High Existence - An outlet for the Intellectual

The Internet is saturated.

Saturated with what?

Insert anything here.

High Existence is an online community of relatively like-minded people who seem to actually function as a community.  Not a forum that has a topic followed by the standard Internet posts of constant negativity and belittlement.  I am so used to this that I usually don’t involve myself in forums; but at High Existence (HE), I haven’t found any of this.  Actually, to bring it a step further, I’m finding people using words that are rare to forums. (i.e. please)  These ‘6907 HEthens strong’ are exploring articles and topics all relative to self-enlightenment.  Not in a religious sense, but at a human condition level.  Call it the mind or the soul, but these people (myself included) are not trying to focus on what’s wrong.  They are focusing on how to make things/themselves better.

Aside from the discussions, there is a main blog that posts articles of the same sort.  The articles aim at making the reader think on their own life and reflect.  A very interesting article was titled “Life Experiment: An Alien on Your Own Planet”, in which it suggests readers to observe the world from the point of view of an alien that just landed on Earth.  These simple sounding activities make it easy for hours of thinking that stays with the reader long after they have read it.

Jordan Lejuwaan is the creator of High Existence.  He outlines here why he started HE and his story leading up to the epiphany.  He was in his freshman year of college where, after a little over a semester, he realized he wasn’t benefitting from school as he thought he should.  He started this site to help fund his traveling.  He believes that you can learn far more traveling the world, experiencing different culture and people, than you can in a business class for four years. Jordan was actually nice enough to respond to a message I sent him asking why he started the site.  He pointed out that even though there are plenty of articles, books, etc. to gain this wisdom from, there wasn't really a good place to compile all of this.  So Jordan made one.  It is evident he made a great choice and that there are thousands of others who feel the same way.

All in all, this site is great.  Whether you wish to join the cause and involve yourself in discussions or just read an article here and there, you’ll more than likely learn something about yourself.  

Netflix: Am I the only one who thought Qwickster was a good idea?

       Over the past few years, Netflix has exponentially grown.  It has killed most of the market when it comes to renting movies.  Blockbuster is only now trying to make a comeback.  But in early September, Netflix tried a new business plan.  They proposed having Netflix handle online streaming while setting up a new company, Qwikster, to handle by-mail DVDs, Blu-rays, and video games.  For some reason the public became outraged at this, and Netflix’s small price increase, which resulted in 800,000 members canceling their service.  Shortly after, Netflix announced they would stay as one company and ditch the Qwikster idea.  My question is why this was such a bad idea in the first place?

            The future of media clearly points to subscription based, online services like Netflix.  Most people who are reading this have seen the demise of VHS to DVD and now DVD is moving to Blu-ray (remember HD-DVD briefly?).  As this migration happens, the online channels, such as iTunes and Netflix, now provide a pretty high quality product at the ease of the public.  What I think Netflix did was notice this shit and decided to consolidate their forces.  To have one company, Netflix, focused on streaming alone it allows for them to stay ahead and refine their service.  This also would work great from their new company, Qwikster, to focus on the tangible renting market; noting that they planned on adding video games, a service Netflix has yet to offer. 

Now I saw this as an advantage to both the company and their customers.  If Netflix stuck exclusively to streaming, then they would have had to add movies to their library.  They may have even made the majority of all their movies available for instant streaming for their same $8 monthly price.  That would be extremely attractive to new customers.  Since they decided to keep it one company though, now they can keep many popular titles to dvd only.  And what will this mean for the video games?  The company can have the advantage of having two companies.  Years from now, when media is predominantly online, Netflix would have the comfort of already having a company just for online.  They can make the switch now and just hold Qwikster as an expendable company.  The way they were designing it wasn’t even going to follow the same brand scheme as Netflix.    Qwikster could have been dropped or re-absorbed when physical copies become more obsolete.

            Instead, the public freaked out.  Now Netflix will remain one company.  Blockbuster is now on the rise again as well, providing streaming, rentals, and video games….they may still even have a store or two open.  I’m interested to see how this all plays out.

Steve Metcalf ‘BassCausality’ – YouTube spotlight

**It is recommended that you hit play on the video below while you read this article**

Now I know YouTube is flooded with videos of people filming themselves covering songs. I also know that most of them are pretty mediocre at best.  That is why it’s refreshing when I find someone who knows what they’re doing.  Now he hasn’t scored any car commercials like fellow YouTube artists Pomplamoose Music, but what the artist BassCausality (Steve Metcalf) brings to the table is a more classical take on a selection of songs that are a little less mainstream. I’m not saying that for the street cred I’m just saying that I haven’t seen too many kickass covers of Death From Above 1979’s Black History Month.  I can’t stop listening to this dude!

