Yep, I also have that bring-trance-to-America feel, hehe.
You know you're a trance addict when you start gradually pulling away from other forms of music all together that used to contribute to your personality. But lately, you've started typing "trance" into your little iTunes browser so only your trance songs are pulled up, which have now swelled to 1/3 of your entire library, up from 1/10 a year earlier. Then when you hear other types of music, you begin to notice more pads and sweeps in those songs, and you start thinking to yourself, "They entered the breakdown way too early, IMO", while actually spelling out "I-M-O" in your head.
Thanks guys. I'm glad you all are liking it. I think it will be a good way to see how our tastes evolve over time, as well. I've got several tracks right now that I've given so much play time that they'll make my "most played" lists pretty soon.
But yeah, I know what you mean when you say it doesn't represent your favorites necessarily. I can easily get into the mood for one song and end up playing it a dozen times very easily. It's usually that way for songs that I've just discovered. I listened to For You (The Blizzard Remix) about 50 times the first day I heard it LOL. After that initial rush of playing a song on loop, it tapers off somewhat, but if I really like a song, I'll still play it often. And some songs I really do like a lot, but never get around to playing it over and over, so they take longer to move up the list.
Gah. I'm really starting to hate myself for not including this one in my "year end" mix... I heard this one back last February and just really didn't give it that much deserved double take. Great, great song...
Ahaha, oh, I almost do that. Except I get really tense and antsy when people go "Oh, you like techno." And I go "No it's trance." Then they say, without missing a beat!, "But they're the same though." And then I just go off...
Self-explanatory. Which trance songs have the highest play counts on your media player? I had many a great evenings playing some songs on loop for two or three hours in the last two years. Needless to say, it's those times when I'm on a major looping binge that contribute to the massive play counts.
As of 1/3/2009....
My top ten for all time are: 1. Super8 & Tab - Elektra (301 plays) 2. Envio - For You (The Blizzard Remix) (220 plays) 3. Fictivision vs. Phynn - Escape (Phynn Mix) (218 plays) 4. Arizona & Octagen - Starburst (197 plays) 5. Alt+F4 - Alt+F4 (184 plays) 6. Terry Bones vs. Fred Baker present Water Planet - Introspection (John Askew Mix) (115 plays) 7. Cape Town - Cinema (Original Mix) (113 plays) 8. Octagen & M.I.D.O.R. - Metropolitan (Original Mix) (89 plays) 9. Anjunabeats - Volume One (7 Skies & Static Blue Remix) (85 plays) 10. Nitrous Oxide - Orient Express (81 plays)
And for songs released in 2008, they were: 1. Super8 & Tab - Elektra (301 plays) 2. Envio - For You (The Blizzard Remix) (220 plays) 3. Anjunabeats - Volume One (7 Skies & Static Blue Remix) (85 plays) 4. Jon O'Bir - Ways and Means (76 plays) 5. Akesson - Perfect Blue (60 plays) 6. Andy Moor - Fake Awake (53 plays) 7. Onova - Platitude (47 plays) 8. Hensha - The Curtain (46 plays) 9. Dan Stone pres. Aruba Flow - Watchful Eye (Underwater Remix) (44 plays) 10. Nitrous Oxide - Cornflake (44 plays)
I only fear 2009 to be equally as (if not more) destructive to my time management skills.
I bought a new Macintosh this past July after my old one (a bulky and boxy eMac from 2002) was working like a slug and there was no possible way to upgrade it anymore. To this date, I don't see any severe problems with using GarageBand, although my feeling is that how good a song you produce is largely a function of how well you know how to manipulate the program. I don't have any examples on me, but my feeling is that GarageBand is very much equipped to enable a professional producer to produce professional quality material.
My general philosophy on a DAW, or any AU or VST plug-in you download, is that the program is only as good as how well you know the program and the ways of music. Buying super expensive software isn't going to just punch out a great song for you, although if you know how to do something, and that software enables you do that something, then you may well be on your way. As far as GarageBand is concerned, I'm still trying to get all the juices out of it. GarageBand is not nearly as amateurish as some would come to believe. First of all, it's not a free program (either you buy it with iLife or you get it by buying a Mac), and its expansion packs are often about $100 a piece. I have personally never bought any expansion packs, so I don't know how good they are. That being said, GarageBand has some limitations.
