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Letter from the Editor
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Dear Aux Cable Reader, Welcome! Our little team of four has been slaving away on these thirty-two pages for five months. You can probably smell the swear leaking out of these pages. We worked hard to create a great variety of pages for you, so if you don’t like something, just keep flipping through! We promise you’ll find something interesting for your musical taste. In the process of creating Aux Cable, there were many interesting conversations that sounded like a cow giving birth to a monkey. It was painful, entertaining, and overall, mind-blowing. We hope your mind is blown as well after reading the magazine. --The Aux Cable Team
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Table of
Features
Crossing Over 8 The Morning Man 12 No Pain, No Fame 16 The Pitfalls of DRM 22
Alternative Story
Time to Pirate Music 26 How to Record at Home 29
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Contents 10 Lady Freeze 14 Bleeps, Blips, and Bloops
Opinion
19 Digital Deception 24 Taylor’s Swift Sucess Forms
28 The Fictional of LaQui$ha 30 Music in your Closet
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Biographies
THIS IS NATALIE.
she’s a spontaneous taylor swift fan who hates people and gets annoyed easily. she likes non-stressful video games and watches the disney channel.
THIS IS ANTHONY.
his hobbies include : standing in trash cans and he loves kid cudi ...that is all.
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THIS IS ARNAV. hipster. just kidding. [he thinks] he’s good at puns.
THIS IS LIZZA.
pronounced like ‘lisa’. she likes korean music and watching natalie and anthony bicker.
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Feature Stories
Crossing
Image by Trinity Hope Cross
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housands of eyes are closing. Hands are raised as if pushing through the ceiling. People laugh, cry, and dance. Tonight, nobody cares what people think about them. For them, it’s all about God. It’s April of 2010, and hundreds of people from the greater Austin area have crowded into an auditorium for a Hillsong United concert. “It was my first concert, and it was really interesting. I truly enjoyed worshiping with Christians from around Austin that I didn’t know,” said fifteen-year-old, Rachel C. Christians everywhere are conflicted with issues pertaining to the differences between Christian and secular music. Several Christian bands and artists, such as Skillet or Lifehouse, produce music that double as secular songs to extend the range of their listeners. Without
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searching up the band or artists, such songs could be easily mistaken for songs about boygirl relationships. However, views on this topic are varied.
a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.”
“I feel that worship songs that can be interpreted as love songs are just as powerful as the traditional worship songs. However, they can have different meaning for non-Christians. I feel that these songs have a lot of potential to turn people to Christ, which isn’t taken advantage of often,” said Emily, a sixteen-year-old from Westwood High School.
Rasenberger feels that relating to non-Christians by playing secular music is an effective evangelistic technique.
Australian Pastor and Christian radio DJ Frank Rasenberger thinks secular music should be played on Christian radio stations to “to reach out to [non-Christian] people and share the Gospel.” He clarifies his point by quoting the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:19-22: “Though I am free and belong to no one, I make myself
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Tsai has a different take on the issue. “People can worship in any way that they want,” she explains. “Anyone can say, ‘I love you,’ but it all depends on who you’re talking about. It depends on what your intentions are.” “I have heard several Christian songs played on ‘mainstream’ radios,” said Rachel. “I feel conflicted because these songs are not talking about boy-girl relationships, but about God. Worship songs are love songs to God to praise Him.
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If you wrote a love song to someone you would talk about attributes and qualities about that said person; similarly, most worship songs go through this too, so sometimes its difficult to distinguish between traditional worship songs and worship songs that can be interpreted in ways they weren’t meant to be interpreted as.” Many people think the hazy area between worship and secular music should be made more distinct. “Worship songs are completely different than secular songs,” Noreen says. “In worship music, the lyrics are open to a little more interpretation, and they actually mean something. That’s opposed to songs like Ke$ha’s ‘Tik Tok’, or Far East Movement’s ‘Like a G6’ that have zero meaning.” Rachel agrees wholeheartedly.
“Worship songs mean something because they’re from the writer’s heart and are written for God,” she says. In an interview with Elle Magazine, Gwen Stefani talked about advice she received from her idol, Prince. He told her, “Have you ever just tried writing a hit? Don’t try writing a song, try and write a hit song.” Rachel feels secular songwriters, such as Gwen Stefani or Prince, write songs for fame or money, as opposed to Christian songwriters that write for God. “Worship songs are different than secular songs because they are not written to become famous or to make money, they are written to please God. Praising God comes from the heart,” Rachel says. She feels the motivation behind the song is important.
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“Worship music is not the most important aspect of worship, but it serves to unite Christians in praising God,” said Emily. “Many say they feel closer to God when singing worship songs. Music, in itself, stirs up emotions, so I’d say worship music does the same, by touching hearts and evoking passion.” Emily continues, wrapping up her main points. “Worship music is not the core of Christianity. Worshipping God with every aspect of our lives is the key. However, music and song play an important role in praising God and He loves hearing our voices sing to Him. Worship music has brought many people to Christ and closer to Christ and continues to do so every day.”
