Jump to content
The Corroboree

ballzac

Trusted Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content count

    4,109

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    23

Posts posted by ballzac

  1. Posted

    I just found these starting to pop up around the place, will take some spore prints soon.

    I normally see one or two in people's yards and in parks and what not, but haven't yet this year. Did you have to go out of melbourne to see them?

  2. Posted · Edited by ballzac

    They're not I. Purpurea, as they generally have the fork shaped flowers rather than hearts. If it's from the seed ring then it would be I. Tricolor "west indies" variety. It could be I. Indica, I don't know much about that species, but I think it also has the forked leaves, so maybe not. Most people use the name Violacea and tricolor as interchangeable, but I'm still trying to figure out if they really ARE. If violacea isn't tricolor then I don't know what it is. I reckon you've got "west indies" (vigorous violacea), and that would make sense if you got it from the seed ring.

    -Zac

    Edit:Doing a quick google image search on purpurea, a lot of the pictures have heart-shaped flowers. Not that I'm saying that's an authority on the issue, but there's obviously some...actually a lot of confusion on the various species' of Ipomoea. Maybe what I call purpurea is actually indica.

  4. Posted · Edited by ballzac

    what do you call that kind of sound anyway?

    ummm...bass? :P

    actually listening to one of these tracks (this is the first one) i've come to realise a lot more about how te whole structure of these cds could go... it is feeling as though 15 seconds is not enough time to let the songs get into their swing... originally the music contribution idea was based on the brief musical intro i'd heard on some mckenna talks, but since the offer for original tailored music has been so great, perhaps the music aspect should be more than just something to flow into the intros after all....

    based on that track i'd say a full minute is a good time to let a track show us what its got (but if you're happy with that track at its present time that's also fine, ballzac, none of this has to be absolutely exact time-wise i feel).. i'll just need to tinker with the compression of the talks to make room...

    15 seconds is VERY difficult. Having said that, developing my musical ideas over a long piece has always been a weak point of mine (I have a lot of really fantastic, unfinished tracks), so it's good to have an excuse to do something short. I WAS actually struggling to keep that piece as short as it is, but now it's finished, I'm quite happy with it, but I'm also happy to rework it into a slightly longer piece if you'd like. I am not the best at ambient electronica, but I was thinking it would be good to have some tracks of said style playing quietly during the actual talks. Think aphex twin selected ambient works vol. 1. Maybe some of our musicians who are better than I at this style should do some longer pieces. Anyway, this is your brainchild, so I don't want to get too carried away.

    heh and in regards to the computer voice yeah totally mixed feelings.. you are right it does work but hmmm.. i'm not being polite here i truly am torn on it.. maybe we should have a poll or something! :unsure:

    Haha. That's a ridiculously cool idea :)

    Anyway, thanks for the praise. I'm glad that this track is going down well. :D

    -Zac

  5. Posted

    okay edirol orchestral rocks. Listen to the difference. I'm not saying soundfonts are necessarily worse as I just might not have found decent ones, but I think I'll stick with edirol. I actually noticed a lot of orchestrative errors (with regards to harmonies) that I missed before because of the sound quality. I need to back off on the reverb a little and work on the dynamics a bit for clarity, but this sounds pretty realistic.

    untitled3_3.mp3

    untitled3_3.mp3

    untitled3_3.mp3

  7. Posted · Edited by ballzac

    Thanks. I haven't been able to find any soundfonts that sound good, but I did find a VSTi that sounds wicked...Edirol Orchestral. I just can't figure out how to use it :( I figure it must use midi outs to control the different instruments (I've never used one of these multi VSTis before). But when I click on the induvidual sounds, they sound incredibly realistic.

    Oh yeah, I've never understood the different outputs on Audigy. Why do you say to set it to (SB Audigy Sw Synth [D800])? They all sound the same to me.

    Anyway thanks again. :)

    ooh, I'm starting to figure it out!

  8. Posted

    Really like the sample Zac, well done sounds really tight!

    Thanks. 'Tight' beats are something often lacking in my tunes, so I'm pretty happy with this one. Having a purpose for it, i.e. ega music, helps inspire me.

