Summing up 2011

Since it is the end of the year, I thought taking a look in the rear view mirror might be in order. This year has in many ways been my "coming out" year. I started making videos for YouTube. I got a domain name, and set up a web site (which still needs a lot of work). I simply took a leap that I've been wanting to take for some time. Let's have a look:

January: My son Alfred was born. Damn this was cool. Easily the coolest thing I've ever experienced. He has leveled up incredibly fast during his first year.

February - June: During this period I mainly adjusted to being a parent.

July: I put up my first chip tunes on YouTube and got some nice comments. Then I decided to start making tutorials, something I've wanted to try for a long time. The subject was to be MilkyTracker, the program I used to make my chip tunes.

August: A month of mainly songs, and not so much tutorials. This was due to me being away for work.

October: My music production starts to stagnate a bit. This due to a lot of school work. What ever I produce for YouTube is mainly focused on the tutorials.

November: I launch my website, multi8it.com. I make another part of the tutorial series.

December: Dry month.

Now, for the main purpose of this post; what can I learn from this? Well, first of all, this stuff takes time, more time than I have. Maybe I need to review my work flow. I do want to put a lot of time into the video editing, as I think that  gives my tutorials their flavor, but if keeping the current work flow means that nothing gets done, then I need to look things over. At the moment my work flow looks roughly as follows;

1. Script writing.
2. Record audio.
3. Record video.
4. Mix them together and add transitions.
5. Export and upload.

The big time consumers are 2, 3 and 4, but I feel they need the work, or else they won't get that multi8it feeling I'm aiming for. I also want to create more music, partly because that's how I learn what to teach, and also, it's a really nice form of letting your creative steam off.

All in all it's been a great year, especially with all the nice comments I've gotten on my YouTube channels. On of the best things was when I got my first (and so far only) comment on this blog. I've never gotten any blog comments before, and commenting is generally a hassle for the reader, at least that's how I think about it. It feels good that someone actually found the reading engaging enough to give feedback.

For the upcoming year I really hope the multi8it project will continue to grow. Once the MilkyTracker tutorials are done I will be looking for other programs to write tutorials for. I also hope to produce some kind of E-book with the best stuff from the video tutorials.

To all the people that followed me, commented and (hopefully) enjoyed the multi8it project so far; I wish you all the best. Without you, this effort would be pointless.

See ya!

Christmas reading

1: When I first set out to record my MilkyTracker tutorials I had no idea that I would get the feedback that I've gotten. It's awesome! It shows that there really is a need for them. This is the reason why it pains me so to not be able to put the videos up there as often as I'd like. As of writing this article it's roughly one month since the last episode, and that is NOT ok. Life's a bitch sometimes, and lately life has been pretty bitchy.

2: The reason I myself got into MilkyTracker was that I wanted an open source method of composing chiptunes, and MilkyTracker proved to be "it".

3: The reason I wanted an open source alternative is that I'm a Linux (an alternative to Windows and Mac OS) person. The linux movement is in my view a great means of bringing immensely powerful tools to those who can't afford expensive hard/software (such as ProTools/Logic/Cubase and Apple computers, which seem to be music industry standards). Music is a method of expression not a method of expressing who's got the bigger wallet.

Where am I going with this? Well, if this is something you would be interested in, I would strongly recommend you check it out. Linux comes in many flavors (called distributions) geared toward the users needs. Good beginner distros (short for distributions) are in my opinion Ubuntu and Linux Mint. If you decide to go Linux, I strongly suggest you try it out as a Live CD (running directly from a CD/DVD) first, as you might screw up your Windows installation beyond restoration. There is, however, the option to install both Linux and Windows and choose which one you want to use when you start the computer (this is called dual-booting). This is how I moved over to Linux.

But where am I going with this? Well, when you're starting to get comfortable in Linux, you might want to explore the command line a bit. This might seem a daunting task at first, but I highly recommend it! You'll learn the ins and outs of the operating system, perform tedious tasks MUCH quicker, all this while looking awesomly super matrix hacker cool! What more can one ask?

Some time ago, while learning command line stuff, I blogged a bit about it to document my learning. I tried to keep it in a tutorial format, and that's the point of this post. If I can't make any more videos in a while, I can at least share this blog with you in the hopes that you find it useful.

The blog: http://r3dpill.wordpress.com/
Intro to BASH (command line): http://r3dpill.wordpress.com/article-series/
Some Slackware tips (Slackware is another distro, not as beginner friendly as Ubuntu or Linux Mint though): http://r3dpill.wordpress.com/getting-some-slack/

Now for some feedback:
I got my first ever blog comment on my last post. Thanks franko! He (I'm assuming here) came with some tips on hard-annotations on the videos which I will consider. Also, he asked that I make the tutorials so that you can hear the sounds as I make them. This is a problem I've been aware of. MilkyTracker doesn't want to play nice and share the sound device with other programs, therefore I've had troubles recording the sound. I'm looking into it though, as I wholeheartedly agree with him. It would make for better videos.


