Hi there, new member

[studiodekadent]

Hi there,

As can be inferred from the title, Im a new member. My name is Andrew, and I am an Objectivist from Australia and an economics student (the theory I work with is Austrian, Misesian-Hayekian branch).

I like the attitude on this forum. Im a frequent poster on the TOC board and I back Dr Kelley in the split. I like the new scholarship coming out of this branch of the movement, it is really turning Objectivism into a school of thought. My own interests, intellectually, are in Objectivist Ethics, Objectivism and Austrian Economics (with some lean towards von Hayek and Objectivism; I think Rand's treatment of von Hayek was unfair), Objectivism and Evolutionary Economics, as well as Objectivist Feminism.

Im also a political activist in Australia's Liberal Democratic Party (the equivalent of the US Libertarians, albiet a moderate version (most of the people in it are rather hardcore, we just don't want to frighten the electorate)).

Im also a musician. I make electro-industrial music.

I look foward to some enjoyable discussions here.

[BAMF]

Welcome, Andrew! This is a rather cozy place, isn't it?

I look forward to you sharing your thoughts (and your music!) with us.

[studiodekadent]

Thanks Kori!

I agree, this place is a remarkably friendly one. Its like what would happen if you put everyone at Objectivism Online (aka Rationalist Randroid Central) on Xanax (lol). Actually, its much more intellectual than that, but the joke still stands

I intend to share my music at a later date. I have a number of composed songs, I just need to get my MIDI interface and make the tracks with my synthesizers and samplers. But I promise Ill share them later. I hope you like your music dark and angry!

[BAMF]

Oh, it sure is! And LOL at your joke! Not only is it hostile at other objectivist sites...but it's also just so...boring.

If you get to know my posts around here, you will know that I do like much of my music "dark and angry"! What bands/musicians are you into?

[studiodekadent]

Oh, it sure is! And LOL at your joke! Not only is it hostile at other objectivist sites...but it's also just so...boring.

If you get to know my posts around here, you will know that I do like much of my music "dark and angry"! What bands/musicians are you into?

Suicide Commando, Front Line Assembly, :wumpscut:, Icon of Coil, Decoded Feedback, Hocico, VNV Nation, Velvet Acid Christ, [:SITD:] and pretty much the whole genre of Electro-Industrial from Futurepop to old-school EBM to Dark Electro and all shades and variations of. Although my personal work leans towards the sample-strewn and sonically complex, so Im not as minimalistic as some of the bands I mention.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Andrew,

Welcome to OL. I hope you have a good time here. There are lot's of great people around to meet.

Michael

[studiodekadent]

Michael,

Thanks for the warm welcome.

[PalePower]

Hi there Andrew,

I'm a newbie as well, but so far I can say this place is turning out pretty nicely!

Electro-industrial music is awesome; VNV Nation is one of my favorite bands, and I love "Hellraiser" by Suicide Commando. Do you listen to any Assemblage 23?

I'm also a musician/composer, but I focus more on classical composition and movie soundtracks, though I DEFINITELY am going to dabble in industrial/techno one of these days. So good.

Be sure to post some of your stuff up here one of these days; I'd like to hear it!

~Elizabeth

[studiodekadent]

Hi there Andrew,

I'm a newbie as well, but so far I can say this place is turning out pretty nicely!

Electro-industrial music is awesome; VNV Nation is one of my favorite bands, and I love "Hellraiser" by Suicide Commando. Do you listen to any Assemblage 23?

Id consider "Failure" by Assemblage 23 to be one of the best Futurepop albums (judging the album as a whole) ever. I would probably put it as #3, behind Empires by VNV at #1 and Serenity Is The Devil by Icon of Coil at #2. However, A23 is getting stale and a bit too trancey.... guess that even though I got into the scene via Futurepop (the song that introduced me to it was "Disappoint" by A23 actually!) Im part of the backlash against it.... its becoming too fomulaic. However, Futurepop has had a good influence in that it helped Industrial musicians become less fearful of melody.... one of my fave bands, [:SITD:], uses Futurepop-style melodies over the harsh Industrial drums, and I love it.

