Sorry nothing personal here - it ain't yo biznez ;-)

Many music related questions are sent and I have noticed some recurrent motifs so here we go.

The bassline in Decomposition (see our website) is from the Casio CZ-1. There are no effects on it besides digital delay which handles the triplets. It is not a factory patch but it isn't hard to get with a few button presses.

The "roaring digital dinosaur" in Ballad of IC is not a bicrushed sample. It's actually a sample being amplitude modulated at audio frequencies using an analog VCA module and LFO. Some EQ was applied too.

The signature roaring Casio sound is gotten from a homemade overdrive device employing JFET transistors. The only commercial product I've found that can ape that sound is a $1400 Fender tube amp.

Deb's voice in Testimoney (see our website) is being run through a common bitcrushing plugin. I believe it's actually called 'Bitcrusher' and it is freeware but I don't remember how to find it online.

More later...

This past spring was occasion for many terrible events in my life. As a result I became very depressed and went for help. The doctor put me on an anti-depressant which had some very severe side-effects. I wasn't aware I was exhibiting these behavioral malfunctions for a long time. But thanks to my friend Cynthia I did become aware of them and have recently stopped taking the drug.

Now that I'm off the pills I also realize the writers block I've been experiencing is also beginning to lift. Go figure...

It felt really great to be tickling my keys and banging out beats and actually coming up with something worthwhile. I had all but abandoned my attempts at writing music in the last several months.

Now for the landmines - there is some slim hope that Somnium7's original vocalist and my former wife may find herself in the S7 studio again soon. We are talking about the possibility in pretty vague terms at this point so I really have no details to elaborate for you. Deb has been writing music of her own so we may end up working on that. I really can't say but I hope we can negotiate a path through the mines we laid for each other and begin making some really nice music again.

As for the razorwire, there is a strong possibility of a collaboration between myself and GNAW.
www.soundclick.com/gnawusa
Again I have no definite details to report at this time. We have yet to figure out if we will start a new project or add the material to one or the other existing projects.
GNAW is a rather industrial-metal type sound so it could be pretty interesting to see where it goes with some of my inputs.

Stay tuned.

Mike

http://www.somnium7.com is back online again.

Our web hosting account has the capability of hosting 9 more domains. If you need a place to park your domain or create a new site for your band give a holla.

The server is running Zope and PostgreSQL 8. Available scripting is Python, ZPT and DTML. Any applications available for the Zope app server can be installed as needed including the Plone content management framework.

This is a seriously capable combination of technologies and can be used to create just about any website or web application you can imagine.

All domain use Shared IP address but management of each subdomain is completely separated and secure.

Send a message if you want more details. Each subdomain account will run roughly $20/year depending on disc/RAM usage and bandwidth.

Thanks

Mike

This is Old Rex:

Old Rex is a 1979 Toa RX-7 Mixing Console. It is also Mike's best friend which he has been restoring for the past year and a half. Recently the Power Supply Unit (PSU) which powers Old Rex blew up! Without this it is impossible to use the console. This is very bad considering it is the heart of the S7 studio. Very little happens in regards to working on music without Old Rex.

Since Mike has been going through very hard times he did not have the money or time to repair the old PSU. Instead he scraped together a bunch of worthless junk and built a new PSU with his bare hands. ...and some power tools. This is the result of his hard work:

More pics available in the photo albums.

The new PSU is complete and being tested for stability and safety. Soon it will be connected to Old Rex and hopefully S7 will be able to work on music again.

The DIY ethic is a great thing for many reasons.

• You can save money.


• You broaden your understanding of things


• It guarantees originality.


• It attracts the opposite (or same) sex - well maybe not...


• You can save money

S7 is all about the DIY thing to an almost fetishistic degree. We build our own electronic gear. We do our own website design and programming. Buy broken equipment and repair it - often with mods and improvements. We record and mix everything we do at home.
Yes we are geeks!

---

Since there is more and more interest in DIY stuff now than ever before it seemed like a nice idea to make a list of useful DIY resources for others looking to get their hands dirty.

DIY Recording Sites:

• Home Recording BBS (Mike posts here frequently)


• Hometracked (great articles)


• ProSoundWeb


• Music And Technology

There are many more out there if you search.

DIY Audio Electronics:

• DIY Audio (For the fanatics by the fanatics) (simply awesome)


• Synth DIY Mailing List (really hardcore synthesizer stuff - member since '97)


• Prodigy Pro (DIY Mics and Recording Gear)


• Elliot Sound Products (great beginner stuff)


• Basic Electronics Skills Movies


• Runoff Groove (Guitar Pedals)

Again there is tons of stuff out there....

Web Design and Graphics:

• Web Site How-Tos and Tutorials


• W3C Schools (The Best)


• Web Monkey


• Tutorialized (Web graphics tutorials for most major programs)


• Photoshop Tutorials

The amount of info on this stuff available is staggering...

I'll update this blog with more links as I find the time. Now go forth and do your thing. DIY thing, that is...