Mr. Emmett

Posted on 2nd May 2011 in Something Daily

I just put my first game up on my website – you can play it with Web Start and download the source. Here’s the link. I just presented this game, which was my Java 101 project, to a current Java 101 class. It was a very good experience having to go over old code of my own and reacquaint myself with it enough to explain it in a manner that made at least a little sense. People in the class didn’t have that many questions, which was not entirely surprising to me. I remember when I was in that class, despite being mostly clueless as to how something like that would be implemented, being unsure of what question to ask due to lack of knowledge, and because of how confident and knowledgeable the presenter seemed. Now I get to be on the other side of it, where I’m the confident and knowledgeable one simply out of experience, and people are asking me questions. It was very nice, and I got to plug my website. All around a great experience, and I hope I get to do more of that.

Having a website that I update regularly is changing the way I use this blog. I used to post everything I did right here, but now I have a series of specialized outlets for all of my work, that have developed as a result of me trying to come up with a good website design. Basically,

  • stuff I draw goes on tumblr
  • music goes on Soundcloud and then embedded here
  • i write here most days
  • websites and everything else that’s worth it get posted to the gallery

That’s the basic breakdown of how I’m handling my online portfolio at this point. It’s changing like crazy, but that’s how it exists right now.

As for how am I doing today, it’s been very hectic and will continue to be hectic. I don’t think I’ve been less motivated to do a Music History paper than I am right now, and it’s due tomorrow. Also I’m recording a concert tonight, and I still have to finish my roommate’s website before I leave for the summer. And of course, all I really want to do is go through this hacking tutorial. But it’s a pretty good day.

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Major Operation

Posted on 26th January 2011 in Something Daily

I went on an adventure last night to Zebulon off the Bedford L. I didn’t know what it was at all, but it turned out to be quite a nice little music bar. I felt bad not being old enough to order alcohol, so I left a monster tip. The music was great though, there was a jazz quartet, this crazy experimental octet, and a solo guitarist/singer, one after another. I’d never been to a show in that capacity before, and I really enjoyed it. No cover, just cool music.

My free time has quickly gone from overwhelmingly abundant to overwhelmingly absent. Yesterday was a lot fuller than my schedule of three classes would have me believe it was. Among other things, I put in motion yesterday my plan to double major in Computer Science and Music Techology, realizing that I would be selling myself completely short if I didn’t take advantage of these classes that I’m really interested in. It turns out that my ideas about how easy it would be to double major were pretty much totally wrong, but it seems that it’ll still be possible if I take some extra credits in the summer. It’s a bit of a long shot, but I would love to go from minor to major. I just really like the classes.

Speaking of, NYU administration came through again yesterday when I got to my Data Structures class and found that it was booked in the same room with another class (Basic Algorithms). There weren’t enough seats, so a lot of people (including myself) ended up standing in the back while the Algorithms teacher did half a class, then they all left and Data Structures got 20 minutes. It was pretty lame, as I was really looking forward to my first day. Still, the teacher said hi to me after class, told me I’d really be enjoying the material (after confusedly asking if I hadn’t taken it already), and honored my request for beginner CS students to tutor! I can’t wait! I think it’ll be very, very helpful for my education to teach computers as I’m learning them.

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Here at the end of all things

Posted on 21st December 2010 in Something Daily

I knew since last night that today was going to be a bit rough. I had two finals today, which took a combined total of close to four hours. Having that ahead of me, you’d think that I would study for something. Yeah ok. I did discover some fantastic new music in the form of Siah and Yeshua DapoED (which I have no idea how to pronounce). The beats on their Visualz Anthology are some of the crunchiest I’ve ever heard. Comparatively speaking, the rapping on that album as a whole isn’t the greatest, but it really varies by song. Great album.

The point is, though, that between 8 and 1 last night, I could have been working, but I was instead hanging out with Eric and Jen for a good portion of that time, listening to music and talking about how we “should” be working on stuff. I reviewed a bit this morning, which ended up being quite helpful on my first test this morning, a 2.5 hour Performing Arts in Western Civilization final which comprised ten essays. The only time a test hurt my hand that badly was Audio for Video a few weeks ago, and before that, probably the SAT or something. What I’m really trying to say here is that that test sucked, and I’m happy that it’s over. It was a good class, just not a good test. I also took the Electronics final today, which I was similarly prepared for. Honestly, I’m just glad that my finals are over at last. I’m still in the decompression stage right now, just getting used to the idea that I don’t have to do anything for the next month.

I was checking out my mic last night, a Rode NT1-A, and noticed that the diaphragm was tilted on a slight angle toward the back of the grill. I did a little research and determined that it was pretty safe to carefully remove the casing and gently nudge the capsule back into place. I had never taken a mic apart before, especially not one that cost 300 dollars, so I was exceedingly careful. I was kind of surprised to find, though, that the capsule of that mic is secured to the body by a gummy, silicone-type substance, so when you jostle the mic around, it actually wiggles a little bit. It probably has something to do with the sound, too; maybe the rubber stuff acts as a diffuser. Either way, the capsule wouldn’t go back to the right position with a push, so I decided I’m just going to store it differently and let gravity slowly do my job for me. I tested the mic after putting it back together, and I succeeded in not breaking anything! Great job, Mister Emmett!

In case you haven’t gone on my Soundcloud from the “About” page, here’s the other finished Gameboy song I made a few weeks ago.

Level Three by Raised by Robots

These are fun, I haven’t worked with LSDJ for a little while now.

Apparently the mixing desk in the studio where we were going to present our final Recording Tech project is broken now, so it may turn out that we don’t present at all. That’s actually pretty unlikely, but it could happen. Apart from that (which will be fun, not work), I still have to tech tonight! What a bummer! I think we all know that I’d much rather be sleeping. But I’ll be home soon. And I just know winter break is going to go by very, very fast.

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