Areas of Insanity - The Official /DJS\ Bog

Now this is just plain sexy

2009-09-19T10:50:00.000-07:00

A fan of mine decided to play Aim for the Heavens (Lost Cause Remix) on Audiosurf. I suddenly have the urge to reinstall my copy and see if I can beat him.

Check it out.

An Important Announcement

2009-09-13T12:28:00.001-07:00

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The Graham 'n Figgs Podcast (9/11/09)

2009-09-12T14:13:00.000-07:00

My good pal Figgs and I made a podcast for your ears to enjoy. It's essentially just us being, well, ourselves.

Some content may not be suitable for children, though, so don't let little Johny listen in. He might hear a controversial topic/curse word or ~~seven~~ two.

The Graham 'n Figgs Podcast (9/11/09) by StarshotGray

Figgs's Website:
figgs.deviantart.com

-Graham

PS - Lightbox is going great.

We have a Facebook Fan page

2009-09-11T22:46:00.000-07:00

That's right, motherfuckers. I finally got with the times.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/DJS/167606506080

Join it and become a fan. You know you want to.

-Graham

No more free /DJS\ album downloads on BandCamp

2009-09-10T06:05:00.001-07:00

Yeah, you read it right, gents. Due to circumstances beyond my control, BandCamp has decided to stop supporting 128 kb/s free downloads and are turning to strictly 320 kb/s music. While that's great for audiophiles like myself, it throws most other casual users under a bus for a way to listen to the music portably. However, you can still listen to the music online if you like.

I'm looking into ways to fix this issue, including uploading 64 kb/s versions of albums.

I apologize for any inconvenience this causes.

Here's the e-mail I got from BandCamp. Gotta love the west coast rhetoric.

"You're receiving this message because you currently make one or more of your tracks or albums available on Bandcamp at what we affectionately call "normal quality" (and which translates to 128k mp3). In an effort to further streamline our user interface, pave the way for some new features, and solidify our reputation as the go-to spot for high-quality music, we're dropping support for 128k downloads in about a week. After this change we will only support "best quality" (320k mp3 and more) downloads."

-Graham

Birthday Update

2009-08-24T06:32:00.000-07:00

Let me make this loud and clear:

I HAVE BEEN BUSY WITH WORK

Now that we've got that out of the way...

So, yeah, I've been extremely busy with finishing Lightbox as well as completing the 5 1/2 hour playlist for the Rethinking Education conference. All I can say right now is that Lightbox is going absolutely swimmingly and you can expect it in December, if not, early 2010. I know I originally said Fall 2009, but quite a few things have hit me at once.

With that being said, have a teaser!

Lolsample by StarshotGray

Yes, the compression is supposed to suck. How else do I keep your attention to the final?

-Graham

Lightbox Minimix

2009-07-11T18:34:00.000-07:00

I think the title explains it all.

Lightbox Minimix by StarshotGray

That's some of the material you can expect. I had to cut a bit short to keep it under 3 minutes.
Made for this contest:
https://freshbrain.org/activity/make-your-own-dj-mix

Mid-Week Lulz: Internet Troll

2009-07-01T16:33:00.000-07:00

Hey there children! Mr. Graham isn't posting today, so you young ones get to have me instead. Well isn't it your lucky day.

So anyway, here's your damn video, stop bugging your babysitter already:

This is proven to be the most accurate depiction of how Mr. Graham reacts to trolling.

-Caroline

/DJS\ is going to DFest

2009-06-29T13:29:00.000-07:00

Yeah, you heard me right, we're going to DFest.

DFest is an internationally known alternative music festival that takes place in Tulsa, OK. From the looks of the lineup, it is going to be one hell of a festival. Bands such as Gogol Bordello and Cake are setting to play there, so essentially, there's no way in hell you can not have a good time. I'll be hanging out at the mixers and going to the shows, handing out business cards and such (maybe even a few CDs), so it should be some good exposure for me and the rest of the group.

I'm working on getting Caroline a press pass so we can cover the event the best to our abilities. Hopefully, they'll let this small time label get in there and take some photos of the fun.

http://www.dfest.com

-Graham

Play Him Off, Raver Cat

2009-06-27T14:44:00.000-07:00

I'd like to think that this needs no introduction.

Giant Motherfucking Pokeball/Papercraft Update

2009-06-25T10:34:00.001-07:00

Paperpokes recently released a lot of really nicely designed pokeballs for the papercrafting community. Being the crazy fuck I am, I decided to go big, or go home.

So, I went big.

And, last, but not least, this:

From the Cannon Creative Park mothers day collection.

-Graham

Mid-Week Lulz (Possible ongoing feature)

2009-06-24T18:31:00.000-07:00

It's hump day, ladies and gents, time for some lulz. This may or may not be an ongoing thing, depends on how committed I get to it.

This video needs no introduction. The audio work is top notch.

-Graham

Sweet Music Sunday (6/21/09)

2009-06-21T18:29:00.000-07:00

Oh christ, is it already Sunday again? Good gawd, it seems like this week is flying by at a blazing pace. Nontheless, allow me to slow down your father's day for some nice relaxing big beat.

Pogo
Bigbeat/Mellow/electronica

Simply put, Pogo makes big beat tracks using samples of movies. We're not talking a vocal sample here and a sound effect there, we're talking entire tracks made of nothing but movie samples. It's mellow bigbeat electronica at it's best, an should not be missed. He has several free albums and tracks on his MySpace website, so I highly suggest you check him out.

That's it for this week. Expect a double dose next week to make up for my laziness.

-Graham

Things that influenced my style #1: The 8bit Era

2009-06-21T10:35:00.000-07:00

I was a big 8bit gamer when I was a kid. My first "real" console was a DOS based PC running Mixed Up Mother Goose, so god knows how old school that is. None the less, a lot of the tunes from that era influenced me greatly, and thanks to the power of YouTube, I'd like to share some of them with you.

First one comes from the living legend himself, Matt Gray. Matt Gray was notorious for writing some of the catchiest music ever to grace the C64 (Next to Galaway, of course). The following tune are two of the tracks from Dominator, which is considered to be Gray's Magnum Opus, and one of the C64 tunes that influenced me as an artist.

