tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65749955920333748302024-03-13T20:46:13.053-07:00geek is the new coolthe music of jake hawkenJakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324291132989317852noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6574995592033374830.post-19279893855399452772009-08-08T18:26:00.001-07:002009-08-08T18:35:16.479-07:00If you'd still like to...<div style="text-align: justify;">...you can download the files listed in my last post. The stupid file hosting service I was using had a download limit, and shut off once enough of you downloaded it. So, as I like to be forward-thinking with my use of <i>teh intarwebz</i>, I introduce you to a cool new music-sharing service: Soundcloud.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Below is a player. Each song has a little download button next to it if you'd like to have a copy of the mp3 to put on your ipod or other such device. And remember, the lyrics are in the previous post:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); white-space: pre; font-family:'Lucida Grande';font-size:9px;"><div style="font-size: 11px;"><object height="145" width="100%"> <param name="movie" value="http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fsoundcloud.com%2Fgeekisthenewcool%2Fsets%2Fthe-nimbus-project"> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"> <embed allowscriptaccess="always" height="145" src="http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fsoundcloud.com%2Fgeekisthenewcool%2Fsets%2Fthe-nimbus-project" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%"></embed> </object> </div></span></div>Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324291132989317852noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6574995592033374830.post-4736868671969753722009-05-08T14:02:00.000-07:002009-05-30T15:44:52.626-07:00because i love you so much - the Nimbus project<div style="text-align: justify;">I discovered with my <a href="http://jakehawkenmusic.blogspot.com/2009/04/allow-me-to-explain-myself-how-i-became.html">last post</a> that giving you free things to download makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Since I have a certain fondness for warm, fuzzy feelings, I have decided to do a little more.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Back in 2004, a guy I'd met at a church social function befriended me and took me under his wing. We were both kind of loners at the time, and had similar interests, namely music. At the time, I wasn't really into any electronic music at all. (I know, right? Can you believe that?) He had been huge into it for over a decade, and bit by bit he got me hooked. Aaron Jasinski (often referred to on this blog as just "Aaron" or "Jasinski") taught me pretty much everything I know about electronic music, synthesis, sound design and most of my favorite mixing tricks.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We became fast friends, and started doing little projects together. At one point, he told me that he'd always thought it would be fun to produce some hip-hop tracks. It just so happens, I told him, that I rap. We immediately set to work, he with samplers, synths and effects, me with a pen and a pad. The resulting 3 tracks that we came up with were some of my favorite stuff I've ever done.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The first one was a kind of super-produced, nonsensical hip-hop anthem, called "Fastball." The second was a litany of ladies-man bra<img src="http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif" alt="Check Spelling" border="0" class="gl_spell" />ggadocio based on absolutely nothing true, called "Sharpdressed," (as we used a sample from ZZ-Top's "Sharp Dressed Man"). The final one was written in frustration over religious persecution I'd encountered at the community college I was attending at the time. It was called "The Acceptable Intolerance." All three tracks displayed impeccable production skill on Aaron's part. I played a couple synth lines on it, but 99% of the magic you hear is him.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">[Note: Aaron's main gig is as a painter and designer, but he moonlights heavily as a musician and remix artist. I mean, he's this good and he's just moonlighting? That's nutty! His art can be seen <a href="http://jasinskiart.blogspot.com/">here</a> and <a href="http://jasinski.deviantart.com/">here</a>, his prolific remixes can be heard <a href="http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?songs=269899&T=1228">here</a>, and you can follow him on Twitter <a href="http://twitter.com/jasinskiArt">here</a>.]</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I had been brainstorming a new hip-hop pseudonym for some time, as my old one was a bit outdated, and decided (albeit momentarily) on "Nimbus." I wanted to make a nod to being from Washington, and thought I'd shorten up the scientific name of our state's biggest resource: rain clouds. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I've since changed it again. Keep your eyes open for future updates!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Now what you've all been waiting for: You can download a zip file with all three mp3's in it <a href="http://www.filefreak.com/pfiles/94315/Nimbus.zip"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">HERE</span></a>, and below are the lyrics. Keep in mind that the first two are <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">extremely</span> silly. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">ENJOY!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Track 1 - "Fastball"</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">VERSE 1:</div><div style="text-align: justify;">B-b-b-b-b-b-b-</div><div style="text-align: justify;">BLAM! when I light up the microphone and explode</div><div style="text-align: justify;">With the beats behind me tappin and beepin like morse code</div><div style="text-align: justify;">My brain’s a portal to another dimension so pay close attention</div><div style="text-align: justify;">When you’re rollin with the lowered suspension</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I’m all up in your area like your zip code</div><div style="text-align: justify;">98058’s the life and 425’s the mode</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Makin’ wrong what once was right, enemies quick to take flight</div><div style="text-align: justify;">When day becomes night, suddenly I’m out of sight</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">BLAM! BOOM! BLING-BLANG-BLOW!</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">My rhymes are all up in your face so what you gonna do now?</div><div style="text-align: justify;">You’re retreating like a coward from my lyrical attack</div><div style="text-align: justify;">My beats are all up on you like the shirt upon your back</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I need a drink of water, fire’s getting hotter,</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The TV’s showing re-runs of M*A*S*H* with Colonel Potter,</div><div style="text-align: justify;">But I’m stuck in one place, yo, rooted like a rose</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Pigs flyin’ overhead, ground cold cuz hell FROZE!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">HOOK:</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Fastball, change-up, throwin’ you a curve</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Watch your back cuz in the end you’re gonna get what you deserve</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Fastball, change-up, throwin’ you a curve</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the end, y- y- y- you get what you deserve!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">VERSE 2:</div><div style="text-align: justify;">As my Antarctic flows snowed down, the roads froze</div><div style="text-align: justify;">And numbed the nose of every person in the first 5 rows</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ill circulation to the extremities</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Scarves and hats and ski jackets hide your identity</div><div style="text-align: justify;">You gots to know your enemies;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">see the wolves dressed up as sheep</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Adversary has connections that run deep</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Get off of my back, my liberty I keep</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Awaken from your slumber cuz mentally you’re asleep</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">BEEP! BEEP! Who you beepin’ at, freak?</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Run your ideas through your brain before you speak!</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Pull back your mask and expose your scaly skin</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Cuz we’re exposin' your nature and we’re in it to win, yo</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Life burns with intense ferocity</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Fate is not without a sense of reciprocity</div><div style="text-align: justify;">But destiny can suddenly throw you a curve</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the end y- y- y- you get what you deserve!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">[HOOK]</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Track 2 - "Sharpdressed"</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Verse 1:</div><div style="text-align: justify;">[phone rings]</div><div style="text-align: justify;">(Actual phone call): "What up? Oh, just kicking it here in the studio... so, did you wanna come here then?"</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Slick with the wardrobe,</div><div style="text-align: justify;">talented with the comb,</div><div style="text-align: justify;">ladies flocking just as if I was </div><div style="text-align: justify;">a walking pheromone.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Never alone for too long</div><div style="text-align: justify;">before there's someone on the phone</div><div style="text-align: justify;">like a homing beacon</div><div style="text-align: justify;">something always makes my presence known</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Every word, every gesture</div><div style="text-align: justify;">every gaze is efficacious</div><div style="text-align: justify;">please excuse me if I am</div><div style="text-align: justify;">overly ostentatious</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">in my All-Stars and my</div><div style="text-align: justify;">three-piece suit, you're caught</div><div style="text-align: justify;">on the double-windsor</div><div style="text-align: justify;">perfect triangle in the knot </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">IN MY TIE</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">looking like i'm a groom's best man</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">LOOKIN'</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> FLY</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">i don't know why, i'm just a blessed man</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I don't have to try hard</div><div style="text-align: justify;">or be an obsessed man</div><div style="text-align: justify;">it's just that every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp-dressed man</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">HOOK:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">I'M SMOOTH</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">like polished marble</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">I'M SHARP</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">like an exacto</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">I CRUISE</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">from the commencement to the </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">EX POST FACTO</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Playin' for the love of the game</div><div style="text-align: justify;">not the glory</div><div style="text-align: justify;">girl, why don't you come over here</div><div style="text-align: justify;">and tell me your story.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">VERSE 2:<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I'm just being</div><div style="text-align: justify;">honest when I say the way I</div><div style="text-align: justify;">play is to have a different</div><div style="text-align: justify;">lady every day<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> OF THE</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">WEEK<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; ">, hanging on my </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">arm and on every <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">WORD</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">I SPEAK</span>, loving all the</div><div style="text-align: justify;">charm, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">IT'S THE CLASS THAT THEY SEEK</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As if the game had cruise control</div><div style="text-align: justify;">i hit "resume"</div><div style="text-align: justify;">and quickly introduce myself</div><div style="text-align: justify;">to every lady in the room</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If attention's like sunlight,</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I'm kicked back and baskin'</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Gentleman or gigolo?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">DEPENDS ON WHO YOU'RE ASKIN'!