darth-grunt

[darth-grunt]

[darth-grunt]

[darth-grunt]

so

we have this app called toogoodtogo where restaurants/cafes/bakeries/hotels and so on sell their leftovers for really cheap to reduce foodwaste

i got all of this for €4 from starbucks

bless

[darth-grunt]

this site ain't so bad. it's something to do in the mornings while ur bread toasts, right? ^_^

[darth-grunt]

[darth-grunt]

i showed my friend the sun bears from that post and he was like “what about moon bears” and there IS in fact a type of bear nicknamed the moon bear and fuckingh nothing could’ve prepared me for the images

large. wide. sit.

[darth-grunt]

havent been able to stop thinking about this bear for days

[darth-grunt]

havent been able to stop thinking about this bear for days

[darth-grunt]

I wish more people didn’t act like having a phone and internet access means you are / should be available 24/7

like when I was dating my ex, I would sometimes look at my phone in the morning to find a barrage of texts he’d sent at 2am while having an anxiety attack, but the last 5 texts would be him upset with me for not responding … like bruh I was asleep, my phone was off, wake up your roommate next time or call a hotline if you need actual assistance instead of texting your girlfriend who is physically not anywhere near you and also not conscious

I’ve had people get on my case for not responding within an hour or two of messaging me. not considering that perhaps I was in class, or at work, or doing homework, or maybe even just taking a little time to myself where I don’t have to interact with people. heck, sometimes I’ll go a whole day without looking at my phone because I have other stuff I need to get done, and this is treated like a crime. as though having a phone means I’m contractually obligated to have it on my person and on alert all the friggin time. I’m not. and I don’t.

being online doesn’t obligate me to interact with anyone either. and online/offline status isn’t a proper indicator of activity to begin with. maybe I have an app running in the background but I muted it to avoid distraction. or maybe I was using my phone for something important so I swiped your message away without reading it, making it look like I suddenly went offline. maybe I have tumblr open in a separate tab and simply forgot about it. maybe I read your message in the one minute it took me to walk from lunch to my block class and I can’t respond for at least the next 3 hours. 

maybe these are all things that people should be allowed to do. maybe, just maybe, people should be allowed to portion their time and resources the way they need instead of catering to the impatience of others.

also read receipts are highly intrusive and they need to die

[darth-grunt]

What I use for my music!

Hey there fella’s - I’ve been sent many hundreds of asks inquiring what I use for my music! So I thought I’d compile a list of helpful resources and my favorite tools that I use for my production -

Now the amount I own is overkill. I’m an enthusiast and I’ve spent the past 11 years building up my repertoire of tools and instruments and a bunch of fun stuff to play around with - but you really only need one synth, one workstation, a few effects and sounds to get started making your own music! 

1. DAW (Digital Audio Workstation!) 

I use FL studio the most, it’s easy for beginners to pick up yet has a decently in-depth feature set! I use it more than any other DAW thanks to its ease of use and great piano roll !! (10/10)

Cubase is the second DAW I own, it’s highly advanced, great for building huge orchestral templates due to a useful folder-system and plug-in on and off switch that hugely saves on CPU performance when working with huge sample sizes! But registering and setting up the DAW is a huge bitch due to their licensing shenanigans (8/10)

Pro Tools is the professional standard for most Hollywood studios, it’s complex and GREAT for mixing live tracks, but it doesn’t have the same streamlined convenience the other two have (7/10)

(I don’t own Ableton but I’ve heard great things, it’s a bit on the pricier end for the same performance you can get in FL studio for less, so I never bought it)

2. Virtual Synths!

I’ll list my favorite synths in order from most used to least used!

Omnisphere is the synth I use the most, it’s a hybrid synth that uses thousands of samples and waveforms to generate very unique and complex sounds - it has a huge number of presets, and might be the most impressive virtual synth in the market, honestly, it’s so good, if you could afford the hefty $500 price tag, you won’t need any other synth I suggest to you on this list - that’s how comprehensive it is. 

Serum is the Internets favorite bog-standard wavetable synthesizer, it’s great for a variety of sounds, but most comfortably works with heavy bass and EDM - it has a very clean sound, it has a nice list of effects and it’s only $189

U-HE Diva is a synth that emulates older, more vintage synths from the good ol days, it sounds phenomenal and works great in more chill genres, or, of course, outrun and 80s - it’s not too pricey at $200 but it’s very CPU intensive 

Massive X is the resurgence of one of the most popular soft synths of the early 2010s that came out last month - I haven’t played with it, really, but I’ve heard good things, definitely not a bad choice if you plan on buying the Native instruments Komplete bundle, which is a great deal! 

There are hundreds of synths out there, some very good ones I didn’t mention, however, these are the ones I use, and they’ll keep you preoccupied for a very long time. 

3. Effects

An equally important aspect for producing music is having effects and mixing and mastering plug-ins to louden your music, make it cleaner and crisper, or all around more interesting! The great thing about DAW’s like Pro tools, Ableton, and Cubase, is that they offer most of these effects included with the DAW - FL studio has a less comprehensive number of built-in effects, but thanks to this, is much cheaper - and frankly, sooner or later, you’re going to want to change the factory plug-ins for more professional 3rd party ones!

I use the ozone 8 and neutron 3 to mix and master my tracks, from Izotope!! Waves products is a good cheaper alternative and they often have sales! 

for reverbs (think of that cool echo effect you hear sometimes on voices) - I use vss3 and valhalla room - oftentimes, synths will come included with their own built in effects and reverbs, serum and omnisphere have great ones.

There are dozens more effects I didn’t get into in this list, but the learning process is quite high, so be sure to understand what saturation is, or a compressor, equalizers, Flanger, Phaser, Delays, LFO’s, and more! 