While this one is a little more old school than the tune mentioned above, it still holds a very close place in my heart. Fun fact: I have never played Comic Bakery before in my life, but when I was younger, I loved the shit out of a shmup by the name of "Playtapus," which also used this theme. This theme has been remixed dozens of times (I first heard it in the NES Jurassic Park Game), and is an absolute classic. Without further adue, Martin Galaway's Comic Bakery, along with the first version I've ever heard, the Jurassic Park version.

Next on the list we have a selection from Carrot Crazy, a short lived Gameboy color platformer that had relatively positive reviews, but stayed under the radar. I adore that game, and to this day, the theme from the zoo level still influences my style in music. This game is so obscure that I even had to rip the soundtrack myself. Nonetheless, it's a tune that shouldn't be missed. (I apologize for the sounds effects, that's the only way I could rip it). Check it out:

[Upload your own video]

While this technically isn't 8bit music, I still played this game a crap load as a kid, and god knows it influenced my style. Jazz Jackrabbit is a perfect example of perfect DOS platformer and a game I'm proud to say that I dust off and play play ever so often. The first level theme always stuck with me. The sampled drum work amazed me as a kid.

And, of course, being my first gameboy game, how could I not add this:

That's it for now, kids. Expect a Sweet Music Sunday later tonight (with a double dose to make up for last week).

The only way I'll listen to generic trance/europop...

2009-06-18T04:59:00.000-07:00

Is on a damn piano.

I apologize for the lack of content updates. School is ruling my life as of now.

For now, enjoy this:

All I can say is that Lightbox is about 60% done.

-Graham

Lightbox (Coming in 2009)

2009-06-12T19:20:00.001-07:00

Keep an eye on the twitter for leaks.

-Graham

Graham Installs Safari, Hillarity ensues?

2009-06-08T16:42:00.001-07:00

Yeah, liveblog type shit. Let's see how this thing runs.

6:43 - 24.3 meg file downloaded. Seems kinda big.

6:44 - No, I don't want to install Bonjour, thanks.

6:45 - Installed! Firing up.

6:46 - Took over a minute to boot up on a machine with 3 gigs of ram. Oh lawd, this'll be good.

6:47 - Has most of the regularly used plugins available. They learned a less from Firefox with that one.

6:48 - Let's see how it handles live bookmarks! (Brace for impact)

Ok... so, you have to click on the RSS feed, then find a link at the bottom, and even then you can't accsess the bookmarks from the toolbar, you have to go to that damn page? I thought this thing was assesable.

6:51 - Uh, bookmark window is cool, I guess. Still seems daunting and overcomplicated.

....aaaand, it didn't import the Firefox settings correctly. None of the bookmarks came over. Why am I not surprized.

Loads pages for the first time really, really fucking slowly. Not impressed at all. All this "speed" that safari advertises is nothing but Safari checking to see if there are changes in the page to the one that it has in the cache, and then making the required changes. Cute, but something tells me there's going to be some bugs in that.

Plugins seem basic, nothing more, nothing less.

Seems like it's the typical Apple game, making upgrades to the present, but absolutely nothing stellar. Firefox uses more system resources and is a tad bit slower, but for accessibility purposes (You have no idea how much the live bookmarks and skype plugin come in handy), Safari doesn't cut it.

Sweet Music Sunday (6/7/09)

2009-06-07T11:05:00.001-07:00

Hi kids! Welcome to another edition of Sweet Music Sunday, where we scour the internet for the best free music available. Today we explore that lovely factor in the music world known as the "language barrier."

Some argue that if you truly take the music as simply music, the barrier does not exist. Any human can appreciate good aesthetics in music (goddamn Caroline, making me use the world "aesthetics" more often) , regardless of the lyrics or not. However, if one discards the lyrics, one can strangely still get the feeling of the song, whether it's one of joy or one of sorrow. Lyrics, to me at least, almost seem optional in making a good track.

With my ranting aside, allow me to introduce this double release of music we have today.

Yago -e-Aboo - The Yago-e-aboo ep
Genre: Russian Indiepop/Indierock (Yes, you read that properly, Russian indierock)
Click the image to download
Release site: http://www.mimonot.net/mimonot/comment.php?comment.news.60

This is some extremely hot shit from a group of Russian independants that should be watched. Their music is moving, emotional, and just feels technical and absolutely amazing. The harmonies feel great, the mixing feels appropriate (I actually don't mind the reverb for once). There's a language barrier, yes, but it's a very, very small one. The overall idea of the music is still present. Check it out.

Ödland - The Caterpillar EP

Genre: Neo-classical, Ragtime, Romanticism
Release site: http://aerotone.300l600.de/index.php?id=2,149,0,0,1,0

Now, I know this is normally not the type of music I showcase on Sweet Music Sunday, but hear me out on this one. This EP is simply haunting and powerful. It's the type of music you listen to while wondering through a haunted house to summon spirits. It's the type of music that always makes you feel uneasy, no matter what the situation is. It's the type of music that no matter how happy the track can get, there's always a feeling of "something is wrong" itching at the back of your head. Is there a language barrier? For this type of music, no. It's haunting enough on it's own.

Lastly, I have a selection of music that is in pure, simple english. However, it's a little, crazy, if you will.

Uncle Outrage
Genre: Insane/Rap/Indie/Crazy

http://www.uncleoutrage.com/downloads.html

I've been listening to Uncle Outrage since about September, and let me tell you, the music has changed me. Uncle Outrage is what every composer wants to be, always ahead of their listening and doing it with absolute style. He has no free albums up on his website, but there are plenty of free mp3s to tempt you. I highly suggest buying any of his albums, as they are all absolute fantastic. However, choice cuts from the above website are: Alchemy, Stay Magical, and Xombie.

That's it for me, mates. I'll see you next week.

-Graham

From the /DJS\ Scrap Bin (Issue #1)

2009-06-04T19:03:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of musical sketches/unfinished crap lying in the endless pit known as my FL Studio project folder. Most of them are pure shit, but some of them actually have some merit behind them. I'm here to show you both of the former.

MvM - Brother (/DJS\ Heterosexual Mix)

Brother (/DJS\ Heterosexual Remix) by StarshotGray

I made this in thirty minutes. It's a pretty basic remix, and it certainly shows.

