Otto Matta

I've listened to this album several times and I've come to the conclusion that it's really not as good as I would've liked it to be. I like a lot of the ideas, but it seems somehow lacking. A lot of the main sounds are repetetive from track to track and don't really have much depth to them. There's a power factor here that's impressive, but it lacks subtlety and musicality - in other words it doesn't back up the power with substance. It also doesn't quite live up to the sleeve artwork which is about the most in-your-face evil shit I've seen. I'd throw this CD into the pile with a bunch of other similar CDs called "Good for that one particular mood once or twice a year."

No, man, no need to feel embarrassed. I just didn't want you to have the idea that I could turn something out in a few days. I'm much slower than that.

Thanks again for all the nice comments. I've been writing music off and on for a long time, pretty much gave up on it some years back, and now I feel I'm finally mature enough to to start writing for real, so it's comforting to feel my first effort comes across well. Thanks Charlie. I think the thin-ness also comes partially from not trying to instill a massive bassline in there. And welcome back - hope the trip was a good one. mind.breeder - Love the images. That's exactly what I was hoping to achieve. I might have to listen to some Tripswitch now, too; I've heard the name but not the music. And I think you might be right about the high-hat part. Cosmo - It was actually almost a week and a half of solid work, not three days (started TWO Fridays ago). Thanks again, people. You've made the effort worthwhile.

Wow. Thanks for the nice responses, guys. Cosmo - Yeah, I really like the video game aesthetic mixed in with the other stuff. I stole that from the Suction guys - Solvent and Skanfrom - I admit. Astro - Early Warp is a very high compliment. Thank you. It was pretty much what got me into electronic music in the first place and will always be close to my heart, so I guess that's where that sound comes from. I haven't heard Analogue Bubblebath, but I guess I need to give it a listen. Thanks again. Too kind, too kind.

I just finished my first track in Reason and I'd like some of your expert feedback. I started it last Friday night and just finished it tonight, so about a week and a couple days of consistent work. It's not trance. I actually don't know what to call it, but I'd like to hear what you think it is. My major influences were Casino Versus Japan, Gas, Solvent, Skanfrom, and I think a little bit of Namlook snuck in there, too. Starcade - Electric Dayz (128kbps MP3)

You're right, I was trying to load from Browse Patches, and I figured it out eventually. Still, I have to say the manual is pretty crappy with some very crucial things; they should have big "IMPORTANT!" flags for the common mistakes noobs like me make instead of burying the info in a bunch of unrelated technical stuff. Anyway, I finally got the goddamn vocoder to work and it's very, very cool. Thanks again for your help, rabbit.

Yeah, it certainly isn't as easy as FL Studio when it comes to the panning issue, but I have the strong feeling there's a good reason for that.

Okay, I've tested saving the files as both 24-bit and 16-bit WAV files and they still won't open in the samplers. Is there a setting in Reason somewhere that I have to change? Thanks, Amygdala. Actually, since I wanted to put a mono track in both channels I sort of used your advice in reverse by splitting the stereo track of a mono sample, then copying, as Colin suggested, the right channel info to the left. Problem solved. I hadn't tried to load it into Redrum, but when I did after you mentioned it, it worked. So why not a sampler?

Kick-ass, Colin. Thanks. If all goes well I'll have some new stuff to share with you soon, which will sound a bit nicer than Superstring way back when. I'll try your tips when I get home from work tonight.

Okay, so I have a couple new questions regarding recording voice and getting it into Reason. I downloaded Audacity and I got it to work. My problem is that I have one microphone hooked up to one of the two mic inputs on my sound card, and therefore I only hear sound from one channel (either left or right only, depending on which input I use). How do I get sound into both channels with one microphone? Is that something I can do in Audacity? Do I have to get another mic? Also, for some reason I can't get a voice sample, which I save from Audacity as a WAV file, into one of the Reason samplers. They don't seem to recognize the format for some reason when I try to open it with the sampler.

Pretty much any name that begins or ends with "Psy".

I stole them. MUUAAAHAHAHAHA! And then I fed them to the Quacken for an afternoon snack. MUAHAHAAAA!

Yah, that's it.

Thanks for the quick reply. I actually figured it out myself just a couple minutes ago and was coming back to announce my stupidity. When I created the "new" song I'm working on it automatically created a mixer track, but I didn't know why it was there. Now I know. Thanks again. (Why don't they make this instruction more obvious in the manuals???)

How? I can automate all sorts of crazy shit, but I can't figure out how to automate track panning. It seems it would be as simple as tweaking the mixer pan while recording, and then fine tuning it in the sequencer, but it doesn't even record. What gives?

Nice one. I'd say don't fall for your first idea, be it a sound, melody, beat, etc. Try about ten or even twenty different ways to do what you're trying to do, so by the time you're done, your first idea will probably seem pretty simplistic. I think we all know when that first idea is a keeper, but if your intuition is not happy with it, keep searching.

Nicely put, Colin. And may I reiterate an important point, because it has been lost in the depths of this thread, that without art our lives would be endlessly dull and sterile. Everything would be empty. Barren. Lifeless. We NEED artists. What we DON'T need are a bunch of mush-brained paper-pushers who have no talent but are working their silly fucking job because it was created by some other talentless shit in a long line of talentless shits who, because they lack any real depth, feel that money is more important than soul. And let me just state that in our Western culture it seems the things we actually need the most, like artists and teachers and social workers, are payed the shittiest, whereas some high-powered, corrupted, corporate robot schmuck is raking in all the dough because he has a larger virtual penis. Our so-called "civilization" is totally backwards, worse than the stone age, and it clearly rubs off on the vast majority of soul-less neanderthal dipshits who don't, can't or won't know any better. Rage over.

Join the club, Shaft. I just bought it myself, along with a new computer and sound card, and am going to hook my synth up to it and start working tonight (if all else goes well).

oopi - You should start your sentences with a capital letter. Also it should be "with a vowel" and "is a consonant."

Hehe. Not anymore. Jesus! Glad I was able to find one for cheap a couple years ago.

2, 5 and 7 for me, but I voted for 7. Next would be 5, third would be 2.

Etnica - Small Doses

AAAHAHAHA!!! And I think this is the first time I've seen Majoony in the General Forum.

I personally think they're extremely comfortable with extended wear. The weight for me is not so much of a problem. What can be a problem, although minor, is the fact that they are totally closed, so it tends to get a little humid around the ear after long sessions.

I thought Converting Vegetarians was pretty cool, especially disk 2.