New Mr. S Song On BandCamp, (I Played A Monkey On) Faces Of Death

Wanna rock out but don't want to hear any stupid old-fashioned guitars?
Wanna rock lo-fi?
Wanna hear the distorted yelling of an over-excited alien?

"(I Played A Monkey On) Faces Of Death" is definitely for you!



Like the cover art work? No? Buy it as a poster or print on RedBubble!

Also, you can "watch" the "video" on Youtube!

(Song originally produced circa 2002. Copyright Oh The Glamour Music. Artwork adapted from "Distorted Self-Perception" by Keith Miller. Originally produced circa 2002. Copyright Burning City Studios.)

Burning City, Art, and Stuff...

I realized not long after deciding to wrangle all these internet tools into doing my bidding that I was missing a big part of it. I wasn't missing any internet tools, but part of my creative work; namely, my artwork. I decided it was essential that I try to promote both at the same time, somehow. Since I started this endeavor thinking only of music, of course everything is named for that; Mr. S this, Oh The Glamour Music that. The whole time forgetting my long-standing idea of my umbrella company which is Burning City Studios.

Burning City as a name has it's start with a drawing I did in high school art class, using up all my art teacher's personal oil pastels. It was of a stylized semi-destroyed city similar to the one in my Facebook cover image above. [That, by the way is an edited photo of a large painting in oil and oil pastels.]

Burning City seemed like, and still does seem like, the perfect name for my projects' goals. And, I'm sure, many other people would think the same thing about their projects; 'set this city on fire.' Figuratively, of course.

[So, just talking about this made me realize that I need to make some changes, possibly. New Twitter account as BCS, new email, etc, so I went abroad for a few.]

**We now return you to our regularly scheduled program.....**

Burning City Studios is the name of the 'parent' company. Underneath that would be: Burning City Records, Burning City Graphics, Burning City Lightworks, Burning City Photography, Burning City Chinese Adoption Services, etc.

So, in an attempt to start the process of potentially making this idea more than a figment of my imagination, I have started a Facebook page:

Burning City Studios.

I have long-since abandoned all hope of recovering what I was going for with this post and will now submit to your button-clicking desires....

Mapping Out FCB1010 Pt 2 (Duck Roll Call)

I've realized that it would be pointless to start programming the FCB1010 without figuring out all of the sounds that I need. So, I haven't touched the thing since yesterday and, instead, I've been mentally mapping out what I need with a few extras thrown in, in the utterly unheardof chance that the basics go really smoothly and fast. There is no chance so, pretty much, ignore anything that says "Sample," "maybe," or "try..."

Tuesday - None
                 Delay +Buzzy or Numan01 (Vol Right Pedal)

Student Loans - None

Chateau Nervoso - Ld +LowNuman01 (Vol Left Pedal) +Discovery Buzzy (V Right Pedal)
                               Ld +Dly +LowNuman01 (Vol Left Pedal) +Discovery Buzzy (V Right Pedal)

World of Douchebags - Dly
                                      Sample - Bck Vox on Chorus (both notes)
                                      Sample - Bck Vox Phrases (all three)

Souvenirs - None
                   Quiet
                   Chorus +Reverb (Level on Right Pedal?)
                   Sample - Delayed "solo"

Used Parts - Bit Crusher
                    Bit Crusher +Lead +Dly

Minimum Wage - None (or HiG)
                             None (or HiG) +Loud Dly (on Right Pedal, could that be a send? so the delays
                             continue after mute?)

Untouchable - Fuzz or HiGain (HiG)
                        HiG +Lead +Dly
                        HiG +GuitarRig3 "synthy effect"? (on Pedal)
                        or, HiG +Numan01 (or Pro-53 sound) with pitch control set on both pedals, i.e. Left
                        Pedal 0 to +12, Right Pedal 0 to an additional +12

Spome - HiG
               HiG +Lead
               HiG +Lead +Delay
               Sample - Sample of guitar intro hits
               Sample - Low "E"

It's Alright Now - None
                             Lead
                             Sample - Drum Noise

Sample - Create Mr. S Handclaps sample and trigger in 8th note pairs with a pedal? (Spome, Untouchable)

Here's a picture of a grasshopper eating. It reminds me of the pics I've taken for the official "Stuck Up" video.

