Tom 7 Radar: all comments

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4271. Tom 7 (h-67-100-132-203.phlapafg.dynamic.covad.net) – 15 Mar 2006 10:50:32 NEW: AAD-20: Betrayal at the Knights of Columbus ]
Jonathan: tee-hee, thanks! I'm glad Japan On Mad is interesting; it was the last song that I recorded, and at the time I actually thought of it as a throwaway song. I kind of like it now.

Adhesion: It is very funny to hear that comment. I usually think of my production as being pretty lo-fi (maybe "sloppy mid-fi" is more accurate; see http://www.popmatters.com/music/interviews/vanderslice-john-051014.shtml), like nowhere near as careful as when I record with Sophia or how I know people are in studios. I think my basic idea is to set things up so that the failure modes are good; for instance, if I get too loud there should be some nice analog distortion rather than digital clipping. (So I like to put two analog preamps in sequence and only tweak the levels on the first one.) And then just go for it.

Also, it's possible that you're just hearing the dynamic compression (which I apply liberally), something that is ubiquitous in popular recordings and which I cannot get enough of. It makes vocals in particular sound "louder."
 
4270. Tom 7 (h-67-100-132-203.phlapafg.dynamic.covad.net) – 15 Mar 2006 00:31:09 UPD: Escape Beta 3 ]
Well, to install a new version, just download the installer from the website and install like you did the first time, just picking a different folder.

To zip up the escape directory, you can right click on the directory in explorer, choose "Send to.." and then say "compressed folder" (I think that works). Or you can use a third party zipping tool like winzip or 7zip. You can then attach that ZIP file to an e-mail message, though that depends on your e-mail application.

Has anybody else ever had this problem?
 
4269. Adhesion (adhesion.rh.rit.edu) – 14 Mar 2006 23:47:16 NEW: AAD-20: Betrayal at the Knights of Columbus ]
Speaking of that kind of stuff, do you have any specific mixing & mastering tools or techniques? Your music always sounds near-professional in that regard (at least that's how I hear it).
 
4267. Ryan (netnrtco4-216-168-108-133.nrtco.net) – 14 Mar 2006 19:57:01 UPD: Escape Beta 3 ]
How do I do that?
 
4265. Jonathan (cpe-70-112-100-6.austin.res.rr.com) – 14 Mar 2006 18:03:16 NEW: AAD-20: Betrayal at the Knights of Columbus ]
"Spring Break Pittsburgh 2006 wooo!" is now in heavy rotation in my head. (Steel, and railroads made of steel. Wooo... wooo!) Somehow you make General MIDI patches sound inexplicably organic-ish. It is a talent! And "Japan on Mad" has a cool chord progression. Thick and rich and sorta melancholy...
 
4264. ass hole (205.154.150.238) – 14 Mar 2006 16:33:54 FLAMING TEXT ]
waz up bitches hows yall doin look listen i am a pimp call me at 1-800-eat-shit
 
4262. Max (69.240.205.11) – 14 Mar 2006 15:45:24 NEW: AAD-20: Betrayal at the Knights of Columbus ]
Yeah you definitely should make a best-of!
 
4261. Tom 7 (gs82.sp.cs.cmu.edu) – 14 Mar 2006 14:11:10 NEW: AAD-20: Betrayal at the Knights of Columbus ]
Also, I appreciate hearing favorites, since I want to sometime put together an "AAD sessions" album of the best songs, which people might actually want to listen to.
 
4260. Tadbot (c-68-80-152-28.hsd1.pa.comcast.net) – 14 Mar 2006 14:01:16 Carbon burns black bowel (A) ]
HAPPY HOLIDAY!!
 
4259. Adhesion (adhesion.rh.rit.edu) – 14 Mar 2006 13:05:25 Carbon burns black bowel (A) ]
I wonder if "Fresh sparerib in Kyoto" includes travel expenses.
 
4258. Tom 7 (h-67-100-132-203.phlapafg.dynamic.covad.net) – 14 Mar 2006 11:15:02 UPD: Escape Beta 3 ]
Can you do two things for me? If so I can probably fix the bug.
1. make a zip of your entire Escape directory and send it to me? My e-mail address is (twm at andrew.cmu.edu).
2. install a new copy of Escape in a different directory and see if it still crashes when you update? Does it crash if you use the keyboard (press 4) to get levels?
 
4257. Tom 7 (h-67-100-132-203.phlapafg.dynamic.covad.net) – 14 Mar 2006 11:11:57 Carbon burns black bowel (A) ]
I know man, I know... we need like a support group.
 
4256. Ryan (netnrtco4-216-168-108-64.nrtco.net) – 14 Mar 2006 10:33:46 UPD: Escape Beta 3 ]
It crashes when I click the screen on get new levels. I use windows XP home edition. I don't know if it will do that.
 