4. Hardware I use! 

So once you get used to the wonderful world of synthesis, or maybe you’re a pianist and want something physical right off the bat, you can get into hardware! It is very useful to buy yourself a MIDI piano if you plan on using a digital audio workstation! 

Just a warning! If you’re new, I’d suggest you don’t pick up these mutli-thousand dollar synths, I’d suggest checking out some cheaper synths by Korg or Roland, that may not offer as many features as the ones I’m about list, but will be good regardless, and will help you understand the world of synthesis. 

OP-1 - $1200 This is an incredibly unique piece of hardware, you could almost consider it a small physical, portable DAW! It’s so much fun to use and it’s great for getting ideas, its not nearly as comprehensive as a real DAW, however, and is limited by its own software!

Moog Matriarch - $2000 this synth isn’t technically out yet, but it is the upgraded version to the Moog grandmother (which I own), which is a less powerful, smaller version of the upcoming matriarch! This synth oozes analog - if you plan on learning synths, you must learn the difference between analog gear and digital gear - but the matriarch and grandmother makes AMAZING use of its physical analog hardware, and offers you super rich, fat, complex tones, filters, and oscillators! 

Prophet Rev 2 - $2000 This is one of my favorite analog synths I’ve ever owned, it has 16 voices, which means 16 notes can be played at a time (2 oscillators per note) - unlike the matriarch and grandmother, which can only play 4 or 1 note respectively - this one focuses on making the oscillators and filters less complex, but in turn, allowing a greater number of notes! That doesn’t mean it sounds worse, however, it just means the performance was allocated some place else - this synth sounds beautiful, and I use it often for huge pads and chords! (the moog is great for leads and bass!)

Focusrite 2i4 - $169 This is a relatively cheap and popular audio interface that’s use to allow cleaner, faster and better playback! If you get into production, you’ll need an audio interface! It’s honestly, just good to have in general! 

Desk I use is Platform by Output - $800

Speakers I use are the bower and wilkins 606 - $900 (I suggest rokit 5s to start) - must have amplifier for the wilkins (I use the emotiva Basx A-150)

I have two really cool pedals, both by chasebliss audio, one called MOOD and the other called Warped Vinyl hi-fi  - they both have a variety of uses, so please refer to their features on the site, these really are only useful if you have a lot of external gear! Both $349

I put all of my physical hardware through a Mackie ProFX 8v2 - A cheap and relatively compact mixer, directly into my audio interface! 

I own a few hi-fi headphones (the ibasso sr1 and the Audeze LCD-X) but you really only need a good pair of studio headphones to get started, especially if you don’t want to deal with the expensive hassle of speakers right away! Check out audio technica and sennheiser for some great cheaper alternatives! 

Okay anyways! despite how long and intense this list may seem, this really isn’t everything I own, but it’s a good list of tools I most enjoy using, and tools I think can add a great deal of production value to your music !!! I’ll update this list as new things are added!!! 

I hope this helped! Remember, there’s nothing wrong with starting off much smaller! 

[darth-grunt]

[darth-grunt]

[darth-grunt]

@femmebotdyke

[darth-grunt]

Apartment hacks masterpost

Kitchen

How to clean up kitchen (particularly the sink, burnt pots and small aplliances)

How to take care of kitchen stuff so that it lives longer

10 commandments of a clutter-free kitchen

Organizing kitchen mini masterpost

5 things to do in the kitchen before you go to bed

What is soapy bowl and why it’s awesome

How to organize your fridge (also here, here and here)

Thins you should know about your fridge

Adding more storage space in a tiny kitchen

Cleaning

Lots of cleaning tutorials and tips. And some more

How to clean up pantry

How to make your house look cleaner than it really is

How to wash pillows

Cleaning the bathroom

How to clean the nastiest places (and get rid of bad smells, etc.)

Floor-to-celling guide to spring cleaning

Recaulking your bathtub

Cleaning grout

How to dispose of toxic waste

Cleaning the medicine cabinet

How to make chores more fun

You mustn’t skip these chores, but you can delay these if you’re busy

Easily forgotten things that you should clean/replace

Why you need a catch-up day

Small cleaning tasks to do in under 15 minutes (also here)

Looking for a flat/moving

First apartment checklist

Where too look during an apartment hunt (and some more tips)

Negotiate these things with your landlord

What to do first in a new place

What do clean before moving out

How not to get crazy during moving flats

How to downgrade to a smaller place

Organisation, storage

10 habits for better home organisation

How to store off-season items

10 storage ideas for small spaces (more here)

Storage secret weapons

How to organise your closet

Things to do before twice-yearly closet switchout

How to store and maintain your sweaters

Decluttering

Why it feels great

How to get rid of clutter

How to declutter (not only a flat)

What needs to be thrown away from your flat

How to let go of the things you no longer need

Things you own too many of; you can throw away these too

Decuttering the bathroom

Decluterring masterpost

Decorating

Projects for every room in your home/flat

Add style to your home

DIY decorating ideas

How to use negative space

4 common decorating mistakes and how to avoid them

Questions to ask yourself before buying something new

How to choose furniture that’ll be easier to clean

Season-specific tips

Things to do before the cold season

Household hacks for winter

Preparing for Christmas

Green thumb 101

How to take care of succulents

Never kill a plant again

Living alone / Sharing a flat

How not to be lonely when living alone

12 things you can only do when home alone

What you learn by living alone

Things you learn while sharing a flat

What to pack when leaving for a dorm

How to seamlessly share a kitchen (or a flat in general)

Safety issues to discuss with flatmates

Benefits of living with strangers

And also how to turn a house into a home

[darth-grunt]

Those quiet times

Those quiet times

When things slow down

And life catches up

Those quiet times

Where all you can do is think

About life, the reason for it all, and all the possibilites