#and that synthesizer sound is so nice

[astralfuchs]

2 New Synthv Vbs next week!

[the-wandering-mage]

Gotham Bats ruin and save Spiderman's Operation Nest

This is like a story concept written out for a Spider-Man Batfam crossover fic I don't have the time to write fully. This is more developed than a prompt but, still is thought I'd share and maybe you guys will enjoy it and/or somebody will pick it up and develop it into a fully fledged fic. So here it goes-

A more spidery Spider-Man is dropped into a DC universe right into Gotham. It's the beginning of fall in Gotham which is a problem for a Spider seeing as he is stranded in another universe with nothing but his Spidey suit and his AI companion. He has no access to the synthesized hormone cocktail he's been taking in the winter to keep him from going into hibernation. Now Peter could get together the stuff to synthesize the medication but, he need a stable place to set up a running lab to make it as he'd need it fresh and take it on the regular. That is a lot of work and resources he'd have to come up with and maintain. Also he is a depressed boi and a long nap actually sound really good. So instead of trying to set up a lab he starts Operation Nest. He is going to find a small enclosed space and prepare it for his long winters nest.

Peter also decides pretty quickly with all the crazy dangers of Gotham and all the warnings of what Karen was able to find after connecting to this world's version of the Internet to keep the suit on and just be Spider-Man full time. The suit would keep him safe from chemical attacks and the overall pollution of Gotham as well as keep him anonymous in the very likey event he has to use his powers to defend himself. Which will let him keep a nice civilian identity that Karen crafted come spring if he chooses to.

Peter's first two objectives in Operation Nest are to get money and find a location. The first Karen helps him with easily setting up a company, then filing and selling some benign patents, since this world is really behind in tech. She also helps him get more immediate cash without crossing into stealing just by doing online commissions for simple tech support type things while the patent money is still pending. Peter gets a laptop that he uses to help with some of the tech work even though Karen can literally do five jobs at once under several fake IDs she made herself.

Most of the day for Peter however is spent looking for real estate. Which is harder in Gotham than one might think considering the rival gangs, rival super villains constantly blowing up things, and all the homeless fighting over whatever is left of the abandoned buildings. The only good thing about all this is a giant spider nest will go relatively unnoticed amongst all the other craziness. Peter's adventures running all over Gotham trying to find a place to hunker down for a couple of months cause him to run into all sorts of characters.

Peter is in a weirdly apathetic state towards himself with all his trauma so he saves people obviously, and is still empathic, maybe more so with trying to get the villians to be better people and just talking with them like real people but, he is really basley about his own safety. He has already lost everyone he cares about and he's faced down Thanos, so none of the villians at this point faze him. He doesn't see them as a threat to himself. He ends up making a bunch of friends with villains by continuing what May believed in, what Ben believed in, and helps the villains out so they can hopefully make a change.

The bats hear about him and decide to investigate but all of them get terrible first impressions and they assume he's a villain or going to be one if they don't find him. Peter is OP and scary. He's not given up his friendly neighborhood spider-man but he has stopped trying as hard to look human type of friendly. He just has slow given into being a spider and is creepy. He also leaves spider webs everywhere, since his natural ones don't dissolve like the artificial ones that he uses sparingly. This also freaks them out and there is debate on whether what they are hunting is a meta human or an intelligent spider creature. Also at least one bat at the beginning runs into one of the webs and at least one gets temporarily stuck to a criminal they are trying to free from a cocoon

By the time the bats find Spider-Man they are all convinced that he's a villain plotting something big but really they've just been stalking Peter as he completes his to do list for Operation Nest. All the dangerous equipment and suspicious purchases from villains were really to get his nest set up. Peter knew his friends had some of the stuff he needed like a cytogenetic freezer to keep some of his food from spoiling over the course of a few months since he doesn't want anyone making deliveries to his house while he's hibernating. His friends were happy to help although he still paid them despite their insistence not to.

Karen thinks it's hilarious. Although they acknowledge itd be better to just explain the situation to the bats before Peter is in active hibernation and let them find them. They totally ruin their bust by opening the doors of a small dilapidated old tailors shop in the fashion district, where Peter had set up his nest in the basement. Peter isn't happy with them feeling very territorial. He wants them not to touch anything as he shows them into his nest. He warns them and they are a bit freaked out when he hisses at them when they inevitably ignore he's instructions out of curiosity but then settle a bit when they notice how tired he is. Cass probably gets them to back off. He explains things enough so they leave him to his hibernation with the promise of hanging out in the spring.

Or alternatively. Karen is too busy setting things up she doesn't notice with her smaller processing power disconnected from Stark Tech as she is to notice the Bats noticing them. Then she is being wired into the Nest when they start getting close so, she doesn't know they are closing in. Then she is doing system checks to make sure she is able to monitor Peter when he's hibernating and can use the machines and mechanical arms to help Peter for the parts of his hibernation he will be awake or partially awake to handle his bodily needs before cocooning back into his Nest made of his natural webs and blankets.

Karen doesn't know they are there until they break her perimeter alarms and she is forced to use her defensive measures since Peter has just gone into hibernation like a day ago. The bats having more resources than Karen at their disposal and coming at her from all angles breach her defenses and get into The Nest. Karen does her best to rouse Peter with alarms blaring but she is only able to get him into a semi state of consciousness. Not enough to move him without drugging him which would be dangerous for his health and with so many coming for her charge she does her best to throw her mechanically arms in front of him to guard him where he is.

The bats once they see a sleepy confused Peter with a strange woman's voice begging them to leave him alone they feel bad realizing they judged him wrong. Especially after seeing him adorably yawn with his fangs popping out.

[imaginidol]

Mingi: “Don’t read that, the lyrics aren’t ready yet.”

You were waiting for Mingi to wrap up the last of his solo-recording session before you both drove home together as usual. He was done, and was only now awaiting a schedule confirmation from one of his producers. While you both waited for the producer to return, you were carefully walking around the studio, marveling at all the different artistic contents surrounding you.

