text:
Halloween Playlist: Songs That Scare You
By John Kruth • 10/28/16 1:52pm
Scream Jay Hawkins. Screen shot/YouTube
Fear-as-entertainment has most often been conveyed through the art of storytelling.
Generations of kids grew up hearing disturbing fairy tales at bed time or sharing ghost stories around the glowing coals of a campsite on a summer night. Most of us (hopefully!) read Edgar Allan Poe's Tell-Tale Heart or The Horror at Red Hook by H.P. Lovecraft until Stephen King came along in the early '70s and upped the thrill and chill quotient with Carrie and The Shining. While these books left deep imprints on our psyches and emotions, the written word would inevitably be replaced by the unhinged visions of dark cinematic poets like Fritz Lang, Tod Browning, Alfred Hitchcock and the gothic camp of Hammer films.
Beyond novelty numbers like "The Monster Mash," "Zombie Jamboree," "Spooky," or the Who's "Boris the Spider," which were more fun than frightening, other than Bernard Hermann's soundtracks and George Crumb's discordant composition "Black Angels" (which both employ stabbing violins),popular music seems content to leave terror alone and stick to the foibles of love. But remember it was Igor's oboe that possessed the power to lure the monster back home after everything Doctor Frankenstein tried had failed.
The first song to scare the hell out of me was Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire." I was about 5 years old, playing down in the rec room when my sister Jane tossed a new single on the record player. Suddenly a volcanic blast came bursting through the speaker. "Oooh, feels good!"
"The Killer" howled maniacally. It was the first time I had any clue that the devil existed…and I liked it! A moment later I ran upstairs as fast as I could, frantically searching for my mother.
Apparently the song also terrified its author as well, as a tape recording of the famous debate between Jerry Lee and his producer Sam Phillips later revealed. Lewis apparently got cold feet, convinced there was hell to pay for unleashing such blasphemy on the youth of America. "You can save souls!" Phillips implored, hoping to convince his reluctant artist of the healing power of his music. "How can the devil save souls?" Jerry Lee protested. "I got the devil in me!" Thank God or someone or some thing that Lewis eventually acquiesced and cut his second smash hit on October 8, 1957.
As a young girl New York chanteuse Carol Lipnik found "the maniacal laughter" of wild man Screamin' Jay Hawkins' 1956 "I Put a Spell On You" unnerving.
"That song is the heart of Halloween, a celebration of our feral nature. You might think you know someone but people are unpredictable. We're capable of anything!" Lipnik pointed out.
Her playlist of fearsome melodies included Dr. John's spooky voodoo chant "I Walk on Gilded Splinters," as well as the Kinks' seemingly cheery pub-rock singalong, "Death of a Clown."
"His makeup is dried on his face and he can't escape his fate. The chorus is so creepy. They sing in these high voices, like little girls, and you know, when little girls sing in horror films it's never good!" Carol said with a laugh.
"But the most terrifying song I've ever heard in my life is 'Poppies' by Buffy Sainte-Marie, from Illuminations, which I nominate as the scariest album of all time. She sings in this quivering wail, an ululation that's saturated in reverb. The lyric, 'I tippy-toe across your dream each night…' lulls you into a false sense of security until she starts to shriek that her hands are like 'two hooks of steel' and her hair and eyes have turned to ice."
Lipnik is a bit far out herself. "The Barbara Streisand of the Weird" performs an enthralling cabaret show every Sunday at Pangea in the East Village, in which she offers a striking cover of Michael Hurley's classic, "The Werewolf."
Encouraging her audience to wail and moan along with her, Carol introduces the song, saying: "Hear the anguish cry of the werewolf and let us all howl in a pack for we are agents of love and destruction." Lipnik's own tune "The Two-Headed Calf," is a startling ode to the odd, based on a poem she discovered in an old collection of forgotten rhymes, in which Carol's haunting voice reveals the sad, tender heart that lies beneath the thick scarred hide of freaks and monsters everywhere.
Exposing the dark, disturbing underbelly of the human psyche seemed like Jim Morrison's favorite hobby. For many of us "The End" by the Doors was the first inkling that something seriously twisted lay beneath all that flower power coming out of California in the mid-'60s. The Doors' second album Strange Days revealed more "weird scenes inside the goldmine," with creepy songs like "People Are Strange" and "When the Music's Over."
It was a theme that Morrison and his dastardly crew continued through their final 1971 album, L.A. Woman, with "Riders On the Storm," a chilling tale of a psycho killer whose "brain is squirmin' like a toad."
"I had heard some songs that were scary but entertaining. Syd Barrett comes to mind, who sounds like somebody unhinged and in that case we know the story does not end well. Still there's a lightness and fun there so it's easy listening," said Violent Femmes bassist Brian Ritchie.
"It wasn't until I heard [country music legend] Porter Wagoner's 'Rubber Room' that I was actually scared by a song. Such a matter-of- fact, unadorned and artless description of madness that one can't conclude it's a literary work. It's simply a raw and rotting slab of autobiographical writing. One that makes you think, please don't let this happen to me. Extra points for the production on the recording. You can just imagine Porter telling the engineer, 'No, that's wrong!' and then grabbing some knobs and twisting them, saying, 'This is what it sounded like!'
"Many songs on Talking Heads' third album Fear of Music are about fear," John S. Hall, poet/lead singer of King Missile pointed out.
"'Life During Wartime' is a post-apocalyptic nightmare; 'Heaven' is about eternal boredom ('Heaven is a place where nothing ever happens'); while 'Air' is paranoia writ large, but the final song, 'Drugs,' is terrifying, a brilliant, expressionistic masterpiece, that describes a nightmarish drug experience. The song opens with the sound of screeching birds, then an ethereal, alien sounding rhythm, and it just gets spookier from there."
"After a minute and a half, the vocals begin: 'And all I see is little dots…' David Byrne's vocal performance is haunting and beautiful, and Eno's effects on Byrne's voice make him sound lost in space one minute, then trapped in a box. Just as the lyrics end, almost all the sound is removed, the echo comes off Byrne's voice, and you hear a close-mic'd laugh that is just chilling. Turn out the lights, smoke some angel dust, and give this track a listen. You'll be sorry," Hall said with a laugh.
Tom Waits' spoken word piece "What's He Building In There" (from 1999's Mule Variations) evokes a feeling of neighborly paranoia second only to the famous 1960 Twilight Zone episode "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street" in which a power outage signals the alleged arrival of aliens as good friends suddenly turn on each other with vicious accusations. Waits' imagination runs wild as he states his case in a menacing sandpaper whisper,
"I pretty much just improvised my part on the contrabass clarinet in one take," recalled multi-reed man/Waits alumni Ralph Carney. "It was an overdub, and so scary! Tom brought out the horror in me."
Another harrowing spoken-word piece comes from the band Suicide. Recited over a palpitating kick drum, "Frankie Teardrop," the story of a failed husband/father-turned-killer contains one of rock's most blood-curdling screams courtesy of lead singer, the late Alan Vega.
But what truly frightens us is not always the obvious. Although a nice piece of atmosphere, Bauhaus' "Bela Lugosi's Dead" lyrics: "The bats have left the bell tower, the victims have been bled" are barely a notch above the typical Halloween card sentiment.
If you want to get deadly serious about this subject and have no fear of submitting yourself to a first-class sonic bludgeoning, then give the Norwegian black metal band Mayhem a spin. Their 1994 album De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas (which translates to "Lord Satan's Secret Rites") is enough to melt your candy corn.
As a chaser may I suggest the gut-wrenching Brazilian group, Sarcofago's "Satanic Lust." May God have mercy on your soul…
Finally comes an unexpected twist on the nature of fearsome music from singer/songwriter Jolie Holland. "I find crooners terrifying," Holland offered. "All those sentimental, chill-ass chords, with that disengaged, 'aren't I so fucking cute' vocal presentation. The kind of emotional distance they portray sounds to me like people who can justify any cruelty. Like a rapist who thinks he is cute. Or drones. It sounds like the vicious, unconscious soul who expects to do all his murdering in secret, and to be forgiven in the morning."
"Sinatra's chill, fake love songs sound more brutal to me than the loudest, most discordant bands I've ever heard. Straight up demonic musicians like Nick Cave, Diamanda Galas, or Nina Simone singing Kurt Weill's 'Pirate Jenny,' as she wheezes, 'Kill them right now,' from the bottom of her voice, none of them are as terrifying as those boys with the pretty voices singing bullshit about love."
Filed Under: Entertainment, Music, Video, Music, Halloween, playlists, Tom Waits, black metal, the Who