I'm also a musician/composer, but I focus more on classical composition and movie soundtracks, though I DEFINITELY am going to dabble in industrial/techno one of these days. So good.

Be sure to post some of your stuff up here one of these days; I'd like to hear it!

~Elizabeth

I certainly will post up my stuff when I can. May I ask what gear do you have for electronic music? I have an Access Virus C, Clavia Nord Rack 3, Waldorf Microwave XT (may be leaving when I upgrade the Virus C to a TI however), Roland GR33 Guitar Synthesizer (I love guitar synthesis... so Im trying to bring it into Industrial), and my baby/pride and joy/lover: an Alesis A6 Andromeda analog polysynth. Will be getting a DSI Evolver Keyboard and a Roland SH2 later. I use a MOTU 24i/o audio interface and TC Powercore PCI cards for DSP processing in Cubase.

What setup do you have? If you are still looking to acquire stuff, I can give you some advice on the best gear etc.

And who knows, we may be able to do some collaboration!

Look foward to hearing more from you,

-Andrew

[PalePower]

I love "Disappoint!" It's one of my favorite songs, along with "Lullaby."

I certainly will post up my stuff when I can. May I ask what gear do you have for electronic music? I have an Access Virus C, Clavia Nord Rack 3, Waldorf Microwave XT (may be leaving when I upgrade the Virus C to a TI however), Roland GR33 Guitar Synthesizer (I love guitar synthesis... so Im trying to bring it into Industrial), and my baby/pride and joy/lover: an Alesis A6 Andromeda analog polysynth. Will be getting a DSI Evolver Keyboard and a Roland SH2 later. I use a MOTU 24i/o audio interface and TC Powercore PCI cards for DSP processing in Cubase.

What setup do you have? If you are still looking to acquire stuff, I can give you some advice on the best gear etc.

And who knows, we may be able to do some collaboration!

Look foward to hearing more from you,

-Andrew

Go on and make me feel inferior, why don't you! I really don't have that much equipment, or sophisticated equipment at that. . . attribute it to my being 17 (and so have only been really hands-on involved in this stuff for a year or two) and wanting to save up for college. What I use the most is Finale Printmusic for notation - since most or a lot of the stuff I write is intended for live performance. But for recorded stuff, my software is Cakewalk's Sonar Home Studio; electric guitar is Fernandes Dragonfly X, a Marshall amp, a Zoom 515II guitar pedal, a whole crapload of drum loops both bought and downloaded, and - for all other instrument sounds - my Yamaha Portable Grand DGX-505 keyboard. For a recent movie short sountrack, though, I got one of my friends to come over and record an acoustic piano and cello with his equipment.

I know I'll need TONS more equipment in the future, but as of now I'm too new to even know what exactly it is I'll need. *sigh*

Collaboration - hey! Why not? As you could guess, I probably wouldn't be able to contribute recording-wise unless I get some new stuff, but I'm up for structure or melodic/harmonic composition! You can get an idea of some of my stuff at this site:

http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?songs=450345&T=9324

Some of the files are MIDI. . . ergh.

~Elizabeth

Edited December 27, 2006 by Michael Stuart Kelly

[studiodekadent]

I know I'll need TONS more equipment in the future, but as of now I'm too new to even know what exactly it is I'll need. *sigh*

Elizabeth,

I think Ill give you some help.

1) eBay, eBay, eBay. You can get gear for CHEAP on it! I bought basically my whole studio on it.

Now, electronic music, especially Industrial, has a number of elements to it. The first is Sampling. Do not buy a hardware sampler, you do not need it. Instead, get "Kontakt" by Native Instruments. For drums, get "Battery 3" by Native Instruments. If you have those two things, the only thing you need for external hardware is synthesizers.

