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YAMAHA RX-15 DRUM MACHINE: Review & Demo
The past few months I’ve been picking up some older drum machines and synthesizers from craigslist for pretty cheap. The demos for these machines are kind of terrible, so I decided to do my own for my producers who want to learn about older machines out there they might see. This is my first time doing a video like this, so let me know if you find it interesting or helpful and I’ll try to do more videos like it.
Word is Blog
A Recap of My First Teaching Experience
For those that have read this blog for a while, a few weeks ago I wrote a blog titled “How Do You Respond to Failure” that was about how I had messed up my first opportunity to teach kids because of a date mix-up. I beat myself up over it, but promised myself that I would try to make up for it by making it a priority and trying it again in the future.
Well, early last week I got contacted by a friend who teaches at a charter school here in Columbus about coming in to speak to his kids about poetry. Excited about the opportunity, I said yes pretty much immediately.
Throw Me a Couple Topics or Questions
This past week I tried something that I hadn’t tried before: I wrote about blog about a question that was suggested to me by one of my twitter followers. The blog was titled Thoughts on Sampling vs Fair Use and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. I’d like to try that again in the future, so if you’ve got any cool questions or ideas hit me up in the here in the comments section, twitter, facebook, or hit the contact page and e-mail me.Word
Thoughts on Sampling vs Fair Use
A little while back I was asked this question about sampling on Twitter. I wanted to answer it there, but I realized that would be pretty difficult because of the 140 character limit, so I decided to write some thoughts on it here.
@printmatic I'm curious about your thoughts on this vs sampling vs fair use via the "transformative work" clause. Where is the line?
@TysonHabeinTyson HabeinTo discuss sampling properly, I think it’s necessary to talk about it from three distinct perspectives: the artist doing the sampling, the artist being sampled, and the rights owner of the sampled material. I’ll write my thoughts on each perspective.
Yo, What happened To Peace?
Earlier today I was having a discussion, or better yet an argument, with a family member and came to the conclusion that most people don’t really know what peace is. Therefore, when they talk about wanting peace, they’re actually talking about something completely different than what peace actually is.
I’ve noticed that many people think peace and quiet are the same thing. This confusion makes it very difficult for them to actively engage in productive discussions about how to achieve peace.
Two Years Sober Today: The Benefits of Sobriety
Two years ago today I decided to take small break from drinking. I needed to clear my head. A week into it, I felt good and decided to keep going. After a month, I felt even better. Once I got to two months sober I made a decision that I didn’t want alcohol to play a part in my life again.
I have been sober for two years straight today. It has been an amazing journey that has forced me to confront many things about myself that I didn’t like. I’ve learned that everybody drinks for a reason, and the people who drink the most have the most reasons. If you don’t understand the “why” then you will be doomed to repeat the cycle.
Working Out and Eating Right: What’s Your Status?
The other day, a friend made a comment on how in shape they thought I was. I’m not really ripped or anything like that, but I am pretty lean and thin. I think the comment was rooted in the fact that I don’t really come off like a health freak or obsess about working out, and usually people who don’t do either of those things are out of shape.
How Do You Respond to Failure?
About six weeks ago, I was contacted about teaching two workshops on writing to a group of High School kids. The person who contacted me had originally reached out to me a couple years ago, but for whatever reason we weren’t able to make it happen. It looked more likely this time around since my schedule was clear; I had been at home writing my book for several months straight and had no plans to be on the road for a while.After giving it some careful thought, I confirmed the date and started to prepare. Admittedly, I was nervous about teaching, but since I had more time to prepare I felt confident I could put something together that the students and I would be happy with.
