BAND GEEK

I'm a band geek.

At least, I was a band geek. That classification doesn't quite mean anything after you've graduated from high school and are no longer actually in a marching band. Truth be told, I loved band. I loved band. In my junior and senior years of high school, I believe I missed a total of three events. The first was when I was very ill. I had missed school that day and instead of being at the game I was at the hospital getting a prescription for some high-powered cough medicine. The other two occurred on the same day; it was a girl's basketball game followed by a boy's basketball game. Or perhaps in the opposite order, I don't recall. The latter two I just didn't feel like going to. Still, not a bad track record.

I also participated in every solo and ensemble festival that I could, from seventh grade on up. I did miss one year, but that doesn't count. That would be my sophomore year, when our band took a little trip to Williamsburg, VA. Our band director wasn't paying much attention to solo/ensemble that year, and didn't count it against us for letter requirements and such because we were more focused on preparing our music and everything else for the trip. But I did a solo each of those years, and and also participated in group performances and a duet. I play trumpet, by the way.

I was kind of a leader in my junior year; if there was a solo part I was almost sure to get it. We played Folk Song Suite by R. Vaughan Williams I believe it is. I took the solo trumpet part for that, and I practiced my ass off to play that part correctly. It was actually quite an honor. I also was chosen to be a leader for our ensemble that year, playing some nice little jazz tune for the solo/ensemble festival that year. I had the role of introducing myself, and everybody else in our ensemble, and stating something I liked about the song. "I like the jazzy feel to the song," I told them, and everybody laughed. I don't know if they all knew it was a jazz song, if it was a commonly known tune or anything; I just knew that it sounded good and I liked playing it!

I loved band. It really gave me a true sense of purpose in high school. It was the one group in school where I felt like I really belonged, where I could just be myself, and the best opportunity I had to grow and gain leadership. My band director was a pretty special dude. A large part of the reason why I loved band so much, and part of the reason why I tried so hard in band, is because the director straight-up told me, "Anthony, I want you to be a leader in this band". That was near the end of my sophomore year.

How did I gain his attention? Practicing. I had been pretty quiet, and was usually shoved to the back of the pack playing 3rd/4th trumpet, occasionally 2nd if I was very lucky. During class one day, everybody was having trouble with what I thought was a very simple rhythm. I knew the rhythm but I was afraid to stick out, to be heard. He might have known that I knew the correct way to play it, I don't know. But he was pissed off that nobody could play it right. So, we're playing a song, and we get to that part. I play that part where everybody kept fucking up, and I was audible, and he noticed me right there. That is when my band career would truly begin.

I don't quite know what he saw in me, or why he specifically told me that he wanted me to be a leader in his band program. I kind of don't care, either. It just feels good knowing that a person you look up to trusts you, and they're willing to help you lead the group along. My time in band was, to say the least, the best time of my life. I had so much fun, and learned a lot about life and music.

It was sad to walk away from it all so quickly, so sudden. When graduation came, I was shoved out of this group, never to play again with these people I had known for four years or more. I was shoved out the door and everything I had done had been forgotten, waiting for some other kid to come along to do the same things and eventually be forgotten as well. I think the one thing I wished for was to win an award, to get my name on a plaque. I was always in search of the Most Improved award, and I felt like I went from being a nobody to being a leader. I felt like I had a legitimate shot at that. There was also the Jazz award, and the John Philip Sousa award; I was hoping for the Sousa. That had become a goal and obsession.

I didn't get the John Philip Sousa award, or the most improved award. But I feel like the people who did deserve the award were well-deserving of the award. After all, it doesn't really bother me that much anymore. I know that I had to have been in the conversation for either one of those awards. I wasn't a very good student either, so maybe that might have hurt my chances on the Sousa. Anyway, the award winners were all very deserving, and I can't think of anybody from my graduation class who should not have gotten an award. We were, I suppose, the last of the greats.

Anyway, feel free to discuss and share your own band experiences, or talk about somebody who you looked up to that trusted you and guided you along your path.

Thank you!
The Frak

Music, Music, Fallout

If you like music, you'll love that song.

It's October, by Eric Whitacre, if you couldn't tell. I love Eric Whitacre- they way all the instruments blend together. I love his chord structure and smooth melodies, just absolute musical bliss. To me, this is his best work. I discovered Whitacre in my junior year of high school, when we played a band arrangement of "Lux Aurumque". That piece as well is very beautiful. It was originally composed for a choir. One theme I've noticed about Whitacre is the chords. I just love his chords, love the way he uses the instruments, and conveys complex emotions through just music alone.