So one main thing about me is I’m a band geek. In high school I lived in the band room for more hours a week than I’m willing to admit.  Between that and being an upright player myself, I needed to first explain my bias.  Due to not that great of a music program I was the only string player, usually forced to just play Tuba parts.  So when I hear an arrangement that truly shows the range of an upright I’m generally pretty amped.  Metcalf seems to arrange with a firm classical background an apparent proficiency in arranging.  Many of his covers are comprised of himself layering bass tracks over them.  Demonstrating how versatile the instrument is, he even uses it for many percussion tracks.  I was extremely impressed with his great technique until I watched his other solo videos… and then I realized he’s a master of the bass shred.  Studying under Lawrence Hurst, he is a performance major at Indiana University.

Aside from the music itself, his videos are produced well!  Most of his videos are shot artistically enough to add more dynamic to the experience.  The recordings themselves are great.  The mix sounds very balanced and the strings sound vibrant and natural.   Even on the few songs with drums, they have a well-recorded sound and are never overbearing on the arrangement.  I do not know what sort of help he has with these productions or if it’s all Metcalf, but it seems like a primarily solo venture.

Aside from his covers, Steve has a few original pieces and arrangements.  Overall they are pretty good and show potential for a great future in classical or pop orchestration. (His song “Those Eyes” at times gave me a Grizzly Bear feel.)  I think that overall, between his covers and his originals, this kid loves Radiohead and you can here it in his work…which is definitely fine by me.

His YouTube channel

In Medias Res – PMtoday (Rise Records finally releases a masterpiece)

Ok, so I’m totally teasing, but it isn’t a secret that Rise’s roster is not exactly eclectic. Here and there, however, one of their bands releases a great album (shout out to Dance Gavin Dance); and PMtoday’s In Medias Res is clearly one of these exceptions. This is the perfect debut album. 

Now with a sound familiar yet extremely unique, PMtoday arrived on the scene around 2005 as a small local band in Arkansas.  Formed by brothers Conner (lead vocals, guitar) and Ryan Brogan (vocals, drums)  they started playing covers together in high school.  After a few small Eps, the band released their first full length, …And Then the Hurricane, in 2007.  This was a fantastic album very nostalgic of old Taking Back Sunday and Brand New, but seemed to hint at a lot of original creativity amongst the band. After some help from the band Emarosa and touring, PMtoday was signed to Rise Records in May of 2009.  They then prepared and recorded their label debut In Medias Res.

In Medias Res – “The literary device of beginning a narrative, such as an epic poem, at a crucial point in the middle of a series of events. The intent is to create an immediate interest from which the author can then move backward in time to narrate the story.”

Ok, now I’ve thought up epic album/band names before and know that if it sounds cool you don’t always have to make a connection from it to the music to want to use it. (In fact if you go Here anything you get can probably be a post-hardcore album title) But I feel there had to be a lot more that went into this title.  It fits the album on too many levels.  Whether it relates to starting point of the album vs. its story or if it relates to where the songwriter himself is at this point I’m not sure. Regardless, what we have here are ten tracks of technical proficiency, lyrics that force the listener into their own self-evaluation, and solid, heavy grooves.

 I will admit that upon first listen I remember preparing myself for another indie carbon-copy, with its opening song starting with one frail solo voice singing. (and by this I mean that when it started I whispered to myself, “I didn’t know The Early November got back together.”) 

I have never been more wrong about an album.

The second song put me in my place by the melodic progressive guitar work of “People are machines.”  I was impressed by how seamlessly they meshed genres.  (Not to mention the perfect modulation into the bridge. So simple, but not done enough in alternative bands today.)  From there I was hooked and the album didn’t let me go until it was over.

Brilliantly thought-out lyrics are brought in through Connor’s higher register vocals, which are great, but it’s the harmonies that are truly captivating. Every member of the group sings which allows for perfect four part harmonies. (Which are pulled off great if not perfect live.)  Constantly revisiting themes about people being machines and even manipulation, the lyrics are very intimate.

           

Produced, engineered, mixed, and mastered by Kris Crummett: this album is sonically phenomenal.  Having a good relationship with Rise, Kris has been responsible for other great sounding albums like Lower Definition’s The Greatest of All Lost Arts.  Every instrument is in its own space and the mix holds great dynamics overall.  I find that a lot of mixes now are cluttered and squashed. (compressed) This album was a breath of fresh air; with great sounding drums and lacks the scooped guitars that everyone is so familiar with. (-__-)

The magic of PMtoday, to me personally, is how they get from one point to another.  They have a lot of very straightforward parts but have already shown signs of perfectly knowing the balance of shred and simple.  They’ll make you jam out for a few minutes, but it’s ok because you’ll be able to rest soon after.  Easy on the ears, yet punchy. A perfect debut.   What’s the best part? In an interview recently Ryan and Connor said how they are focusing a lot more on their own growth as musicians before their next album. “We don’t want to be the same musicians on the next album.”  This means that they actually care about progression, and not the stale sound a lot of bands come out with. (I’m sorry Emmure. You’re albums have great tones/mixes, but I’m sick of 40Hz bass drops every 8 measures.  If you guys wanted to re-record an album, why couldn’t it have been Goodbye to Gallows?)

