#egc answers

[yogurtyogitup]

man im watching the newest Yogscast build battle and Duncan called rythian and zoey a classic duo. Sobs

AS HE SHOULD!!!

[cheerydearie]

HAPPY 20TH BIRTHDAY!!!!! 🎉🎉🎉

THANK YOU!!!!!!

[gameshow-host-wally]

Hello to you all!

You must be a fan of the show! You want to talk to our charming show host?

Well now you can! Don't be afraid.

TW for this whole blog: Lore, Angst, Horror imagery, Eye contact, Scopophobia, Body & Face distortion, Blood, Character hurt/death, violence, abuse and torture, unreality, paranoia, THIS AU IS REALLY DARK

AU Explanation, Rules, and other stuff are down here PLEASE READ THEM :D

AU Explanation:

Wally Darling is trapped working for Home as the host of a deadly gameshow that focuses on the lives of the contestant

How does the show work?

Wally and Home picks a contestant and offers them to risk their life for the prize to win almost anything they want, This deal is made with the contract. The contestants are aware they can potentially die.

Every episode it may have different kinds of challenges but the important goal is that they will be asked questions about their lives and they need to answer honestly. One wrong answer leads to death. It's pretty easy, just don't lie to Wally! Wait, how did he know this much about you? What are you hiding? Why are you hiding?

Things to know

Not every ask will be drawn

There will be lore and angst

I said it in the tw, I'll say it again, this is a dark AU that has murder, horror imagery, etc.

NO NSFW and NO SUGGESTIVE asks

No Weird and Innapropriate asks. You may ask Wally about his thoughts on love. But do not harass him.

No bullying, hate, proshippers, offensive, egc. asks. If you're someone problematic, dni please.

Please don't pressure me since I'm always busy irl

If you want to ask the creator personally, use @no-name-blu instead of this blog.

Do not use this ask blog as a way to vent or cope. Please get some help from someone who can ^^

This is still Wally Darling in the end, so please also follow Clown's boundaries for this AU

If your asks aren't answered and you didn't break any of the boundaries,

then they may be secrets I don't want to reveal yet

it's answered before

I might be working on it but it's taking me a long time to draw it

or I do not have an answer or I didn't know how to respond. (This happens a lot more than I want to :'D)

So no worries if I did not answer your asks :DDD

Here's other drawings (I don't have a proper reference of him yet)

his color references :DDD

[doctorwhozzat]

Blog Introduction/rules

recently got into doctor who. And decided hey what if I could travel with the doctor? How would our (mis)adventures go?

So basically this is what this blog is for :3

RULES/boundaries

Not ask will have a drawn response. Depends on if I'm Uber busy or not.

NO NSFW/proships, problematic etc

No bullying, hate, proshippers, offensive, egc. asks. If you're someone problematic, dni please.

There will be lore bc why not. Tw will most likely be the same as ones found in the show. There was/and still are a couple spooky doctor who episodes and moments

Don't use this blog to vent. Sorry if this rule sounds harsh but as someone who struggles with irl problems Ik how difficult it can be. But this blog isn't for that.

You can either ask my Sona or the 10th doctor (There WILL be appearances of other canon characters/ regenerations/ companions etc but right now just focusing on these two)

Ig if any of you wanted to make fan content of this au that's fine just don't be weird about it or break any of the above boundaries.

Rps are fine but not always the main focus of this blog.

Don't worry if your ask isn't answered right away. I may have forgotten to answer it ^^; (if that happens please don't spam the same questions in the inbox I would hate to have to block you)

I am new to this fandom so some of the doctor who lore I may not know. Then again this is an au so it's possible for me to deviate from canon a bit.

IF you have any questions just ask them or leave an ask at my main blog @melodythebunny

And with that said-

ALLONS-Y!

[maidenofsophia]

Assumption of Holy Sophia

"We thus call upon the Holy Sophia, the supernal mother of our souls, and celestial bride of our spirits: Daughter of Infinite Light, born of enlightened love; merciful and compassionate, embodiment of perfect wisdom; begotten in Eternity, beyond time and space. With what words shall we praise Thee, or with what thought comprehend Thy majesty? Utterance must profane Thee; Silence itself can but bear witness to Thee. How shall we extol Thee? In what shall we shadow forth Thy great glory among us?

And our Lady Sophia answers, saying: 'Ye shall dance, sing, feast, make music and love, all in my praise. For mine is the ecstasy of the spirit, and mine also joy on earth. Let my worship be in the heart that rejoiceth. wherefore let there be beauty and strength, power and compassion, honor and humility, mirth and reverence within you, now and for evermore.'"

- The EGC Collect for the Assumption of Sophia

[skip0s]

Skip0s Reference Study #1

So I've been searching onto references and Stuff, wanting to get some insights into color and lineart, so this mostly to register and share what I've noticed.

For this one parricularly, Iv'e choosen a panel from Tsuioku a H-Visual Novel for PC98.

PC-98 graphics games mostly used the EGC mode with 640x400 res and 16 colors chosen from 12-bit (4 bits per channel) RGB.

Fisrt of all, I love the colors here and how vibrant they are.

