Assembly 2015
category: parties [glöplog]
Luna, of course: https://files.scene.org/browse/parties/2015/assembly15/
Thanks! Had fun! Maybe next year I remember to do some entries as well..
@abyss: nice its on its way down :]
Thanks for a great party once again!
On a sidenote, I don't really agree on 1k intros being a "solo" effort. Most of the top entries have been made by more than one coder.
On a sidenote, I don't really agree on 1k intros being a "solo" effort. Most of the top entries have been made by more than one coder.
Quoting Asm'98 compo rules: "NO MUSIC or other sound is allowed (this is because this a coders’ competition, not musicians’) :P
I had a super time once again. Big props to all Assembly and Boozembly organizers and all old and new acquaintances!
The democompo had about 10000 TV viewers (source: YLE TV2).
I have a wish for future parties. Please be reasonable with the party audio system and tune it so that it actually suits the content. The sub bass at this year's Assembly was horrific, and it actually spoiled many entries, making good tunes unlistenable. It does not have to be that way, and having ground shaking bass just because it's "cool" stopped being cool about 20 years ago. Nowadays it's just stupid.
When tuning the PA, please have a scene music expert there if the audio company forgot to their brains home. Use actual demos for tests, especially 4k intros and oldskool music, because unlike modern mp3/PCM soundtracks, they cannot really be "mastered".
As a particular example I'd like to take Noby's incredible 4klang tune for the winning 4k intro "Hydrokinetics". In the compo, sitting in the audience, I could not make any sense of the whole tune, except that there was a lot of low bass. It sounded almost like not music at all. But now after the party, having actually heard it, it's completely incredible, one of the best pieces of music in a 4k ever. I've listened to it with a few sound systems and loudspeakers and I can't make it sound like the crap that was played in the party hall.
When tuning the PA, please have a scene music expert there if the audio company forgot to their brains home. Use actual demos for tests, especially 4k intros and oldskool music, because unlike modern mp3/PCM soundtracks, they cannot really be "mastered".
As a particular example I'd like to take Noby's incredible 4klang tune for the winning 4k intro "Hydrokinetics". In the compo, sitting in the audience, I could not make any sense of the whole tune, except that there was a lot of low bass. It sounded almost like not music at all. But now after the party, having actually heard it, it's completely incredible, one of the best pieces of music in a 4k ever. I've listened to it with a few sound systems and loudspeakers and I can't make it sound like the crap that was played in the party hall.
Quote:
they cannot really be "mastered".
Which is usually actually why they sound better on party PAs, since you won't have the ability to "just boost the sub bass a little bit more and add a bit of compression here and there".
Which doesn't change what I said at all. Tuning in a stupid amount of sub bass is stupid.
yeah i always feel disappointed my subwoofer at home isn't as banging :D
I don't know about you but I found the soundsystem to be the best thing about the new place by far (compared to Hartwall arena).
It's not the system, it's how it was tuned.
yzi: I'm just saying, you should actually use more mastered material for testing than oldskool because that stuff will usually be way too loud and bassy in comparison. Demoparties are probably a nightmare for any engineer trying to set up the sound system optimally, because there's music in dozens of styles, dozens of different mixing and mastering approaches, etc...
The sound system was tuned before the party started, but clearly could have used tuning again with 500 people sitting in front of it and more work balancing the bass. We will improve this for next year.
I was sitting at the far end of G13 and while Hydrokinetics was playing on screen in the 4k compo I did live measure with Andrew Smith's Real Time Analyzer app (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rta/id298839433?mt=8) on the DBA levels, and got a maximum of 112 dB @40Hz on a 8 sec average. It was gut-wrenching, which may sometimes be a wanted effect (maybe on a club, when everybody's dancing) but definitely did not do justice for the demo.
It sure is difficult to get such a space sound good, and I could see that there was a lot done for it - appreciated. To improve this, maybe the musicians should be given a chance to ask for some adjustments for the display of their work. I'm not saying that my fast music piece would have done any better in the compo with less subwoofer, but it sure would have sounded nicer. I'll think again before choosing jazz bass for an instrument next time ;D
It sure is difficult to get such a space sound good, and I could see that there was a lot done for it - appreciated. To improve this, maybe the musicians should be given a chance to ask for some adjustments for the display of their work. I'm not saying that my fast music piece would have done any better in the compo with less subwoofer, but it sure would have sounded nicer. I'll think again before choosing jazz bass for an instrument next time ;D
112 dB is pretty extreme :O
The following ASM2015 streaming, as posted by the "BitBot" can not be seen outta Finland.
