Archive for August, 2010

Myspam

by Jayme Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Myspace licks balls!
Thinking about it… The most people who use myspace are bands! How stupid is that! Bands don’t care about other peoples music because they are too busy promoting their own myspace.
People are getting pissed off with recieving “friends requests” from bands to the point that they don’t use it anymore!! What’s the point in having ten thousand hits if they’re all bands that are only accepting your friends request to get them more hits!?
They aren’t going to re-visit my page because their interest lies in me looking at THEIR page (something that, like them, I’m not interested in doing either). WE’RE ALL SPAMMERS!
I think that my youtube account is more important because of the fact that at the moment youtube isn’t as full of bands spamming everyone. Plus youtube is more personal because you get to see videos of people in their home. Also, doing a video blog gives people more of an incentive to come back and re-visit because there is always somthing new to see.
Apart from being a place where people can listen to your music (something that you can do just as easily on you tube, without having to wait half an hour for the page to load) it’s nothing much.

Myspace is dying…

Stanley (the Office U.S) is Mr. Snuffleupagus! (Sesame Street)

by Joe! Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

standley
At least that’s the way I see him every time I see his little face on the show… However having stuck them together like that, they don’t actually look that much alike… But I’ve done it now… Uploaded it and everything… Would be a shame just not to post it.

Quick Shout-out

by Jayme Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

I like posting after Joe! …pushing his post down a peg, hee hee hee, he can get a bit boring..
I am starting to notice that the general subject at the moment seems to be about computer fans. So, sorry about that! The plus side is that we both now have clean and more powerful computers!!!! …meaning better video blogs! (Hopefully)

Anyway, changing the subject..

I would like to give a couple of ‘shout-outs’.
Firstly to the person who has been translating all of our posts into Spanish!! So thank you Titi!! (Who will, evidently, be translating this post ;P )
Today I had a little singing lesson with my cousin Helen Monks. She’s a level 2 SLS trained singing teacher (soon to be level 3) and has been giving me some advise and some exercises to do. She has just started a youtube channel; helenmonksvoice. So be sure to check her out if you’re wanting some singing lessons!

CPU Fan Speed 6000 RPM! 2

by Joe! Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

fuente alimentacion Introducing my brand new Desktop Power-Pack.
It’s Rubbish.
Its 4+4 12v CPU cable connector is wrong. If you have a powerful CPU you probably won’t be able to plug-in the extra 4 pin connector as it has the wrong shaped pins.
So… I had to cut mine off…
And replace them with an 8 pin connector that does fit.

cortar cables So now the CPU has the extra 12v it might need when put to work, but the fan still spins at 6000 RPM!

I then found out why… It seems the motherboard – regardless of CPU temperature sets the general fan speed to very fast – ranging up to over 6000, but once I had plugged in an auxillary fan it then went down to 4700! The amount of fans plugged into the motherboard is relevant to how fast they spin!
Q: Is your processor fan spinning too fast?
A: Try plugging in another auxillary fan.

Clean The Fan

by Jayme Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

So, I sort of got distracted the other day, with this song..
It’s going well and I have all the lyrics done already! I’ve also done the drums, guitar, bass AND recorded the main vocal track, all in a weekend!!!! When I’m inspired and motivated, ideas come so fast!!
The trouble is that it uses up a lot of my time. Sometimes I get so involved that I go passed the hunger stage and then start feeling sick! But I’m a bit more conscious of it now and don’t let it happen as much…

Anyway, hopefully this new song shouldn’t take long. I’ve already started on the harmonies.
I’ve decided to call the song ‘Clean The Fan’ because it’s about my computer fan. Look at how dusty it is!
fan
I had quite a job getting to it, that’s why I’m writing a song about it. I know, I know, the subject sounds petty, but me and ‘Joe!’ have got an idea for a video, that goes very well with it and it’s going to be a funny song that also has a little dig at ‘HP’, for a stupid design! So there’s that, for you all to look forward to!!!

How To Write A Song! 11

by Jayme Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

I Haven’t done the harmonies yet because I got distracted.
Just recently I had to completely take apart my laptop, just to clean the fan!
Now, I managed to do it and still carry on with the song, but the problem now is that it has inspired me to write another song!
This often happens when I’m writing, I usually end up working on two or three songs at a time!
This new one is going to be about wanting to clean a laptop fan but having trouble doing it (it’s hard to explain), usually I don’t like to be too literal about what I’m writing about because it can sound a bit cheesy. But I think that, because of what I’m going to do with this new song, it’ll be o.k.