The panel itself has only 480×280 res, and how my target is studing the panel tp try to replicate the techniques and stuff to create somethinkg like it, we will forget the UI for this study.

Now let's focus and tackle this by parts:

Sky

So beautiful!

Limitations probabbly make stuff more creative. I'm a programmer, not a designer, so I don't have a degree to really tell you about the importance of a pallete. Nowadays, most part of the apps we use have almost no limit of colors that can be used.

But here, in this sky, we only got 3 colors, and that's all. White, light blue and a darker shade of blue, that's all that were used to make a sky that, in not just CRT, but in LCD screens, looks like 9 different shades of blue. Oh, and white was used just for the clouds.

So here we have 9 steps of dithering, or in other words, "pixel gradients" in a pattern that can be translated to:

Keep in mind that this isn't the only way to make dithering.

Now for the clouds, the artist applied a dithering with light blue only if they were into the darker portion of he sky. In the big picture this results in a image with more depth!

Jesus Christ the compression is killing me

Le Lineart 🥐

For some reason, here the lineart is not fully black. Personally, when making it is really hard to choose when to use black or a darker shade for lineart.

So here, I tried to find patterns that would answer the question "when should I really use black as outline?" and noted them down.

Marked some in red & blue so they get easier to see.

After comparing the places where we have black outlines, I've found 4 reasons:

Used when there's no direct darker shade for the color (blue is normally painted as a darker shade for white)

Used to make clear the separation of a whole from it's parts (leg feom arm, arm from clothes, hair from face, face from neck etc)

Used to show the darker side of something (less ligh = darker tones = black outline)

Used in background objects (stuff that isn't necessarily the center of the piece but yet there they

Palette

As said, PC-98 mostly use 16 colors, I've identified the ones that appear.

From 1 to 16, I checked if they were the same color

This helped me to see (again) how the same color can be used many times, and how they SHOULD be used if possible. I'm thinking right now if would be better to use a pre-made 16 colors palettes, or start the process normally and gradually reciclyng colors until you have 16.

Something to keep in mind.

End

Well, this is all I've got to share for now. What I need now is to get some practice and see the results for myself. Then do another study and repeat!

Thank you for your time and hope It helped you too!

[mohonarahman]

Did you know Experts consider one of the main trends in Internet marketing in 2023?

What is UGC & What is EGC?

If answer is "yes" this blog for you!

User Generated Content (UGC) and

Employee Generated Content (EGC)

UGC

UGC is original content that is created and shared by the brand’s customers voluntarily and without compensation. It can be any materials, from comments to video reviews, that exist in the public domain. This authentic material is great for a brand, as consumers trust their friends more than any advertising campaign. In this native promotion format clients do not only choose a product, but they are also ready to tell others about their choice.

Clients’ relationships with brands are no longer simply about buying the products they need. They develop an emotional attachment to the brands they identify with. (With this in mind, it’s important to understand what specific emotions your products can inspire and position them accordingly). People are most loyal to content created by other people they meet on the street on their way to work, those with whom they can potentially interact in everyday life, or those who may have the same work tasks, issues or problems.

According to Ipsos Mediact, users remember UGC content 35% better and are twice as loyal to it.

Many users note that the presence of UGC content has a positive effect on their decision to buy a product or service. Also, such content can increase engagement, as it encourages users to discuss and express their relevant experience in the comments.

EGC

There is also another type of content – EGC. Employee Generated Content is any form of content created and distributed by employees of a company in internal (intranet, corporate media, internal social media) and external (social media, Internet media) distribution channels.

This type of user-generated content is especially important for HR brands and for successful marketing and employee engagement.

The possibilities of UGC and EGC are almost limitless. They solve many problems, from finding content for social media accounts and websites, to increasing sales, finding new employees and motivating existing teams.

This type of marketing is practically free and can be easily combined with other types of advertising. For example, SMS mail-outs. You can advertise UGC and EGC in your bulk messages as it’s a good excuse to write to your subscribers.

You can create text messages using special online platforms or desktop apps.

Intis Telecom has been creating and supporting special software for mass messaging for more than 10 years. On our platform, you can find a wide range of settings that will allow you to make your text messages individual for each subscriber. You can try all the features after free registration.

[danaya2021]

How To Get Slim Fast And Easily – 7 Proven Ways

Counting calories may not always help with successful weight loss. This method only provides short-term results. But fret not – here’s a curated list of the 7 ways you can shed fat fast and get a toned body easily. Give yourself 2-3 weeks, and you will be amazed at how slim your body looks and how great you feel. Continue reading and get your answer on how to become slim.

1. DRINK GREEN TEA

Green tea is loaded with antioxidants called catechins (EGCG, EGC, and ECG). Catechins detox the body by scavenging the harmful free oxygen radicals and reducing inflammation.

2. ADD PROTEIN TO MEALS

Adding protein to each meal helps improve lean muscle mass. The muscles, which are made of protein, contract and relax to allow movements to occur. Since the muscles work constantly, they contain more mitochondria (the organelles that convert sugar to energy).

