One of the things that I really like to do when I need a good distraction, is to write beats. I guess the same way a guitar player would write a lick, a drummer can write a loop. So I sit down behind the kit, fire up a click track, and play some random beats.
Once it's recorded in the system, I can sample it any number of ways and add effects. In this case, the drums are essentially just raw, there's no delays, phasers, distortions or anything like that. Just a little gating ad compression. I really haven't even EQ'd much.
The loop is raw and is ready to be used by an electronic musician, or anybody who creates sample and loop based music. This loop is influenced by afrobeat and funk. Fun times!
http://soundcloud.com/cgaudry/afro-16-100bpm
Monday, April 19, 2010
The Video Game Blog Post
Today we had a video game designer speak to a group of CreComms about designing games. He was a developer for a small, independent firm, but had some positive things to say about big production games as well.
At the start of the presentation, he mentioned how part of his job included attending trade shows and spending allot of time with the game developer community. He mentioned one such trade show, which took place in Austin, Texas last year.
I was actually at that trade show, but for different reasons. I was actually working as the trade show coordinator and account manager for OMT at the time, and the NAB radio show was taking place at the convention center at the exact same time as the video game show.
When I first landed in Austin, the cab driver took me to my hotel, passing through a really poor part of town to get there. My hotel was really close to the convention center (something I like to do so I can walk to the show each day), so I ordered a Heinekken from room service and walked to the convention center. The actual show started on a Wednesday, but I had to fly in on Monday in order to receive our shipments, setup the booth and graphics, and setup the computer network for the demo computers we'd be using at the show.
When I got to the convention center I was absolutely blown away at what I saw. No, it wasn't the video gamer's exhibits (although, they were super cool and laid back). What blew me away was the number of refugees who had to leave the coastal city of Houston because of the hurricane, ahhh, Ike I think it was. Over the course of the week that I was there, I spoke to a ton of people whose houses had been ruined, and jobs that had been lost as a result of the damage. It was pretty epic.
Anyway, at the convention... during the two days of setup, I spent a bit of time hanging out at the video game show. My access badge for the NAB radio show looked similar enough to the ones being used for the video game show, so nobody questioned me. And, it meant that I could take in the cuisine and free booze that was being given away by the companies that were exhibiting at the show.
The radio show ended up being ok. It was one of the rare shows where mostly everything went well, and so I got to spend a good chunk of time by the pool at the hotel. I really miss alot of the people I use to see at the trade shows. When you do alot of shows, you end up seeing alot of the same people, time and time again. And those people become your "road buddies". Throughout the year, you occassionaly speak with them over the phone, or email, about business, but over the years, they kind of become your solace on the road, because it sucks being away from your home, friends and family.
Overall, I would love to go back to Austin. It's like a little blue city, inside of a red state. Their art scene is stellar, actually quite comparable to Winnipeg's scene. There's live bands playing all the time.
Here are some pictures from that trip (I smashed my head on the last day of the trade show, which explains the photo of myself in my hotel room bathroom).
At the start of the presentation, he mentioned how part of his job included attending trade shows and spending allot of time with the game developer community. He mentioned one such trade show, which took place in Austin, Texas last year.
I was actually at that trade show, but for different reasons. I was actually working as the trade show coordinator and account manager for OMT at the time, and the NAB radio show was taking place at the convention center at the exact same time as the video game show.
When I first landed in Austin, the cab driver took me to my hotel, passing through a really poor part of town to get there. My hotel was really close to the convention center (something I like to do so I can walk to the show each day), so I ordered a Heinekken from room service and walked to the convention center. The actual show started on a Wednesday, but I had to fly in on Monday in order to receive our shipments, setup the booth and graphics, and setup the computer network for the demo computers we'd be using at the show.
When I got to the convention center I was absolutely blown away at what I saw. No, it wasn't the video gamer's exhibits (although, they were super cool and laid back). What blew me away was the number of refugees who had to leave the coastal city of Houston because of the hurricane, ahhh, Ike I think it was. Over the course of the week that I was there, I spoke to a ton of people whose houses had been ruined, and jobs that had been lost as a result of the damage. It was pretty epic.
Anyway, at the convention... during the two days of setup, I spent a bit of time hanging out at the video game show. My access badge for the NAB radio show looked similar enough to the ones being used for the video game show, so nobody questioned me. And, it meant that I could take in the cuisine and free booze that was being given away by the companies that were exhibiting at the show.
The radio show ended up being ok. It was one of the rare shows where mostly everything went well, and so I got to spend a good chunk of time by the pool at the hotel. I really miss alot of the people I use to see at the trade shows. When you do alot of shows, you end up seeing alot of the same people, time and time again. And those people become your "road buddies". Throughout the year, you occassionaly speak with them over the phone, or email, about business, but over the years, they kind of become your solace on the road, because it sucks being away from your home, friends and family.
Overall, I would love to go back to Austin. It's like a little blue city, inside of a red state. Their art scene is stellar, actually quite comparable to Winnipeg's scene. There's live bands playing all the time.
Here are some pictures from that trip (I smashed my head on the last day of the trade show, which explains the photo of myself in my hotel room bathroom).
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Video Montage - Choice is a Weapon
I recently completed a montage for the song "Weapon" by Matt Good. The montage ended up being a great project, because I learned that I love to use a video camera. This was my first real experience with a video camera. My family didn't even have one on vacations when I was growing up (yet I still have all the memories, weird). The way the video was produced was exactly the opposite of what I had planned going in to the project.
I'm going to deconstruct how the video was produced below; here's the video;
Originally, I planned to conceptualize a story, and have actors, a storyboard, etc... As I began to plan the logistics of a video like that, things such as sets, creative shots, actors, and such, I realized how much work would have to be put into the video in order to make it a reality. Really, it wasn't necessary. The point behind the project was to develop some basic camera skills and video editing skills.
So I picked a day to shoot, and hoped to be inspired by the surrounding environment. I really lucked out, because when we showed up at the Forks, the Winnipeg Fire Department's water rescue squad were doing training exercises on the water and ice. So naturally, we asked them if we could shoot, and they said yes. It wasn't like they were trying to be discrete, they were training at the Forks on a Saturday.... good PR.
Later in the day I decided to shoot some kids skateboarding at the skate park. The first time we shot, it was really cold outside, but still lots of people. I was really impressed at the dedication of some of the kids at the park. I ran in to the same people three Saturdays in a row. If you look closely, the same guy is in my video wearing different clothes every time. He volunteered his time, I didn't plan to have him there. In fact, Mike Choi (the lead) was the only actor, and we didn't use a script at all.
I probably could have just submitted the footage that i got, with any song, and that would have been sufficient, because the footage was so interesting. But it also occurred to me that I might be able to make a story out of the footage by tying it together somehow. The idea to have Mike fall in the water seemed obvious, but the challenge was that I had to imply that he was falling in the water with the footage, because we obviously couldn't have Mike fall in the gross, freezing cold Red River (or is it the Assiniboine there?)...
Them came the idea of picking a song that would work with the footage. I originally planned to pick the song first, and try to make a story around a song. In the end, I chose a song to match the footage. Because the lead character dies in the end (or that is what is implied), it seemed very dark. Matthew Good seemed like a good choice. After all, his second last album was called Hospital Music, and was apparently written during a period MG spent in the hospital after trying to off himself. So yeah, dark.
