now all I get is hate mail all day saying Dre fell off.

[raybear]

I forgot to mention in the previous Raymond Chronicles of Functionality, that on Sunday night I completed the first exam of the recording engineer course, and I'm mailing it off today. Ah, correspondence courses, I love thee so. The test wasn't that hard, and of course there's the open book quality of the whole thing, but some of the questions were so buried in the material that one would have to read it thoroughly to find it anyway, so learning probably manages to happen one way or another. Like Blondie.

Also, I haven't gotten an e-mail from my parents as of Saturday morning, and I don't plan on checking that e-mail account until next Saturday. I'm also trying not to focus to much energy on not checking that e-mail account. Maybe that's why I've been on a cleaning rampage -- I'm channeling the energy.

I also forgot to mention the purchase of two great albums on Friday (after seeing The Mothman Prophecies with Damon -- I don't think I've written about the movie yet, but I highly enjoyed it. Though I'm glad I saw it during the day). On vinyl I snagged Sigur Ros's most recent, and Princess Superstar's album "Princess Superstar Is". I decided that Princess Superstar is actually limenal's sense of humor and wordplay, mixed with my knowledge of hip hop, and a small dash of Ani's voice/cadence. Oh, and Kool Keith's sex drive. It's an excellent addition to my collection that I'm greatly enjoying.

Comments

what? cause I been in the lab with a pen and a pad trying to get this fuckin' label off

[esquemeauxpi.livejournal.com]

Exactly how is that new Sigur Ros album?
I'd love to own it, but I think that downloading it might be the true path or righteousness for me.

And Mothman Prophecies.....do you give it a "yay" or "nay"?

And last but not least, what do you plan to do if you become a recording engineer?

Sorry for all the questions, but we don't communicate often and I'm truly intrigued

fck rap, you can have it back.

[raybear.livejournal.com]

In keeping with my current organized state, I will responed in numbered format. Ha.

1. Sigur Ros. I love the album. I have a hard time telling people whether something is worth buying or not, since it's sort of a commitment. I do not have the capabilities to download, so I probably buy more than most. Plus, I can't download to vinyl (yet! but my day will come), so I decided to throw down for it. I'm also a bit of a stickler about quality of sound and recording, so the few things I have downloaded and burned tend to be silly/fun/trendy pop or overproduced songs that don't suffer much in the transfer. But I certainly don't enforce any standards on others. If you have the ability to download and it sounds fine to you, then go with that option, by all means.

2. Mothman Prophecies: Big yay. With a few conditions. It's a movie, not a film. Not a cinematic experience. Just a creepy stylish thriller that I thought was pretty scary and interesting. If you're a fan of old school X-Files where there wasn't a neat answer or ending, you'll probably dig it.

3. Recoding engineer. Ultimately I'd like to record my own music and mostly produce others's songs or albums. A couple of models in the industry for me (as far as career paths go, I don't necessarily love EVERYTHING they've done): DJ Premier, Timbaland, Scott Storch, Dr. Dre the producer, and Organized Noise. My ultimate dream would be to have my own production company AND my own studio, so when people want my beats and whatnot, they can come a-knockin' and I do the creative work and the studio engineering. Alternatives to my plan including hooking up with a great MC or other artist (I lean toward hip-hop, but I don't rule out any other genre) and being the primary collaborator with them, a la Eric B. and Rakim, Guru and Premier, Missy and Timbaland. But I don't have any wants ads out right now saying. Partly because I don't have much to offer yet -- I have the ideas, but still trying to learn the skills and work the equipment to make them a reality. I'm working on getting a mini-studio set up at home, as well as possibly interning or working at a big recording studio for experience.

Whew. That comment was longer than some of my posts!

Thanks for your questions, and please call into our show again.

[esquemeauxpi.livejournal.com]

yeah it was pretty long, but in all honesty it was much appreciated it.

I don't usually talk about myself much in my journal, but one of these days I'm gonna buckle down and just spill it all. My dreams, ambitions, mental anguish, and all that other juicy stuff that others throw down on a regular basis.....we'll see though.

Thanks for the through response.

My brother has been a dj for about 16 years now and I think that he has some of the same dreams that you have. He doesn't much want to be on the record, but he'd love to put it together. With breaks for school, engagement, and other things the process has been slow, but his determination will put his ass somewhere before it's all over.

...I wish you the best of luck.