Research shows consuming a high-protein diet aids more weight loss compared to a standard protein diet. Here’s a list of proteins sources:

Protein Sources – Eggs, skinless chicken breast, mushroom, ground turkey, fish, tofu, lentils, beans, soy, nuts, seeds, and milk.

3. CONSUME FRUITS AND VEGGIES

Increased consumption of fruits and vegetables can help you lose weight fast. They are rich in dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Fruits and veggies are low in calories, and they increase satiety, reduce hunger, and lower BMI.

Eva De Angelis, Dietitian Nutritionist, says, “While bananas, like most fruits, are high in carbs, they are also high in fiber, minerals, and antioxidants, all of which are essential for good health. A medium banana also has only 105 calories but provides plenty of satiety, making it an ideal weight-loss snack. Even so, I suggest choosing green bananas over fully ripe bananas for better weight loss results. While both have the same net carb content, the green ones are higher in resistant starch, which acts as fiber, slowing sugar absorption, and increasing satiety.”

4. COOK YOUR MEALS

Cooking your meals at home will help prevent you from consuming too many calories. Restaurant foods often contain hidden calories in the form of sauces, dips, salad dressings, and taste enhancers. Consuming these every day can be harmful.

Jesse Feder, Clinical Dietitian at the Memorial Regional Hospital, discusses the relationship between rice consumption and the risk of gaining unwanted weight. He says, “Rice alone will not make your belly fat. However, if you overconsume rice every day, you are more likely to gain belly fat. This is simply because rice is a calorically dense food. People tend to have multiple servings of rice at a time throughout the day. This can add up calories quite quickly, leading to an increase in belly fat. If eaten in moderation, rice can be part of a healthy diet that does not lead to belly fat.”

Eva adds, “White rice may be less filling than brown or parboiled rice, and overeating white rice may result in weight gain and belly fat. Yet, white rice is high in manganese, iron, and some B vitamins. While I try to include brown rice more often, I also enjoy white rice, especially jasmine rice with curry. So, when I eat white rice, I always try to have plenty of vegetables on my plate or some seeds for fiber. This way, I can enjoy the texture and flavor of white rice while also getting fiber from other foods. This keeps me satisfied and helps me better control my body weight. ”

Make yourself a delicious salad with olive oil dressing or prepare soup for a quick meal. You may also grill chicken/fish/tofu/mushrooms with veggies, or make daal soup with veggies. You will also be able to monitor the amount and quality of oil, amount of salt, and use veggies of your choice.

5. GET YOUR OWN BEAUTY MACHINE

You can find excellent professional beauty machines that are just as amazing as the machines that you’d find at a beauty spa and can be purchased for home use. The best beauty machines for home use are safe and easy to operate, and you won’t have to have a lot of advanced knowledge in beauty treatment to use them. They create a phenomenon known as cavitation, which is the formation and collapse of small bubbles in a liquid. When it happens, they make “waves” that can break down the fat cells. After, they are naturally eliminated from the body through the lymphatic system.The treatment is often used on areas of the body such as the thighs, buttocks, and abdomen to reduce the appearance of cellulite and to contour the body. 

6. AVOID PROCESSED FOODS

Processed foods, like salami, ham, frozen foods, ready-to-eat, canned foods, and packaged fruit and vegetable juices, contain high amounts of salt, sugar, preservatives, and artificial coloring agents.

7. GET PROPER SLEEP

Research shows that sleep deprivation also causes weight gain. Get at least 7 hours of sleep every day. Sleep helps to rejuvenate your mind and repair the muscles in the body. If you do not get a good night’s sleep, your brain will be stressed out and cannot function properly. When that happens, you will be more prone to eating unhealthy and gaining weight.

[doomedandstoned]

Conan Bring Cold Blackened Violence to France

~By Clem Helvete~

For the penultimate show of a European tour that lasted over a month, CONAN played the Westill Festival in Vallet, France. For the occasion, I reached out to Jon and asked him if him and Dave (who was playing bass on this tour) would have a minute to answer a few questions. Although they were both quite tired from a month of hopping from one city to the other, they still managed to make time to talk about the tour, Blackskull Services, guitars, pedals, and amps. We nerded out about gear for a bit, right before Conan went on stage and literally blew up the PA. And I literally mean literally...

So, how did the tour go?

Jon: We’re two shows from the end now, and I could probably still go on a few more shows. I’m a bit tired but we’ve been out a whole month. We’ve been to fifteen countries or more all across Europe. So, it’s been good.

Dave: The tour was great. I haven't done anything like this for 25 years when Fudge Tunnel was touring. The whole thing was fine though, well organised and we had Un and Sixes from the USA along on all but the last two shows so we all made a lot of friends.

Dave, how did you end up playing bass in Conan to occasionally replace Chris?

Dave: I got to know Jon a little via Facebook, as he's a big fan of my old band Fudge Tunnel. Last year he asked me if I fancied filling in on bass for a couple of shows while Chris got married. That went OK, and he asked me to do a few more shows that Chris couldn't make due to his producing commitments. Then earlier this year he asked if I could do a whole four week european tour. Chris and his wife just had a baby, so I'm like "maternity cover" this time out.

Does it bring a different vibe to Conan to have Dave on bass?