The song has 6 main parts to it, but the last two parts (5, 6) are essentially the same as 3 and 4, so I edited the track to 4 parts (almost like movements in the song), which worked out to be just over four minutes. Once I had the track ready and imported into Final Cut, it was essentially just a matter of using the footage I had to fit the parts of the song.
The main thing I think is missing from the story are the reactions of people. I think some shots of people's reactions to the rescue would enhance the emotional aspect of it.
Now comes the part of explaining why I put my cat, well, having a bath in the credits. I am not a particularily dark person, and so I had to add some humor to it, because I though it lacked some of my own personality. And, I only get to be in college once.
I'm very excited to start work on my next project...
I'm going to deconstruct how the video was produced below; here's the video;
Chris Gaudry Montage from Chris Gaudry on Vimeo.
Originally, I planned to conceptualize a story, and have actors, a storyboard, etc... As I began to plan the logistics of a video like that, things such as sets, creative shots, actors, and such, I realized how much work would have to be put into the video in order to make it a reality. Really, it wasn't necessary. The point behind the project was to develop some basic camera skills and video editing skills.
So I picked a day to shoot, and hoped to be inspired by the surrounding environment. I really lucked out, because when we showed up at the Forks, the Winnipeg Fire Department's water rescue squad were doing training exercises on the water and ice. So naturally, we asked them if we could shoot, and they said yes. It wasn't like they were trying to be discrete, they were training at the Forks on a Saturday.... good PR.
Later in the day I decided to shoot some kids skateboarding at the skate park. The first time we shot, it was really cold outside, but still lots of people. I was really impressed at the dedication of some of the kids at the park. I ran in to the same people three Saturdays in a row. If you look closely, the same guy is in my video wearing different clothes every time. He volunteered his time, I didn't plan to have him there. In fact, Mike Choi (the lead) was the only actor, and we didn't use a script at all.
I probably could have just submitted the footage that i got, with any song, and that would have been sufficient, because the footage was so interesting. But it also occurred to me that I might be able to make a story out of the footage by tying it together somehow. The idea to have Mike fall in the water seemed obvious, but the challenge was that I had to imply that he was falling in the water with the footage, because we obviously couldn't have Mike fall in the gross, freezing cold Red River (or is it the Assiniboine there?)...
Them came the idea of picking a song that would work with the footage. I originally planned to pick the song first, and try to make a story around a song. In the end, I chose a song to match the footage. Because the lead character dies in the end (or that is what is implied), it seemed very dark. Matthew Good seemed like a good choice. After all, his second last album was called Hospital Music, and was apparently written during a period MG spent in the hospital after trying to off himself. So yeah, dark.
The song has 6 main parts to it, but the last two parts (5, 6) are essentially the same as 3 and 4, so I edited the track to 4 parts (almost like movements in the song), which worked out to be just over four minutes. Once I had the track ready and imported into Final Cut, it was essentially just a matter of using the footage I had to fit the parts of the song.
The main thing I think is missing from the story are the reactions of people. I think some shots of people's reactions to the rescue would enhance the emotional aspect of it.
Now comes the part of explaining why I put my cat, well, having a bath in the credits. I am not a particularily dark person, and so I had to add some humor to it, because I though it lacked some of my own personality. And, I only get to be in college once.
I'm very excited to start work on my next project...
Friday, March 12, 2010
Why I can't post my newest best friend on my blog
So, my newest best friend in the world is the latest royalty check I got from Socan, and I wanted to post a picture of it here. But it's not a check, and that's the problem.
You see, Socan doesn't cut checks on any amounts under $500. When you are typically getting payments for like $64, it's nice to get paper checks. I mean, the feeling of actually getting paid for writing music is far more attractive than the sixty four dollars. And direct deposit doesn't give that great feeling justice.
I know that the environment is in shambles, and direct deposit is far more eco-friendly and efficient. So, I think Socan should send artists emails with "soft checks" attached as PDF files; even if it increases the cost of membership.
I guess what I'm getting at is, it's nice to get recognition for your work, and in this society that usually means gettin' pizaid (I feel awkward writing that, but not enough to edit it). Being able to admire something more tangible than a bank transfer that I barely know exists, would be a welcome source of recognition for me, cause I’ve been playing and writing music for a long time.
I want to thank CBC radio1 for playing the Shouting Ground album, which I co-wrote in my basement with some awesome peeps. I listen to radio2 with Bob in the mornings and Rich on the drive, and I haven’t heard it on those shows yet. Maybe a pitch letter is in order… yah, maybe some personal hygiene is too, but CreComm comes first these days.
You see, Socan doesn't cut checks on any amounts under $500. When you are typically getting payments for like $64, it's nice to get paper checks. I mean, the feeling of actually getting paid for writing music is far more attractive than the sixty four dollars. And direct deposit doesn't give that great feeling justice.
I know that the environment is in shambles, and direct deposit is far more eco-friendly and efficient. So, I think Socan should send artists emails with "soft checks" attached as PDF files; even if it increases the cost of membership.
I guess what I'm getting at is, it's nice to get recognition for your work, and in this society that usually means gettin' pizaid (I feel awkward writing that, but not enough to edit it). Being able to admire something more tangible than a bank transfer that I barely know exists, would be a welcome source of recognition for me, cause I’ve been playing and writing music for a long time.
I want to thank CBC radio1 for playing the Shouting Ground album, which I co-wrote in my basement with some awesome peeps. I listen to radio2 with Bob in the mornings and Rich on the drive, and I haven’t heard it on those shows yet. Maybe a pitch letter is in order… yah, maybe some personal hygiene is too, but CreComm comes first these days.
Monday, March 8, 2010
I'm gittin hitched!
This August, I am getting married. And we wouldn't be Manitobans if we didn't have a social.
I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a big fan of Manitoba socials. Usually, community centers make me feel like I'm at a sock hop, and the same "stuck in the middle", "brown eyed girl" and what-not songs don't do anything to inspire.
So, in honour of my wedding, my band (from years ago) are reuniting for one last time. This will actually be our ten year anniversary from the date of our first show together. It's going to be a blast!!! Hoping that by having a kick-ass rock band at the social, we will be mixing it up a bit.
There will be some aspects to the social that are similar to the regular Manitoba social; like a silent auction, and everybody's favorite midnight snack... but we are going to be posting the winning tickets for the silent auction, not buzz-killing the evening by reading out the numbers, and the food spread will surely please the huddled masses (or drunk masses for that matter).
Hoping everyone in Winnipeg can make it.
Here is the Facebook page with all the info: Fun Times
I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a big fan of Manitoba socials. Usually, community centers make me feel like I'm at a sock hop, and the same "stuck in the middle", "brown eyed girl" and what-not songs don't do anything to inspire.
So, in honour of my wedding, my band (from years ago) are reuniting for one last time. This will actually be our ten year anniversary from the date of our first show together. It's going to be a blast!!! Hoping that by having a kick-ass rock band at the social, we will be mixing it up a bit.
There will be some aspects to the social that are similar to the regular Manitoba social; like a silent auction, and everybody's favorite midnight snack... but we are going to be posting the winning tickets for the silent auction, not buzz-killing the evening by reading out the numbers, and the food spread will surely please the huddled masses (or drunk masses for that matter).
