During the mid 1980s when I was designing complicated 16bit digital audio systems, I was fascinated with Simmons style electronic drums, and designed my own analog/eprom based system.
I made a playable kit around a guitar stand, a kick drum pedal and 4 pads on a sheet of MDF about 35cmx25cm. A pad being: piezo sensor glued to 15x11cm 3ply with a thin rubber layer on top and 4cm foam on the bottom attaching it to the main MDF. Kick drum support was aluminum angle.
My design was about minimizing stick noise in a tiny practice kit with a big sound. I lived in a small rented apartment and making any noise was out of the question. Still have the drum sticks, but threw away the rest many years ago. For a time, practicing with this was a lot of fun, and a real eye opener has to how difficult playing drums really is.
In the 2000s I tried to buy a used Simmons SDS5 to SDS8 on ebay a dozen or so times, but was never successful. They sold for the kind of money I didn't have.
When I much later started using the Toontrack DRUM KIT FROM HELL vst, I realized the provided drum patterns, developed from a real drummer playing an electronic kit made such a big difference to how my tracks sounded. I rarely make my own drum patterns now, but when I do , I may play part of the them on a small keyboard, then edit with a mouse.
Finger drumming is now a thing, and completely bypasses the acoustic noise issues any kind of electronic drum pad set makes. I have never tried one though.
I have used a few SDS5 drum samples in my tracks since the beginning. But I still surprised myself when I finally bought the VSDS-X vst a few days ago. Known about that for years.
I just still love that "sheep kicked in the stomach" sound.
The above Music Animation started with me playing the drums on my KORG microKEY32 keyboard. Then adding a FM Bass to that. At first it was just 2 synths, but added 2 guitar tracks later, and that is the version here.
The main image is an AI thing saw on Facebook. Sure I read AI isn't copyrightable, so took that and edited to be the mysterious outcrop here. Just the vibe of the thing. red triangle probe done in MOHO Pro 12.
Another:
This uses some AI images I asked GROK for. AI has huge problems with using it, even if used as a texture generator like here.
Except these kind of are. My last 5 music+comics have been like this. Like a buskers Fake Book, or not remembered correctly, close, almost cover versions.
I want to do original music, then here, almost well known songs.
Not the thing can put on YouTube or Bandcamp, and fair use is not a universal concept. For example it does not exist in Japan.
The lyrics are what people remember, or mostly remember...
Interesting thing to try for a change. I basically gave myself a morning to record and sing a 60sec piece of music, then make a music+comic around it. Hadn't played the song before.
So I usually look up the TAB for it. Find the track on YouTube if I don't already have it, and open up my template for this stuff. Same drums and default instruments and set the tempo. All of these songs here use the same three ultra simple 4/4 drum patterns. Record some verse chorus like bits and ram them together. I play the parts, they way I do my original stuff. I am NOT trying to copy the original artists.
Other than maybe a hint of a Scottish accent in the singing maybe 😀.
Then have 3 or 4 attempts at the singing and keep the best takes. So it isn't that I spent any time practicing these songs I don't know. Part of the incorrectly remembered feel.
Thing is, as I don't own these songs, there is little point in spending much time working on them, learning them, other than for the educational value. To me anyway.
IT'S OUR TIME: A track in that new genre "Retiree Pop Rock". Has a simple catchy chorus and no verse lyrics as you can't remember them any way...
Where was I?
Maybe more "Punk" than "Rock"
Yeah, so I didn't hurt my back putting on my socks this morning. Always a great start to the day, as is making some silly song
Rammstein has these massive massive heavy guitar, then this wimpy synth melody too, so, extra wimpy here.
The old couple is an AI image floating around Facebook, where the old guy has 3 feet. I photoshopped the 3rd foot out and made it a blank thought balloon. The ruling is you can't copyright AI images so fair game I think.
The latest version of the track is here, as I will no doubt change it. I always do!
CHORUS
come on baby
it's our time maybe
lets go have some fun
we worked so long
we worked so hard
it's time to have some fun
VERSE (only one)
our twilight years
been good times and bad
time to leave that all behind
at least for awhile
at least for awhile
at least for awhile
at least for awhile
As we sit across the other side of the world, looking at that foreign country, we are amazed at what is happening. Godsmacked is right.
Isn't the first time though. Those WEAPONS OF MASS DISTRACTION 😀 have been used before. And end credits of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 use Neil Young's Rock'n In The Free World and it all seemed appropriate.
This one has some of Mr. Youngs lyrics in it. Not really a cover though...
Today, in February 2025, it does seem that their talk of a "100 year" rule, "No need to vote any more", "President for Life" and all the rest of an Authoritarian Theocracy is well underway. All with support of the popular vote, and that strange recent US Supreme Court law to let the President do anything.
Not my country, but no doubt the ripples will impact us in the rest of the world. I see Prosperity Gospel followers I know in Australia cheering him on, to make America a "country of god again" or something to that effect.
I did the music first for these MUSIC+COMICs and that is always 3 or 4 8 bar verses to fit under the 59sec X/ Bluesky, and this Blog also has a 50MB upload limit. At this tempo makes it 45seconds long.