</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Some people think I'm insane</div><div style="text-align: justify;">most people sayin' I'm vain</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Struttin' round with my</div><div style="text-align: justify;">momentary main jane</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Every time we spin a hook</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I get another look</div><div style="text-align: justify;">another name in my </div><div style="text-align: justify;">little black book</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I'm gonna shake your life, girl</div><div style="text-align: justify;">you're bound to get <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">SHOOK</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I'm prone to stealin' hearts, girl</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">IT'S BOUND TO GET TOOK</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I must confess</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I want you to acquiesce, let down your guard</div><div style="text-align: justify;">it ain't how much you win, girl</div><div style="text-align: justify;">it's how you play your cards!<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">[HOOK]</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"(laughs) ... 98058 ... ok, cool, so I'll see you in a little while, then. ok, i'll talk to you then."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">TRACK 3 - The Acceptable Intolerance</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Verse One:</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hate, nobody claims to</div><div style="text-align: justify;">have, but they partici-</div><div style="text-align: justify;">pate, in bigotry with</div><div style="text-align: justify;">help, and sanction from the</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">state, which dictates</div><div style="text-align: justify;">what we congratulate</div><div style="text-align: justify;">controlling public enmity</div><div style="text-align: justify;">determining my fate</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The wizard's just a cover</div><div style="text-align: justify;">for the man behind the curtain</div><div style="text-align: justify;">his voice booms "EQUALITY!"</div><div style="text-align: justify;">but what I know for certain</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">is that it doesn't exist,</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The nickel's just been flipped over</div><div style="text-align: justify;">vilification again,</div><div style="text-align: justify;">history's pattern tripped over</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A well-meaning public</div><div style="text-align: justify;">has now become the subject</div><div style="text-align: justify;">of plans to get them upset</div><div style="text-align: justify;">'bout those that rise above it</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Everything that's holy's burning!</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Gather round the fire!</div><div style="text-align: justify;">They conspire against all belief</div><div style="text-align: justify;">in something higher</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">than human desire, then in</div><div style="text-align: justify;">every public school require</div><div style="text-align: justify;">that all students must admire</div><div style="text-align: justify;">their filthy league of liars</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">the acceptable intolerance</div><div style="text-align: justify;">has traveled through the wire</div><div style="text-align: justify;">and become the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">status </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">quo</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">let's all wallow in mire!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">VERSE 2:</div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Peace" improperly defined</div><div style="text-align: justify;">as "absence of debate"</div><div style="text-align: justify;">will only numb the mind</div><div style="text-align: justify;">so that it can't equate,</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">they never tolerate</div><div style="text-align: justify;">somebody's sense of self</div><div style="text-align: justify;">unless you put your faith</div><div style="text-align: justify;">and soul upon the shelf.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They want their thoughts applied</div><div style="text-align: justify;">to everyone <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">but</span> them</div><div style="text-align: justify;">"everyone's equal"</div><div style="text-align: justify;">but dissenter's they condemn</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The media is rife</div><div style="text-align: justify;">with patronizing views</div><div style="text-align: justify;">they want respect</div><div style="text-align: justify;">but do their best to clear the pews.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Just look at the news</div><div style="text-align: justify;">search for the clues</div><div style="text-align: justify;">society's bruise</div><div style="text-align: justify;">surrounding abuse</div><div style="text-align: justify;">dividing the hues</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I lose faith in intentions</div><div style="text-align: justify;">'cuz moral dissension</div><div style="text-align: justify;">denies intervention</div><div style="text-align: justify;">it goes without mention there's unbroken tension</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And then they choose what we fight</div><div style="text-align: justify;">they cause you to hate</div><div style="text-align: justify;">they know what we fear</div><div style="text-align: justify;">they know how to bait</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">With the security of brothers</div><div style="text-align: justify;">to the hateful lust for foes</div><div style="text-align: justify;">the acceptable intolerance exists</div><div style="text-align: justify;">'cuz no one knows.</div></div>Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324291132989317852noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6574995592033374830.post-24623614393792627562009-04-29T14:03:00.000-07:002009-05-08T15:58:40.854-07:00allow me to explain myself: how i became an audio nerd<div style="text-align: justify;">I'm an enormous nerd. In lots of different ways, too. I'm a <a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=37048758&l=62461e6746&id=17831312">computer nerd</a>, a <a href="http://lifeintheabstract.blogspot.com/2008/05/summer-book-list.html">book nerd</a>, and a <a href="http://jakehawkenphilosophy.blogspot.com/">philosophy nerd</a>, among many other sub-species. One of my biggest areas of nerdity is music and audio. The technical term for it is to say that I'm an "audiophile." I love all things that involve enhancing the experience of listening to music.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">[Warning: This blog post is very long. Just skip it if you're in a hurry. -Jake]</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">You might think that this affection comes directly from my personal work as a recording technician and sound designer, but it has deeper roots. I was conditioned at a young age to become the way I am. My dad was a casual audiophile himself, and I grew up in a home where the central element of the living room was a modular, analog stereo system, complete with speaker cabinets my dad had built himself (with four-way crossovers!!). In the age before the $99, 5.1 surround-sound home theater system - or any surround-sound home theater for that matter - I watched <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Star Wars</span> on a s0-s0 television, but with front-and-back, dual-stereo speaker cabinets, each of which being about 5 feet tall. That's 16 individual drivers (speakers) throwing sound at me with every swipe of a lightsaber and every footfall of an imperial walker (yes, I'm that kind of nerd too). So you see, my ears were kind of spoiled.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Thus began a long, complicated, and often frustrating love affair with recorded sound. Over the years, my tastes and preferences matured. My preference for <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">lots</span> of bass (due, I'm sure, in large part to the fact that teenagers' ears are less sensitive to low frequencies), was gradually replaced with a preference for <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">clear</span> bass. My preference for <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">loud</span> stereos and speakers was replaced with a preference for <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">accurate</span> ones. I became pickier, yes, but at the same time, I appreciated the good stuff so much more.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">A History of Formats</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The first recordings I ever listened to were on cassette tape, and on vinyl. Tape was obviously easier and more convenient, so expediency conquered and I was a tape man for years. CD was a definite step-up, as it reduced many of the limitations of tape and, let's be honest, it sounded better. I had never listened to an mp3 until I was about 16 or so, and by then, I'd kind of lowered my audio standards, or rather I'd forgotten my roots, and I accepted mp3 quality at face-value. It was a moot point really, because any listening I did to mp3's at that point usually was done through cheap little computer speakers, thus filtering out any fidelity that might be there to begin with.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Before I go on, let me explain a couple things, and hopefully dispel a couple myths. Tape in general, is not a bad format. To this day, tons of professional studios use reel-to-reel tape machines in conjunction with digital media, because of it's fidelity and because of certain sonic properties that tape naturally has. Tape cassettes, however, no matter what the pimply kid in the skinny jeans tells you, are a terrible medium. Cassette, because of it's physical limits, necessitated frequency manipulation when mass-producing, producing that well-known high-frequency hiss. Also, due to the magnetic nature of audio tape, over time it is subject to a process called "print through," in magnetic information on one part of the tape bleeds over onto whatever part of the tape it is pressed up against, and <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">vice </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">versa</span>. Ever listen to a tape you've had for a long time, and hear stuff going on in the background at a silent part? Or hear what the guy is about to say get said really quietly right before he says it? That's print through. Yes, this happens with <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">all</span> tape, but in studios, they minimize print-though by storing the tape with the reels wound tail-end out, so that any echo happens during the sound and not before it. Also, unlike studio tape, cassettes get information recorded to both sides of the tape, making it possible to wind it in such a way as to avoid print-through issues. In general, cassettes suck for anything besides digitial information, but that's a completely different can of worms to be discussed in a later post (keep your eye out for a post on digital audio).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Getting Serious</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I became obsessed with recording when I first got a tape recorder when I was about 6, but I started getting serious about it when I was 16. I did a bunch of research, reading books and magazines and picking <a href="http://artmusicwords.blogspot.com/">this guy's</a> brain. I took out a loan from my parents and bought my first recording setup. I got way into it, even though I had no idea what I was doing and sounded like boiled poop half of the time. But it had become a quest for me.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">After returning from a 2-year mission for my church, I started working at Guitar Center and assembling my rig in a piecemeal fashion. As I started listening to digital formats like mp3, wmv and wav through nice (well, at least <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">nicer</span> equipment) I discovered that yes, in fact there <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">was</span> a difference between them, and yes indeed they were almost always lower quality than CD's. It wasn't until a couple years later, while studying music in college that I discovered that vinyl, that format I'd never really become attached to, and which I had just assumed was inferior, was actually higher in fidelity than all of the rest of them... And it blew my mind.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">Digital? No.... Well, Ok</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Did I go out and buy a turntable with an expensive needle cartridge and a super-sweet analog stereo system? No. Unfortunately, expediency (coupled with an empty pocketbook) once again took me away from vinyl. I do plan, in my future home to have a study / listening room in which I will have vinyl records and a super-sweet hi-fi setup, but in the meantime I'm a digital man.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Let's face it. Analog will always be nicer, but digital will always be more accessible, transferable, and generally more convenient. So, is there a place for us audiophiles in the digital realm? You betcha.