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I'll spare you the email… But I know I have more than 1 post here. Ah well, it's not really that big of a deal, I'll just re-register if I'm deleted.

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Has anyone ever tried using a fog curtain for a projection screen? I know there are technical issues (mainly with air currents messing up the solidity of the curtain) – if anyone is interested in working on this for an event (or just for fun) let me know.

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Grim Fandango
Fallout (better storyline than Fallout 2, but the UI is a bit of a PITA and henchman inventory management is worse than that)
Fallout 2 (most immersive game I've ever played, as well as the one that held my attention for the longest – I think I logged something like 200 hours)

Neverwinter Nights was fun, and though the imperfect ruleset annoyed me it didn't stop me from putting in upwards of 180 hours on it.

Prey (great from every angle, and the only game I wanted to play again as soon as I beat it. Plus, multiplayer is truly psychedelic!)
Total Annihilation (first strategy game to get me to think outside the standard StarCraft/C&C rushes)
Dawn of War (between the cool take-and-hold resource system and the Warhammer 40k world I can't think of another RTS quite so captivating)
Unreal Tournament – LAN party favorite.
Bioshock rocks although I haven't beat it yet
and while the story didn't engage me and I failed to finish it, the original Unreal will always hold a special place in my heart (who can forget the waterfall in the second level?)

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What do you mean?

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Linux is actually not that far behind Windows or OSX with its audio support. There is actually a distro of Ubuntu that comes with packages for audio.

JACK is a system similar to that which ProTools uses (I've never used PT myself, I just know that it doesn't actually transfer audio between its various parts, be they hardware or software), and allows plugins (in much the same vein of VST's or ReWire) or other programs to transfer audio as data while it's in the system, only converting it to an audio signal when sent to the output plugin – which can be any sort of output you desire (USB, FireWire, SPDIF, MIDI, analog, and so on).

http://jackaudio.org/

It also runs on POSIX and OSX (which is actually a Linux kernel), and there is a Windows port in the works, with an ASIO backend for your pro-audio hardware.

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There is also DAW software called ardour ( http://ardour.org/ ) which runs over JACK, OSS, and pretty much any other audio subsystem. I personally haven't fiddled with it enough to get it to work with my hardware, but the feature list is fantastic and the GUI looks like any other multitrack software (Cubase, Audition/CoolEdit).

Plus it runs on COMPIZ-Fusion! ( http://ardour.org/files/ardour2-beryl02.png )

Also, ardour was demoed at the National Association of Broadcasters in April '06 and aroused some interest. ( http://ardour.org/node/227 )

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Finally, for those of you who, like me, have FireWire interfaces (I have the Mackie Onyx 1620 w/ the N1949 FireWire expansion), there is a fairly good support base for IEEE 1394 both from a growing list of hardware manufacturers ( http://www.linux1394.org/index.php ) and failing that (Mackie, for example, does not support Linux yet) from ffado (formerly FreeBoB – http://www.ffado.org/ ).

Again, I haven't tested this to my satisfaction yet (just don't have the time), but I have read on the forums and talked with people who say it does work.

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So far as I can tell, currently the only drawback to Linux is the degree of technical knowledge required to get everything working. On the flipside, however, Linux is more stable than any other OS I've ever used, hands down. GNOME is fast and efficient almost beyond belief, and even when running compiz-fusion across multiple monitors it manages its resources with almost magical ease.

And just to put things into perspective for everyone, I don't use Linux as my primary OS yet, though I would prefer to do so. I'm running XP 32, though I'm debating going to 64-bit now that driver support has caught up with it.

I also concur with everyone here that Vista sucks utterly and completely. I have tech friends who are calling it a dead product, and a several staunch windows supporters are asking me about switching to Linux for their clients. Vista looks nice, but compared to OSX or compiz the rendering is ugly and dog-slow, even with a kickass system.

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I find it interesting that some peoples hold to the idea that analog or digital is better/worse than the other, and each side claims their idea is supported empirically. While I personally prefer signal paths with digital power, I know better than to state this as quantifiable “best,” because as an engineer/producer the goal is not to have a mathmatically perfect signal path but rather use your hardware to produce an ultimately pleasing tone.