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Trisomy 18 (Edwards Syndrome)
John Hilton Edwards first described the symptoms of the genetic disorder known as Trisomy 18 - one of the most common forms of trisomy, which occurs when cells have an extra copy of a chromosome, in humans - in 1960. Trisomy 18, also known as Edwards Syndrome, occurs approximately once per 6000 live births and is second in frequency only to Trisomy 21, or Down's Syndrome, as an autosomal trisomy. Trisomy 18 causes substantial developmental problems in utero.
Dandy-Walker Syndrome
Dandy-Walker Syndrome is a congenital brain defect in humans characterized by malformations to the cerebellum, the part of the brain that controls movement, and to the ventricles, the fluid-filled cavities that surround the cerebellum. The syndrome is named for physicians Walter Dandy and Arthur Walker who described associated signs and symptoms of the syndrome in the 1900s. The malformations often develop during embryonic stages.
Effects of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure on Cerebellum Development
Prenatal exposure to alcohol (ethanol) results in a continuum of physical, neurological, behavioral, and learning defects collectively grouped under the heading fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is the most severe combination of these defects under this heading, and is characterized by pre- and postnatal growth deficiencies, facial abnormalities, and defects of the central nervous system (CNS).
Tay-Sachs Disease
In 1881 British opthalmologist Warren Tay made an unusual observation. He reported a cherry-red spot on the retina of a one-year-old patient, a patient who was also showing signs of progressive degeneration of the central nervous system as manifested in the child's physical and mental retardation. This cherry-red spot is a characteristic that would eventually come to be associated with metabolic neurological disorders like Sandhoff, GM-1, Niemann-Pick, and, to the credit of Tay, the lysosomal storage disorder known as Tay-Sachs disease.
Conjoined Twins
Conjoined twins are twins whose bodies are anatomically joined in utero. The degree to which the twins are attached can range from simple, involving skin and cartilage, to complex, including fusion of the skull(s), brain(s), or other vital organs. There are more than a dozen classifications of conjoined twins but what they all tend to have in common is the sharing of the chorion, placenta, and amniotic sac.
Angelman Syndrome
Angelman syndrome is a disorder in humans that causes neurological symptoms such as lack of speech, jerky movements, and insomnia. A human cell has two copies of twenty-three chromosomes for a total of forty-six-one copy from its mother and one from its father. But in the case of Angelman syndrome, the maternal chromosome numbered 15 has a mutation or deletion in its DNA and a gene on the paternal chromosome 15 is inactivated in some parts the brain. The result is the paternal gene is silenced during development of the sperm, which is called genetic imprinting.
Neonatal Respiratory Distress Syndrome and Its Treatment with Artificial Surfactant
Neonatal respiratory distress syndrome, previously called hyaline membrane disease, is a respiratory disease affecting premature newborns. Neonatal respiratory distress syndrome involves shallow breathing, pauses between breaths that last a few seconds, or apnea, and a bluish tinge to the infant's skin. The syndrome occurs when microscopic sacs called alveoli in infant lungs do not produce surfactant, a liquid that coats the inside of the lungs and helps them inflate during breathing.
Developmental Timeline of Alcohol-Induced Birth Defects
Maternal consumption of alcohol (ethanol) during pregnancy can result in a continuum of embryonic developmental abnormalities that vary depending on the severity, duration, and frequency of exposure of ethanol during gestation. Alcohol is a teratogen, an environmental agent that impacts the normal development of an embryo or fetus. In addition to dose-related concerns, factors such as maternal genetics and metabolism and the timing of alcohol exposure during prenatal development also impact alcohol-related birth defects.
Hydrocephalus During Infancy
Hydrocephalus is a congenital or acquired disorder characterized by the abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid within the cavities of the brain, called ventricles. The accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid, the clear fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord, causes an abnormal widening of the ventricles. The widening creates potentially harmful pressure on the tissues of the brain that can result in brain damage or death.
Truman William Brophy (1848–1928)
Truman William Brophy developed a cleft palate surgical repair, later called the Brophy Operation, in the late nineteenth century US. The procedure improved facial aesthetics and speech in cleft palate patients. A cleft palate occurs during development when the palatal bones in the roof of the mouth don't completely fuse, leaving an opening, or cleft, in the upper lip and mouth. Brophy's cleft repair used compression inside and outside of the mouth to push the palatal bones into normal alignment shortly after birth.
Subject: People, Disorders
Effects of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure on Central Nervous System Development
Prenatal exposure to alcohol (ethanol) results in a continuum of physical, neurological, behavioral, and learning defects collectively grouped under the heading Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is part of this group and was first defined in 1973 as a condition characterized by pre- and postnatal growth deficiencies, facial abnormalities and defects of the central nervous system (CNS). The CNS is particularly vulnerable to the effects of ethanol during prenatal development.


It's no accident you just typed in a search term related to search engine optimization or SEM and and found us here in the Revere search results – we used specific strategies and technical maneuvers to increase our visibility here in search engines.
Over 80% of consumers use search engines to find local businesses, and 90% of searchers never go past Page 1 of Google. Also, 94% of people will click on Organic Results rather than paid advertisements, and trust organic results more than ads which increases avg conversion rate. Without good SEO you are losing over 90% of all Revere prospects searching online for the exact products and/or services your business provides.
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is basically the process which gets your business to show up as the #1 result on Google (or other search engines) when someone searches for the products or services your business provides in Revere. Our SEO agency knows the proper steps to get your website in the top Google results no matter the location or size of your business.
SEO is just like an advertisement you see every day when you drive by your home in Revere. If you see it advertising a sale in a clothing store, visit that store, and possibly try some new brands, thus contributing to the growth of the store. This is the very same principle with SEO. People searching online for a specific topic or information will be interested in a company that keeps on getting displayed on their search page.
Search engines get their information by dispatching various crawlers and then indexing the pages that are found. Optimization should address both page titles and meta descriptions. There are millions of people using search engines every day to seek for information, and businesses are always tweaking their websites to be able to really benefit from SEO. Listed here are a few of the reasons why both minor and major businesses should invest in the process of SEO.
The first thing business owners should do is to start seeing SEO as an investment, rather than a cost. Investments often get profits while expenditure reduces them. Many people believe SEO to be simply another hoax, because of the reason that creating a website is so easy nowadays. Nonetheless, it's worth keeping in mind that the ultimate goal of SEO is to drive traffic towards your business.
For example, someone searching for a nice restaurant for their next dinner in Revere will choose some of the ones that show on the first page in their browser. There's no such thing as a successful business without investments.
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With SEO, a new business in State can stay afloat without having to spend on printing flyers and promoting their business using other costly methods. With the web, new establishments in State have a greater opportunity for becoming popular among consumers.
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Typically, online trust is one of those things that needs to be earned, however, seeing a spot in the top of the search engines gives the user that sense of trust.Always remember that paid ads go away after some time, but natural rankings can be sustained. This implies that a web user is confident that they can always revisit your site.
SEO's function grows with each passing day. This means the larger your site gets, the more traffic you are going to recieve. While search engine marketing campaigns can show your business on top of the first page, your listing will disappear as soon as you'll stop paying. On the contrary, organic search results will stick even in the absence of all investments.
Mobile phones have become the device of choice of millions of internet searchers. Considering how convenient mobile devices are, it really should come as no surprise. Cell phone users rely on natural search results as opposed to ads. This happens because organic results are customized to suit their personal profile and preferences. Business owners who grasp the significance of mobile internet search should focus on SEO.
The use of cell phones can be connected to social media pages. Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp are commonly used for business purposes, as well as for leisure, learning and entertainment or for solving some urgent problems. When seeking for solutions to their problems, users could decide to perform an online search, so it's mandatory that they find your website before the ones of your competitors. By offering credible information, you can rest assured these people will share your content with friends.
Many small businesses will completely ignore SEO, considering it an added expense. However, these small firms have a lot to benefit from SEO since most of the searches look for answers that are near their location. Consider how many people look for a local restaurant online because they want to order online, if you rank at the top, you just gained a new customer. Any business that is able to rank high is going to see the benefits of SEO. Moreover, keep in mind that most people write reviews of businesses they've used, thus helping build your credibility.
Local Revere businesses are typically the ones who have the most to gain from SEO as they can gain so many recommendations from local customers. If you were thinking SEO would be only a financial burden to your company, remember that people are constantly moving into new areas or searching for new experiences.
You can not just SEO a site once and expect it to rank forever. It is important to regularly keep tabs on the site to maintain the rankings. The bare fact is that once a single business disregards SEO, others will attain the top rankings, which indicates that they also acknowledge the significance of SEO. By allowing a website to grow dormant is the same as putting up a closed sign.
People are increasingly dedicating a bigger part of their time to online activities. Their hectic life and busy schedules don't prevent them from using the internet as a source of information, learning and entertainment, and sometimes as a business place. This implies that the reliance upon print media and TV is going down. Channeling your resources in SEO indicates that your firm will be relevant now and in the future.
Small businesses in Revere find it hard to fight against their established competitors, as they lack the means and the power to do it. SEO is an inexpensive and equal platform everybody can use to attract customers. A huge corporation may disregard the significance of SEO, which implies that small firms can take advantage of the opportunity to be the best alternatives in that particular niche. In the long run, trust is built, and prospects become seasoned clients.


IES Southwest was founded on three premises. 1) There will always be water treatment demands in the southwest. 2) The southwest is one of the fastest growing areas in the United States. And, 3) Arizona offered the opportunity for experienced and responsible representative coverage in the water and wastewater markets. The company goal is to assemble a collection of products and technologies that provide innovative solutions for the unique desert water treatment challenges. Continuously maintaining awareness of the impact of ever tightening water quality requirements and preparing for a time when water will be recycled for potable use.
We have structured our product mix to apply to both water and wastewater needs. Wherever possible, our products serve dual purposes in both potable and wastewater service. Presently, we are able to offer products applicable to liquid and solid phase treatment. With need for multi-barrier treatment and enhanced coagulation we feel we have established a strong position with market leading membrane and DBP removal technologies. Additionally, we have added the capability to supply instrumentation to control and measure many facets of a treatment process.
As part of our daily business we remain involved with both local and national trade organizations. We encourage our principal manufacturers to participate in ongoing education through local seminars and trade show participation. IES Southwest has a staffing plan going forward that will assure our viability into the foreseeable future.
We hope you will give us the opportunity to demonstrate our friendly, competent and professional approach to equipment and technology supply.


text:
IC 3485 — галактика типу * (зірка) у сузір'ї Діва.

Цей об'єкт міститься в оригінальній редакції індексного каталогу.