The built-in effects are decent, but I often feel very limited in what I can do. For instance, the AUReverb effect isn't the best choice for claps (and probably a lot of other sounds), which I resolved by downloading some great AU plug-ins (which can be found all over the web) that have many different parameters. There are many complex features for most built-in AUs as well, but some are clearly better than others. The Visual EQ works just fine and comes with a helpful spectrum analyzer, however the analyzer does not have an option which lets you see average values, for instance. The AUGraphic EQ is something I use very often and can get you some precise changes. The AUDelay feature is kind of a joke. You can only use delay effects based on time counts (i.e. in terms of milliseconds) instead of having delays that are effected by the beat count. So unless you're really into adding some mathematics into your production, the AUDelay can be a bit frustrating, unless you plan to use AUDelay for some other aesthetic purposes. But alas, no problem, you can still download AU plug-ins that resolve this. In general, Logic (which has all of GarageBand's features and then some) and GarageBand are both capable of using the same AU plug-ins are that are available for download. As far as I know, both Logic and GarageBand are incapable of using VSTs. They are one in the same in that regard, even though Logic seems to be more prevalent in the studios of producers than GarageBand.
In other news, generating instruments is another iffy topic. While I do love the many different available instrument features that make it relatively easy to understand the workings of how to produce a bass, or lead, or pad, the built-in features of GB are hardly the best choice. And for me, it's not even a satisfying choice. I am using the instrument generators that came with Garageband less and less for my projects, although I think you can rock out some great pads with the hybrid instruments feature. And because I use an endless ocean of percussion samples, I don't use the built-in Drum Kit that much either. I don't even touch the built-in Loops, for the sake of creativity.
GB does not have a feature to generate your own sound waves from scratch either, which I again resolved by downloading plug-ins that can generate oscillators that you can tinker with to your heart's desire.
So, to be honest, as of current, except for using some of the effects (such as the pretty solid EQ functions, the AUDistortion, the Echo effect, and several other pretty good built-in effects) and the interface (which is really easy on the eyes) most of my work is based on using downloaded AUs and samples. GB on its own is pretty packed and offers many opportunities for great work, but it's easy to feel limited as you develop, and you can expand your possibilities only by getting plug-ins and, if you wish, some percussion samples.
I have also worked with Ableton Live 7 (only a demo, however.) The interface is less intimidating on GB, but of course this is somewhat because GB is not as complex and diverse. For instance, you can generate sound waves on Live, and the effects (like flanger, chorus, phaser, etc.) are all crammed into the same mini-window, which you much scroll across to see, whereas GB let's you open and close the effects window as you need whilst not taking up so much space.
And I still use GB, although now I'm researching Logic Express 8 ('cause Pro isn't worth the extra $200 to me) to see if it's worth the purchase.
To stop giving a shit all the time. I really do take my life way too seriously. I think I stress more about school than anything else on a day-to-day basis. Of course things always turn out better than I expect, because I set my expectations too low a lot of the time, but yeah, that's not something that happens in one year. I don't really make resolutions because a new year is coming. I make resolutions of some kind probably every other week.
Because New year's eve is leading day of the year for DUIs in America, This commercial airs during the holiday season and other holidays too.
Be careful out there.
Yeah, New Year's is pretty sloppy lol.. Along with July 4th (Independence Day for America), it has to be the least sober and orderly day of the year. Well, maybe the Preakness in Baltimore in May each year slightly edges it. But still.
That said, many of the events going on are iffy. Lots of obnoxious people out and about trying too hard to have fun, it seems. I wouldn't discount something that wasn't an interesting electronic music event (knowing very few of those exist around here to begin with), but I'm not keen on the idea of clubbing in general on New Year's Eve. And this year, 2008, has been a very solemn year for me. It seems out of place to be celebrating when there are people I know who have not had a very good holiday at all.
Wow, that's really disconcerting. I wonder how it breaks down by genre, though. For instance, I'd think that some underground electronic artists fair better than some underground hip-hop or rock artists, seeing that electronic music seems to have a smaller base of artists to begin with (major and underground included), but with more exposure for each artist on a relative basis (mixes by "big name" DJs that include many artists.) Maybe I'm ignorant, but I don't think such a medium exists for most other genres, thus they probably see a greater proportion of artists with zero sales.
Not that it's all necessarily even that depressing. I agree, there are probably a ton of "shite" tracks to go along with that. Digital music selling seems to now give buyers an easy way to bypass purchasing a bunch of albums that all have one or two good songs and thirteen mediocre or just plain awful songs. That method alone would cut out 80% or more right there, assuming everyone ONLY bought the better songs. But even the crappiest Rihanna album will see all of its songs find at least one unfortunate home. Oh well, the answer probably lies somewhere between those two guesses as to why this is happening.
Show Posts
Forums 
I think it will be a good way to see how our tastes evolve over time, as well. I've got several tracks right now that I've given so much play time that they'll make my "most played" lists pretty soon.
After that initial rush of playing a song on loop, it tapers off somewhat, but if I really like a song, I'll still play it often. And some songs I really do like a lot, but never get around to playing it over and over, so they take longer to move up the list.