Any solution without a finnish proxyserver?
Any solution without a finnish proxyserver?
No idea about a proxy/VPN but when you get that sorted out you can download the stream as a .flv file (1.2GB) with this tool http://madjoki.com/stream-downloader/
Abyss: glad to hear that.
Saga Musix: I see tiny soft synths and oldskool hardware as instruments in their own right. Any professional audio engineer who takes pride in their work will want to know what sort of instruments will be played on stage, if the sound isn't from commercially mixed records or anything.
If there's going to be a fine vintage synth from the 1960s that happens to produce a lot of very low rumble, what do they do? Magnify and highlight the instrument's weaknesses as much as possible? No, they low-cut the rumble away to make the instrument and the act enjoyable.
I've now listened to Hydrokinetics on a big home stereo set with the volume cranked up, with various multimedia speakers and headphones, including AKG K271 Mk II and K518LE, and only on the boomy K518LEs there's maybe a bit too much bass. But on the Asm party system it was unlistenable. I was holding my ears and hoping that my tinnitus won't get any worse.
When talking about visuals, there's always been the "big screen effect" - whatever it looks like at home, it will be better on the big screen. But music has been the opposite - you never know how it will sound. Sometimes you get lucky.
Since at Assembly the entries are pre-recorded, maybe there could be a little bit of multi-band limiting or something...? I don't know. In a way it would feel like cheating, but then again I'm sure the demo compo's sound was processed by Yle for their broadcast.
Saga Musix: I see tiny soft synths and oldskool hardware as instruments in their own right. Any professional audio engineer who takes pride in their work will want to know what sort of instruments will be played on stage, if the sound isn't from commercially mixed records or anything.
If there's going to be a fine vintage synth from the 1960s that happens to produce a lot of very low rumble, what do they do? Magnify and highlight the instrument's weaknesses as much as possible? No, they low-cut the rumble away to make the instrument and the act enjoyable.
I've now listened to Hydrokinetics on a big home stereo set with the volume cranked up, with various multimedia speakers and headphones, including AKG K271 Mk II and K518LE, and only on the boomy K518LEs there's maybe a bit too much bass. But on the Asm party system it was unlistenable. I was holding my ears and hoping that my tinnitus won't get any worse.
When talking about visuals, there's always been the "big screen effect" - whatever it looks like at home, it will be better on the big screen. But music has been the opposite - you never know how it will sound. Sometimes you get lucky.
Since at Assembly the entries are pre-recorded, maybe there could be a little bit of multi-band limiting or something...? I don't know. In a way it would feel like cheating, but then again I'm sure the demo compo's sound was processed by Yle for their broadcast.
@fragment
Kiitoksia... Will have a look!
Kiitoksia... Will have a look!
..on the other hand not sure what extra would the broadcast provide since everything there is in Finnish anyway (interviews with Marq, Pehu and Abyss. Live commentary with Setok, Abyss and Branch)
The Finnish part of the compo studio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1i3SYhCvqI
And English https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAZ4Be7eVdU
The Finnish part of the compo studio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1i3SYhCvqI
And English https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAZ4Be7eVdU
Quote:
I was sitting at the far end of G13 and while Hydrokinetics was playing on screen in the 4k compo I did live measure with Andrew Smith's Real Time Analyzer app (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rta/id298839433?mt=8) on the DBA levels, and got a maximum of 112 dB @40Hz on a 8 sec average. It was gut-wrenching, which may sometimes be a wanted effect (maybe on a club, when everybody's dancing) but definitely did not do justice for the demo.
Our AudioTechs gave this to me..
..with note, that PA is tuned linear, for few years now.
One idea was, that demo makers could request if they need low-cut for PA, if audio isn't/cannot be mastered.
Quote:
Saga Musix: I see tiny soft synths and oldskool hardware as instruments in their own right. Any professional audio engineer who takes pride in their work will want to know what sort of instruments will be played on stage, if the sound isn't from commercially mixed records or anything.
Yes, do I get it - again, I just said that this would be a nightmare for any audio guy. You're welcome to prove me wrong by letting every participant tune the sound system to their preferences for their entry (preferrably not during the actual party), though.