If any one is actually following this blog, I'm sorry I don't have any new shit. I've had a bad case of writer's block lately. I've come up with lots of odds and ends, but nothing substantial.

Short update: I got a new sound card for the computer, so at least I won't have to use that junky on-board Soundmax. I feel stupid for not having done it sooner. The new card is just a cheap Soundblaster LIVE, but its better than the old one and records better as well. I bought a stereo-to-headphone adapter so I can now record the guitars directly into the PC. I'm hoping that will help, since having a live instrument to fool around with sometimes makes it easier to create.

On another note, gish got the new Die Warzau and I tell you it is absolutely awesome. Buy it today if you're a fan of industrial music. The album is simply amazing and ground-breaking. They shame me and my crapulence mightily.

Oh well, that's all for now. Thanks for being patient with me.

this is really more of a "note to self" kind of thing, but if anyone has any input, feel free to comment, i guess.

anyway, there are a few songs i'm thinking about trying to cover, as my first attempts at composing music. coz i think that would be a good way to learn. and, also, if sohei doesn't like the songs, it doesn't matter, coz i'm doing everything for myself. >_< here's the list of potential songs, so far:

here - gravity kills
the scientist - coldplay (should be challenging)
everyday is like sunday - morrissey
flashback - ministry

here and the scientist were songs that looped in my head the day my mum died, so they're kind of personal. i'd like to try to cover one of them. and the morrissey song is just a cool, post-apocalyptic song. and the first time i read the lyrics to flashback, i was like, damn, that's some creepy shit. but then i thought, it would be even weirder, i think, if a woman were to do the vocals.

so, yeah. i'm going to try my hand at doing something with our software soon.

after a week in orlando, and then being sick, i'm back. i was really looking forward to getting back home to start recording again, especially since sohei came up with some really good stuff while i was gone, including some lyrics. by the time i got home, though, i had a pretty bad cold, so singing was out of the question. it may have actually improved matters, who knows?

anyway, i still kind of feel like crap, but i think we may be working on some new tracks this weekend. which i'm totally looking forward to. our next song is all sohei, except for my vox. and i'm kind of thinking he should try doing some vox himself. but whatever.

glad to be back.

Gish just gave me two Skinny Puppy CDs for my birthday - Last Rights and Too Dark Park, both of which I've wanted for a long time but have never been able to find. Thanx, gish! I'm hoping they'll give me some fresh ideas for songs. I highly recommend both of these (esp. Last Rights) if you're looking for a CD to buy. I'm off to Pop-eyes now - later.

Well, I'm stumped. I tripped out today because I was listening to our MP3's on my work computer using headphones and the sound quality was shit! It sounded like it had been recorded with the volume up to high. So I used Tuareg to turn down the volume levels and re-rendered the song, and it sounded okay, but still not good. I took the headphones home with me. I plugged them into my home computer, turned the volume up to max, and it sounded fine. I then hooked a cheap pair of powered PC speakers and tried again, I was able to get the volume up *much* higher. And it still sounded great. So I guess it's just my crap ass work computer. But usually music sounds okay on it, so I'm worried. If anyone is out there, let me know how the sound quality is. It shouldn't crackle, pop, or fizz out. The snare in Terr0r is supposed to sound a little abrasive and distorted, but it shouldn't make you rip your headphones off.

UPDATE: Okay, I just burned an audio CD of four JSFF songs. I played it on my boombox and on the home theater system and they both sounded great. The bass was friggin' awesome. My neighbors were probably pissed. I think the heavy bass may be the problem - shitty computer/sound card/speakers couldn't handle the bad.ass. Oh well, fuck it. I could care less if it doesn't play on that computer. I'm getting a new one at work soon - we'll see how that does.

The mp3 compression engine in Tuareg isn't very good. It makes the drums sound flat. I tried Media Monkey, and I was able to create a 128kbps mp3 that sounds much better and is the same size. I guess the technology has come a lot further since 2002 (when Tuareg was finished). So unfortunately, I'll be using that instead now, even though I actually paid for the Tuareg version. I've swapped out the old file for the new one.