<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I first really started listening to mp3's in earnest with the purchase of my first iPod back in the summer of 2005. It was a 20GB <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPod_Photo">iPod Photo</a>. I loved it with all of my heart. I began ripping CD's to mp3 left and right. My ears were still relatively immature at this point, and I still hadn't really discovered the limitations of the mp3 format for myself. And I didn't for another year or so. As I accumulated more and more high-end equipment via my employee discount, I was surprised to find that I was hearing <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">more</span> problems with sound quality. It was ironic, but more importantly it was skin-itchingly frustrating. What it actually took me about 2 or 3 years to discover is that the sound quality problems had<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> always</span> been there, they were just more obvious because of the quality of the equipment they were being played on and through. Turns out that 128kbps mp3's weren't quite as acceptable as I'd thought they were.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">By winter 2006/2007, I would only create mp3's at 192kbps, and it was acceptable most of the time, but still, certain songs, usually loud ones, would drive my ears crazy. It got worse. And worse. Soon, I was thinking that all my equipment was going bad. Nice equipment, paired with ears that were being given a college education, combined to create a constantly uncomfortable and unsatisfied Jake. Then, just a couple months ago, it occurred to me. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Could it be that iTunes sounds bad? No way, I mean, it's APPLE for goodness sake! It should be great.</span> So, to test out my theory, I opened up the same mp3's in iTunes and in that ugly, clunky old program, Windows Media Player, and I did an A/B comparison. Result: Holy crap, iTunes is distorting my music!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">The Sweet Melody of the Songbird</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Just weeks before discovering this malady, I was introduced to a fantastic-sounding, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">free</span> mp3 encoding format called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LAME">LAME</a>, and to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_bitrate">variable bit-rate</a> mp3's. They sounded a ton better than normal mp3's, but iTunes was still distorting my stuff, so one day, while visiting one of the audio/music snobbery websites that I browse, I came across a forum thread where a bunch of snobs were discussing what media players they used. I did a google search for every one of the players they mentioned. Eventually, I came across a wondrous little gem of potential awesomeness by the name of <a href="http://www.blogger.com/getsongbird.com/">Songbird</a>. I went through the mp3's that had distorted the most when listening in iTunes, and not once was there an ounce of distortion. Not one crackle!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Some of the other players were more critically acclaimed, and a couple of them - <a href="http://www.foobar2000.org/">Foobar</a>, for example - are renowned for being the highest fidelity media players, but I chose Songbird for a couple reasons. Firstly, it serves my needs as pertains to audio fidelity. Secondly, it is completely modifiable. It's made by Mozilla, and it's doing for media players what Firefox did for web browsers. Like Firefox, there are tons of add-ons you can install into it, like a window that displays the lyrics of your songs, or a pane that displays recommendations based on your current selection, or even the ability to <a href="http://webtrends.about.com/od/glossary/g/what-is-a-tweet.htm">tweet</a> about the song you're listening to. In this day of the iPhone, desktop widgets and the Google Android mobile OS, any software that doesn't let you customize is quickly going obsolete. Customization is the future, so I'm a big fan of Songbird.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So, there you have it. My nerd-history (nerdstory?) in a digital nutshell; How I got to where I am and how I justify it. There you go. I want to reward you for getting all the way through this post if you did, so since there is no way to dispense candy via the internet, here are the download links for two LAME-encoded variable-bitrate mp3's (at maximum quality: V0), of two recent songs of mine:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.filefreak.com/pfiles/94315/When%20I%20Dream%20(257%20final).mp3">When I Dream</a> (with a new guitar solo, by the talented Tyler Nickl)</li><li><a href="http://www.filefreak.com/pfiles/94315/making%20the%20grade%20-a%20robots%20lament.mp3">Making the Grade (A Robot's Lament)</a></li></ul><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Enjoy! (Just don't listen to them in iTunes if you want to get the most out of them!)</span></span></div></div>Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324291132989317852noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6574995592033374830.post-12757752886477975912009-04-26T20:24:00.000-07:002009-04-27T14:16:16.802-07:00'The Sandwich'<div style="text-align: justify;">Recently, I did some music for a video made by <a href="http://www.projectlineinc.com/">Projectline, Inc.</a>, a creative services / marketing firm (I'm probably describing them incorrectly) based in my beloved Seattle. It's a funny video promoting their company, and was w<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">ritte</span>n and directed by my lovable big brother <a href="http://benhawken.com/">Ben</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I made sort of a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_beat">big beat</a> kind of track, and tipped my hat to Dr. Dre with some low brass. I tripled-up the bassline with brass, synth (GForce <a href="http://gforcesoftware.com/ins_imposcar.php">impOscar</a>) and piano, and added a screaming synth lead (Native Instruments <a href="http://www.vintagesynth.com/misc/pro53.php">Pro-53</a>) near the end. I had a lot of fun doing it, and I think it turned out well. Check it out for yourself.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Click <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL-JxvHSO6Q">HERE</a>, or watch below:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre; font-family:Arial;font-size:10px;"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oL-JxvHSO6Q&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oL-JxvHSO6Q&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre; font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">UPDATE (4-27-09):</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I also did the "theme song" for their <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Ask Larry </span>segment (Larry being their IT guy), which can be seen <a href="http://s241.photobucket.com/albums/ff123/admittedlyhawken/?action=view&current=LarrytheITGuyReallyFINAL__24">HERE</a>. It which also uses track 4, "Want and Should," from my album <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Fragments in Abstract</span>, which you can listen to on the sidebar of the blog: ---------></div>Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324291132989317852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6574995592033374830.post-10687410377755969792009-04-09T19:44:00.000-07:002009-04-27T14:04:51.666-07:00new track: 'Making the Grade (A Robot's Lament)'<div style="text-align: justify;">Once again, my songwriting class prompted me - out of necessity - to take an old song idea (this one from last summer) and finish it up. Well, finish it enough to turn it in.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For this project, we had to collaborate. Our <a href="http://music.byu.edu/ya/MDT/faculty_pages/faculty_ron.htm">professor</a> - who always stresses the fact that in the music business, writing music by one's self is the exception rather than the rule - assigned us into groups of 2-3 people. Now, up front, this filled me with terror. Let's just say that I would rather stuff angry hornets under my eyelids than collaborate with some of the people from this class. Most of them are decent songwriters and cool people, but there are a handful that I just can not stand. That said, there were several times while he was naming off groups, that my bowels froze in fear of a painfully forced collaboration of contradictory styles and artistic philosophies.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I was pretty much exhausted by the end, because my group was named last. I lucked out and got put with my good buddy Sage Min. He's a fantastic musician, has a great ear for chords, plays the keys like a maniac and we have similar tastes in music. When we got together to collaborate, we had lots of ideas but weren't sure which direction to go. In a moment of goofing off, I showed him a track I had started last summer which I'd decided needed to go back into the oven for a while. Like I said <a href="http://jakehawkenmusic.blogspot.com/2009/03/new-track-when-i-dream.html">in my last post</a>, this is par for the course for me. My typical progression happened here as well.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sage liked it and decided to help me finish it off. The chords were kind of chunky and disconnected, and Sage helped me to smooth them out and transition more nicely. Also, the song didn't have a bridge. I came up with the first chord, and Sage basically finished it off. Since I haven't reinstalled all my old synthesizer plugins yet, we actually took slices of the audio from the bass line from the verses and re-sequenced and re-pitched them to create a bassline for the bridge that matched the rest of the song. Sage also laid down a perfect keyboard solo with which to end the song.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I wrote the lyrics for the verses last summer, and couldn't come up with lyrics for the bridge until I this project. The impetus for the song was that I was newly married and I felt like I wasn't very good at it. I loved my wife so much and I wanted to do everything perfectly for her, but I was learning about shortcomings and inadequacies that I never even knew I had. Not because she was pointing them out - certainly do not take it that way - but because I was devoted to her and wanted desperately to be everything she'd ever need.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I often think in metaphors, because I'm usually thinking of ways to phrase my thoughts in such a way that they'd be convincing if pressed to defend them. I guess that's what I get from growing up with a brilliant older brother who is a master of rhetoric and argumentation. Or maybe it's because about 5 or 6 years ago, I realized that lyrics were far more important than I had previously given them credit for, and that since I was terrible at writing them, I should start working on the art of lyricism. I think it's about six of one and a half-dozen of the other. But anyway, the metaphor that came into my mind as a result of the newest addition to the pantheon of my shortcomings, was that of a machine that wasn't very good at doing the the main thing it was built to do. I thought it a simultaneously amusing and sad thought and began considering how that machine would feel if it could feel.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The result of my musings on that silly idea are the lyrics to this song. I realized that the verses made it appear that my marriage generally saddens me, which couldn't be further from the truth. I've never been happier in my life. So, since the bridge of a song usually represents a shift in thinking or some sort of catharsis, I used it as a vehicle to demonstrate the happy <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meliorism">meliorism</a> that my original chain of thought eventually led me to.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Now, after being a blowhard for several paragraphs, I'll let you listen to it. The lyrics are below.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><img style="visibility:hidden;width:0px;height:0px;" border="0" width="0" height="0" src="http://counters.gigya.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bT*xJmx*PTEyMzkzMzc*MzIxNTgmcHQ9MTIzOTMzODg*NTAyMCZwPTI3MDgxJmQ9bWluaV9tdXNpY19wbGF5ZXJfZmlyc3RfZ2VuJmc9MSZ*PSZvPTcyZjM1MzM5ZWNjYTQ3NDhhOTcwZjk2OTQwZmJhNTY1.gif" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://cache.reverbnation.com/widgets/swf/13/widgetPlayerMini.swf?emailPlaylist=playlist_679487&backgroundcolor=EEEEEE&font_color=000000&shuffle=&autoPlay=false" height="83" width="262"></embed><br /><a href="http://www.reverbnation.com/c./a4/13/200479/Artist/0/User/link"><img alt="Jake%20Hawken" border="0" height="12" src="http://cache.reverbnation.com/widgets/content/13/footer.png" width="262" /></a><br /><img style="visibility:hidden;width:0px;height:0px;" border="0" width="0" height="0" src="http://www.reverbnation.com/widgets/trk/13/playlist_679487//t.gif" /><a href="http://www.quantcast.com/p-05---xoNhTXVc" target="_blank"><img src="http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-05---xoNhTXVc.gif" style="display: none" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt="Quantcast" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Verse 1:<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I'd like to hold her hand</div><div style="text-align: justify;">but sadly, I don't have one</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I've come so wrongfully equipped.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">All my components were</div><div style="text-align: justify;">just makeshift substitutions</div><div style="text-align: justify;">and when she ordered, I was shipped.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Verse 2:</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I know the purpose in my blueprint</div><div style="text-align: justify;">was to love her</div><div style="text-align: justify;">and all specifics that entailed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I came with all the right intentions</div><div style="text-align: justify;">but was missing</div><div style="text-align: justify;">the knowledge needed not to fail.