byte-smasher’s domain

Some things I’ve noticed that generally have a negative effect on music and the creative process…

Music fans have a sense of entitlement when it comes to their favorite genres. They feel they should be able to direct where music goes. What they don’t realize is that if they want to change the music landscape (and I’ll be quite blunt here), they need to shut up and learn how to make their own music. Art isn’t some sort of idealistic utopian capitalism where the consumer votes to make the artist do their bidding … it’s art. Artists are only capable of producing what comes from inside them.

On the flipside, artists have no right to bitch if the masses don’t like their art. If what you’re aiming for is popularity, then appeal to what fans want. Otherwise, make music for yourself and love it for what it is. You’re either doing this primarily to please yourself or to please others… if you want to balance between the two, you may be in for a bad time if your artistic ideals don’t jive with others. Generally, I opt to please myself, and not give much of a shit about what others think.

It’s a double edged sword where both sides are generally in the wrong…. but somehow, occasionally, magic happens.

But yah, don’t for a minute as a music fan think that your enjoyment of someone else’s music entitles you to having a say in how they produce their art. You don’t…. and chances are pretty high that what you like about someone’s music is not what they themselves like about it.

No clue why, but I suddenly got an urge to post something. It might have to do with the fact that I decided to update WordPress for security purposes. It might have to do with the fact that I just bought a house.

What? I bought a house?

Shit. That’s some heavy stuff. Totally feels like a dream.

A dream house.

A nightmare house?

I guess we’ll see.

Oh yah, it’s also the end of the world.  Again. It seems I just keep surviving every damned apocalypse.

Well, here’s some music to accompany the end times

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So today, I start working freelance from wherever I choose. Aaah freedom…..?

I’ve also removed my forums due to spam-hell. I don’t use them, so there’s really no reason to keep them up at all. Issue your complaints below if you actually give a shit.

Will I now be posting more on this blog? Who the hell knows. Facebook owns my life at the moment. I really have issues coming up with content for both platforms due to the fact that I get infinitely more of an audience on the Facebooks.

Again, if you wish me to produce content here, please let me know. Otherwise, I’ll just keep it to my FB news feed.

So apparently the key to blogging is not to write about what you know, but to write about what you don’t know… specifically, what you’re learning. It seems I still have something to learn about blogging, so I thought I’d share that little gem with all of you. It seems I’m simply too shortsighted and self centered to realize that what I’m currently involved in learning about the universe may indeed be of use to someone else as well. ZOMG I’M SELF DEPRECATING… OH SHI… I WENT THERE :O … how uncouth and zomgemo of me.

Seriously though, I’m sick and tired of trying to figure out WHAT to say for fear that I’ve got nothing of interest to say. Of late, I’ve been trying to figure out HOW the new media people do what they do, all the while attracting an audience, and I think I’ve settled on one fact: They just do shit. They do shit, and people take notice if they’re interested. So fuck it… I’m gonna stop worrying and just do shit.

Evolution made these things too ugly for predators to consider chowing down on

The more I write, the funnier I’ll become, and the better I’ll be able to make lame jokes about mudkips and Chuck Norris. By the way, Chuck called and he wants his life back. He told me to tell all of you that he’s not some sort of omnipotent martial arts superman, and all the positive press he’s getting is really cramping his style because he’s having a hard time living up to his fan-constructed public persona.

In other news, I’m going to be lurking tvtropes.com for lulz fodder in hopes of actually doing some sketch comedy for the intarwebbernets. If anyone has any ideas for things that may be funny, please let me know, because I’m completely stumped as to how to make people laugh. I even went so far this morning as to consider doing a sketch about Thunder Bay tourists eating cats because of an extreme semantical misunderstanding. I then came to my senses and realized that Persians are quite expensive and too ugly to eat.

I’ve decided to start offering bare-bones mastering services to local bands …..gratis. Why would I do such a thing, you ask? Because I wouldn’t mind doing it for money eventually, but first I need to build a portfolio… and local bands just need some more exposure in general. It’s hard to get noticed by labels when your demo doesn’t shine… and you shouldn’t have to pay thousands of dollars for a pro mastering job just to get rejected by the label.

So here’s the first submission I received for mastering, a track by Andrew Edwards called “Holiday Parade”. Hit the triangular “play” button to hear the song, and toggle the mastered/unmastered version by clicking on the respective word…. pretty self explanatory really

That about sums up my feelings toward this site at the moment.  It shall possibly become of use once my album is done, but for now, it lays wasted. If anyone actually checks back here occasionally to see if I’ve posted, please comment so I know whether it’s worth my time to continue posting occasionally. I’m fairly sure most of the people who would be interested in seeing me post here interact with me on facebook a fair bit as it is.

Facebook. The death of the personal website. My creative energies are falling on blind eyes.

This post comes to you from my shiny new iPod touch! Unfortunately, typing on such a device is still somewhat cumbersome, alas, I’m keeping this short. Good day all!

Symptom Checker
Results: 1 cause of Lack of energy AND Runny nose

1. Cocaine abuse
Stimulant drug with various effects…read more »

… I shit you not.

eloquence
is in essence
a consequence
of having to express one’s self
in manners that transcend the noise of nonsense
spreading common sense through complex rhythm and rhyme
so your message can be heard through the deadly decay of time
but death is part of life, you know
it’s the part that makes our creativity flow
for the finite nature of being
helps us appreciate the infinite possibilities of now
so please don’t let the unknown scare
for you are here, you’re not yet there
and the present is a present
though it takes some assembly
and instructions are not included
though in truth they need not be
because it’s truly you that makes the time
not god or others
so use it wise
and when your fears have come to pass
you can rest assured, at last
that your spark was well worth it

“Niggy Tardust was a man with an extraordinary plan
to infect the masses, and their comatose asses

their minds had gone astray from their essence and so they
were listening to charlatans, submitting to decay

he thought ‘if only I could catch their eyes
I’d tell them that they mattered, and that they should deny
the lies that they’ve been spoon-fed since our culture went awry

to all the things they disagree, they should loudly reply
to commands of the cash machine, they shouldn’t dare comply

they should discard their pointless fears and reclaim all their rights
they should wake up to their unity, and they should cease to fight

they should listen to themselves and realize that they’re alright
they should support their own views instead of caving in to fright

maybe then we could dismantle institutions that enslave us
and demote the silly, angry men we let indoctrinate us

and maybe then, just maybe, we could find a love of all
that negated every border… that tore down every wall

and nobody would be on guard, just waiting for a fall
we’d all support each other
   and what’s more

we’d cease to blindly poison, rape and destroy all our land
we’d only take what we could hold in the palm of our hand
we’d share the rest, and work to build a green technology
and greed would cease to be because we’d no longer envy
and security would rest upon the global sense of love
and knowing that it doesn’t matter what lies after or above’

and so, brave Niggy Tardust, he went out into the world
and instead of simply preaching, being sheppard to the herd
he became a good example of the person you should be
and infected many asses
and that many includes me
and I woke up to a knowledge that my words, they really count
though the odds of changing everything are quite hard to surmount
every one I touch with my ideas slightly changes
and change spreads fairly quickly
like a virus, it’s contagious
and though this rhyme may seem a bit cliche and quite outrageous
I hope that it will stick with you, and make you more courageous
’cause Niggy’s only one person, and with me, that makes two
but add you in, and that makes three, from there you can imbue
your newfound sense of self purpose to many more anew”

and from that funny bit of prose, the idea it just grew
and this is how the world did change, from just a few that knew
that a global shift in consciouses was well, well overdue
and now we pass the torch along, my child, it goes to you