Also, I finished work on a new song I'm tenatively calling Consumer. I even wrote the lyrics for this one. Originally I wrote a few lines just so I could plan out the song progression, but it snowballed from there. I still need gish to sing them, though. I may post the lyric-less version, if it still sounds as good to me tommorrow. I'd post the lyrics today, but they'll probably change a lot before the actual song is finished.

Well, I just finished uploading the new remix of Terr0r. I'm calling this one the Heresy mix. gish is gonna want to find an Internet Cafe or something in that hell-hole of a city she's in right now, because she's got to hear this. I like it a lot better.

Here's what i did:

• Changed the samples used for the drum loops. The basses are heavier and more resonant. The hi hat is more acoustic and the hand claps are more artificial sounding.
  
• Shortened the drum chorus by 1 measure (too repetative)
  
• Removed much of the delay from Gish's vox. Makes them much clearer in spots. Added some flange, which gives her a more mechanical feel. Mmmm... mechanical (drool).
  
• Added a breakbeat every 4th measure of each verse, to change up the drum loop.
  
• Adjusted the levels for many of the channels.
  
• Added some stereo panning. Lots of stereo panning, actually. It really helps make the composition less muddled, and allows the individual channels to shine through. You can also do some cool fx with it (like the "I dunno" snare breakdown). I didn't realize how essential that feature would be.
  
• Fattened the underlying bass and changed the sample to an Amber Modeling Synth patch that I created. Used crossfading to dampen the synth before the chorus. It's much more melodic than that sub-dub noise that was there previously.
  
• Removed samples. :(

Give it a listen and let us know what you think. If you liked it that is. If you didn't like, you know what you can do with yourself (kidding).


Big thanks to Tuareg 2, the sweetest little music program around!

This is bugging me. I was reading over CNET's terms and conditions for submitting songs - not that I'm planning to do that yet, but I was curious. And they say you can't use any samples of copyrighted 3rd party sound recordings. I've been wondering about the legality of samples for some time now. Do you really have to get permission for every damn sample that you use? No matter how short? That's so stupid. I mean, if I use a 1 second sound byte from a 3 hour movie, I've gotta go through all the Hollywood red tape to get permission for that? It's not like I'm reproducing the entire movie. To be safe, I think in the future I won't use any samples off television. Thankfully, anything the government records is automatically in the public domain. So I'll probably just use them instead.

I've re-recorded the songs so they don't have the TV samples any more. I know, it sucks. But I don't want some nasty cease and desist letter. Don't fear, though, I'm going to get some new clips right now. Here I come, www.whitehouse.gov!

UPDATE: Okay, I did a little research and determined that my use of samples falls well within the parameters for what is called "Fair Use." So I'm going to go ahead and put the samples back - a little later. There are a number of criteria to determine fair use, and our song meets all of them. Good to know! If you're composing music with samples and want to know more about fair use, see Stanford's Web site. Unfortunately, it looks like CNET doesn't care about fair use, so any songs submitted to them will have to be sample-free, I think.

I know you've all been waiting for this (all three of you). As promised, I've put up the REAL, OFFICIAL, 100% SLAVE-LABOR PRODUCED JUNK SICK FUCK FEST T-SHIRT. That old one was crap. But this one - definitely not crap. Someone buy me one and I'll tell you where to send it (kidding). Feast on this (jsf)fest, babies...

Consume one today!

The print on the back is hard to read on cafepress. Here's what it says:

Welcome to the New World Order

-> Assertion creates reality
-> All truth is lies
-> Authority brings comfort
-> Freedom brings fear
-> War is endless
-> Occupation is liberation
-> Mistakes are never made
-> The only ethic is loyalty
-> The only choice is obedience
-> Everything is for sale
-> Greed is virtue
-> Persecution brings justice
-> War maintains peace
-> Oppression fosters harmony
-> Artistry is decadence
-> Intellectualism is subversive
-> Science is heresy
-> Belief destroys faith
-> Propaganda is dogma
-> Fact is fiction
-> Tyranny is freedom
-> The will triumphs over all

jsff.carvedangel.net

Bad.ass, right? And I guarentee no one will know what the fuck your shirt means, which makes it xtra cool (so I'm told).

I went to the library yesterday. Because I had to. Just kidding, I like the library alright, but my problem is that everything in there is at least 3 years old. Why don't they stay current?