Jon: It is a tiny bit different and it’s interesting. Dave and his band have alway been idols to me, so being on stage with him is really great. We’re very comfortable playing and working together, and we get along great. So, it’s brilliant.

You toured with Un and Sixes, which are two bands who have releases on Jon’s label, Black Bow Records. In addition, the whole thing was booked through Blackskull, right?

Jon: I released the first Un album on CD and digital and I think Translation Loss has picked them up for the subsequent release. I distributed Sixes’ more recent album in Europe.

Between Black Bow records, Blackskull Services and Conan, which is a very active band, how do you manage all of this?

Jon: With some difficulty, but it’s fun. I enjoy it, so I keep busy with it. I don’t do everything on my own. Blackskull is myself and my other half, Sarah. There are other people who work within Blackskull, who do the booking. On this particular tour Marie, who does some of the booking with Blackskull, handled all of that. So I can’t take any credit for that really. The tour is going really well and that’s because of Marie, really. She’s been really good at booking everything.

You basically started the booking agency and the name Conan has gotten some momentum, to say the least, over the last few years. It feels like you’re giving back by helping smaller bands.

Jon: I always get asked for advice, and I’m not an expert on everything by any means, but there are a lot of ways that you can help bands get over some of the hurdles, particularly in the early stages. That’s really why it was set up, just to help bands move forward. Obviously there are more serious aspects of what we do, such as negotiating with labels, booking tours, all the transactional things that we do. But on the other hand, we’re here for advice and guidance. I wish I had someone like this when Conan was starting out. There are certain things that we probably wouldn’t have done if we had the correct advice. So you can pass on your experience to other bands and we decided to make a business out of it.

Can you tell us about the bass and guitar you're using in Conan?

Dave: Up until this tour I had been borrowing Chris's Dunable Thunderclapper, which is a beautiful instrument. Conan plays in drop-F and his bass was custom made with that in mind, longer scale etc. As we were going away for a lot longer this time I put something off my own together. It's a P-bass body which I stripped down and re-finished. I put in a DiMarzio DP122 pickup and upgraded the wiring. it has a Gotoh bridge which I set back an extra inch to lengthen the scale. The neck is a fairly cheap jazz style thing which I got on eBay. To make a bass that plays in drop-F you need to use extra thick strings, Rotosound Dropzone+. The thickest string is a 175 and it still flops about and slaps on the fretboard.

I believe Jon started out playing Gibsons and then moved on to EGCs for a while, is that correct?

Jon: The first guitar I started using in Conan was by a British company called Gordon Smith. I had an SG and I recorded the first two albums on that. Over time I’ve used different guitars, I used to have an early ‘80s silverburst Les Paul custom. It’s a beautiful guitar but I didn’t really like the way the strap is bent at a sharp angle the way I wear it. There was once or twice where it actually popped-out of the strap pin. Not cool on a guitar that’s worth about £2,000. Around that time I had an Electrical Guitar Company all aluminium, which is a bit trendy I guess. They are great instruments, but I didn’t want to have two guitars that are worth so much money on the road. I sold that and I ended up noticing Dunable Guitars from Los Angeles, so I bought a couple from him. I have a Dunable R2, I have a Flying V, and I have another guitar that’s being made for me at the moment. It’s like a reverse body clone of a Guild S200. I’ve always loved the shape of this guitar, but not necessary all the switches that are on it. So I wanted that shape but with something more traditional in terms of options, just two pickups, tone and volume.

What about the scale?

Jon: These are not baritones, they are Fender scale [ed. 25.5”]. I’ve always had the Fender scale. The Gibson Les Paul obviously isn't a Fender scale, and the Gordon Smith was also a Gibson scale [ed. 24.75”].

Do you find the Dunables more comfortable to play due to the scale or is it more of an overall thing?

Jon: I find the overall comfortable enough and they hold the tune a little bit better.

Which is important since you guys are way down-tuned.

Jon: Yes, we’re dropped tuned to F. So it’s important that the strings are tight enough so they sound clear enough when you’re playing. So, that little bit of extra length on the neck definitely helps.

What string gauge do you use?

Jon: The bottom one is a .8 and then I go through to 14 I think. Right now I’m using Ernie Ball heavy gauge strings. They do an 8 strings set, which goes from 80 to 11. I use the first four wound strings and then I don’t remember what the 2 thinnest strings are. I don’t really worry about changing them because I don’t really use them when I’m playing. The other day, I replaced all my strings and just did the first four because they’re the only ones I use, like a poor man’s Max Cavalera.

Dave, I assume your rig is a bit different from what you were using in Fudge Tunnel. Are you trying to get close to Chris's sound or are you really just going for your own thing?

Dave: In Fudge Tunnel I used a very different sound. Much more top end, and standard tuning. So I mostly used Marshall solid states or Ampeg SVTs with Fender Jazz, Musician or Rickenbacker. When I play in Conan, I try to make it sound good to my ears. Chris is a producer and has much better ears than me, so it probably doesn't sound the same. He also has a much better beard.

I believe you are using an Orange OB1-300 and QSC RMX 850a (I could be wrong on this one) both rack mounted. Can you tell us a bit about this pairing and how it came to be ?