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By Lizza P.
Jessica M. makes a statement as a female rapper.
Photos by Lizza P
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he clock is close to ticking three in the morning, the deepest hour of the night, but seventeen yearold Jessica M. didn’t care. She is fatigued after completing hours of homework, but she knows it was the perfect time to spill a few words of pure freestyle and string together a new rap. “[The lyrics] are honest,” Jessica explains as she gives off a chuckle and looks down at her fingers. “I am too tired to put effort into anything. So they are just completely feelings.” Jessica, stage named “Lady Freeze” after the famous breakdancer, Mr. Freeze, grew up in San Francisco and is now a junior at the Liberal Arts & Science Academy in Austin, Texas. Jessica has rapped and written her own music since she was in middle school. These days, she prepares to perform in front of the public at her school’s shows and hopes to become a well-known underground rapper as a college student. It all started one night in middle school when Jessica and her friends were experimenting with raps after one of her friends bought some turn tables. When they found out that some of them could actually rap out some lyrics on the spot, they were all hooked, especially Jessica. “We were like, ‘That’s it, that’s official. We gotta’ do this,’” Jessica said. “‘This is what we are going to do in life.’”
easiest thing to do. Jessica admits that when she first started out she had trouble coming up with lyrics that wouldn’t end up in the trash pile. Some songs even took her up to five hours to write.
tion from Slug, the MC of Atmosphere.
“[Rapping] is really hard. But then I realized, that is my problem, I’m thinking of it as being so hard. I’m thinking of what I should sound like instead of just sounding what I sound like,” Jessica admits.
But sometimes, even music isn’t enough to express her thoughts and feelings. Jessica has recently involved herself in painting and doing graffiti influenced by hip hop and urban culture. A recent piece she created was a painting that was inspired by an Atmosphere album. The association between art and hip hop music has even inspired her to become a future designer for leading hip hop magazine, The Source.
To her, a rap consists of two things: deep honest lyrics and the way a rap is presented. Without one of the two, there isn’t a worthy rap. “You suck up with two things: with honesty and style. If your rhymes aren’t real then you don’t deserve the mic... no matter how much style you have,” she says. “That’s what hip hop is. I’m a little more into the lyrical aspects than the style aspects.” Her lyrics are attention grabbing, and so is Jessica herself. She is petite and from a mixed heritage with a distinct look. But her care-free and feminine image don’t stop her from spitting lyrics as good and hard as the guys. As a female rapper, she is determined to make sure of that. “If you were to just read my rap lyrics, you would not think that they were written by a woman because I don’t... think I have to constantly have to say ‘Yeah, I’m a girl, yeah!’ It should be pretty obvious, physi-
“We gotta do this. This is what we are going to do in life.” Since then Jessica began writing her own hip hop lyrics whenever the inspiration hit her, whether it’s at home, on the bus, in the shower, or in class. “[When I get an idea for new lyrics] I act on it immediately,” she smiles. “When you get the rush, man, especially with hip hop, it’s just this adrenaline.” However, writing lyrics wasn’t always the
cally, that I am a female,” the young rapper states with a laugh. Even after recent female rappers, like Lil’ Kim and Nicki Minaj, have left legacies as artists, Jessica doesn’t find herself infatuated with either of them. In fact, Jessica wasn’t inspired by current hip hop artists to rap but by old-school hip hop artists including the Wu-Tang Clan, Atmosphere, and Eric Keen. She finds her main inspira-
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“Slug is the main MC of Atmosphere and just everything I want to be, and everything I want to marry as well,” Jessica laughs.
“You know, in my opinion hip hop is just the freedom of speech and expression,” Jessica says as she fiddles with her home-made sweatshirt. “Either I’m writing my feelings on a wall or I’m just spitting them. I’m expressing myself by either dancing or I’m creating... art.” As an admirer of rap and hip hop culture, Jessica, however, doesn’t believe she would want it as a career in her later life due to the way modern hip hop artists have changed over time with their fame. “[Artists] aren’t rapping to express themselves anymore, they’re rapping for money. Just all the wrong reasons,” Jessica says as she looks into the distance. “I don’t really wanna make any money off of rapping. Like that’s not what I wanna do at all, I feel like once you do that, your outlook on the culture changes and I don’t want to jeopardize that.” However, Jessica doesn’t plan to ever stop admiring hip hop and rapping. When she’s older, she plans to visit cities with major hip hop influences and teach her own children about hip hop culture.Until then, Jessica sits back and waits for a new set of rhymes to strike up and weave themselves together just right in her head.