Now, many people talk about sound quality. Samplers sound just as good as software (because a sampler is as good as the samples). Synths, on the other hand, almost always sound better as hardware. Amongst hardware synths, the debate is on analog synths versus digital synths (or 'virtual analogs'). Analog does sound thicker, but it is mostly due to the analog FILTERS of an analog. All the rest can be digital (which is usually cheaper). However, I generally recommend having at least one fully analog synth but on a budget you dont need to worry too much.

For a good inexpensive analog sound, You can look for a Novation Super Bass Station on eBay. Or, I can recommend you check out the following page at Analogue Haven: http://www.analoguehaven.com/mfb/

MFB makes analogue synths (often analogue-filter-digital-oscillators) and analogue filter banks. You can get their most inexpensive synth, the "Synth Lite 2" (3 digital oscs, with one switchable to LFO, and a fully analogue filter you can run external signals through!) for US$299.

Basically all you need then is a very versatile analogue-modelling synth for all the rest.... If you dont mind spending a little bit of cash, the Korg Radias or (a bit more pricey but worth it, and a techno/industrial standard) an Access Virus TI. If you really want to keep costs down, you can look for a Novation Nova Laptop on eBay, or an older Access Virus model.

Another inexpensive but great synth is the Dave Smith Instruments Evolver. Get the desktop model. Its only one voice but its very inexpensive and it sounds demented! Its digital-analog hybrid.

Edited December 27, 2006 by studiodekadent

[Chris Grieb]

Andrew; Let me add my welcome. I would be interested in your thoughts on Hayek. I would also like to hear more about Objectivism in Australia. NBI courses never got there in the 60ths.

[studiodekadent]

Andrew; Let me add my welcome. I would be interested in your thoughts on Hayek. I would also like to hear more about Objectivism in Australia. NBI courses never got there in the 60ths.

Thanks for the warm welcome Chris. Objectivism in Australia is, well, a little dead! This country has an unfortunate streak towards levelling-down egalitarianism (as in, not the (often misguided) benevolence Rawlsian type but genuine hate of the good) and a very strong demand for social conformity and social metaphysics. It blows! And our top tax rate is about 17% higher than the US's.

As for Hayek, I dont entirely agree with his philosophy. His economic contributions however, for example his defense and extension of Mises's calculation argument, his co-formulation with Mises of Austrian business cycle theory, his demonstration of the link between economic slavery and political slavery, and his influence on informational economics and evolutionary economics (the latter which I consider a potential bed-buddy of Objectivism) are excellent. Often many people think he endorsed the Left's altruism and the like... I think he actually conflated altruism with benevolence and simply did not think that people could advocate altruism in the Comtean sense (you know, that kind of optimism). He also was influenced by Popper, but I dont think Popper and the like are that mistaken per se... Popper after all was a classical Liberal like Hayek and I agree with David Kelley that most, if not all, classical Liberals probably have an implicit grasp of Rand-esque forms of Objectivity.

[Chris Grieb]

Andrew; I had hopes that Objectivism would be doing better. I thought Australia has a frontier like spirit ethos in its history. Are Ayn Rand's books avaiable and are they read? I would espically be interested in the non-fiction.

[studiodekadent]

Andrew; I had hopes that Objectivism would be doing better. I thought Australia has a frontier like spirit ethos in its history. Are Ayn Rand's books avaiable and are they read? I would espically be interested in the non-fiction.

Ayn Rand's books are read widely but they arent taken too seriously. However, I have found the philosophy department to be very intellectually honest... Ive never reveived less than a credit in any philosophy subject and usually I get distinctions. So I guess that the climate at least amongst some academics isn't so much hostile as it is apathetic. Some however love my work.... the Evolutionary Economics professor loved my work on Evolutionary Economics, Austrian Economics and Objectivist Philosophy.