Посилання

 IC 3485 в оригінальному новому загальному каталозі
 IC 3485  в оригінальному новому загальному каталозі
 http://www.seds.org/~spider/ngc/revngcic.cgi?IC+3485
 IC 3485 в базі SIMBAD
 IC 3485 в базі Vizier
 IC 3485 в базі NASA Extragalactic  Database
 Бази даних про об'єкти NGC/IC

IC 3485
IC 3485
IC 3485

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


To-Increase is delighted to introduce the latest product in its portfolio based on its EASY concept. The easy concept, as the word suggests, leverages our deep domain knowledge, global experience, and awareness of the customer pain points to create an easy solution that meets and exceeds customer needs. Anywhere Logistics Mobility Flow is a solution that aims to ease the problems related to warehouse operations.
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For this same reason, I am not a big fan of laundry. Every time I wash something, someone in the house insists on wearing it. I don't know why my son even has a dresser since he wears the exact same clothes every week...straight out of the cleanly folded pile ON TOP of his dresser. So I make an effort to venture into the basement to do laundry as little as necessary - and all at once. My husband told me that he 'hears' people at work say that they do laundry EVERY day. I know that he's making this up, because no one discusses laundry, and certainly not with my husband.
The boys in my house don't have enough underwear. I know this because more often than I would like, one of the two of them is standing in the doorway with a pinched up, frustrated, 'are you kidding me?' face. The one that says, "I have no more underwear." Sadly, we're not in college or I could suggest a little free-balling. (I bet the elementary school teachers would get a kick out of that parenting win.) I dream about living in a place where we could wander around in swimsuits all day - and a big fat shush to anyone who wants to suggest that could lead to its own problems.
I went in search of alternatives. I found some cool dryer balls online and started using them. Then someone told me that they were made with PVCs. Scratch that. I found some PVC free balls and gave them a try. For a while, they fluffed the clothes and reduced (though they didn't eliminate) the static electricity. I tried scented sticks inside the balls which added a lovely lavender scent to the laundry. Then someone told me that lavender oil can cause breast growth in boys. Seriously? The bathing suit dreams are back.
Soooo, when I heard in the blogosphere that Woolzies was looking for someone to take their balls for a spin...literally...I raised my hand high. Both hands. I'll try anything at this point and free or not, if we're still zapping the dog, you're going to read about it.
The package arrived yesterday and I'm not embarrassed to say I am excited. And they're XL balls too! Guaranteed to last for 1,000 loads! 100% Pure New Zealand wool (I've been to NZ and the wool is fine!) Hypoallergenic. Chemical free. 100% Eco Friendly. (It's buzz word bingo!) There is goodness here people - so I really do hope that they work.


text:
namespace view_manager {
namespace {

const uint32_t kInvalidGestureId = GestureManager::kInvalidGestureId;

void MarkAsRespondsToTouch(ServerView* view) {
  std::vector<uint8_t> empty_vector;
  view->SetProperty(mojo::kViewManagerKeyWantsTouchEvents, &empty_vector);
}

std::set<uint32_t> SetWith(uint32_t v1) {
  std::set<uint32_t> result;
  result.insert(v1);
  return result;
}

std::set<uint32_t> SetWith(uint32_t v1, uint32_t v2) {
  std::set<uint32_t> result;
  result.insert(v1);
  result.insert(v2);
  return result;
}

std::set<uint32_t> SetWith(uint32_t v1, uint32_t v2, uint32_t v3) {
  std::set<uint32_t> result;
  result.insert(v1);
  result.insert(v2);
  result.insert(v3);
  return result;
}

std::string EventTypeToString(mojo::EventType event_type) {
  switch (event_type) {
    case mojo::EVENT_TYPE_POINTER_CANCEL:
      return "cancel";
    case mojo::EVENT_TYPE_POINTER_DOWN:
      return "down";
    case mojo::EVENT_TYPE_POINTER_MOVE:
      return "move";
    case mojo::EVENT_TYPE_POINTER_UP:
      return "up";
    default:
      break;
  }
  return std::string("unexpected event");
}

mojo::EventPtr CreateEvent(mojo::EventType type,
                           int32_t pointer_id,
                           int x,
                           int y) {
  mojo::EventPtr event(mojo::Event::New());
  event->action = type;
  event->pointer_data = mojo::PointerData::New();
  event->pointer_data->pointer_id = pointer_id;
  event->pointer_data->x = x;
  event->pointer_data->y = y;
  return event.Pass();
}

struct CompareViewByConnectionId {
  bool operator()(const ServerView* a, const ServerView* b) {
    return a->id().connection_id < b->id().connection_id;
  }
};

std::string IDsToString(const std::set<uint32_t>& ids) {
  std::string result;
  for (uint32_t id : ids) {
    if (!result.empty())
      result += ",";
    result += base::UintToString(id);
  }
  return result;
}

std::string GestureStateChangeToString(const ServerView* view,
                                       const GestureStateChange& change) {
  std::string result =
      "connection=" + base::IntToString(view->id().connection_id);
  if (change.chosen_gesture != GestureManager::kInvalidGestureId)
    result += " chosen=" + base::UintToString(change.chosen_gesture);
  if (!change.canceled_gestures.empty())
    result += " canceled=" + IDsToString(change.canceled_gestures);
  return result;
}

}  // namespace

class TestGestureManagerDelegate : public GestureManagerDelegate {
 public:
  TestGestureManagerDelegate() {}
  ~TestGestureManagerDelegate() override {}

  std::string GetAndClearDescriptions() {
    const std::string result(JoinString(descriptions_, '\n'));
    descriptions_.clear();
    return result;
  }

  std::vector<std::string>& descriptions() { return descriptions_; }

  void AppendDescriptionsFromResults(const ChangeMap& change_map) {
    std::set<const ServerView*, CompareViewByConnectionId> views_by_id;
    for (const auto& pair : change_map)
      views_by_id.insert(pair.first);

    for (auto* view : views_by_id) {
      descriptions_.push_back(
          GestureStateChangeToString(view, change_map.find(view)->second));
    }
  }

  // GestureManagerDelegate:
  void ProcessEvent(const ServerView* view,
                    mojo::EventPtr event,
                    bool has_chosen_gesture) override {
    descriptions_.push_back(
        EventTypeToString(event->action) + " pointer=" +
        base::IntToString(event->pointer_data->pointer_id) + " connection=" +
        base::UintToString(view->id().connection_id) + " chosen=" +
        (has_chosen_gesture ? "true" : "false"));
  }

 private:
  std::vector<std::string> descriptions_;

  DISALLOW_COPY_AND_ASSIGN(TestGestureManagerDelegate);
};

class GestureManagerTest : public testing::Test {
 public:
  GestureManagerTest()
      : root_(&view_delegate_, ViewId(1, 1)),
        child_(&view_delegate_, ViewId(2, 2)),
        gesture_manager_(&gesture_delegate_, &root_) {
    view_delegate_.set_root_view(&root_);
    root_.SetVisible(true);
    MarkAsRespondsToTouch(&root_);
    root_.SetBounds(gfx::Rect(0, 0, 100, 100));
  }
  ~GestureManagerTest() override {}

  void SetGestures(const ServerView* view,
                   int32_t pointer_id,
                   uint32_t chosen_gesture_id,
                   const std::set<uint32_t>& possible_gesture_ids,
                   const std::set<uint32_t>& canceled_ids) {
    scoped_ptr<ChangeMap> result(
        gesture_manager_.SetGestures(view, pointer_id, chosen_gesture_id,
                                     possible_gesture_ids, canceled_ids));
    gesture_delegate_.AppendDescriptionsFromResults(*result);
  }

  void AddChildView() {
    MarkAsRespondsToTouch(&child_);
    child_.SetVisible(true);
    root_.Add(&child_);
    child_.SetBounds(gfx::Rect(0, 0, 100, 100));
  }

 protected:
  TestServerViewDelegate view_delegate_;
  ServerView root_;
  ServerView child_;
  TestGestureManagerDelegate gesture_delegate_;
  GestureManager gesture_manager_;

 private:
  DISALLOW_COPY_AND_ASSIGN(GestureManagerTest);
};

TEST_F(GestureManagerTest, SingleViewAndSingleGesture) {
  const int32_t pointer_id = 1;
  gesture_manager_.ProcessEvent(
      *CreateEvent(mojo::EVENT_TYPE_POINTER_DOWN, pointer_id, 5, 5));
  EXPECT_EQ("down pointer=1 connection=1 chosen=false",
            gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions());

  // Choose this pointer.
  SetGestures(&root_, pointer_id, 10u, SetWith(10u), std::set<uint32_t>());
  EXPECT_EQ("connection=1 chosen=10",
            gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions());
}

TEST_F(GestureManagerTest, SingleViewAndTwoGestures) {
  const int32_t pointer_id = 1;
  gesture_manager_.ProcessEvent(
      *CreateEvent(mojo::EVENT_TYPE_POINTER_DOWN, pointer_id, 5, 5));
  EXPECT_EQ("down pointer=1 connection=1 chosen=false",
            gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions());

  SetGestures(&root_, pointer_id, kInvalidGestureId, SetWith(5u, 10u),
              std::set<uint32_t>());

  // Delegate should have got nothing.
  EXPECT_EQ(std::string(), gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions());

  // Cancel 10, 5 should become active.
  SetGestures(&root_, pointer_id, kInvalidGestureId, SetWith(5u, 10u),
              SetWith(10u));

  EXPECT_EQ("connection=1 chosen=5 canceled=10",
            gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions());
}

TEST_F(GestureManagerTest, TwoViewsSingleGesture) {
  AddChildView();

  const int32_t pointer_id = 1;
  gesture_manager_.ProcessEvent(
      *CreateEvent(mojo::EVENT_TYPE_POINTER_DOWN, pointer_id, 5, 5));
  // Deepest child should be queried first.
  EXPECT_EQ("down pointer=1 connection=2 chosen=false",
            gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions());