Quote of the Week: Beverly Daniel Tatum
“The task of resisting our own oppression does not relieve us of the responsibility of acknowledging our complicity in the oppression of others.” – Beverly Daniel Tatum, PH.D (From the book Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in The Cafeteria)
Quote of the week: P.T. Barnum
“When a man’s undivided attention is centered on one object, his mind will constantly be suggesting improvements of value, which would escape him if his brain was occupied by a dozen a dozen different subjects at once.” – P.T. Barnum (from Art of Money Getting)
Chip Away At Your Goals
In the spring of 2010, while I was on tour with Killah Priest, I had the idea to write a book about the making of Adventures in Counter-Culture. I started jotting down thoughts and memories, emptying my head of everything that I could recollect about the process and everything that went into the creation of the album. I wasn’t sure if I would ever finish it, but It was a cool activity to keep me busy during the long drives.
The album itself wouldn’t come out for a year, so my initial idea was to finish the book before the album was done so it would be available on the album’s release date. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. I was able to write up about three or four pages of notes but that was it. Sadly, the initial idea for The Making of Adventures in Counter-Culture book was filed away along with all the other ideas that I used to talk about but never finished. I had a bucket list just like everybody else, which included items like sky diving, write a book, and make a movie, but during the two year period that I was drinking heavily nothing really seemed to get checked off of it.
Things started to change shortly after that 2010 tour with Killah Priest.
Quote of the Week: J. Krisnamurti
“When you depend, you gradually become weak, you become feeble. You are incapable of thinking clearly. This is a fact. Newspapers tell you what to think. All the meetings, the discourses that you attend, instruct. So the lack of self-reliance, the lack of a sense of responsibility for oneself – that may be the root cause of all this confusion. We have become irresponsible because we depend.” – J. Krishnamurti (“Mind without Measure”)
The Last Five Albums I Bought (March 2011)
I got a lot of good recommendations the last time I decided to post the Last Five Albums I Bought, so I’m going to make it a regular thing. Here’s the last five albums I purchased and my thoughts on them. Please hit the comments section and add yours.
1. Ka “Grief Pedigree”
This album reminds me of everything I love about New York hip-hop: the production is minimal but bangs, the rhymes are rugged and make you visualize the city, and the rapper’s got a really dope voice. If you’re a fan of Roc Marciano, then you probably heard Ka guest appear on his album. In short, Grief Pedigree, Ka’s debut solo album, is dope. My favorite joint on here is “Decisions.” My dude Cryptic One recommended this to me and I’m glad I listened.
How to Cure Writer’s Block
For those who write, writer’s block is the antithesis of expression. As unseen as the common cold and as paralyzing to our creativity as any sickness that attacks our bodies. Those unfortunate enough to catch it are forced to carry on their lives voiceless in a world that barely gave them a voice to begin with.As writers, we tend to beat ourselves up over it. The longer it lasts the more we start to question everything that made us unique, how we got this far, and if we’re really cut out for this field of work. We worry that maybe we just ran out of “stuff” to write about. Maybe our lives are just boring and we have nothing to offer. But following that line of thinking only leads to the most obvious solution, which is to go do something interesting so we’ll have interesting things to write about. This sounds good on the surface but don’t be fooled.
I’ll explain.
What I Learned From A 30-Year Old Drum Machine
Yesterday I bought a used Roland TR-606 drum machine from craigslist. For those that don’t know, the Roland brand of drum machines are synonymous with most of the music released in the 80’s. You would be hard-pressed to find a record from that era that wasn’t made using one of the Roland drum machines; the most popular being the TR-808 model. This model is so popular that people just refer to its sounds as the 808 kit, and an “808” is now slang for the really deep bass kick that’s used all over the place. Even if you didn’t know what it was, you’ve heard it a million times, especially on southern rap records and 80’s music. The TR-606 I bought originally came out in 1982.
Even though I experimented with the 80’s sound on Adventures in Counter-Culture, I never owned any vintage gear, so I had to work from memory and studying those styles more than actually owning the gear they used to create it. I would’ve loved to own some vintage gear in the past but it’s usually pretty expensive, and I didn’t know if I would be using it enough to justify the purchase. Luckily, I saw the 606 on craigslist for a price that was in my budget, so I went for it. I spent a few hours last night going through the user manual and learning how to use it, and while it hasn’t even been 24 hours since I brought the TR-606 home I’ve been reminded of something that was starting to get a bit lost.