In conclusion, watch out for this band. Buy(download) this album; you need to hear it. It has something for literally everybody.  This band deserves to be huge, if their progression shows nothing else.

PMtoday Myspace 

PMtoday Facebook


Buy the album here! For cheap!

Title: In Medias Res

Artist: PMtoday

Label: Rise Records

Members:

            Connor Brogan – lead vox, guitar

            Cuinn Brogan – vox, guitar

            Jerrod Morgan – bass

            Ryan Brogan - drums

Produce/Engineered/Mixed/Mastered:  Kris Crummett

References:

Absolutepunk Review

Connor and Ryan Brogan Interview

Just a rant about some FLAC players

This is a new application I'm using to play all FLAC files, still searching for my favorite. What I like about it is that it auto looks for your files and allows you to re-write the FLAC metadata, which the programs I have tried have yet to give me.

So far:
VLC: garbage audio. Not only does it always seem to be pushing 150% and clipping no matter what i set my default to; but even when it's below clipping there are awful pops and noise in the left channel.

Cog: Next step up. Friendlier iTunes like interface, but only saves shortcuts that it needs to reload every time you open it. This makes it slightly annoying to quickly select something. Also clicking and dragging a FLAC folder into the dock icon won't auto play it. This was a feature that every other one of these programs have. The fact that it stores a catalog but doesn't copy it is nice for not creating duplicates and easy for deleting since you never have to worry about it moving files. Pretty good program, just some annoyances.

Vox: This is what I was using up until I installed Lion on my laptop a few days ago and I need to give +Raul Garcia credit for showing me it. Like Cog, it saves the short cuts. The only difference is that it looks just like an iTunes mini-player. Small, customizable color, cute. I selected it as my default app to open FLAC and wav files; and by double clicking any song in the finder folder, vox will automatically play it and link the rest of the album. Lightweight on your cpu. It may actually be too light; seeing as when I play music from my external hardrive, the hardrive will go idle and cut out the audio. I then half to wit the 10 seconds to get my hardrive running again. 10 seconds is a lot in a 2:20 song. Either way I was making do and not minding. Vox is great but not yet compatible for Lion. The developer has stated on his website, however, that there will be a major update coming soon and was all developed on Lion. I'll keep my ear to the ground.

Songbird seems to be cool so far but we will see if problems arise....
**I have notived that the app does not work with my keyboard commands on my Macbook (the play, FF, and RW buttons)


Vox
Cog
Songbird

Why Sigur Rós May be the Best Band You’ve Never Heard of.

      It’s fairly easy to say that with the growing ease of finding new bands for ourselves, it’s also easy to stick with a lot of music that sounds the same. While trying to break myself from this, I can only be reminded of one of the most unique bands of the last two decades. That band, of course, is Sigur Rós. Although they formed in 1994 and haven’t released an album since 2008, I feel that they are band that deserves the recognition anytime someone wants to give it.

      Formed as a trio in Iceland, in 1994, ‘Sigur Rós’ derives from the Icelandic words for victory and rose. The sister of the bands singer/guitarist, Jón Þór Birgisson’s (Jónsi), was named Sigurrós when she was born the day the band was formed; so they took the name and made it two words. Releasing their first album in 1997, Sigur Rós slowely picked up momentum. Their 1999 album, Ágætis byrjun, received fantastic reviews and helped their fame spread. With a few EPs here and there, they also released two more full lengths in 2002 and 2005, () and Takk. The first video below is the single, ‘Hoppipolla’ (Hop in Puddles), from Takk.

      The second video below is a single off of their most recent album, Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust. The video showcases the songs more uplifting feel. Earlier Sigur Rós albums have been defined by their unique style. This is a combination of post-rock and experimental elements that tend to always create epic soundscapes. One characteristic of this, is Jónsi’s signature guitar playing where he uses a cello bow and an effects board to create a grand feeling to his chords. The most recent album, and single, show more of a departure from this into more concrete song structure. The single, “Gobbledigook,” was 71 on Pitchfork’s top 100 songs of 2008, calling it an, “invitation to bounce around the room instead of huddling in front of the stereo.” This of course was in reference to their old minimalist style.

      Basically, when it comes down to it, check the band out. It is for the post-rock (Explosions in the Sky) type person. A warning about the second video, as it does contain nudity because the plot follows young adults engaging in naturism within the forest.




*Warning* Video above contains nudity.