Enjoy!

What is an hour worth?

The title of this post is a question that has a different ring to it these days. If you didn't know, my wife and I were blessed with a child in January this year (2011). Since then, time is more and more becoming a highly valuable asset. Now, don't get me wrong, I do love spending time with my son, but my sort of new found hobby - YouTube - has taken quite a blow. It's been more than a month since my last video upload, and time is ticking.
I feel I have found an interesting subject for my videos, and the response I've gotten proves this. The really sad part is that my MilkyTracker tutorials are just starting to get somewhere, and I really hate leaving the viewers hanging in the middle of a series. Although it might look as though the multi8it project is no more, this couldn't be further from the truth. I have registered the domain multi8it.com, and I have some plans for it. At the moment I plan on sticking with blogger as blog engine, simply because I like it. I will probably mainly use the domain and the hosting as a portal for the project, and a place to host audio files as well as project files. Initially I will not put the MilkyTracker tutorials there, as they somewhat depend on the annotation system. However, I want you to have your say. If you want the tutorials, rendered with annotations in mind, but without them, I will put them up.
This was just a tiny update to let you know that things are moving, albeit slowly. Now I'll sit down and record the audio for the next MilkyTracker tutorial.

Peace!

New computer celebration.

Today is not the happy day that the title of this blog post suggests. Rather, this last Saturday was. My parents and one of my brothers came to visit us. Since my brother and I both recently had our birthdays, an attempt was made at celebrating us. Boy, did that attempt succeed. Up until now I've been using a netbook for all production involved in the multi8it project. No more I say. I got a new laptop!

It's a Toshiba one, pretty cheap, so it's still true to the mission of the multi8it project, which is to show that you don't need expensive stuff to do fun stuff. As I had unpacked the computer I felt sorry for it. Forcibly infected with Microsoft Windows. My netbook runs Ubuntu, simply because of the immense software library that's available. I thought I would take this impending act of liberation as an opportunity to try out a new Linux distro. I chose between Linux Mint and Fedora, and finally decided to go with the latter.

Now, I'm used to sitting on a netbook, but boy it's snappy. Everything is working out of the box. The main obstacle to this point is that Fedora by default uses another package manager, namely yum. I'm used to apt on Ubuntu, but I'm up for the challenge. It's not like it's difficult, it's just different, and the answer is never further away than "man yum".

So why did I choose Fedora? Linux Mint does indeed have a lot preinstalled, both aplication and codec wise. That is part of the problem for me. I don't want a cluttered system. I believe Linux Mint would have a lot of stuff that I'll never use anyway. The mission of the multi8it project is doubly freedom focused, we're looking for both free as in beer and free as in freedom solutions for music production. Since Fedora contains free software only (as far as I know), it's a good place to start.

Now I must admit I'm a total Google junkie. I use Gmail, Google Calendar, Google+, YouTube, Blogger, well... pretty much everything Google. It comes naturally that I also use Google Chrome which is not free software. I hope you'll forgive me for that.

Until next time,
peace!

To tweet or not to tweet...

...that is the question. As usual, I wanna apologize for not putting up videos as often as I would like. Now, the matter at hand. I recently signed up for Google+, and I've loved it ever since. My issue is that I'm not the best social media socializer in the world, and keeping more that one account running at the same time is quite a lot to ask from someone like me.

There's no way I'm leaving Google+, I think it really has the future ahead of it. Face book is no option, since I'm rarely there anymore. I'm actually considering deactivating my account there altogether. Identi.ca is not an option either, since I want the "on the go" ability. There simple aren't any Identi.ca apps for Android that I feel comfortable using (the Google+ one kicks ass). This brings me to twitter. I do have an account there (@multi8it), and I've used it to some extent. Still, with the advent of Google+, there really is no reason to keep multiple "public social media" services going at the same time. I might reach a few more people, but since the multi8it project is so niched anyway, people who want to follow me will probably do it anyway.

So, if you're a twitter user, and better yet, if you're following me on twitter, I'm so sorry to announce that I probably will be even less active on twitter than I've been up to this point. I really urge you to check Google+ out. If you want to sign up, feel free to follow me there (http://gplus.to/simonwessel). The nice thing about Google+ is that you don't have to sign up to follow anyone there, so it's up to you.

Anyway, see ya around! Peace!

Cutting the crap

Just a short notice tonight. I'm deactivating AdSense, since it's not doing me any good anyway :) Up until now it's just been cluttering the blog. My intention with this blog will never be to profit. All the money earned will in one way or another be put back into the multi8it project.

