So, today I wanted to share with you one of my favorite tracks I use to get my day started. When I first heard Gotan Project it was love at first listen. I think it was on one of the Ultra Chill compilation CDs that I once collected religiously. I love the hip hop, style beats and that buzzy bass that makes the joint sound so maniacal. Backed with that sweet tango style, this just gets the evil genius in my read to conquer the world. Feeling your inner-evil-genius bonus +300
When I played this track in the Listening Party on IndabaMusic.com one of the friendly producer folks there said that the title suggests that you’ll be bobbing your head as that’s what a groove is supposed to do. Well, let me know if the title fits. Bobble-head bonus +100.
Being that the only part of the Super Bowl worth talking about was the music, I thought I’d share a post from another blogger on the Red Hot Chili Peppers controversy. Werpleman brings up a solid point…
Everybody is going crazy about what the RHCP did at the Super Bowl for the WRONG REASONS. People lip synch and fake playing their instruments all the time thats an inevitable evil in music. The real reason why it’s a big deal is because it was advertised as part of the Super Bowl that they would be “performing live”. People paid thousands of dollars to be in the stadium for The Super Bowl experience which included their “live performance” at half time; which they did not receive. The NFL and the RHCP also did us dirty because there are people who only tuned in on T.V. for their performance which allowed them to charge 4 million dollars for commercial ad space during the air time before and after the performance. That is a passive robbery with a several million dollar payout. Also some people are arguing that it wasn’t their…
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Ok, so I’ve fallin a little behind in my 90 posts in 90 days challenge. I haven’t given up. I’m just changing my blogging style a bit. They’ll be shorter, to the point with more YouTube videos. I need to start collecting quality videos and new sounds to start gearing up for my DJ run. I plan to focus on artists who have sounds like mine, so stay tuned. You may hear something special. For now, check out one of my personal favorites, Bonobo. If there is snow outside while you’re listening to this: natural chill-out bonus +750
While everyone else is getting ready for the Super Bowl, we super-grinders are still on the job. It’s the beginning of the month and it’s time for me to start putting together a plan for next week. I have a busy week ahead.
Next week I’m going to spend a lot of time working in my websites. I’m overdue for getting my own domain. I also want to update the graphics of my sites with the new album art color scheme. I’m thinking that next week will be less of a music week and more of a design and planning week.
I do have a music project that I’m working on but, I don’t want to talk much about it till it’s done. This one may take a while. I will say that I’m switching my focus (again) from trying to sale beats, to promoting and selling my instrumentals as an electronica artist. I think this fits my style better.
It’s probably a good idea for me to real start ironing out a for real, for real business plan. I started one a while back but, I kind of got distracted by life. It’s also pretty boring work. Still, everyone knows (or should know) the benefits of writing a formal business plan.
Well, that’s all I got for today. I’m going to finish nursing my headache from doing too much last night and get ready to do too much for the game. Till tomorrow, load your Super Bowl bonus +420
I’m getting ready to start pushing a release again. I’m putting together my plans for a new website (one with my very own domain) and album. Here’s the design for the new album cover. Let me know what you think. I’m going with the whole mystic thing that I wrote about in my last blog thus the black and purple color scheme. I found the gradient for the background by accident but I love the way it emphasizes MrDraMatic’s split personality disorder. This logo is a trace from my older logo as I no longer have the original file. He’s seen a bit of wear and tear but, I think that’s what gives him character.
I woke up this morning having to write a complaint letter to my landlord about my internet situation. I really didn’t feel like blogging today after that but, the show must go on. That being said, I’m going to take a light day and post my new YouTube video. Yes, MrDraMatic has entered the world of movie making, sort of…
I know who I am but do you know who I am? I’m Omari Walker. Nobody cares about Omari though. They want to know who MrDraMatic is. To be honest with you, Omari is trying to do the same thing. It’s coming to the point in my music career were I have to put some serious thought into the image/persona of MrDraMatic.
This blog is more of a brainstorming session with the committee in my head. This committee includes pre-established personas such as Sgt Walker, Romalli, and Rufuss (don’t ask, let’s just say I got a few nicknames in the Army). We have regular discussions (arguments) regarding the direction of MrDraMatic. Now, we’re all behind MrD taking point, it’s just how will he go about it?
Questions we ask me are: What is MrDraMatic about? Is he a thug? Is he a geek? Should we just let loose and let the public figure it out? These questions and more like them ramble around in my head with every statues update and every blog posts. The more fans and attention I get, the heavier these questions become. So, it’s time to start spending less energy in programming music and more on programming MrDraMatic.
I think the best place to start is to focus on the things that MrDraMatic is not. MrDraMatic is not a gangster, thug, or bully. I try to respect everyone and MrDraMatic is going to follow in that pattern. Even though all of my personalities don’t share the same respect, they agree that MrDraMatic should. MrDraMatic doesn’t give a damn about politics. Actually, I should correct that: MrDraMatic only cares about politics as it pertains to world domination.
Now, we should probably start thinking about a couple of things that MrDramatic is. MrDraMatic is a believer in yin-yang, karma, and all things mystical. When I designed my logo, the main thoughts that I had in mind was balance. Thinking on it now, I think the logo really does bring across MrDraMatic’s pure sarcastic nature. MrDraMatic is a little bit (maybe a lot) crazy. Having a committee of personalities in your head fighting for dominance doesn’t actually scream sanity (ignore any “what is sanity” questions that pop into your head right now).
