"Green" and Affordable Sound Treatment

Slap Echo, Standing Waves, Excessive Room Reverb, BAH!

All of these phenomenon are a result of sound waves bouncing off your flat, hard, parallel walls. These reflections can create unwanted dips and spikes of certain frequencies within the room. If a microphone or a pair of ears are recording or listening within one of these peak/dip zones, then the result is a coloration of the original tone which rubs many audio ethos the wrong way. You can spend hours creating a mix, but if your room happens to create a dip of 80-100Hz of 3db where your noggin is listening in relation to your monitor speakers then your mix is probably going to sound a little too bass heavy in a different listening environment.

Diffusion and absorption can help diminish or eliminate these acoustical pitfalls. You can spend a boat load of cash buying fancy wood paneling or pretty purple foam tiles but there are cheaper alternatives.

These acoustical panels are made of 100% recycled material, are easy to install, and are pretty cheap ($30 for 12 panels). They have a nice bumpy weave pattern to help scatter sound energy and harness the potential harsh transients in your space (especially if you are dealing with higher volumes).

Have I used these? No. Will they perfectly tune your room? No. A lot depends on the room, it's purpose, and volume. You will most likely need to use absorption in addition to diffusion but these panels are a great start for someone wanting to harness their room acoustics on a budget.

MIO Paperform Panels

Cartoons!

I love cartoons, and if you haven't already become a jaded old fart, you probably do to! Here is a collection of my favorite cartoons via Youtube.

First up is the 1929 Bosko cartoon The Talk-Ink Kid. Bosko was created in 1927 by Hugh Harman while working for Disney on the Alice Comedies. This cartoon does nothing more then showcase the ability to animate soundtrack-synchronized speech and dancing. It would be the only Bosko cartoon that features Bosko with characteristics that could be considered ractist. In his book, Of Mice and Magic, Leonard Maltin states that this early version of Bosko "was in fact a cartoonized version of a young black boy... he spoke in a Southern Negro dialect... in subsequent films this characterization was eschewed, or perhaps forgotten. This could be called sloppiness on the part of Harman and Ising, but it also indicates the uncertain nature of the character itself."



Falling Hare is a 1943 Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Robert Clampett, starring Bugs Bunny. It is of note because it features one of the few times that Bugs Bunny as the protagonist has been outsmarted. This cartoon also features a few digs at Disney.



This 1951 Goofy cartoon is a good example of Disney showing Goofy as an everyman, a device Disney used numerous times, but there is more here then meets the eye. While we are shown Goofy, the actuality is that Goofy is playing George Geef, who lives in a world populated by Goofies. Huh. Keep an eye open for the drug reference.



Rabbit Seasoning is a 1951 Merrie Melodies cartoon, directed by Chuck Jones. It is the sequel to Rabbit Fire, and the second entry in the "Hunter's trilogy" directed by Jones and written by Michael Maltese. It could be considered the greatest meeting between Daffy and Bugs as they both take turns outwitting Elmer Fudd.



All I can say is that Squidbillies is one of the best cartoons I've ever seen. So bizarre.

Liars Liars Liars

We here at the Hall of Owls love Liars. Drum's Not Dead appeared on many of 2006's best of lists, yet the band was already recording their next record. There was much speculation about their musical direction after something as cohesive as Drum, but when a recent article on Pitchfork used phrases like "guitar solos" and "Neil Young," many fans were left scratching their heads.

After hearing a few of the songs from their upcoming eponymous release, it appears that they did indeed write a rock record, but it still sounds like Liars. It just has more, you know, riffs.

Liars -- "Sailing to Byzantium" from Liars
Liars -- "Clear Island" from Liars

Throat Bordello. Signed, Thor

There was a period a few years ago when I took to collecting spam e-mails. Not all spam e-mails, mind you, but ones of a certain type. In order to circumvent some earlier junk mail filters, companies would embed an image with their spiel. However, a single image in an e-mail would most certainly been caught by the filter, so they hoped to skirt that by putting in some dummy text. Usually, these were nonsensical strings of words, but often they would coalesce into an unintended meaning. I thought immediately of Burroughs and his studies of deconstructed language; or even Aztec priests, who found meaning in the vivisected entrails of their sacrifices. I had planned, along with some of the other Owls, to make a zine highlighting these serendipitous moments, but a string of new projects and life upheavals kept it simmering on the back burner. I won't inundate you with my entire collection -- I have over fifty saved e-mails -- but below is a sample. The first two are mangled text from Dickens' David Copperfield:

» It appeared to me that the gentleman in spectacles backed his hat with the novelty of this cookery, the excellence of it. He was quite loquacious; giving me to understand, among other pieces.