Hoping everyone in Winnipeg can make it.
Here is the Facebook page with all the info: Fun Times
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Still looking for an IPP idea? Here's one that you might like...
I have already decided what I want to do for my IPP, but I'm not short on other ideas...
KICK FM's internet stream is dead. I'm not sure of the details, but you can't listen to KICK online anymore. I know that the station does not have budget to acquire a new streaming solution at present time. The stream was previously being donated by a local company, but in my opinion, it was shifty at best even when it was up.
Since I have a reasonable amount of experience designing and selling streaming solutions to radio stations, I have a great solution, but it's going to cost some money.
Here is where the IPP idea comes in... KICK supports local musicians and bands like no other. I've seen the day-to-day play-lists, and can say that almost 1 song in 10 is a local artist. As such, it would be easy to get bands to volunteer their time for a fund raiser gig that would serve to raise money to pay for a new streaming solution for KICK.
Here are the details...
The technology part... There's a company in Edmonton, called Streamon that offers a very attractive streaming solution. They supply an appliance that encodes an audio stream, which is then sent to their servers for hosting. The company provides HTML source code for a pop-up player, which makes integrating the stream with a website, or social media sites a breeze.
The music geek part... The stream is delivered using a standard high speed internet connection. The codec that is used to compress and deliver the steam is called OggVorbis, which is a great sounding codec at reduced bit rates (which is important for keeping bandwidth usage at a minimum). The operating system on the streaming appliance uses Linux, which is the Fort Knox of operating systems both in terms of virus and hack security, and up-time, making it perfect for the college's top notch I.T. folks (even they will like it).
The business... The player costs $695 (Canadian funds) and the basic monthly hosting package is $140 (not withstanding a potential educational discount). The appliance is a lifetime lease, so if it breaks, you just send it back and they will replace it at no charge. There is a one time setup charge of $300, which is nice, cause they'll get you up and running without a hassle, or over dependence on college staff.
Not only is the system a good solution for hosting the stream, but it also offers potential revenue opportunity. The pop-up player has a banner spot which can be fed a jpg of an advertisement. And because the station uses the iMediaTouch radio software, it can be integrated with this neat feature in StreamOn. So the station could sell ads that would appear in the pop-up player. And, the player also has a spot for the album artwork, which makes it look really cool.
So, the total cost to get the stream up and running for one year is $2675. That's totally doable. That dollar amount represents roughly 500 tickets sold, at a cost of $5. And once you get people in the door, there's other fund raising opportunities (such as a raffle for a couple dozen local band's CD's). It might not happen in one show, but it could happen in two shows; and if I know the local music scene, Winnipeg bands would love an opportunity to help out. I'm sure some would even sell tickets to the event.
The politics... Aside from the obvious need to get KICK management on board (I'm sure they'd love the idea of getting their stream up and running again at no cost to them), you'd have to get approval from the college's I.T. department, because the streaming appliance would be pushing a stream from their local network (glaven!), to StreamOn's hosting server.
Revive the stream fundraiser.... This part of the IPP is organizing the gig(s). If you love to promote good causes, and organize parties, or events, this part of the IPP will be so fun!!! And organizing fund raisers is easier than commercial endeavors because you can be so shameless about promoting, because it's for a good cause.
So there you have it. You will be known as the student that REVIVED THE STREAM.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
RRCSA Video
I mentioned a few blog posts ago that I was involved in a marketing campaign with the Red River College Students' Association, to try and get better nominee and voter turnout for this year's election. I posted a radio spot that I wrote and produced (around a week ago), which is now in rotation on KICK FM. I also mentioned that I was producing a video for the campaign, and that I would post it here.
Now, I'm not very proud of this video, mainly because I find it to be boring and drab (even though those things might be the same thing, it's worth mentioning twice).
I'm glad I did the video, because it was good writing and on-air experience, even though I have no delusions about being an on-air personality. My friend Doug from Tripwire Media Group thinks that I hate the video because I don't like seeing myself on video. He's right, but I also can't stand the sound of my own voice (at least when I can't put it in Pro Tools and work it with my magic). Also, it was the first time I’ve used Final Cut Pro, which is much more different from Adobe Premiere Pro than I was lead on to believe.
Thanks to Tripwire for donating their time to shoot the video, which took all of 20 minutes to capture. Thanks to their intern from ABC who was much nicer to work with than Doug or Dave (JK, I love you two so very much).
Here's the video, in all of it's not-so-glorious state. Please let me know what you think, even if you hate it (especially if you hate it):
Now, I'm not very proud of this video, mainly because I find it to be boring and drab (even though those things might be the same thing, it's worth mentioning twice).
I'm glad I did the video, because it was good writing and on-air experience, even though I have no delusions about being an on-air personality. My friend Doug from Tripwire Media Group thinks that I hate the video because I don't like seeing myself on video. He's right, but I also can't stand the sound of my own voice (at least when I can't put it in Pro Tools and work it with my magic). Also, it was the first time I’ve used Final Cut Pro, which is much more different from Adobe Premiere Pro than I was lead on to believe.
Thanks to Tripwire for donating their time to shoot the video, which took all of 20 minutes to capture. Thanks to their intern from ABC who was much nicer to work with than Doug or Dave (JK, I love you two so very much).
Here's the video, in all of it's not-so-glorious state. Please let me know what you think, even if you hate it (especially if you hate it):
RRCSA Nominations Video from Chris Gaudry on Vimeo.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Have you Googled yourself lately?
From time to time, I like to Google myself just to see what kind of cyber-trail I have created.
The good news is, for me at least, that I can't find myself on Facebook. I am one of the thousands of people that have fake names on Facebook. Why? For the same reason that I wouldn't buy a house in Linden Woods with a back yard that practically encroaches on three other backyards: I really enjoy my sense of privacy.
The good news is, for me at least, that I can't find myself on Facebook. I am one of the thousands of people that have fake names on Facebook. Why? For the same reason that I wouldn't buy a house in Linden Woods with a back yard that practically encroaches on three other backyards: I really enjoy my sense of privacy.
There is a bit more to it. When I joined Facebook, it was probably within the first 3 weeks that it came about. I really had no idea what I was getting myself into when I joined. As it turned out, after a while, Facebook turned in to this crazy information sharing site, one where people that you barely know can now get intimate information about you.
There is a bit of a misconception, I think, about the amount of control you actually have over your Facebook existence. Consider this: You go out one night and you have a tremendously good time. Throughout the evening, somebody has unintentionally taken a picture of you telling a joke. You know, the joke where the punch line involves you making some sort of questionable face. In context, the face is harmless, it's actually a very funny joke, but taken out of context (someone creeping on your Facebook page) it might seem like you're misbehaving.
After the party, said camera person went home and decided to post all of their photos to a new Facebook group they just created, called "Tammy's Crazy Sexy Going Away Party". And there you are, in picture number two, in the background, doing the punch line to that hilarious joke, with a beverage in your hand. How stoopid did you look? You didn't do anything wrong. You were in an adult environment, enjoying adult conversation and you told a joke to a selective group of people... I use the word selective very loosely of course, because in this case, selective isn't what you thought it was.