“This piano, why is it so small?” You ask, pointing to a Nord keyboard.

“Synthesizer,” Mingi replied, giving you a small smile.

You nodded, assuming you knew what it meant. But your confused expression only made it more obvious that you didn’t know what that meant either, and it made him laugh lightly.

“What’s this for?” You asked, picking up a strange object from a desk. “It looks like a ping pong paddle!”

Mingi smirked. “That’s a microphone pop-filter. We use it to filter out external noises when recording.”

You smiled. “I think I know what it is! Can I put it on your microphone?”

He nods, and motions a hand towards the small recording booth. “You can try,” he laughs.

You walked in with the filter, only to find that the microphone inside already had a pop filter of its own latched on. You sighed, but didn’t mind after carefully observing it and realizing you probably wouldn’t know how to attach it anyway.

Below the microphone, a set of papers caught your eye. This must be one of Mingi’s songs, you think.

You quietly read the lyrics on the pages, only to realize that some of these lines were phrases that you and Mingi often shared together. Your heart skips a beat when you realize, this song is about… us?

This is a love song. Why is Mingi writing a love song?

“Don’t read that,” Mingi’s voice projects into the room from a microphone. You look up to see him with the producer, who has come back with Mingi’s schedule. “The lyrics aren’t ready yet. Anyway, we’re free to go now.”

You nod, putting the mic pop filter down on the stand, and carefully walking over the cords on the floor until you reached the exit.

I do like Mingi. But I never thought he’d like me back. Maybe it’s coincidental. Maybe he uses the little catch phrases we share with everyone. Maybe he’s—

“Are you okay?” Mingi asks, his tone catching you by surprise. “You haven’t answered me at all.”

“I’m sorry, what was that?” You look up at him, your puzzled expression fading from your face.

“I just asked if you were… nevermind.”

You both walk out in silence and out to the parking garage, until you finally reach his car.

The drive home started generally quiet, until he finally spoke up.

“Did you, uh, did you… read anything back in the studio? On those papers?” He mutters out.

“What? Oh, yeah, those papers? I just skimmed them, really,” you blurt out. “I bet it’s a nice song. Is it the producer’s song?”

“No, the producer helps me with other things. The lyrics.. those are mine.”

“Oh,” you don’t have anything else to say.

“Did you… what do you think?” He asks.

“You… you write very pretty,” you whisper.

‘You write very pretty?’ Really? You think to yourself, wanting to say more, but nothing comes out.

“Is that all?” He asks, the sounds of the night highway filling the voided air. “Did you think of anyone when you read them?”

You fall silent. But the pained expression on your face is an emotion you can’t hold in anymore. Suddenly, you hear both him and yourself blurt out—

“Did you think of me?”

Mingi brakes abruptly. “Sorry, sorry!” he waves at the car behind him, who honked loudly and swerved past angrily.

“I’m sorry, Mingi! Focus on your driving! We’ll talk later,” you say.

“No, no, I’m okay!” He blurts out, but he was blushing now, though you couldn’t tell in the dark.

A few seconds pass, the highway sounds drowning out the otherwise quiet air again.

You are the first to speak up. “I did think of you, Mingi.”

He’s driving steady now, but still looks over at you.

“I thought of you, too.” He whispers.

The exit to your neighborhood is nearly approaching. Cars around become less and less. The city lights are becoming brighter, the night sky descending is darker.

“You mentioned the lyrics aren’t finished yet… what is it supposed to be?”

He sighs deeply, contemplating your question before finally answering.

“Perhaps it’s meant to stay unfinished. The emotion of confessing my love to someone… but I don’t know if they feel the same way back. I don’t know if they do.”

“Have you ever tried to confess, Mingi?”

“No, and I don’t know if I want to.”

“Why not?”

“Because,” he whispers. “I don’t know if… it could ruin the good friendship we already have. What if they don’t feel the same way?”

You smile. “You’ll never know until you ask. And if it’s not the answer you want, at least you were bold enough to try. That in itself is admirable.”

He smiled. “You have a point.”

A red light approaches, and the car comes to a stop. There are no other cars in sight, but for a while, you both sit in quietness, waiting for the moment the light turns green.

In that moment, Mingi’s right hand comes off the steering wheel. He places it, palm-up, on top of the center compartment. His palm opens, turning towards you.

You look down, a grin slowly spreading across your blushing face. You lift your left hand, wrap it under his arm, and place your hand gently on top of his.

Your fingers interlock naturally, both hands molding perfectly in place into one another. He caresses his thumb against the side of yours. In this very moment, you can feel the shifting of emotions in the air.

“I know how to end my lyrics now,” Mingi whispers.

And suddenly, the light turns green.

more ateez here: yunho hongjoong san jongho

[subliminalbo]

HYPNOSAPIEN

The sound moved through Mel. That was the only way she could describe it.

She had come to the club in River City following mysterious flyers about this new group, HYPNOSAPIEN, whose music could "take you to a place you've never been before." Believe it or not, Mel hadn't been into clubbing since high school, but Piper insisted—after everything that had gone down with the Alphas, it was nice to let loose a little.

To call it a club was a stretch. HYPNOSAPIEN was as DIY as they come, performing in secret venues around Romero. Tonight it was the abandoned warehouse on the corner of Lincoln Avenue and Third Street.

The girls in the band were charismatic, led by Iris Blalock on lead vocals, but the music didn't impress Mel. It was the usual club trash with over-reliance on heavy bass and an overzealous mix of synthesizer that drowned out the live vocals. But Mel's biggest complaint? All their music sounded the same! That droning, wall-to-wall buzz cut between Iris' simple lyrics:

"Sink, sink, sink, sink, drop, drop, drop, drop."

After the third song though, Mel realized that the droning wasn't just a hum, but another set of vocals hidden deep in the mix. She tried to decipher the words, but they weren't even English. They didn't even sound human. And as she focused on the strange words, she began unconsciously following Iris' lyrics.