Well, I've declared it Eric Whitacre month for that song October. Just wanted y'all to know that, if you've never listened to anything by Whitacre, you should. Good stuff.



Also, it seems like my song is doing well. My good friend Eric asked "Onision" for a little bump to tweet the link to my song. Well, strangely enough, he did! And good thing, too. Because after that tweet it seemed like it quickly gained a hundred more views! Thank you everybody for your support.

I haven't been doing much work on FL Studio recently. I've been drained working on the Hunt for Bass entry. Now that I've got that out of the way, I think I'm just doing some more testing with some other synthesizers. I recently "acquired" another synth, Morphine. It's very complicated, but I've found a very well-made thunder storm effect that I would love to work into a song, along with my ability to make a siren sound-effect. I could probably work something interesting out with all of that.


As for personal news, I recently obtained all achievements for Fallout 3. It was an arduous task. Many raiders were decapitated, so many ghouls slaughtered, slaves freed and bottlecaps to be collected. Breaking into many buildings and pillaging for loot, and saving townsfolk from various dangers- from super mutants to ants, foolish "super heros" to raiders, and even dismantling (or perhaps even detonating) large nuclear explosives. It was a very long journey, and it has come to an end. And just in time, too!

Fallout: New Vegas comes out shortly, and I am ready to crawl all over the Mojave Wastelands to find my fortunes! Take Fallout 3, add iron-sight aiming, upgradable weapons, HARDCORE MODE, a vastly improved ally system, and the glamor of a post-apocalyptic Las Vegas, and hopefully remove the tendency to glitch, and I can smell Game of the Year honors! The gaming scene is crowded with first person shooters, but I don't think any of them come close to what Fallout: New Vegas will be. What it may lack in action and the lack of multiplayer, it makes up for with a great storyline and gameplay. I'm hoping the story is as deep and open as Fallout 3 was. DLC will be released "shortly after" Fallout: New Vegas. The ending to New Vegas will be definitive; when you're done, you're done. Just like Fallout 3, without the Broken Steel DLC. And if you don't have Broken Steel, don't even talk.

Working with the iPod

I'm working with my iPod right now. If you see this, follow me on Twitter. And tweet me. Unless you're a big jerk, in which case I don't wanna talk to you anyway.

I've been trying to work on new music but recently I've been unable to attain satisfactory results. I really should focus on building up this site and my YouTube channel a bit more. As I learn how to use this website I will add more stuff, eventually a page to hear my music and download those select songs that I wish to make freely available.

I will try to get more videos posted up on my YouTube page soon but recently I've been having a personal life.

Work In Progress

This is a big work in progress at the moment, so bear with me while I learn how to use this site, and everything it has to offer. In the meantime, enjoy this!

The Beginning

Just starting out here. Gonna post videos that I like, and music that I make. And updates and stuff. And tips for how to produce music. Not that I myself am a genius, or anything of the sorts. Just stuff that I find out and think is useful, some nice synth tones I've made up. I'll also throw in guitar settings and stuff for anybody who may be running an ME-50.

Oh, yeah. I'm an amateur music producer. Electronic music, kind of on the verge of techno, but not really. I also play guitar. Rock is pretty much all I do. Blues-influenced. I like the Van Halen. I used to play trumpet, and was co-drum major of my high school marching band my senior year.

Um. Yeah. If I think of any other pertinent information that should come up here, I'll post it.

By the way, I'm a dude. And my name is LordFrakula.

How I got the name: I'm not sure, to be honest. I bestowed the title upon myself. I guess it came from the word my band director used to describe my playing when I played trumpet, going up the octave at high volumes. He called it "frak". In search of an interesting MySpace name, I used Frakula. And then I eventually turned into Lord Frakula. When searching for a "DJ name", I contemplated several possibilities. The one I decided to stick with was LordFrakula, above all the rest. I eliminated the space to make it more meaningful.

I guess I figured out some stuff to add before even posting huh? Anyway. I came across FL Studio on accident. I was looking for guitar recording software, when I happened across a demo of FL Studio. I didn't know what the hell I was doing at first, but with some time spent on it, I learned slowly how to use the program. As my musical knowledge progressed, so did my knowledge of FL Studio. As I went along, I realized that the synthesizers I was using, and the way I was using the mixer, were too simplistic.

I've learned a lot about FL Studio. And I've learned a lot about my evolving musical style. I hope you stay with me, and watch as I grow and evolve as a musician and amateur producer, and maybe someday I will get to be privileged with getting paid for doing what I really love to do.