bekindandsmile

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The Miyagis ‘Shit That Was Cool In High School’ re-record

The EP: 1. Miserlou (cover) 2. Degeneracy 3. Goon 4. PSP 5. Wax On, Wax Off Plan: 1. record scratch guitar 2. add scratch drums 3. record vocals and harmonies 4. record guitar parts 5. record bass parts/muck around with ezbass 6. write drum parts 7. build guitar, bass and drum tones 8. decide on where synthesisers and percussion are applicable to enhance the songs 9. build synthesisers and modulate percussion 10. muck around with foley 11. mix & master

Notes: This EP has the potential to be an infinite-loop and so I wanna aim to achieve that. I also would like to muck around with foley, soundscapes and whatnot to give it more of a beach vibe and really enhance the essence we were trying to achieve at the time.

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High Side/Civic Sons EP Production Plan

Songs: Wasted Time Princess Fiona (change the name) Found Go To Guest

Plan: 1. decide track list 2. transcribe guitar, bass and vocal parts (this will be an ongoing this as parts could potentially be added or subtracted) 3. record vocals and harmonies 4. record guitar parts 5. write drum parts 6. record bass parts/muck around with EzBass 7. build guitar, bass and drum tones 8. decide on where synthesisers and percussion are applicable to enhance the songs 9. build synthesisers and modulate percussion 10. mix & master

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O, Daughter of the Beast

illustration for a project I’m starting work on

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EP Production Plan Draft

*still working out Birth (00:00) Growth (02:33) Love (06:38) Hate (09:15) Passenger (12:30) Lost (17:00) Death (20:41)

Here is a sketch of the EP

EQUANIMITY EP

Equanimity is a fast-paced, infinite looping, experimental, concept EP.  

Birth is about our character being born into this world

Growth follows our character as he grows and learns all the fears and delights of life*

Love is about our character falling in love* 

Hate is about our character being abused by his mentally ill father and being conflicted about the relationship

Passenger is about our character being dissociative and living in a constant auto-pilot mode*

Lost follows our character as he deals with the existential questions of Who? What? Where? When? Why? And How?

Death is about our character pondering the concept of death*

Story Notes: (((WRITE A CLEAR STORY FIRST INSTEAD OF WRITING LYRICS THAT FIT THE VIBE))) Elaborate more on Growth Make Love more interesting Elaborate more/maybe think of a new idea for Passenger (maybe even scrap this one and use the riffs and ideas elsewhere) Get a clearer idea of what you want Death to be about. Do you want it to involve our character dying our just talking about the concept of death or even both?

Music Notes: Lost is the strongest track and is the main sound every song needs to be transformed into. On a scale of strongest to weakest songs: *has the potential Lost, Birth, Death* Hate, Growth, Love, Passenger Birth: needs to be more triumphant, more in-your-face “ARE YOU READY FOR THIS EP!?!?” This is a good example. Do not fade in the song. Growth: needs to be cut short. Definitely take out about a minute and a half of the middle section. Too repetitive, needs new ideas added. Love: completely scrap the hip-hop/nu-metal sections and replace it with more upbeat, surfy, “clapclap clap” vibes and fun-loving, cheesy Beach Boys harmonies. Hate: bones are complete. Maybe trying experimenting with a swing on the first half of the breakdown before going into a slower tempo straight chug. Passenger: see what happens when remaking it. If it’s crap then scrap. Could potentially turn into a chill, fast-paced, interlude that could be a nice breather. before getting back into it. If so, you’d might have to swap track position with Hate because 3 songs, 1 interlude, 3 songs aesthetic. Lost: bones are complete. Make better transitions. Add/elaborate on more riffs. Death: Get more of a clear idea of what you want musically with this one. Has potential to be crazy. Do not have the song fade out, have it successfully and fluently loop back around to Birth. Most of the songs need more percussion and synthesisers, all songs need to be reworked to fluently flow with each other.

