Signed Streetlight Manifesto CD

Posted: Tuesday, July 30, 2013 by Dylan Benson in Labels: ,

For anyone who is into the ska band Streetlight Manifesto, you know it is pretty rare to too see something autographed/signed by them.  This was just what I was thinking when I ran into someone who claimed to have a signed copy of Streetlight Manifesto’s 2007 album “Somewhere in the Between”.

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Soundtrack that Boosts Productivity

Posted: Sunday, July 21, 2013 by Dylan Benson in Labels: , , , ,

If you’re like me, you find yourself doing many tedious tasks that often take a bit of time.  This could be creating some document on a computer, or soldering some cables together.  Either way, there comes a time where you find yourself looking at the clock and wondering why time has slowed down.  You’re losing interesting, and productivity has slowed down.

For me personally, I have found listening to specific music doesn’t exactly help me focused, but it helps the time pass faster, and I whine less about the work I have to do.  However, not just any music did it (nothing new to anyone, but just hear me out).  If there were lyrics, I would get distracted and sing.  So I found movie or videogame soundtracks worked the best.  Then I started playing a group of soundtracks, and my productivity increased, and my mental fatigue decreased.  I present to you, my soundtracks of choice: Back to the Future, Part I, II, and III.


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Badpiper – The Fire Shooting Bagpiper

Posted: Sunday, June 30, 2013 by Dylan Benson in Labels:

If you have listened to my tracks “Not Your Grandmother’s Ireland” and “Not Your Grandfather’s Ireland”, then you should know that there is a spot in my musical heart for the sound of bagpipes and other Celtic sounds.  Now while I normally don’t talk about music on this blog, I recently came across a performer that is unique enough to be mentioned, and that is The Badpiper – “the world’s only flame-throwing, punk rock bagpiper.”

The Badpiper Playing ACDC’s Thunderstruck

I personally am not the biggest fan of punk rock.  However, as mentioned in my article How to make your Music Sound Different, I’m not opposed to listening to something new.  ACDC songs are an undeniable classic, so when I heard some guy with bagpipes would be performing “Thunderstruck”, it was worth giving it a listen, and I’m glad I did.

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The Last of Us Audio Review

Posted: Tuesday, June 25, 2013 by Dylan Benson in Labels: , , , , ,

It seems that anyone you ask gives a similar answer when you ask, “how is The Last of Us?”  Just about everyone says something along the lines of, “this is the best game I ever played.”  I love Uncharted, so when I heard about this game, I had it pre-ordered as soon as it became available.  The game was very good, but let’s talk about the audio shall we?  I mean after all, this is an audio blog, right?

Courtesy of Christian Gaming 

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How to make your Music Sound Different

Posted: Thursday, June 20, 2013 by Dylan Benson in Labels: , , ,

Have you ever had that moment where you become frustrated with yourself when you try to compose some music because you realize it always sounds the same?  There is a difference when “that’s so-and-so’s signature sound” becomes, “haven’t I heard that before?”  I have recently been running into that problem.  I’m going to share some of my tips that helped me get out of it.  These “tips” may be common sense to some, or not helpful to others.  However, I hope these may help someone!

Don’t turn into this; unless it makes you tons of money of course!

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InfoComm13 Thoughts and Recap

Posted: Saturday, June 15, 2013 by Dylan Benson in Labels: , , , , , , ,

Ever notice in the world of entertainment, the original is best, and the sequel is subpar?  Well, with this being my second visit to InfoComm (2011 being my first), this was no different.  I was shocked about how dissimilar this one was.  I was ready for an amazing event!  I even gave out some tips about how to get the most out of it in my previous InfoComm13 post.  I was let down.

InfoComm13 from above; it looked better then it was

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InfoComm13

Posted: Tuesday, June 4, 2013 by Dylan Benson in Labels: , , , , , ,


Courtesy of GPO US

There are conferences and conventions for everything these days.  If you are in the audio or show production industry, then InfoComm is the convention for you.  According to InfoComm’s website, “InfoComm International is the trade association representing the professional audiovisual and information communications industries worldwide.”  What that means: you get to see all the shiny new toys first!

This year, InfoComm13 is being held at the Orange County Convention Center June 8 through June 14, 2013 (with exhibits from June 12 to June 14, 2013).  I had previously attended InfoComm back in 2011 when it was last in Orlando, and it was an amazing event.  I only attend the exhibits, but that is still something worth seeing.

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