the-real-compucat

[the-real-compucat]

IMPORTANT: for those of you who still follow me here

I haven’t regularly used Tumblr in ages; that said, if you still follow me here, hi there! I am currently migrating to a custom website; it’s not final, so bear with me as it evolves from a clone of a friend’s webpage to a place I can call my own.

You’ll be able to find me now at compucat.me. I’m still sorting out a comment system, etc (Disqus is no fun)...head over to the about page and shoot me a message if you like! I’d love to reconnect with anyone still interested. :)

See you on the other side!

[the-real-compucat]

Wow, it’s been a while: looking back at Origins

First of all, if anybody still reads content here: hi! Sorry I kinda left you all in the dark. I’ve been busy working on other projects, and this Tumblr fell by the wayside. Its purpose become less relevant as I’ve progressed, to be quite frank. Nevertheless, it’s still here, and as long as it’s still here, I’ll still eventually have something to write. 

Before I launch into the rest of this post, what’ve I been up to in the years I’ve been gone? For one, college happened. I’ve still got lots of work as always, but it’s now on my own schedule and towards my own goals: liberating, in a way. (A side benefit: transferring my musically creative mindset into the kitchen produces delicious results. :-) I’ve also picked up another project that’s taken up a lot of my time: linux-wiiu. (Essentially, we’re working on a proper port of Linux to the Wii U; a development release is currently available for download. Check it out, if you like!)

I’m still an active musician and producer, don’t worry! I recently released “Standing On The Edge Of Time” (a J-rock piece that completely rips off the style of anime openings) and am currently working on something called “Reign Of The Dark”. (Spoiler alert: Eurobeat is fun to write.) I’ve got some other ideas in the works too. Knowing a bit more guitar (and a lot more bass) has certainly helped.

Anyway, on to the main reason I’ve returned to ramble and muse.

Just over two years ago, I released Origins, the first (and so far, only) album I have ever released. Earlier tonight, I went back for the first time in a while, sat down, and properly listened to it the entire way through. For the first time, I’ve stopped cringing like I always used to when I’d listen and inevitably hear the endless mistakes and areas I could have improved upon. Instead, I found myself seeing past me’s work in a more admirable light. (Wow, that got deep fast.) Here’s what I mean:

Overall, everything on this album was really exploratory and unafraid. I didn’t know enough about audio engineering to know what I was doing wrong, and so I just threw myself at the task of writing an album without stopping to think. In doing so, I was able to look past most of the trouble of professional-quality perfection, especially in sound design; I simply wasn’t able to see it! This allowed me to concentrate all my abilities as pure creative energy; as a result, beginning producer me was able to create a full 7 track EP in 9 months.

Something about past me was able to take rough inspirations and transform them into full-on musical ideas. I’m still trying to figure out what that was. According to my old notes, my inspirations for each track were:

Isle Genesis: make a track at all

Prelude (The Denizens): Elton John-style piano, carefree/happy/fun. (I seem to remember Animal Crossing’s simple theme having something to do with it too...)

Soul Scream: somebody asked me to write a YouTube channel jingle

Isle Genesis reprise: total ripoff of James Cronin’s “Dead Horses” album: his title track has a solo reprise of the main melody halfway through the album, and I thought I’d try that idea. (Great album, by the way.)

Deity Duel: wrote an energetic hook, but needed to flesh it out. Heard trance producer JayB do a rock remix of some video game song...immediately thought “a rhythm guitar would sound cool here”

Aftermath: listened to a ton of electro jams by Jouni Ollila’s BURG project and wanted to copy the general style.

Reunion: “hey, most of this album kinda maps out the story for a roleplay project I’m part of...why not extrapolate a bit and have two characters reunite in a fanfiction ending?” The two lead instruments symbolize two different characters from that old RP, actually.

Listening now, instead of hearing all the shortcomings, I’m beginning to appreciate just how wild it was that I could come up with this many ideas and just lay them down on tape, no questions asked. Sure, they could use some polish. You know what, though? I’m liking them more and more just as they are: it’s like a little time capsule of the raw excitement I had back then.

I should take a second to mention something else. I’m not sure if I’ve publicly talked about this before, but Isle Genesis was written during a time in my life when I was involved with a role-play community writing project called Islands of Origin. As the roleplay’s world was fleshed out, I started to draw parallels between my ideas and the theoretical backstory of the fictional world; in return, I noticed the world’s backstory shaping my ideas. I suppose I started to write a concept album without even realizing it, now that I think about it. Islands of Origin gave Isle Genesis a purpose and direction.

