RoboCop - again...



I watched the HD version of the director's cut of Robocop today. It's so fucking good. I know I've posted tons of stuff about Murphy in the past, but today's viewing was a staunch reminder of the power of this film. Paul Verhoeven is a genius director. OK, that's not true, but I do really like Total Recall as well. I've never seen Basic Instinct and I'll never see Showgirls. This (I would presume) remastered version of the film looks shockingly better than even the DVD version. The ED-209 sequences look almost real without looking digital at all. I recorded it off HDnet, so this might be the Blue Ray version.

You should re-watch this movie. Or just watch this youtube rap video explaining the entire film. Quite a feat.
- posted by Mason @ 3:10 PM (0) comments

Herbie Hancock Live


via matrixsynth

This track is sort of gross, but the ambient noise coming out of the turntable during the intro fucks my shit up so hard. It makes me want to start hand pulling reel to reel tapes across heads again.
- posted by Mason @ 3:11 PM (0) comments

A homemade SK1... only better.


via narrat1ve.com

Oh. My. Fucking. God.
This project is at the tip-fucking-top of my list of hard ass kits to build.

WTPA is an an SRAM based 8-bit audio sampler, designed in kit form. It's designed to the following aesthetic goals: to capitalize on the audio flaws and interfacing ability that relatively powerful and perfect computer samplers could but usually don't. To do noisy, awesome things that proletariat guitar garbage like the Line-6 pedals never will. To be a top-flight uncompromising, un-crashing piece of open source engineering that is more reliable than an MPC.
The WTPA kit is designed for the determined kitbuilder who really, truly wants to learn more about how electronics work and how to get better at their craft. It is not the easiest kit ever, but for what it is I feel it's versatile and powerful and (I hope) cool. And it comes with a thick manual.

Do you understand? It's the SK1 on steroids. Also, the guy who designed it is the shit. "proletariat guitar garbage" is my new favorite line.
- posted by Mason @ 3:10 PM (0) comments

Be A Man, Hulk



Remember this? I love this song. I was having a conversation with my friend Dustyn at work and he'd never heard of this nonsense. I think about it all the time and now you'll think about it all the time too.
- posted by Mason @ 3:10 PM (1) comments

Remixes are Dead, Long Live the Remix



Kutiman remixes youtube videos. By remix, I mean he takes the audio from individual youtube videos and loops, intercuts and splices them into real music. I'm amazed. Some of the coolest remix shit I've ever seen.
- posted by Mason @ 3:10 PM (0) comments

Lofi Fuzz Kit - from GetLoFi



This shit is sooooooo on my build list. Only $26 bucks. It's fucking bonkers with the soundz. I would like to put it in an amusing enclosure, but I haven't decided what yet.

LoFi Fuzz Kit is a very simple to build and great sounding multipurpose distortion, pixelation, fuzz module suitable for Guitar, Drums, Keyboard, and Vocal. All parts shown are included: circuit board, capacitors, transistors, resistors, potentiometers, 3 switches, jacks, 9 volt battery connector, instruction sheet, and wire.

- posted by Mason @ 3:09 PM (0) comments

More Shameful TV Garbage



Uh... this show is... ok. Ian McShane is a bad ass. It has great guest stars. It's not HBO quality by any means, but it's at least somewhat engaging. Quick synopsis from the wiki:

Kings is set in the nation of Gilboa, which technologically and culturally resembles the present-day United States; the government, however, is an absolute monarchy. Gilboa is ruled by King Silas Benjamin, who originally formed the kingdom two decades prior from three warring countries. He believes his power to be divine, often citing a day when a swarm of butterflies landed on his head in the form of "a living crown." All is not well for Silas: his policies and actions are being manipulated by his queen's brother, William Cross, who holds substantial control over the royal treasury; his heir, Prince Jack, is secretly homosexual, which could undermine the royal family; and Silas himself is secretly seeing a mistress, whom he had apparently left in order to marry Queen Rose for political gain.

