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I'm taking a break from blog posting for a while. We're so back ordered and drowning in work that I can't justify even spending 15 minutes not working on E13 these days. Hopefully things will be back to not-as-crazy-as-the-usual-crazy in a few weeks.
love,
devi-
"Two home made instruments - one from 2litre coke bottles and tyre valves - and the 'fujara' from standard PVC plumbing fixtures, a bit of garden hose and a bit cut off a shovel handle. The fujara was not quite in tune yet"
(he's the one on keyboard)
"Is everyone afraid? Has everyone changed?," Corgan sings on opener "Doomsday Clock," a big, loud rocker in the vein of "Geek U.S.A." from "Siamese Dream." The set is frontloaded with songs of this ilk, hearkening back to the grunge era with detuned guitars and pounding drums on tracks such as "Tarantula," "Orchid" and "7 Shades of Black."
A more nuanced, less abrasive approach is evident on "Never Lost," which has vibraphone and organ tucked into the mix, while "For God and Country" is a bass-driven tune with shades of Depeche Mode-style synth-rock. The album closes with the mostly synth-powered "Pomp and Circumstance," as Corgan's multi-tracked vocals take on an angelic effect.
below is from :
http://blog.filter-mag.com/filter/2007/04/first_impressio.html
Release Date: 07/07/07
Tracklisting:
1. Doomsday Clock [3:41]
2. 7 Shades Of Black [3:15]
3. Orchid [3:58]
4. That's The Way [3:44] <- KEY TRACK
5. Tarantula [3:47]
6. Starz [3:41]
7. United States [9:50]
8. Never Lost [4:13] <- KEY TRACK
9. Bring The Light [3:35]
10. Come On (Let's Go) [3:15]
11. For God And Country [4:51]
12. Pomp And Circumstance [4:18]
Background:
* Produced by Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin, with Roy Thomas Baker and Terry Date working separately on various tracks.
* Billed as a "reunion", though only Corgan and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin are present.
* It's the first Smashing Pumpkins album since 2000's Machina suite. In the interm Corgan has done one Zwan album and one solo album.
First Impressions:
* Tracks #1 thru #7 are all aggresive, up-tempo guitar rock except for #4, "That's The Way", which is our guess for 1st single as it's the most "pop" track with a catchy verse and chorus.
* "Never Lost" is one of the only ballad-y tracks. Like many of the Pumpkins' classics, it is low-key, but still driven by its composition and melodies. Plus there are strings.
* The last two tracks are the only ones which are keyboard driven, with "Pomp And Circumstance" sporting timpani drums, choir-like vocals and squelching guitar.
* Corgan's signature guitar tone is still as rich and forceful as it ever was.
* As we have seen with the new lineup, Corgan's voice is what (supposedly) defines the Smashing Pumpkins as a band. But, much like in Zwan, here it seems that his natural angst is somewhat artificial and his screaming seems mellow in comparison the Pumpkins of the past.
Prediction:
* With the recent commercial success of new bands like Silversun Pickups, it's uncertain whether or not the those outside the core SP fanbase will feel the need to reacquaint themselves with Smashing Pumpkins.
* circuit bent Casio CTK-550 loop wavs
* circuit bent Yamaha PSR-12 loop wav samples
* one-hit wav samples of a circuit bent Roland DR-550 drum machine
* Rabbit Girls breakcore glitch samples and loops
http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/usersViewSingle.php?id=5745&start=15
The WOMEN TAKE BACK THE NOISE compilation, 3 years in the making, showcases a collection of 47 women artists worldwide who experiment with sound in various ways, ranging from ambient-organic to quirky-glitch-beat to harsh or extreme noise, as well as categories yet to be defined...
http://ubuibi.org/wtbtn/
Nirvana - "Heart Shaped Box" - 1993
Bob Ludwig, Gateway Mastering. Highest average RMS level -12.7 dBFS / Maximum peak level -0.2 dBFS:
Radiohead—"Dollars And Cents" (Amnesiac-Capitol Records 2001)
Bob Ludwig, Gateway Mastering. Highest average RMS level -6.3 dBFS / Maximum peak level -0.09 dBFS:
http://www.chicagomasteringservice.com/loudness.html
This video doesn't do their sound justice, but I think it really captures the intensity and dynamics well. To hear a more pure mix of what their music sounds like, check out their myspace page below.
http://www.myspace.com/genghistron
Rumors of compact echo pedals as well. No official links yet.