Besides the fact that obsessive perfectionist me can now hear the finer mistakes I make, this is probably the reason I *still* haven’t been able to release the 2nd album I’ve challenged myself to write every year since. I’ve just been sketching ideas with no real topic or overall backbone. This should have been more obvious to me earlier: it’s one of the entire reasons I love the Pet Sounds album by the Beach Boys! Pet Sounds was one of the first albums (to my knowledge) that served as a logical progression of music, rather than a collection of hit singles. 

Is there a conclusion to this ramble? I’m not sure. Maybe I’ll form a grand plan for my second album. I’ll likely just as soon get rid of it. I’m really not sure what this all means.

I’m certain of one thing, though: for the first time in a long while, I truly enjoyed listening to Origins. Maybe I should make some music to top it.

Time to write that second album.

A bit of logistics: I’m not sure how much (if at all) this Tumblr will be used in the future. I’ll always release my major works on all major platforms as CompuCat; I’ll also continue to use my SoundCloud page as a more informal release platform for ideas and works-in-progress. If anybody’s still reading here, though: seriously, thanks. I never thought anybody would still be paying any attention here. I’ll be back with more music....eventually. :)

[the-real-compucat]

About a year and a half ago, I began using a pair of MEEaudio M6′s as my primary in-ear monitors. (These are amazing for how cheap they are-I got mine for $10, and Amazon stocks them for $14 right now.) I’m happy to say that after being repaired a “few” times, these guys just refuse to die! They don’t sound the greatest, but they’re perfect for on-stage use and great as a “consumer sound system” reference when mixing in the studio.

Repairs/mods done in chronological order:

Upon arrival from eBay, one of the earbuds was split open. (Each earbud is made of two halves that are press-fit together, and one had come apart in transit.) Superglue was used to seal the earbud together again.

Removed memory wire and plastic sleeve from ear tips. (The wire wore out and just became a pain in the rear.)

Cable broke near the middle at the point where it splits from a single wire into separate wires for left/right earbuds. Broken section was removed, and the remaining wires were spliced together. (Bad move, as I found out later.)

Strain relief on plug failed and wires began to break; plug was removed and replaced with a new plug. (Hint hint: don’t use cheap Chinese 3.5mm plugs, they’re awful to work with. Get a good one made by Neutrik or another good manufacturer.)

Cable broke again. (This happened about 2 or 3 more times. Lesson learned: splicing and resoldering headphone cables never works out well.)

After last cable break: cable was flat-out replaced. This was...interesting. I ended up splitting open each earbud, desoldering the old cable from the drivers, and feeding in a new cable from a broken pair of Sennheiser headphones. The earbuds were then superglued together again. Result: beautiful black cable that works and looks great! Only downside: I accidentally swapped the left and right wires in the cable. (I double-checked it, I swear!) Bummer. I’ll have to fix that eventually, but I don’t want to resolder this again anytime soon, so they’re staying backwards for now.

At this rate, these guys will last until the drivers themselves die...and then I’ll finally buy a good pair of Shure monitors. (Let’s see how long that takes....any bets?)

[the-real-compucat]

https://soundcloud.com/compucat/synthpop-in-the-air-rev-1

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https://soundcloud.com/compucat/preview-late-80s-style-synthpop

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https://soundcloud.com/compucat/i-am-stray-cover-of-ryve

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https://soundcloud.com/compucat/preview-i-am-stray-cover-originally-by-ryve

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https://soundcloud.com/compucat/preview-i-am-stray-cover-of-ryve

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https://soundcloud.com/compucat/powerline-60

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https://soundcloud.com/compucat/20-minute-music-2

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https://soundcloud.com/compucat/diy-bass-test-jam

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https://soundcloud.com/compucat/20-minute-challenge-1

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Whelp, I have another instrument now. Jazz bass finished! (Also, yes, I finally got a proper mic stand to use instead of my homemade desk stand.)

[the-real-compucat]

My next project...a Jazz-style bass from a cheapo eBay kit! (Basswood body, maple neck, rosewood fretboard.) Still need to solder and screw everything together properly for a test fit before I put a nice finish on everything.

Honestly kind of surprised at how nice the body looks despite it being 3-4 pieces of basswood stuck together. Thinking about finishing it with a black dye and a polyurethane clear coat, thoughts?

...oh yeah. I’ll actually have to learn to play it before I can record it, darn. Shouldn’t be too terribly hard though, considering I’ve got a basic handle on electric guitar already.

[the-real-compucat]

https://soundcloud.com/compucat/dance-pop-wip-preview

[the-real-compucat]

https://soundcloud.com/compucat/starlight

[the-real-compucat]

Livestream!

Wahey, finals are over. Let’s celebrate with a bit of Wind Waker!

http://tinyurl.com/CompuCatStream