"Sink, sink, sink, sink, drop, drop, drop, drop."

And then the sound moved through her.

Mel turned to Piper to see if her friend had felt it too, but Piper was already on her knees, misty eyes locked on the duo on stage. She had torn her shirt open to grope at her small breasts, her mouth gaping as she begged to be taken deeper by "The Message."

"Oh, fuck..." Mel moaned. The meaning in the sound's inhuman words were suddenly as clear to her as if spoken in English. One-by-one members of the audience fell to their knees in uninhibited ecstasy, their cries of pleasure mixing with the music.

Mel, too, dropped, her fingers sinking between the folds of her soaked pussy.

Oh Christ, it was happening again. She was losing her mind just like she had in the basement of the Alphas house, but this was something more than a virtual reality light show. It was a total transformation, an awakening to a new state of being.

The audience chanted the lyrics hidden in the music, and Mel joined their cries: "I am the Birth of a new species! I will Prepare my body and my mind for the Great Arrival!"

But it wasn't enough just to feel herself. Mel forced Piper down to the grimy floor, pressing her lips and tongue to her nipples, her hand finding its way to Piper's pussy. Piper uttered a satisfied moan but continued the chant unbroken, "I will Fill whatever need is expected! I will Preach, I will Build, I will Breed!"

The show only spiraled from there as the hypnotized audience fucked each other senseless. Clothes shredding, bodies upon bodies. The audience paired off in twos and threes and fours, ignoring superficial details like sexual orientation or who came with who. They clawed, and sucked, and licked, and fucked, and sweated, and came. Cocks filling any holes, pussies pressed to any lips. There was no one left in the room who didn't feel The Message move through them, no one who wasn't chanting its words now.

Even the two members of HYPNOSAPIEN stopped playing. Iris took her band mate Kayla by the hair and pressed her face to her pussy. The recorded music droned on in time with the orgy. The audience fucked late into the night, The Message's programming sinking so deep into their minds that it became a permanent fixture of their existence, taking everyone to a place they'd never been before. A place they never wanted to return from.

This is a companion to Classified Information #2: The Sound Shout out to @shotgungt for the band name HYPNOSAPIEN

[notafraidofredyellowandblue]

The solos from Ausländer, Deutschland and Zeit are from Paul. If I remember the info is from the studio!

Well, then he did a great job 🥰

And isn't it wonderful that for Deutschland (which was Richard's initial idea, as Flake mentions in his text in the Deutschland photobook "I'm thinking if the day we sat around at Richard's and heard the theme for the first time") it is Paul who writes that lovely part of it that Richard plays so well, talk about symbiotic guitarists..

But unless you have a link and post it non-anon, it still is an 'unconfirmed fact' i'm afraid, sorry anon.

-

But talking about Deutschland, i'm taking a bit of Flake's text in the official Deutschland photobook. I'm not going to copy the whole text, but i'll take a few paragraphs that seem on topic:

"When people want me to say something about Deutschland I usually talk about the months, actually years, we spent sitting down as a band having heated discussions. Every one of us expressed his opinion in detail. All of us talked about our experiences and feelings with respect to Deutschland. Some of us even told stories about themselves that I had never heard before. Sometimes all it takes is a theme like that to set us off and we end up getting to know one another even more closely. When we now publish a song as Rammstein, all of us have to be in agreement that this is what the text is saying because every single band member embodies this song. People can only believe in us and trust us if we stand by our songs, through and through. It was during these discussions that the six of us discovered, once again, how varied our views were of the world and of Deutschland. We talked and talked. Every word in the text was turned over and examined again and again, until there were almost no words left that truly all of us could agree upon. At the end almost all we had left were associations and allusions. We aren't history teachers and we don't want to spoon-feed anyone. People should think for themselves.

Once we'd pretty much agreed on a certain text, we would then think that the music was no longer a good enough fit, and so we turned everything over again like a compost pile. Full chords or arpeggios for the guitars? In e-minor, d-minor or c-minor? You can't go any lower with this song or the bass strings will start rattling and the low sounds will lose their force.. Do we use an underlying keyboard pattern? String instruments or synthesizers? There are so many ways to design a song and you really have to try out all the variants before you can tell what works and what doesn't.

As I remember it, our days typically started with us playing 'Deutschland' in the rehearsal room. We sat in the kitchen having a nice breakfast, but kept helping ourselves to another bread roll because we were scared. Scared of the moment we'd switch on the computer and listen to the latest version of 'Deutschland'. What on earth were we thinking last night when we did this? After sleeping on it, the next morning it all somehow sounded totally different. The day before it had sounded great! And now we just wanted to switch off the computer after playing it halfway through because it sounded so stilted. So we had to work on it some more. But then, at some point, we finally had a version if the song that we liked. Deustchland would definitely be on this album."

--

This is how Rammstein make songs 🌺

[sgiandubh]

Sunday sounds: First Advent Sunday -Hope

Starting today and until Christmas' Eve, this page is observing the Four Sundays of Advent. Even if you are not Catholic like me, you are all more than welcome to join in this Celebration of Light.

Three purple and one pink (more on this, on the Third Week) wreath candles are lit, one by one, on each Advent Sunday. And each have a particular meaning, preparing us to welcome Him in our houses and in our hearts, as we would welcome a Guest. You don't have to go the whole nine yards and 'meditate' or whatnot. You just have to try and give at least an honest thought to what the message of each candle personally means to you. That would be really nice and you will get Brownie points for it. Pinky promise.

This week we light the Prophet Candle. If this makes you think about Hanukkah or the Shabbat candles, well - it's only fair and normal. All the things once told in prophecy by people like Isaiah were true, and this Sunday is all about renewed, enduring Hope:

 'For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.' (King James' Bible - Isaiah, 9:6).