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The Morning Man By Anthony R
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y day, Jay Robillard works as an electrician in Austin. As he flips switches and replaces fuses, music runs through his head - everything from exotic lounge music and 80’s punk alternative, to pop orchestra and nifty jazz. Robillard is known as one of Solar Community’s electricians, but nuts and bolts aren’t the only things Robillard turns. Every Saturday morning from 10 a.m. till noon, Robillard hosts and Deejays The Lounge Show on KOOP radio. Throughout the show, Robillard entertains his listeners with diverse music such as mambos, cha cha’s, exotica, jet set, movie and TV soundtracks, big
He wanted me to just sort of get a feel for it and I was just a kid.” Robillard finishes. Robillard first went on air on KOOP radio station (91.7 FM) on December 18th, 1994, the day after KOOP was created. KOOP is different from normal radio stations - it’s a community based radio station. “[Community based] means that anybody from the community, the surrounding area around Austin can come and do a radio show without any prior experience,” Robillard explains. It is a completely volunteer-run radio station, no one gets paid. The idea of KOOP radio station sparked
during The Lounge Show, including his favorite types of music. “Well, I love lounge music.” This may be the origins of the title of his show. “But I also love alternative music. But when I say alternative, it’s probably not whats being played today. It’s more likely what was originally called alternative which was from the 80’s.” His nickname, The Morning Man originated from 70’s morning radio shows. “I think that moniker had been lost through the years and I decided to kinda pick up on it sense it sounded kinda fun and kitschy sounding.”
“I went to visit the Deejays play records and I thought, ‘This is what I want to do for a living’....I wanted to do that for the rest of my life.” band, and much more. Robillard has now been on KOOP radio station Born in Lafayette, LA and raised in the New Orleans area, Robillard grew up exposed to jazz, blues, and funk in his early childhood. At age 6, he and his family moved from New Orleans to Haynesville, LA, a small rural town in northwestern part of the state. His parents bought an AM radio station there. “I went to visit the Deejays play records and I thought, ‘This is what I want to do for a living,’ “ says Robillard. “I wanted to do that for the rest of my life,” he confesses. Robillard got the fever for Deejaying as a young child. Although Robillard soon realized that one can’t be a DJ and play music of their own liking. “Commercial stations usually don’t allow that [playing your own music]. They make you play a certain set of music.” Robillard, a now middle aged, amiable man talks of his DJ influences. At age 11, “I started Deejaying off and on at around 1973,” he says, “I didn’t have a license at that time, but my dad would let me kind of just play the records while he supervised me...
from a bet. On his 30th birthday in 1983, Jim Ellinger, the future creator of KOOP radio station, was complaining about the poor state of radio in Austin. Robillard gives a quick summary of what was said, “ ‘Why don’t you do something about it?’ ” a peer asked Ellinger, his response, “ ‘Well, I think I’ll start a radio station.’ ” Robillard re-enacts. “That is how the idea for KOOP got started. It took him [Ellinger] eleven years to get it on the air, but it went on the air on his 41st birthday, December 17th, 1994.” Robillard chooses to work at KOOP for multiple reasons. “They let me play what I want to play,” he says. The freedom of being able to play what he wants, when he wants is a big reason why he volunteers at KOOP. “Another [reason] is everybody is very nice there, everybody is very respectful of each other. Also, the listeners are very good to us. I really enjoy playing to the KOOP audience.” Robillard explains his reasons for Deejaying at KOOP.
Although Robillard only Deejay’s on KOOP two hours per week, he is by no means a music novice. Robillard has a giant collection of music. “It is approximately 20,000 records and CD’s,” Robillard confirms. While he replaces fuses in a circuit breaker, you never know what may be playing in his head - possibly a symphonic orchestra piece, an 80’s punk rock alternative band, or a one hit wonder from the 60’s. Tune in to 91.7 FM Saturday mornings from 10a.m. to 12p.m. to hear Jay Robillard, The Morning Man and The Lounge Show in action.
Robillard plays a wide variety of sounds
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Section Header
By Arnav Sastry
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he party has begun. Bodies press against each other on the dance floor as hordes of people jump to the techno beats of the DJ. However, this DJ is different from the others. He doesn’t have any fancy equipment. Instead, Alex Luna commands the crowd with nothing but two Game Boys. For the last four years, Luna has been composing catchy tunes on his Game Boy. Luna, a senior in a Corpus Christi, TX high school goes under the moniker IAYD, which stands for I Am Your Destruction. Luna began his career by uploading songs onto the chiptune sharing site 8-bit collective. He was soon noticed for the angry style of his songs and was signed onto the 8-bit peoples record label. He now has headlined at chiptune concerts from New York to Austin, and has quite a following. “I’ve always had this interest in 8-bit music,” the artist said. “I’ve played a lot of old Super Nintendo, and I loved the background music.” McCallum student Max D. is a huge fan of IAYD, and also creates his own chip music. Luna’s album Supergalactic is one of the top played on Max’s computer. “Supergalactic is essential [chiptune] listening,” he said. Max has been creating his own chip music for a little over a year. He finds it a great hobby, although slightly challenging.
