Amygdala

Well, "into it" is saying the very least - it's just that - it seems that many tracks on "prepare your spirit" are from the other albums... I'm not sure, I haven't cross-checked very thoroughly. I'll get to it -A

Yup, it's allright... I think maybe it's a bit to "barren" for me. I'm more into the enveloping soundscapes of implant and abduction. -Anywho... How inportant is "prepare your spirit"? I have ALL the other major Eat Static albums - do I need this one? -A

Transwave aaaaall the way! Phototropic is the most sublime album. I don't see how any goa/psy/whatever-trance track can ever get to me like Byron Bay does. -A

Paradox of the day. I was in "Stereo Studio" in Aarhus today - one of the most mainstream record stores you'll ever find. Suddenly, clinging to my sticky fingers, was a Blue Room Released CD from 1998... "Sunkings"...? I bought it, just to take the crazy coincidence a bit further. I have only listened to the two first tracks but... I have a pretty good idea about why Blue Room went under :| Oh well... Maybe it's one of those that will grow on me. -A BTW, I also bought Photek's Solaris.

I took the two albums for a spin last night... And I have to say "Demention". It has all that embodies "Hallucinogen" in my world - except one thing: that nifty seamless shift between straight 4/4 and triolized, that only Simon can pull of succesfully. Great deep atmosphere, dodgy bass, crazy other-worldly percussion, ever-changing melodic lines the slithers up and down the spine, building and brooding sections released in powerfull climaxes of psychedelic madness - and the vocal statement is the best ever - maybe only topped by "I'm on phuckiing fiiireeeee". Oh, and the way it morphs into Snakey Shaker is brilliant.... Demention is the one - though they're all specTACular!! -A

A short and concise reply... Thanks

What is IDM? -A

System 7 - 777... The very first I heard of this kind of music. Got it from the library when I was a wee lad.

YESeriee!! I tihnk quite possibly, that this is the best album ever... It has it all. It's the perfect album, from the beautifull supah-polished sound that sends UFOs flying through my head every time, right down to the last pixel on the cover. It's good. -A

Haha, yeees.... We have a danish comedy duo called "gramsespektrum" (spectrum of groping) and they did a bit like that about a track runner: - So, what went wrong out there? - Well, I got a pretty good start, but then, it was like, you know, the other guys... I don't know. They were kind of faster. They can run really fast, it's completely insane. - Have you learnt something from this? - Yeah, I guess... Maybe. I think, next time, I should try to get a good start too, and then - maybe run faster you know. Maybe even faster than the others, that could possible work. I feel I'm almost there - I just have to be a *little* faster than the others. It goes on and on - it's hillarious... Anywho, from acomplished artists, I always like to know something about what inspires them. How do they come up with the sounds, and make them fit so nicely together - are they trying to tell a story, or are they just going "duh, this sounds pretty cool..."? When they start writing a track, do they have a specific idea for a theme, or does it just grow out of the loops cycling endlessly? Also - I heard that SP doesn't particularly like his own music... why is that - why does he write it then? Does the interviewed artist sometimes listen to his/her own work and go: "OMFG, I'm good, this is da bomb!"....? Oh - one more thing.... When playing live, which is coolest. Having the perfect polished set, playing from DAT or pre-recorded from a computer - or is improvisation and B-notes perfectly acceptable, even though the track will sound less perfect (but more living and organic). I worship Eat Static, Orbital (may they rest in peace!) and Der Dritte Raum for their way of actually performing... -A

Well, I don't think age has anything to do with it... The instruction set of a G4 is *much* better suited for graphics and sound processing, so there. My challenge stands The word "equivalent" scratches my cornea - the processors and the architecture they are settled in, are completely different. Right, the G5's are cool, but unfortunately too hot for laptops :| - anyway, I'm not too sad. My ooold G4 (measely 667 MHz!!) does the job, and plenty more -A

I was thinking something similar... Trackers and sequencers like Cubase are different - that's it... If you want something like Cubase, then use Cubase, or any other sequencer: Logic, Cakewalk, Digital Orchestrator (damn straight!!) or whatever. -A

I sequence ARP-like patterns from scratch... I don't think I ever used a synthesizers ARP There was a nice ARPed sound on my Waldorf, and I just replicated the sequence as MIDI, so I could mess around with it as I needed... -A

I hate to be so blunt as this, but that is an absurd statement. I know this probably sounds like a torn-and-worn nursery rhyme by now, but: The instruction set in the G4 and the Celeron chips are fundamentally different, so they can NOT be compared! As far as I know (which is not very far in the PC world) a celeron chip is the cheapest processing unit, with as many shortcuts as possible taken. No strong points to find, save perhaps power-usage. The G4 has heap advantages over a celeron, especially when it comes to the very complex arithmetic needed to compute, say, grpahics and sound. It is hard to program to, though, which is why so many programs seem slow (including my own ) Bring an Intel celeron processor to run any version of Logic as fast as my 667 MHz G4 runs Logic 4.7 on OS 9.2, and I'll buy you a case of beer, or you favoured drug-of-choice... Yes, OS X is slow - no point in denying that, but using this as an argument, is like saying, that a car's airconditioning system is bad, so the car won't drive faster than 80 km/h... You're right about one thing though - they are waaay to expensive... It'll be interesting to see what happens with the MacMini, when the cooperation with Intel kicks in for real... -A