Other Notes: Aim for a 20 minutes or under EP. Don’t use too many breakbeats although it is mostly a DnB vibe. It is a bit of a risk putting all your high-intensity songs in one release so incorporate non-intense elements/sections so when Release 2 comes around it doesn’t seem like a completely different band. Name and compile certain riffs eg; the main riff in Growth is called ‘Learn’ and will be used in future songs whenever someone learns something (((REALLY THINK ABOUT IF PUTTING ALL YOUR HIGH-INTENSITY SONGS ON YOUR DEBUT RELEASE IS A SMART BUSINESS MOVE))) Pros & Cons: It’s your first official release - barely anybody is gonna hear it (P&C) Having your first release just follow one vibe could pigeon hole the perception of the bands aesthetic instead of putting out a release that showcases all the musical capabilities (C) but also not showing all your musical abilities straight away when potentially not a lot of people will hear it (P) ((think of more)) Production Plan: 1. Transcribe all guitar and bass parts in Guitar Pro/Sibelius export MIDI to Ableton 2. Program drums in Superior Drummer and export audio to Ableton 3. Use Shreddage III on the Guitar Pro MIDI and adjust the MIDI accordingly to the drum audio 4. Experiment with blending Shreddage II & Bass with Shreddage III to hopefully achieve a very huge and thick guitar sound 5. Record a live 12 string guitar and blend it with the midi guitar. The precision of the MIDI and sloppiness of my playing mixed with the cheaply made 12 string should create quite a unique and versatile timbre that fits in with both electronic and metal. 6. Use EZBass on the bass MIDI. Experiment with whether it needs to blend with a real bass or not. 7. Split the high and low bass signals. Boost the sub and sprinkle some crunch on the lows, put some high gain and maybe even an auto-filter or auto-wah on the highs. 8. Now that the bones are in place, delete the drum audio, open superior drummer in Ableton and write percussion and electronic drum parts in accordance to the acoustic drums. Avoid repetition and too many layers. If it doesn’t add anything, don’t use it. 9. Decide what synths will be used and write parts. Avoid too much WOB bass as it will get old. 10. Take session over to Logic to experiment with soundscapes, sound effects and binaural panning. 11. Record mock gibberish vocals. The rhythm and sound can help gage more of an idea on what to do vocally and lyrically. 12. Make a mic booth by parking the car in the garage, covering the windows with blankets/sound proofing so the sound doesn’t bounce weirdly and you can make as much noise without feeling embarrassed. 13. Write lyrics, record vocals and experiment with all sorts of effects, sounds and vocal styles 14. Listen on repeat for a few days to analyse it. Get feedback from people around you and compile a list 15. Fix the things on the list and start mixing and master. Learn more on how to do so. 16. Repeat 14. 17. Fix things on the list and test mix on monitors, studio headphones, AirPods, car speakers, Bluetooth speakers, TV. 18. Compile a list and fix said things. Get feedback from those who know more and have more experience. Compile final list. 19. Apply final touches and obtain reassurance that it’s fine and it doesn’t need anymore tweaking.   20. Remember to thank teachers when accepting Grammy and Platinum Record.

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CDC Challenge - Norse Gods - “Mimir” by Isis Sangaré

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Art by Egor Poskryakov

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Tarot series by casimir0304

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Bloodborne board game – official art by Adrián Prado

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Heather Penn  -  http://happydorid.tumblr.com  -  https://twitter.com/heatpenn  -  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/607081461/tea-spirits-2015-calendar  -  https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/happydorid  -  https://dribbble.com/fastbee  -  https://www.instagram.com/heatpenn

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Stories of the Saints - Illustrations by Nick Thornborrow

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YOU GOT THIS BUDDY

YEW YEW G UP FAMALAM YOU CAN DO IT

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(re)birth.

So as I was creating my villain theme, ideas of rehashing an old song came flowing in. I remember being content when i originally wrote Birth but I was never absolutely stoked by it. I also felt like the intro loops were too weak but I left them there as a “yeah something like that”. Essentially, experimenting with composing and orchestral instruments opened up the flood gates to some huge potentials in my creative process.

I like what I have so far but besides percussion, It’s missing something. Whether that something is an instrument or notes. SOMETHING is missing and it’s sounding a little cheesy for my liking but I can see the potential of the end result and I’m keen.

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experimentation.

So lately I’ve been feeling very blank. It’s like the motivation is there but every time I open my DAW it’s just... nothing... so there i am, wallowing in my sad, being all “boohoo life sucks :((((”, indulging in another rubbish ‘WatchMojo’s TOP 86 Easter Eggs YOU MISSED In That Superhero Movie You Like’ YouTube video which is factually incorrect as there is actually 96 easter eggs I missed in that superhero movie I like but WHATEVER. 

So I’m watching this video and of course The Avengers Theme plays. A theme that I’ve heard a million times before but when I heard it this time it was different. It made me think... “haha oi phat” but also I’ve never tried composing or using orchestral instruments before. I’d say it was a challenge writing with strings but lets be honest, it’s all MIDI, it’s all a piano roll. I’m fairly sure I wrote and recorded it on piano and then just clicked strings. The year is 2020. The future is now.

It started off as me trying to write a superhero theme song but then it came out as more of a villain theme/also sounded like a majority of movie trailers minus the Inception horns. I would’ve like to do something more exciting with the percussion, the end result was essentially just me mashing my keyboard. I didn’t put too much effort into this because as I was writing it I was having ideas for a rehash of an old song.

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sifting through the trash.

I wrote about 80% of this in a single night between the hours of 4 pm to 11 am. That’s not a brag though nor do I recommend it. You see, sleep deprivation is a funny thing. In the moment you get really G’d up and think “Hell yeah! this is the best thing I’ve ever written!” but then you go to sleep, and then you wake up... and you still think it’s pretty good but you’ve fallen asleep during the day time which means you’ve had trashy, no rem, sleep so you’re technically still sleep deprived. But then you got to bed early that night and you get a proper sleep and then you wake up well rested and... now your work sounds garbage.

That’s what this is. There is some treasure amongst this trash though.

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an old demo.

I wrote the instrumentals about a year ago using loops made in bandlab and my own instruments. I had no idea what I’d do with this one as I couldn’t think of any riffs to continue it on successfully without trumping the massive vibe of it. Eventually I decided to leave it as an intro. 

I didn’t have lyrics in mind when I originally wrote this but eventually down the line my love for concept albums kicked in and so I decided that if I’m going to write a concept album, then this will be the birth of our main character.

To take the idea to another level and try and put ‘The Vision’ all in perspective, I threw together this poorly made video using awful, free-to-use, stock footage dazzled with amazing iMovie production skills.

At the time this was my most impressive thing I had written. There’s a half written EP that follows this. Today I revisited it.