The Official "Total Randomness" Thread

[MaraCarr]

Star Boy!

[MaraCarr]

Star Boy!

[MaraCarr]

Star Boy!

This song is so special to me. My first time on an airplane. Good Times! I love flying.


The Weekend is at Halloween Horror Nights!

[maximzub]

I'm awake at 1:38 doing my calculus homework. College sucks.

[MaraCarr]

I'm awake at 1:38 doing my calculus homework. College sucks.

I hated Calculus. I love you for being up at this hour Doing Calculus. I respect it… I know how hard it is!

[MaraCarr]

I am up up celebrating the 3’s. I decided I am not going to sleep tonight. I’m going to the gym in an hour and run then I’m going to work. This is a special week!

[MaraCarr]

I am up up celebrating the 3’s. I decided I am not going to sleep tonight. I’m going to the gym in an hour and run then I’m going to work. This is a special week!

[MaraCarr]

I'm awake at 1:38 doing my calculus homework. College sucks.

I’ve been there. I was with child and brought her to calculus class with me. It was so hard but I finished.

You got this!

[gbruin]

I am up up celebrating the 3’s. I decided I am not going to sleep tonight. I’m going to the gym in an hour and run then I’m going to work. This is a special week!

I am up up celebrating the 3’s. I decided I am not going to sleep tonight. I’m going to the gym in an hour and run then I’m going to work. This is a special week!

I'm disappointed you only posted this twice. It should have been 3 times.

[maximzub]

Guess what? I'm going to join Mara in not sleeping tonight, because I still have Calculus III homework AND now I have to do an essay in two days.

[Dan Dando]

Guess what? I'm going to join Mara in not sleeping tonight, because I still have Calculus III homework AND now I have to do an essay in two days.

Watch that video several times and then implement the fellow’s advice, Max

[anguyen92]

Well, this is a bummer. I checked my email to find the email that has the pictures from the Listening Party and I discovered that someone charged $235.00 to Clark Atlanta University to my card. So I had to call my bank's customer service, they told me that they will sort that out and get me a new card. In the meanwhile, I am cardless for the next 10 days. Fun....

[SHEAKENBAKEN]

Well, this is a bummer. I checked my email to find the email that has the pictures from the Listening Party and I discovered that someone charged $235.00 to Clark Atlanta University to my card. So I had to call my bank's customer service, they told me that they will sort that out and get me a new card. In the meanwhile, I am cardless for the next 10 days. Fun....

I checked my banking info on Sunday and found out someone had charged $866 on my card to some third party money transfer website back on September 30th so I had to cancel my card and call my bank. I was put on hold for 90 minutes before they got back to me for a 5 minute conversation and I'm cardless for an undetermined amount of time until I get the new one in the mail...Then comes the daunting task of updating of all of my online subscription accounts payment methods and probably changing all my passwords.

[maximzub]

So tonight, I listened to my band's album front-to-back for the first time since release day. It has a lot of good moments in my opinion, but there are also definitely some things I want to redo. Here's my objective review of it.

Long Live Metal - This is just not the opener song that I wanted it to be. I wanted something powerful, that just screams "ROCK AND ROLL" and doesn't have too much fancy stuff going on, and that also has the lyrics to back up the story that rock/metal is not dead. Well, first off, the lyrics suck. It almost sounds like I'm reading an essay instead of singing a song. And how did I let myself release a song with MISTAKES in the guitar solos? Both were completely improvised on the spot, and there are a lot of bad notes especially in the first one. I recommend you skip this one if you ever want to listen to the album.

Roadtrip Song - A complete turnaround from the previous song, this could hold up to any song that's on rock radio. It has the typical verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-guitar solo-chorus structure, and the main riff, dynamics between the verses and choruses, and solo are things I'm really proud of. Definitely one of my favorite songs to play live, and I could see it being well-received by people on here that haven't heard it live.

Free From This - I like how I was able to blend Carson's writing style with my own (this is originally his song). The chorus is simple - "and I'm free, free, free, free from this" twice - but it's catchy. Another one of my favorites from the album.

