New Toy!!!

Well empty audience, my Cintiq 13 HD came in today. This is probably one of the best things an artist could own. From the first test I already knew that I would disappear this summer. The feel of this thing is amazing. For once, my digital drawing didn't look like a digital drawing. It responds so well. My mind is blown.

So here are some pics.

Aminals. Probably some of the best creature sketches I've done.

 These are actually the beginnings of drawings my brother asked me to do. They will end up having him and his friends riding on the backs of these animals.

This Cintiq really changes everything.

Smile.

Back in tha Day: HIT'D

Here's something to look at. A short film done for Film Studies at Cerritos High waaay back in 2008.


A group of unqualified hit men are hired by an asian pimp to take out "El-mo".
(I know, I know... we were a bunch of kids having fun. Don't take it seriously. Seriously.)



2 days, one camera and a great group of friends.

I thought it was a pretty good project for a bunch of hoodlums with no money. We used a couple of old school tricks to get what we wanted. Some were hilariously bad but awesome. We had a lot of fun. Maybe too much haha. Watching it now, I noticed how extremely stereotyped the characters are and added to that, our poor language skills didn't help much. It was the only fun I had in the 4 years at that school.

I haven't done any film projects since, but would like to do another one.

Hopefully, the copyright police doesn't take the audio.

Smile

Squappledapple (Squalodon)

Yo,
     Isomnia hasn't gone away so, here is the Squalodon I did for my brother.

 

I'm not much of a colorist, but I feel like I'm getting better.

 

 

Peace.

Neumann KM (Kick-ass Mic's) 184.

       Whoa. Empty audience, I am...whoa.
Today, I finally gained the confidence to try out my new KM-184's and they are "OVER 9,000!!!". I have been recording live with my amateur MXL mics for years before the KM's; they are actually very functional for the price. But WOW... It's almost as if I have seen the light. I've only had a small chance to work with high-end mics way back while attending Fullerton College. Now owning a pair, I am able to experience the hardware in detail and actually listen to them. I tell ya, It's a whole different experience. At one point I even began to laugh in enjoyment. I demo'd the mic's in stereo; performing a short Legnani Caprice I played this semester. At the first listen, I was amazed with it's detail. Every noise while performing was captured yet, it didn't make the recording sound like crap. In person an instrument makes noise but at a level that makes it pleasing to the ear. However, that doesn't mean you should play sloppy. Low-end mics tend to bring out instrument noise and ruin a recording. The recording was very balanced, no frequency was over powered and simultaneously keeping unwanted frequencies out. I was very happy with the lows. And man, does this thing have range. There is a lot of room for dynamics. I would even go as far to say you can beat the shit out of these mic's... it's an expression... don't beat the shit out of these mic's. You will be sad.
      What I love most about the guitar is it's versatility; not only in genre but in articulation and sound. The intrument has multiple personality disorder. These mics will capture them.

     If only my laptop AC didn't cause interference. I guess I'll have to buy a power conditioner. haha.

                                 (comes in a fancy wood case, two windscreens and two clips)

     As of now, I am perfecting my Repertoire so that I can finally begin to record it. Tis gonna be a fun summer. I love toys.

COLOR?

Waddup. Here's the nude Droid wit cuhlla. I don't color often.

It's a little on the rough side, but I'm done with it. This is my love for Music, SciFi and Women.

 

Went a bit gear crazy and bought a Cintiq 13HD.....that will be mailed in hopefully soon.

 

My friend asked me as I was coloring this, "How do you draw legs?". I responded "Look at a lot of legs." I look at a lot of legs...haha

 

Smile,

 

-Justin

Home

Well empty audience, I'm back home and feeling pretty good. Anxiety levels are at an all time low and I haven't touched a guitar assignment in a little over a week. I think I'm just about ready to get back to work...maybe...

At the ol'set up coloring a Squalodon (an ancient dolphin whale of some kind... I'm no paleontologist) for my brother, listening to music at the volume you should listen at, and finally catalogging my artwork.
                                                                     The Ol' Set up

                                                       Where I work.... Sometimes...

I just purchased my kick ass mics and they should be here by saturday. Then its playtime. Out of nowhere, I also bought the new Moog Sub Phatty. Sadly it's on backorder till june but, I'm pretty damn exited. It's Moog's new analog synth that features a sub Oscillator in addition to 2 Osc's. Basically 2 oscillators and a quarter. An enormous sound generator with the notorious Moog sound. I love toys.

Here's a few sketches from this year.

                                           Spider-man and my love for extreme perspective

                           Character Design for a story I'm thinking up. Alien anatomy is fun.

                                                        Me during finals week haha

                             A random fight scene, possibly done after watching Ghost in the Shell.

