roncli.com blog: March 2008

I have to say that, despite the cruddy sound quality, I really am liking this Inspiration Edit of Given Up. It's made me think about seriously doing a whole bunch of songs like this. I have a lot of music in me, and it would be wonderful to get them all out, even if it was just in a stripped down performance like this.

The biggest problem has been getting my new X-Fi to work right. Last night, I improvised by putting everything through my J-Station, and using SPDIF-In to record it all. Unfortunately, when I plugged stuff in any of the Line-In jacks, the sound was quiet and there was a ton of line noise. I'd like to get this fixed so I can properly record things as opposed to passing things through a device that wasn't designed to have things passed through it.

It annoys me, because the X-Fi is new, and I paid a good chunk of money for it. That said, I haven't done a whole lot of research on the subject, and I figure a good hour or so of Googling may find a decent resolution for my problem.

But yes, I want to do more. I'm really pleased by this performance, and it's inspired me to go back and lay something else down. Maybe this'll get me to the point where I'm actually release the full versions of these tracks, who knows?

Labels: Given Up, Inspiration Edit, Music

Audiosurf and TraxSurf
Posted: 4:25:00 AM 0 comments

Check out Audiosurf when you get a free moment. It's a game that takes your MP3 music and makes "tracks" out of them that you "surf". There are various modes, but the most common is a match three puzzler where you have to pick up the right blocks at the right time to score the most points.

It's really fun. Especially for those who make music!

I've had a blast running my songs through Audiosurf, especially Cent Main Theme and Deadly Drums: Extended Mix, both of which are pretty difficult for me. You can also run other people's songs through it, and it gave me an idea...

That idea is TraxSurf. Since I already listen to all of the songs on Trax in Space, I should be able to pick out 5 songs every week that can be used towards a weekly Audiosurf competition. So I started coding it, and a lot of that code is already on the SVN. It shouldn't be too long before I have a completed web site, but as with all of my own projects lately, it seems to be taking a longer than expected to finish.

In any case, this is going to be a fun side project to work with, and hopefully it will pick up steam when it's released. I'm looking forward to it.

Labels: Audiosurf, Cent Main Theme, Coding, Deadly Drums, Gaming, Music, TraxSurf

Given Up (Inspiration Edit)
Posted: 3:38:00 AM 0 comments

Louigi Verona on Trax in Space is holding an interesting "live concert" called Inspiration Live, where participants record their music live and "perform" it virtually. It will happen on April 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.

Well, recently, I have been working on Given Up in Reason, an old song I tried to record and release back in the days of StudioKraft in Houston. I decided why not enter this song?

So I did. It is a Trax in Space exclusive (you'll also find Cent Credits over there as a TiS exclusive as well!), so be sure you have an account over there before checking it out.

Labels: Cent Credits, Given Up, Inspiration Edit, Music

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Vincent Lau
Posted: 1:46:00 AM 0 comments

On Saturday, March 1st at 9:50 PM pacific time, Vincent Lau, known around the digital music scene as SalsaBoy and ViciousV, passed away. He was 31 years old.

Vincent is most widely known for being a co-founder of Trax in Space. From 1994 on, he designed the graphics for the website, along with all of the icons and the characters that graced the site in its prime. He also was a contributor to Digital Music Revolution, the e-magazine that spun off from Trax in Space back in 2000.

He grew up in Houston, TX, where his family still lives. He moved to San Francisco a few years back and was working for Wells Fargo. He had always had a blood condition, having to get it changed every 3 weeks. As it was explained to me, the condition "finally caught up to him". He was in the hospital once last month, and again a week ago.

There's a lot I have to be thankful for in having known Vincent. If he hadn't been working with Saurin, I'd probably have never joined up with the Trax in Space team, and I probably wouldn't be where I am right now in my career. He was a very social person, easy to make conversation with, and always knew how to have fun. One of the most unique things about him, it seemed that no matter where you went with him - New York, Las Vegas, Washington - he would always run into someone he knew.

Vincent, you will be sorely missed by many, many people. Rest well, my friend.

Labels: Life, RIP, Vincent Lau