With that said, I'm going to bed. I've been feeling kinda crappy the last few days. My son has been sleeping so-so, and that takes it's toll even on former nocturnal being like me. Also I think I'm coming down with a cold. Enough ranting!

I do have the audio for the next MilkyTracker tutorial (I record audio and video separately) recorded already, and I'll do my best to get it out ASAP. Hopefully study pressure will lighten a bit after Monday or Tuesday.

S.

Workflow evolution

I just wanted to give you an update on my workflow. To give you necessary background info; my wife and I were blessed with a child in January. He's now 8 months old. Sleep is important, especially in that age, when you're establishing your routines. That is the reason I've kept my recording to daytime. I simply don't want to disturb his sleep. Yesterday I tried doing some recording in the evening, and guess what - it worked just fine!

Now that I know I'm not risking waking him up I feel I'm sort of standing in front of a personal workflow evolution. This means that I probably will be able to put more time into my YouTube video making.
I know I still have a lot of MilkyTracker tutorials ahead of me and they are on the horizon. However, I want this project to be sort of a dialogue.

My question; what do you want to see once the MilkyTracker series is wrapped up? You can comment here. You can comment or PM me on YouTube (simonwessel). You can tweet me (@multi8it). You can send me and email (multi8it@gmail.com). The choice is yours.

Peace.

Video update 2011-09-13

Music: You Da Boss

A new song, with more of a boss fight style to it, as requested by YouTube user KingHerring. Expect it to show up in the tutorials.
03 - multi8it - You Da Boss by multi8it

Update

Hey!
Time for and update! I'm back at home, and everyday life is finally making itself reminded. It has taken longer than I expected to get the next episode of the MilkyTracker tutorials out. My eight months old son needs a lot of attention, and in the two weeks I was away, he has grown tremendously. I needed some time to get back into the whole parenting. Finally I feel that I'm getting back on my feet. Now I can resume the video production.


The main factor holding me back in the production rate is time. Time is scarce. The second factor is hardware. I'm doing all of this on a netbook. It has one and a half years under its belt, so it's quite old. Still, I find that being part of the challenge. I don't want hardware to be an issue. I want to show people that you can do multimedia production on limited hardware.


While you wait for the next episode, which I'll get done as fast as I can, I want to remind you that you can get the project files for my MilkyTracker songs. I just uploaded the project file for the latest song "No You" here.


Keep on chippin'!

Music: No You

Celebrating the return from the last two weeks of absence I put this together. Enjoy.
02 - multi8it - No You by multi8it

Almost there

I've spent the last hour or so with a new song. Nothing's ready for release though. The days are long, and I'm tired, but soon work is over and school starts again. Hopefully I'll have more time to spend then. I'm really excited about the tutorials. It'll be a blast recording them.

This is just another update to let you know I'm not dead. No fun stuff for you today, but soon my friends!

Something while you're waiting

If you're waiting for the MilkyTracker tutorials, I can only say - "soon". I'm still away for work, but soon, soon, soon I'm going back home. While you're waiting take a few minutes and watch this video. My fellow country men "047" make some really nice music.



See ya!

Late night update

In case anyone reads this, I just want you to know that I'm not dead. I'm just working, and it's the "around the clock" kind of work (a summer camp). That's why I'm really short on time. Still, I hope you stay with me. I will continue the video tutorials as soon as I can.

In the meantime I want to give you something, and this time, it's a recommendation, free music to be more specific. Pronobozo is a musician that releases his music under CC license. To be honest he's been an inspiration of mine. I hope you enjoy his stuff.

See ya!

The near future

You might have gotten here directly, or you were referred from multi8it.tumblr.com. Either way, I want to make you aware that I'm switching from Tumblr to Blogger, but I'll still keep my Tumblr account. Here is where the action will be though.


Onwards! You might have noticed the lack of MilkyTracker tutorials. Unfortunately, I can't make any more episodes in another 2 weeks or so, since I'm going away for work. But don't cry! I will spend my extremely limited free time writing and planning the upcoming episodes.


As suggested by YouTube tutorial guru metalx1000, I've made the MilkyTracker project files for my songs available for download. They're hosted on Google Docs. It's a temporary solution, but it will have to do for now.


Now, my humble request is that you endure the long wait. I promise I'll do my best to deliver nice tutorials that are... "short, fast, to the point", multi8it style :)

Tumblr or Blogger?

I'm checking out the competition. I've had a Tumblr blog for some time (you can find it here), but I can't decide if I should stay there or not. I feel Tumblr is somewhat limited. Is blogger just as limited? Is it better? Or worse? We'll see. One thing is certain, and that is that Google development is not lazy. One thing that might give Blogger the upper hand.