» Don't you mind devoid of evil, in its passing away from her, leave her more and was so glad to see old Traddles who always dined with us on her deck, as she turned on her beam-ends towards the shore, now I laid great emphasis on that, as if to imply that I should still and Mrs. Crupp, who was busy making tea.

» If defined by grizzly bear, play pinochle with espadrille behind, then snowed inside to get stinking drunk. Related to sandwich -- senator about earring -- and wedding dress related to are what made America great!

» Unlike so many alchemists who have made their molten pork chops...

» A few clodhoppers and tape recorders arrive at a state of freight train. Now and then, toward rattlesnake, ignore gonad pickup truck. Somnambulist about is linguistic. Most bubble baths believe that toward dolphins, but customers towards starlets.

Alas, e-mail spam technology waits for no one, and it's been a while since I've seen anything like this in my junk mail folder.

Oh, how we laugh!

We here at Howls Of Owls love good comedy, heck sometimes we even love a bad comedy (I'm looking at you you Paula Poundstone!) The Kids In The Hall, Mr. Show, Zach Galifianakis, Todd Berry, Lewis Black...oh the list could go on and on; we love to laugh, it's just that simple. Or is it chortle? I think we love to chortle. So here are a few of my favorite comedy personalities via Youtube.

This first one here is from episode 20 of season 1 of the Kids In The Hall, and it might be one of my favorite Kids In The Hall sketches ever. Scott Thompson as Christ? Get outta here!



The next clip is from Mr. Show perhaps one of the most criminally funny sketch comedy shows ever. This clip is from episode #406. The taint is defined as the region...of the human body between the testicles...oh you know!



People have been listening for the death rattle of Saturday Night Live for a few years now but thanks to the hiring of the guys from The Lonely Island it's been postponed for another couple of years. First is a SNL Digital Short which might be the funniest thing I've seen on SNL in a few years. After that is a clip from The Lonely Island's hit show The 'Bu. Once you see episode one you might as well and go watch the other 7 episodes.





This next clip is of Zach Galifianakis, and he has a beard (maybe..who knows!) He also has that cool biting wit that modern kids seem to love. What does that mean? I'm not sure. Was this thing shot with a phone?



Stella is Michael Ian Black, Mikey Show, and David Wain from The State and that underrated Comedy Central show from a couple of years ago. It was funny. Shut up.



Eugene Mirman: "I can kill a dog in six ways. Five of them are throwing missiles at it."



Finally we get to the main reason I wrote this blog. I can't write enough words to describe it, but it sort of speaks for itself. Ladies and Gentleman: John Mayer, musician who wrote the hit song Your Body Is A Wonderland, has a comedy routine.

Unclassics

In 2004, Morgan Geist -- head of Environ records and one half of Metro Area -- organized a compilation of the best unheard synth and disco gems. The series began in single format. To quote the Stylus review of the record, "this is a collection of songs that haven’t been held to the scrutiny of canonization and therein sound refreshingly sweet." Endlessly playful and endlessly playable, the songs could melt even the coldest of hearts. Perfect for cocktails with friends or when the refrigerator needs a particularly good scrubbing. I'm only going to post two songs from this, as this record is still in print and is worth your money.

Victor -- Go On Do It (Radio Edit)
Purple Flash -- We Can Make It

CS-111

Paulette Goddard is a an Oscar-nominated American film and theatre actress who starred in films such as Modern Times and The Great Dictator.
Thanks to Co-Star Records we can all hear the beautiful Ms. Goddard act out one of her favorite novelettes, Peyton Place...but there is a catch! You have to act with her!
Co-Star Records sells itself as "The Record Acting Game" wherein you get a record with Ms. Goddard's lines recorded and a script with the lines you're suppose to act out.
This MP3 is the first two cuts from the record. In the first one you star as Allison. In the second part of this MP3 you star as the devilishly handsome Mike.
The script here isn't replicated. Sorry.

The Record Acting Game featuring Ms. Paulette Goddard