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Bridge:</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Not everything that serves our purposes</div><div style="text-align: justify;">and needs is tailor made</div><div style="text-align: justify;">and even less-than-perfect tools</div><div style="text-align: justify;">can even prove to make the grade.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Oftentimes we find that we prefer</div><div style="text-align: justify;">a move we wouldn't normally play</div><div style="text-align: justify;">even with things we think that we are certain</div><div style="text-align: justify;">that we want another way.<br /></div>Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324291132989317852noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6574995592033374830.post-86570786035104281312009-03-18T23:42:00.000-07:002009-04-27T14:05:03.246-07:00new track: 'When I Dream'<div style="text-align: justify;">Recently, I had a project for my songwriting class in which we had to do a "produced song." That is to say a song that is of presentable, produced quality - whether recorded or performed live - such that you would feel comfortable presenting it in that way to a panel of publishers. I was at a loss as to what to do for the project, so I took my go-to method and decided to dig through my old stuff.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">To make a large understatement, my average song has always had a fairly long gestation period. My standard protocol was to come up with an idea, record it, develop it a little bit, then forget about it and move on to some other new idea. As a result, my hard drive is full of tons of old ideas, which is kinda bad, but also pretty good. <a href="http://cdbaby.com/cd/jakehawken">My album</a> I released last year is almost entirely composed of songs that were 2-3 years old by the time I finished them up and got them album-ready.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So anyway, I took a song I had started during the summer of 2005 and worked it up to demo quality. It was originally a Sting-ish pop track, but now has almost a Postal Service kind of electronic vibe to it.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Just two more things. First, now that I have a vocal mic that fits my specific voice really well, and now that I have my mixer back and can use its preamps instead of the cheesy digital ones built into my audio card, it is a million times easier to capture a nice sounding vocal track. You'll see what I mean when you listen to the track. Secondly, I play a "bass solo" on this and be forwarned: I AM NOT A BASSIST.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="visibility:hidden;width:0px;height:0px;" border="0" width="0" height="0" src="http://counters.gigya.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bT*xJmx*PTEyMzc*NDMxNzMzNTkmcHQ9MTIzNzQ*NTcyOTU3OCZwPTI3MDgxJmQ9bWluaV9tdXNpY19wbGF5ZXJfZmlyc3RfZ2VuJmc9MSZ*PSZvPTBmNDM4ZDg5MTVjODQyNTE5OTlmZWY5NzAwOGFhOTRj.gif" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://cache.reverbnation.com/widgets/swf/13/widgetPlayerMini.swf?emailPlaylist=playlist_659512&backgroundcolor=EEEEEE&font_color=000000&posted_by=artist_200479&shuffle=&autoPlay=false" height="83" width="262"></embed><br /><a href="http://www.reverbnation.com/c./a4/13/200479/Artist/200479/Artist/link"><img alt="Jake%20Hawken" border="0" height="12" src="http://cache.reverbnation.com/widgets/content/13/footer.png" width="262" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Lyrics:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Verse 1:</div><div style="text-align: justify;">When I dream I dream of you,</div><div style="text-align: justify;">When I sleep, you're in my dreams,</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I just wish you felt it too,</div><div style="text-align: justify;">You've gone away or so it seems.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As I go throughout my day,</div><div style="text-align: justify;">your voice echoes in my thoughts,</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Nothing keeps my mind at bay,</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I can't let go my heart is caught.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Chorus:<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Yesterday and yesteryear</div><div style="text-align: justify;">fade aimlessly away</div><div style="text-align: justify;">and the words that tell our history</div><div style="text-align: justify;">lay graying on the page.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">My weary heart grows still,</div><div style="text-align: justify;">and I bide my time until</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I find there's something I can do</div><div style="text-align: justify;">but in the meantime,</div><div style="text-align: justify;">when I dream I dream of you.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Verse Two:</div><div style="text-align: justify;">When I look, you're all I see,</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Who you are is what I need,</div><div style="text-align: justify;">You mean everything to me,</div><div style="text-align: justify;">but if you leave I won't impede.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">[Chorus]<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: justify; ">When I dream I dream of you,</div><div style="text-align: justify; ">When I sleep, you're in my dreams,</div><div style="text-align: justify; ">I just wish you felt it too,</div><div style="text-align: justify; ">You've gone away or so it seems.</div></div>Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324291132989317852noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6574995592033374830.post-62196783630888153942009-03-04T13:27:00.000-08:002009-03-04T13:43:28.139-08:00jazz brings out the worst in my face<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1n6VN2u8smo/Sa7zVQ-ET4I/AAAAAAAAAeM/0GrbdXu5QfQ/s1600-h/jake+drums+3.jpeg" style="text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span><img style="text-decoration: underline;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1n6VN2u8smo/Sa7zVQ-ET4I/AAAAAAAAAeM/0GrbdXu5QfQ/s320/jake+drums+3.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309448557374492546" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">I've been playing with the MFJQ for a while now, and I've realized something that's gotten worse with age: my drumming grimace. I mean, I'm straight-up butt-ugly when I play drums in general, but especially when I play jazz. There's something about improvizing and paying attention to what other players are doing that gives me the ol' <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BqBTmXNyzM">bitter beer face</a>. I mean look at this one from last night's gig:<br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1n6VN2u8smo/Sa7zVHgvvCI/AAAAAAAAAeE/Jo-qhtehKm4/s1600-h/jake+drums+2.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1n6VN2u8smo/Sa7zVHgvvCI/AAAAAAAAAeE/Jo-qhtehKm4/s320/jake+drums+2.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309448554835590178" /></a>Yikes. I look like some sort of grumpy polemarch or something. It's sad to say that in the last year, this is the most flattering picture taken of me while playing the drums:</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1n6VN2u8smo/Sa7zUyyQqKI/AAAAAAAAAd8/hYxfdHMDSps/s1600-h/jake+drums+1.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1n6VN2u8smo/Sa7zUyyQqKI/AAAAAAAAAd8/hYxfdHMDSps/s320/jake+drums+1.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309448549271906466" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Hey, at least the drums look cool, right?</div></div>Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324291132989317852noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6574995592033374830.post-88731819115092763942009-02-17T00:03:00.000-08:002009-04-27T14:05:23.461-07:00lyrics: 'Those Things You Said'<div style="text-align: justify;">I recently turned this in for a project in my songwriting class, in which I was supposed to write an pop tune in AABA form. I ended up getting marked down because since my "bridge" was in the same key as the rest of the piece, ended on the tonic and ended with the title, it was really a "chorus." I didn't feel like refuting my teacher, so I just looked him in the eye and said, "Ok." I've labeled it "properly" below. Enjoy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Those Things You Said</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">By Jake Hawken</span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Verse One:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Call me a charlatan,<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">a player, or a libertine,</div><div style="text-align: justify;">or call me a boring prude,</div><div style="text-align: justify;">or any slander in-between,</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Your epithets so stive</div><div style="text-align: justify;">to validate your disposition</div><div style="text-align: justify;">though I'm your voodoo doll <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">du jour</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">it won't change your condition.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Verse Two:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I've become your whipping boy,</div><div style="text-align: justify;">the scapegoat for your attitudes</div><div style="text-align: justify;">for me to say you brought them on yourself</div><div style="text-align: justify;">would be a platitude.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">To justify your words</div><div style="text-align: justify;">you seek to vilify my name,</div><div style="text-align: justify;">it must be so much easier</div><div style="text-align: justify;">to always shift the blame.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Chorus:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But those things that you said,</div><div style="text-align: justify;">keep ringing in my ears,</div><div style="text-align: justify;">and I can't shake the feeling</div><div style="text-align: justify;">that it's because they're what I needed to hear</div><div style="text-align: justify;">...those things you said....</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Verse Three:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I really hope that you</div><div style="text-align: justify;">get therapeutic benefit</div><div style="text-align: justify;">from your antipathy</div><div style="text-align: justify;">but can this please be the end of it?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Discouraged by your lack</div><div style="text-align: justify;">of what I happen to possess,</div><div style="text-align: justify;">well, if it helps you sleep at night</div><div style="text-align: justify;">then blame me for your stress.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">[CHORUS]</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Bridge:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Those things you said to me,</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I'm sure were said in enmity</div><div style="text-align: justify;">and nothing else that I can see,</div><div style="text-align: justify;">but I can't seem to let it be.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Forces tend toward entropy,</div><div style="text-align: justify;">but this is an eternity,</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Won't someone come and set me free</div><div style="text-align: justify;">from all these things you said to me.</div>Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324291132989317852noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6574995592033374830.post-17547595847121435682009-02-04T13:32:00.000-08:002009-04-27T14:05:46.452-07:00lyrics: 'Does It Matter?'<div style="text-align: justify;">Back during my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">firts</span> year at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">BYU</span>, when I wasn't even a music major yet, and hadn't yet realized that I wanted to minor in philosophy, I took Philosophy215. It was "Introduction to Philosophy of Religion." I had studied Descartes when I took Phil101 in community college, and had found his ideas captivating, though disappointingly inconclusive. Descartes' Evil Genius concept, basically stated that for all we know, we could be <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">decieved</span> about all of our external perceptions, so how do we know that some evil genius isn't deceiving us about <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">everythign</span> we experience? How do we know <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">anyting</span> about anything? His answer to this is discouragingly circular, and the question stuck with me. (As a side note, this also made me think of the "Real President of the Galaxy" in the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Hitchhiker's</span> Guide</span> series of books, if you've ever read them.)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I studied a little David Hume as well. Hume stated that there is no truly objective way to prove causation. That is to say, that there's nothing except the raw experience of things seeming to happen consistently, upon which to base any belief in things being "caused." This was also a concept that stuck with me.