Events of the series are set into motion when young David Shepherd, a Gilboan soldier in a war against the kingdom of Gath, single-handedly rescues a group of captive soldiers from behind enemy lines. One of these captives is Prince Jack, and David becomes an instant star in national media, much to the chagrin of the prince. King Silas brings David into the capital city of Shiloh, where he is promoted to captain and thrust into the position of military liaison to the media. He soon finds himself in the midst of royal court politics, currently with little awareness of the forces acting behind them; he also develops feelings for Silas' daughter, Princess Michelle, which she seems to reciprocate. In the pilot episode, he too experiences the "crown" of butterflies, after Silas is told that God no longer supports his reign, implying David to be the divine choice for the next king in line.

So that's the pilot's plot. See, it's the biblical story of King David, get it? Mostly this show is just Ian McShane being super scary. It's worth watching if you don't have anything else to do.
- posted by Mason @ 5:20 PM (0) comments

Tascam 464



Crushingly, my famed Fostex 250 is not doing so hot. Considering that it's over 25 years old, and has seen umpteen hours of use in the last 3 years, this is less than surprising. As luck would have it, however, I responded to a craigslist ad for a Tascam 464. The 464 is the upgraded version of the classic 424 (not to be confused with the 424 MKIII - the 464 is still better). Arguably the best tabletop 4 track Tascam ever made (the 234 is cooler, but rackmount). A good condition 424 goes for $100-$175 on that eeebay, but no one knows about the 464. I paid $65 bucks for this beast and am damn pleased about it. The transport is super-stable and the pre's sound great. I'm of course still running everything through the board, and the only drawback to this unit is that it doesn't feature direct tape inputs (which you could probably hack into by looking at the insert returns on the first two tracks and duplicating the wiring on 3 and 4 - it's probably a lot of work though). I've dumped the tracks off the Minidisc and am ready to record some vocals, so we'll see how it turns out. So far I'm immensely pleased with this purchase.

As for the Fostex, I'm going to try and either swap the pinch roller off a newer broken tape deck, or pay $35 for a reconditioned pinch roller from Terry's.
- posted by Mason @ 5:20 PM (0) comments

Electro-Harmonix DRM16



I traded off two cheap Teisco Del Rays that I'd been carrying around to shows for a while for this GOD of a drum machine. Built in 1978, this little fucker destroys with it's built in patterns. It has a dedicated BASS DRUM output. Hmmm... that means it could have a dedicated out for each instrument. After much searching I found the schematics on a German website - oh yeah, I can definitely get a separate out for each. But I don't want to drill more holes in the case. My plan? A 5 pin DIN jack in place of the current OUTPUT 2 jack. Then a DIN to five female 1/4" squid cable for the breakout. I'm also pretty sure that I might be able to bend it by adding some pots in place of the resistors after the IC chip. I'll keep you posted.

Check the sounds straight out of it:




- posted by Mason @ 5:20 PM (0) comments

A Brush With Greatness



This crazy old hippie man picked up the $50 Franken-Guitar I had in the booth. He strummed it a little and said "that's a pretty good guitar, I'll take it". He then asked me if I wanted to trade him a CD against it. I told him I couldn't but he took the CD out of his bag anyway. I looked at it. Then I looked at it again. Then I shook my head and realized that it said "The Seeds - Back to the Garden".

The Seeds. I said, "The Seeds? As in THE Seeds?" He sticks out his hand and says, "Yeah, I'm Sky Saxon, my band's called The Seeds."

A rock legend bought my cheap guitar.
- posted by Mason @ 5:19 PM (0) comments

Rekkerds I wanted



A plastic fold-out of 7"s from Beserkly Records (probably from '76 or '77) featuring a Richman single, an early Greg Kihn single, an Earth Quake single, a Rubinoos single and some stuff I wasn't familiar with. I wanted it. Bad. It was $24.99 at the Euclid Records booth. Ouch. If I made twice as much money as I do, I would have dropped that on it no question. I did pay $7 for the Dinosaur Jr. "Freak Scene" single. Sweet.



I thought about buying this for Daniel, but it was $25. OVERPRICED. But cool as fuck.
- posted by Mason @ 5:20 PM (0) comments

Great Graffiti, Horrible Coffee



At Ruta Maya coffee house in South Austin, all of the coffee is locally roasted and organic. Too bad their Americanos taste like toilet water. Total shit. The hippie reggae trash on the stage inside forced me my dad out onto the patio, where the dumb ass hippie conversation forced us to choke down our vile brews and leave as quickly as possible. The saving grace of this dump is the pretentious and unintentionally hilarious graffiti in the bathroom.