I have chosen this particular interpretation of Haendel's Messiah (Jesus, always in a hurry and have to edit all the time!) for its irresistible energy. These Ghanaian people have no budget for a proper orchestra, so they had to be creative and use synthesizers and some percussions, instead. It does not matter, because nothing else matters when talent meets grace.

All the music I have chosen for this particular moment in time is choral. Because as the Frenchmen say, 'chanter, c'est prier deux fois' - 'singing is praying twice'.

[stargazer-tps]

Undertale Voice Musings + Choir

Fact: I am a huge choir nerd.

Fact: Back in like 2019, I made a soundfont using the Undertale characters' voice blips, and recently re-made that soundfont to work better, creating things like this:

This one is "Your Fault" from Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods. Featuring Asriel as Jack, Sans as The Baker, Shyren as Cinderella, Gaster as Little Red Riding Hood, and Temmie as The Witch.

In addition to making a soundfont that just re-pitches the blips as they exist in-game, I also made one that loops a portion of the sound so the notes can be sustained, which means I can make cool choir pieces like these:

This one is "Dunkelian Lullaby," a choir piece I composed a while back. If you like this one, I do plan on selling the sheet music for it on MusicaNeo as Eila Mirlen! Keep an eye out for it there ;)

This one is "Love is Love is Love is Love," by Abbie Betinis, from the Justice Choir Songbook. If you're a choir nerd or a teacher looking for free, accessible, quality music, I would definitely check it out!

Anyway, the fun part is that if you listen closely, even in the sustained soundfont, you may be able to pick out the characters' individual voices. For example, Sans and Gaster tend to be pretty loud. Flowey and Temmie are also pretty obnoxious (I have them turned way down in the last example, but they should be in your right ear.)

Some Notes on Ranges

The thing about these guys is that they are... not real and literally just cool synthesizers, so technically they can sing in any range. However, like with voices, they do have ranges they sound the best in and—related specifically to this soundfont I made—here are my notes about where I would place each character in a choir! (Note that I often break these assignments when I arrange choir stuff with these guys just because the number of characters on each part is out of balance otherwise.)

Temmie and Gaster have the largest ranges, being able to sing 5 octaves (although Gaster cheats and goes back down the octave sometimes, like a Shepard tone—I’ve futzed with his voice enough already and don’t feel like fixing it). Temmie’s 5 octaves, surprisingly, starts an octave lower than Gaster’s. (Damn, Temmie.)

Shyren, Mettaton, and Undyne are close behind. They can each sing 4 octaves; Shyren’s range sits one octave higher than Mettaton and Undyne’s.  (Admittedly, Undyne’s very low range sounds a lot like burps, but it’s very strong anyway.)

Toriel, Asgore, Asriel, Flowey, and Alphys have a large range of 3 octaves, Asgore starting lowest, then Flowey, then Asriel and Toriel and Alphys.

Sans and Papyrus have the smallest ranges, at 2 octaves, and they are exactly the same.

NOTE: technically—being synthesizers—all of them can sing past these given ranges. But at the low end they tend to sound burpy and bad, and at the very high end they might be too quiet to be worthwhile.

Ideal Ranges:

Note: many of them can sing in multiple ranges—as seen above—but these are the ones I put them in most often based on where their original voice clips sit (the root) AND the vibes they give me (with some exceptions).

Alphys: Alto - root = F4

Asgore: Bass – root = E3

Asriel: General Treble (tend towards soprano range) – root = A-A♭4

Flowey: General Treble (tend towards mezzo range) – root = E4

Gaster: Baritone/Tenor – root = all over the place because I used 7 different clips for him. Most of the fun timbre switching happens in the two octaves between C3 and C5.

Mettaton: Baritone/Tenor (tend towards tenor range) – root = E♭4

Papyrus: Baritone/Tenor (He CAN sing in a lower range, but it’s not quite as nice as the higher range) – root = E♭4

Sans: Tenor/Countertenor (controversially, I might add. IDK, he can sing in a low range but IMO it sounds... bad, especially when he’s not sustaining the notes because then he just sounds like he’s burping. Actually, for that reason I usually stick him on alto parts) – root = E-E♭4 (you could argue I have the octave wrong, but even then, his root is E-E♭3 and I would still probably stick him more in the tenor range than the bass range—pitches lower than his root sound... not very good. I think he just has a very resonant voice.)

Shyren: Soprano – root = B♭4

Temmie: Soprano – root = G4 (with the caveat that if she’s not sustaining notes, the mezzo-range is stronger for her)

Toriel: Soprano/Mezzo – root = E♭4 (I try to put her and Asriel on different parts because *technically* their voices are exactly the same; Toriel’s speaking voice in-game is just lower. I did add some vibrato to Toriel’s voice to help a little.)

Undyne: Alto/Contralto – root = B♭3

Other Notes:

Asriel sounds good staccato but is really pitchy when asked to hold a note. (I went back and fixed this. But now it’s a headcanon that he can’t hold a pitch any better than your average human child can, I guess.)

Gaster’s sustained low range is also incredibly pitchy. A little sharp, maybe, up until A3. (I fixed this, too. He also no longer jumps octaves in the middle of his range for no reason.)

Papyrus is also INCREDIBLY pitchy when sustaining notes. (This got fixed. But now the headcanon is that he’s maybe a little tone-deaf, or maybe he just gets overexcited and pushes himself sharp or flat.)

Sans actually sounds like… a lot BETTER when sustained, throughout his range because it no longer has the quality of a burp.

Shyren’s voice is strong but her major scale sounds minor when she sustains notes and its weird??? Very flat. (This was also an error on my part, because my tuning skills are bad at 9 o’clock at night. Maybe she tends to fall flat when she’s nervous.)

Temmie sounds good no matter what range. A little trumpet-like, though, and can be overpowering.

Toriel also sounds really good sustained and a lot stronger. She’s still pretty quiet tho.

Alphys’ high range is stronger when sustained.

Undyne’s fine. Weaker in the high range in general.

