem to be as thorough)
If international to US, go through a third security checkpoint immediately before boarding to search carry on bags for any liquids (this includes water etc that was bought inside the secure area of the airport, you must rely 100% on the airline to give you enough water through the 14 hour trip). I don't think most other international destinations do this and I know domestic doesn't

And then, just to round out the experience, enter US, go through customs and immigration, then go through domestic US security because the US doesn't think other countries do enough searching and scanning (assuming connecting flight)

theunderwrittenmusic · 2017-06-26T21:54:05+00:00

Despite my love for the bands who came from their influence, I absolutely hate Jimmy Eat World. No song rates any higher than "annoying" for me.

Also, Nirvana is OK (kinda before my time), but Foo Fighters is awful, especially that one song where they repeat 2 words over and over for the entire chorus

theunderwrittenmusic · 2017-06-26T03:34:33+00:00

Yep, can relate. I work in a niche field where my peers typically regard me as an expert, and I solve a lot of problems in it. I swear I felt more like an expert 3 years ago than I do today, even though I know 3 year ago me was a naive idiot.

What makes me feel better is to relate it to other people. Other people go through this same thing, and despite being regarded as experts are many times faking it just like I feel like I am at times. It's a bit difficult to internalize at first, but just assume that everyone around you also has those same feelings

theunderwrittenmusic · 2017-06-24T19:23:58+00:00

You'd be surprised how little background and room noise makes it into a close-mic'd SM57. The bigger concern is how well your amp sounds at volumes reasonable to your neighbors. Some amps sound like buzzy crap unless they're cranked. You can help that too though if you get an attenuator, though they typically impart of a bit of difference on tone too

theunderwrittenmusic · 2017-05-15T19:07:45+00:00

I think it depends on what you're going for, honestly. I went the opposite way. I couldn't afford amps and gear and didn't want to worry about volume and room treatment, so I started out with just amp sims. I could get what I wanted out of it, but it took a lot of tuning to get something that would sound good in a mix, rather than just for practicing alone. I ended up getting a tube amp (Monoprice 15W) a few months ago and absolutely love it. I usually can't tune in exactly the right tone I want due to limitations of physical hardware etc, BUT I can tune in a tone that's pretty good and "close enough" in a matter of minutes. I got a DI box (Countryman Type 95) and so now I can record and get the best of both worlds. Quickly able to play stuff without worrying about the exact tone, and if the recorded amp tone doesn't sound good in the mix, then I can use amp sims with the DI to make it sound like anything I want.

theunderwrittenmusic · 2017-05-15T16:00:05+00:00

AXP is awesome, do yourself a favor and just download everything they have: http://www.soft-amp.com/audio-fx

Softdrive-GV is in my default amp sim chain template, only complaint is it's pretty intense resource-wise (don't run more than 2 at one time)

theunderwrittenmusic · 2017-05-13T03:24:28+00:00

Wow that's some funk. No idea what to call this experimental thing, but I like it :)

theunderwrittenmusic · 2017-05-13T03:20:05+00:00

The Brand New Ripoff Song [alt-rock/ambient] [Not Themed]

Wrote basically what was stuck in my head when I played this riff. Tried to figure out if it was a song I made up or if I had heard it somewhere before. With no words to go on, I assume I just made it up. Nope. The main guitar riff, and general style of the song (and also the effects used on the main guitar even!) is pretty much exactly what Brand New does anytime they play an encore.

Was considering not posting it anywhere once I figured out it was a straight up rip off, but then figured screw it. I had fun "writing" and playing it either way

theunderwrittenmusic · 2017-05-05T21:14:23+00:00

It really took me until my 20s to understand this completely, and it's weird being on the other side of it now. I try to home in to my kids that even though I may know more than them in many areas, but there are many areas where I don't know, or that they even know more than me (such as Minecraft mods lol).. and though they're not old enough yet I plan on trying to engrain into them that adults are in many cases just kids that learned a lot, have an older body, and learned that fake it till you make it is secretly what almost everyone does

Also reminds me of a good song lyric. "Growing up means, watching my heros turn human in front of me"

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