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When I took Phil215, I was exposed to my now favorite philosopher, William James. James was the father of the Pragmatism movement, which states that practical consequences or real effects are vital components of both meaning <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">and</span> truth. In simpler terms, James basically says that a belief or idea has its "cash-value" measured by it's relevance to your actual, practical life. This brought me back to the Evil Genius... and enabled me to never worry about the evil genius again, because, even if there was one, does it really matter? If he never shows himself in his work, does it matter? That was the idea that spawned this song. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I thought the idea of a philosophical love song was kind of fun, so instead of the evil genius, I had the song postulate about the existence of a lover, and the ramifications of trusting not just your <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">perceptions</span>, but also your heart. I recently took the idea, cleaned it up and presented it in my songwriting class. Also, if you pay attention to the rhythm of the lyrics (and the music, once I get that posted up on here), you can probably tell that I was listening to "I Don't Trust Myself With Loving You" by John Mayer... a lot.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Now, hopefully it <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">wil</span> be fun to see if you can point out how all of that ties into these lyrics:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Does It Matter?</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">by Jake <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Hawken</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">VERSE ONE:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">How do I know what the truth is?</div><div style="text-align: left;">How can I find out what’s real?</div><div style="text-align: left;">Is it the things I can reason,</div><div style="text-align: left;">or is it the things I can feel?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Should I believe my perceptions?</div><div style="text-align: left;">How do I know love exists?</div><div style="text-align: left;">This all could be a deception,</div><div style="text-align: left;">Yet still this feeling persists.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">CHORUS:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">But does it matter if this is an illusion,</div><div style="text-align: left;">As long as you’re part of my confusion?</div><div style="text-align: left;">It don’t matter a bit if this is true,</div><div style="text-align: left;">If I can go on believing in you.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">VERSE TWO:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">You could be just an enigma,</div><div style="text-align: left;">And I could just be deceived,</div><div style="text-align: left;">Am I a creature of habit,</div><div style="text-align: left;">caught in this web that’s been weaved?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Let’s just assume for a minute,</div><div style="text-align: left;">that this has all been a dream,</div><div style="text-align: left;">I <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">wouldn</span>’t take back a moment</div><div style="text-align: left;">Even if this <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">wasn</span>’t quite what it seems.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">[CHORUS]</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">BRIDGE:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">In the end, I have nothing but faith</div><div style="text-align: left;">to inform me and to warn me,</div><div style="text-align: left;">Even if you don’t exist</div><div style="text-align: left;">You have transformed me,</div><div style="text-align: left;">So I have to ask…</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">[CHORUS]</span></span></div></div>Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324291132989317852noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6574995592033374830.post-73988577579314199482009-01-28T23:11:00.001-08:002009-01-28T23:48:50.827-08:00more from the MFJQ<div style="text-align: justify;">Since my last post on the subject, I've played 3 more shows at Muse Music and one more at FroYo with the Mathieu Foley Jazz Quintet. The Muse shows went alright, but the FroYo gigs have an energy that's unlike any other venue at which I've ever played jazz. Maybe this is how all the heavy-hitter jazz musicians feel when they go and play for people who actually enjoy jazz, hahaha.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But seriously, even though we usually make less money there than at Muse (due to the fact that at FroYo we only play for tips), playing at FroYo is usually more fun for both us and the audience members. Everybody is always hootin' and hollerin' and last time we played there, people were even dancing! People seem to pay attention and to cheer at the parts they like (as one is <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">supposed</span> to at a jazz show), and at the same time, they're talking, laughing and getting to know one another. It's great. I'd say that it's about 50% of it to our playing, and 50% the venue. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We have another show at FroYo this Friday. I'm so freaking excited. In addition to a ton of other tunes, we're going to be playing an arrangement I did of "Someday My Prince Will Come" in 5/4. I was surprised at how nicely the phrasing turned out in the odd time signature.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I hope those of you who live nearby can make it out. It's at FroYo (in the Albertsons parking lot, across University Parkway from Movies 8, right next door to Las Tarascas) and we'll be playing from 8-11pm. Come and go as your schedule permits!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">[We now also have a Facebook group for the MFJQ and a Facebook event for this show.]</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is also my sad duty to inform you that A Band Called Riley no longer exists, thus making the MFJQ my main gig. The lead singer, Travis, is moving to England at the end of the summer and the bassists is taking 17 credits of English. To be fair, I'm taking 17.5 credits of Music (11 classes), but the decision was made before I was consulted, and - funnily enough - I heard about it second-hand from the rhythm guitarist's <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">roommate</span>. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted!</div>Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324291132989317852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6574995592033374830.post-3995304725576601072008-12-25T15:16:00.000-08:002009-01-04T23:04:07.345-08:00Christmas music loot!!<div style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I got some pretty sweet Christmas loot this year, including some pretty sweet music-related stuff:<br /></span><ol start="1" type="1"><li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;" >Skullcandy <a href="http://www.skullcandy.com/shop/titan-p-82.html">Titan</a> earbuds. Now, be a ridiculous audophile if you want and reject earbuds out of hand, but when you're always on the go <i>- sans</i> a car - like <i>I</i> am, then big, bulky studio cans, while higher in sound quality, are not practical. But in the realm of earbuds, I've gotta tell you, these things are swwwweeet! Let me count the ways:<o:p></o:p></span></li><ol start="1" type="i"><li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;" >Unlike most earbuds that make up for their lack of true low frequency by over-abusing the proximity effect and thus making the low frequencies muddy and indiscernible, I was amazed by the clarity of the bass.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;" >The connections and plugs are solid, and the cable is soft and pliable.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;" >After you buy them, you can go to their website and register them, entitling you to </span><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style=";font-size:100%;" ><span style="">a) </span></span><span style=";font-size:100%;" >Full replacement for life if anything happens with normal use of them, and </span><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style=";font-size:100%;" ><span style="">b)<span style=""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style=";font-size:100%;" >Half the replacement cost if you do something stupid like hit it with a hammer or roll over it with your skateboard.<o:p></o:p></span></li></ol></ol> <ol start="2" type="1"><li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;" >A $25 iTunes giftcard.<span style=""> </span>Oohoohoo, the possibilities!!<span style=""> </span>This is better than cash to me, because it means it's guaranteed to be spent on music, and can’t be pilfered to buy our next gallon of milk.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;" >The coup de grace: The SE Electronics <a href="http://www.seelectronics.com/Mini.html">M1C Mini</a>.</span><span style=";font-size:100%;" ><span style=""> If you read this blog even sporadically, you're probably sick of hearing me blather about <a href="http://jakehawkenmusic.blogspot.com/2008/12/best-kind-of-dilemma.html">this</a> <a href="http://jakehawkenmusic.blogspot.com/2008/12/pick-up-phone.html">mic</a>.</span></span><span style=";font-size:100%;" ><span style=""> </span>Nonetheless, let me give the background of why this mic is so awesome: If you do any recording, you’re most likely familiar with the name Neumann.<span style=""> </span>Needless to say, they’ve produced high quality microphones for the last 80 years which have become the industry standard (not to mention being the inventors of such things as the stereo microphone and 48V phantom power).<span style=""> </span>In short, they’re gorgeous and they’re classy.<span style=""> </span>I’ve lusted after the Neumann <a href="http://neumann.com/?lang=en&id=current_microphones&cid=tlm103_description">TLM103</a> for the last 4 years, since I first used one in a recording session. Then, about 2 years ago, I first heard about the SE Mini, and couldn't believe my ears. A <span style="font-style: italic;">Chinese </span>microphone that was getting <span style="font-style: italic;">good</span> reviews? No way. And they were making a TLM103 <span style="font-style: italic;">knockoff</span>? Nothing about "<span style="font-style: italic;">Chinese Neumann knockoff</span>" sounded plausible to my ears.<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>But I reserved judgment and finally eventually got a chance to hear the TLM103 and Mini side by side. I almost pooped my pants to discover that on my particular voice, the Mini (priced at $169) sounded <span style="font-style: italic;">better</span> than the Neumann (priced at $1,100)! That was it. I <span style="font-style: italic;">had</span> to own one... but was poor as hell. Then about a month or so ago, I found out that they were discontinuing it (most likely a patent issue with Neumann), so I bumped it to the top of my list (after <a href="http://jakehawkenmusic.blogspot.com/2008/12/best-kind-of-dilemma.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">much deliberation</span></a>), so, I now own one! 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<![endif]--></m:defjc></m:rmargin></m:lmargin></m:dispdef></m:smallfrac></m:brkbinsub></m:brkbin></m:mathfont></m:mathpr></w:word11kerningpairs></w:dontvertalignintxbx></w:dontbreakconstrainedforcedtables></w:dontvertaligncellwithsp></w:splitpgbreakandparamark></w:dontgrowautofit></w:useasianbreakrules></w:wraptextwithpunct></w:snaptogridincell></w:breakwrappedtables></w:compatibility></w:donotpromoteqf></w:validateagainstschemas></w:punctuationkerning></w:trackformatting></w:trackmoves></w:worddocument></xml></span></div></div>Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324291132989317852noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6574995592033374830.post-84056993172713976342008-12-25T11:34:00.000-08:002009-04-27T14:05:59.180-07:00final synth project: 'Pick Up the Phone'Here's my Christmas gift to you! Haha.<br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />So for my synthesizer lessons, I had to create a pop-type song using the materials we had in the project studio on campus. I took that to heart and actually recorded most of the instruments live. I brought in my good buddy Tyler Nickl to play electric bass and acoustic guitar, and actually pulled out an old, crappy drumkit that was hidden in the back of the room. I had forgotten my DI box at home, so we had to record everything with the one mic they had set up. Luckily, it was the wonderful SE M1C Mini (discussed at length <a href="http://jakehawkenmusic.blogspot.com/2008/12/best-kind-of-dilemma.html">here</a>), which I cherish and adore. We tracked each instrument separately, including doing a mono drum track I played which distorted like hell but sounded fun and funky nonetheless.<br /><br />I had decided to do a mockup of a song that will be on my next album called "Pick Up the Phone." We recorded a verse and a chorus and then some more, but after that, it started falling apart like crazy. Since my "synthesizer lessons" focus mainly on production, I took the tracks home, to tweak them there. The mix went basically as follows:<br /><ol><li>I spent some time manipulating <span class="nfakPe">the</span> tempo to get things synced <span class="nfakPe">up</span>.<br /></li><li>I went all <span class="nfakPe">the</span> way through <span class="nfakPe">the</span> first verse <span class="nfakPe">up</span> to <span class="nfakPe">the</span> end of <span class="nfakPe">the</span> chorus and stretched everting so it grooved right on <span class="nfakPe">the</span> beat. This mainly consisted of stretching the beginnings of certain measures and leaving the rest alone, though there were a couple measures where I did a lot more.