Button Mashing: Band Of Horses - The Funeral

Playing the Monome, especially outdoors, can be quite therapeutic when you are sick. Today I grabbed a sample from one of my favorite songs, made a quick drum loop, and then threw the two in mlr. I made them play at a few different speeds and had one channel play in reverse. The video isn't perfect or anything, just a snippet of some of my therapy.

CHARLESTONVLOG019 - Button Mashing: The Funeral


-charlestonpatrick

The Starcup Exercises - Exercise #02

I did another quick exercise tonight - still using only starbucks samples as sound sources. This time I decided to go a tiny bit deeper and actually plug into some of my gear, apply a few more effects (EQs, filters...), map them to some knobs, and tweak away! It was nice to be able to actually play/tweak things live with my hands this time around. Perhaps I'll put together a little video, playing/demonstrating this configuration at some point.

I am getting a lot of use out of the sample of the coffee grinder. It can make for some very yummy basses, especially when I give it a little wobble. Hopefully these exercises are serving as a good example of the power of sampling.


Keep checking up for more! I really hope that all of these exercises can culminate into a fully developed track/performance that is actually enjoyable to listen to. Ha!  ;-)

-charlestonpatrick

The Starcup Exercises - Exercise #01

I know it seems as though I've disappeared from the planet musically. Its been a rough few months. I've been incredibly busy with school and work. On top of that I've been really struggling with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, which doesn't help the music situation at all. With all that said, a few days ago on my 10 minute break at work, I sampled a bunch of sounds from the coffeeshop/bar. I decided that I would do a little creative exercise: compose a track with only these sounds. I think I'll do one #starcupexercise a day to get my brain working musically again. Not like fully developed tracks, just exercises, because I still have school and work to attend to. This track here was slapped together in about 20 minutes. It uses the Starbucks samples with Ableton Live's Sampler & Drum Rack. The only effect applied is a little bit of compression to bring it all together.



-charlestonpatrick

P.S. The melody lines are all fairly simple because I didn't feel like and/or didn't have the time to hook anything up. I just jammed them out on my laptop keyboard.

Don't Just Make a Statement

Some friends and I are putting together a blog that gives information on different ways to make a difference by donating to NGOs that are working directly to aid people effected by groups like the LRA. That information will be made available at: http://dontjustmakeastatement.tumblr.com

-charlestonpatrick

Thoughts on the Kony 2012 campaign

Suddenly everyone is an activist with the simple click of a share button.

Certainly Joseph Kony is an evil man.

Certainly he needs to be stopped.

Certainly something must be done to help the childen.

...but military intervention? ...funding the Ugandan army (who also pillage and rape)?

Please think on the best way to achieve this before taking action. There has been a number of interventions and attempts to capture the man in past, and violence begot violence.

Am I against the Kony 2012 campaign? No.

Did the video move and stir me with compassion? Yes.

But did I have a funny feeling by the end of the video? Yes.

Is this movement wrong? No.

Should you think before you just hop on any bandwagon? Yes.

So before you go buy another cool bracelet because you are such a radical activist (like everyone else), just take a moment and ask yourself if this is the most effective means to peace.

-charlestonpatrick

EDIT:

Some people have had this cause deep on their heart for a long time. To that I say follow your heart. To everyone else, don't be a fad follower. Don't just make a statement, make a difference.

ANOTHER EDIT:
Invisible Children has created page that responds to and relieves some of my concerns.

Softtone Shooting by the Bridge

I took a few more shots yesterday when I got off of work, I had a free hour for the first time since I can remember. I grabbed my camera and rushed to Wayside Park, racing against the sun. I arrived at the beach just in time for a few shots before sundown.

The sky had some very pretty soft pink and lavender tones to it.

I'm still having trouble with slow output from the rollers. I've been asking around on a few forums and it seems the general consensus is that the battery in the old softtone film is low and thus turning the motors slow. There are a few uneven development lines, but hey, thats art, right?

-charlestonpatrick

Image Softtone First Shots (Actual Photos)

A few days ago I tested out my Minolta Instant Pro for the first time. I'm really excited to see what all this camera can do. It gives me much more control over exposure, flash, focus, etc than most other Polaroid cameras. Earlier I posted a quick instagram photo of some shots with the new film, here are the actual scans.

I've been having a little bit of difficulty with the camera not wanting to spit out the film. The film goes through the rollers rather slowly. Either something is jamming slightly, or the film pack battery is just low from being so old. At any rate this doesn't always create an evenly developed photo, because the chemicals aren't spread evenly, as evidenced by the three lines on the next photo. (If you look closely you can see it a tad on the first photo too.)

This camera is going to be a lot of fun. Lets just hope that there isn't more wrong with it than a low film pack battery.

-charlestonpatrick