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Midnights-Ocean
I make music and sounds. I post mostly on newgrounds so people can use them in games and such. My full albums can be found on my home page below.

Age 32, Banana

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Old Scool

Ocean

Joined on 3/12/09

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Midnights-Ocean's News

Posted by Midnights-Ocean - October 4th, 2020


I doubt this journal will get many responses. Most don't really but lets get into todays subject.


The scope of music changing on a personal level as the years go by and the times change. When the world was 20 years younger, what came to mind when I though of powerful music, were the 4 pillars of hardness, hard acid techno, trance, D&B, rock and combining the 4.


2 decades and it's societal “progression” later, something has changed. It’s probably me but I don’t care about rock anymore. In general, main stream rock feels like, noise, recycled for 80 years. The same 6 chords, 6 guitars, 6 amps. Maybe that’s what’s cool about it. Maybe cool isn’t cool anymore. I don’t know. As far as hard acid techno, trance and D&B are concerned, these days, it stays interesting for me, for about a minute and a half, before, something just turns off inside me. Not sure what but I just loose interest. I just think, heh that 303 was such a great little box and then I get a odd sad feeling and move on. Tis no wonder I don't create much in those genres anymore.


It kinda feels like, the passed is unraveling. Like the dimension where rock, the amen and the little 303 were king, is now just an illusion. As if, the time lines changed and it somehow never happened. All that's left are detached memories of a time, I no longer understand, which is very odd, since I was steeped in it for so long.


Nowadays, what comes to mind when I think of powerful music is: massive, earth reshaping, mega tsunami sized synth bass pads, with no beat, no rhythm-centric aspects, just pure massiveness. Speed and rhythm-centric music, it seems, have gotten smaller in my mind. Sure they are energetic but now it feels more like popcorn. Pooping popcorn is energetic but on the grand scale of things, it’s weak, small. Maybe fun for a short time but ultimately more agitating or annoying to me than moving.


Slow means large now and in a lot of ways it’s actually physically true. Because of perspective, the bigger something is, the more slowly it seems to move. This is why the robots felt so big in the first pacific rim movie, they moved “slow”, as if they were massive. Faster cycles mean smaller size. Atoms spin at mind boggling RPMs compared to your hard drive, vinyl record or the moon. Slow also means longer lived. Where as the faster things in life, are gone quite quickly. Interesting it is that, eh?


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Posted by Midnights-Ocean - September 25th, 2020


Not exactly joining the anarchist “make it a chinese clone” crowd, per-say, but, I will voice my growing displeasure with all these ridiculous displays of shameless decadence that carry a price tag average people can't touch.


Sure all that kit does sound nice and warm but the chill of 2020 financial woes freezes it right out. A lot of people are literally going on 6 to 9 months now, without work. Running out of food money. You can find more ingenuitive pieces of musical pioneering, being made on a shoe string budget, in some no name persons attic. All that adds up to: Yeah, it’s becoming quite gross to me, seeing corporate boot licking celebrities, playing $150,000 rigs, basically just to show off.


Then there’s the inevitable ass kissing fest that follows in the comments. “Oh you are such a god for having more money than 99% of everyone else. Such a genius for programming simple arpeggiators and playing elementary chords drowned in reverb for 10 minutes straight”. It’s such hallow bull shit.


Thousands upon thousands of dollars in kit, usually, almost ALWAYS, just to create a compositionally rather dull, repetitive, piece of retro music (or some other thing). The kind of music, that, if posted without the famous name, shiny vid and expensive gear, would likely get a "ho hum" response from most. So is it the actual composition people are impressed with? Or the superficial stuff? Spoilers, it's all the superficial stuff.


Real genius doesn’t need excessively expensive kit to make ground breaking art.


In closing, I still have issues with the “make it in china for cheep” stance but no longer because I think these expensive companies are making art better. Sure companies like moog offer "cheaper" synths but oscillator for oscillator, not really. In fact it seems there is very little effort by them and others to make analog polyphonic synths affordable. I guess they just think people wont find out, there are ways to be warm and analog without taking out a loan. At the end of the day, it's about talent and you still have to digitize it, to distribute it, so your warm sound will always have a bit of freezer burn.