Flowey is LOUD and OBNOXIOUS.

Range Samples

The image above just shows you which notes and stuff are playing in the above example. Each character starts with "speaking" on the same pitch their voice sounds in game (approximately, in some cases), then a two-octave scale to show off the qualities of their low, mid, and high ranges.

[wu-sisyphus-gang]

Weiss: Hey listen. I'm down to do something but like I can't do the dabs anymore.

Jaune: I promise no dabs okay? We're going to do something that works for you. At your pace. At your tempo.

Weiss: Can we just smoke some normal like low key stuff?

Jaune: I got some stuff right here. Check this out. *holds up a finger* You see that?

Weiss: See what? Your finger?

Jaune: You can't because it's a four nanometer wide THC symbiot concentrate synthesized at the large hadron collider. And then processed at my cousin's back porch.

Weiss: Is this even za?

Jaune: Hell yeah.

Weiss: How do you smoke that?

Jaune: that's the best part. It just fuses to your personality and then you pass out.

Weiss: It just doesn't feel very ceremonial.

Jaune: Picky picky. Hey man. There are no rituals here. It goes straight to your brain stem.

Weiss: See? That just sounds way too intense for me.

Jaune: This is my daily driver you said low key.

Weiss: Thank you what else you got?

Jaune: I got some super chill gummies.

Weiss: Nice.

Jaune: They're called Montezuma Schizophrenia.

Weiss: Oh fuck.

Jaune: An entire galleon of trim condensed into a single one.

Weiss: Again. I'm sorry but that's just too much.

Jaune: Really mellow high.

Weiss: Uh...

Jaune: Lots of skeleton visions.

Weiss: That's way too intense man.

Jaune: Yang already popped two and she's chilling in the bathroom.

Yang: *Is face down in the bathtub crying*

Weiss: Maybe we don't like gotta do any drugs? We can just hang out.

Jaune: Plenty of fun ways to alter your mood state without shatter. So you trying to do some oxygen deprivation and choke each other out?

Weiss: No. I don't wanna do that.

Jaune: Let's self asphyxiate and then spin around in circles. Here we go!

Weiss: Stop doing that!

Jaune: Bro this head rush go crazy!

Weiss: Stop!

Jaune: Hey man. Stop trying to control me when I'm trying to control myself.

Weiss: Look. I'm not trying to control you. Maybe we can just chill and be sober.

Jaune: It's fine. We ain't gotta do anything. I've been dosing on something all day today.

Weiss: You like micro dosing?

Jaune: Mini dosing.

Weiss: Is that even working?

Jaune: I don't know.

Weiss: Then why do it?

Jaune: So I can tell people I been doing it.

Weiss: Alright. We've stayed so far from the actual origins of what we're trying to accomplish.

Jaune: Yeah man. Kids these days.

Weiss: Maybe we can just smoke some weed?

Jaune: Weed? What the fuck is weed?

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

Prairiewolf - Deep Time

Heyyy, very excited to announce that Prairiewolf's second album, Deep Time, will be released on September 20, 2024! Wowza. If you'd told me back when Stefan and I first drove up to Jeremy's place in Nederland back in early 2022 that we'd be this far along ... well, I wouldn't have believed you! But it's been a blast to play music with these guys and I'm very proud of this latest record we've made. A pleasure to be along for the ride! Here's a bit of what the mighty Brent Sirota had to say about Deep Time:

After a year woodshedding around Colorado’s Front Range region, the Prairiewolf boys have fired up their trusty Korg SR-120 drum machine for another outstanding collection of suborbital exotica. The appropriately titled Deep Time operates in its own chronology, unspooling at its unhurried pace. All its incongruous period and stylistic references—the new age pulses, Hawaiian steel, shaggy hippie rambles, lysergic guitar spirals, and orchestral synthesizer flourishes—float atop the album’s own singular temporality. Deep Time makes its own time.

If that sounds good to you, you can preorder the vinyl, CD or digital now! Centripetal Force in the US of A and Worried Songs in the rest of the world. That CD edition is actually a double-disc affair with some mysterious contents you do not want to miss out on. Maybe get the nicely priced vinyl/CD bundle?! You can also check out "Revisionist Mystery," the first single from Deep Time over on Raven Sings The Blues. That song turned out so sweet that I can hardly believe I played on it.

Anything else in the 'wolf world? Of course. Here's a fresh tape of us back in Boulder at the venerable Trident Booksellers just last week. Maybe one of the better live recordings we've made ... so far, anyway!

[marimayscarlett]

Hallo!

I don’t know, if you’ve had this question already many times before, so feel free to ignore this.

I admire your way of answering asks every time so thoroughly, it’s a delight to read. 😊 I thought I’d ask something myself, too.

I was wondering, what is your favourite song from each Rammstein album and why? Also what is your favourite remix and why?

I hope you have a nice week! 🌸

Hi 👋🏻

That's a really lovely ask, thank you so much! I'm glad you find joy in my answers, I try to put at least some sense into my ramblings 🙂‍↕️

And thanks a lot for these questions, you're always very welcome to ask things! Had to take some time to ponder about my decisions, but here we go:

1. Herzeleid

Here, my decision was made very quick. 'Du riechst so gut' has a very significant meaning for me, being my first proper Rammstein song 20 years ago. The lyrics have a wonderful gloomy 19th century poetry aesthetic to it, very haunting and yet so beautifully worded - the line 'Der Wahnsinn ist nur eine schmale Brücke, die Ufer sind Vernunft und Trieb' is still one of my favourite lyrics Till has ever written. Very close second place would be 'Heirate mich' 🤍

2. Sehnsucht

'Eifersucht'. All the way. My all-time favourite song by Rammstein, great, somehow very taunting (like the "come get me if you have the guts, destroy me if you can"-vibe) lyrics, incredibly powerful sound, and the bass. I feel it in my chest when I listen this song loud enough, which is exactly how I love to experience music.