Control VST's with a Guitar-type Pedalboard: Update

So, I've been spending a LOT of time the past two days googling my ass off. I finally got one thing to work yesterday. I got the FCB1010 to control Ableton.

Two things you should know if you want to control Ableton's interface with a FCB1010, both really simple but easy to overlook:

1. Make sure that in Prefs>MIDI/Sync>MIDI Ports you have the "Remote" enabled for your        MIDI input device. This very simple thing eluded me for hours.
2. Make sure you have your FCB1010 pedals set to use only CC#'s between 22-31 and 84-90.

Using these two bits of info, I finally got the FCB1010 to turn channels off and on and can control the volume of channels with the expression pedals. I was also able to control an effect rack chain with the expression pedals; both using the standard MIDI mapping function in Ableton.

I think using some undecided-upon, and seemingly complex, Ableton-FCB1010 setup, I will be able to control both my guitar's effects and the VSTi's I'll be controlling with my G2M. I definitely will still be working on this for days to come. But, I did find this post which was helpful for some things and, so far, is the only thing I've found helpful searching for "Ableton as live guitar effects."

Ableton as live guitar effects

I hope somebody will find this little bit of info useful. It's wasted hours of my time to try and find it on my own.

Here's a picture of a chicken that will kick your ass at Tic-Tac-Toe.

Control VSTi's With A Guitar-type Pedalboard?

I've been trying for a while now to figure out how to get some external midi gear to control things in Cubase 5 and Ableton. Part of the problem is that I'm using a Behringer FCB1010 midi foot controller, which apparently, can do most of what I need. But, programming it is a freaking bitch!
Here's what I'm trying to get control of. I have Sonuus G2M ver2 that I've been using to control VSTi's in Cubase. I want to have multiple instruments that can be played alone or as a stack along with the guitar; all at once. I want to be able to turn them off and on via footswitch.

Cubase is not designed for live uses, but I personally think it sounds better and I also know it much better than Ableton. I have used it in live situations in the past with success as my guitar effects rig but that was being controlled by Cubase internally by automation. This was possible because, at the time, the band was playing with a drum machine, also in Cubase.

It also can be controlled by outboard gear for recording purposes. Which would lead me to assume I could mute/unmute channels, control channel volume, etc. Which could be my solution. But I can't for the life of me figure out how, at least with the FCB1010. I also have a midi controller keyboard with programmable sliders that I think I can set to at least control track volume. That I haven't tried yet as it would be only a partial solution; I can't be playing guitar and simultaneously moving sliders on a keyboard.

I have had some minor success in Ableton switching things on and off with the FCB1010 but I emphasize the word 'minor.' One problem with that is that the FCB1010 can be set to turn a channel off and on but there is no feedback, i.e. there is no light that shows if it's active or not. The most success I had controlling Ableton was with a computer keyboard that I modified and then programmed Ableton to make the necessary changes when certain keys are stomped. Yes, i used a computer keyboard as a foot controller (I'll post on that setup sometime soon, as it worked well for some things and was a very very cheap solution.) All of the dedicated gear I have seen for Ableton seems specifically designed for DJs, not something I can control with my feet.

All the gear to control music software is made specifically for DJ's, guitarists, or recording engineers. I'm kind of stuck in the middle of them, wanting some of each.

Are there any dedicated Ableton controllers that are footswitches? Footswitches that aren't specifically designed to control guitar amp emulators? Am I overlooking something in Cubase? I've been wracking my brain here. So if anyone has had success with something similar to what I'm describing, your help would be greatly appreciated!


P.S.- I thought also about using two or more G2Ms along with A/B switches sent on different midi channels but the G2M only outputs to channel one. If anyone knows of a cheap hardware device that can take input data and output the same data to a different channel, that would be very useful too. I've been googling that for the past hour or so with no success.

R2D2 Tells A Scary Story

R2D2 Tells A Scary Story by Mr. S Musical Monstrosity

Late at night, in your best friend's back yard, you're sitting in a tent. You and five other kids are listening to a truly riveting scary story. You gasp as each new twist unfolds. You shriek with a combination of fear and excitement. You cover your ears, you cover your eyes. But nothing you can do can withstand the horror that is--R2D2's scary story!!

Just a bit of fun, really. Enjoy!