The biggest difference between Omari and MrDraMatic though, is that Omari can’t stand games as MrDraMatic LOVES “The Game.” Omari would be most comfortable sitting at home playing Final Fantasy, though. MrDraMatic is a social butterfly online and off. He craves attention and must have it. Sometimes it’s actually a bit annoying. I do separate the two because MrDraMatic doesn’t give you the full picture of who Omari is, and I don’t want to lose myself in some super-ego persona.
Maybe I should think of MrDraMatic as a puppet with my other personalities taking turns holding the strings. Anyways, I would love to hear your input as we continue on this adventure. Friends help influence personalities and it’s no different with MrDraMatic.
Thanks for joining me in the madness in my head, and being MrDraMatic’s friend combo bonus +750.
basic Mixing Techniques | Paul White | Kindle | 2010 | 190 pages | $6.99
I’ve been on a serious bang-for-buck kick when it comes to buying books lately. That’s because, like most starving artists, I’m ballin-on-a-budget right now. Still, I’m on a serious mission to level-up as fast as possible. I’ve been feeling that my mixing skills aren’t as consistent as they need to be so I went looking for a cheap book that could help me out. I was looking for something that would reinforce some of the basics that I had forgotten and teach me a couple of new things. This book gave me that and much more.
Paul White takes the “jump right in” approach in this book. I was expecting the usual stories of the author’s personal experience and studio set-up. As I read past the short intro, I found that I was learning things immediately. You may be able to read the first chapter in a day (or the entire book), but you will feel like you should be taking notes, and you’ll definitely have to go back and reread sections later. It is that chuck-full of information.
How does he get so much information into such a small book? The answer is no fillers. This is not a reference book but you’ll be using it as one. The book covers the mixing process from start to finish in detail. It seems like an impossible thing to do in 190 pages but it happened. Paul covers decision making in multiple scenarios and environments.
There were a few typos, but nothing crucial. The amount of typos would have been distracting if it weren’t for all the information that I was getting. Honestly, when you come to a sentence with a typo, you’ll probably forget about it by the time you’ve finished the sentence. You’ll be too focused on the info. I wouldn’t mind learning a bit more about the author, but that’s a small thing.
Like I said earlier, when I started reading this book, I started to immediately identify weak areas in my own personal mixing style. I was excited to start putting what I was learning into practice. Not many books give me that feeling. I created my last beat “The 5th” after reading this book and there is a noticeable difference between the quality of that track compared to most of the once I’ve done in the last two years. I also felt more confident in making my mixing decisions, better understanding “why” things weren’t sounding so great at times.
If you’re a beginning producer/beat-maker, then you NEED this book. If you’re looking for a cheap reference book to have while you’re mixing, then you WANT this book. If you’re already the hottest producer/beat-maker on the planet, then why are you reading this review? I’ve read mixing books before and the big ones tend to be very boring, but you know you need to learn the stuff. Since this book was so short, I was pretty much done with it before the low attention span set in. Anywho, buy this book if you don’t already have a good mixing book. Your future skills will thank you. Basic Mixing Techniques
Till tomorrow, thanks for still being interested in books bonus +300
I checked my SoundCloud stats this morning and found my blog post for today. Anyone who knows me knows that if you spend any bit of time with me, I can’t help but regurgitating the fact that I grew up with Tech N9ne. A few years back, when I first decided to get online with my music, I decided to do a remix of Caribou Lou. Well, “Caribou Lou – Tech N9ne (MrDraMatic’s Sotally Tober Remix)” has now reached 100 downloads on SoundCloud. In honor of that, I’m uploading it to ReverbNation.com so you can still download it (SoundCloud maxes out at 100 downloads for free). I’ll also give you a little bit of the background on this remix.
Let me be clear, when I say I grew up with Tech N9ne, it doesn’t mean that I partied with him. Actually, my big brother and Tech were best friends and I was the little brother in their shadows looking up to everything that they did. I had the privilege of witnessing the birth of N9na and becoming fan #1 when he and my big bro practiced and performed a routine for a 6th grade talent show using the song “Drag Rap” (I was in 2nd grade then to put the age-gap in perspective).
There are a few reasons why MrDraMatic isn’t currently a producer in the Strange camp. The main reason is because of that age-gap that I mentioned above. What happened with my big bro and Tech is that; as that they got older, of course gangs started getting big in KC. Our block, 58th St and Forest, was pretty much a red area and we spent the summers with my cousin, in blue territory. Needless to say they didn’t hang out so much after that. I have no crazy gangster beef stories because, again, the age-gap and my brother and I moved out closer to the burbs (-sigh-).
I was forced to move away from the block that I loved, but a piece of my heart is still there along with a piece of Tech’s. I know this because I have been blessed enough to run in to him from time to time through-out the years, and he ALWAYS shows love and asks about THE FAMILY. I’ve always been reluctant to mention my connection with Tech N9ne in the past, because I’ve always tried to get away from that shadow that I grow up under and make a name for myself. But, I can’t contain my excitement!
I’ve personally talked to Tech N9ne and Krizz Kaliko and gotten their verbal permission to do some mix-tape projects with their tracks. So, what that means to MrDraMatic is MORE REMIXES! This is going to be a special project for me and my fear of “not doing it justice” is the only reason why it hasn’t been done sooner. So keep a look out for some Strange Remixes from your neighborhood unofficial/official TECHNICIAN #1 and download Caribou Lou – Tech N9ne (MrDraMatic’s Sotally Tober Remix) now.
If you’re a true believer bonus +50,000
MrDraMatic 