          A mythical creature of the Philippines called Kapre. Another character concept for a story.

 

 

                A movement study. Frank Quitely (a favorite artist of mine) does this quite well



And finally, An android playing a violin. A Laser Violin. Nude. Haha

 

 

Well that's it for now. Time to meet up with the Goonies. Audio coming soon. Promise. 

Fo Yo Info.

High Low,

     So, this is a paper that I forgot to do and turned in last minute. "Why?" You ask. It contains some pretty interesting info and basically shows the way I experience music in a two page, double spaced paper. The info at the beginning is the classical guitar music and performers I've been listening to throughout this semester. (I suck at writing. Deal with it.)

Justin Santos

Studio Guitar

Recording Report

Luigi Rinaldo Legnani: 36 Capricci, Op.20

Lucio Matarazzo

The Best of Classical Guitar Vol.1: Suite Castellana

Federico Manuel Torroba

Scott Tennant

Gran Jota Aragonesa: Gran Jota Aragonesa

Francisco Tarrega

Manuel Gonzales

David Russell Plays Bach: Partita for Lute in E Major, BWV 1006a

David Russell

Anthology: S.L. Weiss, Passacaille

Chris Carelli

The Fall of Birds – Russian Guitar Music: The Porcelain Tower

Nikita Koshkin, Stephan Rak, John Duarte

Evgeni Finkelstein

The Legnani Caprices were quite new to me and It was clear why. The works were overshadowed by works of Giuliani and other guitar method composers of that time. The individual caprices were very short yet very difficult and each with their own uniqueness. The performer, Matarazzo, was definitely skilled enough to take on each caprice. Even the simplest of caprices were played to a degree where it sounded like a complex and virtuosic piece of music, as most professionals do. Which is the reason why I like the simple, “short and sweet” pieces. There is more to them than meets the eye. Cliché.

I gather that Scott Tennant likes Suite Castellana. I see a couple videos and recordings of him performing this suite floating around the interweb. Tennant is one of the greatest guitar teachers of today and you can definitely hear it. His technique is well tuned and he has amazing musicality. He has his own methods as well as his own book. As a student who has gone through his book; listening to him play, you realize you probably should go through it again. The 3rd movement, Danza, really shows its difficulty. Performers usually slow it down at the ornaments so that they can hit it properly or they augment the note value. Tennant was no exception. Maybe it's a part of the music that is truly difficult for a guitarist. After all, It was Torroba's first guitar piece.

This Gran Jota is a piece that I will be learning in the near future. It's a beast of a piece and I am getting anxious already. However, the contents are also egging me on to learn it. The Performer was unknown to me but he played it quite well. I have also listened to and seen other performers on the youtubes and found that many of them play it differently. Either adding a few fancy revisions or creating a unique way to perform some of the sections. Definitely a new favorite of mine. That said, I should also listen to classical guitar recordings more. Again, this was another occurrence of myself hearing a masterpiece of the guitar world for the first time. However, I gots ta have my R&B.

David Russell is another one among the greats and like many of them, he decides to record a plethora of Bach to spur jealousy amongst the guitar community. I listened to the Partita for Lute in E major. A suite that I will also be learning and possibly regretting in the near future. There isn't much to be said about Mr. Russell's performance, its always amazing. Though, there was an instance where he made a large noticeable mistake during a live performance. I remember having the expression of “WOAH” in my mind. Which actually helped me with my performance issues. You realize guitar gods are human too. Not sure about John Williams though. He might actually be a machine.

I added this for fun.

Never really knowing about Weiss's lute works....yea... I had to do some listening. Passacaille was at the top of the list, for I had performed it for my junior recital. Carelli performs it straight and honestly, it was a little boring. However, that is really to the preference of the performer and a concept that I find helps me. That is, if Carelli does have this concept in mind. It's the mentality of “forget the audience and the music snobs, I'm gonna play”.

The Porcelain Tower is indeed a porcelain tower of a piece. Just as the title expresses, the music in this work is like glass. It is a theme and variation work created by 3 of the most awesome contemporary guitar composers. Nikita Koshkin, Stephan Rak and John Duarte. It consists of 8 movements, the first being the statement of the theme. Then up the tower you go experiencing these amazing and highly visual levels. I really want to learn this work, as I am a completely visual person. Though, it might put a damper on my already assigned rep for the summer. I haven't looked into the creation of this composition but, just reading the titles and listening to each distinct movement, you know it is painting a picture. I haven't seen the score but, I suspect its quite difficult. Finkelstein plays. Nuff said. This album will be on the playlist on the way back home this summer. I'll buy the score...just incase.

 

Das it.

Danks.