Train of thought: (n) - the interconnection in the sequence of ideas expressed during a connected discourse or thought, as well as to the sequence itself, especially in discussion how this sequence leads from one idea to another.
The Dark Side of the Rainbow is actually one of my favourite movies. Well - to call it a movie is quite the understatement. I should correct myself in saying that it is more like an experience.
In 1994, there was numerous chit-chat in multiple underground acid-rock websites, where users swear that they discovered a new way of watching the classic Wizard of Oz. Apparently, rumors were leaked by the legendary band Pink Floyd, that their multi-platinum album titled "Dark Side of the Moon" was meant to be played along with Wizard of Oz. While the band later refuted such claims, the coincidences between the movie and CD were surreal. In short, it really DID play together.
I first experienced The Dark Side of the Moon in 1996 when myself and a buntch of skater friends decided to cut class, smoke trees, and play Daft Punk at my friend's basement. My friend had learnt about the Dark Side of the Rainbow through his older brother (who was a drugged out rocker in our city).
Maybe it was the fumes of the marijuana that had be straight trippin, but i could of sworn that the visuals matched the music. It was a match made in heaven; to this day, i STILL cannot watch Wizard of Oz in its original form without popping in Pink Floyd's CD....as a matter of fact, i have NEVER seen the original movie from beginning to end.
Hence, the name i decided to choose for the blog is The Dark Side of the Rainbow (well, that's also a bit of a lie - "Hong Kong Trash" was already taken).
The good news, is that you no longer have to clumsily sync the CD and movie together to experience this (although i suggest that you should). In case you do want to, just turn the TV volume down and press play on the CD when you see that the MGM lion has roared for the 3rd time.
Some lad on Youtube had the courtesy of doing all of this for us. It is divided into several parts (each part is a seperate track on the Pink Floyd CD).
Listen to the music in this 3rd video. Its called "The Great Gig in the Sky". What an amazing track...
I should go now, the boss is suspiciously giving me that evil eye.
27. I finally hit 27 yesterday. To be honest, I'm not quite sure of what to make of it. 27 is old enough to be called a full-fledged adult, but still young enough to do immature things and get away with it.
Of course accompanying the hitting of 27 is the celebration that follows. Now let me be the first to say that I am no fan of 'casual drinking'. I don't like sipping on drinks in social atmospheres. I either don't drink at all, or i go all out.
Last night, i went all out. I don't know how I got home, at what time, and whether or not i was making a complete fool out of myself (again).
And the miraculous thing, is that i only took one picture, which was from the beginning of the night.
Well, here comes another exciting year. Time to grab the damn bull by its horns.
I haven't truly listened to Hiphop music in over 7 years now, but the other night i was bored at home and looking at videos through Youtube.
I stumbled upon this song from Above the Law called "Black Superman" that i listened to all the time when i was 13 years old. It was one of my favourite songs at the time, and I couldnt believe it when i found out that they actually had a video for it too. For those of you who don't know, Above the Law were the original pioneers of the G-Funk westcoast sound with the high-pitched synthesizer rides. They were signed to Eazy-E's Ruthless Records before he passed away shortly. Many will dispute Dr. Dre's claim that he was the originator of the G-Funk sound and say that he had actually bit ATL's productions.
Listening to this song really brought back nostalgic feelings. Gone are the days of good hiphop. They simply just don't make these kind of beats anymore. Above the Law was the truth...
Ohhh yeah, check out the second video too. CLASSIC TRACK with cameos from Eazy-E and pornstar Janine......UNTOUCHABLE!!!
Icaved in last night after coming home drunk from singing Karaoke and bought myself a software copy of the TR-909 in its resurrected form of the "Drumazon". The first picture is of the real machine at home, and if you look closely at the second picture, on the right hand side of the screen you will see the reincarnated form of the TR909 in a software copy on my monitor.
1984 (the past) 2007 (the present)
Just a brief history on the machine that I am so obsessed with. The Roland TR-909 Rhythm Composer was originally built and manufactured by Roland; more importantly, the mastermind behind the creation of this stunning drum machine is a man by the name of Tadao Kikumoto, the same man that created the Roland TB-303, the same machine used to create the signature acid baselines and squelches in acid dance music.
In 1984, Roland decided to build a machine that would be used for aspiring guitar players to practice the guitar with. It flopped. Badly. To put everything into context, the mid 80's played a pinnacle point in the revolution of modern day electronic music. Depeche Mode, Tangerine Dreams, New World, and scores of other "soon to be famous" groups were the brink of discovering something truly amazing.....the TR-909.