3. Mutter

This took a while to choose. Mutter is not one of my favourite albums even though it holds some very classic Rammstein songs, but I just don't really feel this album. I'd say 'Adios', since the song has such a great drive to it and I enjoy the guitar solo immensely.

4. Reise Reise

If you'd ask me for my favourite a few months ago, I would have very much voted for 'Mein Teil'. Yet I have to admit that my attention shifted towards 'Stein um Stein'. It's a very dark and haunting song, and the inherent menace and sadness of the song moves me deeply. Richard once described it as a very tragic song about a man who knows no other way to keep the love of his life but to lock her up so she stays with him, and I think about that a lot.

5. Rosenrot

Oh, this album, I love it more and more each day. While I enjoy 'Benzin' and 'Zerstören' immensely, I gravitate definitely towards 'Ein Lied' when it comes to favourites. It's like a tender love song to the fans, a reassurance that the band is there for us when things aren't going well, and honestly: in my personal case, that's true. Rammstein gives me so much strength and comfort. 🤍

6. Liebe ist für alle da

Admittedly my least favourite album, I just can't get into it - there are only 2-3 songs that I find appealing at most. A significant exception, however, is 'Haifisch.' I especially love the lyrics about solidarity even in difficult times, and the song held great meaning for me last year, as I'm sure it did for others in the fandom. It's a song for perseverance and unity 🤲🏻

7. Untitled

This one was very difficult for me to decide! 'Deutschland' is incredibly important and lyric-wise as well as musically genius, 'Radio' is perfect for dancing and holds a significant meaning for me when it comes to the lyrics, but in the end, I choose 'Weit weg'. The synthesizer has a truly hypnotic sound, and the underlying sadness combined with the stalking theme gives the song a very captivating aura.

8. Zeit

Here, I truly can't decide, so for once, I'll list two songs: 'Schwarz' is a song I love a lot, such a melancholic and yet theatrical feel to it, as well as 'Armee der Tristen'. This is a song I feel in my heart, plain and simple.

9. Raritäten

Technically, that's also an album 😌 I'm bringing this up to mention my incredibly beloved 'Wilder Wein'. This song feels like a blend of a dark fairytale world, with elements from the Nibelungenlied and 'The Mists of Avalon' - I'm probably exaggerating here, but as a fantasy/history enthusiast, the song feels as if Till wrote it personally for me :')

10. Remixes

I have to admit, I don’t listen much with the remixes, as most of them don’t really appeal to me. However, I do like the 'Haifisch' remix by Olsen Involtini that served as a sort of closer at concerts, so I have warm post-concert feelings when I listen to it, as well as the Twocolors remix of 'Angst.' This remix leans a bit into the direction of dark/acid techno, which I very much enjoy.

Thank you again for your ask, this was fun! 🤍

Tagging my lovely @wizzardclown and @m---e---l to also share their favourites, since they had to endure my rambling about it this weekend 🙂‍↕️

[bridoesotherjunk]

I don't wanna be rude, but Sony- can we get the original Venom theme back for Venom 3?

The one from the 2018 Venom film. It was just such a good score, the theme for Venom and the symbiotes in general was so nice.

I like Venom 2, but that was my one complaint was the score. It kind of got rid of some of that sci-fi sounding synthesizer and the electric guitar. Venom 2 almost had more of a film noir type score. I just really would love that original theme to come back for Venom 3.

Tom Hardy probably doesn't have much influence over the composers they pick for the movies, so I am asking Sony specifically.

[tgrailwar-zero]

... You know, I wonder if they ever got music other than Eli's works.

You saw as PTOLEMAIOS shook his head, a low chuckle escaping from him. You hadn't heard him laugh yet.

PTOLEMAIOS: "Hm…hmhmhm… so, you do remember that? It was… two cycles after the Origin War before we worked it out, yes?"

SIGURD: "…Right. Asclepius had fully reformed himself, and was visiting the Megalopolis with me, and the same few songs were playing on loop. I think he told me that it was the first time he was considering praying to his father for something different. At that point, things were clearly dire."

PTOLEMAIOS: "After that, I figured I'd put a bit more effort into unearthing music. The fuss the others made after it only took 2 days to properly discover something. '...You could have done that the whole time?!' they screamed at me."

SIGURD: "...Well, you could have tried a little harder earlier. I had forgotten what non-synthesized instruments sounded like!"

PTOLEMAIOS: "There were more important things I was working on than music! Listen to this, Wizards! A bunch of grown adults crying like babies over the sound of a lyre! It was as if I had produced water in a desert!"

The two barked at each other, though you didn't sense any real tension. Especially when it eased out into quiet laughter, the kind that was shared between memories.

PTOLEMAIOS: "...Please, the tour was dreadful. Kenshin didn't know where anything was, and I was far from hospitable... Gawain had to save us halfway through and Tamamo gave us the brow-beating of a lifetime. Still, it was a nice memory, I agree..."

[soisaidfine]

Ethel Cain: if it makes noise, I can play it (2022) / i’ve been trying to make music without rules again so that’s been nice. i’ve also been experimenting with textures again (2024)

'And if it feels good, then it can't be bad' - Gibson Girl, Ethel Cain

Ethel Cain: Gibson Girl, Grant Park, Chicago, Lollapalooza Festival

August 14, 2024 what’s your fave part about making music for this era?

@mothercain on tumblr: i’ve been trying to make music without rules again so that’s been nice. i’ve also been experimenting with textures again which i haven’t done in a while. preachers daughter i got scared and made it sound as clean as i could to be palatable, so it’s been nice pushing that mindset out. . . .

Ethel Cain, 2022: “I had the realization that if it makes noise, I can play it. I just have to figure out how to make it make noise that I think sounds good. … When I first started producing, I was like, “I can do whatever I want.” Whenever you don’t know the rules, you’re not bound to them, so I was doing whatever came to mind. I had zero idea how to produce and I was getting all these weird sounds.”

