Drumsound's December Sticky--Please read and comment

Judas Jetski · Post by **Judas Jetski** » Sat Dec 17, 2005 11:16 am

Tails. Damn! That means I'm paying off those microphones by taking trips to the blood bank.

OK, sorry. I'll stop.

But if you think about it, this whole thing just kind of underscores the precious nature of musical creativity--in writing the stuff as well as in recording what's already there.

I mean, any choice that could be made with a coin toss has at least one alternative (obviously). How many 50/50 decisions get made in a day? Even if you are making your decisions using a coin toss, there is a cumulative weight to these things. What happens to the ideas you don't use? (I'm sure that this is less of a consideration in a strictly for-profit environment.)

I think that I will never create enough. But it's so hard to get started... which is (yet again) where the coin toss comes in. It short-circuits all the mental hand wringing.

abc · Post by **abc** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 11:19 am

Sounds like Funklogic better get to work on the "Auracle" - something akin to the quarter toss or magic 8-ball...ask a question, push a button or flip a lever, green led means yes, red means no...if they don't some TapeOp DIY-er might beat them to the punch...

If anybody makes one of these, feel free to send a demo to me for review...

drumsound · Post by **drumsound** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 1:25 pm

I better get the "Oxide Lounge Edition" like Fletcher has on the Mercenary stuff.

mjau · Post by **mjau** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 1:32 pm

drumsound wrote:I better get the "Oxide Lounge Edition" like Fletcher has on the Mercenary stuff.

I'm buying

.

abc · Post by **abc** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 5:50 am

I'm suddenly imagining studios everywhere resounding with the phrase, "Let's ask the Auracle!"

Imaginary Historical Auracle scene #1:

Mr. Martin: "Auracle, shall the backing lyrics be 'Anybody got a bit-o-money'?"

Auracle: RED

Mr. Martin: "Hmmm...how about Unh-uh, Mr. Wilson?"

Auracle: GREEN

Mr. Martin, through talkback: "Lads, shall we try "Unh-uh, Mr. Wilson...Unh-uh, Mr. Heathhhhhhh?"

brakeshop · Post by **brakeshop** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 7:58 pm

I think I'll play devil's advocate here. If a client sees you making a decision with coins or dice or the magic eight ball, I'm sure they would ask the question "What the hell am i paying this person for?", because it certainly isn't this person's "expertise". If you flip a coin, don't get caught doing it.

brakeshop · Post by **brakeshop** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 7:59 pm

and the more money a client is spending, the worse their reaction could be.

drumsound · Post by **drumsound** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 10:14 pm

I think your missing the point. The coin is not used for every decision, or even every project. Its for times like, half of the band loves the delay on the guitar and half hates it. Or when a guitar player can't decide on the middle or bridge pick-ups. Its usually a fun, "keep things moving" thing. Not a "i have no clue" thing. Most of my clients are quite ammused by the quater. Some that see it on the console and ask about it then want to use it.

JGriffin · Post by **JGriffin** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 9:29 am

leigh wrote:
brian beattie wrote:coins make MANY decisions for me. They're not ALWAYS right, but you sure as hell can tell when they're wrong. I don't keep a specific coin for this purpose, I just reach in my pocket and grab one and go with the answer. I call it "the pocket oracle"
Did you ever see this Robert Forster movie, American Perfekt?

"Jake, a psychiatrist on the road to Utah, is a man who seriously relies on the flip of a coin for all his decisions. One day, however, he flips the coin to decide whether he will kill a person he dislikes..."

Leigh

This was the basis for the Batman villain Two-Face as well. He allowed his two-headed silver dollar (one side was pristine, the other marred, like his half-acid-scarred face) to make Yes/No, Good/Evil decisions for him.

A quarter is a little...binary, isn't it? By which I mean...digital. Seems the Magic 8-ball has more of a continuum of possibilities, which makes it more of an "analog" device. Analog purists will no doubt see the implicit heresy in utilizing the quarter.

mjau · Post by **mjau** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 10:16 am

Ladies and gents...I've now seen the famous quarter perched on drumsound's Neotek, and it is good.

jmoose · Post by **jmoose** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 4:39 pm

dwlb wrote:A quarter is a little...binary, isn't it? By which I mean...digital. Seems the Magic 8-ball has more of a continuum of possibilities, which makes it more of an "analog" device. Analog purists will no doubt see the implicit heresy in utilizing the quarter.

Well when you put it that way the Magic 8-ball is the obvious choice!

JGriffin · Post by **JGriffin** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 10:33 pm

jmoose wrote:
dwlb wrote:A quarter is a little...binary, isn't it? By which I mean...digital. Seems the Magic 8-ball has more of a continuum of possibilities, which makes it more of an "analog" device. Analog purists will no doubt see the implicit heresy in utilizing the quarter.
Well when you put it that way the Magic 8-ball is the obvious choice!

joelpatterson · Post by **joelpatterson** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 7:27 am

So then to play the Devil's Solicitor General...

There's probably always a "better" choice, whatEVER the guitar player vs. drummer's opinion is, and to take a random approach is kind of a little too much like a democracy, the people getting what they deserve.

Isn't it... maybe... your job to do what's best, not just be a referee?

drumsound · Post by **drumsound** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 3:42 pm

Joel,

The quater are for the moments when the best choice is not obvious. The quarter will set you on a path. Sometimesit sets you on the wrong path, which is often easier to see than the right one...

It's kind of a Zen practice.

joelpatterson · Post by **joelpatterson** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 6:40 am

I hear you. But... if the quarter were to land on its edge... what then, grasshopper?

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