Second, an Evolution UC33e USB/MIDI control surface. Works great, doesn’t have the faceplates, and has been superseded by the ever-so-excellent Akai APC-40 controller that’s designed to work specifically with Ableton. Functions as a USB to MIDI interface as well. If you purchase a power supply (not included by the mfg.) it can function as a MIDI controller for your gear, without any computer needed.

Thirdly, a Behringer BCR2000 rotary control surface, USB/MIDI. 32 knobs, 8 of which have 4 virtual groups, giving a total of 56 or so functions you can control without switching patches. The power button is trying to fall out, though the button itself is sturdy it’s held in by a cheap plastic collar that’s starting to collapse. Comes with power cord. Drivers and/or Sysex patch librarian available through behringer.com. Again, superseded by the APC-40, which does everything the UC33e and BCR2000 can do and more.

There’s also these hole-making drill bits (not hole saws, don’t really go all the way through but scrape out a nice round space). I have no idea what they’re actually called or used for – thought they were hole saws but was sadly mistaken. Then found a set of hole saws in my grandpa’s garage and got my job done anyway. No one’s gonna buy them, and they’re probably going to be thrown away as useless.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSi7PyJMj3A

The sound quality isn’t great, and the video quality is even worse (aspect ratio totally boned) but still an inspiring setting for inspiring music.

I’m sampling some taiko drums, going to see how they work out when worked into some of my style of music… Also, Ableton allows me to extract the ‘groove’ from the full tracks, so the rhythms and idiosyncrasies of the style can be imparted to the drum tracks and more. Yum!

I wouldn’t mind learning some taiko, given the funds to get lessons (I sure as hell have the time…). Hell, I’d even wear that wrapped on ancient-style Japanese thong and beat the big drum. Why not?

So, you drop a track into Ableton, one you know has a rock-solid BPM all the way through, cuz lets face it, what electronic music doesn’t? That’s pretty much the time signature hallmark OF electronic music. But Ableton puts all these crazy warp markers all over the place, and you’re like damn, how do I get rid of all this shit?

click for larger version

You used to be able to click the Warp button twice and Ableton would ask if you’d like to keep the warp markers or start from zero. Not anymore. So what do you do? You zoom into the very first warp marker and right-click on it (ctrl-click for you unfortunate Mac owners who use Apple mice or laptops) and choose “Warp from here (straight).”

Yeah, it’s as easy as that. All the rest are gone. Then go through and tweak accordingly so the beats line up with the measure markers inside the clip view. But, ohnoes, you have the following situation when you zoom in:

click for larger version

So you could double click the transient on measure -1.1.1 to set a warp point, then double click on the warp marker on 1.1.1 to destroy it, then move the -1.1.1 marker to 1.1.1 …. OR you can right-click on the -1.1.1 marker and choose “Set 1.1.1 here” – if you’ve already done the above process Live will automagically delete the warp marker that was at 1.1.1 and replace it with the new one.

Ableton Live – it makes your life easier so you can get around to tackling the really hard jobs, like not sounding like everyone else while you sound enough like everyone else so people don’t hate your music.

So I go to the first determinate beat, set a warp marker, go back to the beginning and delete the starting warp marker. The warp marker on the beat I chose controls the tempo for that track (or clip to use Ableton’s terminology) from the beginning to end even tho it’s not at the 1.1.1 position. I then go and line up the rest of the track. And, like magic, it works just fine. I leave the warp marker on the chosen beat.

Below is a screenshot showing exactly what I mean in case my explanation was less than concise.

click to view full size

It’s almost like you expect Vangelis to pop out at any moment and orchestrate the shit outta things.

The world spit on her for the following:

O’Connor’s career took a political shift — especially in the United States — on 3 October 1992, when she appeared on Saturday Night Live as a musical guest. She was singing an a cappella version of Bob Marley’s “War”, which she intended as a protest over the sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church, by changing the lyric “racism” to “child abuse.”[15] She then presented a photo of Pope John Paul II to the camera while singing the word “evil”, after which she tore the photo into pieces, said “Fight the real enemy,” and threw the pieces towards the camera.

Who’s laughing now, huh? I never heard the ‘child abuse’ part when I was growing up, how about you?

The song is a cover of Ralph McTell:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ctb-SrwL884

Which is actually a cover of Pachelbel, but further discover is up to you.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmE_lNEVl7k

Mind: Blown
Ears: Owned

However, according to a Philips website, Norio Ohga insisted in 1979 that the CD be able to contain a complete performance of the Ninth Symphony:

The longest known performance lasted 74 minutes. This was a mono recording made during the Bayreuther Festspiele in 1951 and conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler. This therefore became the playing time of a CD. A diameter of 12 centimeters was required for this playing time.

my favorite piece of music shaped the destiny of the CD the year I was born. Neat! Well, this may not be perfectly historically accurate, but…

That said, the true story might have been less romantic: Kees Immink, Philips’ chief engineer, who developed the CD, recalls that a commercial tug-of-war between the developing partners led to a settlement in a neutral 12-cm diameter format. The 1951 performance of the Ninth Symphony by Furtwängler was brought forward as the perfect excuse for the change.

Less romantic, but still awesome nonetheless.

Why do I mention this? Because I got a pair of studio monitors (yes, finally) and am currently listening to that very same piece of music on them.

I’ve seen them shootin’ up funerals in they Sunday clothes
Spending money on spinners but won’t pay college loans
And all you gangers and bangers rollin’ dice and taking lives, in a smokey dark
Lord have mercy on you
Teacher, teacher please reach those girls in them videos
The little girls just broken Queen, confusing bling for soul
Danger, there’s danger when you take off your clothes, all your dreams go down the drain girl

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddyHibqbVts

We live and then we die, and we never know the why
So now, now we go, down underground
We think that we can fly, but we never touch the sky
So down, now we go, down underground

Not only does her music have soul, it’s also exceptionally well written from a lyrical standpoint.

But I can’t for the life of me seem to find any actual writing credits for her music.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcIEEdTiNak

You have to watch all the way to the end, though, to understand the true weirdness that is going on.

Lady Gaga, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, Shirley Bassey, Debbie Harry, and Sting, all together, singing Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin

via eric who probably has the good excuse of being a Journey fan back when they were hot and no one new any better. I don’t have an excuses.

this is pretty funny, but look away near the end if you’re emetophobic.

We’ve talked about Tesla before. Yeah, people use his ideas to perform PURE AWESOME.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ff_AXVlo9U

And here’s two-part Tesla coil harmony, appropriately playing Russian music.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Opf5jIukSBM

The music isn’t all that, but the subject matter is, at the very least, intriguing. Or maybe it’s the Intriguinol(TM) I took this morning.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DhQA_gorTM

Ladies and Gentlemen, Jon Lajoie

Sounds like laser battles as Manaugh said. The best part though is @ 30 seconds in, where it builds and gets really loud, you can see the water in their ice-fishing-hole rise up and pulsate in time with the noise.

This guy is hilarious.

It’s Not Gonna Work