  // Respond from the first view, which triggers the second to be queried.
  SetGestures(&child_, pointer_id, kInvalidGestureId, SetWith(5u, 10u),
              std::set<uint32_t>());
  EXPECT_EQ("down pointer=1 connection=1 chosen=false",
            gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions());

  // Respond with 5,10 for the second view. Should get nothing.
  SetGestures(&root_, pointer_id, kInvalidGestureId, SetWith(5u, 10u),
              std::set<uint32_t>());
  EXPECT_EQ(std::string(), gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions());

  // Cancel 10 in the child.
  SetGestures(&child_, pointer_id, kInvalidGestureId, SetWith(5u, 10u),
              SetWith(10u));
  EXPECT_EQ("connection=2 canceled=10",
            gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions());

  // Choose 5 in the root. This should choose 5 in the root and cancel 5 in
  // the child.
  SetGestures(&root_, pointer_id, 5u, SetWith(5u, 10u), SetWith(10u));
  ASSERT_EQ(2u, gesture_delegate_.descriptions().size());
  EXPECT_EQ("connection=1 chosen=5 canceled=10",
            gesture_delegate_.descriptions()[0]);
  EXPECT_EQ("connection=2 canceled=5", gesture_delegate_.descriptions()[1]);
}

TEST_F(GestureManagerTest, TwoViewsWaitForMoveToChoose) {
  AddChildView();

  const int32_t pointer_id = 1;
  gesture_manager_.ProcessEvent(
      *CreateEvent(mojo::EVENT_TYPE_POINTER_DOWN, pointer_id, 5, 5));
  // Deepest child should be queried first.
  EXPECT_EQ("down pointer=1 connection=2 chosen=false",
            gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions());

  // Send a move. The move should not be processed as GestureManager is
  // still waiting for responses.
  gesture_manager_.ProcessEvent(
      *CreateEvent(mojo::EVENT_TYPE_POINTER_MOVE, pointer_id, 6, 6));
  EXPECT_EQ(std::string(), gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions());

  // Respond from the first view, which triggers the second to be queried.
  SetGestures(&child_, pointer_id, kInvalidGestureId, SetWith(5u, 10u),
              std::set<uint32_t>());
  EXPECT_EQ("down pointer=1 connection=1 chosen=false",
            gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions());

  // Respond with 1,2 for the second view.
  SetGestures(&root_, pointer_id, kInvalidGestureId, SetWith(1u, 2u),
              std::set<uint32_t>());
  // Now that we've responded to the down requests we should get a move for the
  // child.
  EXPECT_EQ("move pointer=1 connection=2 chosen=false",
            gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions());

  // Respond for the child, root should now get move.
  SetGestures(&child_, pointer_id, kInvalidGestureId, SetWith(5u, 10u),
              std::set<uint32_t>());
  EXPECT_EQ("move pointer=1 connection=1 chosen=false",
            gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions());

  // Respond with nothing chosen for the root. Nothing should come in as no
  // pending moves.
  SetGestures(&root_, pointer_id, kInvalidGestureId, SetWith(1u, 2u),
              std::set<uint32_t>());
  EXPECT_EQ(std::string(), gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions());

  // Send another move event and respond with a chosen id.
  gesture_manager_.ProcessEvent(
      *CreateEvent(mojo::EVENT_TYPE_POINTER_MOVE, pointer_id, 7, 7));
  EXPECT_EQ("move pointer=1 connection=2 chosen=false",
            gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions());
  SetGestures(&child_, pointer_id, 5u, SetWith(5u, 10u), std::set<uint32_t>());
  ASSERT_EQ(3u, gesture_delegate_.descriptions().size());
  // Now that a gesture is chosen the move event is generated.
  EXPECT_EQ("move pointer=1 connection=1 chosen=true",
            gesture_delegate_.descriptions()[0]);
  EXPECT_EQ("connection=1 canceled=1,2", gesture_delegate_.descriptions()[1]);
  EXPECT_EQ("connection=2 chosen=5 canceled=10",
            gesture_delegate_.descriptions()[2]);
}

TEST_F(GestureManagerTest, SingleViewNewPointerAfterChoose) {
  const int32_t pointer_id = 1;
  gesture_manager_.ProcessEvent(
      *CreateEvent(mojo::EVENT_TYPE_POINTER_DOWN, pointer_id, 5, 5));
  EXPECT_EQ("down pointer=1 connection=1 chosen=false",
            gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions());

  // Choose 5.
  SetGestures(&root_, pointer_id, 5u, SetWith(5u, 10u), std::set<uint32_t>());
  EXPECT_EQ("connection=1 chosen=5 canceled=10",
            gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions());

  // Start another down event with a different pointer.
  const int32_t pointer_id2 = 2;
  gesture_manager_.ProcessEvent(
      *CreateEvent(mojo::EVENT_TYPE_POINTER_DOWN, pointer_id2, 5, 5));
  EXPECT_EQ("down pointer=2 connection=1 chosen=false",
            gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions());

  // For the new pointer supply the id of a gesture that has been chosen.
  // Even though we didn't explicitly supply 5 as chosen, 5 is chosen because
  // it's already in the chosen state for pointer 1.
  SetGestures(&root_, pointer_id2, kInvalidGestureId, SetWith(5u, 11u),
              std::set<uint32_t>());
  EXPECT_EQ("connection=1 chosen=5 canceled=11",
            gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions());
}

TEST_F(GestureManagerTest, SingleViewChoosingConflictingGestures) {
  // For pointer1 choose 1 with 1,2,3 as possibilities.
  const int32_t pointer1 = 1;
  gesture_manager_.ProcessEvent(
      *CreateEvent(mojo::EVENT_TYPE_POINTER_DOWN, pointer1, 5, 5));
  gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions();
  SetGestures(&root_, pointer1, 1u, SetWith(1u, 2u, 3u), std::set<uint32_t>());
  EXPECT_EQ("connection=1 chosen=1 canceled=2,3",
            gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions());

  // For pointer2 choose 11 with 11,12 as possibilities.
  const int32_t pointer2 = 2;
  gesture_manager_.ProcessEvent(
      *CreateEvent(mojo::EVENT_TYPE_POINTER_DOWN, pointer2, 5, 5));
  gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions();
  SetGestures(&root_, pointer2, 11u, SetWith(11u, 12u), std::set<uint32_t>());
  EXPECT_EQ("connection=1 chosen=11 canceled=12",
            gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions());

  // For pointer3 choose 21 with 1,11,21 as possibilties.
  const int32_t pointer3 = 3;
  gesture_manager_.ProcessEvent(
      *CreateEvent(mojo::EVENT_TYPE_POINTER_DOWN, pointer3, 5, 5));
  gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions();
  SetGestures(&root_, pointer3, 21u, SetWith(1u, 11u, 21u),
              std::set<uint32_t>());
  EXPECT_EQ("connection=1 chosen=21 canceled=1,11",
            gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions());
}

TEST_F(GestureManagerTest,
       TwoViewsRespondingWithChosenGestureSendsRemainingEvents) {
  AddChildView();

  // Start two pointer downs, don't respond to either.
  const int32_t pointer1 = 1;
  gesture_manager_.ProcessEvent(
      *CreateEvent(mojo::EVENT_TYPE_POINTER_DOWN, pointer1, 5, 5));
  EXPECT_EQ("down pointer=1 connection=2 chosen=false",
            gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions());

  const int32_t pointer2 = 2;
  gesture_manager_.ProcessEvent(
      *CreateEvent(mojo::EVENT_TYPE_POINTER_DOWN, pointer2, 5, 5));
  EXPECT_EQ("down pointer=2 connection=2 chosen=false",
            gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions());

  // Queue up a move event for pointer1. The event should not be forwarded
  // as we're still waiting.
  gesture_manager_.ProcessEvent(
      *CreateEvent(mojo::EVENT_TYPE_POINTER_MOVE, pointer1, 5, 5));
  EXPECT_EQ(std::string(), gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions());

  // Respond with 1,2 for pointer1 (nothing chosen yet).
  SetGestures(&child_, pointer1, kInvalidGestureId, SetWith(1u, 2u),
              std::set<uint32_t>());
  EXPECT_EQ("down pointer=1 connection=1 chosen=false",
            gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions());

  // Respond with 1,2 and choose 1 for pointer2. This results in the following:
  // down for pointer 1 (because we chose a gesture in common with pointer1),
  // move for pointer 1 in both connections (because a gesture was chosen queued
  // up events are sent), down for pointer2 for the root and finally
  // notification of what was chosen.
  SetGestures(&child_, pointer2, 1u, SetWith(1u, 2u), std::set<uint32_t>());
  ASSERT_EQ(5u, gesture_delegate_.descriptions().size());
  EXPECT_EQ("down pointer=1 connection=1 chosen=true",
            gesture_delegate_.descriptions()[0]);
  EXPECT_EQ("move pointer=1 connection=2 chosen=true",
            gesture_delegate_.descriptions()[1]);
  EXPECT_EQ("move pointer=1 connection=1 chosen=true",
            gesture_delegate_.descriptions()[2]);
  EXPECT_EQ("down pointer=2 connection=1 chosen=true",
            gesture_delegate_.descriptions()[3]);
  EXPECT_EQ("connection=2 chosen=1 canceled=2",
            gesture_delegate_.descriptions()[4]);
}

TEST_F(GestureManagerTest, TwoViewsSingleGestureUp) {
  AddChildView();

  const int32_t pointer_id = 1;
  gesture_manager_.ProcessEvent(
      *CreateEvent(mojo::EVENT_TYPE_POINTER_DOWN, pointer_id, 5, 5));
  // Deepest child should be queried first.
  EXPECT_EQ("down pointer=1 connection=2 chosen=false",
            gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions());