Losing A Friend - For some reason I rarely listen to this song, but every time I do, I'm reminded of how good it is musically. The bridge, which was inspired by the bridge of Broken Wings, is my favorite part. Now lyrically, it's a different story. Ever since I came up with the idea to write the song, I wanted it to be a collaborative effort and have three different people write the verses (I wrote the chorus). While I got one verse and a bridge relatively quickly, it took another year and a half of me pestering my friends (musicians and non-musicians) before I finally decided to ask my friend Joseph, who has written lyrics to a lot of my songs before. His writing style is very crowded, and sometimes it works, but the verse he contributed to this song just feels jarring and out of place. I guess now that I achieved the original three-person idea, I can go back and rewrite the second verse.

Sanity Insanity - This was one of my first songs with Joseph, and honestly, it's come a long way since the dragging 9:48 song that we originally planned it to be. Musically, it's complex, but all of it is packed in a short 4 minutes. It's another one of my favorite solos, and the drumming is also something I really like. When I recorded the drums for the song, my dad actually came to tell me that it was really good. The only problem I have with this version is the mixing. I think I tried to stuff too much into it, and every layer is competing to be in the front, so in the end all the intricacies can't really be heard.

I Wonder Why - This is another Carson song, and I can't say much about it other than it's a nice midtempo song. It's not one of my favorites, but it's not bad either.

Still Friends - My personal favorite song from the album, but I'm biased because it's about Addison and I actually gained her approval for it back when I wrote it. It's another one of those radio-friendly songs, but not as heavy as Roadtrip Song. I've actually heard the song countless times (with a different vocal track that I rerecorded a year later), and I've played it so much I can just go on autopilot for it, so it's just absorbed into my brain already. Yesterday, I submitted it to our college radio station, and the people there seemed to like it, so hopefully that goes somewhere.

Gray - I wrote this song in early 2017, which makes it the oldest song on this album. I set it aside back then, and when I lost my Google Drive files in late 2020, I thought I had lost the lyrics. (I had the lyrics for most of my other songs, such as Sanity Insanity, backed up on my computer.) Well, I realized that since I had originally written the lyrics for a poetry assignment in 7th grade reading class, that it might be somewhere in my old school documents. But I put off looking for it until the day I recorded the vocals for the song. I had practiced it with just repeating the first verse instead of the second. Well, the second verse is very crowded, like the second verse of Losing A Friend, so again, I wish I had more time to fix that up. Also musically, it's not one of my strongest songs. Of the ballads on this album, I'd say Losing A Friend wins over this song.

I Am The Night - I really wanted a song that entailed everything I liked in heavy music. This was the result, and I'm quite satisfied with it, even though I basically let an AI write the lyrics for me after I fed it the intro lyrics and the number of syllables in each of the rest of the lines. I think the solo is a weak spot, but the rest of the song is solid.

Shift Into Gear - This was less of a refined effort from me and more of a "let's rock out" song. I don't necessarily have a problem with that, but it's not a song that I would go back and listen to or enjoy playing live. Also, I learned that I should never try to get a wah effect by running a modeling footswitch with a wah pedal through a modeling amp. The solo sounds like a mess because of it.

Crushless Summer - This is another one of my favorite songs from the album, particularly the lyrics. I was more inspired with this song than with most of the others because I was writing it about Addison from the perspective of "we'll never see each other again, let's move on, and I'm grateful for all the time we spent together." Ironically, my biggest boost of inspiration came from unexpectedly seeing her again at a mutual friend's piano recital. So I think I put enough time to work on the lyrics, and the music is solid as well. I don't like that I rushed the recording of the guitar solos, because I really wanted them to be strong but there are some sloppy parts to them.

Take You With Me - Musically, this is yet another one of those that I think would fit in with current rock radio songs. Lyrically, it's fine as well. My biggest problem is the way the drums sound. For this song, I did things differently and used a condenser mic instead of a regular mic on the drums. That was a mistake and everything sounds muddy because of it.

The Bottle Is Empty - While I'm happy with the more radio-friendly songs I wrote, I'm the most proud of this song. I pushed myself to write something that was like an Alter Bridge epic, and man, did I do it well. Recording it was difficult, though, and I think it took me about 50 tries to record the Tremonti-like solo at the end. But I'm happy with the final product. The only problem that I have is that the bridge sounds too much like This Side Of Fate, but there's only so much music you can write before you start repeating what's already been done.