    I dont necessarily like the robotic voice, but the concept is awesome!

    Yeah it is a bit passe or cliched, but I think it works for this.

    I could listen to more such full length compilations all day long> Do you have any?

    Not really, if you mean this style. I tend to jump between styles a lot, and I don't have that many lengthy tracks anyway. I'm just starting to get back into writing after quite a long hiatus, so there might be more to come, but at the same time I am spending most of my time writing baroque and trying to figure out how to orchestrate film-score type music.

    Anyway, thanks heaps for the positive input. :)

    -Zac

  9. Posted · Edited by ballzac

    It's about 40 seconds, but I thought I'd post it as is. If you want it shorter, I can cut it down. It doesn't have any samples from the talks, but I thought this could be an intro for the whole cd or something. Anyway have a listen and tell me what you think. It's a kinda drum n bassy sort of thing...ish.

    -Zac

    btw I just put up the mp3, but I can give you a wav file if you want to use this.

    ega05.mp3

    ega05.mp3

    ega05.mp3

  10. Posted

    yes and the sampling of the talks themselves - if you'd like to sample a talk in the music you're making, please pm me your addy and i will send you a cd with your chosen talk/s in high quality format.

    Someone asked about that earlier, but when I mentioned the diffuculty of getting clean samples, I was refferring to the echo and dynamic variations that would still be in the original audio (I assume). I don't see that there would be too much difference between the cd and the mp3. Anyway, I'm quite happy to incorporate these qualities into the finished product as they're probably more indicative of the atmosphere of EGA and the talks themselves.

    BTW... When's the deadline?

  15. Posted

    Hey, I'm interested in writing some orchestral music on the computer. The only thing that's held me back is that I haven't been able to find a program that has even remotely convincing orchestral sounds. I have done a couple of pieces using piano samples, but samples just don't work for most instruments, violin for example. I know some hardware can do it, but what about software? Anyone know of a good program? Preferably VSTi, but standalone would be fine. Thanks.

    -Zac

  18. Posted

    does anyone know what the deal is with hexagons?

    It has often baffled me as to why hexagons feature so much in lsd visuals. Circles I could understand, as there is a perfection to a circle, the ultimate simple symmetry. Why hexagons (and snowflakes for that matter)? Why not pentagons or nonagons? Or squares even? What is it about the number six? Unfortunately I have no answer to these questions, and I feel it would probably require a neurologist not a philosopher to figure this one out.

    As for fractals, I see them as self evident...if that even makes sense :unsure:. The curves on a coastline, the branches on a tree...They may not be as 'perfect' as a mandelbrot, koch, or mira, but the principle is there.

    Hmmm...It's late and I don't think I'm quite making sense with the fractals :blush:, but I stand by what I said about hexagons.

    -Zac

  19. Posted

    Do people want to see these meets happening on a regular basis...monthly maybe? With a standard date/time/day every time? for example every first sunday of the month at ...am/pm??

    Definately a good idea. I can pretty much fit in with whatever suits everyone else.

  20. Posted

    It was great to finally put some faces to names. I'm sorry I wasn't as sociable as even I am capable of as I had no sleep last night and am just plain buggered today. Anyway... I had a good time nonetheless and learnt a lot from you guys. Thanks people :)

  21. Posted

    is the eucalypt lawn where we had the initial meet gerbil? near gate e ?

    Yeah, where's the eucalypt lawn?

    Would it be okay if I brought a mate along too? He works in the horticulture industry and was quite interested when I told him I was going to an ethnobotany meet. It would be good for him to come along because of his botanical knowledge, although his knowledge is general and he would know less about this specific branch of botany than most of you. Anyway, I understand if you want to keep this stricly a forum members only thing.

    -Zac

  22. Posted · Edited by ballzac

    I'm a bit shy :unsure: , but I'd love to come along and meet some of you guys :rolleyes: . Weekends are fine for me as I'm currently studying and not working :).

    Oh yeah, and I don't have anything planned for the weekend of the 25th.

  23. Posted

    These mushrooms interest me greatly for many reasons. Not that I'll ever ingest them (I wouldn't want to break the law. :P ), but they do have a look about them that beckons but also says beware.

×