Additional resources:

Official Website

Band Bio

Album Review: Tool's Lateralus

As both a progressive rock advocate and a student pursuing sound engineering, one of my most influential bands is Tool. I find that their masterpiece, Lateralus, to be a milestone in both the progressive and metal genres. Even though it only contains 13 songs, it’s seventy-eight minutes and fifty-eight seconds long. With eight of the thirteen songs being over six minutes long and two of the songs only being one minute transition pieces, this album seemed to push the barrier of most metal albums to this date. It’s actually kind of a shame that they always seem to be roped in with the metal and hard rock genre because their music doesn’t usually tend to always fit within those restraints. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and since it’s release in 2001 it has sold over two and a half million copies. It has also been named 123 on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Definitive 200 list.
The members of Tool have become masters of their craft. Many of their songs are filled with symbolism both musically and lyrically. An example lyrically would be their first song of the album entitled, The Grudge. The lyrics and story of the song are making reference to the story The Scarlett Letter. Musically, they only seem to bend the rules of math and meter to create seamless works of art. The albums title track, Lateralus, is a good example of this. The song is about living in a non-linear fashion. It’s about not really living by the norm, which goes along with Tool’s common theme of thinking for one self. They also connect this to the Fibonacci sequence. The Fibonacci sequence is a pattern of numbers that is the sum of the past two numbers. For instance, the first two numbers are 0 and 1. Those two added together equals 1; one is then added to 1 and that equals two. This pattern continues so that the sequence looks like this: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, etc. This system of numbers, which has been dated back as late as the sixth century, is used in lyrics of Lateralus. Maynard James Keenan, Tool’s vocalist, follows the lyrics emphasizing syllables in the Fibonacci sequence. An example of this would be the first verse going as followed:

(1) Black,
(1) then,
(2) white are,
(3) all I see,
(5) in my infancy,
(8) red and yellow then came to be,
(5) reaching out to me,
(3) lets me see.

This continues in the next verse and Maynard even ‘spirals’ further up and down the sequence. Going further on from this there are the time signatures. The intro main riff are descending time signatures 9/8, 8/8, 7/8. This corresponds with sixteenth number of the sequence, 987. It’s the little things like this that make this album revolutionary, and one of my favorites albums.

Pictures: http://www.chartattack.com/files/imagecache/content_image-680xauto/chart_global/reviews/cd-tool_lateralus.jpg; http://www.ilikescifi.com/portfolio/inspiration/schism1.jpg

An Initial Post

With this being my first post, I feel like I should talk about what I am looking for with this blog.  To be honest, I’m not sure yet.  I’ve always wanted to have a website where I can post projects of mine.  This blog is, hopefully, the beginning stages of that.  Until then, I plan on developing my ideas and writing skills.  I believe that this will also help in developing my ear and musical ability.  One of the main focuses of this blog will be music.  It is not only my greatest hobby, but also my chosen career path.  This blog will be more general to sound as a whole (post-prodction, audiology,…).  I may end up posting articles about films, or anything else for that matter, to try and find a niche to write about.

            Another main reason for this blog is the chance for criticism.  This way I’ll get an idea whether I’m totally off or not.  So I guess, feel free to tell me if I’m completely off the mark or not.  The blog will also form based on the feedback I get.  Oh, and hopefully this blog sees the light of day.  With that said, I’m just going to show a few articles that I found interesting. 

The following articles are a slight indication of where this blog may be going:

The Wonderful Voice of Samuel L. Jackson

This could be genius.  A mock bedtime story read by none other than Samuel L. Jackson.  Now, as expected with Samuel L., it is appropriately name Go the F--- to Sleep.  This short, yet hilarious story will perfectly capture anyone’s mood that has ever tried to put a child to sleep.  This is not, however, a substitution for a story at bedtime.  Even though Jackson evern says he’s quite often said the title of his book to his daughter, I think it might be for the best to leave that to him.  I must complain that Audbile, the company that make a fair share of the audio books you hear, have to really look towards upgrading their quality.  To only have 64 kbps tops is a joke, especially with the ease of even just streaming HD quality.  At first, I was excited to hear Samuel L.’s low, distinct voice.  I was very disappointed when it was squashed in the recording.  Either way, it’s still Samuel L. Jackson dictating anything.

Maya Beiser - Cello Performance at Ted Talks

I never heard of Maya Beiser before, but now I definitely do.  This American cellist performs an eight-part etude with seven other cellos back her up.  The best part was that she was playing all eight cellos.  Using a video accompaniment with seven short slivers of seven Mayas, she was able to play as the eighth lead voice live.  Now I know it doesn’t sound hard to play in time with an unchanging video, but it is done so well.  Maya spends the whole time remaining in the music and can be seen hopping about in her chair on the parts that arrived a slight bop to them.  If the music sounds of familiar styling, it is because it is from the great Steve Reich; who specializes in minimalist composition.  The piece is Reich’s “Cello Counterpoint” and should be checked out by anyone who enjoys a great, dynamic performance.