Jun Senoue - Puppet Panic (Lost Cause Remix)

Puppet Panic (Lost Cause Remix) by StarshotGray

I actually like this one a lot, but I can't release it due to copywrite issues. Again, basic remix, but my take on it. Could be used in OC Remix or something like that.

/DJS\ - Narotard Experiment

Nar2 by StarshotGray

Just a sketch, but it was my attempt to make something weaboo into something badass.

Chop Chop

Chopchop by StarshotGray

Some glitch experimentation, nothing more, nothing less.

That's it on my part. FLP files available upon request.

-Graham

Roland Burris Papercraft

2009-06-04T08:03:00.000-07:00

I know this breaks my subcontious code of "no political posts," but this is funny no matter what way you look at.

This was published in the Chicago Tribune this morning, and from my perspective, seems to be one of the only few times where US political satire has been published outside the medium of the editorial cartoon.

Great job to Joe Fournier for making this fantastic piece of satire. Thanks to an anon who posted the scan on /po/ this morning.

-Graham

Sweet Music Sunday (6/2/09)

2009-06-02T00:29:00.000-07:00

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know it's not Sunday. I've missed a few, trust me. I'll try to make it up by trying to get back on a regular schedule (though, knowing me, that'll never happen).

With that being said:

The Taxpayers - Exhilarating News

Side A: http://www.archive.org/download/ExhilaratingNews-TheTaxpayerssideA/ExhilaratingNews-TheTaxpayerssideA_vbr_mp3.zip

Side B: http://www.archive.org/download/ExhilaratingNews-TheTaxpayerssideB/ExhilaratingNews-TheTaxpayerssideB_vbr_mp3.zip

Simply put, saying this band has spirit is a massive, MASSIVE understatement. This band is simply some of the best folk-like garage rock I have ever heard in my entire life. Their lead singer is simply enticing with a style of semi-screaming that even I enjoy (and trust me, I don't like singing). The only band that I can compare them to when it comes to pure, unadulterated spirit is World/Inferno and Dirt Bike Annie. (If you know me well enough, you know how much of a compliment that is.)

Download it, you'll love it.

-Graham

Street Fighter IV Review

2009-05-30T18:31:00.000-07:00

So, after sitting down for about five hours with what many call a very shiny piece of shit, I've decided to write down my thoughts upon the recent fighting game release of Street Fighter IV.

If you want to know the history of the series, read the Wikipedia article. I'm here to judge and voice my opinion on this game, not to give you a history lesson. Usually, I would explain the background of a game, but the Street Fighter series is so well known that one can figure out the history for himself.

Street Fighter IV, to put it bluntly, is a desperate attempt to rekindle the past to help return old fans who grew up playing the game into a niche genre. Granted, Street Fighter II was revolutionary for it's time, so naturally, it was a must-have (IE, Ocarina of Time). Street Fighter IV has many of the characters people have grown up loving, such as Ken, Ryu, Chun Li, and everyone's favorite furball, Blanka. Outside of the very well known characters, the roster is extremely limited, with most of the Alpha and Third Strike cast completely ignored (Granted, I did see some reference to them in the cutscenes), more or less giving certain fans a slap in the face (The lack of T. Hawk disturbed me).

The new characters handle fairly well and are designed to be adaptable to different player types, no matter what their backgrounds. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses like other characters, special moves, and so on and so forth.

The graphics are certainly not something to marvel at. In this day and age, graphics are something that is more supplemental to a game rather than a required resource. Even so, one should expect a rather high polygon count from a game. SFIV attempts to rekindle the style of sprites and hand-drawn images by using a texture blurring method. While this concept certainly is promising, the overall feel leaves the characters looking muddy and bland. I understand that they were trying to blend the textures, but a little detail would have been nice.

Probably the most stylistically impressive graphical feature of the game is the "ink" style when the characters use a force attack. It certainly looks cool, even if the rest of the model looks like crap.

Ah, and yes, now we reach the gooey, moist, extremely disturbing center, the gameplay. Well, I said it before, and goddamn, I'll say it again. It's something that needs to be said:

STREET FIGHTER IV IS NOTHING MORE THAN SUPER STREET FIGHTER II TURBO WITH A FEW GAMEPLAY TWEAKS.

As a person who passionately played SFII before this game came out (SFIIT HD Remix is one of my favorite fighters ever), the game has a massive "Deja Vu" type of feeling in all the wrong places. There were SEVERAL balancing issues that were present in Street Fighter II, and like the statement above supports, they're present in SFIV. Allow me to explain.

In SFIIT, one could use an ultra combo to pass through certain projectiles. This typically worked for Ryu's Hadoken and Dhalim's fireball. However, when it game to Sagat and Guile's projectiles, this trick did not work. In HD Remix, this problem was corrected. In SFIV, it is not. It literally feels like every single glitch and bug Capcom had in SFII has been left uncorrected in SFIV, right down to Hadokens sometimes being registered as Shyrokens (or however the fuck you spell it). It's almost embarassing to see how much they're trying to bank on the nostalgia factor.

And throws. Sweet mother of spaghetti monster on a fucking stick, let's talk about throws. In SFIV, throws are some of the most overpowered pieces of shit I have ever come across. Once a person hits you with a throw move, there is absolutely NO FUCKING WAY to break it. Nearly every single fighting game released today has at least a split-second window when you can break the grapple. SFIV throws this concept out the window (No pun intended). Throws are also overpowered in the sense that any throw can grab hold onto a person who is ducking, regardless of whether the person is guarding or not. In SFII, you had the option to duck to avoid a throw (unless someone then used the duck based throw) and avoid massive damage. SFIV turns you into it's giant enemy crab bitch and says "fuck that concept!" as it piledrives you because there's nothing you can fucking do to stop it.

I could go on about the inconsistencies and glitches with the game (like how there's no tech rolling or air blocking), but for the sake of my sanity, I wont.

The force system is also an interesting concept, but not particularly put into place very well. Essentially, it's a fancy cancel combo hit system that has been seen before in other fighting games, with the addition of a shield type hit system. The result is something new and unique, but can be easily overshadowed by just using normal moves. There's also the normal ultra combo meter (Also from SFII), as well as the Super Meter, which allows you to partially drain it to use slightly more powerful versions of your moves.

