Yeah, it actually worked out. I need to call said promoterguy. Usually the drummer handles this, but it was sorta fobbed off on me.

Happy Belated Winter Solstice, everyone! My friends and I- who range from halfhearted Pagan to raging atheist like me- celebrate the solstice every year as our, well, non-denominational winter celebration.

Sooooo gonna fucking cover this and butcher it with shitty yelling.

Soooo, I have a HD+CD containing the masters (recorded at Robert Lang studios..!) and whatnots of a band that my dormant DM band drummers' dad managed back in the day that they want to remaster for fun, as they are not all that into the guitar tone (not much treble or upper mids going on), so they have employed me to give a whack at it and help them figure out what was up. So I cracked into the stems on the HD and checked out the guitars, some unspecified Soldano and a Line 6 Tubetone or whatever the fuck those are called. Doesn't sound awful, actually sounds pretty fucking swampy and gross in an awesome way, they just need something with some teeth to give the guitars some cut. I reported back to them this news, and they are down to re-track. I figure one guitar multi-mic'd with some teeth and relative cleanliness to it would make a big difference (I will probably recommend using my 5150.. ). It is sort of funny being entrusted with this when it is totally their baby, but I am super close to this family (I will be spending my second christmas in a row with them instead of my own family ) so I guess it makes sense.

It is like, toughguymetalcore from the late 90's. Fun, heavy riffs. This will be an entertaining little project, I am thinking.

So widespread poverty and violent crime aside, Brazil is pretty awesome. My nephews know about as much English (probably more actually) as I know Portuguese so we have some pretty awesome conversations. Oh and my sister-in-law married a super rich guy so we are staying at a baller house complete with maids and chefs. I've never had servants before but I highly recommend them.

Damn. Living the high life over there.

I'm stuck here with a bit of food poisoning. It may have been the combination of foods and wines and milks I drank, or maybe just some bad seafood....but something didn't mix well in my stomach and I feel like shit. Threw up twice so far tonight. Maybe it's just an early Krampus present.

Snagged one of my old Alesis 3630s from my 'rent's basement. I remember having two of these bastards but I couldn't find the other. Not like I need four channels of bad compression, but I haven't used this thing in aeons and I'm curious if I can find a use for it, even as an effect. Or just mod the crap out of it.

MERRY KRAMPUS! I am actually surprised, i haven't accidentally cut or burnt myself yet for the holiday, nor have i managed to contract any plagues. Was i too good this year? Doesn't seem likely. What the fuck.

Perhaps you've sinned just enough to achieve Krampus's favor?

Or you haven't sinned enough to warrant His attention? I, for one, haven't sinned nearly as much as I have in the past. I know I can drink, smoke, eat drugs and fornicate with all the pretty things a lot more- I barely bother now. Even the swearing and blasphemy, I could do a lot fucking more of, goddammit. I am, perhaps, just too harmless these days.

Maybe I should make up for this. Since my housemate's out of town next week, I'm thinkin' New Years' Orgy At My Place, girls/boys/trannies, I don't care anyhow, free booze, free drugs, someone else will have to supply the goat. Seems reasonable.

Just got the Mixerman audiobook. I am prepared for massive lulz.

It is "dramatized", not just read, and full of cameos by engineer people as the various characters, mastered by Bob Ludwig, etc.

One would think that Krampus could get behind some tranny orgy action, it is true.

Hell, if you throw a fine enough tranny orgy, Krampus may just show up himself. He would probably be looking to kick back a bit after all of that child punishing anyhow, wouldn't you think? That gig is probably worse than retail this time of year.

That being an audiobook of the original diaries thing?

Oh, this time of year? I can imagine! He surely doesn't get paid enough for that line of work. He seems like he'd be into a little of the ol' slap-and-tickle, as it were, and such an event would obviously be Pure Distilled Class.

Re: Mixerman, ja, the whole book, in BBC-style audio drama form. Clocks in at eleven hours and change. There's an excerpt of the intro on Youtube; I can only imagine what the whole thing's like.

Okay, if the kids upstairs can have drums, I will take this as a sign I can set up my shitty old Pacifics in the living room. They need new heads- I don't think I've changed them in over a decade (sitting in my parents' basement and all) and I lost the kick pedal, which wasn't any good anyhow. Need to score more cymbals and stands. At least a better hi-hat stand; that one sucks. (All the hardware sucks. It's not good hardware.) I'm sure I can make something passable out of the shells at least.

Fuck yeah to having drums setup and bash able.

I actually kind of wish one of my neighbors' kids would start playing something obnoxious like drums so i wouldn't feel so bad about how fuckloud mine are.

They're on weird (non-9-to-5) schedules anyhow, one of them plays some sort of brass instrument, and they know I'm a musician in an active band. They're actually pretty nice people, the little I've talked to them. I doubt they care. I can at least sorta play the things- this helps. My old neighbors at my old old place actually liked my loudguitaring because I was actually good.

I am very self-conscious about it, partly because I'm very reclusive and private when I'm not being the complete opposite. I try to not bother my housemate with the recording and playing and blasting of speakers- and she gives zero fucks. She plays guitar and piano and has impeccable taste in musics. I sort of want other humans to forget that I'm there.

Having some skills does earn one a little- or a lot- of leeway, at least from folks who get music. Which is a plus. But drums are the worst, if only because you can't turn them down. I'd actually really like to learn jazz drumming- I can BS it a little; I have brushes, mostly play traditional grip now and can work the snare- and that's at least less constantly obnoxious than the noisy/punky/heavy stuff I like- but still... That being said, having shit set up and ready to go at all times is a huge plus.

And I'll need to track down a cheap/free kick pedal whose action I don't hate.

True dat, homes. That has always bothered me, and not just about drums.

Yarr, you know how many things i have poasted with voices on them. Even voices are too loud. Shit sucks. I would also love to move my amp back into the living room; it sounded much nicer in there than it does in the basement(not to mention how much less pleasant it is to play guitar in the basement at this time of year), but without all of that concrete foundation and dirt to keep things dampened, even my little amp is brutal loud for this neighborhood most of the time.

That said, it WAS way way worse when i live in the apartment in NYC. All i could do there was headhpones and vst-amps. Compared to that, the arrangements here are fantastic.

I remember one, ever, with voices.

And yeah, it does suck ass to play guitar in the basement this time of year. I know this from, well, having done that. I'd have my heavy-ass leather coat on, which was awkward, and my hands would be freezing. I don't miss that at all. I do miss being able to play loud guitar at will, though. It helped when I lived right downtown- I live on the outskirts of the city now- 'cause The 'Drome was right there down the street in a non-residential area, and I could just roll in, turn up and blast, and at the one house I had for years, Maps 1.0 era- HCAF era- the neighbors didn't give a fuck. It really does impede things from getting done.

I probably could do the loud guitar thing, but it's not like it was, and I don't have a real rig at home anyhow. A bigass rack of recording gear, but no real amp.

This was not the worst living room rig ever, y'know?

man, is this mixerman diaries sad and hilarious..

SO glad this isn't my everyday life but pretty awesome to listen in on his torturing...