So anyway, it’s going to put a slight delay on the old song (that I’m calling Hannah) because I’m inspired and motivated, so I have to go with it! And this one has a video idea attached to it, so stay tuned for that one!

…I will continue with “Hannah” when I can.

How To Write A Song! 10

by Jayme Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

I love doing harmonies!

I usually do them in 3 groups of 5 part harmonies; 5 panned left, 5 in the center and 5 panned right.
I often treat them as if they were like people commenting on the lyrics that are being sung.
Depending on the song, I think that 3 sets of 5 part harmonies can be a bit too confusing, especially when there is lots going on. I think that the average listener listens to a song as a whole and doesn’t always home in on any specific instrument, or harmony, other that the main vocal line. So I don’t think that they get to appreciate a complicated harmony part when the rest of the music is quite busy. It’s also down to my mixing not being good enough to get them heard properly! But hey, I’m still learning.. (that’s why I did a bonus version of “cats and rats” that was just the voices!)

So, for this song I have decided to do 2 groups of 3 part harmonies, panned left and right. That way they should be easier to pick out!
When writing the harmonies, I like to sit in front of my computer with the microphone and a keyboard and record them in as I write them. I don’t bother with doing lots of takes because they’re more in the background than the main vocal, so they don’t have to be as perfect. Also, there are so many parts that it would take me ages to process it all!
So, I listen to the track and think of where to put the harmonies and what they should be saying. Then I press record and see if I like the way it sounds, then check to see if it’s correct and goes with the chords of the song and that it doesn’t change the flavour too much. Finally I check to see if the take needs re-singing or is ok enough.
I always try to avoid singing too many different words on top or the main vocal, because it can be too confusing. Also I try to make sure that the vowel sounds are the same. So that I don’t get one voice in a harmony par standing out above the rest, simply because it’s singing an “aaaa” when it should be singing an “ahhh”. ..and yes, it happens.
So..
That’s how I write and record harmonies!
I’d best get to it…

CPU Fan Speed 6000 RPM!

by Joe! Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

new pc The Tall One has just bought me the components for a Super-Video-Editing-Monster! But now after putting all the pieces together – the whopping cuad-core processor, massive Ati Radeon graphics card and fast and strong Gigabyte motherboard, and waiting for a hefty lightning storm to bring the beast alive, I’ve found it’s too alive! The processor fan spins at a staggering 6000 revolutions per minute (RPM) and I don’t know why!?? (the cpu temp is only at 30-40ºc).
So I’ve been going here a great forum, with really helpful people – to try and sort it out…

new pc Not sure if Frankenstein had this kind of trouble… What would he have done?…
Probably would have dunked it in a tank of electric eels…

No… That’s not gonna work…

How To Write A Song! 9

by Jayme Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Ok, well I’ve managed to do the vocals now!

I usually record several takes of me singing the whole song, before I start editing. But I don’t do the song the whole way through. I start with the verse over and over then move on to the chorus, e.t.c..
When I have them all down, and am roughly pleased with the performance, I then start comping.
(Vocal compositing or “comping” as I just called it, is basically taking the best bits from the various raw takes and editing them all into one master vocal track)
I never put the microphone away until after the editing because often I’ll find that, on some parts, I’m not happy with any of the takes! So I’ll end up re-recording those takes again. Now, I know I could just simply edit the takes that I don’t like by pitch-bending them or time-stretching them but I think that, apart from lowering the quality of the sound, it’s better and quicker to simply re-record them.

So anyway, now I can start writing the harmonies! Yey!

HP Pavilion Laptop Fan

by Jayme Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments »

Today my laptop core temp reached 95º C!!!!
Strangely, my BIOS doesn’t seem to think that the processor is over-clocking because it’s not automatically shutting down! But 95 degrees MUST be hot enough no?
The strange thing is that even after updating the BIOS, it still lets it get this hot!!

So anyway, I think that it’s time to open up the back and give the fan a little clean.. YEAH RIGHT!!! In order to get to the fan; you need to take the whole thing apart (keys, screen, EVERYTHING!!). Why is there not just a simple panel at the back that you can just unscrew and open!!!???

So..
After looking at videos on youtube of people modifying their own fans and even burning holes in the back plastic, for better ventilation and seeing as my laptop is now out of warranty, I’ve started to think of what mods I could do to mine.
Apart from taking the whole damn thing apart and doing some of the mods that people have suggested, I’m also going to see if I can cut a hole in the back piece and fit some sort of home made removable panel, where the fan is, to be able to access it easier for future cleaning..

I start tomorrow… wish me luck!