PROTIP: Being #1 in Your Music Genre!

 

This is a Joke. Kind of. But not really... 

It is also a Musical Comic in a format I haven't seen anyone else do before. 

After learning about and trying my own MELODIC TECHNO a few months ago, been trying to combine the drums, bass and synths from that with heavy down tuned metal guitar, a 7 String in Drop D#.  

Got the 7 String after trying 6 string down tuned for a while a couple of years ago, and discovered it doesn't give you anything you can't get with a 6.  But palm muted D# power chords on the 7 don't have as tight a sound as the 6. Have been thinking that a fan fret 8 string would be more useful than the 7 string, but the tone of the lower stings would probably be worse.  Have been trying different cabinet IRs and Metal Distortion sounds.  

Still haven't found what I am looking for.

This has those lower 2 string muted one finger power chords as that riff on the 7 string.  Listening to this makes me think I couldn't really do anything with an 8 String better than this.

Still considering it all, but, even as a joke, I think this DOOM TRANCE with guitar and synths is interesting. It reminds me a bit of Rammstein, where there is the massive guitar riffs and simple naïve synth sounds on top. A bit like Ministry as well, or maybe NINE INCH NAILS, but this isn't Industrial. This was made only 60 seconds due to the X video limit of my not a blue tick account for the comic idea.

I have tried a few comics as video files recently, but they all suffer from the text balloon timing being wrong, too long, to suit the music track. Panel boarders are also important to indicate passing time, and I've tried a sliding in panel idea to indicate that here.

Bach's two part inventions. Brilliant, but do you know of anyone other than Bach that did two part inventions?

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Just Thinking: The Pivot

 

Have tried a few different approaches to partial comic animation with music. This is another one.  

 

Been trying to combine Melodic Techno and Synths sounds with metal guitar. The guitar is an Ibanez 7 String in Drop D#, and this has much of the palm muted 2 note lower 2 string metal riffing in it. I use Boogex amp/cabinet VST with various cabinet impulses, and the ULTRA METAL pedal here.

It isn't quite the guitar tone I am after, and prefer the tone of my drop down tuned 6 string. The 7th string is just too low, and the lowest string a bit too "floppy".  The WAZA version of the METAL ZONE pedal is better suited to down tuned guitars, but don't have one to try. The Cabinet IR could be better, or use the 2 cabinet mixing options.

This is significant as became interested in an 8 string guitar, and that low tone riffing would be even worse. So should I PIVOT, and not bother with an 8, I wonder?

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Talking to My Future Self In Public

These Just Thinking comics are memos and thoughts to me future self, in a different way than my diary is. The Blog posts are too.  I get almost no comment on anything I post with them, as, really, they haven't got the context for my random thoughts. 😀

We met up with a very old friend a week or so ago for lunch, and they said they saw some comics on my FB feed and "what is that about?". They were not sure if I made them and if I did, why?

I find making things entertaining, (and actually a requirement for my metal health, to be a happy camper) , and I am always hoping to find something, or some inspiration for a future comic, artwork music or animation.  I throw out random thought, and I may read it again much later, connect it with something else, and get inspired.  I am always saving random images from social media for the same reason.  They may fit together later to form something else.

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PRIME Series FALLOUT

Had heard of the game FALLOUT. Seems to have been around forever, but I never bothered to look into it at all.  I think I only noticed the series as it came up on the starting advertisement when I went to watch TV via my Firestick.  

The description seemed interesting. And that was about it for deciding to watch it. The first episode then pulled me in.

"Ned Flanders in the Apocalypse" sums up one of the characters. After watching it all, it has given me a few things to think about, and having seen things been privatized for "shareholder value"  don't see it as too far fetched at all.  Especially with the size of the US Military Budget, getting a slice of that pie is  irresistible for the worse kind.

I will get back to watching HOUSE on Netflix again after this diversion, but after seeing most of the first 2 seasons now, it isn't as new and refreshing as it was initially.  

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Headphones & Earbuds: Thoughts 2024

 

I did an X post on the huge number of earbuds lost at JR stations in Japan and it may have been the most liked and shared thing I have ever put on that hell site.  I assume many have had the problem, but were unaware of the extent of the problem. So something that isn't incredibly trivial (e.g. How dark do you like your toast?) CAN get more than 10 views. 

This comic contains that info and other recent thoughts on headphones and earbuds.  

Open earbuds are "THE NEW THING" at the moment. In one sense, it means selling another set to everyone, but it really depends what your life style is.   If I am not listening to what is going on around me, I am likely to get run into by one of the many bicycles racing on the footpath while walking around outside where I live now. A slight step to the left as you walk along to miss something on the footpath and you are likely to get hit.  The chance of that when I lived in Sydney Australia was zero.  

So open while walking around outside, then noise cancelling or closed back to ride a train, visit a shopping center or cafe.

Even open earbuds for just sitting in the lounge room, where my wife  will start talking about something, and I need to be present, is a good idea.

Update: 2024/4/24

Since writing this comic, I have bought SHOKZ OpenFit, wireless headphones too. And used them for about a week. They do sound great, better than the 1/10 priced Resolve, but I have to use them with my phone's music player.

The first time I went for a walk with them to the shops and back, when I went to take off my mask, the right one briefly disappeared under a seat in our entrance hall. So glad I was home when that happened.  Some black cotton thread has since stopped that from happening twice! Don't know how often the thread will need replacing though or the failure mode.

I wear glasses, so that puts a bit more pressure on them, and they do get a bit uncomfortable on the top of my Tragus.  

They have touch controls to stop/play/ next song back/forward (that you can change in the App), and I find the double tap for stop/ play is detected right about 50% of the time. The sound I use them with gets completely drowned out in the local supermarket.  

If SHOKZ had a wired OpenFit, that would be better for me. That they can get knocked off your ear is a worry, even if less likely than for an Airpod.

We can be found at ArtAndTechnology