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I recently graduated high school and two days ago was my 18th birthday. For both my birthday and grad gift, my parents are buying me a laptop for college. Anything I want, basically.

Here comes the problem.

My dad works for an IT company, and through his work and clients, he gets discounts on HP and Dells. He suggested (more like requested) that it was an HP, Dell, or IBM. Money is an issue, but quality and reliability, and my overall happiness with it, are more important.

What I want is something I can record music with and use as my Digital Audio Workspace (DAW). My desktop will get handed down to my sister, so this thing needs to do everything else too.

I've got the hardware to record, but I need speed and memory to work efficiently. I work mainly with recording, but I'm also getting into using samples. Working on the go with a little keyboard and a bunch of samples would be ideal.

Macs are pretty much out of the question. And even though they're probably perfectly good computers, I don't want a Dell. Two reasons, every one I've ever worked with made me want to kill myself, and I don't want to be mocked for it, especially with a catch phrase like "DUDE!"

Are there any music artists out there, or laptop gurus, who can give me some suggestions?

Also, I'm going on vacation mid July, and I'd love to be able to relax and compose on my trip, so I'm kind of in a rush.

The real question is where did all of the chicken go?

Seriously, I want some chicken.

Both arms are rather skinny, and I feel the text isn't really incorperated into the image.

If the "angle" has to stay that way, the face is slightly contorted. I didn't do a great job, but hopefully you'll see what I mean.

Does anyone remember Dogbert's Brown Ring of Quality? It's a Dilbert strip with roughly the same effect. Dogbert is hired to create a new corporate logo, so he sells them a coffee stain for a ludicrous amount of money.

That reminds me of this strip that one of my graphics design teachers had on her wall.



I agree, the logo is kinda crappy. I might like it more if it was a different shade, but as Flibble said, we'll all get used to it and learn to love it.

My girlfriend had pink hair for the longest time. After I cut off all of my blue, she dyed her's pink. Then after that she went purple and some other crappy in between colors.

(looks more red in this from color correcting)


Pink has to be redyed ever two weeks or so, but the bleaching is only done once. Purple fades the quickest, and blue will eventually turn an ugly aqua-marine color, which is why I cut mine off.

I fancy pink hair over red any day.

A lot less for me to bicker about on this one.

Mix sounds great. Harmonica could be a little warmer. Not to sure about the weird synth pad/orchestrated part. I think a piano would work just as well there.

As for the vocals (Oh, you knew it was coming), they sound great! During the first half of the song, there are a few parts where both sets of vocals are singing the same notes and one is slightly off. But other than that they're a'okay.

Evil, that was pretty interesting, and I see your point. I like your experimental take on this! I do indeed agree that my voice is a weak link. God knows how many times I've considered engaging a good singer for my creations, but then my music has never been my prime occupation and such projects have always died.
It was interesting to hear your version with more subtle chord - what's it called in English? Nuances? (7's and 9's and sus etc). It was a brand new song, but it was nice

I'm not saying your voice is a weak link. There are just a lot of different things going on at once with the vocals that make it seem, not bad, just out of place. Your accent on top of some little intonation issues, doubled and panned, with melody that  changes pace. It's a lot happening, and not a lot of time to take it all in. Not saying that it's all bad, but it just sounds bad. It's sort of like everyone soloing at once. They all may be awesome solos, but if they're not doing close to the same thing at the same time, there are some misplaced notes and "accidentals" that are a pain to the ear.

As for the progression, I couldn't quite figure out what was being played, so I went with basic power chords. Still couldn't find the second chord, so I made one up. I think it's a Dm/F.

D5, Dm/F (x655xx), G5, C5, G5, C5, G5, F5, D5

I think it sounds a lot better than the last. Feels smoother to me. I'd try to be more specific, but the vocals are still bugging me. There are parts that are rushed and some that last to long. I tried to keep the pauses, but make it drastic.

Eh?

I tried following the lyrics, but the rhythm is bad on some lines and I can't hear the words. Perhaps listing the lyrics to reference?