When artists finally began realizing that this cheap and affordable machine could produce bone rattling drumkicks, hissy sounding hihats and warm snares, the 909 blew up in popularity. Little does anyone know that this machine was actually meant to play the guitar with, and NOT to be used as the backbone of modern day dance tracks. Nowadays, rarely will you ever listen to a song that doesnt have the signature sounds of the 909 drums. From drum and bass, trance, chicago house, detroit techno, down tempo, dub, triphop, to even rock music.....the sounds of the 909 can be heard.
Interestingly, while only 10,000 units were produced worldwide and were sold for only $50, this prized machine is now so in demand from producers, that it can be fetched off eBay for at least $1000.
Anyways, enough of the music lesson. I'm off to play with my new toy!
Arguably the most overrated profession in the world, the DJ is another word to describe someone who is basically unemployed. I sold my turntables some years back after realizing that it was no longer fun to play other people's music, and that for one to push himself creatively, he must create, he must produce. Shortly after selling two of my three turntables (I keep one for sampling records), i jumped into the dazzling world of production. Ever since moving to Hong Kong some years back, my studio has been confined to a small dusty corner in my mom's basement back at the house i grew up in. I would do anything to ship all the hardware back to Asia, but due to the limited real estate space i have in my room, i'm better off utilizing music software in my computer as a tool rather than a hardware synthesizer.
My Access Virus KC (that needs dusting)
Red keyboard is the amazing Nord Lead 2X and in the front is the vintage Roland TR-909 drum machine
The top rack is my beloved patchbay (shown without the patchwires). The next rack is my MOTU 828 audio interface. This is the single most important piece of equipment. It basically serves as the recording soundcard, where the signal is then fed directly into my sequencer, Cubase SX in the Mac for recording. Next up is the my MOTU Midi Express 128 which connects all my hardware synthesizers, drum machines, midi controllers into one unit. The third rack is a TC Electronics reverb unit to breathe more life into the TR-909's drum kicks and snares. It is also amazing if you run a synthesizer right through it and mess around with the settings. The last rack in the box is a TC Electronics M-One compressor unit. This may sound like Egyptian to you, but its there to compress the signal. Simply put, whenever you are running a 16 track sequence in your mix, there tends to be "mudiness" in the song as the different signals compete with each other. Compression (and lots of EQ'ing) tend to fix this problem. Compression is best used in dance music mainly on the drums. If u listen closely to a 4/4 signature dance song, when the drums get cut out of a mix, you will notice that everything else becomes slightly louder. When the drums kick in again, everything else becomes softer giving way for the drums to sit nicely in the mix. You can also notice this the next time you turn on your radio station and listen to the host of a show speak. When you hear his voice cut into the mix, whatever music was playing in the background will automatically sound softer in the background. This is compression ladies and gentleman.
Another closeup shot of the legendary Roland TR-909 drum machine
Looking at these pictures really make me sad. There is something different about using analogue equipment, as opposed to the newer generation of digital software technology. Clicking on a mouse on the screen is not quite the same as listening to the sound you are hearing blasting out of the speaker monitors and playing with knobs on the keyboard. I miss my gear!!!
What does Christianity, 9/11, and the Federal Reserve all have in common? Zeitgeist.
I watched an interesting movie the other day at this website called www.zeitgeistmovie.com . I definately advise the curious at heart to view it and judge for yourself the underlying themes. Like any other "conspiracy theory" flicks, you can expect this to be quite controversial in nature. It's essentially cut up into three mini movies.
Part I: "The Greatest Story Ever Told" downplays the significance of modern day Christianity. Tries to expose it as the fraud of the century. Do not watch if you are a hardcore Catholic as you will be offended.
Part II: "All the World's a Stage"; this theme has been done to death by other conspiracy theory movies such as "Loose Change", which basically tries to blame the U.S. Government as the mastermind of the September 11 attacks and how it used the media as a stage to brainwash people. It also delves heavily into the Caryle Group, Dick Cheney's Halliburton Company, and other U.S. financial conglomerates and how they are linked to U.S. government.
Part III: "Dont Mind the Men Behind the Curtain"; this one is interesting. Not going to get into too much detail here or else I will ruin it, but think banking and finance and how Central Banks secretly control the world through the use of interest rates. Comical.....but interesting.
The Dark Side of the Rainbow is actually one of my favourite movies. Well - to call it a movie is quite the understatement. I should correct myself in saying that it is more like an experience.