Clearly the top piece about Hitler is purposely funny. The second two are (I'm fairly certain) serious. Or at least seriously pretentious. Is the bit about rasta a slam against it (as in "sure, you're a rasta, but everything you believe is bullshit because it's still a completely fabricated pack of lies") or is it saying that we're all assholes for not giving rasta the respect it deserves as a recognized religion?

Either way the coffee was crappy.




- posted by Mason @ 5:18 PM (0) comments

I gotta get mine in a big black truck...



Dem Grit Boys cain't be fuked wit. This fucking awesome van was parked outside some super expensive hotel in Austin at SXSW. Ghetto Reality in Texas, ya herd?


- posted by Mason @ 5:19 PM (0) comments

The Ugliest Guitar of All Time



The new Moog Guitar is one of the most amazing hybrid products I've ever seen. It sounds fucking amazing. I got the chance to check out the demo of it at the Austin Guitar Show this week. Sadly, it is also one of the ugliest products ever sold. Even if it was $300, instead of $7,000, I wouldn't want anyone to see me play it. It's too bad you can't get a retrofit for your own guitar. Maybe they'll offer that at some point. I only want the electronics, not the guitar.





What's up with it? Well, it's complicated. I'll let Moog explain it to you:

What makes this guitar so special?

The Moog Guitar Electronics add an unparalleled range of expression to the Moog Guitar:

FULL SUSTAIN MODE - like no other sustainer; infinite sustain on every string, at every fret position and at any volume. You may have heard sustain before but not with this power (we call it "Vo Power") and clarity.

CONTROLLED SUSTAIN MODE - allows you to play sustained single or polyphonic lines without muting technique. The Moog Guitar sustains the notes you are playing while actively muting the strings you are not playing.

MUTE MODE - removes energy from the strings, resulting in a variety of staccato articulations. The mute mode has never been heard on any other guitar; the Vo Power stops the strings with the same intensity that it sustains them. You feel the instrument transform in your hands.

HARMONIC BLENDS - use the included foot pedal to shift the positive energy of Vo Power in Sustain mode and the subtractive force of Vo Power in Mute mode between the bridge and neck pick-ups to pull both subtle and dramatic harmonics from the strings.

MOOG FILTER - control the frequency of the built-in, resonant Moog ladder filter using the foot pedal or a CV Input.

What is the difference between The Moog Guitar and sustainers?

1.) The Moog Guitar Technology is not a sustainer technology but a Harmonic Control System.

2.) In Sustain Mode, The Moog Guitar is like a sustainer on steroids. Previous sustainer technologies are limited both in their power and responsiveness.

3.) Unlike sustainer technologies, the Moog Guitar has the ability to simultaneously "listen" and "control" each individual string at exactly the same point. This allows the control system to affect the string coherently. For each pickup and string, there is a unique control system that is optimized for those harmonics happening at that point in time.

4.) This "coherency" gives the Moog Guitar a sustain capability that is un-paralleled both in power and responsiveness. There are no frustrating lags, or drop offs. And the sustain from the Moog Guitar is DIRECTLY related to what is happening on the string at that point, so it is very organic sounding and gives a feeling of connection to the instrument that has never before been felt.

5.) Sustaining is just the stepping-off point for the Moog Guitar. The same ability to coherently give energy to the string can take energy away. This is revolutionary: the ability to MUTE a string (or strings) changes the very way the string reacts to the wood and acoustics of the instrument. It feels like a different instrument in your hands when in Mute Mode.

6.) Combining the Sustain and Mute modes gives us the never-before achieved Controlled Sustain Mode. Players can sustain single-note lines while the Harmonic Control System actively removes energy from strings that aren't being played. This allows fluid violin-like lines and counter-point that are not achievable with sustainers.

7.) The Harmonic Control System allows the player to affect different harmonics that are being occurring on the strings in real-time.

8.) Because of the direct action of the Harmonic Control System on the string at the same point in space and time, the Moog Guitar fits perfectly into your playing technique, it responds naturally to the way you play - it becomes part of the acoustic nature of the actual instrument.