  // Send an up, shouldn't result in anything.
  gesture_manager_.ProcessEvent(
      *CreateEvent(mojo::EVENT_TYPE_POINTER_UP, pointer_id, 5, 5));
  EXPECT_EQ(std::string(), gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions());

  // Respond from the first view, with a chosen gesture.
  SetGestures(&child_, pointer_id, 5u, SetWith(5u, 10u), std::set<uint32_t>());
  ASSERT_EQ(4u, gesture_delegate_.descriptions().size());
  EXPECT_EQ("down pointer=1 connection=1 chosen=true",
            gesture_delegate_.descriptions()[0]);
  EXPECT_EQ("up pointer=1 connection=2 chosen=true",
            gesture_delegate_.descriptions()[1]);
  EXPECT_EQ("up pointer=1 connection=1 chosen=true",
            gesture_delegate_.descriptions()[2]);
  EXPECT_EQ("connection=2 chosen=5 canceled=10",
            gesture_delegate_.descriptions()[3]);
}

TEST_F(GestureManagerTest, SingleViewSingleGestureCancel) {
  const int32_t pointer_id = 1;
  gesture_manager_.ProcessEvent(
      *CreateEvent(mojo::EVENT_TYPE_POINTER_DOWN, pointer_id, 5, 5));
  EXPECT_EQ("down pointer=1 connection=1 chosen=false",
            gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions());

  // Send a cancel, shouldn't result in anything.
  gesture_manager_.ProcessEvent(
      *CreateEvent(mojo::EVENT_TYPE_POINTER_CANCEL, pointer_id, 5, 5));
  EXPECT_EQ(std::string(), gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions());

  // Respond from the first view, with no gesture, should unblock cancel.
  SetGestures(&root_, pointer_id, kInvalidGestureId, SetWith(5u, 10u),
              std::set<uint32_t>());
  EXPECT_EQ("cancel pointer=1 connection=1 chosen=false",
            gesture_delegate_.GetAndClearDescriptions());
}