So the original song is 4:40 minutes, and I am not doing a "like the original" cover. Doing it the way I do my original stuff. Lots of CHUG. This is just "EDM drum machine" drums, guitar and vocals. The guitar is my Ibanez GIO 7 string with a very metal Line 6 UBER METAL plus cabinet IR tone.
All put together in MOHO PRO12.
I showed the last animation above to a guy from Ohio, and he gave a very reasoned answer.
"Adrian Bruce most people in the US don't read or watch the news, and sadly of those that do, a large percentage only read right wing sources that are 100% biased towards Trump and the republican party and will blatantly lie about what they actually plan to do.
Most voted for change, because things have been hard and getting harder. Harris didn't make her campaign about that, on top of being a black woman, and that cost her enough votes to lose.
And a final point is that while Trump did get the most votes, he didn't get a majority, though it was just under 50%. Even so we are stuck with him for 4 years or till he dies."
If you want to be unkind, you could summarize that as the majority are ignorant, misogynist and racist. These are the same qualities the British that voted to leave the EU had too, so not just an American issue.
For a democracy to work, the public has to be informed, and it would seem most Americans aren't. They had it tough and the news they heard was TRUMP will fix it. They may not even have been aware he was a pussy grabbing rapist felon that lies all the time. Voting, unlike in Australia, is not compulsory, and elections aren't held on weekends when most people aren't working, and not all states allow voting by mail. Many people don't vote, and that seems to be a feature of the American System without even getting tothe Electoral College, rather than a bug. Generally a good guy, Steve Wozniak (That original Apple engineer), doesn't vote, and says both sides do terrible things, like the Vietnam war etc.
Gobsmacked.
A bunch of Artists have done a comic explaining Project2025. America may have its Christian Nationalists, but other countries Prosperity Gospel followers have similar goals, so it isn't just a weird American thing.
Had a really interesting idea for a short comic a few weeks ago and wrote it down as a one page outline.
Had some ideas for the settings and how I would do them, and the finish they could have. I could also reuse a character I did previously. Did some concept sketches and have a page of comic page thumbnails.
Because of the complex setting, I could use my ancient Animation Master to do most of them in 3D. Mostly as I just need still images, and I can still use the modeler and renderer. I tried to learn Blender a few times, but don't want to spend the time on that kind of thing any more. Took way to long and I still got no where with it.
So after that brain storming and planning, will I go ahead and do it?
Haven't decided, as I know it will be a lot of work, taking many days, and may not be the best use of my time just at the moment.
It is something I will give away, but I still need the ROI to be good enough. The fun per hour has to be high enough, and the hours not high enough to wear me out. All self inflicted of course while doing a project.
Coming up with the ideas and concept is fun and quick, but actually making the work takes real effort.
I have all these free to download Adrian Bruce Comic Books here, that get little interest. Expect the reception of any new one to be the same, the way they are very niche.
Maybe doing a cut down version of the story as 4 or so 59sec music comic animations would be better. My music+comics are not something that many look at either, but making the music has a high fun factor and I listen to my music way more than I re-read any comic I have done. So the ROI is high.
So will I?
Maybe not...
Just making short bits of music and short music+comics then adding the music to an album on Bandcamp, like this Assorted Bits 2 is recently the most rewarding thing I do. And that isn't because anyone else looks at them, or they get any likes on social media. I find the process interesting and results listenable.
I like making my own stuff.
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Update: 2025/1/3
Went ahead and did a simplified version of the story as 3 x 59 second music+comics and here they are concatenated together as a 3 minute video:
Did them as 59 second videos as that is what is easy to post on Bluesky/ X. But that would require posting them some days apart, and quite likely, just go unseen in the rushing river that is the timeline of social media. Making a YouTube video makes it more findable, and linkable.
Did the visuals and then did the music to all of them at once. Going for the first sections as BRIGHT, SIMPLE, CHILD LIKE, then it goes B/W and dark.
Should it be MIND'S EYE, rather than MINDS EYE? Yes, but I am not going to change it, as it doesn't matter. I am more interested your emotional response to the scenes and music...
The Reaper project, showing videos as the top track. Seven string guitar, MS-20mini & VSTs.
Much ends up being Jupiter 8 chords and lead 7 string distorted guitar. Just an off the cuff choice. Works for me.
Have put a version of the 3 Act soundtrack on Bandcamp, with the sections spread out more as a single file. That is here on Bandcamp in the Various Bits2 album. Not that anyone but me will play it. It is there so I can rediscover it in a few months when I have forgotten it completely.
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The Illustrations
Illustrations all done directly in CorelDraw without any working pencil sketches to base a scene on. Have enough experience I don't need to for these simple things. Some wireframes.
They mostly end up as .png files with transparency as that is what is easiest to work with in MOHO Pro 12. Something like the Control/Machine Room ends up as a multi-layer .psd that is converted into a one of many switch construct, where only one of the options is seen at a time.
As I didn't do the starship as 3D, it isn't easy to always show it rotating to generate internal gravity. In the case of the not head on view, I rotate the starfield instead, which isn't quite the correct look, but it doesn't matter to the story.