9.) The Moog Guitar expands the soundscape of the guitar in ways that no sustainer technology can approach. Like all Moog instruments, the only limit is the imagination and inspiration of the musician.

- posted by Mason @ 5:18 PM (0) comments

Mr. Natural is the Shit



Oh. Fuck. The best veggie mex I've eaten. Mr. Natural is an Austin legend and people have been telling me to eat there for years. The Soyrizo Taco was excellent. Fantastic. Topped with tomato, onion, lettuce and sprouts. I had the tofu migas for breakfast - the best black beans I've ever tasted on the side. My dad had the chilaquiles and he said they were bad-ass (well, obviously he didn't say those precise words, but he enjoyed them).



They have a small store section, mostly a cold case, where I purchased a large bottle of Yerba Mate and chugged it while waiting for my food. I'd been up since 4am (load in was at 5) and by 8 when they opened, I was feeling uber-shitty.



This taco lit up my world.



About half of their bakery items were vegan, all natural, and all made with either whole wheat or spelt flour. I had a chocolate chip spelt cookie, a vegan brownie and an almond horn. The almond horn was legendary.



This is the vegan brownie you've been looking for. Cakey, chewy, crumbly and delicious.





I really wanted to try this cake, and I planned on going back later, but we didn't get out of the show early enough.
- posted by Mason @ 5:19 PM (1) comments

Pinata Capital of Texas







This week I was in Austin, TX for SXSW. Fart. I hate hipsters. It reminded me why I don't live in Austin. Mostly because I don't own a pair of skinny jeans or an ironic porkpie hat. Fuckers.

I walked from the Austin Convention Center to Mr. Natural (awesome veggie health mex - see the next post) down Ceasar Chavez Blvd. I'd never been over there before, but it is apparently the Pinata and Moonwalk district. In the mile and half between my departure point and my destination, there were no less than ten stores selling either Pinatas, Moonwalks or both.

I really like the first picture with it's hand lettered PC repair sign. Spyware removal and party supplies. I think it makes perfect sense.
- posted by Mason @ 5:18 PM (2) comments

Our new Friend/Fan Drew


So this guy named Drew emailed to ask if he could use some MMDS songs in his podcast. Of course he fucking can! All of my music is Creative Commons Share/Share-Alike, so he didn't even need to ask, but I really appreciated it. He seems like a pretty cool fucking guy. I've been reading his blog, and it's amusing:

"Come get me coppers! I'll be the one in a hemp onesy, shooting blowdarts dipped in brown recluse poison your way--all to the tune of Mastodon's new album.

We aren't the hippies of old--pushing daisies down your gun barrels. We grew up on heavy metal and G.I. Joe. My generation is the sleeping dragon and the curtain is being drawn on hibernation season.

We are neo-hippies!"

I like this idea. Gen-X, motherfuckers, don't count us out yet.
- posted by Mason @ 5:17 PM (1) comments

Sorry, I've been busy



Prepare for an onslaught of blog posts! I've been retarded busy the last week and haven't posted shit. Here it comes, bitches!
- posted by Mason @ 5:13 PM (0) comments

Drum Machine into the tape deck


pic via our friends at matrixsynth

OK, new tricks:

VL-Tone drum machine --> Input 5 on Tascam Board -->
Submix Out 5--> Tascam 122 Tape Deck --> Tape Monitor Out on 122 -->
Input 1 on Tascam Board --> Buss 4 on Tascam Board --> Fostex 250 4-track

Does that seem complex? Well... it is. Basically what I'm doing is using the board and 122 to overdrive and eq, then tape saturate the signal before bringing it back into the 4 track. In more simple terms I'm recording the recording of the VL-Tone. It's fucking awesome. Additionally I cranked the bass at about 60hz to make it hit a little harder.

You have to be careful with it, but you can also get an infinite repeats feedback loop going by feeding a little of Submix out 1 (the signal that's going to the 4 track) into the 122. Cranking it past 1 or 2 will blow everything up (which might be cool if you sampled it), so be forewarned.

You get a lot of natural tape compression from the saturation which I think adds a ton of punch (or Dick/Fuck as we say in the industry) and I might start doing it with all drums/drum machines. Sadly this technique can only work with the first track you lay down because of the several ms of latency between the original input and the output from the 122 back to the 4-track.