So the picture is up on Facebook, for everyone to see. And I am convinced that their are some people that spend WAY too much time on Facebook. People that probably look at every picture that has ever been posted, anywhere on Facebook. CREEPY!
Even if you ask the person to take the photo down, or you complain to Facebook, the picture has already been out in "interland" for a while. Long enough, possibly, for someone to take the photo out of context and, ultimately, it changes your relationship, whether you know it or not, with that person forever.
So the moral of the rant is that you should never go out and have fun, or let yourself get a little crazy from time to time. Or no, wait, the moral is that if anybody takes pictures at a party, they should either be paying tremendous amounts for your photos, or they should be beaten to within an inch of their lives. Ok, so these solutions are terrible.
How is it safe to have a profile on Facebook if you can't LITERALLY control every piece of media that goes out there?
It sucks too, cause Facebook is a fun way to stay in touch with people. And it's fun to look at party pictures too. But I can certainly think of a few ways that it would be easy for me to get photos that could tarnish people's reputations. So how hard would it be for a stranger to get that info? We've all seen the police use Facebook photos to link criminals together; and there they are, on the six o'clock news.
Twitter isn't really like that. There's no medium, really, for people to post stoopid drunk pictures of you. I mean, if somebody is trying to sabotage your reputation, the internet would be a pretty easy place to start. But Twitter wouldn't be the first place to look.
There's just as many ways to get caught being stoopid on Twitter, but most of them involve defamation.The police can't really use Twitter to make links between actual friends, that may be involved in some criminal activity.
Twitter also seems, at least so far, to be a better source for getting news. And I find that there's less shameless self promotion on Twitter. With Facebook, every banal cause, or company has a Facebook page. So much so, that like billboards and TV commercials, you could make the argument that they are nearly ineffective. But that is certainly up for debate.
My Twitter account comes up third when I Google my name, Manitoba Music directory is first, and LinkedIn profile is second. I really should up date that profile, along with a half dozen other profiles from various sites that I've joined over the years.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Why is Conan coming out on top?
Thought I'd weigh in on the whole late night saga that's been unfolding over the past couple months.
I think Conan O'Brien will definitely come out on top through this whole ordeal. Why? Because he grew a beard during the writer's strike.
As stupid as that sounds, I'm actually serious. The beard he grew was a symbol of protest for the writers. Conan has always been "for the people".
Conan bows to talented guests that he introduces in his monologue. A gesture that puts these guests on a pedestal, sort of above him.
His trademark self deprecating humor is another good example of the point I'm trying to make.
Conan is a nice guy. And as we all know, nice guys finish last. Last or not, he's still got his pride and about 35 million bucks.
Nobody is going to remember Leno as a nice guy. Maybe a rich, greedy, self serving guy, but not a nice guy.
My hat goes off to Conan. I'm excited to see where he lands... hoping it's not on Fox :-(
Cheers to the nice guys!
I think Conan O'Brien will definitely come out on top through this whole ordeal. Why? Because he grew a beard during the writer's strike.
As stupid as that sounds, I'm actually serious. The beard he grew was a symbol of protest for the writers. Conan has always been "for the people".
Conan bows to talented guests that he introduces in his monologue. A gesture that puts these guests on a pedestal, sort of above him.
His trademark self deprecating humor is another good example of the point I'm trying to make.
Conan is a nice guy. And as we all know, nice guys finish last. Last or not, he's still got his pride and about 35 million bucks.
Nobody is going to remember Leno as a nice guy. Maybe a rich, greedy, self serving guy, but not a nice guy.
My hat goes off to Conan. I'm excited to see where he lands... hoping it's not on Fox :-(
Cheers to the nice guys!
Saturday, February 6, 2010
The Election Campaign
It was a fluke, actually...
About a month ago I attended a meeting, organized by Jeff Long of the RRCSA, which was essentially a brainstorming/motivational session on how we can improve nominee and voter turnout for this year's election.
I didn't actually know about the meeting, because the email was sent to class reps last semester and I wasn't on the email list at the time. Ashton (from my class) told me about it, and she and I (and Jason Booth from 2nd year) attended the meeting. I figured what the heck; there was free pizza too.
Jeff and Carla from the SA were trying to leverage (word of the week) the resources of the students from various Creative Arts departments, in order to help improve the nominee and voter turn-out for this year's election. Part of that initiative meant producing a video, a radio spot (and getting it played), some posters, some literature etc, to increase awareness about the jobs and the election.
When I heard that two elected and paid positions went uncontested in last year's election, it sort of bothered me. I mean, the jobs pay over $16/hour, you have a flexible schedule where you're required to work 20 hours a week (for the VP posts) and 30 hours a week (for the pres. post), and the jobs are located right at the college. It occurred to me that more people ought to run.
Here's where things get dicey... The vast majority of the students at the Princess campus are enrolled in full time programs that require roughly 27 hours of class time, per week. The guidelines for the VP and Pres jobs require that the hours are served from Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 4:30pm, which provides a window of exactly 40 hours. So technically, it's impossible for a full time student to work those jobs; seven hours impossible to be exact.
I propose that the work window be extended. If it was from 8am to 6pm, that would provide an additional 10 hours per week for the time to be served. That solves the problem of the vice president positions, but not the 30 hour requirement for the President's job.
I think CreComm students could really benefit from working a job with the SA, but I doubt very many would do an extra year of the program just to be able take the job.
Poor nominee turn-out might not be a result of students not knowing about it (so not a messaging issue), but that so few people can actually fulfill the requirements under the current guidelines.
I decided to help with the campaign anyway, because it's a noble cause, and I thought it would be good experience for me to help with the media production side of it. So, I produced a radio spot, which I will post to my blog right after I post this message, and I plan to post the video next week.
Adam, the news director from KICK, and I have been talking about doing a live on-air debate, but that would obviously require more than one person to run...
About a month ago I attended a meeting, organized by Jeff Long of the RRCSA, which was essentially a brainstorming/motivational session on how we can improve nominee and voter turnout for this year's election.
I didn't actually know about the meeting, because the email was sent to class reps last semester and I wasn't on the email list at the time. Ashton (from my class) told me about it, and she and I (and Jason Booth from 2nd year) attended the meeting. I figured what the heck; there was free pizza too.
Jeff and Carla from the SA were trying to leverage (word of the week) the resources of the students from various Creative Arts departments, in order to help improve the nominee and voter turn-out for this year's election. Part of that initiative meant producing a video, a radio spot (and getting it played), some posters, some literature etc, to increase awareness about the jobs and the election.
When I heard that two elected and paid positions went uncontested in last year's election, it sort of bothered me. I mean, the jobs pay over $16/hour, you have a flexible schedule where you're required to work 20 hours a week (for the VP posts) and 30 hours a week (for the pres. post), and the jobs are located right at the college. It occurred to me that more people ought to run.
Here's where things get dicey... The vast majority of the students at the Princess campus are enrolled in full time programs that require roughly 27 hours of class time, per week. The guidelines for the VP and Pres jobs require that the hours are served from Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 4:30pm, which provides a window of exactly 40 hours. So technically, it's impossible for a full time student to work those jobs; seven hours impossible to be exact.
I propose that the work window be extended. If it was from 8am to 6pm, that would provide an additional 10 hours per week for the time to be served. That solves the problem of the vice president positions, but not the 30 hour requirement for the President's job.