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“It took me ages just to make beeps! But eventually, everything clicked. Now I can make some crazy sounds.” Max concedes that it will be a while before he can create songs at the same level as Luna. Luna first got into chip music four years ago. “When I was 13, I tried to find some kind of way to create 8-bit music, but I didn’t have much luck,” Luna said. “When I turned 14, I found a program on the Internet called FamiTracker and it really took off from there.” FamiTracker is one example of a tracker software that is used for the creation of eight-bit music. Trackers allow users to have complete mastery over a game console’s sound chip. With a tracker, the user can create a multitude of nostalgic, 8-bit blips and bloops, and arrange them into cool compositions. Little Sound DJ, abbreviated LSDJ, is one such tracker for the original Game Boy, and it is the tracker of choice for Luna. “Occasionally, I dabble around on Famitracker,” Luna said, “But I play live with just one Game Boy.” With concerts in multiple states, Luna is one of the top chip music artists in the world. His albums Supergalactic and Like a Phoenix have created many devoted fans. “Chip music has definitely has one of the
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the biggest effects on my life,” Luna said. He sees the medium as a method of stress release. “Without chip music, I would have no medium to get certain thoughts out of my head,” Luna said. “All the time, I have certain melodies going through my head, and chip music gives me a way to put down my thoughts, and I guess my feelings onto a physical medium.” Luna uses his Game Boy like an artist would use their canvas. It is how he expresses his inner feelings. “I guess if I didn’t have chip music, I would probably go insane,” Luna said. He attributes his success to his perseverance. “It can be tough at times, being able to find your gear, and I especially have bad luck because all of my stuff likes to break all the time,” Luna said. “Do whatever you can to get started if you’re legitimately interested in chip music projects. Max agrees with Luna and sees a bright future for alternative forms of music. “The guys of [chipmusic group] Anamanaguchi made the soundtrack for the Scott Pilgrim vs the World video game,” Max said. “The Game Boy/Drumkit duo Starscream also just got one of their tracks played on the MTV version of Skins! I can really see chip music gaining popularity.”
Art Credit: Arnav Sastry, Ilija Melentijevic, Victoria Trevino, and Anamanaguchi
8-bit collective (abbreviated 8BC) is the hub for many amateur chiptune artists. There’s no screening process for songs uploaded, so gems are uploaded among other notso-great songs. 8BC also has a forum where many experienced users go and offer tips and tricks for other up and coming chiptune artists. The 8BC wiki also has alot of information on chiptunes in general and some great artists.
8-bit people (abbreviated 8BP) is another website to get chiptunes. However, the only songs posted here are by artists that are partners with the site. This makes all of the music incredibly high quality. Instead of individual songs, music is posted in the form of albums, complete with cover art. The best part is, all of the downloads are free! The people on 8BP are the best o the best, and include chiptune greats, like IAYD and Rainbowdragoneyes.
Getting Started with Chipmusic is easier than most people think. All the materials that are required can be purchased for as little as 40 dollars, which is significantly cheaper than most instruments or music equipment. All that’s required is a game console and a tracker. One of the most popular trackers (music creation programs) is called LSDJ, and it runs on Nintendo Game Boys. There are many gameboys that run LSDJ, but use the original Game Boy for best results. Original Game Boys are labelled DMG-01 and
are optimized for LSDJ. The old school speakers produce high pitched beeps that are difficult to authentically replicate on other systems. Game Boy Colors and Game Boy Advances can be used, but the Colors have a much lower quality speaker, and the Game Boy Advance’s button placement makes it difficult to operate efficiently, and makes some basic button presses difficult to pull off. Besides, by owning an original Game Boy, your cool factor increases significantly. Once your game console of choice has been
obtained, it’s time to get the tracker. LSDJ carts are sometimes sold on online auction sites, but it’s easier to create your own cart. Vendors sell “Smart Carts”, whcih are like normal Game Boy carts, but with a USB port on top. By connecting the cart to the computer, any online game that can be downloaded can be put on the cart. A free trial of LSDJ can be downloaded off of littlesounddj.com/lsd/ , and the full version costs only two dollars. From there, use the free manual to learn how to create your own tunes. Have fun composing!
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Feature Stories Section Header By Lizza P.
No Pain, No Fame The lights are flashing but the smiles of Korean idols aren’t. The current contract of rising idol groups with S.M. Entertainment has raised eyebrows after the conditions of the contract were revealed.