<br /></li><li>I created a lowpass filter send to boost <span class="nfakPe">the</span> kickdrum, and sidechained <span class="nfakPe">the</span> lowest frequencies of <i>that</i> to <span class="nfakPe">the</span> compressor on <span class="nfakPe">the</span> bass guitar, so they wouldn't step on each others' feet. I also created a reverb send to gel <span class="nfakPe">the</span> track a little more.<br /></li><li>I put Native Instruments "Guitar Rig" on <span class="nfakPe">the</span> bass guitar and fiddled with <span class="nfakPe">the</span> settings to give it a little more growl. I think that in the end I gave it a little too much "growl" and not enough "boom."<br /></li><li>I panned <span class="nfakPe">the</span> keyboard and guitar off center, opposite from one another.</li><li>I smashed <span class="nfakPe">the</span> heck out of <span class="nfakPe">the</span> background vocals, panned about 3/4 left and right, and put them on their own submix so I could manipulate them with onefader. </li><li>I added a couple clap and latin percussion loops I had on my computer, dialed in fairly low, to just add a little more texture.</li><li>I created a submix to which everything except <span class="nfakPe">the</span> lead vocals were sent, to make <span class="nfakPe">the</span> balance of melody to backing track a little easier to play with.</li><li>I used <span class="nfakPe">the</span> Izotope Ozone mastering plugin on my master bus.</li></ol>That's about it. Not much to show for all that explanation. Here it is:<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cWFAY_WEPOw&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cWFAY_WEPOw&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div><br />In case you're interested, here's a screen cap of the Arrangement View in Live (click to enlarge):<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1n6VN2u8smo/SVPn9_ZwX6I/AAAAAAAAAcA/LiQNmR8mMdA/s1600-h/pick+up+the+phone+screencap+1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 349px; height: 217px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1n6VN2u8smo/SVPn9_ZwX6I/AAAAAAAAAcA/LiQNmR8mMdA/s200/pick+up+the+phone+screencap+1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283821840013221794" border="0" /></a><br /></div>Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324291132989317852noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6574995592033374830.post-88169261947037342892008-12-19T17:39:00.000-08:002008-12-19T19:20:41.538-08:00the best kind of dilemma<div style="text-align: justify;">So, I hate to write two posts in a month's time on the subject of music <span style="font-style: italic;">gear</span>, but I'm tackling a serious conundrum at the moment. As Tracy Morgan said on 30 Rock, "You've put me in quandary, Jack <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Donaghy</span>... a <span style="font-style: italic;">quandary!</span>" With great sadness, I learned that SE Electronics, the beneficiary of Communism's hatred toward patents and copyrights, discontinued their wonderful <a href="http://www.seelectronics.com/Mini.html">M1C Mini</a>, the knockoff of the <a href="http://neumann.com/?lang=en&id=current_microphones&cid=tlm103_description"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Neumann</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">TLM</span>103</a>. I had tried the two of them side by side and had been surprised to discover that on my particular voice, the Mini actually sounded <span style="font-style: italic;">better</span>. Considering that the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">TLM</span>103 cost $1,100 and the Mini cost $169, it <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">skyrocketed</span> to the top of my google wish list.<br /><br />Adding insult to injury, I found out that my Mom had ordered the Mini for me, only to discover after the fact that every site that sold it online was out of stock. <span style="font-style: italic;">Bollocks</span>. The upside is that as a result of this misfortune, I get to select something(s) of relatively the same value to take its place. *Kid in a candy shop!*<br /><br />My first window-shopping stop was <a href="http://www.fabfilter.com/products/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">FabFilter</span></a>. I've been eyeballing their plugins for a long time, now and let's just say that there isn't one of their products that I wouldn't mind owning. They're gorgeous sounding and have a <span style="font-style: italic;">fantastic</span> GUI. They have this amazing drag-and-drop modulation interface on most of their products that is cooler than all get out. In talking to my friend and mentor Aaron, I was made to realize that there are none of their products of which I don't already have at least a decent (and in many cases, <span style="font-style: italic;">stellar</span>) equivalent. So, with one last saliva-swallowing look, I moved on.<br /><br />What my rig <span style="font-style: italic;">has</span> been missing, is a good channel-strip <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">plugin</span>. Yeah, I have <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Live's</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Saturator</span></span> device, and I have some good compressors, not to mention a heavy-duty mastering <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">plugin</span> (<a href="http://izotope.com/products/audio/ozone/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Izotope</span> Ozone</a>), but I don't have a nice, all-in-one, <span style="font-style: italic;">warm</span> channel strip. My first thought was of PSP Audio's <a href="http://store.dontcrack.com/product_info.php?products_id=115"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11"></span>Vintage Warmer</a>. An exquisitely-crafted analog modeling compressor/limiter, that really is the king of analog/tube emulation. This has come highly recommended to me by friends and teachers. I've used a trial version of it before and <span style="font-style: italic;">love</span> the fatness it added to drums and the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">overall</span> thickness and warmth it added to mixes. One drawback however is that it's kind of niche <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">plugin</span> and would have very specified uses, perhaps limiting its frequency of use. Considering that I love vintage (I mean 1970s-style vintage) mix sounds, especially on drums, this would be an excellent addition to my rig.<br /><br />The next contestant is Wave Arts' <a href="http://store.dontcrack.com/product_info.php?products_id=184">Track Plug</a>. This has also come highly recommended to me, and on top of all of the praise I've heard heaped upon it, the thing that catches my eye most is its widely-celebrated CPU efficiency. It's system footprint so small, in fact, that it can be used on every track in a mix without much effort on the part of your computer. Now <span style="font-style: italic;">that</span> is an important feature in a channel-strip <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">plugin</span>. Professional reviews have had minimal and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">insignifcant</span> things to list in the "Cons" column, and heaps to say in the "Pros." Two compressors, a gate, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">EQ</span>, "clean" and "warm" settings, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">sidechaining</span> on all of the dynamics sections, and much, much more. Definitely a contender.<br /><br />Then I got to thinking about my hardware. I had originally wanted that damn SE Mini, so I <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">looked</span> on <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">eBay</span> and found it there. Expecting to find it at some sort of terrible average between its original price and the price of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">Neumann</span>, I was pleasantly surprised to find it for $150. By this point, my head is swimming.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">You know</span>, I thought to myself, <span style="font-style: italic;">I am not a huge fan of the digital <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">preamps</span> built into my audio interface, and its phantom power is an enormous pain in the ass, so what about some kind of tube <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">pre</span>?</span> I immediately began scouring the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">internet</span> for tube <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">pre's</span> in my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">pricepoint</span>. A well acclaimed audio hardware manufacturer, ART Electronics, makes a couple inexpensive ones. I found myself quite taken with their <a href="http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/ART-Tube-MP-Studio-V3-Mic-Preamp?sku=180610&src=3WFRWXX&ZYXSEM=0&CAWELAID=26019074">Tube MP Studio V3</a>, and its <a href="http://www.zzounds.com/item--ARTTPSII">two-channel equivalent</a>. Having some nice, analog gear in the signal path between your performance and your mix is always a good thing. Especially considering that these both have output protection limiting and, of course, natural tube saturation. The only drawback for this is that I don't record audio as often as I mix, sequence and play with sound. It's just that when I <span style="font-style: italic;">do</span> record, I'm always unsatisfied with the sound of my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">preamps</span>. (I love my microphones. They are not the bottleneck here.)<br /><br />So there you have my quandary.<br /><br />Do I go with the Vintage Warmer, Track Plug, an ART tube preamp, or the microphone I originally asked for?<br /><br />With this post, I introduce a new label: "your input please?" Anytime you see this, I'm requesting your advice, opinion and expertise. So.... give it to me.<br /></div>Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324291132989317852noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6574995592033374830.post-91004732584314096332008-12-09T10:59:00.000-08:002009-01-28T23:49:23.634-08:00all is hip and funky in the MFJQ<div style="text-align: justify;">Well after 6 years of prodigality, I have returned to my roots. Throughout jr. high and high school, I lived, ate and breathed jazz. I was in zero-hour jazz band, I was in numerous jazz combos (including one which took 1st place in the AAAA division at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival), and I spent an ungodly amount on concerts at Seattle's wonderful <span style="font-style: italic;">Jazz Alley</span>. I have continued to be a consumer and lover of jazz ever since, but have had precious few opportunities to play. I have a ton of fun in the rock band I play for, but jazz is something that I've been missing for years now like some kind of precious, lost teddy bear. Enter my friend, Mat Foley.<br /><br />Last week, I was working at my recording job at the Madsen Recital Hall and a buddy from one of my classes, Mat Foley, came up to me and asked - knowing that I was a drummer - how my jazz chops were. My ears immediately perked up, and I informed that jazz was my bread and butter. He then asked if I could sit in with his combo at a gig that Friday. I just about crapped my pants with excitement. I asked if it was cool to bring a friend, and when given the green light, I got my good and incredibly talented friend, Tyler Nickl in on the action.<br /><br />I had heard Mat play rock, and had jammed with Tyler countless times, and on top of that, I found out that a sax player whom I had heard and been impressed by before was going to be playing with us. I couldn't have been more excited.<br /><br />The gig was at FroYo, a new frozen yogurt place in Provo (yeah, that sentence was a mouthful). Friday rolled around and as we all showed up for the gig, it looked pretty sparse. I didn't give it much thought, because all I cared about was playing some stinkin' jazz. As the night progressed, however, more and more and more people continued to filter in, out and through the room. And it wasn't just a good <span style="font-style: italic;">turnout</span> (quantitatively speaking), but the also a great <span style="font-style: italic;">audience</span> (qualitatively speaking). They were attentive, interested, expressive and into it.<br /><br />Tyler and I settled into the combo, which already played well together, as if we'd always played with them. It was so incredibly natural. It was like the locked-in groove that Ty and I have when we play together was designed to fit right into the Mat Foley Jazz Quintet. Also, much to my pleasure, we supplimented our jazz repretoire with a healthy dose of blues and funk. It was so incredibly fun. The audience members who had watched the MFJQ before seemed to take to me well and apparently the band did as well, because at the end of the night, they told me that if I wanted the position, I was their new drummer. I accepted, chomping at the bit.<br /><br />We have a show next tuesday, December 16th, at Muse Music, and now have a standing, monthly gig at FroYo. Hope you all can come out and see us! I'll try to get some pictures and video up soon.<br /></div>Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324291132989317852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6574995592033374830.post-7478633218592386342008-11-13T12:18:00.000-08:002008-12-19T19:22:03.721-08:00calling all computer nerds!<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:100%;">So, I'm picking out the parts for the Studyo's<span style="font-weight: bold;">*</span> next computer. I'm getting really excited. [<span style="font-style: italic;">NOTE: If you are not interested in computers and the like, please stop reading, as you might realize just how apt the name of my blog is.</span>] As is my custom, I'm getting as many people to weigh in on the tech side of things before I make my purchase.