blair’s blógado gigante

Echoplex LP (Front)

Heavily modified vocals in Melodyne, a pounding breakbeat, and speaker-bending textures and sound design.  My typical NIN remix.

Start to finish, this remix took about three weeks to take shape, and is the largest project I’ve ever worked on to date (in terms of track/bus count).  I did my usual workflow on this one: sequence the parts in Live, fix & manipulate the vocals in Melodyne, then mix, tinker, and master in Audition.

Ultimately, it came down to 42 individual tracks routed through 10 busses.  When it was “stemmed” out to let other remixers remix my remix, the smallest stem count I could get was 30, plus the vocal comp.  Suffice to say, this was an enormous project.  As usual, even with an absolute murder of Waves plug-ins, reverb sends/returns, sidechain compressors, and the overall size, Audition never flinched.  The final master was done with the L2.

Echoplex LP (Back)

If you really want to geek out, here’s a list of the stems:  synth-o-plex, fuzzy synth, bass digs, super funky bass, bass strikes down, bass stabs with echo, female soprano vocals, guitar swells, female solo vocals, piano ostenato, storm drum, hats 1, hats 2, hats 3, misc percussion 1, misc percussion 2, 18 violions and 10 violas, piano through guitar rig, cymbal splashes, cymbal crescendos, bass drum and kicks, snare 1, share 2, stomped drum kit, clean piano ender, funky guitar, piano riffs and loops, vocal comp dry, vocal comp main, vocal comp echo only, vocal comp harmony only.

That should give you a good idea how much crap is going on in this remix.  Download these FLAC files at will below, and share if you like.  Just bear in mind the Creative Commons License, which you can read at the footer of this and every page.  (You can also click the album art above for the full size for front/back, if you keep those as well).

Enjoy!

Track List:

1.  NIN – Echoplex (Grim Trigger’s Mercury Vapor Mix) [6:23, 38 MB]
2.  NIN – Echoplex (Grim Trigger’s Mercury Vapor Instrumental Mix) [6:23, 38 MB]
3.  NIN – Echoplex (Grim Trigger’s Mercury Vapor Radio Edit) [4:24, 28 MB]

The first remix I did with any amount of exposure was of NIN’s “Only”.  It’s still the longest remix I’ve done to date, clocking in at just under 11 minutes.

There is the main version and a dub version.  The dub version, until now, has never been made available to the public.  Now, after being asked to remaster both, I’m allowed and excited to offer them to the public.  There’s little in terms of “story” behind this remix beyond a dozen hours sitting in front of a wide screen monitor in 2006 in Charlotte, North Carolina.  The first master back then didn’t pass the “Jeep test”, and it took a few days to get the first version finalized.

Both remasters I completed today in about 3 hours.  I’ve gotten better at mastering over the years.  (It helps to have studio monitors and no distractions.)

I have uploaded FLAC versions, and you’re welcome to download a copy for yourself via the Creative Commons License mentioned in the footer of this page.

Track Listing:

1. NIN – Only (Grim Trigger’s Halfway To Andromeda Mix) [10:48, 70 MB]
2. NIN – Only (Grim Trigger’s Halfway To Andromeda Dub Mix) [10:48, 68 MB]

Grab it while it’s hot.

Here’s the current “preview” to my remix for NIN’s Discipline.  This is unmastered, and I’m still working on the structure.  Nevertheless, you can get a taste for the direction it’s headed (and the crazy shit I did to the vocals).

 

 NIN - Discipline (Grim Trigger Remix Preview) [3:05m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I spent most of today at the Cadillac Ranch, one of the very few unusual roadside exhibits that persist in the United States.  You can read more about what it’s all about on Wikipedia, but I enjoy the eccentricity it brings to Amarillo.

“Time Lapse One” shots 3,750 frames across three sequences.  The data dump is right around 29 gigabytes (as it was all shot RAW).

Sequence 3 being executed.

As a time lapse photographer, you have to be exacting in protocol.  You triple check everything before you leave the house and before you start a sequence.  Today, I made two huge mistakes.   The Cadillac Ranch is surrounded on all sides by dirt.  (Hint:  West Texas is windy.)  I forgot my ear-plugs, which means I will be digging out who knows what for the next few days.  Second, it never occurred to me that I would be baking in the sun for several hours, so I acquired a garden variety sun tan.

I was so focused on getting the shots right that I came home filthy and sore.  However, such is the life of the activator.  Judging by the frames I’ve been previewing, it’s going to be a spectacular sequence.  However, it will take longer than most to conform because of the sheer quantity of data.  I shot three times what I normally shoot, and After Effects already isn’t too crazy about working with RAW image sequences as it is.

Never mind the technological aspects.  I got to meet a ton of interesting people today.  In fact, the place was a traffic jam of sorts.  I grew up around here, so I like to think I have a feel for the local quirks and attractions, but I was absolutely dead wrong on the quantity of people who stop.  I guess I’ve become so used to Interstate 40 that I give little thought to how many people traverse it.  As you will see once the sequences are conformed, I’m quite certain at least 150 people came and went in the three or so hours I was there.

Though each car is thoroughly covered in spray paint etchings of names, symbols, and patterns, many people are hesitant to partake.  Some people will even ask if it’s okay to paint on the cars, not realizing that’s the whole point: it’s a public, ongoing art exhibit.  And a tad Dada to boot.

After a long day of shooting and meeting interesting people, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to make some “art” of my own.  Stay tuned for those videos, they will be incredible.

Until then, I will be cleaning out my ears and being dipped into a vat of aloe vera lotion.