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SM has also raised many eyebrows when the conditions revolving the revenue of an idol group were discovered.According to the DBSK contract, SM would only give 2% of their revenue to the members when they sold 20,000 to 100,000 albums and they would only receive 5% if their sales reached up to 200,000 and plus. Plainly said, this is screwed up. SM is making artists work for an excessive amount of years when they are only being paid 5% of their actual earnings. It’s as if SM is robbing the talents straight from their artists. It was also stated in the contract that if DBSK were to quit SM, then they would have to pay “3 times what SM invested” in them and 2 times the revenue SM expected DBSK to make. This basically
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Photo by Protocol Snow at Flickr.com
he fans scream as you sing your means that if an artist decides to leave SM, So why are young teens still signing up to be heart out on stage with the sound the artist would still have to pay back all trainees under SM? The reason many people of your voice booming from the the money SM invested in them and more. sign under SM is due to the high status the speakers and beads of sweat runThese regulations could cause someone to music company holds and the large intake ning down your face. This is the moment spend a majority of their time working to of new undiscovered talents. Before idol you’ve been waiting for since you started pay off the enormous debt in their name. groups debut, each individual member has training and found out you were going to to be a trainee under the label company debut. This is the life you’ve always wanted, To top it all off, SM has also caused health first. This means that trainees spend after right? Although many Korean pop idols issues to arise within artists. According to school hours training their dancing and hold smiling and excited faces, this might Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation, singing skills in some cases, like SNSD’s, for not always reflect their happiness in the when artist Han Geng of the idol group, 5-7 years. After years of hard work it would music industry.SM entertainment, a popular Super Junior, filed a lawsuit against SM it be foolish to deny the contract binding you record label and talent agency, has was discovered that the packed schedule as to the anticipated fame. People want to be caused several reasons famous and since for many to believe most people who that the life of idols “...the contracts of S.M. artists are ‘exceeding 10 years become trainees under their contract is are young teens, from the day of debut...” filled with hardships the chance at and mistreatment. Their contracts contain an artists “severely affected his health.” Geng fame blinds them from seeing the contract ridiculous conditions regarding time, unfair was suffering from gastritis and kidney for what it truly is. division of revenue, and conditions that afdisease after two years of activities without fect the idols’ health. a break in between. SM has also imposed Artists are living in the light of fame but a strict diet on one of their more popular with the cost of their personal lives and The contracts that SM has with their idol groups, SNSD. According to MBC’s,VJ health at stake by SM Entertainment. The groups are unfair and last an excessive Special:Behind Story video logs, SNSD reunfair contracts SM imposes on the artists amount of time.. According to the Fair vealed that they only ate 200 calories worth have them being overworked and risking Trade Commission, the contracts of SM art- of fruits and vegetables in the morning, their health for unfair pay. SM might have ists were “exceeding 10 years from the day of 300 at noon and 300 at dinner. The averbeen seen as a respected company, but their debut” but were changed to 7 years after the age calorie intake of an average 20 year old work ethic is anything but. Now the artists FTC called SM out on the unfair contracts. girl should be around 2000 calories, which under the label live their life with the same Although the contracts were shortened, is 1200 more calories than the girls from sad smile grazing their lips as they go into they are still excessive and ridiculous in SNSD are allowed to have. This is especially the world with millions of fans screaming comparison to the average 5 year lifespan of dangerous since the life of these idols consist their names. idol groups. What would they be doing with of rigorous dance work outs, concerts, and them for the extra 2 years? To make things general exercise. It is unhealthy for them to more interesting, SM contract conditions only be able to eat a restricted 800 calorie-aalso state that if an artist were to cancel or day diet. SM, however, is still imposing these postpone any days of an event, their time rules of strict work outs and dangerous diets would be “added to the length of the conon their artists in order to keep up their tract.” SM seems to be asking their artists to image. sign a slave contract with their unfair and ludicrous conditions revolving time.
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By Lizza P.
Silenced Controversies
S.M. Entertainment has always produced groups that quickly achieved a high level of popularity and fame. As recognition for being a top label is gained, many controversies and problems have come into place as well regarding past artists and their individual case with S.M. Entertainment.
H.O.T.
In the mid 1990s, S.M. Entertainment formed the fivemember boy group, H.O.T. When the idol group quickly gained fame for their music and movement as one of the first boy bands formed, it came as a huge surprise to everyone for their sudden disbandment in 2001. Although the official statement released regarding their split was due to their expired contract, there was still suspicion that it was mainly due to financial issues since H.O.T. was at the pinnacle of their career at the time. These financial issues included unfair division of revenue and a lack of money going towards the production of H.O.T.’s new music material.
DBSK
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DBSK was first formed in 2003 and reached an incredibely high level of success over the years. Popularity was gained internationally and often required the members to travel back and forth between countries. After a small hiatus period, there was a lwasuit filed in 2010 by three of the members in DBSK including Jaejoong Kim, Junsu Kim, and Yoochun Park suing S.M. for their unfair contract conditions and unfair division of revenue. The controversy also revolves a significant amount on the sudden interest S.M. had with the three’s cosmetic successful business that S.M. was not to have an initial part in financially. The cosmetic business started was supported by the three’s own earnings alone, when S.M. stated that they were entitled to some of the earnings, both Kims and Park decided to take action againt the label company. The lawsuit caused for the the three young men to be on a temporary suspension from S.M and form their own sub-unit called JYJ, after their first name initials, and for DBSK to come back as two members, Yunho Jung and Changmin Shim, who decided to not take part in the lawsuit. In response to the lawsuit that was ruled in favor of JYJ, S.M. decided to suspend the groups public activities in Korea and even Japan. JYJ, however, continues to promote their own material alone in other Asian countries and occasional tours in the U.S.A. The controversy has attracted a large amount of attention over the years.