}  // namespace view_manager

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


How Does A Real Session Drummer Compare With Software Drums?
Alex Reeves in his Drum Fortress studio.
Does today's sample-based drum software mean we don't need real drummers any more? We find out what a human session drummer offers that a virtual drummer can't.
For a few styles of electronic music, 'real' drum sounds play no part. But for most music-makers in the mainstream, the sound of an acoustic drum kit played by a real drummer — whether left in its natural state or processed, chopped up and looped — forms an integral part of the mix.
There's little argument that, in situations where you want the sound of real drums, the ideal would be a world-class drummer with a van-load of different kits, set up in a large studio that's booked out indefinitely, with a team of tame engineers on hand to sort out the messy business of miking the kit correctly. For many of us, that's a pipe dream, and I'm not just talking about home studios. From scores and soundtracks to commercial releases, the constraints of time and budget imposed by the current climate mean that traditional recording sessions — with musicians and producer all in the same place at the same time — are much less common that they used to be. Similarly, larger studios designed for big sessions are dwindling in number, while there are probably more small production rooms currently in use than ever before.
So, when the ideal is unattainable, what are we to do? One approach is to use a session musician remotely: someone who has their own recording space set up and ready to go, who can record their parts themselves and then send them over to be incorporated in your mix. The modern marvels of Skype, email, WeTransfer and the World Wide Web have made this process much easier, and typing "remote session drummer" or "online session drums" into Google turns up pages and pages of hits. You can take your pick of session drummers all over the world, with advertised prices ranging from £50$75 per track to considerably more.
One of the advantages that many of Alex's clients enjoy is the ability to choose from a number of different miking setups for the kit.An alternative is to use sampled, programmed drums. Technological advances have had an even more radical effect here, with sample libraries becoming ever bigger and more detailed, with high-definition audio, multiple mic options and abundant multisampling. At the same time, a new generation of 'intelligent' virtual drummer software, beginning with Steinberg's Groove Agent and continuing with Pro Tools' Strike and Logic's Drummer, will take care of much of the programming for you. If you believe the hype, we're tantalisingly close to not needing flesh-and-blood drummers at all, with perfectly recorded sounds and totally convincing performances available on tap, all inside the box.
However, although we may be close, we're not there yet. Judging by my own experience of using programmed drums and virtual drummer software, and the feelings of many producers I've talked to, it often feels like there's something missing. So perhaps it's time to look at the first option again. With that in mind, I recruited top session drummer Alex Reeves and three producers, to compare his services with the results they could get from virtual drum software.
Alex Reeves has a lengthy CV that's as varied as it is impressive. He's toured and played live with Dizzee Rascal, Bat For Lashes, Anna Calvi and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. His session work takes in just about ever major recording studio in the UK, most recently playing on Guy Garvey's forthcoming solo album at Real World. From his own Drum Fortress studio, a modestly sized but well-equipped room in the Fortress Studios recording and rehearsal complex in central London, he has provided remote session services to the likes of Nick Cave, NAS, Bobby Womack, Chase N Status, Avicii and UNKLE, not to mention music for commercials, video games, TV and film. His standard rates for remote recording — £150$230 per track or £300$460 per day — are higher than some, but reflect the breadth and depth of his experience.
Part of the appeal of the remote session approach is that it has made very good professional players accessible for anyone to use in their productions. For Alex, offering his services in this way was simply a natural step. "I'm of an age where I didn't start out recording in the major studios," he explains. "When this kind of recording started is roughly when I started recording, 15 years ago. Major-league recording was starting to wind down in the late '90s and early 2000s, and the studios were starting to work in a different way. So I grew up playing a lot of this stuff in my own studio.
While MIDI drums give you a potentially infinite choice of sounds, any good session drummer will also have a decent variety of snares and other instruments to offer.Close mics on the toms, over and under the snare and inside and outside the kick drum are joined by three separate overhead configurations: a pair of Coles 4038 ribbon mics above the snare and floor tom, Earthworks SR30 capacitor mics over the hi-hat and ride cymbals and an additional ribbon positioned to the side facing the floor tom, which combines with the Coles 4038 above the snare to create a 'Glyn Johns'-style miking arrangement. More unusual is the room-miking setup, with a U47-style large-diaphragm mic suspended close to the ceiling and a pair of Josephson C42 small-diaphragm capacitor mics set very close to the side walls and pointing at them.
The three tracks that Alex worked on for the purposes of this feature demonstrate the quality of the results that can be achieved using the remote recording approach — with a really good drummer who knows his way around a studio, at least. But they also reveal some of its limitations.
Producers Mike Chapman and Simon Pilton had always planned to use a session drummer on their song, and as a result had created the track using only a basic programmed loop that left space for further embellishment. By contrast, Dave Lockwood's track was completely finished before we asked Alex to replace the drum part, leaving next to no wriggle room. Tim Goalen had likewise put a lot of work into creating a detailed programmed part before Alex was called in, and it's perhaps no surprise that, while all three sets of producers felt that the sound of their drum parts had been improved, only Chapman and Pilton noticed significant benefits in terms of feel. Clearly, if you plan to use a remote session drummer, some thought needs to be given as to what stage in the project you involve him or her.
Another, closely related decision is how much creative input you actually want from the session musician. Alex describes his work as a remote session drummer as combining the roles of musician, engineer and producer, with the proportions varying according to the project in hand. "For example, with Dave's tune," he explains, "he had already made all the producer's decisions about drum sounds, the drum part and the feel, leaving me essentially to reproduce his ideas on a real kit, taking on the roles of engineer and drummer. However, when the producer hasn't programmed a part in such detail, I will often be left to make many of the decisions that he would normally have made, which might be fundamental to the track: the sound, the instrumentation, the feel. In these cases I have to make the kind of choices that would have been made, in old-school major-studio sessions, by the producer or arranger.
Mike Chapman (left) and Simon Pilton.
The way to get the best from a remote session drummer, says Alex, is often to commit to one extreme or the other of the spectrum when it comes to being a control freak. "In my experience, the remote sessions I do that work best are either the ones where all the decisions have already been made to the most extreme degree, or where the producer or songwriter is extremely relaxed about what I do and trusts me to do what I think will work best. If you've got something extremely specific in your mind, then be extremely specific in the instructions you give: where to put fills, where to start and end them. If you want to program those things, then the drummer can just copy them with his or her feel. But if you don't mind giving up some control — and obviously that requires quite a bit of trust in the musician you're using — you may well end up with something better than you could have programmed yourself.
You'll also need to think about what you're going to send over for the session drummer to play to.
You'll also need to consider what you'll get back from the session drummer when he's done his thing. Common practice is to receive a stereo mix of the new drum part plus stems or individual tracks from the various mics used, though some drummers charge extra for producing a stereo mix. Most drum software instruments offer a range of user-friendly features to make drum mixing easier, so if you're more accustomed to the programmed route than balancing the sound of the kit from multiple mics, this is something to bear in mind.
Above all, clear communication with the session drummer is crucial to getting the results you want, and that's something this particular session drummer sees as perhaps the biggest challenge for both parties. As virtual drum instruments have become increasingly sophisticated, that increased complexity can make using them a complex business too. But when I suggest that it must be easier to communicate what you want to another human being as opposed to what, for all its sophistication, is still a dumb adding machine, he's not so sure.
"I think you're wrong," he says. "It's like the old joke, what's the difference between a drummer and a drum machine? With a drum machine you've only got to punch the information in once! I'm just as much a user interface as BFD is a user interface. It's just a matter of how, firstly, the interface interprets what you say, and secondly, how you use that. I'm not sure who wins if it's one versus the other.
Providing several reference tracks is undoubtedly the best way to make sure that what you want in terms of sound and feel is clearly understood. And, as with any collaboration, time and familiarity with a particular session musician should make the process easier.
You might assume that most people go to a session drummer for the latter: an old-fashioned acoustic drum track, performed pretty much live. But Alex's roster of remote session clients includes plenty of artists working in hip-hop, electronic or dance genres where sampled, looped and programmed drums are a frequent feature. So why would these producers need a real drummer?
Dave Lockwood."There are two main reasons," Alex says. "The first is to involve another creative brain in the process. You send a piece of music to anybody, and every single person will have a different interpretation of it. What you get back from them will hopefully be something you're surprised by — and hopefully in a good way! So it's about employing another musical brain. And I know that producers will call on certain musicians specifically to get their input on a track.
"The second reason is that, in programmed drums, there's something not stale, as such, because they've got so much better, but what you do miss is the human element. Drum software, even if it sounds good, is never going to do the unexpected. On a studio writing session I did recently, we started by laying down a four-bar drum loop and then putting everything else on top of it. I thought it sounded great, but at the very end the producer said, 'Can we do a drum take now?' I thought 'But this sounds really good, it's got everyone dancing and feeling good.' He said, 'Yes, but it's a loop. It's boring, it's the same. It goes from the beginning to the end, it adds no light or shade, none of the contrast that a human can add.' I did a new drum take and it added life and breath because it was a real performance that went from the beginning of the tune to the end of the tune.
"What happens a lot when I'm working remotely is that the producer will get me to smash through a tune once or twice and then sample that. You're not there to nail it exactly from start to finish. You're there to give them tons of options from which they can hopefully find a little thing that they can use to add personality to a tune that has, in every other way, come out of the box. I might give them two takes. They might use all of one, or they might take just two bars they really like and use them as the basis for the whole track.
So what have we learned from our session drummer and three test tracks? For a start, if you would ideally like to be working with live musicians in the same room at the same time, it seems that remote session recording is no more the perfect solution than programming. While a good remote session drummer offers access to high-quality sounds, expressive performances and the creative input of a real musician, the challenge of communicating what you require and the intrinsic delay in shuttling tracks back and forth mean this is still a second-best — though it should be noted that none of our test subjects remarked on experiencing any difficulties in these areas.
Using a session player will mean giving up the total control over every detail that many of us have become accustomed to, working in a solo production environment. For those of us who hate programming drums (or accept that we're no good at it) that sounds like a welcome release, but those who can achieve what they want on their own might be more reluctant to loosen the reins.
An experienced session drummer like Alex can nail the timing of a sampled or sequenced groove with impressive accuracy. This screen from Dave Lockwood's track 'Parallax' shows how closely Alex's snare hits line up with the original MIDI notes, even though these are slightly off-grid.
Getting the best out of a session drummer also requires a bit of thought as to what you want to achieve. Do you want your detailed programmed part reproduced on a real kit? Do you want your basic loop turned into a detailed, nuanced performance that will lift and drive the track? Or do you want to give the drummer a blank slate to create something you can build a track around? Whatever your decision, you'll have to adjust your normal creative process accordingly.
Cost is another issue that will have a major bearing on the decision to use a remote session drummer. With software like BFD3 and EZdrummer 2 providing a wealth of sounds and patterns that can be used again and again for a few hundred poundsdollars, spending the same on session drums for a handful of tracks might seem expensive. But one thing all three of our test subjects did agree on was the value of including another musician and the importance of collaboration in the creative process.
Remote session recording is definitely here to stay and, if the emphasis on real-time remote collaboration in the latest version of Pro Tools is anything to go by, it's going to become even more common in professional circles. Other initiatives like Ohm Studio, the DAW designed specifically for real-time collaboration, and the Source-Connect remote recording plug-in are making similar use of current technology to try and make producers and musicians working remotely feel closer together. As that technology improves, as it surely will, remote session musicians may soon feel that bit less remote.
Legendary songwriter and producer Mike Chapman has enjoyed a hit-studded career that spans five decades. Among other projects, Chapman and writing/production partner Simon Pilton are currently working with singer and cellist Lisa Watchorn on her debut album.
MC: "Drums and vocals: those are two things that are absolutely un-replaceable if you care about quality and feel. There are certain types of music where I'm happy to use the machines. We don't write a lot of that kind of music, but it's fun to do. With Lisa, the plan was always to create an album with organic instrumentation — rough around the edges, not over-polished, but it all had to be fabulous. We used programmed drums simply to write the tunes, but once we had the first couple of songs written it was an automatic assumption that we would get Alex's human ingredient on the record. And, wow, what a difference he's made to these tracks.
"On half the album I think it's very obvious why the real drums work. On the other half of the album it's perhaps less obvious. Some of the tracks are very open and organic-sounding. When you use the machine drums, even if they're beautifully programmed, because the drums are very exposed rather than blasted with reverbs and so on, you really notice the difference.
MC: "The amazing thing is, usually the artist is the first one to say, 'Wow, that sounds better!' If you don't actually bring it up and you never intend to use real drums, it's not an issue. But if you actually put real drums on their records, most artists will say, 'I like that better.' That's sometimes a surprise, because most of the artists that we're working with are under the age of, I don't know, three or four [laughs], so it's like they've never heard real drums.
"I think you need to have a very open mind to be a good producer. And I think there are a lot of young producers these days who are just scared to do it, because they've never done it. You become very obsessed: 'This is my record, I'm gonna play everything on here.' That's where we are right now with the business. I think it's very easy to see the relevance of real drums. Are they necessary? I guess if you're listening to the charts you're not going to hear many of them, so I'd say no, it's not necessary. If we want to hear the same old drum sounds on everything forever, that's fine.
Tim Goalen spent 10 years working as an engineer at the legendary RAK Studios in London before establishing himself as an independent composer for film and TV. His scoring credits include numerous documentaries made for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5.
"For this piece of music, which is for a Channel 4 documentary, I actually wrote with sampled drums in mind because I didn't think I'd have the time or budget to use a real drummer. I started by giving them a selection of tracks to try out, then as the project evolved I started writing closer to picture. So this started out as quite a basic demo with programmed drums, then Alex did a pass on it, then I remixed it and finished it off.
"In terms of what using a real drummer brought to the track, it wasn't the exact improvements I thought it would be — but there were improvements in other areas that I wasn't necessarily expecting. I thought there would be a big improvement in groove and feel with a real player, but it was more an improvement in sound, particularly room sound. The drums felt like one instrument rather than the collection of individual hits that you're always going to get if you're using samples.
"The hi-hat feels really connected to the kick and the snare, whereas the sampled ones sound kind of separate. The ride as well — it's all glued together. The room is totally real sounding, rather than lots of sampled rooms piled on top of each other — a room sample from the hat, a room sample from the kick and so on — so it doesn't quite blend. You get a totally believable sense that you're in a real space, rather than something that kind of sounds real, until you compare it to the real thing. So it's more the sound than the feel that I was surprised by, although the feel was great as well.
"For the programmed drums on this cue, I was using a couple of cheap sample libraries I got for something like £8 each on the Internet. I layered two kits together at different levels: the Mello Jello Drumkit and Lovely Drumkit, both made by Facets of Sound, one a Beck-style close-miked thing, the other a '60s kind of thing. They don't sound good enough, I think, to make you immediately think that the drums are sampled, because usually sampled instruments sound slicker. These drums just sound like a fairly decent engineer recording drums quickly, instead of this perfect, pristine, huge, amazing recording.
"I think a lot of the more expensive sampled drum instruments seem to slightly miss the point sometimes. They're getting really slick and incredibly well recorded, but if the drums sound like they were recorded in Abbey Road and the guitars sound like they were done in your bedroom, it doesn't quite trick you.
"The main benefit of programming is that it's quick and easy to write parts and try out parts. For things like TV music and film music, that's a bonus. But while you do gain a couple of things by doing it all yourself, you're at a risk of losing more. Even if you're doing it remotely, involving another real player is more collaborative — you're getting more human interaction.
"What people like Alex are doing does make it a lot easier than it would have been if you had to specially book out a studio and an engineer and get in a drum kit. So remote session recording is attractive. I've done a bit with strings as well, replacing what I had mocked up in VSL. You still don't get the chaos of a session, where you have to just react and play rather than thinking it all through too consciously, staring at a computer screen. But I suppose that, as you do it more, you get better at trying to bring that atmosphere into working by yourself by trying to be a bit looser and less precious about things, like you would have to be if you were working in a group.
Sound On Sound's Editorial Director Dave Lockwood has worked as a session guitarist, engineer and producer across a wide range of genres. This track is taken from his album Cobequid, on which Dave chose to play and program all the parts himself. "It was a bit of an exercise for me. I was interested to find out whether I could succeed in making it sound like a band, or at least a bunch of players all playing at the same time. It's quite nice to have made an album that way, but my favourite way of doing things is to get together with a bunch of great players and be inspired by what they do. That's the most fun that you can have playing. The detailed, do-everything-yourself approach is a different thing altogether, a different kind of fun, and it does take a long time.
"I used [Toontrack's] EZdrummer for the programmed drums on this track. I like the fact that it starts with a sound that's already three-quarters of the way to a finished sound. I've used other, more sophisticated, libraries which are really detailed and accurate and honestly make you work as hard as you will with a real kit! I don't really like doing that when I'm trying to write a song or compose a piece of music.
"I started with a very simple loop out of the EZdrummer library and tweaked it a tiny bit. It was already quite off-grid. I knew the feel that I wanted and I just had to pull the drums a little bit more off-grid to sit in the right place for the way I wanted to play the chords and the very simple bass line that goes under them. I played a scratch part to that basic loop, then developed the other bits of the song — the normal writing method for when you're working on your own. You develop the variations in the rest of the track and then start putting in the detailed drums, substituting for the basic pattern that's given the time and the feel all the way through.
"A lot of the track is designed around what that programmed drum part does. A lot of that detailed programming was put in after I'd recorded the other bits, to make it sound like it's a real drummer playing at the same time as all the other instruments, which is the best way to do programmed drums as far as I'm concerned. For this kind of detailed drum programming, I generally work in the MIDI editor rather than triggering drums off a keyboard. I can usually conceive what I want. I've mixed enough real drummers to know what they can and can't play, and that's a key part of proper drum programming. If I'm ever not really sure I'll go back to a few real drum performances, listen to them in detail and see what people have done. So the fills and nuances, the things I was expecting to get from a real drummer's performance — I had put quite a lot of that stuff in what I'd programmed.
"Whilst I was initially expecting Alex to perhaps put in quite a lot more detail, expressive cymbal touches and so on, what he actually did was reproduce beautifully accurately everything that I'd programmed! There wasn't really any room to do any more. The big thing that I got out of what Alex gave me was the ability to vary what the drums sounded like, because he delivers so many mic channels that you've got a lot more options, particularly around the snare drum, than I had with the sampled sounds. What really surprised me was how tight he was with the programmed parts. He nailed that feel absolutely.
"Would I have paid a session player to do that? It's not different enough to say yes. I have more sound variation available from his version, but no, probably not. Where you would answer that with a big 'yes' would be if he had put in a whole bunch of expressive detail that I hadn't put in and that made a difference. I wouldn't have needed to spend the time programming all the detail. But replacing the drums on a completely finished track is a slightly artificial test. If I knew I was going to use a session drummer, I could have stopped at less than halfway to those finished programmed drums.
Track used courtesy of JTC Records www.jamtrackcentral.com.
In the age of remote session recording and tracks assembled by multiple musicians in separate studios, playing to a click has become much more common. It's something many musicians dread, but drummers have had to cope with it for longer than most of us. What advice can Alex Reeves offer when it comes to delivering a compelling performance against the dreaded click track?
"It's a really tricky subject," he says. "With a band recording together in a studio, you move with each other. It happens very naturally. But the click is a perfect, clinical machine. I don't think many musicians play perfectly in time naturally, so a click is not a very natural thing to play to as a human being. Playing in time is obviously very important to music, but the click itself is not music; in isolation, the click is nothing. It's a matter of the player who is playing to that click making the music around it. So you have to draw the music out of it. If you can't do that, try putting the music into it instead by changing what the click is.
"Quite a common thing to do is to get a little loop going — you can just use Apple Loops or something like that. That way, you're relying on something that has more of an element of music about it. I think that's a really good way of working, especially to get the notes-between-the-notes feeling right. By that I mean that the distance between beat one and beat two can be interpreted in many different ways. It can be straight, it can be a shuffle, it can have a lope or a hump to it, like the New Orleans guys say. If a track needs a certain feel, I might put a little conga and shaker loop to it, or I'll make a loop of my own that I think fits the mood and feel of the song.
In modern record production, it's rarely a case of either/or when it comes to programmed and live drums, and producers will happily combine elements of each in the same production. Few people typify this approach better than Hal Ritson. From providing sample replay services to a slew of chart-topping acts via Replay Heaven (www.replayheaven.com) to his own output as one half of genre-scrambling dance duo the Young Punx (www.theyoungpunx.com), Ritson treats acoustic and electronic elements as freely interchangeable.
Ritson's services as assistant producer and musical go-between have been employed by the likes of Duke Dumont, Cassius, the Chemical Brothers and Kanye West, to name just a few. He's in an ideal position to judge the relative merits of programming and session players, but says it's not a case of one being better or worse than the other. Rather, it's about finding the correct tool for the job.
"Every piece of technology — and I'm going to include live instruments as a piece of technology, because that's what they are — creates a different effect," he says. "It's really about choosing which effect you want. There's a certain solidity that you get from a drum machine, where you know that every hit is going to be the right velocity and exactly on the beat. That solid grid is very important for a lot of dance music. You can't play house music with just live drums because it's never locked in. Basically, if you play house music live, it turns into disco, which is no problem, it's just not house music! On the other hand, the nuances of shuffles and flows and vibe — I wouldn't say these things are necessarily better from a live drummer, but they are different.
"It often depends on the genre. For example in heavy metal, they may want the feel of a human drummer but the absolute power of sampled sounds, where you know that every hit is at the maximum it could be. So a metal mentality might be to record with a live drummer then use sample replacement software to make the kick and the snare sound incredibly powerful. With dance music, the feel that you want often needs to have a framework with the accuracy of a drum machine, with a kick drum sitting on the grid going doof-doof-doof at maximum velocity, but maybe on top of that there's a looser breakbeat where the shuffles in it are something that only a live player can manage to do.
While he's an enthusiastic user of drum sample libraries, praising the Native Instruments Abbey Road series in particular, Ritson suggests that they have their limitations and are not always the time-saving shortcut they appear to be.
Another limitation of the sampled approach is the way that sampling handles cymbals, according to Ritson. "We do a lot of work triggering the big sample libraries from V-Drums as a way of putting a human back into the mix. But even then, we're always recording hi-hats and cymbals live. If you think about what happens when you hit a ride cymbal, the first stroke makes it vibrate and, if you were doing that on the sample library, that first stroke would probably sound identical. But with the second, third, fourth stroke, each wave is interacting with the previous waves. If you're doing that with a sample library, no matter how multisampled it is, you're just re-triggering more first strokes.
You can listen to all three tracks featured in this article, before and after remote session drums were added, from this month's media home page: http://sosm.ag/oct15media.