Just sayin' :/


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Posted by Midnights-Ocean - September 21st, 2020


Was farting around on some music genre sites and I noticed there has been very little in the way of electronic genre inventing over the passed 2 decades. There was a bit between 2000 and 2010. Nothing like the 2 decades before it but at least something. 2010 to 2020 though, had literally nothing. Complete vacancy on 3 different genre maps. What happened to musical innovation? I know for a fact it still exists but where are all the new genres it should be creating? It's a rather stark contrast between say, the 90s and post 2000. Maybe you could chalk it up to social climate. Even so though, no new genres in 10 years? Doesn't seem possible.


Anyone know of any offhand? New genres: 2010 to 2020?


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Posted by Midnights-Ocean - May 6th, 2020


https://youtu.be/7_d4s7chpqk

Please like share and all that. : )


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1

Posted by Midnights-Ocean - March 22nd, 2019


Technology, it seems, acting through incentive, removes the human element from a modern musical equation. In the depths of the DAW, soft synths and sound automation, the human at the keyboard becomes more and more lost. Likely unknowingly, contributing less and less to the final outcome. Originality, staring into the digital void, is replaced with the all one sameness of a program.


Thus, the double edged sward of technology. Giving power to the creative and poor, while stripping credible artists, both rich and poor, of their sonic identity. Promoting faux creators, intoxicated with illusions of grandeur, the intellectual foundation of the arts, erodes into oblivion.


When society grades music based on superficial qualities, instead of human composition, a runaway loss of creative incentive ensues. Music making, requiring less than 10% human input, renders a music “maker”, no longer. What remains but a dishonest shadow, possessing a program, or perhaps, does the program possess them?


With a download and a click, one can create shining worlds of false, empty magic. Death and darkness, whispering sweet lies, as their peer's intellect dies.  


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Posted by Midnights-Ocean - February 28th, 2019


Some advice concerning manipulative people. Again, mostly reminding myself lessons I continually relearn. Also, hopefully encouraging others who’ve been victimized.


I’ve had many encounters with manipulators over the years. They come in many shapes, sizes and flavors. One of the primary objectives of a manipulator is to first disarm your mental defenses. One of their primary tools is to use your own emotions again you. The game: Get you in a disposition so if you become emotional over injustices inflicted upon your person, YOU look like the guilty party.


Above all else manipulators are obsessed with being clever and being in control of other people (sick).


Manipulating someone is by function an attempt to bypass their free will. Thus the nature of it is dishonest, usually malevolent and always self serving. Easily 99% of the time, the person being manipulated does NOT benefit. Manipulators are self centered. Self enthroned and often conceited. Projecting into others, a deep hatred for themselves or for what they feel they will not achieve (crab pot syndrome).


Conceited [con-ceit-ed]: Adjective. Ingeniously contrived. Holding to fantasies that falsify a discouraging reality.  


Crab Mentality: In human behavior members of a group will attempt to reduce the self-confidence of any member who achieves success beyond the others, or halt their progress, out of envy, resentment, spite, conspiracy, or competitive feelings.


Some most noted attributes of manipulative people:

Sudden attitude change

Projection (hypocrisy)

Disingenuous apologies

Exploiting plausible deniability

Using illegitimate parallels (comparing apples to oranges)

Disproportionate Aggression (being overly aggressive without factual justification)

Filibustering

Denial (ignoring factual evidence)

Mob Tactics (playing people off of one another)

Extortion

Intellectual thievery

Blackmail


Though these traits are not exclusive to manipulators, at least a few will always correlate well. Along those lines manipulators can be very petty. No illogic is often bared from use. A manipulator might claim, I am manipulating people simply buy writing this article (projection).


A general example of manipulation: Lets say, a person gains your trust, then comes to you for help with barely a rough sketch for a tune. With the promise of cross promotion, you fill in the remaining 90% of the material, creating a finished product. However, upon completion, said person takes full credit for your 90% and if/when you protest, are framed as attempting to steal said person’s ideas/work. The manipulator got what they wanted, with the bonus of all guilt projected onto the victim.


