That's the thing - find the "unknown" exception(s) !
Well, yes, but keep in mind that well-trained people have been trying to find such exceptions for 200 years, and have never found any.
As Sir Arthur Eddington wrote in 1915:
"If someone points out to you that your pet theory of the universe is in disagreement with Maxwell's equations -- then so much the worse for Maxwell's equations. If it is found to be contradicted by observation -- well, these experimentalists do bungle things sometimes. But if your theory is found to be against the second law of thermodynamics I can give you no hope; there is nothing for it but to collapse in deepest humiliation.
That said, it does annoy me how these kinds of articles imply "you can't question the laws of physics or the scientists will chastise/ostracize/tar-and-feather you." It's a cop-out appeal to authority, and they only do it because explaining the real scientific reasons is too much work, and they think the "average reader" won't understand anyway.
Better be careful. The CIAA (ComediansIAA) will come after you for copyright infring^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h joke theft.
I can hear the (copyrighted) subpoena heading for slashdot now.
You may laugh (ha ha), but the comedy business really is incredibly cut-throat when it comes to plagiarism.
I remember an interview with Robin Williams where he described it as, "You'd be like, in the back of a club, and see another comedian and say 'Hello.' And they'd say, 'Hello? You're using 'hello'? Fuck you! I wrote 'hello'!"
I thought about preparing some lyrics in advance since those are usually the most time-consuming part of the process for me, but I have a tough time writing lyrics without music, and I want to write all the music during February, so I'm sort of stuck.
Maybe you could write out your themes in advance, you know, in an 'I-like-this-but-I-don't-like-that' kind of way?
I like to pick out other people's songs in advance for inspiration, but when I sit down to write, I like to play with sounds and see where they take me.
You have a good point - but I think it depends on how you're using the sample. If it's something you'd consider an 'instrument', then it's probably nitpicking to say that it's against the rules, since what you're really attempting to record in February is your performance, not the timbres of your instruments.
I noted that although their web site says "thousands of musicians from around the world will take up the challenge to write and record an album of original music during the shortest month of the year," the actual text of the challenge merely says "all material must be previously unreleased, and we encourage you to write the material during February too."
I think it's more fun if you take the opportunity to come up with new stuff, but everybody has some "pre-written" bits knocking around in their heads that could serve as the seed of a new song. In the same way as I have some "pre-recorded" samples knocking around on my hard drive!:)
You're asking me to spend time and money to produce an album, and then give it away?
Fuck you. That's not "free", that's negative. Even to do music for the joy of it, money's gotta come from somewhere.
So don't participate. No one's forcing you.
Incidentally, there's a reason it's called a challenge. Lots of people will take this opportunity to get past the excuses and actually put something out there.
And guess what... we'll soon be actually listening to their music, and we won't be listening to yours.
Are you so sure that the ear absolutely clips frequencies above whatever its limit is?
Oh, I'm not saying it's impossible - just very unlikely if you were listening under normal conditions, i.e. through speakers or headphones that don't have a frequency response that high.
"Ultrasonic hearing is a recognised auditory effect which allows humans to perceive sounds of a much higher frequency than would ordinarily be audible using the physical inner ear, usually by stimulation of the base of the cochlea through bone induction. Human hearing is recognised as having an upper bound around 17-20 kHz, depending on the person, but ultrasonic sinusoids as high as 120 kHz have been reported as successfully perceived."
It would be interesting to do some controlled tests, and see if listeners comparing a sine wave and a square wave from, say. 8kHz up to 30kHz, can tell them apart better than chance.
When I was nineteen, I could hear a difference between square and sine at 19KHz. I should been more explicit about that.
And it doesn't matter that the difference might have been only a matter of perceived volume which my mind converted to the tinny sound the square wave has. Even the volume difference would be a difference.
Well, I'm not sure what you were hearing that let you tell them apart - but the fact remains that you would only hear the fundamental frequency of the square wave. The first harmonic of a square wave is 3 times the frequency of the fundamental, and I can pretty much guarantee that you weren't hearing a 57kHz frequency, let alone any higher ones.
Don't pretend that CDs represent some pristine sound quality, when they've been sounding worse and worse as the years go by solely because of the boneheaded decisions of the producers and recording engineers.
Oh, I'm quite sure that CDs capture a very faithful rendition of the shitty signal the producers put out.:)
My apologies - it wasn't you who was unclear, it was the GP. By "uncompressed digital master," was he talking about dynamic compression or data compression? I assumed he meant the latter because of the context (CD vs. vinyl vs. MP3).
Slashdot Mirror
Well, yes, but keep in mind that well-trained people have been trying to find such exceptions for 200 years, and have never found any.
As Sir Arthur Eddington wrote in 1915:
"If someone points out to you that your pet theory of the universe is in disagreement with Maxwell's equations -- then so much the worse for Maxwell's equations. If it is found to be contradicted by observation -- well, these experimentalists do bungle things sometimes. But if your theory is found to be against the second law of thermodynamics I can give you no hope; there is nothing for it but to collapse in deepest humiliation.