text:
The Back Room »
The Diner »
Topic: Brexit Negotiations.
Author Topic: Brexit Negotiations. (Read 57941 times)
vandermolen
Silver Subscriber
Location: Rotherfield, Sussex, UK
Re: Brexit Negotiations.
Quote from: mc ukrneal on May 02, 2017, 04:05:26 AM
Too much doom and gloom. An FTA with the EU would bring a lot of the advantages without the disadvantages. What's more, many of the other European countries are dealing with similar sentiments, as the election in France currently shows.
I hope that you're right but I'm not encouraged at the moment.
Thanks to everyone for the interesting responses.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).
DaveF
Location: Abergavenny
Quote from: vandermolen on May 02, 2017, 12:18:45 AM
David Cameron made a terrible misjudgement in my view.
That's assuming he is a man of principle who genuinely wanted to give the UK electorate the chance to strengthen the UK's links with the EU. Assuming, on the other hand, that the referendum promise was merely a manoeuvre to get him re-elected, it was a perfect bit of judgement. I don't know whether, like Johnson, he had a pro- and anti-EU speech written to be used as required - but it wouldn't surprise me to learn that he had.
So, what's up next? Capital punishment? Outlawing Christianity? Demolishing all those elitist theatres and concert halls? I'm sure the great British electorate would vote them all through with large majorities.
"Just because I like something, it doesn't mean it's any good."
... an opening of those magic casements ...
Quote from: DaveF on May 02, 2017, 10:56:27 PM
Exactly my point: we're witnessing times of anti-democratic flirtations sold as "democracy".
… music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found. RVW, 1948
I thought that Cameron's gambit had had two purposes: Get him reelected and strengthen the bargaining position with the EU because of the looming Brexit-threat. (Both after a narrow vote against Brexit.) Needless to say that the perennial special role of the UK did not make them all that popular even before the Brexit began to loom. So while I feel with the 48% who voted differently, overall my pity with the UK is severely limited, I am afraid.
@Dave: Have you read any of Fforde's "Thursday Next" books? There is a People's Republic of Wales in their alternative timeline...
Struck by the sounds before the sun,
I knew the night had gone.
The morning breeze like a bugle blew
Against the drums of dawn.
(Bob Dylan)
Quote from: Christo on May 03, 2017, 12:01:44 AM
If Plato came back to life, he'd not be surprised in the least. "I told you so long time ago, gentlemen! And mark my words well this time: the worst is yet to come!"
"I compose music because I must give utterance to my feelings, just as I talk because I must give utterance to my thoughts." --- Sergei Rachmaninoff
I free-think, therefore I am free
Location: Helsinki, Finland
The reason why we witness this is because people have become too ignorant of politics. They are easily manipulated by opportunists and populists who use fear and false promises as their weapon for power. Democracy works well as long as ignorant people are a small minority, but now they are becoming a large minority or even majority.
At the moment we need moderated democracy (modecracy). We need wise men and women in power to overrule "stupid" political ideology. We need perhaps the possibility to give negative votes in elections to block extremists. We need to make people interested of real unpopulistic politics until we can return to "normal" democracy.
Spatial distortion is a serious problem deteriorating headphone listening.
Crossfeeders reduce spatial distortion and make the sound more natural
and less tiresome in headphone listening.
My Sound Cloud page
ahinton
There's been a great deal of welcome good sense in this thread so far.
Mr Cameron had no need even to include the promise of Parliamentary debate and voting on UK's continued EU membership in the manifesto for the 2015 UK General Election, still less a referendum on the issue which, as has already been noted, was the most crass way in which to introduce the subject into the Tory party agenda. No other UK political party included any reference to this in its manifesto pledges, which surely teaches us something about the matter, namely that the undertaking to call a referendum on it was a matter of perceived political expediency on the part of the Tory party - an expediency turned out to be mythical in any case.
The conduct and aftermath of the referendum were shameful beyond words, but the worst aspect of it - even worsre in some ways than the lies, half-truths and acrimony that characterised the campaign - is that neither those who voted Remain nor those who voted Leave nor even the majority of those who abstained were given anything like sufficient reliable information upon which to base their voting decisions.
Moreover, the UK electorate votes and pays squillions for Parliamentarians in the lower House in order that they may avail themselves of the opportunity to place trust in them to represent them and then to vote them out if they fail, so why suddenly delegate responsibility for a matter of the utmost importance for UK's future to the amateurs to decide?
Mr Cameron's allocation of almost £10m to the Remain campaign was also entirely out of order; if the government of the day wanted to persuade the electorate that to remain in EU was in UK's best interests, it should have done that in Parliamentary debate (I write as a Remain supporter in so saying).
The calling of the forthcoming UK General Election seems to have about as much reasoning as that of the referendum two years ago; its principal justification appears to be the perceived need to secure a much larger majority for the Tory party yet, even if that goal is achieved (which must surely be in some doubt), what difference will that make to the strength of UK's negotiation position when none of the other 27 EU nations have any reason to be interested in it? The 1 against 27 factor will remain, unaffected by the strength or weakness of the majority achieved by whichever party wins the UK General Election (even assuming that any one of them actually does so).
"The longest suicide note in history" - that epithet infamously coined by one of the longest serving UK Labour Party MPs, Sir Gerald Kaufman (who died earlier this year), to describe his own party's 1983 General Election manifesto - looks soon to be overtaken as a descriptor of the manifestos (manifesti?) of both the Tory and the Labour parties (indeed, they might even come to be regarded as being in competition with one another as such), given that those two parties appear to endorse the UK leaving EU on the specious and spurious grounds of "the people have spoken" (yes, around 37% of UK's electorate voted for UK to leave EU and many of them and those who voted Remain didn't know enough of what they spoke).
I cannot imagine either EU or UK coming out of this mess unscathed; rather the reverse, indeed...
Location: The Hague, Netherlands
Here Are 34 Ridiculously Challenging Problems Theresa May Will Have To Figure Out To Avoid A Brexit Disaster
Just browse through all if these wonderful "opportunities"....
Totally agree - sadly.
"When I watch this video, it makes me think of Brexit."
https://twitter.com/mikegalsworthy/status/863754505552375810
nodogen
The General Election and Brexit...
Clearly the upcoming General Election is beyond normal as it will be followed by Brexit negotiations and all that that entails. Voters who are concerned to try to minimise the chance of an unchecked "hard Brexit" can make use of this Dashboard to see who may be best placed in your own constituency to try and achieve this. It is not about party politics, it is about democracy. (The people behind this include Gina Miller who prevented Theresa May from bypassing parliament regarding Article 50).
(Feel free to share this link with others)
https://bestforbritain.org/vote-smart
http://evolvepolitics.com/
http://anotherangryvoice.blogspot.co.uk/
https://www.thecanary.co/
Apparently these are getting more read than the online version of the Daily Hate. There is hope. 
Though almost everyone is predicting a strong victory for her, May seems to experience more problems in her campaign than expected.
Here´s one case where she doesn´t do well - is caught lying or being very uninformed, then makes a poor escape from it:
"Theresa_May tells a nurse who says she earns the same as they did in 2009 that sadly there 'isn't a magic money tree"
https://twitter.com/bbcquestiontime/status/870732339155836928
Another strong point of critique is her manifest absence from public debates with other politicians. Officially, she "prefers meeting the voters", but those meetings are usually staged and organized by her own party.
« Last Edit: June 02, 2017, 07:29:45 PM by Turner »
I was in the UK recently and took some time to ask as many Brits as I could what they thought of Brexit. I got opinions from all stratas of society and overwhelmingly, there was agreement that this has been the right thing to do.
Some common themes emerged:
Unchecked immigration was the major one followed by the idea of the country having more of a say in its own destiny. I wondered if xenophobia was the reason behind the immigration concerns. Many told me that they just saw streams of people who could legally come into the country putting a huge strain on welfare and especially the excellent health system that the Brits have. There was no mention of any specific ideology or ethnic group, they just saw people escaping inferior systems to take advantage of what the UK had to offer. The equitability of propping up very weak economies at the expense of their own was a concern.
One thing all were agreed on. They were very thankful that the UK had retained their own currency and not adopted the Euro.
These were the views that registered with me yet I didn't see them reflected in the media. Maybe, once again, they are out of touch or maybe my survey came from a very narrow slice of the electorate.
Quote from: Holden on June 02, 2017, 11:35:03 PM
16.1 million voted to remain in the EU; 17.4 to leave. It was not an overwhelming result. And given that 28% of eligible voters abstained, neither campaign gained anywhere near a majority.
Perhaps like T**** in the USA, the issue and the result aroused great anger, division and bitterness, including a rise in hate crimes and the murder of an MP.
Oh, definitely immigration was a major concern that led to support for a Brexit.
But as per usual the popular assumptions you describe are unfounded, not to say delusional...
Long story short: people blamed real problems they have on immigration, like a lack of proper housing and the lowering of wages, and increase in social and economic inequality. But they have no one but the successive British governments to blame for that, not the EU or immigration.
See the link to a study of the London School of Economics linked below.
I have quoted the main findings.
As to the "unchecked immigration": that can only refer to immigration from inside the EU, since the UK controls immigration from outside the EU entirely by itself.
And research show that immigrants from inside the EU are NOT the cause of social and economic problems. On the contrary, economists and the business community are worried about the future lack of both cheap labour and highly qualified personel that is in short domestic supply, and the damage it can do to the British economy...
One interesting detail: most EU immigrants in the UK are from Eastern Europe.
Now.... which important member state had been pushing tirelessly EU expansion towards the East?
For geopolitical reasons and to please their American Masters friends? Right....it was Britain....
It is like Trump's climate change denial: a bogus story
But hey, we live in an era in which the way things really are, doesn't matter anymore!
Complex realities lead to simplified falsehoods - at least people can understand those....
But the politicians don't care, and nor does their electorate...until it figured out it has been conned....and then to blame it on someone else...
I guess it is generally easier to blame other people instead of admitting you were stupid enough to be screwed over by the ruling elite....
Again, Trump's election is another perfect example in case...
The British were right about the euro though....
http://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/brexit05.pdf
Brexit and the impact of immigration on the UK
- Between 1995 and 2015, the number of immigrants from other European Union (EU) countries living in the UK tripled from 0.9 million to 3.3 million. In 2015, EU net
immigration to the UK was 172,000, only just below the figure of 191,000 for non-EU immigrants.
- The big increase in EU immigration occurred after the 'A8' East European countries joined in 2004. In 2015 29% of EU immigrants were Polish.
- EU immigrants are more educated, younger, more likely to be in work and less likely to claim benefits than the UK-born. About 44% have some form of higher education compared with only 23% of the UK-born. About a third of EU immigrants live in London, compared with only 11% of the UK-born.
- Many people are concerned that immigration reduces the pay and job chances of the UK-born due to more competition for jobs. But immigrants consume goods and services and this increased demand helps to create more employment opportunities. Immigrants also might have skills that complement UK-born workers. So we need empirical evidence to settle the issue of whether the economic impact of immigration is negative or positive for the UK-born.
- New evidence in this Report shows that the areas of the UK with large increases in EU immigration did not suffer greater falls in the jobs and pay of UK-born workers. The big
falls in wages after 2008 are due to the global financial crisis and a weak economic recovery, not to immigration.
- There is also little effect of EU immigration on inequality through reducing the pay and jobs of less skilled UK workers. Changes in wages and joblessness for less educated UK-born workers show little correlation with changes in EU immigration.
- EU immigrants pay more in taxes than they take out in welfare and the use of public services. They therefore help reduce the budget deficit. Immigrants do not have a negative effect on local services such as crime, education, health, or social housing
- European countries with access to the Single Market must allow free movement of EU citizens whether in the EU (like the UK) or outside it (like Norway and Switzerland).
- The refugee crisis has nothing to do with EU membership. Refugees admitted to Germany have no right to live in the UK. The UK is not in the Schengen passport-free travel agreement so there are border checks on migrants.
« Last Edit: June 03, 2017, 08:09:59 AM by Que »
+1, Que.
Non-Brits should be aware that Paul Nuttall is the current leader of the far right UKIP party:
https://youtu.be/tKEsyIuTrO8
One caveat - these are the opinions I heard, not my own. In fact I don't have an opinion on Brexit as it's too far removed to really affect me. I was just curious as to what people thought. I also explored EPL and Championship football, something I definitely have opinions about.
That was totally understood.
And I am not surprised you heard them since these were/are an important driving force behind Brexit.
Back to the course - or rather lack thereof - of the negotiations....
The prospect of a "hard", unprepared and abrupt Brexit is becoming more and more likely.
This will hurt Britain, but will also inflict considerable economic damage on EU countries that have important trading relations with the UK, like my own.
Britain is being led to an epic act of national self-harm over Brexit