The AI is absolutely perfect up until the last round of the final boss, Seth. It then becomes what we like to call a "curse fest." Seth is unforgiving and downright cheap, utilizing all sorts of throws that you can't block. It feels stupid and absolutely unfair.

The verdict: If you haven't played SFII or are new to the fighting game genre, is this a good start? Sure. It certainly does everything right when it comes to a fighting game from a unbiased perspective, it just doesn't do anything stellar. People new to the genre will adapt to the tweaks and glitches in SFIV. All and all, it seems like the people who are really screwed here are the people who've played the other SF games. We were all expecting so much more from this title, but all we got was a rehash of SFII with a few added bonuses.

I highly, HIGHLY recommend looking into purchasing Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix over this game. It fixes all of the problems that SFIV didn't, as well as implementing tweaks that make the game much more playable and fun.

Unbiased: 8/10

Fighting game veteran: 4/10

I'm going to need to play shit load of Soul Calibur 4 to get the stench of mediocre fighting game off me.

Also, PSN: StarshotGray

I gave in

2009-05-30T11:46:00.000-07:00

It was almost half-off at Target (Thank you CheapAssGamer). I finally decided to go for it. I said that I would only buy this game if there was a steep drop in price and if Gametap decided to suddenly suck. Sadly, both of the former has happened in the last two months.

Full review when I get around to it, from both an unbiased and a fan of fighting games perspective.

I feel so dirty

New Ugress Album Preview Video

2009-05-28T17:25:00.000-07:00

This honestly needs no explanation.

http://vimeo.com/4885523

Due out on June 15th. I can't wait to shink my teeth into it, whether it's good or not.

Clep Exam: Passed

2009-05-27T17:51:00.001-07:00

I apologize for the above cheesy clipart.

More new material on the way as soon as the men in Graham's head start working again.

Short Stack from my perspective.

2009-05-22T01:21:00.000-07:00

Unless you're from Australia, chances are you've never heard of the blokes in the above photograph. Allow me to introduce you to Australia's latest indie (I use that word lightly in this case) sensation, Short Stack. These guys crawled their way up from being a MySpace band, which with the rise of other bands, even myself (in a much smaller sense), doesn't seem to be so much of a shock. While browsing the twitter realm, I noticed I tag of one of the members of the band. Armed with a generic badboy attitude, these gents open the vaginal floodgates for dozens of Australian seventeen year old girls.

Well, I have to say one thing.

Why the flying fucking haven't they fired the lead singer?

Short Stack's Shaun Diviney sounds like a fucking reject from every single punk rock band I've heard in my entire life (trust me, as a person who's been listening since the Jersey revival of the mid-late nintees, I consider myself a veteran). Compositionally, it's absolutely perfect for a punk song. It's got damn good intros, damn good bridges, damn good chorus, but the singer absolutely and totally ruins the feel of the song and makes it loose all credibility as punk band. From the scooping vowels to the absolutely I-can-tell-he's-fucking-forcing-his-voice-to-wine vocals, the band falls flat all because of the damned singer.

This band could be the next Offspring when it comes to mainstream punk rock, but for the love of god, fire that damn singer. Shaun Diviney is no Jack Terricloth or Dexter Holland, and for all intent and purposes, wont be until his voice gets deeper.

Also, their image is fucking terrible, but I think that's just a sign of the times.

Google them, you may enjoy them.

A quick update, and then I'm back to work

2009-05-18T07:54:00.000-07:00

I'm taking classes over the summer at good 'ol Lamar University, so naturally, I'm ~~cramming~~ brushing up over my music theory to make sure I know everything. It's good, relaxing, clean fun for the most part, and I'm running into very few "difficult" parts.

I know I said I wouldn't be composing much over the summer, but, to be honest, ideas got in the way.

Expect an album release AT LEAST by the end of the year, if not by the end of the Summer. Ideas are flowing from my fingertips, and I have no choice but to either watch them fly by, or harness them into the great light rays that they are. There's also a hint at the name of the album in the previous sentence for those who like cryptic messages.

As for video games, I've been sparadically playing Soul Calibur IV and Defense Grid: The Awakening over the past week, both equally fantastic games of their respective genres. Defense Grid is a fantastic indie title that I recommend whole-heartedly to any remote tower defense fan.

Back to work!

-Graham

Why I don't like to play Soul Calibur IV online

2009-05-14T14:33:00.000-07:00

I like Soul Calibur IV a lot, and it's a game I play on a fairly regular basis with most of my buddies. As a person who plays both arcade and console versions of games, I enjoy a good bit of competition in the arcades. The feeling of adoration and and respect you feel after being beat and shaking that person's hand feels humbling and natural. They played their best and you played your best, and obviously, one was the victor.

This is not the case online.

Online, from my perspective, consists of people using the same characters whoring the same moves and techniques over and over. In SCIV, you can learn multiple ways to control a character, to counteract the others. In online play, it seems like you're always going to be beat unless you use a certain strategy. There's no leeway for creativity, there's no sportmanship, play how they play, or you get the fuck out. The ranking system doesn't help the case, either. Nothing is a good slap in the face than being beat by a newbie when you're one of the highest ranking characters.

The presence of move-whoring and overpower-playing characters exist as well. When you're playing locally, One will naturally get annoyed if another person uses the same move over and over. In online play, there's nothing to stop this. It creates a feeling of great frustration and powerlessness, something I do not like.

It seems like these people are nothing more than the runoff from the Halo generation and the real sportsmen still go the arcades

I think I'll stick local multiplayer, thanks.

-Graham

Bitcrushing in FL Studio

2009-05-08T08:58:00.000-07:00

I know I've said I'd do this for a while, so I'm finally getting off my ass and doing so:

A Complete Fool's Guide to Actively Bitcrushing in FL Studio

Typically, I like to keep my methods a secret, only letting the user's ear wonder "WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST HEAR?!" However, it helps every so often to shed a tad bit of light onto the darkness. Ever listen to Happy Hadouken and wonder "How exactly does the track glitch so well?" Allow me to elaborate.