Originally found on www.vettaville.com but the article was taken down. Some speculate that it was because Line 6 wants the story under wraps. Another possible confirmation on the validity of this story is the above picture which was taken from www.guitarcenter.com product picture database.
# Replaces existing jackplate
# Tunes strings to standard pitch or 1/2 step drop tuning
# Unobtrusive looks; elegant
# Goes everywhere with your guitar
# Easy to use
# Easy to install
# Accurate tuning
Measurement pitches: Low E, A, D, G, B, high E, and octaves of these pitches, bass or guitar; configurable half-step-down operation
Power Requirements: One CR1216/CR1220 lithium coin cell
Input Impedance: >2 million ohms
Weight: 0.2lb
Dimensions: Standard interchangeable jack plate
Warranty: One year parts and labor (see User Manual for full warranty)
Support: Contact us for free support
$79.95 ($84.95 for gold or glossy black powder coat)
http://www.aqdi.com/stuner.htm
Interesting bit of history. Archive of Aron Nelson's Stompbox Forum from 2000 with Zvex and other notables talking shop.
For instance... Zack gives advice on getting into pedal building and design :
here's a set of simple rules.
6) only use batteries. if that means making a power supply out of 6 D-cells, do it. get a battery holder or two that can handle it. or buy a 9V clip and a few 9V cells.
2) engage in the surreptitious collection and theft of every possible circuit you may have interest in. study what they have in common. study their differences. make notes to yourself on what you think you can copy successfully, and get as many ideas as possible from the devices that keep you intrigued. keep these notes in a box close to your bed. look at them often, until you are sick of it.
5) purchase an experimenter's socket. radio snack sells them, as well as many other electronic supply companies like mouser and digikey. purchase a set of pre-cut solid-core wires for use with said experimenter's socket. it's worth every goddang penny. radio snack is a ripoff when it comes to precut wires, but buy them from somewhere. at this point, you may have to spend at least 4 hours worth of your hard-earned pay. oooh, gosh.
4) hammond boxes are interesting. 1590B boxes are made of a slightly different material from the larger 1590BB boxes. you may not care about that until you try to drill one with a varibit. (what the hell is a varibit? find out.) buy a variable speed drill, preferably makita or milwaukee, and get a varibit that handles the sizes of holes you need to drill.
3) switchcraft 11 and 12B jacks are the stiffest and longest-lasting jacks you can buy in America today. don't pay more than $1.25 each for them in single quantity. there are many switches available for stomping. i prefer the eaton DPDT, available from gopher at 612-490-4900, jeff. certainly there are others. listen to your heart.
1) don't do anything. imbibe. study what comes to you. wonder, as often as possible. dream. wander. stare at the sky. go to the library and use the reader's guide to periodical literature to research every interesting guitar circuit published in electronic experimenter, popular electonics, and radio-electronics magazine from 1964 to 1976. don't stop until you find something that makes you run to the copy machine with a handful of change. remember that the future is then, because they were where we wish we are now. if that makes any sense to you, go directly to sleep. put the xerox/photocopies in a safe place first.
2A) you need a meter! radio snack meters are cheap, but they are slow. if you have time, buy one.
7) breadboard up a few designs. don't stop until you have something that works. when the weekend comes, forget the wife, and work on a circuit until you succeed. next weekend, do it again. don't stop. preferably, don't get married. get laid... girls love inventors. i am living proof. lately, however, i have spent the last 7 weeks only wiring up ideas. i have a future, and you will too, but your present is to try as hard as possible to make something that works. you can socialize later. i hope i recover. if i don't, please inform my relatives.
10) you have succeeded! rest on your laurels, and collect your income from the dealers that sell your pedals by the tens of thousands. alternatively, work as a chef in an italian restaraunt. italian food heats up easily at any time of day. wrap in foil, warm at 350 degrees.
9) follow step 8 again.
8) never go out in the sun for more than a few minutes. the sun will reset your sleep system. there is no reason to sleep. or wrinkle. use sunglasses, stay in your car, or in bed, or at work. don't swim or do any other sports activity during the day. only go outside at night. this includes jogging (choose sunset) and gardening. you will live much longer and be able to think much more clearly if you spend a maximum of 20 minutes in the sun per day, unless you are in vacation in mexico (use sulfa drugs to avoid problems). use tons and tons of sunblock in mexico. they can assemble electronics cheaply in mexico. write off your visit there.