Anyway, I picked up some books on drums, music composition, and electronic music. The drum book, "Drums for Dummies," (I know - but it is a public library) looks the most promising. Since we use electronic drums, most of the info on technique is useless. But the "drum theory" is really interesting. The book explains the basics of different drum styles, like rock, R&B, Jazz, etc. I think it'll help me create better drum patterns if I learn these fundamentals.

The electronic music book is ancient - from 1993. Which, if you consider how far computers haves come in 12 years, might as well be 300 B.C.E. But I thought it might provide some insight how the industrial bands of yore, who were in their heyday in the early nineties/late eighties, were able to pull off their sounds. So I'm sure there's some interesting bits in there.

Speaking of ancient history, I watched a DVD of Skinny Puppy's 1987 concert. Holy shit, they're amazing! D.R. Goettle (RIP) is surrounded by like 8 synths. Cevin Key has a guitar on his back, some synths and other equipment, and a drum set in this little console he's got going on. Meanwhile, Ogre's going ape shit, wrapping himself in intestines and blowing up babies. He's got this FX box hooked into his microphone, which he plays with constantly to produce all those great vox FX. I fucking love that band. I can't wait to see the new DVD. They're having a release party for it at a local goth club, which we'll probably go to.

That's all. Gish is going out of town this week, so I plan on working hard on some new shit. I hope to have something new posted before too long.

I'm working on three things right now. I'm getting a little frustrated, because I having trouble making the songs complex. I can up with these neat little grooves, but you can only listen to the same thing for so long. I also feel like I should have more instruments, but when I add too many, the composition feels muddied. Anyway, right now, the three songs I'm working on are:

1) A cover of Ministry's Cannibal Song (really just need the vocals to finish this one)

2) A new song with a lead sitar part and a catchy bassline. Maybe needs better drums.

3) A remix of Terr0r. I want the drums stronger, and I want to revise the bass part. I think I'll also tone down the delay on gish's voice.

That's all for now! Think I'll take a break and watch Skinny Puppy's "Ain' it dead yet?" on DVD. Probably also design a new cafepress t-shirt.

so, this past weekend, we worked on our first song. i've been trying for weeks to figure out how i wanted to do the vocals. i typically sing in the soprano/alto range, and in a... melodic way. i guess. but that's not the sound i was going for, for this project. so that was a bit of a challenge. at first, i was kind of iffy about how it turned out, but i like it now. i tend to think the music itself is pretty good, so i feel weird about throwing vocals into the mix.

but i was pretty happy with the lyrics. after hearing the music a couple times, they just kind of came to me. i think it worked.

all in all, it was an interesting experience. i was surprised at how quickly my voice got tired... but i totally look forward to making more music in future. unless everyone really hates my work, in which case, i guess i won't.

Fucking cool. I opened up a cafepress store where you can buy JFSS merchandise. Man, back in high school we would've shit all over ourselves to be able to put all the band logos we wasted time drawing on the backs of notebooks on to T-shirts. Anyhow, don't buy anything there yet (not that I think you would), because the shirt we have up there now is crap. But I'm going to get another one up before too long. I'm also going to have some shirts for my political blog, forged demon.

Junk Sick Fuck Fest Merchandise

Greetings, Junk Sick Fuck Festers. Welcome to the online home of Junk Sick Fuck Fest (JSFF). JSFF is a little musical project that gish and me, sohei, are having some fun with. We are making electronic music using primarily sampled sounds, a PC, a few analog instruments, and whatever else we can get our hands on. We're far from a "serious" hi-tech, hi-priced, hi-production outfit. So don't go expecting to hear nine inch nails lite or something. We're the Information Age equivalent of a garage band.

We decided to open up this little blog to share our experiences as we try to make some songs that won't make you want to rip your own head off. We'll be posting insights, musings, lyrics, and generally cataloging observations related to the JSFF project. And, of course, we'll be posting mp3s of our completed songs.

We don't have any big aspirations for this band. We just want to have fun making some bitching industrial music that we would enjoy listening too. And if we're going to put all that work into it, we might as well share it. Anyway, I sound like an ass. More to come, so stay tuned, bitches!