<br /><br />I'm trying to buy as few parts</span> as possible, but buy the most powerful ones I can afford (my minimalist philosophy on software is spilling over into my hardware). I've been really pleased with my old computer, and it has lasted a <span style="font-style: italic;">long</span> time as a machine which can compete well with anything prefabbed. However, I've learned quite a few things since building my last one, and want to avoid a couple mistakes I made.<br /><br />The biggest lesson I've learned is this: Never, ever underestimate the ability of Windows to waste space. Whatever they tell you is the recommended system requirements, double it. Since I don't trust Vista, I'm going to buy it and then downgrade to XP, but in case I ever develop dementia and decide to switch to Vista, I'm planning for its system requirements. They say that Vista needs to be put on a 40GB hard drive with 15GB of free space. I'm installing <span style="font-style: italic;">XP</span> on an <span style="font-style: italic;">80GB</span> partition of a 160GB hard drive. I'm probably tempting fate by making this taunt, but, "Try and fill up all of <span style="font-style: italic;">THAT</span> space with invisible crap, Windows!"<br /><br />Secondly, I've learned that it's never a good idea to scrimp on RAM. Since I plan on running XP still, I'm going to use the max possible, at 4GB. It's going to be dual-channel (2X2GB) Corsair XMS3 DDR3 RAM, which come equipped with their own aluminum heat-sinks. And since it's DDR3, it's both faster and uses less voltage than DDR2.<br /><br />Since I've already started doing it, let me get to the part all you computer nerds want. The parts list as it now stands. On each bullet point is a link to its stats on the website from which I'm buying the parts:<br /><ul><li style="text-align: left;"><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115018">CPU</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">:</span> Intel Core 2 Duo 3.16GHz 65W Dual-Core Processor</li><li style="text-align: left;"><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145200">RAM</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">:</span> 4GB of Corsair XMS3 240-pin DDR3 1600</li><li style="text-align: left;"><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131293">Motherboard</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">:</span> ASUS Striker II ATX Intel Motherboard with a NVIDIA nForce 790i SLI Northbridge</li><li><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127386">Video Card</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">:</span> MSI GeForce 9500 PCI Express Video Gard with 512MB of on-board RAM</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Hard Drives</span>: For my OS and for my software, I'm going to go pretty standard, but for my audio and samples, I'm going to use a <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136260R">Western Digital Velociraptor</a> 300GB SATA 3.0Gb/s drive running at 10,000RPM. Ahhh, yeeeeah.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Other stuff:</span> I'm going to scavenge the case, power supply, wireless card, audio/MIDI card, and my 40GB SATA 1.5GB/s hard drive from my old computer.</li></ul>Your thoughts? I'm excited to build this monster. It should be going down within the next 2 months. Wheeee! Yay for being a nerd! [I will update this post as changes occur.]<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">* </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;">My home studio is also my study, thus the amalgam, The Studyo.</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >[SAME-DAY-AS-POST UPDATE!]</span><br />Ok, so after many comments, I've changed my tune. I've made the following changes:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115018"><span style="font-weight: bold;">CPU</span></a>: Intel Core 2 Quad Core 2.4Ghz (which I will overclock up to 3GHz)</li><li><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121338R">Motherboard</a>: An Intel motherboard that is compatible with everything else I've selected. It has an Intel X48 chipset. Is that better (Justin and Bart)?</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Hard Drives</span>: I will stream samples off of a <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136296">150GB</a> 10,000RPM 3.0Gb/s drive, and run the audio for my projects on a <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136260R">300GB</a> drive of the same specifications. The OS and the programs will be on two separate, equally-sized partitions of a <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148230">160GB</a> 7200RPM 3.0Gb/s drive.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Other Stuff</span>: Like the CPU and Motherboard, my buddy Justin Aiken helped me find this nice, sporty little CPU <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134">cooling unit</a>. He either has this one or something similar. It's supposedly super quiet. With that and the fanless video card I've selected, this should be one silent little beast.</li></ul>Alrighty, my geeky brain trust, how's THAT?<br /></div>Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324291132989317852noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6574995592033374830.post-76858567084147417742008-11-12T00:29:00.000-08:002009-03-04T13:45:02.673-08:00battles and battle wounds<div style="text-align: justify;">Well last night (it's not really 'last night' for me at this point, as I have yet to go to bed) was pretty darn fun. The blues/rock band I play in, A Band Called Riley, played in Day 2 of the Muse Music Battle of the Bands. Muse is hosting a 6-day battle in which Monday through Friday are mini-battles and the winners from each night play again on Saturday. We played probably the best show we've ever played (in terms of our performance) and won. It was a fun night. Man oh man, how I missed playing the drums my first two years down here in Utah. I absolutely adore my instrument. And, though it's not the kind of music I'd ever write myself, this band is fun as hell.<br /><br />One of my favorite things about playing in this band, is that we're a bunch of nutballs on stage. In particular, our bassist Nate is certifiably insane when armed with an instrument. While playing, he is prone to stumble like a drunk, twitch like an epileptic, put his bass on the ground and smack it, chimp-style, and do generally manic things. [For an example of his on-stage stumbling, check out this video, from a concert we played during the summer, and skip forward to 2:23.]<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/D-IMQVwwdMA&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/D-IMQVwwdMA&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /></div><br />It might come as no surprise then, that tonight he <span style="font-style: italic;">broke his freaking finger</span> while playing... and then <span style="font-weight: bold;">proceeded to play the rest of the set</span>. After the show was over, he was quite cavalier about bringing it up. "Um, yeah, I think I might need to go to the emergency room once we get all our gear packed up. I'm pretty sure I broke my finger." I took one look at it, became certain that he was right, and then began to laugh uncontrollably at the utter nuttiness of the situation.<br /><br />And I don't even need to ask him to confirm this, but I can gaurantee that we will still play on Saturday. Ah, rock and roll....<br /></div>Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324291132989317852noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6574995592033374830.post-2862436051929929232008-10-30T22:17:00.000-07:002008-10-31T08:41:29.276-07:00artistic honesty and the human condition<div style="text-align: justify;">While I've always been a fairly introspective guy, I was never really able to put my temperament into words until I was introduced to my now favorite philosopher, William James. In his book, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Varieties of Religious Experience</span>, James describes how different religions appeal in different ways to people of differing temperaments, and sets forth two general kinds of temeraments. He calls them the Healthy-Minded and The Sick Soul. These are admittedly general categories, as James is always the first one to admit that "individuality outruns all classification," but they are <span style="font-style: italic;">good</span> general categories.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Sick Soul</span><br /><br />I've found that I fall into the latter of the the two. The Sick Soul is characterized by the view that "the evil* aspects of our life are of its very essence, and that the world's meaning most comes home to us when we lay them most to heart" (<span style="font-style: italic;">Varieties</span>, 124). For the Sick Soul, the recognition and admission that evil is an elemental part of both our existence and our interpretation of the universe, is key to achieving any kind of peace or solace.<br /><br />This is me to the letter. Yes, I'm a generally happy guy, but my thoughts and feelings are all underpinned by a general melancholia. My thoughts tend to center around what James claims to be the general observation of religion, which is that things are not as they ought to be. My optimism stems from what James says is the the general response of religion, which is that things can be made at least better than they are by unification <span style="font-style: italic;">with</span> or reconciliation <span style="font-style: italic;">to</span> something greater than us. For me, this is <span style="font-style: italic;">meliorism</span>, the idea that "that the world tends to become better or may be made better by human effort."<br /><br />But, despite all this purported optimism, the melancholy remains. No, I'm not saying that I'm clinically depressed or anything of that magnitude (in fact, I took a free screening on campus and they gave me clean bill of mental health!), but I'm saying that for me there is a certain amount of <span style="font-style: italic;">general</span> melancholy that comes with being mortal, living in a mortal world. Despite my belief that the world can (and ultimately <span style="font-style: italic;">will</span>) become a better place, I am ultimately aware that I suffer real pains, real mistakes and real losses.<br /><br />Because there are different temperaments, there are different kinds of art and more specifically, different <span style="font-style: italic;">approaches</span> to <span style="font-style: italic;">creating</span> art. Among many of my musician peers, and many of those whose place it is to instruct me in the same, there is a popular ideology which says that for music to be "uplifting" its lyrics have to be "happy" and have to avoid negative topics. While I believe that art should uplift, I don't think this method is a particularly effective or honest approach to achieving that end. I unable to speak for other people, but I personally can't get to the point where a piece of art can edify me or provide me with solace if it casts a blind eye to the things that are causing my turmoil to begin with. For me, there is no catharsis until after the conflict. That's the way it is in my life, and art doesn't make sense to me if it isn't in some way a mirror of that. Even an idealistic piece can tip its hat to the fact that things are <span style="font-style: italic;">not</span> as they are being portrayed.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Voicing the Voiceless</span><br /><br />This is the paradox of tragedy. Aristotle wrote about it, Plato and pals argued about it. Why is it that we find joy in seeing a tragic film or play, or in hearing a sad song about the broken heart of a fornlorn lover. To make the paradox clearer: How is it that we somehow find joy in being sad? I think that sad songs speak to us because in order to be healed or to find peace, we must first find a voice for the grief we're up against. I'm convinced that we're incapable, by ourselves, of saying everything that we need to say in this life, and thus need others to help us say the rest. This, to me, is the role of tragic art. It is the voice we give to pain so that the pain can be understood and handled.<br /><br />I watched the film "The Deer Hunter" this week. It was a Viet Nam Era piece starring Robert Deniro, Christopher Walken and Meryl Streep (to name a few), and was heartwrenching for me to watch. The majority of the time, I had a lump in my throat and was blinking back tears. The film depicted death, grief and the depletion of human will... yet I came out of it feeling profoundly uplifted. It did not have a happy ending by any obvious means, but I came away from it filled with an enriched view of the nature of loyalty and love, and with a hightened sense of . . . gratitude? Yes, it was gratitude, and this is a perfect example of "voicing the voiceless."<br /><br />When I was in first grade, my father was shipped off to Saudia Arabia to fight in Operation Desert Storm. I missed him terribly, but for the most part, I handled it quite well. When you're that young, your mind has a pretty big buffer so that emotionally devastating things don't hurt your development as much. I remember being well aware that the news had just stated that the city my dad was in was being bombed and seeing the fear in my mother's eyes and sometimes hearing her crying softly in her bedroom, but my little six-year-old brain would never allow me to process any of it. So as a result, my heart and mind were aware that I should devastated, but filed the information away for later processing. Fast-forward to this week. Seeing the horrible depictions of war, and grief and worried families and loyalty to one's country depicted in The Deer Hunter, suddenly fills me with an incredibly heartwrenching sense of gratitude for my father's willingness to serve his country and his eventual safe return. For the first time in 19 years, the pain I felt had been given a voice. It was finally in a form that was comprehensible, and consequently healable.