Overall flow of the track listing - I think I did this right. Every song is a nice change of pace from the previous one. Obviously I don't like how Long Live Metal opens everything, but The Bottle Is Empty is a cool closer.

There's my review of our album. I haven't mentioned it yet, but it's called Into The Vortex and our name is Headroom Karma. If you want to check it out, all the lyric videos are on YouTube.

[Adam]

So this is still a thing?

[zazthespaz]

Well, this is a bummer. I checked my email to find the email that has the pictures from the Listening Party and I discovered that someone charged $235.00 to Clark Atlanta University to my card. So I had to call my bank's customer service, they told me that they will sort that out and get me a new card. In the meanwhile, I am cardless for the next 10 days. Fun....

@Shea too
Wow, my bank texted me last night to check to see if I had tried making a purchase of $2,000 at a vape store in Florida - 2 things I'm not interested in! (Florida & vaping) I replied "no" and they had to cancel my card, I've got another one for a different account, but I'd rather get the miles on the card they had to cancel.

So this is still a thing?

Damn this thread is still going?

Yes.

[Crumbso]

There's my review of our album. I haven't mentioned it yet, but it's called Into The Vortex and our name is Headroom Karma. If you want to check it out, all the lyric videos are on YouTube.

I've listened to your stuff when you posted over the past few months. There are some great things about your playing and some really good ideas. If I have any constructive criticism, here are the following points:

- Production really needs to be upped (go DI, use plugins, midi drum programs etc)
- You really have to put bass in these songs, you could really drive the melodic centre throughout and anchor the melodies. Without bass, if feels unfinished
- Your lyrics are written in very proper grammar and you tend to try to shove all those syllables into a bar, it can come off awkwardly. Try dropping some articles and prepositions (i.e. instead of "And My Guitar sitting on the back seat" try "Guitar on the back seat") let the rhythmic needs of the song drive the number of words and make sure every word NEEDS to be there. Less is more.
- Get some more vibrato and variation of delivery/tone/intensity into your vocals. If you're using any kind of pitch correction, then stop using it (I can't really tell but you're directly on pitch almost 100% of the time).

You've got the meat and potatoes of some good songs here, they need polishing and other elements added to make them stand out a bit. Get some guitar hooks, complementary/counterpoint instrumental parts and atmospheric stuff in there to help it stand out.

Remember, the medium is the message. You could write potentially the greatest song in the world but unless it's polished and complete, nobody would know it. Keep at it and get out there again with a band now that you're at college. Other people will have things to add and keep things interesting and road-testing the material will help refine it.

[MaraCarr]

I am up up celebrating the 3’s. I decided I am not going to sleep tonight. I’m going to the gym in an hour and run then I’m going to work. This is a special week!

I am up up celebrating the 3’s. I decided I am not going to sleep tonight. I’m going to the gym in an hour and run then I’m going to work. This is a special week!

I'm disappointed you only posted this twice. It should have been 3 times.

There is a reason for everything!

[MaraCarr]

Guess what? I'm going to join Mara in not sleeping tonight, because I still have Calculus III homework AND now I have to do an essay in two days.

Hey.... Me too. I have an essay 1500 to 2000 words every week. Im workin' on my Masters! I was half dead at work the other day...
But...I made it! I don't know how.....at around 1 pm...I was really in need of a power nap!

[MaraCarr]

My coworker that I am training called me out of the blue tonight. I love training new nurses! I have an amazing job! Anyway what I love the most is that they call me in the middle of the night about things ...I would never think they would need advice for... She was whispering in the phone when I answered ...and I could hear a loud party going on behind her. She said, "I am at my husbands after work meeting/party and the bartender is asking everyone what they want to drink." She said..."I like bourbon" ..."What should I order?" My advice was an Old Fashioned with Angel's Envy. Beautiful drink... better than the finest of wines! JUST Sip it.

I love my job!

I have to say she is an amazing nurse and an amazing human! Such a blessing to work with and be friends with! The patients are so blessed to have her as their caregiver... So beautiful and so loving and so intelligent.