That said, it does annoy me how these kinds of articles imply "you can't question the laws of physics or the scientists will chastise/ostracize/tar-and-feather you." It's a cop-out appeal to authority, and they only do it because explaining the real scientific reasons is too much work, and they think the "average reader" won't understand anyway.
Yes, but I'm loaf to abandon it just yet.
You may laugh (ha ha), but the comedy business really is incredibly cut-throat when it comes to plagiarism.
I remember an interview with Robin Williams where he described it as, "You'd be like, in the back of a club, and see another comedian and say 'Hello.' And they'd say, 'Hello? You're using 'hello'? Fuck you! I wrote 'hello'!"
Anything to add a little leavening to the topic...
If you're starting a pun cascade, don't stop now - you're on a roll.
They do say that the pun is the lowest form of humor (unless you think of it first)!
Interesting - Googling "kosher nostra" gives 9,270 hits.
Ah, the wonder of the Internet, allowing me to discover just how unoriginal my "original" jokes are...
No, that'd be the Kosher Nostra!
> I'm waiting until they release Ramoant Rabbit myself.
But first you need:
* Noxious Narwhal
* Ornery Ocelot
* Plucky Parrot
* Quiescent Quagga
Irritable Ichthyosaur?
:)
Jovial Jaguar?
Kaptain Kangaroo?
Myself, I'm still disappointed that this release wasn't the expected 'Horny Hamster.'
....and see if the clone has a soul! :)
Yep, I'm planning on taking up the challenge. I hope to get farther than I did last year. :)
I'm listed under "Mighty Flying Nickster" on RPM. I just connected to your page.
P.S. I lived in Minneapolis/St. Paul for 12 years - I miss the people but not the weather!
Maybe you could write out your themes in advance, you know, in an 'I-like-this-but-I-don't-like-that' kind of way?
I like to pick out other people's songs in advance for inspiration, but when I sit down to write, I like to play with sounds and see where they take me.
You have a good point - but I think it depends on how you're using the sample. If it's something you'd consider an 'instrument', then it's probably nitpicking to say that it's against the rules, since what you're really attempting to record in February is your performance, not the timbres of your instruments.
:)
I noted that although their web site says "thousands of musicians from around the world will take up the challenge to write and record an album of original music during the shortest month of the year," the actual text of the challenge merely says "all material must be previously unreleased, and we encourage you to write the material during February too."
I think it's more fun if you take the opportunity to come up with new stuff, but everybody has some "pre-written" bits knocking around in their heads that could serve as the seed of a new song. In the same way as I have some "pre-recorded" samples knocking around on my hard drive!
So don't participate. No one's forcing you.
Incidentally, there's a reason it's called a challenge. Lots of people will take this opportunity to get past the excuses and actually put something out there.
And guess what... we'll soon be actually listening to their music, and we won't be listening to yours.
> "The 2008 RPM Challenge -- to write and record an original album in February, just because you can"
Nope. You don't have to write the material in the month of February, only record it in February.
Me: "Excuse me, but I'm lost."
Robot: "HAVE YOU TRIED HARE KRISHNA?"
Me: "Very funny. That's Kermit the Frog's joke."
Robot: "THANK YOU, I'LL BE HERE ALL WEEK - ALL WEEK - ALL WEEK..."
> For example, there is no real prohibition against abortion in the Christian Bible.
Yeah, well, nevertheless, I'm PRO-KARYOTE and I VOTE!
> I have worked on Unix all my life. 5 Years as a Sysadmin, 3 years Coding.
Wow! That's quite a résumé for an 8-year-old! :)
That third one vaguely reminds me of old Amiga magazine covers. :)
Does this remind anyone else of BF1942, where all the good guys look alike and all the bad guys look alike? ...World War or Clone War? :-)
Oh, I'm not saying it's impossible - just very unlikely if you were listening under normal conditions, i.e. through speakers or headphones that don't have a frequency response that high.
Check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultrasonic_hearing
"Ultrasonic hearing is a recognised auditory effect which allows humans to perceive sounds of a much higher frequency than would ordinarily be audible using the physical inner ear, usually by stimulation of the base of the cochlea through bone induction. Human hearing is recognised as having an upper bound around 17-20 kHz, depending on the person, but ultrasonic sinusoids as high as 120 kHz have been reported as successfully perceived."
It would be interesting to do some controlled tests, and see if listeners comparing a sine wave and a square wave from, say. 8kHz up to 30kHz, can tell them apart better than chance.
Well, I'm not sure what you were hearing that let you tell them apart - but the fact remains that you would only hear the fundamental frequency of the square wave. The first harmonic of a square wave is 3 times the frequency of the fundamental, and I can pretty much guarantee that you weren't hearing a 57kHz frequency, let alone any higher ones.
Oh, I'm quite sure that CDs capture a very faithful rendition of the shitty signal the producers put out. :)
> Nor if analog mastered, can it capture anything that wasn't in the analog master. So?
So you can't claim the vinyl has higher fidelity than the digital, if it came from a digital source. Was that not obvious?
My apologies - it wasn't you who was unclear, it was the GP. By "uncompressed digital master," was he talking about dynamic compression or data compression? I assumed he meant the latter because of the context (CD vs. vinyl vs. MP3).