Remember you can only do this if your tape deck has 2 or more heads and both a TAPE and SOURCE monitor switch. Of course if your deck has a speed switch and fine adjust knob, you can use it as a slap back echo.
- posted by Mason @ 2:50 PM (0) comments

Moog Slayer Mod Sound Sample



Filters, Filters, Filters. Look, it's a picture of a filter.

I know I've been on and on about it, but here's a sound sample of the Poly-800 mod I did. I used the sequence that came on the new patches I downloaded and fucked around with the resonance, the cutoff, the noise and the FM knob.


- posted by Mason @ 6:49 PM (0) comments

Joe Bob says "Check it Out"



I bought a $1 copy of Joe Bob Brigg's "Joe Bob Goes Back to the Drive-In". I love the shit out of Dallas' native son and his penchant for ultimate movie filth. Much of my love for cinematic trash is based on Joe Bob in conjuction (obviously) with USA's "Up All Night". After I finish Consider Phlebas (borrowed from my friend Craig) I'm going to dive into this gem.
- posted by Mason @ 2:52 PM (1) comments

The Old Hippie Mason



I'm now addicted to this dude named Warren's blog. He's my dad's age but heavily into a ton of the same shit that I am. Sci-fi, DIY, gardening, the internet, liberalism... etc. I'm only about halfway through the backlog of articles, but I really dig it. Check it out.
- posted by Mason @ 2:52 PM (1) comments

DIY Molex to SATA power cable



While Daniel was here the power supply on the HTPC blew. While Meg and I went to pick up Ali Baba, DanDan Noodle swapped it out for me. Down side? The replacement power supply has no SATA. The solution? A quick google says that the Molex and SATA power couplings are exactly the same with different connections. So I clipped the orange cable and crammed the folded ends into the extra outlet. Oh hell, there's a picture, OK?




- posted by Mason @ 6:42 PM (0) comments

Schpeak und Schpell



Earth shattering estate sale score! Original '78 Speak and Spell in the box with the manual and warranty card and original batteries. At only $4, it would have been a bargain at twice the price. The same house had TWO Mr. Challengers - $5 for both. I can't decided if I want to hack them or sell them on Ebay.








- posted by Mason @ 2:05 PM (1) comments

Assembling the Beast



After seven years of talking about it, I finally modified something. I went ahead and did the Moog Slayer mod (cutoff and resonance knobs for the filter), the FM mod for DCO1 and the noise control knob. Here are some pictures of the process.


I drilled the case out, installed the knobs and grounded them together.


Here I've attached the leads to the pots.
Top Left is Resonance, Bottom Left is Cutoff, Top Right is Oscillator, Bottom Right is Noise.



Larger view of compete front panel assembly.
The pots with marker on them are the pots I added. The middle three are original.


Instead of using heat shrink I bought some Liquid Electrical Tape.


It works really well, but it smells awful and it's super drippy.
It took two coats to get really covered.


Internal board with mods wired in. I chose not to replace the resistors on
the board because I didn't want to ruin it.


Finally, I grounded the whole whole thing. The red wire on the right
has a resistor covered in liquid tape running to the cutoff pot.

The big question is, "How does it sound?" I'll post some samples tomorrow.

It sounds fucking amazing.
- posted by Mason @ 2:50 PM (0) comments

Pedal Parts Plus



I got my order from PedalPartsPlus.com today. Wow. Talk about fast. They shipped the same day I ordered and I got it two days later. I'm really happy with the price, the service and the great shipping. Instead of gouging on "handling" they charge actual USPS First Class. Who else does that? They came highly recommended from my brother Daniel and they didn't disappoint.

My only complaint is that they don't carry more soldering and electronic supplies. I needed some de-soldering braid, a de-soldering bulb, a new tip for my iron, some alligator clips, heat shrink tubing, a step drill bit, and an iron rest. I should send them an email and tell them to carry that stuff. I would have preferred to have bought it from them and all at once instead of from multiple sources.

Here's a quick look at what the mod will look like when it's done.

BEFORE:


AFTER:


These awesome orange chicken head knobs were only $0.80
- posted by Mason @ 2:50 PM (0) comments