1. Get yourself a good Bitcrushing VST
-Any one will do, but for this tutorial, we'll be using CMT Bitcrusher, a free and powerful VST available at: http://cmt.siba.fi/studies/Courses/2001-2002/VST/plugins/CMT_Bitcrusher/

2. Load the Plugin into FL Studio into the master channel
-If you don't know how to do this, it's in the help section in your manual.

3. Apply an automation clip to the plugin parameter "Downsamping."

-Most people I know that use FL Studio do not know how to apply an automation clip to an external plugin. Allow me to explain: (NOTE, IF YOU KNOW HOW TO DO THIS ALREADY, SKIP THIS STEP).

a. Click on the drop down menu in the upper-left hand corner of the box.

B. Click on the "Browse all parameters button."

c. Find the downsampling parameter in the browser and create an automation clip from it.

4. Tweak the automation clip how you please.

If everything goes according to plan, it should sound something like this:

Fsfd by StarshotGray

Have fun!

-Graham

Tabula Rasa: Apply directly to the forehead

2009-05-07T19:33:00.000-07:00

So we were cleaning my dorm out today, and we find my copy of Tabula Rasa, a dead MMORPG. After writing "LOLWUT" in sharpie on the back of it, we decided to do the most useful thing it was capable of

Play frisbee with it.

Little did we know, French was about to suffer a head wound.

All and all, much lols were had by all, and French is perfectly fine. I'll post a link to his dA later or something.

-Graham

Goodnight Sweet Prince

2009-05-05T10:48:00.000-07:00

1933 - 2009

http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSTRE5444X920090505

You will be missed, good sir, you will be missed.

Bitcrushing tutorial coming soon.

It's been fifteen years

2009-05-04T10:46:00.000-07:00

And somehow, the case is still relevant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIUliuDygHk

A couple of points you should take away from this video:

1. Night Trap was targeted towards older audiences, just like certain movies are targeted for older audiences. Video games are NOT a universal media, and certain games should not be played by certain people, period. However, just because a video game is "bad" for one age group doesn't mean it's "bad" for another.

2. While this isn't as bad now a'days, people need to play video games before judging them. It's a simple rule with big results.

-Graham

A letter

2009-05-04T08:11:00.000-07:00

Dear Russian internet masses,

Stop failing at memes.

Love,
Graham

It's Caroline's Birthday!

2009-05-03T23:01:00.000-07:00

Wish her a good one, wont you?

Also, she's going to kill me for posting this, but I don't care.

-Graham

Sweet Music Sunday (5/3/09)

2009-05-03T12:11:00.001-07:00

I'll just leave this here
/DJS\ - Happy Hadouken

Bad News

2009-05-02T18:19:00.000-07:00

FL Studio 8.5 has officially stopped functioning on my composing PC. I have no idea why this is happening, though it may be due to driver failures. I've had troubles with drivers on my main rig for a while now, but this the only case it's gotten in the way of production. For now, I'm doing all my audio processing straight from my laptop, so things are good. The laptop has an onboard soundcard that's fairly powerful, so everything should still continue smoothly. (To put it into perspective: Most of firebird was written on it.)

For all intent and purposes, my composing/processing PC is down till further notice. I'll get it working again in the summer, when I have more time.

That is all.

-Graham

Thru You

2009-05-01T13:37:00.000-07:00

This simply could not wait till Sweet Music Sunday.

Kutiman - ThruYOU

Essentially, ThruYOU is a big beat album by the legendary Kutiman (who if you haven't heard of already, and consider yourself a fan of big beat/funk, I suggest checking him out ASAP) made entirely out of samples he collected on YouTube. I hear you, big beat fan in the audience, yelling "but aren't all big beat albums made this way?"

Yes, but, Kutiman keeps all the videos IN TACT, for their chopped up viewing pleasure. The album is a fantastic collection of styles, varying from funky guitar tracks to hardcore DnB. However, music aside, this is truly an album you need to see to believe.

As of now, there isn't a download of the actual album, but, if you're like me and know how to use Zamzar or some other program, I highly suggest making your own copy of this amazing album.

Sweet Music Sunday (4/26/09)

2009-04-27T00:25:00.000-07:00

Sorry if this one is a little late.

Tim Fite - Change of Heart

It's late and I'm tired. Finals are coming up and I'm stressed. Will write more about this one later.

Highly suggested download.

The Rethinking Education Conference

2009-04-26T20:31:00.000-07:00

Just a quick blurb:

I am speaking at the up and coming Rethinking Education Conference on the "How video games changed my life," panel. After loosing so much weight when I was younger playing DDR, then being inspired to write for music-based video games, I am extremely proud to participate in this.

I also will be DJing a 6-hour set (Yes, you heard me right, 6 hours) come one of the nights. It's the longest gig I've ever done, outlasting my longest rave set by two hours.

Check out all the details at http://www.rethinkingeducation.net/

Unschooling is something I proudly support when it comes to the matters of political science and arts. I truly don't believe highschools today provide enough for these two aspects.

-Graham

Why Super Stardust HD remains my favorite Shmup of all time

2009-04-25T18:56:00.000-07:00

Authors note:

SHMUP (n) (SHMUH-P)
Short for "shoot-em-up"
A videogame genre in which you play the role of a spaceship pilot(3rd person view, up or side view) and shoots at everything on-screen(enemies, power-ups, etc).

Good god, we certainly have come a long way since good 'ol Asteroids, haven't we?

With the recent 4chan craze over the Touhou saga, a series of bullet hell shmups, and the release of Geometry Wars 1, 2, and Galaxies, we find the America's in an ever-growing shmup market that rivaled the Japanese Dreamcast shmup era. Shmups seem to be time a dozen now a'days, with recent releases such as "Burn Zombie Burn!" and "Weapon of Choice." As a person who enjoys all types of shmups, it's quite hard to find one that is your favorite in this ever growing market. However, allow me to explain my personal favorite.

Ladies and gents, I give to you:
Super Stardust HD was released for the PS3 over the Playstation Network just about two years ago. However, because of the massive amount of Shmups released during that period (Blast Factor, Geometry Wars, etc,) Stardust was a game that was overlooked by most players. However, it is truly one of the only games that I have ever considered to be absolutely perfect for an arcade shmup. Every time I pick up the controller, the sheer feeling of awe and glee comes back as I prepare to sink my teeth into this immense and brilliant game.

