Enter The Shandou

Moved!

2008-04-13T03:12:00.002-04:00

Happy Sunday,

I have moved to another site, please click on this link and you'll be directed to my new 'home'!

See you there!

The Sound of Music

2008-04-11T23:45:00.003-04:00

Dear Friends,

Just in case y'all are wondering, my aim is to update this blog-o-mine at least once a week. On some days there's not enough happening, meaning the same old, and I'd rather not bug anyone about it. On other days there'll be enough material worth blogging about, to be summarized later, and you can be sure each entry is a lengthy read and worth your while (I hope!). Also, I will update the music playlists weekly as well, for you to sample a wide variety of musical tastes that I've acquired over the years. Last time it was a blend of trance, dance, and various techno beats - basically they can be covered under the roof of 'electronica'. This week I'd like to showcase some well known French rappers, from traditional MC Solaar to more hardcore artists such as Supreme NTM. Although I can barely communicate in French, I really like how the language flows, and at times, comedic to a generally non-French speaker like myself.

While on the subject of music, thought I'd clarify how my music preferences changed over time. Some of you may know that I grew up in NYC where I was heavily influenced by rap; Tupac Shakur was a favorite. The beats and basslines really resonated with me. However, when I moved to upstate NY, the area where I lived was very posh and no one there listened to rap. All the music I was exposed to was rock & roll, and at that time, alternative was huge. To learn more and get my ears accustomed, I bought a lot of CDs (remember the days of Columbia House and BMG, where you can get 10 CDs for free as long as you buy 1 CD every month?!) to sample. Some clicked right away, such as Nirvana and Stone Temple Pilots, whereas some artists I could never honestly say I liked them despite owning many albums. Pearl Jam is an example, I know, how could I not like Eddie Vedder? After buying and listening to 'Ten', 'vs', and 'Vitalogy', beating my ears with it, the final answer is it's just not the music I'd listen to voluntarily.

Later I moved to Massachusetts and although my horizons widened (punk, ska, nu-metal, etc), it still didn't completely click with me. I discovered techno and it sounded like a bunch of beats put together at a really fast tempo. It was repetitive and I didn't really consider whoever made them as artists because actual instruments weren't used. It wasn't until during college one summer where I met some colleagues from the UK. Then I was introduced to trance, and that changed everything. With trance, it was melodic and the right vocals can make the listener experience a spectrum of emotions (nope, this is definitely not 'emo'). It had the best of both worlds: breaks from my rap days, and melody from rock & roll. Don't get me wrong, my taste in music isn't limited to electronica nowadays, the more variety the better.

Anyway, getting into the scene was like learning everything all over again. Who is who, what categories are there, what's the difference between Goa Trance and Progressive Trance, IDM and Jtek, Gabber and Makina, etc. Under the umbrella 'electronica', there are a few hundred sub-genres. I figured out which genres I prefer over others, such as UK Garage over Psychedelic. After this is sorted, I started to get into producing my own tracks. Currently I'm working with Ableton Live 7, it's just a hobby at this point and I'm not serious about it. It takes a long time to produce quality tracks, and the only advice that I've gathered from other DJs and producers is none other than the adage "practice, practice, practice"...and practice some more! It's fun to be able to manipulate MIDI files, and bust out your own tracks. Meanwhile, I've a lot more respect to producers who take the time to perfect this craft. Lots to learn and all I can say at this point is that it takes time, a LOT of time. What's more, when you produce, it helps to have as much experience as possible, such as music theory, the ability to play various instruments, and experimentation with various genres of music. Lastly, you're going to need a computer that can handle all the applications you'll be running - it'll harness a great deal of resources so get a desktop if you can, to lay down your tracks, then transfer them over to laptops when you're on the move such as DJing (but for effect, use CD turntables such as the Pioneer CDJ 800MK2). Not even the latest MacBook Pro can process all the information without lag, as I can attest.

If you'd like to get a sense of what types of electronica I particularly enjoy, check out artists such as GDR, Bodyrox, Comfortable, Filo & Peri, Kaskade, to name a few. Due to the lower levels of popularity that electronica has in the States, it may be a bit difficult to locate these artists' tracks. One of my favorites is Ferry Corsten ('Fire' was included in the last playlist) who is currently on tour in the US and is considered one of the top artists in the genre. He's flying all over the states, a different city every night, and he'll be in Boston at The Estate next Wednesday. I especially like his album L.E.F., the majority of the tracks are right on target. I plan on seeing him live, even if it means a few hours of sleep afterwards before work starts!

Finally, I know what some of you may be thinking, how much does a DJ make? First, you have to know what the difference is between a producer and a DJ. A producer is the person who makes the track, and the DJ is the person who plays it at clubs, does remixes, etc. When it comes to who makes more, the DJs do, which is really unfair to the producers. Some artists both produce and DJ. In terms of monetary amount, a worldwide celebrity such as Paul Van Dyk can make over $60k a night DJing to a sold out venue of 1,000+ clubbers. Of course, this doesn't tally the profits made from drinks, nor does it take into account the amount that has to go to staff for upkeep, but you get the idea. For a newcomer, the best avenue of approach is to distribute your music to friends after working on them for a long time, get feedback and improve. When ready, submit demos to club owners, and when selected, do a residency at that club. Learn from the DJs and the crowd's response to various tracks, then get a time-slot of your own. Very time consuming, but everything worthwhile usually is.

Before I forget, what's a good post without links? Here's one to Ferry's Countdown, it's a great place to start for electronica newcomers. Thanks for reading, see you next week!