I think CreComm students could really benefit from working a job with the SA, but I doubt very many would do an extra year of the program just to be able take the job.
Poor nominee turn-out might not be a result of students not knowing about it (so not a messaging issue), but that so few people can actually fulfill the requirements under the current guidelines.
I decided to help with the campaign anyway, because it's a noble cause, and I thought it would be good experience for me to help with the media production side of it. So, I produced a radio spot, which I will post to my blog right after I post this message, and I plan to post the video next week.
Adam, the news director from KICK, and I have been talking about doing a live on-air debate, but that would obviously require more than one person to run...
RRCSA Elections Campaign
In addition to being crazy busy with school work this past two weeks, I've also been working on a marketing initiative with the RRCSA.
The SA needed some people to help produce some media that will get the message out about the upcoming nomination period for the RRC elections in April. The need to inform students about how to nominate, or run for an elected post is very big, considering two of the VP positions were awarded uncontested last year.
The first part that I was able to help with was writing and producing a radio spot. I have to say, Rick @ KICK was a huge part of making this aspect of the initiative work. I didn't have to sell him on the idea of running the spot, he was willing to help out with the cause, I didn't even have to take out my groveling hat.
The biggest challenge in producing this spot was getting an angle on "the sell", while ensuring that there is a ton of information, all packed into a 30 second spot. I ended up cutting out an entire phrase in order to get it to 30 seconds. I was hoping to put a greater emphasis on the idea that two paid, part times jobs were awarded to the only two people that applied for them.
So here's the spot that is running in heavy rotation on KICK:
Next week I will post the video that I produced for the campaign (but I have to finish editing it first).
The SA needed some people to help produce some media that will get the message out about the upcoming nomination period for the RRC elections in April. The need to inform students about how to nominate, or run for an elected post is very big, considering two of the VP positions were awarded uncontested last year.
The first part that I was able to help with was writing and producing a radio spot. I have to say, Rick @ KICK was a huge part of making this aspect of the initiative work. I didn't have to sell him on the idea of running the spot, he was willing to help out with the cause, I didn't even have to take out my groveling hat.
The biggest challenge in producing this spot was getting an angle on "the sell", while ensuring that there is a ton of information, all packed into a 30 second spot. I ended up cutting out an entire phrase in order to get it to 30 seconds. I was hoping to put a greater emphasis on the idea that two paid, part times jobs were awarded to the only two people that applied for them.
So here's the spot that is running in heavy rotation on KICK:
Next week I will post the video that I produced for the campaign (but I have to finish editing it first).
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Geeves, take me to the theatre
Friday night, I attended In the Chamber, a theatre production at the Rachel Browne Theatre. The event was put on by Theatre Projects Manitoba.
The show essentially consisted of two monologues that were roughly an hour each. The two monologues complimented each other well; it's annoying when the opening act is better than the headliner, or vice versa. The underlying theme for the evening (if there was one), was that both characters had “gone off the deep end” because of their careers.
Both plays had a very political undertone. The first play dealt with issues related to the hog industry in Manitoba, and the second one was related to the inquiry into twelve deaths at the Winnipeg Health Sciences Centre in 1994, (and the report written by Associate Chief Judge Murray Sinclair regarding the deaths of 12 babies). Although the arguments presented in both plays were not tied together, in both cases, the arguments were presented from the perspectives of individuals that were extremely involved in their respective industries, and both characters were involved in some very traumatic events.
In the first play, an account manager for a firm that provides consulting services to the hog industry completely snaps. He becomes horrified by the cruel farming practices being used in the Manitoba (Canadian) hog farming industry, and bears witness to the aftermath of a hog farm fire in Alberta that killed thousands of hogs.
There were some pretty funny parts throughout the play, which essentially consisted of a video taped rant intended for Warren Buffett. My favorite part was when he snacked on some “small town Chinese food” during his rant; which typically has a lot of “shifty pork” in it. Some subtle irony never hurts.
The main argument was made pretty bluntly; hog farming practices in Manitoba are unethical and hogs suffer their entire lives. A few moths ago I watched a documentary “expose” (I don't know how to do the accent on the “e”), where a journalist went undercover to expose the farming practices at a specific hog farm in South Carolina. I couldn't actually get through the entire documentary, it was a little too disturbing.
After seeing the documentary, I took a break from eating pork for a while, but eventually my love of bacon got the better of me. I do, however, try to eat cruelty free ham whenever possible. Cruelty free basically means that hog farms must provide above-par living conditions for the hogs, specifically, “they must have farrowing systems, which are areas which have bedding and are big enough to allow sows to turn around, with large space allowances.” The meat is more expensive, but it's not watered down like ham at most popular supermarkets (but that likely has more to do with the vendor than the product). It tastes the same as non-cruelty free ham though. (Is it just me, or is the term cruelty free, when related to farming, a bit of an oxymoron? I mean, the pigs die right...)
This is a really sensitive subject, and I don't want to sound like I'm preaching. I'm the last person that should be judging people about their eating habits. I eat cruelty free meat wherever possible because it tastes good, and I guess, in a way, it's helping me dilute the guilt. A lot of people seem to be “going organic”, and choosing alternative eating practices. I've heard good arguments that support eating organic, and good arguments that oppose eating organic. I think I'll likely address those arguments in a blog, at some point....
Anyway, back to the first play... I'm going to say the play is good, because it's provocative. The politics of farming affects everyone, because everyone has to eat.
The character in the second play worked for the Health Sciences Centre, in the pediatric surgery unit, during the events of 1994 (I'm not 100% sure on the details about what his specific job was). He goes off the deep end because of the events that took place, and he can not come to terms with the recommendations put forth by Judge Sinclair, or the suffering that one mother (whose baby died) had to endure.
A few times throughout the play, the character would recount very specific and complicated details (hospital policies, surgical procedures etc...), making it difficult to follow. I can understand why someone, who didn't go into the play ready to use all of their brain's echtoplasm, might get bored with it. Fortunately, I was a little familiar with the main issue, and because I know a number of people who work in the health care industry, I was able to enjoy the subject matter. I'll admit that I didn't follow every point the character tried to make, but maybe that wasn't the point. Maybe the point of including all of those esoteric details was simply to show, metaphorically, that the procedures that took place were too complicated for an proper inquest to have taken place.
As I mentioned, the character in the play opposes the conclusions that were made by Justice Sinclair, and is deeply troubled by the experiences the mother had to endure. He completely loses faith in the health care system, so much so, that he quits his job and vows never to set foot in a hospital again. He is so bound by his hatred for the system, that he opts not to have a suspicious growth on his neck checked out.
His break down leads to the downfall of his relationship with his wife, and he comes to terms with the fact that he'll never go back to a hospital again, and will probably die from the cancer he is convinced he has.
I'm glad I saw this play. It presented an argument about a subject that I knew a little about, but was able to explore much deeper, and hear an argument from a unique perspective. And the character in the play had gone just crazy enough to make it comical.
Similar to the first play, the subject matter was heavy. Like farming, health care is something that affects everyone. And everyone knows somebody who has been affected by it.