I'm guessing you use OS X? I don't know if Logic 7 runs on OS 9, but if it does, you definetly need to go there... It doesn't look as spiffy as OS X apps, but it is sooo much faster. My old powerbook can't even play an "empty" MIDI-sequence on OS X without complaining and lagging, but on OS 9, I have a gazillion of plugin-effects crunching away at 40 audiotracks. That's quite a difference - Remember to assign plenty of memory to Logic in OS 9 though... I don't think Logic is to blame for the slowness... OS X is the culprit. I really can't say for sure about Logic 7, since I use version 4.7 on OS 9.2 - but it just works for me. I don't use many softsynths mind you, but plenty of heavy reverbs and spectrum-manipulating effects... - Oh BTW, what version of OS X do you use? They are getting faster and faster, and the difference between the first X and panther is enormous -A Okay, just found out, that Logic 7 is only OS X 10.3 or later... That sucks so bad... The requirements are twice as high as they would be in OS 9.2

I use an old G4 667 MHz powerbook (512 Megs'o'ram). It is very reliable in OS 9.2, and it feels like I have headroom enough - but I rarely use software synths. Since it is so old, it has a venerable chipset, and not enough cache, so I think the difference from my beast to a new iBook or powerBook (which are only G5 by the way - there's a reason Apple is going intel ) is rather huge. I don't think there will be any problems with only a 'book of some sort...? But if you could wait a little, the future seems quite promising -A

Ugh, the site is suspended...? -A

I got a check for about 100 euro - not too long after the release. I think Inpsyde (the releasing label) got a bit burnt though, since they didn't go for the second competitions CD... :| -A

Oh my... A very good point was drowned in our all too serious plans... - Even though no release is actually possible, a contest could be good fun anyway!

Good call, Spindrift. Something would have to be done about downloading the mp3s - maybe if some streaming could work, and if people "promised" not to rip the stream There is probably an obvious sollution to that problem. If the artists think as I did when I entered the competition, they probably won't be in it for the money, and will accept both delays and uncertainty as to the actual amount. I still remember the feeling when Inpsyde sent me my royalty copies of "psychedelic sparks"... That was indeed something special! I would like though, if someone else was involved in some way - not to take the fall, but to supply different perspectives, make sure nothing went wrong and such. The reason I want to start a label, is that I don't care much for half-witted and downright deceitful ways - and as soon as money is involved in some ways, there's a risk that it ends up there. I wouldn't want people to see me as an oppertunist either... As I said, I know nothing about distribution, and am trying to talk to "the man", but so far no replies. I already obtained some offers from pressing companies though, and the prices there are encouraging. I will keep digging though, and see if some opportunity turns up. It would be nice -A

As Moni put it, I have had huge benefit from both the first and second contest... I will definetly NOT promise anything yet, but my recent idea could be channeled to giving something back for the help I got. As so many other people making this kind of music, I have been toying with the idea of opening a small-time label. Nothing fancy, no money-machine - just plain old fun. Something like the Psynews contest would be an ideal launching project for such a label, right? The only problem is, that I don't know anything about promotion, distribution or anything in that direction, but have written to some of the distribution companies to check up on it. I think I have the capital to finance the pressing of the (real non-CD-r) CDs (with booklet and everything) at first, but I'm on a tight budget as it is... I have mailed pressing companies all morning, so I hope to have a better idea of the possibilities later. About splitting "revenues", it should be rather easy. Profit from sales should be devided evenly between all the artists, the cover-designer, and whoever will do the mastering (although this is sensitive - it should be a good masterer...) - but considering the risk involved, maybe it shouldn't be profit per CD, but total profit of the entire project that was split? If everyone chips in pushing the CDs (contacting shops, playing on webradios, word-of-mouth - the works!), and the tracks haven't been "released" as mp3's beforehand, then maybe - juuuust maybe - it could work out, and some of the profits could be kept for later contests. Lemmiwinks idea is good, but I must admit, I would prefer to have a "real" CD with booklet, as opposed to the less durable CDr's... How does all this sound? -A Oh, by the way - I updated www.amygdala.dk with some slightly newer sound

Hi everybody - my first visit to Psynews in a year or two (shame on me!) It's incredibly great to hear that someone out there remembers music I made three years ago - it soothes! For those interested, I still make music when I have the time, and would really like the psynews contests to roll again... It was (is!) a great idea, that helped me fulfill a personal dream... Not bad at all. I have this very ugly website at www.amygdala.dk (never judge a book by its cover...) - the mp3s there are old and not really representative of my latest work, but I will update it a little soon. Any confusion about the name "Amygdala" can be easily resolved - Prosect is right - the neural system Amygdala is called so, because it's shape resembles an almond. I realized the greek meaning sometime ago, and felt slightly stupid. I couldn't help laughing a little about it - I love coincidences like that - besides, it's safe to say that there are weirder names out there...? And yes, I do love a good almond... Anyway - it's good to be back - thanks for you interest -A