Tone is well done. Mixing is alright.

Balance of the levels is off. Guitars are too loud and sometimes clip. Trumpet is nice, though quiet. But for digital, the instruments aren't awful, nor is the mixing to mask some of that digitally tone.

Vocals could use some help. Seems like this might not be your key. Voice is stretching and you can hear it. A trick you might want to try is record the vocals, then record them again listening to the first set and adjust your pitch accordingly. Then lose the first track, and retrack over the second, and so on. Eventually you can make small changes easily.

All I can say is buy tire insurance. I bought a new set two months ago and the next day I blew out two on my way home from work. I didn't bother to pay the extra $50 or whatever for the insurance, and it cost me another $250 to replace them.

I use it to send invites and match faces to names I hear. Not really into all of the other crazy apps and stuff.

Public Domain means that it's free to use. People buy the rights to the product (music, movies) and let anyone do whatever with it. Well, sort of.

Some awesome covers here.

SteelDrummer: Other than a bit of an off-tempo, it sounds really good. Could have fooled me for a B-Side take.

Voh: Cool cover. It keeps it's Pixies' feel, but with the punk style.

Boney: Some sweet metal right there. I've never really liked dark vocals like that, but the rhythm and everything is crazy awesome.

Tiki: Heh, I liked this cover. Sort of like Muppet Johnny Cash.


I did this short cover a while back of a Bob Dylan cover of Eric Von Schmidt's cover of the folk song "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down". I've always felt that covers should be different from their original version. I couldn't find a video of the acoustic version which I based my cover off of, but you can find it on Dylan's self titled album. The biggest difference (other than being less bluesy) is the time change.

Baby, Let Me Follow You Down

Outlines aren't really necessary. He's very plain. Not a lot of detail in his hands and face. The contrast is good on the pants and shirt, but the face isn't. As for the muscles, unless he's wearing spandex then the abs won't show through. The pecks will show a bit, but he'll also need a shadow under his head, and less definition on his traps, or shoulders.

I'm curious what you're looking for? Just lyrics/poetry on whatever we think? Or should it be written about a plot/subject matter? It's sort of confusing.

He asked what we thought and I told him. All of the feedback, other than Helm, has been just "It's great". I don't think it's great. It's not aweful, for the first time in a studio it sounds alright, but not great.

I don't like it either. The Tree Song is the only audibly tolerable song, and even still I find the vocals poor. The tone on everything is good, but reverb and distance is off. Nothing really fits. It sounds like it's trying to be something wicked, but it's not there.

Honestly, I think more time should be spent tightening songs rather than jump into a studio. It all felt like everyone was doing their own thing at once.

I'll give you that you're "original" but it's still not great.

I've tried my hand at being a luthier before. Some good results, some bad. But the one thing I learned is that you need to start simple and you'll need the tools. You WILL screw up the first time, so using a nice wood is pointless. Free wood is great. I even went to my local hardware store and bought a big'ol board of some sort for a couple dollars.

Through necks are very difficult, and I agree it's best to use a premade neck. Maybe buy a cheapo from a pawn shop or a musical trade store. There are a lot of tips out there, but the best tip I can give you is start and learn as you go, because the first guitar will suck. Or maybe try building something smaller. I've built a uke and a few other boxed style bodies.

Also, an awesome (but expensive) place for parts is www.stewmac.com

I like the overall shape of him better, but the clothing/features could use some help. I agree he looks more farmer than cowboy, and more 1970's than farmer at that. Hat is too fedora-y. And the beard should be changed. Stubble would look better. But I think a change of his shirt might help. I sketched something up quick.

You have my respect too. Waiting all that time, offering to do this.

All I can say, is that if he turns out hating you (not YOU, but the idea perhaps), the older childing seems like he would have more problems than the younger one. Just being a fun guy to hangout with is more helpful than actually trying to help solve their problems. They're kids. They haven't even hit puberty yet. They just want to play skeeball and eat pizza.