[psycosisgenerator]

Thought there would be more interest in something like this.

Well if anyone is near Rice Lake, WI – I would be more than interested in getting together to work around with stuff. I have a Virus C sitting here that if someone can help me sort out the proper method of getting it to sync to Live's midi outputs we can have a day of random noise making. I would be willing to toss gas money to the person that would be able to help me sort this midi issue out. Really want to get into the workings of this beast of a machine.

I am also very interested in any sort of online project we can come up with as a community, I think it would be great fun to have a Chilluminati track or two floating around. I know the biggest issue comes with the varied softwares we use, but I think we could come up with some sort of creative solution to that.

[psycosisgenerator]

http://soundcloud.com/user4800749/psycosis-generator-living-dead

I gave it, it's final touches – free download if you like it.

[psycosisgenerator]

Here is my first meaningful update to the track, actually decided to square one most all of the percussion, bass is much closer to what I want, and I shortened it up a bit.

http://soundcloud.com/user4800749/big-machine-test02

This has much more of the psy vibe I think.

[psycosisgenerator]

When Al gets approved he can probably elaborate more on the char method than I can. My understanding of it is basically what you mentioned. He said something about wrapping the ends also in plastic to give that much extra time.

I have heard that this method is supposed to last roughly 50-60 years, which really isn't a terrible case. That is plenty of time for new trees to grow so that you can replace these posts.

As soon as he gets approved to post, I will have him hop on this thread and post his sources. I spend most of my research looking into various energy sources and methods. Coming from some construction background I was just figuring on dropping in footings and securing to those, but this method sounds good and has been used for hundreds of years so I am down with it.

I also heard something today about wood foundations for houses, I think the UW is doing a workshop/lab sort of thing on different building methods for sustainability this weekend, have to check out WNPR, for more info on that one, sounds pretty cool!

[psycosisgenerator]

Machine –
I am looking at the percussion all around, I had a few other versions and ideas. Haven't spent a whole lot of time trying to settle the mix down yet. I'll take another look into the synths, see if any brainstorming results in something new.

Machinations –
This track is geared up to have a very industrial dark feeling to it, with a borderline psy-vibe.
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Thanks for chipping in, need as much input as I can get!

I'm sure it also comes through clear, but I have a background in hardcore techno, and am moving in from that, trying to assimilate over. Also, not too into the traditional styles and grooves like to keep on pushing things from different angles. I also try to make a point to not overload the headroom in the areas that I mix tracks, nothing more frustrating from a dj's perspective in my opinion.

[psycosisgenerator]

The pay up front thing, very important especially from an artists pov. I remember trekking down with DJ Fader to a big outdoors years ago. We get through the gate and watch as the promoter bails out as we head to the stage.
Guy just bailed, so we were out gas for an 8 hour drive – Fader's set fee, couple other dj's either bounced or were late and I luckily brought my crate along and tossed down a set for free on a second stage, which I was glad to do and half the reason I went along.

The party was fun, and we had plans for later that night anyhow, but driving that far and not getting paid, ruins a reputation fast.

[psycosisgenerator]

I am not sure that I would be in a position by then to do much more than talk about things, but I am sure more than willing to do that, and I think without much trouble could convince Al to join in as well.

Thinking by June we will hopefully have our main structure well on its way, due to the location this is one of those everything needs to be done by hand projects. To me though, that just makes the lessons all that much more valuable, and the rewards more deserving.

We haven't gotten too far into the gasification other than mountains of study, in some ways it seems like an extremely sustainable method of creating usable energy, on the other hand it seems like it takes an awful lot of product to produce the energy and some other methods like some new steam technologies might work more efficiently. I would love to see your data on the gasification project if you still have it laying around though, it really is a fascinating concept. Did you implement a down draft or updraft system?

I think that we will also start up something online pretty soon that will track our progress, thoughts, research and what not. I think the research is one of the biggest obstacles for everyone out there, but the more you do, the more you find that you could actually implement into your city/suburb dwelling to cut down on your cost to the land. Passive solar heating through the winter anyone?

I will have a chat with him tonight about the workshop idea, if nothing else we can show up and just have some nice conversations with people and do some knowledge sharing.

[psycosisgenerator]

I am really hoping to be able to make it, I know its right near the last week of work for this season, but I really want to check out Mubali's live set.

By the by, did any of you fellows hear from Rubix Qube or Frozen Ghost about coming to play when they make their US run later this year? I sent them to your site a while back, before I knew you all were so local.