If you happen to know some people that work in the system, you've probably heard your fair share of horror stories. It's really too bad that we don't hear enough about the success stories though. The public is exposed far more to the shitty things that happen in hospitals, which causes them to focus on those events, taking their focus away from the amazing work that health care practitioners do.
I'm not sure that I'd recommend the show, because it's art, and is sooooo subjective. But I'm very glad I went.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
My experience with climbing
When I was around 8 years old, I had a climbing accident. I was playing around with my brother and some kids from the block and decided to climb a tree that was near the back lane of our place. I don't remember specific details about why I was climbing the tree (maybe I've blocked it out because of the trauma), but I do remember some very specific events that took place that day.
Most vividly, I remember falling out of the tree and landing on a board with a nail in it, butt first. I remember crying like a little pansy, and admit that, to this day, I would probably react in the same way. I remember that when I stood up and began whaling, the board was essentially an extension of my butt.
My brother freaked out and took me inside to see my mom. She did what anybody would do, she ripped the board out of my butt. After I cried some more (and likely tried explaining to mom how the board got in my butt), she took me to get a tetanus shot.
My butt eventually healed, but I'm not sure my ego has.
The reason I decided to rehash this memory on my blog is because I'm a sucker for long winded, silly introductions, and random segues.
Speaking of climbing, I was reading a little today about the publicity stunt that Greenpeace pulled off last month in Ottawa. Twenty protesters scaled the Parliament building in Ottawa in order to persuade the federal government to take greater action in combating climate change.
The whole thing was essentially a publicity stunt, and succeeded in getting a ton of press attention. It's tough to say whether or not the stunt was effective, in so far as getting the government of Canada to take greater action against climate change. My opinion is that it likely raised some awareness about Greepeace's agenda, and even more awareness about how easy it is to mess around with the most important building in Canadian politics.
At the end of the day, Canada still ranks as one of the worst developed countries when it comes to environmental policy. This protest is one of many that will likely occur in Canada, that is, until the government starts taking some real initiative into reforming environmental policy in Canada.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
I'm sold on Blogging!
I'm sold on blogging.
What I didn't realize about blogging until I did it, is that it's a very self-indulgent experience. And who doesn't like some self indulgence from time to time?
Until recently, the publishing of “works” was typically reserved for people with credibility, but now everybody can do it, including me.
It's not necessary, but it's still pretty special when someone you know has read your work, and it's really cool when it can become a conversation piece.
It's not easy to write all the time, and really hard to be consistently interesting. So blogging has helped put that into perspective as well.
The MP3 file is your parent's digital audio format
The MP3 file is as old as the Bangles, the soap opera Dallas, and the first Friday the 13th movie.
I just did a bunch of research for a pretend essay that would compare and contrast the MP3 file to the CD. I've never been a fan of the MP3 and this research gave me even more reasons to believe that there are much better alternatives to what is now deemed "the worldwide standard" for music consumption (ISO 1991).
When people think about CD's they often associate them with the 80's. Well I got news for you, the audio compression technology that was first developed, and essentially resulted in the creation of the MP3 file, started in the 80's. You can now start associating the MP3 file with the already lengthy list of 80's memories, that includes hair metal, guitars that shoot lighting bolts out of the end, and cheesy mustaches, just to name a few. The point is that the MP3 is just as out of date as CD's are.
Let me be clear... I am all for the creation of the digital audio file. I do, however, take exception to the fact that the MP3 is the most popular type.
Technology has evolved to the point where it's not a burden for people to use uncompressed wave files (PCM), even for P2P sharing. If downloading wave files is inconvenient because it takes too much time, FLAC (stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec) is an excellent alternative.
FLAC encoding technology compresses audio files using a “lossless” method that renders the file smaller, but without audio degradation. I believe it compresses the files at a 6:1 ratio, whereas an MP3 is compressed at a 10:1 ratio (and is not truly stereo separated). FLAC just sounds way better than MP3, and it's almost half the size of an uncompressed Wave file. To put that into perspective: a 4 minute song in MP3 format compressed at a sample and bit rate of 44.1-128 is approximately 5 megabytes (MB) in size. Which means that the Wave file is around 50 MB and the FLAC file would be around 8 MB.
Glaven!
I know most people can't tell the difference between MP3 files, CD's, or Wave files, but most people can't tell the difference between the "handling" of a BMW and a Buick, but that doesn't mean there isn't one, and that we shouldn't all want to drive BMW's if we could... Okay, so that's a terrible analogy. I don't even want a BMW.
The point is that, so long as you agree that the available technology makes downloading FLAC files just as convenient as MP3 files, than it serves to reason that the worldwide standard should be the newer, better technology.
In case you're not convinced about the FLAC file yet, this might help. FLAC is an open source file format, which means that you don't have to pay licensing fees to use it. So if you wrote a piece of software that has an audio component to it, you could use the FLAC source code and codecs without having to pay for it, and it's totally legit. OGG VORBIS is another example of an open source file format, and it too sounds better than MP3.
The MP3 was developed by a company called Fraunhofer (in conjunction with AT&T), and any company that has MP3 encoding technology built into the core of the product has to pay licensing to Fraunhofer (EG: Microsoft Windows, Apple operating systems, Pro Tools, Adobe Audition, essentially any application that can trans-code to and from the MP3 format etc...).
So even at a developmental level the FLAC file makes more sense. I hope that consumers smarten up and demand a higher standard of audio enjoyment. In this case, we can have both the convenience of digital audio (compact, portable, liquid), without sacrificing sonic quality.
I'm sure most people still don't care, cause they are listening to The Pussycat Dolls, and who the hell wants to listen to that in high fidelity?
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Matthew Good Show Review
Matthew Good
Saturday November 21, 2009
Burton Cummings Theatre
Matthew Good keeps banter and frills to a minimum and lets tunes from his new album do the talking.
Good rolled into town to perform at the Burton Cummings Theatre on November 21st with his band, comprised of guitarist Stuart Cameron, drummer Blake Manning and bass player Milos Angelov, in support of his latest CD, Vancouver.
The band took the stage at 8:30 PM sharp, and without so much as a greeting to the sold out crowd at the Burt, Good grabbed an acoustic guitar and began strumming the opening riff to the title track from his 2003 release, Avalanche.
The band performed a seamless transition from the melodic Avalanche to On Nights Like Tonight, an equally down-tempo and melodic track from his latest album. Blake Manning's backup vocals provided an added layer to the choruses of the tracks, helping to fill the void left by the missing keyboards that accompanied Good during his last performance at the Burt in June 2008.
Picking the level of energy up just slightly, Good switched to electric guitar and rocked through two more songs from his latest CD; Great Whales of the Sea and A Boy Who Could Explode. A third of the way into the set, he finally addresses the crowd with a humble, “How's everybody doing?”
The band kicked in to the uptempo radio hit, Born Losers, from the 2008 album Hospital Music, but continued with songs from their latest album; prompting some fans to holler requests for older songs, some dating back as far as 1995. Although be didn't oblige immediately, fans seemed happy to hear new tracks like Fought to Fight, and Silent Army in the Trees, which are reminiscent of Good's more anthem like tracks that helped propel his career.
After performing an extended version of the sombre track, Black Helicopter, the band switched gears to round out the set with a good mix of upbeat tracks both new and old, like Last Parade, Apparitions, Weapon and Volcanoes. The band returned to the stage for an encore, and performed the songs Giant, Us Remains Impossible and Empty's Theme Park.