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Tomorrow is our last scheduled conference call with Arun before he leaves for Asia. He will be organizing impromptu calls while he's in Asia, but will have difficulty joining us in our regularly scheduled calls at 2:00p.m. every other Sunday because of the time difference.
He'll have all the news about their meet-up today in London!
Please join us in wishing Arun bon voyage!
Today we are having our UK XMas Meetup in London 12pm onwards and I would love to tell you guys about it at our Conference Call on Sunday.
This will be the last regular call I will be attending for 4 months (Dec 16th-April 16th) as I am travelling around Asia on Tuesday. I hope to arrange impromptu calls periodically (I will advertise these on the message board) and I hope a few of you will be able to join in.
By the time I get back from Asia, we will already have 2 months of fresh postings on our new site and you guys across the pond will have a new president!
I will miss our MSN site as it has served us for many years and through a variety of transitions and management (it was once a part of the MSN Hyperhidrosis site). However, our new site will have Multiple Message Boards just like MSN!
I am also keen to explore a link with Messenger so we can chat additionally to the conference calls. I think the move away from MSN is fortuitous because the absence of a Message Search facility on a site like this is just too great a handicap.
Well, I hope loads of you guys are able to make it to my last Conference Call before I fly out. Catch you Sunday hopefully!
Sunday, December 13th, 2pm EST.


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