Black Light dance

Black light dance had a few, black lights.

A little more light, easier to see.

Us messing around after everyone left.

It's been a very busy final week of school but I finally made it. Me and Jon played at the blick light dance last thursday and I have to say it was a lot of fun. We only had about an hour and a half to play music but we managed to fit in almost all of the songs we wanted to. I put a camera high up on the wall behind us which is where these pictures came from, but because it was so dark you can barely see much. Thats me in the white by the way. We played a few effects and the whole thing went by almost flawlessly. I messed up only once by pressing the wrong filter button. In the end, everyone I talked to said it was a lot of fun, a few even said it was the most fun they've had at a dance. It goes to show that jumping at a dance can be just as fun, or even more fun than grinding. I definitely hope I get to do this again, it was truly a unique experience. I played one of my songs over the speaker and it sounded OK but I think I could still do some work making songs and over the summer I'll continue to make some music in my spare time.

Only two days to go!

Traktor Pro, Professional DJing software with tons of effects 

and excellent connection to Jon's Midi board.

The dance is only two days from now and I can't wait. I have a playlist set up and software and instruments planned out. I went to a student government meeting this morning and I got the chance to talk to the adult involved in planning and he says it's set at being from 7:30 to 9:00 PM which is a real bummer. But there is a possibility it sounds like, to extend it because the theater is supposed to be quite sound proof and we could possibly start before Senior awards ends at 7:30. We will also ask if it can go later, after 9:00, although because it's a school night (even though the last day of school, which comes the day after, amounts to nothing) there's still a possibility. I think we're aiming to go for two to three hours, we have a LOT of music and we would love to have more time to enjoy it.

Traktor and some feelings

I'm feeling the need to post about something but I'm not sure what, so I'll post on my feelings with the dance only three days away and some sources on the software we'll be using.

http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2008/11/07/digital-djing-with-traktor-pro/

This source provides a nice video tutorial for the use of Traktor Pro, the deejaying software we'll end up using in two days. It's about four years old so there have been some major updates but a lot of the basics are still used. It gives some basics on placing starting markers and "wave surfing" which means looking at the waveform of a song.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMbsAIBs3uE

This video provides another well made tutorial on Traktor which teaches how to make sweeps and build ups. Hopefully this will make the dance more eventful and more exciting. We could even try to make the drier songs more exciting.

With the dance only three days away, I'm feeling kind of nervous. It will be my chance to prove myself to many of my piers. At the sometime I'm excited to play the part as a DJ. I can't wait to be able to jam out with the songs I play while many of my friends and peers dance along too. One disappointment is that it's actually only supposed to be one and a half hours long due to interference with Senior awards in the auditorium next to the Black Light theater. I'm hoping by the time of the dance we can talk to the planners and make it a little longer. I'm hoping to learn more about this at a student government meeting tomorrow morning.

Another song post

I've been working on a final playlist because I'm nervous about going to DJ without sufficient organization. So here are some of my favorites.


Download Felix Cartal feat. Miss Palmer Black to White (Clockwork Remix)

"Black to White" by Felix Cartel was nothing that really stuck out to me, so when I heard this remix it piqued my interest. It's edgy and grudge-esque, and it'll really have an impact at the dance. It has good vocals, which many electronic songs fail to have decent vocals, and it adds a soft layer to an angsty song. It has an interesting bass-line which sounds excellent and I think many at the dance will agree.


Download John Dahlback Overdose (Original Mix)

John Dahlback is by far one of my favorite artists. His songs have some of the best drum kick sounds I've ever heard and his anthems always revolutionize the way I look for music. If any artist has influenced me its him. His songs are either grungy yet well developed, house-like and very groovy., or arena filling and epic. This one is kind of grungy but very groovy at the same time. The bass-line keeps this song very dance-able.


Download Ziggy Cosmic (Original Mix)

I haven't found an other Ziggy songs, mostly because he doesn't have any, but this song is a real club banger. It's an anthem with some edge. To me it sounds like a basic anthem, but in a way that's why I like it. It's a copy of other electronic anthems but at the same time improves on that.

Anthem meaning a song which "fills a stadium". One that has a lot of emphasis on the higher frequency synths and a lot of eclectic sounds.

The Sample Presentation

Katherine did a wonderful job presenting a few days ago, I already posted on it but I thought it deserves more of a post. I really liked the way she was enthusiastic and very clear. She explained everything she thought people might not know a bout and I thought she did a good job at reading the crowd. She spoke up when people slacked off and she tried to make it as interesting as possible. If I could borrow something It would be her presenting skills and her enthusiasm. I'm a very nervous speaker and if I was even near to her confidence level my presentation could be a lot better. This is gonna be one of my biggest problems after all. I would probably spend more time organizing though, and as someone who's nervous when I present, organization is something I always focus on. She may have overlooked that due to it being the end of the year and her over-confidence.

Mashup time

So I made a mashup of a few songs I really liked. I was listening to the song "No Going Back" by Gui Boratto and I really liked the lyrics so I used a remix of that song which has a better build up than the original. The drop is not really much of a drop so I combined it with another song with a lot of bass: "Toulouse" by Nicky Romero. Finally I thought at times it needs more action and I really haven't really dabbled in combining three songs at a time so I put some lyrics to "I'm in Miami Bitch" by LMFAO to add some spice. In the end I really like how it turned out, more so than my other mashups, although the volume should be adjusted at times. I would be excited to play it at the dance but it would have to go under the radar because of some profane language. I could have changed it but some files were accidentally deleted so I can't even edit it now which is frustrating.

About that drop I promised a while ago, I'm still waiting on Dada Life to release that track. As far as my track goes, I'll probably find some time to work on it this weekend if I'm not working on the WISE presentation and essays the whole time. Finally, I'm still waiting to get my flash drive back with the sample of songs I gave to the principal so he can look them over, it's getting close to the dance so I'm pretty nervous.

Music in Your Mind

 

"You don't need to start with the rules of music in order to play an instrument."

-Victor Wooten

Music: It's in your head, changing your brain

My WISE teacher sent me this article and I found it to be extremely interesting and very relevant. I found that listening to music has changed the ways I think. It allows me to release stress and to concentrate on homework. Oddly enough, I almost have to listen to music while doing homework because it blocks out other noises and someone as distract-able as me needs some help concentrating.

It talks about how certain melodies are more pleasurable than others and I find this to be very true when I'm looking for songs. One bass-line can be miles better than another due to even a slight change in its melody. 

I also found it interesting that animals can detect a beat showing that a beat is a very primal thing and that fascinates me. There's a lot more to music than I thought. There's a lot to do with psychology and changing the way we think. It's like a drug that effects our decisions and our destinies.