Good's voice was powerful and captivating and showed no sign of strain, despite years of smoking and frequent throat issues; one of which involved a surgical procedure to remove a node from his throat. The band sounded tight, adding extended intros and outros to a few songs throughout the set.
Good's introverted on stage demeanor reflects the struggles he has had in recent years in his personal life, including a breakdown that landed him in a psychiatric institution and a split from his wife. Any other behavior from the self-described pessimist might seem contrived to his devout fans.
The biggest reaction Good received from the crowd of 1642 was at the end of the encore when he faced the crowd and applauded. The sincere gesture inspired the crowd into one last cheer before he disappeared behind a black curtain at the side of the stage.
Vancouver band, Mother Mother, opened up the night with their brand of dance-pop. The band performed a high energy set that included their latest single O My heart, the title track from their 2009 release.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Twitter: Not in my top 6, yet...
I'm still trying to decide if Twitter actually offers an alternative way for people to get information about people or things they are interested in. For years, people and companies that are worth "following" have had websites. There is also usually a ton of information about important people and topics published online by unofficial websites. So what's Twitter's USP?
As far as I can tell, it's the immediacy of receiving information. It's much easier to send a tweet than to update a website or wiki-page. Immediacy of transmitting information is something that until recently, radio was best known for.
Of course, the big problem with Twitter, unlike radio, is accountability. Where is the information coming from? There have been a few instances where imposters have used Twitter to slander or tarnish the reputation of important people; Chef Michael Smith for instance. Radio, however, uses typical journalistic practices to report on information, so people can generally trust it more.
I imagine that as Twitter progresses, administrators will improve the process by which they screen users, and in turn that might improve the quality and reliability of information that "followers" receive.
I have noticed that my group of friends have not embraced Twitter to the degree that they have embraced Facebook. But I think the services are quite different, so I'm not even sure it's relevant to compare the two.
When I boot up a web browser, like most people, I have a hit list of at least a half a dozen websites that I check routinely. I won't really give Twitter props until it can crack my top 6.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
How my rock band changed Canadian law... sort of.
I was standing at my bus stop in front of the MTS center today and I saw a nice young lad putting up a poster on a pole. His technique was ok: he was using allot of tape and he was sure to cover the tops and bottoms of the posters (preventing edges from being exposed; edges that make ripping down posters quite easy). I remember when I was a poster rookie, and I used tape to fasten posters to poles. That was until I learned a more effective and somewhat more asinine method.
When my former rock band, the Velvet Pill, did a tour of southern Ontario, we brought along hundreds of posters. The posters were generic enough that they included a picture of the band and our website, but left a portion at the bottom completely blank so we had space to fill in specific concert information for each city/town.
We made our way east, through Dryden, Thunder Bay, North Bay, Ottawa and eventually ended up in Toronto. As soon as we got to town, we hit up Queen Street to start promoting our shows. A couple band members were in charge of bringing flyers to the two venues we were playing at later in the week, and the rest of us set off to put up posters.
We put up nearly 100 posters in the first day we there; which is an impressive feat even for experienced posterers (it’s my word, back off!).
The next day we went downtown to get a coffee and noticed that all of our posters had been taken down already. Even though we likely used a half a dozen rolls of tape, the posters were gone!
Later that day, while reapplying posters to essentially the same places we targeted the previous evening, we ran into a fellow who gave us a sound piece of advice: “You should use wallpaper compound, those damn things will never come down,” he suggested.
Still feeling pretty pissed off about having all of our posters ripped down, we drove to Mississauga immediately to find a hardware store that sold this mystifying compound. Sure enough, we found the stuff; it was a powder compound that simply needed to be mixed with water. Now we were rally excited to get postering. At this point, we didn’t even care about promoting our show; we just wanted to redeem ourselves.
So we spent the rest of that evening postering (and pub hopping, along Queen and Jarvis… cuz that’s what you do when you’re a naïve rock-star-wannabee and you’re in the T-Dot for good times). The technique worked great. Not only was it easier to apply posters to pretty much everything, but the posters were practically plastered to the poles… you’d need a steamer to get them down. We certainly felt a sense of redemption; and we had a shit load of that compound left over too.
The rest of our tour took us to London, Hamilton, Sudbury, back to Toronto (for reasons I won’t explain here) and then eventually back to Thunder Bay.
Our second stay in Thunder Bay on this tour was an extended one. You see, in order for us to be able to tour accross the country as an original rock band, we had to play covers in certain towns (usually for 3 or 4 day stints), in order to be able to eat, buy gas and shelter. On this particular tour, we were scheduled to play the Inn Towner as Pelvic Thrill (the cover band) from Thursday to Sunday (that’s not a typo, it’s a four day gig and Sunday is the big night at the Inn Towner). Our Velvet Pill show was scheduled for Tuesday night at the Apollo (God bless your hearts, the Apollo).
That meant that, aside from sitting in on classes for free at Lakehead University (which Jer and I did), or checking out Centerfolds (which Guy, Jon and Doug did), we had ample time to put up posters.
For those of you who are not familiar with Thunder Bay, Ontario, it’s not a big town. One might even say that it’s a small town.
We began postering the first day we got into town. This was the last show on the tour, so we figured that we would use up the rest of our posters. We figured that because Thunder Bay was so small, if we put up a ton of posters our band’s name would become a household one, and that eventually we would conquer T-Bay and then the world.
About a month after we returned home from said tour, we got an email from a town resident. It was an email informing us that as a result of our insane postering, a law had been passed that prohibited bands from putting up posters in public places, other than the pre-designated spots.
I’m sure they wanted to sue our asses, or at least put us in jail, but without a law in place, they had no book to throw at us (other than the T-Bay constitution; which I think only has one rule, and that is “you can’t kiss your sister on Sundays”… which they all break religiously).
As stupid and naïve as this sounds to me now, I was actually pretty proud. It was somehow an accomplishment that we had littered the town with hideous posters, creating such an eye soar for the people who actually had to live there.
The next time we played Thunder Bay, we played the Apollo and there was roughly 5 people there, including the bartender. Our super-awesome-shitty marketing campaign was clearly a flop… but I sure have a cool story to tell!!!
When my former rock band, the Velvet Pill, did a tour of southern Ontario, we brought along hundreds of posters. The posters were generic enough that they included a picture of the band and our website, but left a portion at the bottom completely blank so we had space to fill in specific concert information for each city/town.
We made our way east, through Dryden, Thunder Bay, North Bay, Ottawa and eventually ended up in Toronto. As soon as we got to town, we hit up Queen Street to start promoting our shows. A couple band members were in charge of bringing flyers to the two venues we were playing at later in the week, and the rest of us set off to put up posters.
We put up nearly 100 posters in the first day we there; which is an impressive feat even for experienced posterers (it’s my word, back off!).
The next day we went downtown to get a coffee and noticed that all of our posters had been taken down already. Even though we likely used a half a dozen rolls of tape, the posters were gone!
Later that day, while reapplying posters to essentially the same places we targeted the previous evening, we ran into a fellow who gave us a sound piece of advice: “You should use wallpaper compound, those damn things will never come down,” he suggested.
