DEBRIS.COMgood for a laugh, or possibly an aneurysm

Seen in the OS X (10.4.4) system.log file:

Feb 15 08:36:44 localhost kernel[0]: com_digidesign_DigiIO::start(IOResources) <1>
Feb 15 08:36:44 localhost kernel[0]: DigiIO has a funnel lock.  Whoa momma!

I finally saw the Hitchhiker’s Guide movie. I’m too late to spare anyone two hours of lament, but: ouch. This movie is lame. I not only didn’t like the movie… after watching it, I liked the book less.

This is not a gripe about being faithful to the story; there is no story to be faithful to. It’s been well-documented that the books differed from the original radio shows, and from the BBC’s TV scripts, and the Infocom game, and every other incarnation. For what it’s worth I think the movie’s plot held together better than the books or the old TV version. Adams was adept at recycling his own ideas, even dialogue, from one medium to another. And he was credited as the screenwriter here (despite his untimely passing in 2001) so I have to conclude he wouldn’t entirely be spinning in his grave to see the film that resulted.

There were some redeeming moments. I think some of the line readings in the movie worked better than in the BBC series. I think Zoey Deschanel was believable. Or at least cute. And I particularly appreciated Simon Jones’ cameo — he played Arthur Dent in the BBC series in 1981, and appeared briefly in the movie as the “Ghostly Image” above Magrathea.

Umm, I’m running out of redeeming moments.

The song Bleed was composed by my old band JAR in 1995 or so, after the recording of the want CD. We managed to capture a live performance of the song during our farewell gig, but the recording engineer subsequently taped another band over it because he hadn’t heard from us in a couple weeks and he couldn’t scrape up 25¢ for a phone call (much less $5 for a fresh ADAT tape).

In late 2004 I discovered and posted a low-fi board mix, captured to cassette during a college show back in the day. I was preparing, at the time, to rerecord the song in my home studio — a session that was documented here. Also I published some notes from the drum tracking for Bleed.

This song was one of my favorites from the old days, and it was a gas to rerecord it with the same guys, 10 years later. It was also a great challenge to set up a functional recording studio at home and get decent results despite making all the classic beginner mistakes. As usual, kudos and thanks to Evan for extracting the best possible performance from the raw material. And, special thanks to Steve for nailing the high note coming out of the breakdown section!

Bleed 2004 (160 kbps MP3)

Credits:
  Lyrics: Sparks
  Music: Sparks, Thomas, McGlynn
  Guitar, Vocals: Sparks
  Bass: Thomas
  Drums: McGlynn
  Recorded: 2004, Borrowed Time Studios
  Mixed: 2006, Evan Rodaniche / Master Blaster Studioz

This kills me… GMail’s much-discussed, much-maligned context-targeted banner ads don’t have a lot of message text to target within my GMail account’s typically empty “Spam” mailbox, so all the ads are for Spam recipes!

Spam sushi, anyone?

A couple people have emailed to ask for a comparison of the old and new mixes of No Regret. Here’s a sample:
No Regret Mix Comparison (160 kbps MP3)

The first and most obvious difference between the mixes is volume. The final mix is compressed to a much higher degree than the rough mix; as a result, the overall volume is much higher, because there’s less dynamic range between the quieter sounds and the peaks.

The original dirty guitar sound was well recorded, with a neat stereo effect, but it was very bass-heavy. The final mix pulls out some of that low end.

You’ll also hear some neat vocal effects in the final mix. I really love what Evan did here; it’s like Enya singing a hard rock song.

Mixing is an art, to be sure. There is a technical skill involved in using EQ and compression to place the various sounds on the stage, to emphasize and deemphasize voices, to smooth transitions between passages… but that’s only part of the package. There’s a creative element that can bring magic to a track. I think we captured a little of that here.