9A) stop for a second and think about your motivations... do you want to be a rock star or make pedals? then, forget ever thinking that, and plunge forward. you want to live. if you can't eat, you can't live. i met someone once that didn't eat. she had bad teeth. maybe it was bolemia, but gosh, those teeth were grey.
anyway, eat well, stay on your feet, beg, borrow, steal, and succeed. never stop. and for gosh sakes, get a new tip for that soldering iron and wipe the damn thing on a wet sponge. and get yourself a decent solder sucker. the big soldavacs work. and never use any solder other than 60/40 rosin core.
11) buy your favorite commercial pedal and force yourself to try to draw a schematic. draw in the parts that you think are correct. assume that you are correct. gloat. then, if you were terribly wrong, tear up what you drew and have a nightcap, falling into a deep and rewarding sleep. forget what happened in the morning, and carefully elude a sexual harrassment lawsuit the following day at work. stay away from prescription drugs. if you choose to drink regularly, stay away from tylenol, nuprin (and the chemical that it's made from) and aspirin, unless you are having a heart attack, in which case you should take a few to save your butt.
good luck!
http://www.muzique.com/schem/Aron_archives1.html
Wendy Carlos is probably the most notable moog synth composer and performer of our time, composing the soundtracks to such popular films as A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, and Tron. She's also transgender, having transitioned from male to female in the late 1970's.
Wiki :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendy_Carlos
Ninbento is a modification of the classic Nintendo Entertainment System that acts as a music visualization system. Using a custom-built circuit and a practice known as "circuit bending," the modified NES will "listen" to music and generate chaotic and colorful displays to the beat.
The Ninbento was a personal project of mine, which I built in my apartment over the course of 6 weeks.
http://www.u.arizona.edu/~ksimek/
Use the search function and search for "T-Qualizer Shirt"
http://www.kqzyfj.com/click-2074870-10357920
Party like it's 2999 with the glowing display on the T-Qualizer that dynamically changes with any ambient sound or music. This has to be the coolest wearable tech we've seen since the George Foreman backpack grill.
Product Features
* EL Lit Glowing Equalizer animates to ambient noise or music
* Battery Pack fits in small interior pocket inside shirt
* Each Equalizer bar reacts differently depending on sound frequency
Is there any models of the fate of the universe involving there to be nothing but Black Holes existing in the future?
If so, don't Black Holes compress space time such (and doesn't space time act such), that the distance between these remaing Black holes would become increasingly non-existent as standard matter is consumed by a-for-mentioned Black Holes?
In other words, they would warp space-time such that the Universe would gradually shrink due to the nature of how the Black Holes affect space-time. Currently we don't experience this effect with the myriad of Black Holes that are in our universe because there is still a lot of "standard matter" floating around shaping space-time such that it appears to be stretched out as it is.
I've never heard anyone touch upon this subject, but from what little I know it just feels so right. In the heat-death model of the universe they talk about a period of Black Holes dominating the universe, correct?
I once had an idea in relation to the Big Bang (or in this model I propose, just the most energetic focus between cycles), where Matter and Anti-Matter would sling off into opposite directions, with the spare amount of vice-versa matter infiltrating each direction in which they were slung. How would this slinging come to be? If I were right and there is indeed an "opposite end of the universe" filled with mainly anti-matter and the occasional remnants of matter (not to also discount the small natural creation of matter that would occur on the opposite side, and vice versa), and one day that side of the universe would be predominantly dominated by Black Holes, ever shrinking space-time (while at the same time the heavily matter laden side of the universe was experiencing the same process), then wouldn't this eventually lead to an event where the anti-matter Black Holes and matter Black Holes would meet and destroy themselves in a violent event that would thus start the cycle on all over again?
From a general gut feeling I'd imagine the last moments before the Big Bang to be two Black Holes, one of anti-matter, and one of matter, swirling around each other ever faster, reactions ever building, until finally the event would reach critical mass and...
It just makes so much sense to me.
I can't remember where this idea came from, but basically it was to put our pedals in fast food take out boxes with stamps of Chinese dragons and such on the side. It end up being more of a hassle then I first imagined, so I decided to just do it with our Limited Edition enclosures and other special E13 products. The pedal is in a velvet bag, and at the bottom of the take out container is some chinese health balls (silver orbs that chime as you roll them around your palm). I want to start putting in fortune cards as well as nicer paper (we currently just use printer paper).
Imagine my amusement when the first one we sold actually end up going to China. :'/
Finally got around to uploading my animated GIF collection :
http://www.deviever.com/nostalgia/gifs/index.html
From the E13 hosted Guitar Pedal Archive :
http://www.effector13.com/GPA/
http://www.effector13.com/GPA/zvex/