You do not need to feel ashamed if you have fallen victim to these things. You are not alone and in most cases, you do NOT have to play these people’s sick games.  


~Continued in part 2~


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Posted by Midnights-Ocean - February 28th, 2019


~Part 2~


The disingenuous teacher:


A common persona manipulators adopt is of the “teacher” or “mentor”. Naturally this suits their modus operandi quite well. Putting them in a prime position to manipulate unsuspecting people. Promising wisdom and better prosperity, as they take your existing knowledge for themselves. All the while leading you down a non-beneficial path. At first this type of manipulator often encourages you with great positivity. Usually the attitude then slowly morphs into one expecting/demanding your subservience. If at any time the manipulator suspects rebellion or feels your mind/talents can/will surpass their own, they might snap into a hostile aggression (sudden attitude changes). Oppressing your development. If a teacher/mentor who first appeared very friendly, suddenly looses their venom on you, simply for questioning them (asking the “wrong” question), you are probably dealing with a manipulator of some sort.


The very function of a true teacher or mentor is one of selflessness and honesty, which can be said, is a form of humility. In most cases a manipulator is completely incompatible with this function.


Example of a false mentor:

Say a mentor invites you under their wing. You present sophisticated, original artwork that you wish to market. They say you must simplify your art for marketability. You oblige, only to find they then claim you are only capable of creating simple unoriginal works. That you never created anything else. The manipulator brought you down to their level. They became superficially equal or greater than you, through clever means. In a way, manipulators are psychotic. Often preferring, for example, to spend vast time learning how to manipulate you into looking less educated than they are. Instead of simply spending said time, educating themselves to make it a true fact.


Manipulators are clever hypocrites. This can not be emphasized enough. To the point it could be said, they worship their own cleverness. A manipulator, for example, might find an alternative definition to terms used herein, in an attempt to discredit this article's arguments.


Clever [klev-er]: Adjective. Superficially skillful, witty or Facile [fas-il]: Acting or working with ease sometimes superficially.  


Mendacious [men-da-cious]: Adjective. Given to or characterized by deception or falsehood or divergence from absolute truth.


My message to anyone reading is simple: Be careful of anyone posing as a leader. If they turn out to be a manipulator, you will probably find them subjugating you. Making you do THEIR dirty work to further THEIR subversive ambitions. The only "friendly" relation you will likely end up with is, serving your tyrannical leader, wondering why you should feel obliged to.


The world is full of manipulators. Mainly because they are widely tolerated. Though there may be times you are forced to deal with them, most times you do NOT have to tolerate them. You should NEVER feel obliged to tolerate them or their games. A fundamental part of their tactic is to keep you engaged in their game. You can say NO. The sooner the better. Manipulators will attempt to make you look weak for walking away but IT IS IN YOUR BEST INTEREST TO DO SO. The more you engage with a manipulator, the more you inevitably loose. In this regard they are much like TROLLS. Even if you can outwit them, you still have lost your precious time. Time much better spent furthering your career. Your art. Your beneficial relations. Your life.  


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Posted by Midnights-Ocean - February 27th, 2019


Bit of advice. To remind myself things I’ve learned too many times. Also, perhaps encouraging people, like myself, who might not be aggressive enough defending what they know to be tried and true.


The 12 (don’t)s


#1 Don’t rely on 1 set of monitors or 1 room to test mixes (especially an untreated room)

#2 Don’t close your mind to critique

#3 Don’t fail to test the validity of critique with proven scientific method

#4 Don’t mistake opinion for factual observation

#5 Don’t mistake a strong opinion for an educated one

#6 Don’t let uneducated, unproven, opinions dictate to you

#7 Don’t let people, who do not do what you do, take away the value of what you do

#8 Don’t allow yourself to be intimidated by social mob mentality or those who may wield it

#9 Don’t trust opinion over your gear (a spectral analyzer has no opinion to obscure the facts)

#10 Don’t stop furthering your education in your field

#11 Don’t let armatures convince you the utility of your education or gear is worthless

#12 Don’t let people take from you the merit of your own work and original ideas


So what inspired this? Since the move, I’ve been without a proper mixing room. I hadn’t tested my new room and thus, been in the dark concerning mixes. My past room and methods had given decent results. I’d learned better methods since then and expected better mixes. Newer peer pressure led me to believe, I was mixing poorly. So, instead of trusting my education and actually testing the claims with gear, I just ran with the critique. Making the adjustments I was pressured into, the mix sounded fine in the new room. My better knowledge said there was a bad reason why. The peer pressure insisted this was my “arrogance”.