I can get into much more detail about what our plan is, but the basics of it –
Low cost sustainable living. Our current budget is around $1000. What we hope to accomplish with this summer's efforts are the living and environmentally safe outhouse as well as a fairly basic greenhouse for winter growing efforts.

Everything is going to be built to take every advantage of the Earth and our surrounding environment as possible. All of the house's main structure will be harvested and treated via the char method on site. Windows, doors, and such things will all be obtained through recycling methods. There is a lot of passive and active solar in the house design that will hopefully minimize it's impact on the surrounding environment.

The only large(modestly) expenses that we foresee will be investing into solar energy and batteries. We are also working out a method to use a gasifier fuel source which is pretty interesting technology that can be done on the super cheap.

The end game goal it to have a livable situation that with some personal work will provide a way for a small family or two to live peacefully without the harsher demands of life in modern society. A provide for yourself kind of life, rather than work to pay bills and get nowhere at the end of the day life.

We can really get into the details on this, it's a pretty deep and long topic. I am more than willing to as well as long as there are ears that want to listen. 😀

[psycosisgenerator]

Cost-wise, when I made the switch over I went with the Hercules RMX unit. Sure I would have liked one with more twisty knobs to play around with, but I figure that I can just add a second or third controller and map anything else I would ever want on those, and still spend less money <-always a factor :D.

To me if it's just for mixing, all you really need are the basics. I also agree that cd's are no less digital than a laptop, and actually with access to more lossless without changing media the laptop might be the better overall solution.

Sure I'd love to just mix vinyl all day, but I hate even moving my crates from one side of the room to the other anymore, and especially with psy tunes the added clarity of digital + the laptop and controller weighing in at way less than a crate = win in my book.

Plus if you don't have a crate of records sitting in your back seat you have room for one more dancer to bring along!

[psycosisgenerator]

I haven't used cubase in some years, but I do know quite a few people that use it around the world so there must be a reason for that.

Personally I use Ableton for a couple reasons. First the operator system eliminates the need for most of the vst's out there. Yes there are some that are direct and to the point with no fussing around, but building the sounds you want I think is an extremely helpful way to go about the whole learning process, and opens up doors to new sounds you'd never think of with the normal vst system. Second I like being able to pop my track right from my laid out production method over to a system that is more intuitive for live play right in the same software. Those are the two big ones for me, and probably the best $500 I spent on any softwares.

Other than that you could pick up little pieces of random hardware here and there, start messing around with those. A 25 key usb keyboard and freeware DAW/vst's and some time playing around will go a long way into the future for you. You could also start testing monitors out way ahead of time, as they can easily double as a living room shelf speakers and play around time until your studio is in full effect.

What I would say is most important is to not wait around until you have the money for all the bells and whistles at once, because that will likely lead to an overload and will slow you right down to a grind. Play around with the free tools and DAWs (at the end of the day, they are all basically the same core functions), buy bits and pieces to try to get a feel for what you like and don't like, research and ask questions a lot.
The questions thing is kind of a pain, some guys around the world don't like to share their secrets, but press on and talk to others there are plenty that are willing to guide as well as keep learning. Most artist out there are pretty open about things, but there are certain points in some of the guys that start rolling out there and making it more business than music where things get sketchy for a bit. I always just try to be respectful of their direction and encourage them to come back to the community whenever they are ready.

While I don't particularly agree with completely emulating someone's track, I have found myself trying to emulate a particular sound or bass from my favorite tracks, usually with good success after several hours of trying to figure out the process of their hardware and getting a software to sound close. Might feel like plagerism, but you will certainly learn a LOT from breaking things down like this, and getting to the fundamental sounds that will make up your songs.

On the hardware front, it doesn't ever hurt to get your hands on a piece from someone that owns one, and just mess around a bit, it might tip you in the direction whether to invest in computer gear or hardware gear, and I don't think I need to explain the huge cost difference between the two of those.

[psycosisgenerator]

I like the sounds you have, a lot. Very industrial forest type sound.

The overall speed of the track loses me personally, as well as that last break down.

To me it just seems like it breaks the flow of the rest of the track, after you get back into then it goes into another breakdown session rather than a build to the flatline/mix out portion of the track. I suppose this is just dependent on where you saw it in your set though.

[psycosisgenerator]

Not sure that I would call it a full on track, but it is a fantastic listen none the less! Really has that tech-house feel old school vibe to it.

[psycosisgenerator]

Hit me up if your still around, always looking for some new collab projects.

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