1. Presentation

Stardust is not a game that takes presentation lightly by any stretch of the word. From the moment the game starts to the time you turn it off, you truly feel like you've played something great. The game greats you with it's logo and an ambient background music in glorious 5.1 surround sound. As you press the start button, a robotic female voice utters the word "Stardust," a name that you wont be forgetting for quite some time. The menus are crispe and clear, and make you feel like you're going somewhere. It's a game that absolutely knows it's amazing, and it damn well tells you that.

2. Graphics

Now, before all those hardcore fans out there scream out "HEY! GAMEPLAY OVER GRAPHICS," please hear me out on this. The gameplay in Stardust has been done before; Let's face it, it's a shmup, so it's honestly nothing groundbreaking. Just wait a bit, and I'll get into the rest of it.

Now, before I explain the graphics in detail, let me tempt you with a screen shot:
(Click on it for fucking huge resolution.)

The only way I can describe the graphics of Stardust is the way the original programmers thought about Asteroids in their mind. However, due the technical limitations of the era, this dream of protecting a planet with a single ship met a much simpler, albeit effective, rendering style. Stardust literally looks like you're playing inside the mind of a 1970s programmer and appreciating every single goddamn bit of it. From orbiting around the earth to the tiny bits and pieces the rocks blow up into, the graphics of Stardust are absolutely and totally stunning. The game runs flawlessly in 1080p resolution with almost no framerate errors. Simply put: The graphics of Stardust are a reinvisioning of a classic concept. So many shmups today are trying to be new and original; Stardust simply takes what was there all along and makes it real.

3. Gameplay

The gameplay is absolutely everything a shmup fan could ever want. In essence, it's a modern reworking of asteroids. It's fast, furious, and at several times, downright daunting. Your eyes attempt to follow your ship as asteroids, aliens, and tokens zoom past you. The controls and gameplay are certainly simple enough for the most casual videogamer to pick up, but at the same time, complex enough to keep the most seasoned veteran challenged. Your controls are your basic left-stick-to-move, right-to-shoot, and for all extensive purposes you could play through the entire game with nothing but that and the bomb button. However, the function of the boost button adds a whole new level entirely.

The boost makes the ship temporarily invincible, albeit slightly uncontrollable, for a second or so. It can be used to your advantage when you're corned by asteroids, or when there are bullets everywhere and you have no idea where to go. However, like all great abilities, you can only use the boost every 3 or so seconds. If this chaotic system of battering ram like invincibility wasn't enough, the multiplier system adds even more. If you boost through a points token, it's value is doubled, adding a whole 'nother detail of risk and reward. Yes, I said risk and reward. The classic board game element works flawlessly in this game, and in some cases, it's the only way to break onto the world high-score boards. Couple this with end-stage bomb score multipliers (the more bombs you have, the higher your score is multiplied, 1.2x, 1.4x, etc...), and you've got yourself a scoring system that's simple, yet highly complex.

Oh, and did I mentions different weapons do different damages to targets?

Needless to say, Stardust is damn assessable to all gamers, even us hardcore ones. It seems like so many shmups today are trying to be hard. Stardust is hard, but only if you make it.

4. Sound

Now, being the musician I am, I'm highly inclined to say "OH MY GOD, THIS MUSIC IS PERFECT!" But, from a non-biased standpoint, allow me to say this:

The music fits better than any game I've ever played.

With most games, you come across a song that just doesn't fit, or a character's theme that just doesn't sit right. In all my 60+ hours that I've logged into Stardust, I have never felt even REMOTELY disappointed by the music. It's oldschool Amiga like sound, yet at the same time, it's ground breaking when it comes to videogame composing.

The sound effects consist of MASSIVE expositions, laser beams, and other zooming sound effects. Not much, I know, but name another shmup that was known for it's sound effects.

5. Expansion Packs

Yes, I said expansion packs.

Since the launch of Stardust, Housemarque has released two absolutely incredible expansion packs for an already amazing game. Both add gameplay mods that nearly double the game's content, providing many more hours of gameplay.

Case in point, if you have PS3 or a PSP, do yourself a favor and buy this shmup. Even if you're not a fan of the genre, this game just works so goddamn well that it will appeal to you in some way.

The portable version is $10, and the PS3 version with the expansion packs is about $20.

I highly suggest you at least try the demo of this game. Even if you don't enjoy the shmup genre, you have to be at least somewhat in awe at this arcade masterpiece.

-Graham

AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!!

2009-04-23T08:26:00.000-07:00

Seriously, if the name of this game doesn't interest you to play it, stop reading right now and get the fuck out.

AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!!, or AAAA! for short, is another crazy concept from the minds at Dejobaan Games, a company who is known for taking gaming concepts to a whole new crazy level. Their last game, The Wonderful End of the World, was a wonder romp through a series of silly, barbie like worlds that felt like a remarkably fresh Americanized look at the Katamari Demacy gameplay mechanics. It was cool, it was hip, and goddamn, it was some of the freshest and polished stuff we had seen on the indie circuit since Cave Story. It it truly astonishing when it comes to an indie game.

Ladies and gents, this game looks like it will pass that tenfold.

From the pulse-pounding guitar soundtrack to the pure sheer stupidity of it's humor, AAAAA! is looking to be one of the biggest games to look out for this year. The graphics are stylistic as hell, the announcer is incredibly witty and remarkably appropriate, and above all, the game just looks damn fun to play. I'll be honest with you, I haven't been this dead set on preordernig/prepurchasing an indie game since Everyday Shooter came out. However, enough about me blabbing about it, take a look at the gameplay!

Needless to say, I am sold just on the two trailers they've released. Simply put: AAAAA! is right up my ally. It's fast, furious, and arcade like, with a wit and style that reminds me of my days of playing SSX Tricky. This one gets the coveted "Graham seal of approval," an award not shared by many games.

You can find out more about AAAAA! here.

-Graham

The /DJS\ Crew - Now In Paper Form!

2009-04-22T07:05:00.000-07:00

Morning gents!

Yesterday, I decided to get a little creative with my papercrafting. Using Jason Harlan's Boxpunx V2 template, I created members of the staff in paper form for you to print out, build, and enjoy/burn!