SHINHWA
Shinhwa was another boy band formed by S.M. in 1998 that quiclky became successful selling thousands of albums over the years. Although there was no contreversy during their time signed on to S.M., lawsuits soon rised at the end when Shinhwa’s contract ended. At the end of their five-year contract, Shinhwa was offered a new contract by S.M. but rejected and instead moved to a different label known as Good Entertainment where they would still be a six member group under the name Shinhwa. The switch in labels caused S.M, to sue Shinhwa for copyrights on the group name, the court, however, ruled in Shinhwa’s favor and allowed them to keep the group name and peacefully move on to the other label company. The group remains active until today.
By Anthone Rasp
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our favorite artists are cheating! The new generation of music is auto-tuning, the artificially changing and thus correcting of the voice. Why is this allowed? People who believe contrary to me say that auto-tuning makes the music better. My opinion is if an artist autotunes their voice, it is no longer music. When artists auto-tune, they lose the passion, the heart, and the soul of the music. Like anything, perfection comes with practice. There should be many errors made while recording music, auto-tuning can have the singer record once and be done. Fans need to stop encouraging artists to auto-tune. Many artists use auto-tuning, including; T-Pain, Kanye West, Lady Gaga,
Black eyed Peas, Ke$ha, and many more. This new generation of ‘music’ is very popular among the general public. But in reality, the artists are cheating. If artists artificially change their voices, the music should not be considered music. What makes music is the hard work the artists put into it, for example Johnny Cash. He did not have a perfect voice, but he worked hard and recorded songs multiple times. He put all of his emotions into the song, he didn’t need any auto-tuning. Fans seem to not care about the process of making the music anymore, they just want it to sound good. This is how fans are encouraging auto-tuning. Auto-tuning is now found every-
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where, and no one seems to care. A few bands are expressing concerns, for example Deathcab for Cutie protested the use of Auto-tuning a few years back. Now and days lots of artists are using autotuning, and the public is doesn’t care. It’s not just about how the music sounds, but what was done to make the music. When the Black Eyed Peas come out with an album, it sounds good because of auto-tuning. It has nothing to do with true talent. Artists with beautiful natural voices are being affected by auto-tuning, whether they use it or not. Artists who have good natural voices are being cheated out of fame. Artists who do use auto-tuning are stealing the fame with their fake voices, while artists with true talent are being screwed over. Other artists fall into the trap of auto-tuning, they see this technology and think ‘ I can
be better than I already am. . . I can be the best.’ But by auto-tuning one is conforming, so it’s nothing special. A true artist, with real talent should get fame, not one who hires someone who knows how to use a computer. Auto-tuning is not music. Athletes can’t use steroids to enhance their performance, nor should artists be able to use auto-tuning to enhance their music. Today artists can go into a recording studio, do a one take, and be done. Twenty years ago, artists might record all day to get one song perfect. Music is made from the heart, by using emotion, and using soul, putting ALL you got into a song, to get to the final result. Music is not made by recording once,
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and fixing all the errors in voice. There is nothing special about auto-tuned music. Auto-tuning has become a main part of our
“I can be better than I am. . I can be the best”
media, and it needs to end, now. Instead of artists being rewarded for their perfect voices, auto-tuning should be banned in the world of music. By altering their voices, the artists are crushing the dreams of many other non-auto-tuning artists. Auto-tuning should not be allowed in music. Studios could enforce this by not editing the track, and whoever is in charge of producing music could enforce this by not publishing this auto-tuned music. The human voice is not infallible, and there are mistakes made. Mistakes being made in music reminds everyone that we are human. Sometimes its the faulty voices, or the mistakes made that make music what it is.
D
IGITAL ECEPTION
What you should be doing instead of auto-tuning Get a lil’ funky do!
With excessive money from auto-tuning, artists can buy ‘grillz.’
Of course, ALL of us own Oakley’s.
T-Pain doesn’t even have a neck... How does he sing? The secret lies within........
33, gang sign? or 33K, 10% of money earned annualy?
Where does he get the money for a $ zipper made out of GOLD?