Dave: My Orange amp is an OB-500, which I really like. It's ridiculously loud and a bit more reliable than a full-on tube amp. The power amp is there just to run the Peavey cab, which is a 1x18. It's Conan's cab, and it's just there for the low end (there's a lot of low end). As far as I know all the speakers are stock. The 8x10 is one that we bought on the road, towards the start of the tour in Copenhagen. The one we brought over was a little worn out, and I managed to blow three of the speakers (oops!), so we upgraded. All three bands were using the 8x10 every night so it had to be done.

I saw that the guitar rig you’re using on this tour is different from the one that you’ve been using for a while now. Can you tell us about your current touring rig?

Jon: Very early on in this tour there was a signal problem with it. I haven’t tried it since so maybe it was my cables. But because of that I’ve switched it to two old Peaveys amps. I’ve had these Peaveys in the studio for years now and I’ve never really used them, but I had to bring them out of retirement for this tour. I actually had them fully overhauled and serviced just before we started the tour. I must have had some sort of premonition or something, like I knew this was going to happen. I started using them in Hamburg, which was only the 4th or 5th show on this tour and I’ve got two shows left and so far it’s been good.

I have the Hilbish rig at home and I’ve got the Peaveys now that all of a sudden have caught my attention, but I’ve just taken delivery of a valve rig made of a separate preamp and a power amp.

Are you going back to tube amps?

Jon: I’m just going to try it and see. I’ve got another band, Ungraven, in which I want to run two full stacks with two 8x10s. For that set up, I’m going to run two full stacks with this new rigs if it sound good. It’s a Mesa Boogie Studio preamp, the same one that Kurt Cobain used, and that is going to be run into a Mesa Boogie 295 power amplifier. This is a stereo power amplifier and each channel is 95 watts. That’s all tube. I’m interested to see how that sounds, I think it’ll sound cool. Then I’ll use the Hilbish or the Peaveys through 8x10s. I’d rather use the Hilbish if I figure out what’s wrong with it. That rig could run two 8x10s very easily so that’s what I’d rather use.

What made you decide that you would switch from tube to solid state? This is not a very popular move within the doom scene.

Jon: On our last album I used the Hilbish rig in which I ran a Boss HM-2 clone. I’m not using that pedal live right now, but I’ve been using it quite a lot. I don’t really know why people would have an issue with solid-state. Some of the coolest albums were recorded and played live with solid-state amps. In Crowbar Kirk uses the Orange solid-state 100 watts head, Jimmy Bower from Eyehategod uses a Randall solid-state. Buzz from the Melvins uses the exact same Hilbish rig I have, it was through him that I’ve heard of this amplifier. I like the versatility of it, I love solid-state.

Speaking of amplification, do you have any issues with volume restrictions? France and Belgium are known for having fairly low limitations.

Jon: It has been an issue in some places. Yesterday in France we were a bit louder than they would have liked. It was around 109 decibels and their limit was 102 or 103dB. Some of the shows it’s a little bit of a restriction but nothing too crazy. We played at this place called Fundbureau in Hamburg, which is actually a techno club, and the PA in there is for techno. It was the most powerful PA we’ve ever played through. Our sound guy is good at making us sound good while respecting the dB restrictions, but when he’s let loose on a loud PA it’s awesome. The sound in this venu was crazy. When we were playing the floor and the stage were vibrating all the time. After the set my feet were tingling. I’m not sure if I enjoyed how it felt but it sounded amazing.

Gear is an important component of your sound, so how do you make sure you have the gear you want when touring the US or Asia for example?

Jon: In America we’ve got our own cabs and I’ve got two Hilbish rigs out there. Friends of ours in a band called Serial Hawk in Seattle keep all of our gear in a storage room. We have a bass rig and two guitar rigs out there. We have three 4x12s and an 8x10. So when we go in America on tour it’s all there for us. It costs us less than we spent renting gear on the first two tours. So it makes sense. Rather than spending a fortune renting it I’d rather have some consistency. A lot of bands use Orange amps, and they’re great amplifiers. If I ever have to rent it, I’d rent Orange for sure. I like owning what I use. I can maintain it myself and I know that nobody abused it a week before. Touring through Asia, we played Japan one time and I just used two Marshall JCM 900 full stacks and on bass we used an Ampeg and an 8x10. Australia and New Zealand we just rent whatever’s there. Last time we went over it was Marshall. But if we can specify what we use, we just go for a cleanish sound and two full stacks. So Marshall can do, Orange would do.

Basically a loud pedal platform.

Jon: Yes, my pedalboard comes with me no matter where we play, so I know that’s always consistent. For distortion I’m using a Fuzzthrone, which is a really high gain Big Muff. It works really well for Metal, it works really well for slow, drony parts. I’ve got it dialed in quite well. Although, when I change my strings it sounds a little bit brighter than normal, so the last couple of shows was a struggle to get the feedback swell the way I like it. As long as it’s a clean sounding, loud amplifier I can probably sound quite consistent through them.

So let’s talk about your pedalboard. You’ve worked with Dunwich Amplification for the Fuzzthrone, how was that?