Graham:

Caroline:

Have fun!

Be sure to also check out www.harlancore.com for all kinds of other boxpunx related things from Jason Harlan. The man definately knows what he's doing when it comes to papercraft. I've built countless models designed by him.

-Graham

New Ugress Single

2009-04-21T05:34:00.000-07:00

So, Gisle Martins Meyer, better known as Ugress, has released the first up and coming single for his new album, "Reminiscence." The track is called "It was a Great Year (For Movies With Robots)" and can be found at the following location:

http://gmm.ugress.com/media/Ugress-ItWasAGreatYear(MoviesWithRobots)160k.mp3

The Graham Verdict: Meh

This is a slow and easy track, no one's going to deny that. It's a track that lingers on your mind for a while after you listen to it, but is soon forgotten by the next slow track you hear.

I'll be blunt here, and forgive me Gisle, if you read this, but this is the only way it needs to be said:

I was disappointed by Unicorn. The album felt like it had a complete lack of energy and finish compared to your older work. The tracks were short and all too unmemorable, and didn't even come close to touching at the greatness that Resound and Cinemetronics did.

I am hoping that this single isn't a reflection on the rest of the album.

-Graham

Tim Fite Live at Williamsburg

2009-04-20T05:40:00.000-07:00

Tim Fite is one of my favorite artists of all time. I was introduced to him via his live show, and I only feel like you should meet him the same way.

Edit 4/22/09: The flash player doesn't seem to be working, so just watch it straight from the site:

Watch the full concert at baeblemusic.com

Fun fact: "Big Mistake" makes me cry every time I hear it.

Sweet Music Sunday (4/19/09)

2009-04-19T13:14:00.000-07:00

Hello kids! Time for another Sweet Music Sunday. Today on the menu is:

Blasi - Lounge Break

Now, I'm the type of person who looks at things from a subjective standpoint. It's obvious a fan of Iron and Wine isn't going to be loving The Flashbulb, or a Metallica fan wont be loving the newest Interpol album. However, and follow me on this, this album almost seems to transend those boundaries.

Blasi has taken practically every genre of on the face of the planet (Save for metal and harder rock) and jammed it into a nice free-flowing package. It's got things to please the jazz fans. It's got things to please the IDM fans. It's got things to please the House fans. It's got things to please the mellow indie rock fans (I'm looking at you, Caroline). It's got things to please the break fans.

Simply put: This is one of the most assesable albums I've ever heard, and at the low-low cost of absolutely free, you'd be an absolute fool to not give this one a listen. If you can't find a track on this album you even REMOTELY like, you're either A. Denying it, or B. A hard rock fan. This is an album you listen to think and enjoy with, and this is coming from a person who normally dispises break music.

That's it for me, I'm off to go write a paper on a church visit. Expect it later.

-Graham

Alligator - The National, Album Review

2009-04-17T19:49:00.000-07:00

So after being bitched out by Caroline to download this album and my emusic account recently rolling over, I finally gave in and gave all twelve tracks a download, eating through nearly half of my thirty a month download limit.

As I popped the mp3s into Winamp and pressed play, I was immediately greeted by a large symbol crash and some nice guitar riffs. "Kinky" I thought to myself, "In that sort of sexy indie kind of way." What evolved from that point kind of felt like a bunch of things. It felt like bits of radiohead, bits of U2, and strangely, and strangely, bits of Maximo Park and The Caesars. Did it feel good? Yeah, I guess, but it certainly was an odd way to open an album.

As the album played on, Karen popped into my ears. Immediately I was reminded of an almost smooth style of Tom Waits with the piano pop of Mika (please forgive me for that reference). Standard slow song with the female backup singer, but it truly felt like after you had heard around 40 seconds of it, you could tell what the rest of the song was going to be like, plus and minus a few guitar riffs here and there.

As the album droned on (and trust me, after a while, it certainly did drone), I continued to listen intently, attempting to be interested by every track. As much as I wanted to deny it, that 40 second rule was coming back to haunt me. I found myself literally counting out the exact measures of the bridge, waiting for it to break into the chorus. A quote by the amazing Nick Rissman, atonal and freelance professional suddenly popped into my head:

"If you don't learn anything else I teach you, Graham, I want you to remember one thing: Always be one step ahead of your listener."

What Dr. Rissman meant is that as a musical artist, you must always keep your listener expecting more and wondering "what exactly does he have up his sleeve now?" The problem with this album is that besides a few tracks (All The Wine and Mr. November), the album simply doesn't do that. It follows a mellow indie rock blueprint from nearly the first song to the last.

Is it memorable? Yes, the songs are easy to learn and memorize by anybody, naturally making this CD driving or emotional reminiscing music. The lyrics can be looked upon as meaningless or deep as hell, depending how you look at it. However, if you're looking for technicality for improving the mellow indie rock genre, this simply doesn't have that. It follows the genres to the T, and because of that, the album's appeal becomes extremely black and white.

Is it good? If you like music that lingers in your head long after you listen to it (even if it isn't more technical or interesting), then by all means, go for it. You'll enjoy it, but, it most likely wont be your favorite album. If you're like me, you'll end up burning it to a CD for listening in your car. You certainly wont ever sing along with this album, but you'll certainly mope around it.

Simply put: This album is EXTREMELY hit and miss. You'll like it, you'll hate it, or you just wont care.

Papercraft Photo Dump

2009-04-15T23:25:00.000-07:00

So, a lot of people ask me, "Say, Graham, when you're not making music, what do you do in your spare time?"

Well, first and foremost I'd say that I'm in college, so I don't have any spare time. Spare time is taken up by sleeping. Then I'd give my serious answer.

I make crap out of paper:

(Yes, this is Longcat:)

-Graham

Updates as of (4/14/09)

2009-04-14T00:02:00.000-07:00

Blah blah blah, college rules my life, but I haven't forgotten about the music.

With the launch of the new site and the fantastic work by my new art director, Caroline Sanstead (www.individual-eleven.com), I'm witnessing even more traffic to the site. Good news? Without a doubt.