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Art from : Wikimedia Commons Modified by : Arnav Sastry
The Pitfalls of
By Arnav Sastry
I
n the late 1990s, the CD was the ubiquitous format for music distribution. When music was bought back then, people were able to do whatever they wanted with that music with no consequences. College campuses were filled with people making backup copies of their favorite CDs and sharing them with friends. Twenty years down the road, the widespread use of the Internet has increased the number of digital downloads from stores such as iTunes and Napster. And we no longer control our own music. With digital downloads, we are limited in where we are able to play our music. This is because of a system called Digital Rights Management. Digital Rights Management (DRM) restricts digital music to be played on approved devices. For example, music bought in the Microsoft MSN music store will only play on certified Microsoft PlaysForSure devices. Music files encoded with DRM can only be played on media players which are approved to decode those specific file formats. When the iPod and iTunes were first released, DRM took off. Music purchased through the iTunes store could not be played on any non-apple devices. This fosters anti-competitive practices and is bad for the general market economy. According to Apple Financial Reports, iPod sales have been rocketing upwards since the original release. Even today, nearly 10 years after its announcement, the iPod still dominates the portable media player market, because 7 in 10 music players are produced by the media giant. This near monopoly would not have occurred if not for digital rights management. So why was DRM introduced? Advocates of DRM claim it is put in place in order to prevent piracy. If less people download songs illegally, album sales would be higher across the board, and artists as a whole would make
Piracy Rates (Worldwide) 2003 - 25% 2004 - 28% 2005 - 35% 2006 - 40% 2007 - 44% more money. However, DRM hurts the consumer and is inadequate in preventing piracy. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, “only 37% of music acquired by US consumers [in 2009] was paid for”. If the number of songs pirated increases even though the number of songs restricted by DRM is also going up, DRM is clearly not doing its job properly. DRM is not just something that can be ignored however, because anybody who buys a DRM’d song is affected.
abiding consumer and not preventing piracy. With piracy becoming more prevalent, how can an artist protect themselves from piracy? Radiohead may have the answer. In 2007, the popular British band released their album In Rainbows on the Internet for consumers to purchase at whatever price they wished. The unorthodox concept brought online fame to the band, and merchandise and concert tickets sales skyrocketed, even if the album itself was not a best-seller. However, the pre-releases alone for this album beat out the total revenue from Radiohead’s previous album Hail to the Theif, and In Rainbows won a Grammy. While not every band has the resources to pull of what Radiohead did, piracy can, in some cases, can create exposure, which is beneficial to a band. Previous to In Rainbows, I didn’t have much exposure to the band, but now some of their songs now have the highest play count on my computer. If In Rainbows was not featured on so many sites, I likely wouldn’t have heard about them until much later. This act brought Radiohead revenue and exposure to people who probably wouldn’t have heard of them otherwise.
“DRM is inadequete as a copy protection if only 37% of music in 2009 was being paid for.” For my sister’s birthday several years ago, my uncle got her a very cheap, non-Apple mp3 player. When my sister got to purchase her first songs, she naturally went to iTunes, which my mother had been using for years. When she found her music wouldn’t transfer to her gift, it put a negative spin on her birthday. I ended up pirating the songs off of the Internet for free and put it on her player, where it worked with no problems. This is the perfect example of DRM harming the law-
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DRM systems are clearly inadequate in dealing with piracy. It’s clear that they must be removed immediately, or else future generations will be digitally restricted, and consumers and artists will ultimately lose in the end.
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By Natalie Tsai
S
he was a shy, bullied, gangly girl with frizzy hair who poured out her emotions into music. Now, she’s a world-wide superstar performing for millions. Taylor Swift’s journey to success has been nothing shy of amazing. However, some critics say Swift’s success came to her too quickly, that she’s a terrible performer, and claiming Taylor is a bad influence to girls. Swift not only worked for and deserves her success, but that she is a positive role model for girls.
watch me strike a match on all my wasted time! As far as I’m concerned you’re just another picture to burn!” her fans scream, connecting with the attitude in her voice. Then she switches to a song she wrote asking for forgiveness and a second chance. Everyone in the packed concert hall waves their hands back and forth with their eyes closed; some brought to tears, while she sings, “So this is me swallowing my pride, standing in front of you saying I’m sorry for that night, wishing I’d realized what I had when you were mine. I go back to December turn around and make it all right. I go back to December all the time.” The emotion she stirs up in her audience is amazing. A machine could hit the perfect notes, but could never give a performance like one of Swift’s.
Swift is only twenty-one, but she has worked hard for her success. Swift encouraged her family to move from Pennsylvania to Tennessee when she was still Swift’s live performances are not always in middle school, so that she could have consistent. She does not have perfect pitch, more opportunities. She took every chance nor does she hit all the right notes at all the she got to perform, at restaurants, talent right times. However, she has a quality of shows, and karaoke bars. At only 16, Swift performance like no other and connects released her self-titled debut album, Taywith her audience by writing and singing lor Swift. But after winning Entertainment about her personal experiences. “There’s a Magazine’s Entertainer of the Year award, she faced criticism from other celebrities reason tickets are her she selling like they “When she says some- claiming was too young for are,” says Scott thing, it affects more that level of sucBorschetta, CEO of Big Machine people than anybody else” cess. “[The success was] too much... too Records. “When soon, ” said singer, Wynonna Judd. Still, othshe says something, when she sings someers, like Faith Hill, a singer, defended her, thing, when she feels something, it affects saying “[Swift] worked her tail off... and she more people than anybody else.” As she deserves to win. ” Swift practiced her guitar screams a boy-bashing hit, “Picture to for four hours daily starting when she was Burn”, her fans jump up and down. “So
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12, and wrote the entire Speak Now album on her own. The facts speak for themselves. Even at a young age, Swift was working to share her music with the world. She deserves the level of success she has reached. Swift is a role model for women, not a bad influence. In fact, she inspires people everywhere to overcome their challenges and to dream big. In Self Magazine, Swift said, “As I was setting up my equipment to sing karaoke at the town summer festival, the kids would shout horrible things.” She was treated rudely, but she didn’t let it affect her. Swift just finished setting up her equipment, and began to sing. She channeled the negative energy thrown at her and produced music, such as her song “Mean” which addressed the bullies in her life. Swift also told Rolling Stone magazine she had never “experimented with cigarettes or drunk even a bit of alcohol”, something girls can learn from, unlike other celebrities, such as Lindsey Lohan, Miley Cyrus, or Paris Hilton, who have been known for their excessive partying, promiscuous clothing, and stints in jail or rehab. Swift deserves the success she has reached, because of the amount of effort and dedication she has poured into sharing her music with the world. She has exceptional traits and qualities, even under the scrutinizing public eye and constant documentation of her life through invasive photographs. Through her music, she has reached and connected to millions of people, providing comfort in words that perfectly describe any situation.