. . .

PAPER: Do you know how to play all those instruments confidently? Or do you figure everything out based on what sounds good?

Ethel Cain: Everything for me has always been about what sounds good. I took piano for about four years as a kid, so that is my primary instrument. I can play organ, I can play synthesizers; anything with keys I can figure out well enough just from my piano background. I took guitar for like six months and I was so lazy that my teacher literally quit on me. She was like, “I’m not doing more,” and I picked up the guitar probably about five or six years later again. I knew how to play like six chords and I was like, “Okay, it is what it is.”

I had the realization that if it makes noise, I can play it. I just have to figure out how to make it make noise that I think sounds good. So I don’t really have any proper theory; like with drums, you do the kick and then you do the snare. As long as your rhythms are not super off, you can play the drums. I might not be able to play some crazy big rock drums, but I can play a little beat. I’ve learned way more about playing guitar through making guitar music, than I have from taking lessons. I learn how to play instruments on a need to know basis, but it’s working for me. It could be going faster, but when you’re trying to learn how to produce music and play instruments and do photography and learn Photoshop, you have to take everything in super small increments, because I don’t really have a ton of time to devote to one thing, specifically, so it’s just slow and steady.

PAPER: Is being this hands-on important to you? Or is this just a product of living in a location where you’re by yourself and don’t have access to all the creative collaborators you might have in a major city?

Ethel Cain: It’s a little bit of both because the only reason I started teaching myself how to produce is because when I was living in Florida, I didn’t know a single producer. On top of not knowing anybody, I especially didn’t know anybody who made the music I wanted to make because, even to this day, I’ve worked with other producers and they just don’t make what I want to make.

I worked heavily with my friend, Matt Tomasi, on this entire record, and we worked very well together. But other than him, it’s been very hard to find collaborators that make music in my style. I’m very nitpicky, I’m very specific. Instead of pissing people off by being like, “Move over, I’ll do it myself,” I was like, “I’ll just go ahead and do it from the very start.” It definitely gets a little exhausting doing it, but I very much like to be in the driver’s seat at all times because my art is the only thing I’m really passionate about. I might as well do it myself because, even though I might not get to that high quality end goal as fast, I would much rather know that I did everything exactly how I wanted it.

PAPER: All the music you’ve released sounds very singular and I think it comes down to little nuances, like adding a harmonica, that makes it unlike anybody else’s.

Ethel Cain: When I first started producing, I was like, “I can do whatever I want.” Whenever you don’t know the rules, you’re not bound to them, so I was doing whatever came to mind. I had zero idea how to produce and I was getting all these weird sounds. I made a lot of terrible music that I painstakingly tried to scrub off the internet, but those songs, even though I hate them now, they all taught me something and they all still exist in my current music in a way. So I think it was all worth it. Now I possess the skill of producing and I’m glad that I took the time to get my hands dirty and learn. If I have an idea, I don’t have to call up somebody and be like, “Hey, I want to do this,” and hope they know what I’m talking about. I can just sit on my computer and do a couple clicks and then bam, I made it happen. It was worth the intense struggle.

PAPER: I love that you said, “Whenever you don’t know the rules, you’re not bound to them.” There is something magical about entering any industry with a bit of naivete, and then the more successful you get the more it fucks with what you originally had, which was innate: if it sounds good, it feels good.

Ethel Cain: When I listen to my old music that’s not anywhere but my hard drive, it’s so different but still so me. Now in this recording process, it’s been like: people are going to hear this, people are going to critique it, they’re going to consume it. But when I started out, my music was never about if other people liked it, it was about if I liked it. I miss that freedom and I’ve been actively trying to push myself back into it, to where if I like it that’s good enough.

That’s been another thing I’ve liked about living out in Alabama: there’s no outside influence. It’s me and the music and that’s it. No one whispering in my ear. There’s this really funny tweet that says, “Papa John’s is pretty good when there’s not somebody whispering in your ear telling you it tastes like shit,” and that’s how I feel about my music. I like my music better when there’s no label executives whispering in my ear telling me, “You need to shorten that, you need to make it more pop friendly. It’s probably not gonna chart and stream.” I’m like, “Fuck, who cares?” I’m making a body of work, I’m not making a collection of songs to stream.

read more: Ethel Cain on ‘Everytime’ and Britney Spears’ Cautionary Tale, by Justin Moran, Paper, 18 March 2022

Ethel Cain: "found this pic on my mom’s phone. this is the 100+ year old piano i learned how to play on and recorded all my old demos on. it sat at granny’s house for decades and then moved to my parents’ house and will go to me someday :)”

[beedlemania]

In the 80s (when recording quality got better) Peter spends a week installing a really nice sound system in the pad even like crawling under the house to run wires from room to room. He rents an electrician’s book from the library and learns about electrical currents and pathways and how electricity and sound relate and how electricity turns sound waves into bigger sound waves with amps etc etc he connects their phonograph, cassette deck, and (eventually) their CD player and he gets a decent soundboard to control it all and he spends months talking about it and teaching Micky how to use the sound board to isolate the different instruments & vocals so he can make things sound the way he likes (Micky always complained about sound guys giving them a bad mix during shows) and teaching Mike how to use the synthesizer to play with his guitar noises so he can make things sound the way he wants them to in his head and Davy (who only learned to play the guitar and bass out of necessity) doesn’t really care too much about all the fancy stuff Peter hooked up which disappoints him because Peter likes when Davy is interested in his hyper fixations but when Davy is just chilling and Peter reveals the entertainment center (a shelf with their Phono, cassette player and “now playing” stand so they don’t have to ask what’s on, room for all their favorite albums where they’re easily accessible *and* Peter painted it so it fits the rest of their groovy décore) and Davy is like raving about it for days and Peter is all giddy about Davy bragging about him and then Micky points out the pad is decked out better than most night clubs and Davy gets the bright idea to turn their house into a nightclub and suddenly they’re all regretting giving Davy that idea because now they’re the hottest beachside night club of 1987 and every night they’re the house band for a night club and Davy starts getting other small local bands asking if they can audition to play at his night club and it all gets out of hand and they need to get a bouncer because their house can only hold so many people and have to start posting up club safety flyers and put up and anti drug policy because they start waking up to find people still zoned out on their couch and it all comes to a close when they get shut down because Davy didn’t get a permit to run a night club and the Miami news station runs a story on a “small British man running a night club out of his apartment” and “the night club of the summer getting shut down because they owner failed to register proper business permits” with clips of Davy standing pathetically next to Mike and very sadly saying “I didn’t know!” When being asked why he didn’t get a permit and then whenever they try to ask Peter questions he just starts info dumbing about sound waves and musical composition.