Jon: It’s a Fuzzface stacked up on a Big Muff tone, but I just told him what my favorite sound was and he made it, but louder and with more power to push the amplifier a little bit more.

You tried out prototypes?

Jon: Yes, he sent me a prototype, then I used that and he sent me the real thing. Since then I’ve had three or four different ones and they all sounded the same. He’s a great pedal builder. Right now I’ve got a Fuzzthrone and I’ve got a Nihilist, which is an HM-2 clone. It’s the same pedal I use on the album. The one I use right now has a clean blend, I think it would make for an amazing bass distortion pedal. I don’t use the clean blend for guitar, though.

I’m guessing your pedalboard hasn’t really changed since what you showed in the video you made a few years back.

Jon: Yes, it’s the same thing.

c/o The Doom Doc (2017)

What about bass effects?

Dave: My pedalboard is pretty simple. I use a T-Rex power supply, MXR bass compressor, Boss tuner and a SansAmp bass driver. There's also a Boss Bass Overdrive just in case the SansAmp dies.

I saw on social media that you picked up Ground FX pedals. Are you using them on this tour?

Jon: No, when we played in Hamburg we went to my friend’s music store and we stayed just above it. This music shop is like a treasure trove. He has amazing instruments in there. I got to play on a late 60s Fender Jaguar and he’s got loads of cool Hiwatt, Orange, and Roost amplifiers. My friend Christian, who runs a festival called Droneburg, told me a friend of his made a couple different pedals and wanted me to try them. So I got one which is a bass distortion and one that is like a Sunn Model T preamp. I tried them out there and it sounded cool, but I wasn’t using my gear. So I’m going to try them once I go back in the UK and see if I can maybe use them on a record.

What piece of gear would you say is at the heart of your sound?

Dave: The modified bass is essential, along with unusual amounts of volume and drive. I wouldn't want to go "unplugged" in Conan.

Jon: Without a doubt the Fuzzthrone. I’ve been using that since Blood Eagle. I love how it sounds and it makes me play a certain way. It’s taken a new lease of life with these Peaveys that I’m using now, which I didn’t really expect. I love how it sounds. It’s a simple pedal and I have my sound dialed in so it stays pretty consistent no matter what amp I use it with.

You don’t play around much with pedals in studio then? Aside from the HM-2 clone on your last album, would you say that you don’t really stray from your sound?

Jon: I used the HM-2 clone mixed with a fuzz pedal. I didn’t use the Fuzzthrone on the last album at all, I used a Meathead [ed. by D*A*M]. I like mixing things up, maybe on this new album I’ll use the Fuzzthrone because it sounds pretty cool at the moment.

Is the new album ready to go?

Jon: Yes, I got some songs written. We just need to rehearse them a little bit and get them ready for the studio.

It’s impressive how active you guys are. It is something a lot of musicians can look up to.

Jon: It’s something I’ve always been interested in since my mid teens. Writing music has always been a goal of mine. Performing kind of took over and became a thing all of its own. I’ve never had any idea of what it would be like to go on tour, I’d never thought for a minute that we’d do that. We tour quite a lot, we’re very lucky. I don’t have a day job holding me back, neither does Chris. He runs his own studio so he’s flexible. Johnny is also very flexible with his work, so the three of us are lucky. It’s like the stars have aligned most of the time. When Chris isn’t available we can call Dave, which is great.

Thanks again to Jon and Dave for their time and for being so friendly and accessible after driving around Europe for a month. It goes without saying, but Conan played loud and hard and I’m very much looking forward to their next show in our neck of the woods.

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[yogurtyogitup]

We support women’s wrongs

HAHAHAHA SO TRUE!!!!!

oh my god i just realized that in this AU, five would be lalnable. Imagine her working at Yoglabs with head scientist Honeydew...it would be chaos. Yoglabs would truly be a better place.

[cheerydearie]

I also couldn’t stand little bunny foo foo as a child it stressed me out so bad and I would cry and to this day I struggle with upsetting media do you have a diagnosis is it autism why are we like this

I may not be autistic but I believe in their beliefs, or however it goes. Me and my family have always just called it "sensitive" lol since I also have sensory issues. My mom is the same way, just worse in some areas and better in others.

I've always preferred reading--I don't know what it is about books (and fanfiction, I suppose) but they feel so much less intense and overwhelming. I think because you can look away and it stops it, and it's only one sense? I mean, I still struggle with reading, in the sense that I have to frequently put it down and destress. I think I read so fast because that way the conflict is over faster pffff

Do you find it to be the same case with you, where reading is less stressful than watching a show or a movie?

[thetonecontrol]

Interview with Electronic Audio Experiments

Righteous Ryan: When did you decide to become a builder and what motivated you to do so?

Electronic Audio Experiments: Even before I taught myself how to play the guitar I was always interested in what makes instruments work, so naturally I was a pedal nerd as soon as I learned what they were. After studying electronics for fun on the side (took a couple extra courses during undergrad and then read books on my own) it became a natural progression of my interests to start tinkering with my own. I did a few tagboard clone builds before I realized I wanted to have more control over the design process. And that's still my primary motivation: I love the design process with all of its challenges and room for artistic decisions.