Still feeling pretty pissed off about having all of our posters ripped down, we drove to Mississauga immediately to find a hardware store that sold this mystifying compound. Sure enough, we found the stuff; it was a powder compound that simply needed to be mixed with water. Now we were rally excited to get postering. At this point, we didn’t even care about promoting our show; we just wanted to redeem ourselves.
So we spent the rest of that evening postering (and pub hopping, along Queen and Jarvis… cuz that’s what you do when you’re a naïve rock-star-wannabee and you’re in the T-Dot for good times). The technique worked great. Not only was it easier to apply posters to pretty much everything, but the posters were practically plastered to the poles… you’d need a steamer to get them down. We certainly felt a sense of redemption; and we had a shit load of that compound left over too.
The rest of our tour took us to London, Hamilton, Sudbury, back to Toronto (for reasons I won’t explain here) and then eventually back to Thunder Bay.
Our second stay in Thunder Bay on this tour was an extended one. You see, in order for us to be able to tour accross the country as an original rock band, we had to play covers in certain towns (usually for 3 or 4 day stints), in order to be able to eat, buy gas and shelter. On this particular tour, we were scheduled to play the Inn Towner as Pelvic Thrill (the cover band) from Thursday to Sunday (that’s not a typo, it’s a four day gig and Sunday is the big night at the Inn Towner). Our Velvet Pill show was scheduled for Tuesday night at the Apollo (God bless your hearts, the Apollo).
That meant that, aside from sitting in on classes for free at Lakehead University (which Jer and I did), or checking out Centerfolds (which Guy, Jon and Doug did), we had ample time to put up posters.
For those of you who are not familiar with Thunder Bay, Ontario, it’s not a big town. One might even say that it’s a small town.
We began postering the first day we got into town. This was the last show on the tour, so we figured that we would use up the rest of our posters. We figured that because Thunder Bay was so small, if we put up a ton of posters our band’s name would become a household one, and that eventually we would conquer T-Bay and then the world.
About a month after we returned home from said tour, we got an email from a town resident. It was an email informing us that as a result of our insane postering, a law had been passed that prohibited bands from putting up posters in public places, other than the pre-designated spots.
I’m sure they wanted to sue our asses, or at least put us in jail, but without a law in place, they had no book to throw at us (other than the T-Bay constitution; which I think only has one rule, and that is “you can’t kiss your sister on Sundays”… which they all break religiously).
As stupid and naïve as this sounds to me now, I was actually pretty proud. It was somehow an accomplishment that we had littered the town with hideous posters, creating such an eye soar for the people who actually had to live there.
The next time we played Thunder Bay, we played the Apollo and there was roughly 5 people there, including the bartender. Our super-awesome-shitty marketing campaign was clearly a flop… but I sure have a cool story to tell!!!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
CreComm Hamper Drive Begins
To borrow a quote from the Christmas Cheer Board Website: "We would like to invite you to an exciting and personal approach to Christmas giving."
If you are a Creative Communications student at Red River College (whatever year) and you want to help feed a family at Christmas, here is your chance.
This year, not unlike previous years, CreComm students are sponsoring a family through the Winnipeg Christmas Cheer Board's hamper program.
We need your help!
We've got a box setup at the CreComm office (W302 Princess Street campus) where you can drop off non-perishable food items that are needed to fill the hamper.
There will be a list of items that are required located at the item drop spot, and we have provided a list on a Facebook group (below).
Both lists will be updated regularly as the hamper fills up.
We are going to kick start the effort by pledging our commitment to taking care of all the required perishable foods for the hamper (we doubt that the instructors and administrators want to work in an office with rotting milk, eggs and turkey and chicken carcasses).
Please pass this along to all of your CreComm friends. We only have until mid December to fill up the hamper.
Here is the list:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?v=info&gid=199263257632
Friday, November 13, 2009
Whether or not to use in-line compression or EQ
I can't count the number of times I've heard from music geeks that you should never use in-line compression when you are recording. There is a good argument to back up this suggestion; specifically, you can always compress audio after the fact, but if you record the compressed tones, you're stuck with them. Here are few reasons why I still use in-line compression.
First of all, the audio interface that I use is the Focusrite Octopre Platinum (which I use in conjunction with a Digidesign DIGI003). It has 8 discrete mic preamps, and on each Pre there is a soft-knee/hard-knee compressor. One of the main reasons I chose this particular interface was because it had in-line compression and "limiting" capabilities. (The compressor can be turned off if you choose not to use it.)
When I'm recording, I do like to use the compressors on the Focusrite unit because the compression adds character to tone of the audio. I don't even have to add much, and I start to hear differences in the overall character of the tones.
Another reason I like in-line compression is for the "head room" factor. When I'm recording something very dynamic, like a rock singer, it's nice to have the compressor on just a bit, so it gives me just a bit more head room in cases where the singer is belting it. The threshold of the compressor is what adds that extra bit of head room.
And if the singer does clip the channel, the limiter kicks in on the Focusrite unit and usually prevents the audio from clipping when it's recorded in Pro Tools.
I don't think there's enough compression on the track that I risk altering it to a point where I'm limited in mix down. Yet, during mix-down, I have to be mindful that the track has been compressed once already, so it's not over compressed if I add plug-ins later.
I would also use compression, to the full extent however, if I was renting high-end gear, like an Avalon 737SP. I usually only have the gear available for the tracking process, because renting high-end gear is expensive, so I typically take advantage of the compression on the Avalon while the audio is being tracked. In this case, I use the compressor very gently, just to gain some added head room and character.
I don’t use in-line EQ when I’m tracking; I don’t see the advantages. I think that proper choice of microphone and mic placement can help you get around EQ’ing in-line.
First of all, the audio interface that I use is the Focusrite Octopre Platinum (which I use in conjunction with a Digidesign DIGI003). It has 8 discrete mic preamps, and on each Pre there is a soft-knee/hard-knee compressor. One of the main reasons I chose this particular interface was because it had in-line compression and "limiting" capabilities. (The compressor can be turned off if you choose not to use it.)
When I'm recording, I do like to use the compressors on the Focusrite unit because the compression adds character to tone of the audio. I don't even have to add much, and I start to hear differences in the overall character of the tones.
Another reason I like in-line compression is for the "head room" factor. When I'm recording something very dynamic, like a rock singer, it's nice to have the compressor on just a bit, so it gives me just a bit more head room in cases where the singer is belting it. The threshold of the compressor is what adds that extra bit of head room.
And if the singer does clip the channel, the limiter kicks in on the Focusrite unit and usually prevents the audio from clipping when it's recorded in Pro Tools.
I don't think there's enough compression on the track that I risk altering it to a point where I'm limited in mix down. Yet, during mix-down, I have to be mindful that the track has been compressed once already, so it's not over compressed if I add plug-ins later.
I would also use compression, to the full extent however, if I was renting high-end gear, like an Avalon 737SP. I usually only have the gear available for the tracking process, because renting high-end gear is expensive, so I typically take advantage of the compression on the Avalon while the audio is being tracked. In this case, I use the compressor very gently, just to gain some added head room and character.
I don’t use in-line EQ when I’m tracking; I don’t see the advantages. I think that proper choice of microphone and mic placement can help you get around EQ’ing in-line.
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