Audio really boils down to personal preference. This can be readily understood by looking at the stereo systems of musicians (I refer to classical-type as opposed to the amplified rock or electronic-type) as opposed to audiophiles – the musicians (I believe) are much more sensitive to what sounds good and what does not. Audiophiles typically (myself included) tend to obsess about stuff like attenuation and compression and even on the resistance/signal loss in cabling (leading to insanely high prices – I've seen 2 pair, 12 ga. speaker wire run upwards of $20/foot – which is insane).

Obviously compression (I'm referring to signal strength, not data rate) is a major factor in the overall quality of the sound, and a good engineer must know how to deal with this on a technical level, but technical wizardry does not always equate to good sound. Over-compressing the signal reduces dynamic range, reduces clarity and stresses the amplifier; whereas under-compression can result in inaudible levels, which stresses the amplifier again as it strives to produce volume from a signal that is at or near the noise floor.

Generally musicians do not have multi-thousand dollar audio systems, and sometimes they have downright pathetic ones. Maybe it's a high-powered digital amp with very sterile sound, or even an old analog with aged tubes that can't provide a clean sound, or any variation therof  – but they won't have a system that sounds “bad” to their ears. One of the most astonishing things I ever heard was when I went looking for a good stereo amp/speaker combination, ending up pricing a system that was about $2500. When I left the listening room I got in my Civic with its $900 audio system (using budget speakers and a Sony subwoofer amp that pushed more noise than clean sound) – I was amazed to discover that I preferred my own car audio to the perfection of the audiophile system.

Digital sound is nice because its precision allows extraneous noise to be filtered out fairly simply, while the trade-off is that same clarity can be harsh and sharp (esp. above 8kHz). Analog is nice and “warm” or “round” and excels at vocals and certain instruments (typically unamplifed, but also older analog synths sound better on an analog path), but also has a trade-off in that that same pleasing “warm” sound is a result of distortion to the signal.

But I'm getting sidetracked. For the analog nuts out there, go find yourself a Class T amplifier. For the digital crowd, check out some good vinyl from the 60's or 70's (or even U2's “The Joshua Tree” – if your ears are as good as you think they are, you just might be surprised). I'll stop hiijacking the thread now… I hope this all makes sense.

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I understand that… Like I said, I'm not looking for anything fancy… And I'm not expecting anyone to go out of their way to find something. I just wondered if anyone knew anything off the top of their heads.

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The only “Shine” I know of is isnpired by H.R. Giger's art and made “ad-lib” so to speak. It's very weird and I don't think Laswell had anything to do with it.

And I mostly agree, much of Laswell's stuff is boring. Interesting, but far too drawn out to hold my interest.

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Are you familiar with Bill Laswell? If you took that droning, dark spacy sound and made it metal, then you'd have Samael.

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Heck yes! But they have come far beyond their roots, or so I've heard. I haven't heard any of their earliest stuff. Now they are something I've always dreamed of hearing… A blend of electronic dance and black metal. Kind of like Rammstein remixes only cooler… And they sing about incredible stuff.

The first band I heard like this was The Kovenant, but Samael is less… Dunno. Harsh, I guess.

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Ahh. Ministry. It took me a while to 'get' them… But their older stuff, esp. “Cannibal Song” and similar, is quite good. Dunno if that's exactly the sound I'm going for, though.

Oh, and I guess if I looked at Samael the same way I looked at LPD, then Samael would be just run-of-the-mill Black Metal/hardcore – but they aren't. 🙂 In fact, it's Samael's newest album “Reign of Light” that really got me thinking that this was a doable project. That and, uhh… Mike's (I think that's his name) mix at this last Onomatopeia…

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I've never even heard of LPD. The name puts me in mind of post-rock and the artist lineup puts me in mind of neo-jazz-type stuff. I like those lyrics, it'll just take me a bit to download the discography… I'll start with that album.

*sigh* Maybe this makes this mix too complicated. LOL

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In my weakened state, it's pretty easy to party hard with just a few drinks. When those drinks are Four… I guess I'm just a wuss. 😛

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Yeah, dudes, sorry 'bout that. I will do my very best to make it to Blacklight Forest. I look forward to reports of highly unsane activities. Go crazy!

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Ok. I'm NOT going to Apsylum. Sorry folks, maybe I'll see you at Blacklight Forest… The couple weeks notice should cover any kind of scheduling conflicts.

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