A New Era

2008-04-08T02:15:00.003-04:00

Attack of the Macs

Yep, I finally, at last, procured an Apple computer. Before I go any further though, this is my first 'real' blog. My only prior blog, if it can even be considered one, was a snippet I broadcasted on an assessment website that was only a paragraph long. Never thought I'd start a blog and join the ranks of those who do ("I can't be bothered!"). Let Apple ring in this newfound activity.

I have always been a Windows fanboy and detested everything related to MacIntosh. In the 90's, PCs (well, Macs are technically Personal Computers, but you get my meaning) were far more superior when it came to selection, speed, and dominance. MacIntosh's OS felt foreign, it looked weird, and who would want one when Microsoft dominated. Most of us were brought up with a PC, so it's easy to relate to such memories.

Ever since Steve Jobs took a more active role in the company, and especially with the debut of the iPod, MacIntosh, now Apple, did an about face and looked into the future with emphasis on media and design. The iPod frenzy started, and it hasn't stopped - it has no substantial competitor. After all, after using it, why would anyone want any other music player?

The iPod was a great product, but I was still hesitant on actually purchasing a Mac. During school, I realized that they were great for putting together movies and the like while editing video projects with an iMac. However it barely satisfied my needs for an easy, compatible OS that is able to handle plenty of top-notch games. To make it worse, Macs are also more expensive, at least on the surface, compared to PCs.

All of that changed after college though. Rather than constantly updating hardware, downloading virus definitions, and whatnot, what I wanted was a machine that was portable, had a good track record, and is able to process multimedia applications for my current interests. If you're wondering whatever happened to PC gaming, that went down the drain a few years ago when I switched over to consoles (the PCs vs Consoles, another lengthy post altogether!). Currently I possess a PS3 that handles those activities - thank God Sony won the format war!

So what you see here is a portable powerhouse, and one slick machine. A good friend of mine suggested a website that offers advice on when to buy Apple products based on update cycles. The time was right and I opted to get the newest one. It didn't come in black like the MacBook, and I got the 15 inch version for increased mobility. You can find the entire list of specs on the Apple website, but here are the specs on the machine that I was mostly concerned about (updated in Q1 2008):

15.4 inch MacBook Pro

TFT LED backlit LCD (Glossy Widescreen), 1440 x 900 resolution
1 FireWire @ 400 Mbps, 1 FireWire @ 800 Mbps, 2 480 Mbps USB 2.0 ports, ExpressCard/34 slot + Kensington cable lock slot
Built-in 'Airport' Wi-Fi networking (802.11n), Bluetooth 2.1 EDR built-in
10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet, or simply the RJ-45 connector
Stereo Speakers + Microphone, Backlit keyboard with ambient light sensor
Multi-Touch gesture support trackpad (just like the iPhone)
2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 6MB L2 cache, 512MB GDDR3 memory
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics processor
250GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard drive
8x DVD-R, DVD+R, 4x DVD-R DL, DVD+R DL, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, 24x CD-R, 10x CD-RW, includes Mac OS X v10.5 'Leopard' + iLife
Battery: 60-watt-hour-LI-polymer rated at 5 hours, MagSafe power adaptor
Environmentally friendly, contained in an aluminum case

I found the LCD display to appear grainy at times. For example, black isn't very smooth, and it is the color that is most easily noticeable. Currently I don't think there's anything wrong with the Mac, perhaps the viewed picture/video cannot render such dense detail.

The ambient light sensor is under the speakers (grill). With keyboard lighting on, this can create unintentional lighting. My hands would move around and would block light over the speakers, turning them on when I didn't want them to. Can be bothersome and drains extra power while mobile, but settings can be adjusted under Preferences.

Don't get me wrong, I was careful about switching to a foreign OS and was concerned about all my files and compatibility on my former PC. My fears were put to rest with BootCamp, Apple's way of booting up its computer in Windows (you'll have to supply your own of course). This computer also houses an Intel processor. Users are able to try for free, software that will let you run both Mac OS X and Windows XP at the same time! Now there's no excuses not to take the plunge!

All the specs mentioned above are fantastic. Outside of the hardware, I really like the MagSafe and the multi-touch trackpad. These are some of the examples of why I finally decided to get a Mac, simply brilliant and innovative ideas. It took me about a weekend to familiarize myself with Mac OS X, to be able to navigate without issues. However there is a wealth of capabilities that I'm still attaining. One thing is for sure, you'll be busy with this thing for a considerable amount of time. I can type pages of how I think Mac OS X is simply the best OS I've ever used, but you really owe it to yourself to check it out, and get the 'ooo's & 'ahh's that way.

On the flip-side, it was pricey, and Macs are safe from viruses? That's a myth with more malware being targeted at them nowadays. Not as rampant as PCs, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared. Can you build a non-Apple laptop, with similar specs, for the same if lesser price? The answer is yes, but then it wouldn't be a Mac, and at the core is the Mac OS X. Are Mac owners stuck-up cyber citizens, like I once have thought? It all depends on who you talk to.

For humour, here is one of my favorite MadTv sketches on Apple. The link will open in your current window, enjoy!

In conclusion, I try not to deal in absolutes and would like the best of both worlds. Apple has found a convert, but I will still use a PC for its strongpoints. As the MacBook Pro has shown, it is really about assimilation of the two longtime rivals. For example, having an Intel processor, Microsoft Office for Mac, the ability to run Windows simultaneously, etc. Putting their heads together to create a product that is beneficial for everyone, now that's progress.