EAE as a company formally started in approximately winter/spring of 2015. In February of that year, Boston was slammed over 5 feet of snow. I spent a lot of time in my crummy basement apartment eating frozen pizzas and breadboarding what would eventually become the Longsword V1. I used it on a couple records I was a part of (Perfect Moments by Tiny Fractures and the Native Wildlife s/t - both on bandcamp, for the curious) and that generated enough interest to do a release that summer. The rest has been a whirlwind!

RR: What motivates you to create original circuits?

EAE: Short answer - it's really satisfying to me, basically my favorite pastime.

Longer answer - I love the challenge of making something from scratch that hopefully lets my personality come through. I should qualify; I am not reinventing any wheels here. Designing "from scratch" is like building something out of legos. You can't really design new pieces (which leads some of the more cynical folks out there to say there's nothing new under the sun) but there are lots of building blocks and lots of ways to arrange them. The artistic merit is in the details, and the fun is in the thrill of the chase. It's an obsessive process but endlessly gratifying.

RR: Are you currently working on anything new?

EAE: Oh god, too many things. Here's a sampling:

Halberd - this is a drive which started as the preamp block of Sending, but heavily mutated into its own thing. It features pronounced treble attack/clarity, stupidly high output, and a strong second harmonic response. Been "finalizing" it for a while but I'm trying my damnedest to release it this summer. (If you want to hear a rough demo of an earlier iteration, check this video out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpGgzl3lOgs)

Sending V2 - I'm trying to add some features while I do an SMD conversion - mostly modulation and CV control over delay time. Currently on the back burner while I get the Halberd sorted out.

Hypersleep - this is my weird multi-tap chorus/vibrato/reverb-ish thing (nb: this is also in Ian's video linked above). It's also on the back burner while I get the Halberd sorted out. I really want to put it to production but it depends fully on whether I can source enough MN3011 BBDs to make it happen. If I can get enough to build 50 I'll do a limited run, but I'd really prefer to do 100 if at all possible... so we shall see what happens.

Super secret collab with Electrofoods Pedals - stay tuned, I am very excited

Surveyor - IVP side of the Dude Incredible, will be released later this year. It's ready to rock.

Various contract designs - Caroline Somersault (just wrapped up), Caroline Megabyte (working on the second round of prototypes), Dunable Eidolon (close to done, just needs some code fixes), another 2 or 3 projects all TBA.

RR: What is your design process like?

EAE: Whenever I design something new I have to answer two questions. 1) does it exist already? and 2) does it address a need or want in my own sonic pursuits? For instance, drive pedals will reflect my tone in whatever band I'm currently in. If it's already been done I can go buy it. If it hasn't been done then the work can begin.

If the design is simple or contains simple building blocks I often go straight to the circuit board layout and if necessary, debug from there. I can often turn a project around pretty quick if that's the case. If I'm not sure whether or not a building block will work, I can try simulating or breadboarding. Circuit simulation is extremely powerful but requires interpretation of the results, which also sometimes differ from reality. Breadboarding is great for audible characterization of a new idea, but the added parasitic capacitances can dramatically alter the frequency response of a circuit - especially a high gain drive or something with lots of complex filters. So there's usually a loop of steps where I move between a breadboard, circuit simulations, and a working prototype until everything works out. Sometimes I just have to resort to plain old math to get what I want.

The first pass of design is a go/no-go check. Does it work? Once it does, I refine it until it can produce sounds I truly like. This is also the step where I do the most work to address noise, oscillation, unwanted artifacts, etc. The final step is to identify which controls I want to keep, and then I determine the tapers/ranges of those controls.

Once there's a working prototype I do extensive beta testing with friends, local musicians and engineers, etc. When testing at home I can lose sight of how good (or not good) a prototype sounds. So a sanity check helps! Once this feedback is incorporated into the process we can go to production. At that point we get the artwork done and start working with our local SMD shop to get boards going.

RR: What's your setup (guitar, amps, pedalboard)?

EAE: I've been awful about maintaining a static setup. I realized that when you're not in a band you can just buy whatever sounds good instead of worrying about serving a song or particular mix. I have a wide assortment of guitars and amps that I use to test pedals during the R&D phase but listing those won't really tell you a coherent story. BUT I started a new band and we're tracking a record (we just did guitars + drums at GodCity) so I can tell you all about the gear I used for that. It's a post-metal sort of outfit so there are lots of heavy sounds but lots of unique mid-gain tones as well. This is also a great chance to plug some work by my friends...

Guitars - Travis Bean TB1000S, which is essentially vintage correct after some restoration work at Electrical Guitar Company (new bridge + pickups). Sounds like a piano. A very angry piano.

My very heavily modified Classic Player Jazzmaster with EGC JM500 pickups and a Robot Graves neck. It can do pristine, chimey cleans or a savage clang depending how much gain you use.

Amps - Traynor YBA1 MKII - Basically a marshall-ish amp with really big transformers. I modded the preamp to roughly superlead specs, but it's got way more bandwidth than a typical marshall.