<br /><br />The music that means the most to me and has the deepest emotional impact on me is the music that doesn't shy away from the sad things of the world. I am perpetually impressed by the lyrics of Sufjan Stevens who finds the beauty in those who we would ignore and the wisdom that can distil in times of sadness. Let me end with a line from one of his songs, called "For the Widows in Paradise," which stuck in my mind the first time I heard it and has stayed with me ever since:<br /><br /><blockquote>"Even if I come back, even if I die<br />Is there some idea to replace my life? "</blockquote><br />I hope that as a musician, there is at least one idea I can get across which will remain to take my place when I'm gone.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />*<span style="font-style: italic;">To be clear, I use the term "evil" in the general philosophical sense, meaning anything that causes pain or sadness, which includes - but is not limited to - moral evil.</span><br /></div>Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324291132989317852noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6574995592033374830.post-66894708135407082008-10-29T10:11:00.000-07:002008-11-12T00:48:43.061-08:00nerdcore for life<div style="text-align: justify;">So, there is a relatively new genre of music. Actually, it's a subgenre. It's called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerdcore">Nerdcore Hip-hop</a>. My brother recently <a href="http://www.benhawken.com/2008/10/nerds-rap-better-than-you-think.html">blogged about it</a>, as there's a documentary being made about it right now. It's pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Nerds rapping. The founder of nerdcore, <span style="font-style: italic;">qua</span> official genre, by the pseudonym of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nigRT2KmCE">MC Frontalot</a>, describes it as hip-hop that doesn't require you to be cool. Nerdcore is hip-hop that feels totally comfortable discussing computers, science fiction and RPG's, and - as opposed to traditional rap - being incredibly self-deprecatory.<br />After this <a href="http://jakehawkenmusic.blogspot.com/2008/10/old-scratch.html">most recent</a>* hip-hop project we did, Aaron and I decided it would be fun to do a whole album. I introduced Aaron to Nerdcore staples like MC Frontalot, Optimus Rhyme and MC Chris, and he said, "We have to do this." As the title of my blog denotes, I am all for embracing my nerdity, so we've embarked. Keep your ear to the ground, and check back on the blog regularly for updates and advance leaks.<br />Oh, and my nerdcore hip-hop name (or rather, my <span style="font-style: italic;">handle</span>)? One and the same with this blog's name: Geek is the New Cool.<br /><br /><br />*Way back in 2006, Aaron and I made a 3-track hip-hop project, titled "Nimbus." To hear the tracks <a href="http://www.vlaze.com/jakehawken">click here</a> and go to the tracks that start with the word "Nimbus."<br /></div>Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324291132989317852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6574995592033374830.post-6330514328016182952008-10-27T23:29:00.000-07:002009-03-04T13:45:25.836-08:00video games and recitalsSo, I'm a composer / sound designer (as an independent contractor) for a video game company back in Seattle called Flowplay, Inc. It's the coolest job I've ever had. It's not only is it by far the funnest job I've ever had, it's the best paying as well. I don't work regular hours like I do at my <span style="font-style: italic;">other <span style="font-weight: bold;">two</span></span> jobs, but the experience alone is worth it.<br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />Basically Flowplay makes one massively multiplayer online game (MMO, as it's called by geeks and those in the industry) for kids, which they continually add to. The game is called OurWorld, and can be played for free <a href="http://www.ourworld.com/">here</a>. If you go in and play around, somewhere from about 1/4 to about 1/3 of the music and sound effects you hear were created by me. The big sidewalk keyboard on Electric Avenue, the instruments in the Garage, the 'levelling up' sound, the ding of the 'food's done!' bell at the Diner: all me. I'm really enjoying the experience, and loving the work. How weird is that? Loving work?!<br /><br />Several samples of sound design work I've already done for them can be found <a href="http://www.vlaze.com/jacobhawkencommercial">here</a>.<br /><br />Recently, I've been working on a video for them. In a sense, I'm basically scoring a really, really, reeeally short film. We're talking like, one minute short. But still, I've always wanted to try my hand at it, and I've had a blast! More updates are forthcoming.<br /><br />Also, as one of my two day jobs, I'm working as a recording technician on campus, recording recitals and concerts in the recital hall at the fine arts building. It's a pretty neat job, I think. I like the work and enjoy the music and get to use some classy-sounding tube leveling amplifiers. Mmmm... Here's my workstation at that job. (To see it with labels, <a href="http://www.new.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=36339356&l=c7259&id=17831312">click here</a>.)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos-e.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v361/155/21/17831312/n17831312_36339356_8129.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 346px; height: 259px;" src="http://photos-e.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v361/155/21/17831312/n17831312_36339356_8129.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></div>Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324291132989317852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6574995592033374830.post-81309427928192219082008-10-27T16:47:00.000-07:002009-04-27T14:06:22.207-07:00contest entry: 'Old Scratch'<div style="text-align: justify;">My buddy <a href="http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?AID=269899&t=1356">Aaron</a> <a href="http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?songs=569426&T=1232">and I</a> are regular participants (he much more than I) on a remix contest website called Acid Planet. Recently he and I collaborated on an entry for a unique contest. As opposed to a traditional remix contest, the samples are to be extended into a song and then <span style="font-style: italic;">rapped over</span>. Yeah, I know I'm white, but I can bust a pretty decent rhyme, and Aaron's production makes me sound pretty good.<br /><br />The .zip file you download to get the contest samples was named "scratch," which I assume implies a "scratch track" or to the proverbial, manual turntable-shuttling procedure (i am such a dork). Either way, Jasinski had the idea of making it into a play on words and calling our track "Old Scratch," which (if you were unaware) is a nickname for the devil. Surprisingly enough, I think these are some of the best lyrics I've written in years.<br /><br />Our entry can be heard <a href="http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?PID=1165792&t=9230">HERE</a>. Check it out!<br /><br />(Also, for a point of reference, check out the provided <a href="http://www.acidplanet.com/Play/PlayClip.asp?clip=lukecage/lukecage%5Fscratch&t=3778">contest track</a>, and some of the <a href="http://www.acidplanet.com/music.asp?M=1&V=4&G=2550&t=963">other entries</a>.)<br /></div>Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324291132989317852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6574995592033374830.post-83986981190147238742008-10-27T16:22:00.000-07:002009-03-04T13:45:49.129-08:00my first mashup<div style="text-align: justify;">I put together this track at the beginning of the summer and was literally laughing out loud (or as I like to say it LLOL-ing) as I did so. It was a buddy's idea, and was my first attempt at making a legitimate mashup. I think it turned out quite well. It's a mashup of "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails and "Hit Me Baby One more Time" by Britney Spears. I present to you,<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">"I Wanna Hit You Like an Animal (One More Time)"<br /><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://cache.reverbnation.com/widgets/swf/13/widgetPlayerMini.swf?emailPlaylist=playlist_408705&backgroundcolor=EEEEEE&font_color=000000&shuffle=&autoPlay=false" wmode="opaque" width="262" height="83"></embed><br /><a href="http://www.reverbnation.com/c./a4/13/200479/Artist/0/User/link"><img alt="Jake%20Hawken" src="http://cache.reverbnation.com/widgets/content/13/minip_footer.gif" border="0" width="262" height="12" /></a><br /><img style="visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px;" src="http://www.reverbnation.com/widgets/trk/13/playlist_408705//t.gif" border="0" width="0" height="0" /><a href="http://www.quantcast.com/p-05---xoNhTXVc" target="_blank"><img src="http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-05---xoNhTXVc.gif" style="display: none;" alt="Quantcast" border="0" width="1" height="1" /></a><img style="visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px;" src="http://counters.gigya.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.6NXC/bT*xJmx*PTEyMjUxNDk1Mzg5MjEmcHQ9MTIyNTE*OTU*NTEwOSZwPTI3MDgxJmQ9bWluaSU1Rm11c2ljJTVGcGxheWVyJTVGZmlyc3QlNUZnZW4mZz*xJnQ9Jm89MmU3NDUzOTcxMWRjNDkyZmFlMzcwZWZkNDE1NDg1YmU=.gif" border="0" width="0" height="0" /></div>Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324291132989317852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6574995592033374830.post-41622374295897304432008-10-27T16:11:00.001-07:002008-10-27T16:18:22.101-07:00i'm on YouTube!I've had <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/GeekIsTheNewCool">my YouTube account</a> for a long while, but now it is working for the betterment of my music career. For a long time, I've seen that people upload music to youtube with just a picture of the song's album cover. I'd always wondered how they did that and figured it require a program that cost money. Much to my delight, it does not. Good ol' <span style="font-style: italic;">Windows Movie Maker</span> (which I'd never once touched before this) does the job quite nicely. So my whole album (with the exception of track 7 which i couldn't get to work for some reason) is on youtube! Favorite it and give it 5 stars! Do a video response! Flame me! Whatevs!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ensLPjYuxcE&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ensLPjYuxcE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /></div>Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324291132989317852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6574995592033374830.post-44002916132227471652008-10-27T15:12:00.001-07:002008-10-27T17:01:28.112-07:00an introduction<div style="text-align: justify;">Hi, I'm Jake. I play, write, record, mix and consume music in mass quantities. Since my music has been disseminated to numerous websites and is for sale in numerous formats, I figured a blog would be the best way to consolidate and serve as a "central hub" for all of it.<br />To start off, let me introduce my album, <span style="font-style: italic;">Fragments in Abstract</span>. This was my freshman release, and represents my somewhat recent (from Fall of 2004 onward) fascination <span style="font-style: italic;">with</span> and love <span style="font-style: italic;">for</span> electronic music. About four years ago I became acquainted with a guy who has been a close friend and mentor ever since. <a href="http://jasinskiart.blogspot.com/index.html"> Aaron Jasinski</a> (who is somewhat of an internet celebrity if you ever do a google search <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=aaron+jasinski&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=">for his name</a>), exposed me to the immensity number of the sub-genres of electronica and I've been hooked ever since. House, Trip-Hop, Ambient, Downtempo, Electrofunk; they all became like when you make a new friend and already feel like you've been hanging out for years.<br />So, over the course of the 2004-2008 period, I built up my project studio and created electro-pop music when the inspiration hit me. In 2007, I compiled songs I had been playing with, began mastering, and started getting the red tape ready to do a digital-only independent release. Fragments in Abstract came out in the late Spring / early summer of 2008 and I'm pretty pleased with it. Here it is in its entirety. If you dig it, it's only a $7 purchase:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://cache.reverbnation.com/widgets/buffer.gif" width="180" height="4" /><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://cache.reverbnation.com/widgets/swf/28/blog_player.swf?emailPlaylist=playlist_421339&backgroundcolor=EEEEEE&font_color=000000&shuffle=&autoPlay=false" wmode="transparent" width="180" height="300"></embed><br /><a href="http://www.reverbnation.com/c./a4/28/200479/Artist/0/User/link"><img alt="Jake%20Hawken" src="http://cache.reverbnation.com/widgets/content/28/player_footer.gif" border="0" width="180" height="12" /></a><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">It's available on <a href="http://tinyurl.com/jakehawkenitunes">iTunes</a>, <a href="http://tinyurl.com/jakehawkenamazonmp3">Amazon Mp3</a>, and <a href="http://cdbaby.com/cd/jakehawken">CD Baby</a> (this is the one that pays me the highest percentage, as its my distributor), as well as Rhapsody, Napster, Verizon and pretty much any other place that people would purchase download-able music.<br /><br />Check back on the blog regularly for updates, as I'm always doing <span style="font-style: italic;">something</span> with music.<br /></div></div>Jakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01324291132989317852noreply@blogger.com0