So, with that being said, allow me to expect what you can expect for the summer:

With Rena Coil coming out in full force, don't expect another major release (anything with 5+ tracks) any time within the next six months or so. However, do expect EPs and single releases, but nothing major like an album. System Overload took long enough to make, and there's no way in hell I'm doing another release like that for a while. Knowing me, though, things can spontainously change quite quickly, so you may be looking at another major release before you know it.

Right now, the major release being worked on is the Firebird single release. Firebird is my baby that I've been working on for at least 3 days straight. It was an experiment in vocal work for a loved one that was only meant to be about 45 seconds, but took itself over and turned into a full-fledged hard house vocal track. Expect this track, as well as two others, to be released within a week or so. Those familiar with my work of the past will find this single quite entertaining, but hopefully it'll show another thing I'm capable of when it comes to people who are just hearing of me.

Tentative Track List:
1. Firebird
2. The Key (Gabber Remix)
3. Head Rockin'

Keep on rockin.

-Graham

Sweet Music Sunday (2/22/08)

2009-02-22T12:44:00.000-08:00

Hello to you, humble reader. As the huge indiefag that I am with a blog at my disposal, I'm going to start posting a different, free, album on Sunday. These albums can sometimes be out of the ordinary, yet vastly refreshing. I encourage every reader to listen to at least a little of these albums that will be posted every Sunday, just to expand your musical knowledge.

The first artist I bring to you is Unicode, a crazed ambient IDM experiment from the mind of Matthias Derer.

"Snow" is an album that for all extensive purposes, is extremely hard to describe. Using downright eerie melodies and some of the best sound mixing I've heard in quite some time, Unicode crafts an amazing release that begs to be listened to as productive background music. I've been listening to this album almost nonstop when working on some of my papercraft projects, and god knows, it's made me insanely productive. It's a short ride on a very strange machine, but those who love a relaxing, albeit strange, time should check this album out.

You can find more amazing releases by Matthias at http://www.tonstube.de

Why I Won't Be Buying SF4 (At least until it hits $20)

2009-02-20T18:03:00.000-08:00

Street Fighter 4; A game so controversial among fighting fans that a mere mention of it's name could cause a man to loose his testicles faster than most Americans lost the value on their investments in late 2008.

I suppose it's time to throw my two cents in the massive fountain known as "nonprofessional feedback."

First and foremost, allow me to say this. I have not been playing fighting games for a long time, and not in any way long enough to consider myself "old school." I first got into fighting games soon after moving to Beaumont and discovering an arcade close buy full of fighting games (SNK Chaos, Tekken 5 DR, and Rage of Dragons, just to name a few). I'm normally not one for conformity, but in this case, I made an exception. I soon thereafter borrowed my friend's copy of Tekken 3 and ran it on a PSX emulator on my PC (played with a PS controller, of course). A small seed was then planted into my mind that blossomed into a person who thoughly enjoyed fighting games. Since then, thanks to Gametap and a plethora of other things, I've played nearly every single arcade fighting game to be released.

Secondly, allow me to say that I enjoy technical fighters over simplistic fighters. I enjoy fighting games where you throughly learn a character to get "good" with them. I've always been the type of person who's enjoyed learning, so I suppose this factor naturally feeds it. Because of this "need," I've taken quite a liking to the SNK made fighters throughout my short fighting game career. Knowing how each character works is almost like learning how to drive a different car; You know the basics, but to make the thing really work, you've got to learn the fine point. This point seems kind of oxymoronous, considering my first fighting game was Tekken.

With those few facts settled into your mind, allow me to get to the point:

I recently had the opportunity (like many others,) to play Street Fighter 4 for the first time. As I walked early one morning to the local video game shop, I walked calmly over to the machine and began the game. After waiting for the character screen to load up (which I was surprised that it had a loading screen, I'm greeted with this a very small character selection screen. Now, I'm not meaning to sound like a bigot, but the first thing I see is that nearly every single character is from Street Fighter 2, while most of the characters from Alpha and Third Strike are completely gone. I brief thought of disappointment flashed through my head, but I brushed it off. I selected Ryu and proceeded to commence a match.

Now, allow me to say this, I consider myself to be halfway decent at Street Fighter. It has never been my preferred fighting series of choice, but I still was able to whip out my kill when I needed it. Never the less, the match began as I went up against Chun Li. First thing I noticed was the lack of guard bar. The guard bar was one of my favorite balancers in SFA3, just because it made it so you could not just sit in the corner and wait till the time ran out because you had higher health. Like the character select, I put it in the back of my mind, and began to rip apart Chun Li with Ryu's hadoken.

The combo bar at the bottom of the screen, was, to be honest, fairly standard. Mostly every fighting game past SF2 has had one of these suckers, and most of them use it the same way. As I punched Chun Li, my combo bar slowly went up. Recalling Ryu's super hadoken from SFA3, I put in the button input and pressed the punch button. Suddenly, the screen went haywire and the camera focused directly on Ryu. He then unleashed the Ultra attack. While I certainly don't mind this addition, it leaves something to be asked.

Why isn't the opponent given a chance to block or evade?

One of the things I love so much about the KoF series is that no matter how powerful the attack, the opponent still has some sort of split-second chance to block or evade that attack. This creates some absolutely great "GODDAMNIT" and "YES" moments while playing. From what I can see, SF4 doesn't have these, creating a bit of a one sided thing while preforming one of these "Ultra Moves." And then, like a brick, it hit me:

This is a clone of SF2 with a few gameplay tweaks.

With this one, Capcom seems to be banking on old gameplay elements to try to make something "cool" again. Quite frankly, it simply doesn't work (for me at least). I enjoy a game you can really sink your teeth into, and with the "lite" focus attack system and the meager button inputs, it really doesn't seem like this is the game we were waiting for. We wanted a game that had every bit of technicality of SF Third Strike, with the graphics of next gen and the speed of Turbo. It seems like we got that, minus the technicality.

For you, it'll probably be worth the buy. But, being the insane person I am, I simply don't like the simplicity of it all, so much so that I'm not willing to pay $60 for it. Granted, unless the price on the game comes down, or Gametap suddenly shuts down it's SFA3 online servers, I'm going to be avoiding this one.

Edit: With the recent announcement of the PC version, my interest in purchasing grows higher. Better graphics, 24-bit sound, 360 controller and LAN support at a fraction of the price? Count me in!