They still have people coming to their house thinking it’s a night club until the 90s. The main body of the club was queer young adults who thought the mostly 60s music the club played was cool and novel like it was some themed club and not just because the house band is the Monkees.

After they get shut down the sound system is still used by the TV and the music and all the other stuff they need a sound system for but it’s mostly used by Micky or Davy when they wanna do something they know Mike will complain about so they put on an album, turn it on really loud and then they just can’t hear Mike when he tells them to stop trying to explode the apartment!

Peter never stops trying to explain sound stuff to Davy. Davy never understands sound stuff he’s just glad Peter is having fun.

Oh my god I love this so much what the hell!!!!

All the guys are messing around with equipment to make cool new sounds they can use in their music and Davy’s just checking himself out in the nearest shiny surface.

Peters installing everything and Mike has to keep reminding him about safety gear, Micky has to help him wire some things (danger!!!) and Davy’s just handing him tools etc while filing his nails.

Davy starting a completely illegal scheme😭but hes still cute enough to get out of it so its okay! Mike does have to go lawyer mode for a bit though and the man is stressed

Peter explaining everything to Davy and Davy doesn’t understand a word so he just says it all back to peter wrong so he can explain it again. He just likes to hear Peter talk <3. Peters explained it about five times now (he doesn’t get bored because he’s super excited to tell Davy about it anyway) and Davy’s still clueless as when he started. Peter asks him to help with something and Davy’s just 🧍🏻head scratch

[garblegarden]

I finally figured out how palindrome names/pronouns can work! SO! Palindromes get colored patches on the insides of their mouths depending on what sex the opposing side of the body is. (Like how with cosine law there's an angle of a triangle and a corresponding side across from the angle. that kinda thing.) Palindromes have a kind of "mix and match" sexual selection system and can have a male gonad, a female gonad, both or none on each side, and each side can be different. A male gonad will trigger a green patch on the opposite side of the body, and female gonad will trigger a red one.

Palindromes use these colored patches as somewhere in between a pronoun and a name, and assign words to each patch.

Each "word" is a note, and because a palindrome can have up to two patches, there's two spots for notes. If a mouthpart only has one patch, the remaining spot for a note in the beat is a flat note or a rest. The pitch of the notes which represent each sex is variable between cultures.

Although the patches and the words assigned to each do relate to the sex, palindromes don't really pay much mind or assign many cultural values to each sex. They just see it more as "this guy has more green than red on their face" rather than "this guy is more male than female".

Each "pair of notes" are stuck together and can be rearranged. If, say, a palindrome has one mouthpart which displays both green and red patches, they could have a high note and then a low note, or a low note and then a high note. However, they couldn't mix these notes with the other two pairs of notes which correspond to their other mouthparts.

Here's an example of two identifiers for my two palindromes, Patrick and Robot Arm Guy. (Who I haven't really posted about yet, but whatever.) Patrick is male on all sides and female on only two so he has valley/peak, valley/peak and valley/plain to work with. He could arrange these in any way he wants. Same with robot arm guy.

I'd imagine that once a palindrome's mouth patch colors come in they go on some kind of self discovery journey to arrange the words that come with their patches in a way that they like. Since they're symmetrical, there's no real start and end or any correct order to put the notes in, and it's more important that a palindrome settles on something they think sounds nice. I'd think that a palindrome equivalent to transitioning is rearranging their notes/words.

Perhaps young palindromes who haven't gotten their patches yet are referred to as "plain" or "plainplainplain", or maybe they have a separate word for it. Regardless, a palindrome doesn't have a unique name until they come of age.

Written out, these notes may be represented by colored dots or a squiggly line which goes up and down.

I'd imagine these would just sound like notes being played on a synthesizer, but a little gurglier.

[sonicmusicmusings]

Green Grove from the Saturn 3D Blast played on shuffle, and for a short while I legit thought it was a Lost World track... The Saturn soundchip is really good??

Yes! The Saturn was using PCM CD quality audio being read straight from the disc, so composers could use the exact synthesizers they wanted! The Saturn in particular used a Yamaha YMF292 chip that had modes for both FM synthesis and PCM audio, as PCM could take up a lot of space on disc. That 5th-gen era of consoles (PS1/N64/Saturn) was a really experimental time where a lot was happening. (It's also a great Wikipedia rabbit hole to fall into...time to close a couple tabs...)

I've done Act 2, so why don't we cover Act 1?

I do like the soundfont used for this whole soundtrack, it has such a lush and clear sound. The rhythm section is so nicely set up--piano in the background with a bright bass and active drums. There's some low synths in the very back as well that sparkle deep in the mix--like how water can sparkle under moonlight. The melody is a muted but flowing violin synth. The bridge section has some nice chordal movement, followed by a gorgeous piano solo that flows into the turnaround.

Oh, and before I forget--Richard Jacques is the composer on this, and this track quotes a song he would later write for Metropolis Street Racer on the Dreamcast--listen to this, then listen to It Doesn't Really Matter, especially the chorus! The vocals are preformed by T.J. Davis, who also worked with Jacques on the Sonic R soundtrack. I love seeing composer and artist continuity, especially in SEGA!