4253. Max (69.240.205.11) – 14 Mar 2006 00:54:23 Carbon burns black bowel (A) ]
Truly amazing. I don't remember the last time I laughed so heartily alone. I started to tear up at around the "COCA COCA" point, and by the glorious finale I was an emotional wreck.
 
4252. Tom 7 (h-67-100-132-203.phlapafg.dynamic.covad.net) – 13 Mar 2006 17:52:34 UPD: Escape Beta 3 ]
Well, I'd like to fix the bug. How does it crash? What operating system are you running on? Does it also happen if you install a fresh copy of the game? (If not, I might ask you to send me a zipped up version of your installation.)
 
4251. Ryan (netnrtco3-216-168-122-199.nrtco.net) – 13 Mar 2006 17:45:43 UPD: Escape Beta 3 ]
The game crashes whenever I try to get new levels on triage/graveyard. What should I do?
 
4250. Tom 7 (h-67-100-132-203.phlapafg.dynamic.covad.net) – 13 Mar 2006 17:44:15 NEW: AAD-20: Betrayal at the Knights of Columbus ]
Yeah I just edited that very Wikipedia article right after I read your first post, in fact. "If you like your music," hah. I will get on this forthwith, though I amazingly have a bit of a backlog currently. That might be the first time that's ever happened since when I was spending $100 a week on CDs in college.

Thanks for the other comments, guys / you're welcome for making it; it was fun!
 
4249. jetfuel (dhcp-228.omnigroup.com) – 13 Mar 2006 16:37:09 NEW: AAD-20: Betrayal at the Knights of Columbus ]
Thanks for making a new album :D
 
4248. Anonymous (dhcp-164-26.cs.uchicago.edu) – 13 Mar 2006 16:33:48 NEW: AAD-20: Betrayal at the Knights of Columbus ]
A hearty Mountain Goats recommendation. If you like your music, I'd bet you'd like John Darnielle's a lot. (The latest 3 or so (more official) albums are a lot different than the older ones.) There's also a great wikipedia article on his band, naturally.
 
4247. Adoring Fan (ip24-255-236-69.ks.ks.cox.net) – 13 Mar 2006 16:33:10 NEW: AAD-20: Betrayal at the Knights of Columbus ]
Great work ... I really like it! I'm a fan of the first two, and princess of justince and the guitar work on self life and nothing day and the opening of GRAS -- so funny!

What fun!
 
4246. Tom 7 (gs82.sp.cs.cmu.edu) – 13 Mar 2006 15:53:45 Tuning is to cause a piano to emit them with the utmost exactitude ]
I could totally hire somebody. Given how much time it would probably take, it would be easily worth the money. But I still feel like doing it myself at least once would make me feel self-empowered. Like changing my car's oil myself, you know...

Everything I've read says that pianos are tuned with "stretched octaves," that is, that the higher notes are tuned sharp and the lower ones tuned flat. Since I was mostly doing it by ear anyway, I don't think mathematical precision would be the cause of my downfall. I just wasn't prepared to tune a couple dozen strings and then have them start going back out of tune again! I'm going to give it another shot this week (Spring break, woo)...
 
4245. Tom 7 (gs82.sp.cs.cmu.edu) – 13 Mar 2006 15:48:45 NEW: AAD-20: Betrayal at the Knights of Columbus ]
Those are sound effects from my MIDI module; I think they are "punch" and "car stop." I am usually playing them very low or cut off so they don't sound like the (also very stupid) originals much.
 
4244. Sophia (c-24-218-58-208.hsd1.ma.comcast.net) – 13 Mar 2006 14:07:33 Tuning is to cause a piano to emit them with the utmost exactitude ]
I think that Max is right about tuning it "wrong". I remember once learning that there's something odd about the way that a piano sounds with reference to itself between various octaves that makes it sound more in-tune with a somewhat out-of-tune scheme. Tom, if you're still working on your piano, you may want to look up that scheme (if you haven't already). Or maybe you ought to just hire someone to tune your piano, if it's daunting enough to prevent you from finishing yourself?
 
4243. Sophia (c-24-218-58-208.hsd1.ma.comcast.net) – 13 Mar 2006 14:02:16 NEW: AAD-20: Betrayal at the Knights of Columbus ]
So how did you make the huffy heavy drums on "Spring Break Pittsburgh 2006 wooo"?
 
4242. Tom 7 (gs82.sp.cs.cmu.edu) – 13 Mar 2006 12:56:09 NEW: AAD-20: Betrayal at the Knights of Columbus ]
Sorry dude, that thing is way too small to split! But I wouldn't worry about me winning... ;)

That song was one of my favorites to make, though.
 

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