The car stereo proved them wrong.


In the car, the mixes sucked out loud. In a way my better knowledge predicted. I tried blaming the car stereo to protect the peer’s image. Then I remembered, I didn’t learn all I had in the past, by blindly ignoring the science of audio engineering. Quite the contrary. So, I grabbed my old real time analyzer and gear, tested the new room and checked the car stereo for malfunction. Surprise surprise, training and gear wasn’t lying before and it didn’t lie now. Switched the room's monitors. Was forced to admit there was nothing wrong with the car. Took some notes. Did an EQ session and the mix came back to life, in the car, in the room, on phones. Kinda reminds me the time, way back when, someone in collage convinced me to mix on tracking monitors instead of mixing monitors (because they didn't know what they were doing).


Just wow. I have to say after all this is, be careful of social “leaders”. Just because someone’s knowledgeable or good at one set of things, doesn’t mean they are at others. Worse, if you dare to be knowledgeable or good at something they aren’t, they may try to drag you down. Making you look like the fool.


Unfortunately, some people, usually the aggressive kind, just plain don’t know what they are talking about sometimes. Worse, they often attempt to make up for unwillingness to educate themselves in your field, by pressuring you into a false narrative. One where your training or gear is “of little value”, “elitist”, "unneeded" or “outdated”. Like the loud guy at the gas station who strongly insists you take bad advice and your car suffers for it. Now, I have to fix numerous tunes. A bummer for sure. The silver lining though, is, to my embarrassment, life proves again, a simple set of truths when it comes to audio: Trust your education, use your gear, test critique, ignore the ignorant and stay confidant in your own hard work.  


In other words, if you have invested the time to develop the tools/talent to do a job well, don't let people take away those tools, simply because they are compelled to feel superior or whatever.


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Posted by Midnights-Ocean - August 28th, 2018


Found this channel a while back: https://www.youtube.com/user/mixbustv/featured 

Even if he's not covering the genre you are mixing, there's still some neat tricks to learn that can be applied to projects. 

Know of other mixing/mastering sites/channels? Post um. :)  


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Posted by Midnights-Ocean - July 15th, 2018


Best budget mixing monitors: Just dug up my Yamaha HS5s again and I am totally selling my more expensive ones and going back to using the HS5s.


For anyone who's done studio work, you know you need good mixing monitors. Now please note, I'm talking about mixing monitors, not tracking monitors. Many mixing monitors are expensive as dick and for that reason I can't say I've ever owned the much pricer ones. that being said, high prices don't mean the budget producer can't have mixing monitors that will give a good or even great mix. To date the best I've ever found are also some of the cheapest. The Yamaha HS5 https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/HS5--yamaha-hs5-5-inch-powered-studio-monitor . Over the years I've owned a few different monitors, smaller, larger, more expensive, less expensive, but I always keep coming back to the HS5. Reason is simple, they produce good mixes. Not perfect mixes but GOOD mixes. Now being imperfect and small you have to have a little engineering experience to get the low bass mixed right but for the price you really can't beat these. At least not from my experience. The key is, they don't "sound good". They sound dull, flat and boring. This means you are inclined to mix your tracks on the sweeter side, to make up for it. The end result is a good sounding mix, that will sound good no matter where you bring it. It further proves the rule of thumb, that, if your monitors sound amazing, your mixes will likely sound the opposite. If your monitors sound uninspiring, your mixes will sound the opposite. Not surprising these are by Yamaha. The same company responsible, way back when, for the “shrill boxes” that helped revolutionize mixing.

 

If any of you all have stories about your fave or least fave monitors, please share. :)

 

 

Peace.