Traynor YBA3 - not mine, lives at GodCity. Was extensively modified by my friend Scot from SnK pedals, who is also a gifted amp tech. It's loud and clean with a sound that's almost like an ampeg.

For cabs we mostly used an emperor 6x12 with an assortment of speakers. The mic was placed on a Texas Heat.

For my own use I have a pair of Joe's TL806 cabs (Thiele 1x12 design) with EVM12Ls.

Pedals - Halberd proto - great for slamming tube amps!

Electrofoods Oprichniki - the highest gain big muff variant around. I don't even know if it should be called a muff variant because of how twisted and souped up the circuit is. It is an absolute beast.

Dr. Scientist Frazz Dazzler - another extraordinarily high gain fuzz which sounds like absolutely nothing I've ever heard. It's a nice contrast to the more scooped flavor of the Oprich.

SnK VHD - a high gain distortion, used extensively for lead parts especially. Super tight and clear.

Sending V1-ish prototype - also has a tone control. It works ok I guess. Still very much a work in progress!

Lastgasp Misty Cave - weird drone-y reverb/flange thing? Hard to describe. Sounds heavenly.

Hypersleep proto - for room-ish reverb

Red Panda Tensor - Used for a particularly glitchy "solo"

Dirge Slowly Melting - I saw the end of the world, and it was terrifying

Lots of other stuff - I forgot!

Other - Yamaha FX500. The ultimate digital pad machine.

Roland RE-501 Chorus Echo - my drummer owns this, holy hell it is magic

My modular synth - a whole goddamn mess of its own

[drferox]

Eosinophilic Granuloma Complex

@lepetitselkie said to @ask-drferox:  Hi! I was wondering if you know a lot about cat immune systems? I have a kitty who seems to get a lot of eosinophilic granulomas every fall and the vet says it’s a hypersensitivity reaction. What causes an immune system to make eosinophilic granulomas? Is there anything that my vet and I can do to make my cats immune system better?

Unfortunately Eosinophilic Granuloma Complex is a quirk of cat’s immune systems. It’s an inappropriate response to an allergen, only instead of getting hayfever they get welts that look like tumors on their body and lips. There is probably a genetic component, as not all cats with an allergy will develop this syndrome.

The short answer is that EGC happens when the immune system is exposed to the allergen or allergens responsible. Usually it’s insect saliva of some sort, with fleas and mosquitoes being the prime culprits, but any allergen can do it, including food or even plastic. That reaction is always going to be primed, but you can prevent it if you’re lucky enough to be able to remove contact with the offending allergen or allergens. Failing that, it’s immunosuppressants to try to keep it under control, and antibiotics if the cat has torn itself up itching.

The long answer is that whatever sets off the immune system, sets off a massive chemotactic reaction drawing in all these eosinophils.

And an eosinophil is an immune system cell which is relatively rare, but packs a punch full of cytokines that actually damage tissue. Usually it’s for damaging the cells of parasites, but it damages the cells of the cat too. And when it’s out of control you get a lot of cellular damage, and that just attracts more.

So in a perfect scenario, you’d remove the immune triggers from the cat’s environment. In a more complicated scenario, that might involve intradermal skin testing to determine what the cat is allergic to, and then using immunotherapy vaccines to try to flood and switch off the response.

[yourwitchmama]

hello, for the free tarot reading. EGC 11/22/02 scorpio. What will the next phase of AS 8/28 virgo be? if you aren’t comfortable with readings that involve other people then just a general relationship reading. thank you so much!

I am not one hundred percent sure how I can answer that with tarot, but I do see the star in my mind. 

[theheaterishot]

So whatever happened to LBAMM? It's still one of my favourite webcomics to this day from when I first read it in like, my freshman year of highschool! (I'm a college senior now!)

THAT IS A LONG FUCKING TIME. Goddamn, did I really start it that long ago? Motherfucker. Fuck. I guess I’m getting up there in age. 

I announced a while back I was gonna not update it anymore ‘cause it was kinda hard on me to keep working on something I started when I was a shittier writer. BUT. I recently came to the conclusion to start it up again cause people still ask and I wanna still express the ending of the comic. I found an artist to help me (the amazing, wonderful @nerbull​) with that and I did start putting some scripts together. 

Right now I’m in trade school though. This is my last semester and I’ve been here since spring last year and I’m BUSY AS FUCK. Like, waking up at 4am every day, spending all my free time working on NEC copying and also applying for jobs throughout the semester. 

As soon as I get a job I’m hoping to get back to art again ‘cause I miss drawing and writing. 

Also once I get a job hopefully I’ll be making more money than 9k a year and then I can print out some more copies of LbaMM and DDGI ‘cause people still ask for them. Haha. 

TL;DR HOPEFULLY I’LL BRING IT BACK NEXT YEAR. 

Thank you to people that still support it, really warms my heart. 

Ok. Back to copying code about whether an electrical grounding conductor is required for steel flex and aluminum flex. Partial answer: If it’s longer than 6ft and the circuit breaker doesn’t exceed... some amount of amps. Was it 25A?? I can’t remember. In the city of LA, however, aluminum flex can go up to 100ft without needing an EGC! Imagine that! So go install some flex in your home TODAY.