Photos from taylorswift.com
Ours by Taylor Swift: released on the Target Deluxe Speak Now Album. Swift’s special edition song has a stereo effect, giving it a full and realistic sound. The lyrics are cute and quirky, she opens the song with the phrase: “Elevator buttons and morning air”. Several guitars make up most of the instruments, with a simple drum beat heavy on snare. This song is truly one to dance to, and will put you in a good mood.
Back to December by Taylor Swift: released on the Speak Now Album. Her first apology song, Swift is alleged to have wrote this song to former boyfriend, Taylor Lautner. Her voice is soothingly backed with strings and mandolin. She openly admits her mistakes and says, “If the chain is on your door, I’ll understand”. Swift’s change of topic is a refreshing feel and the song overall is very enjoyable.
Haunted by Taylor Swift: released on the Speak Now Album. This eerie song really exemplifies Swift’s vocal skills and has a dramatic orchestrial background. This song is loud and powerful, and is fun to sing along with. Although Swift’s lyrics are not as clear in this song, the background tracks and large vocal range make up for it.
Better Than Revenge by Taylor Swift: released on the Speak Now Album. This song was written in retaliation to the Jonas Brother song, “Much Better”, where Joe Jonas states he done with “all the tears on her guitar”, alluding to Taylor’s song “Teardrops On My Guitar”. Jonas also stated , “the girl in front of me, she’s much better”. Swift retaliated with her song, “Better Than Revenger”, where she taunts, “Let’s hear the appluase, c’mon show me how much better you are”. “Better Than Revenge” has loud drums, beautifully written lyrics, and a catchy melody. Swift’s song is filled with attitude and is fun to rock out to.
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Alternative Story Forms
Prepare for Piracy Downloading from
By Arnav Sastry
1. Locate the song to download.
2. Download the VideoDownloadHelper extension.
3. Use VideoDownloadHelper to Download and Convert as an MP3.
4. Enjoy your new, pirated MP3.
5. Live with the guilt of stealing on your brain.
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Why not to Pirate
Art Credit: Pedro Pasquale and Gary Mcinnes
Why not to pirate
The downside with using Youtube is that the audio quality typically isn’t very good. Songs are often converted to mono in the uploading process, which makes the sound the same out of both headphones or both speakers. Youtube also typically cuts out high and low pitches of the songs, lowering the overall filesize and lowering the quality. This is why we at AuxCable recommend ripping CDs to create high quality files. Alternatively, you can scour the internet to find other high quality rips. Quality rippers are becoming harder and harder to find, as more novice music pirates upload low quality MP3s and get thousands of hits. Piracy is bad, and the hardworking artists and their record producers aren’t making enough money. Artists need money to keep their gear up to date and produce more wonderful music for you guys to listen to. If you’re only concerned with yourself, piracy is still illegal through all of the United States of America. America’s jails are not very fun places!
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Section Header
“When I grow up, I want to be just like Ke$ha,” 5 year old LaQui$ha says.
“Stop ta-ta-talkin’ that blah blah blah think you’ll be gettin’ this?”
Ke$ha, the best idol.
“An O-L-D man, you’re just an old man hitting on me, WHAT? You need a cat scan!”
The completely fictional life of LaQui$ha
By Anthony Rasp
“When I grow up, I want to be just like Ke$ha,” 5 year old LaQui$ha says. BLAH BLAH blah@ BLAH! BLAHBLAH BLAH! BLAH! blah!BLABLAH! “I’ve heard every song Ke$ha has ever made. I’ve been to every concert she has ever performed at, I even know all of her family members names,” die hard fan LaQui$ha states. Her friends at school think she is weird...Her family doesn’t accept her...She is all alone in this world save her only friend, pop star Ke$ha. “I have looked up to Ke$ha as my role model at a very young age. When I asked my parents to change my name, they thought that it was just a phase and I would soon grow out of it once I became a toddler.” But LaQui$ha did not grow out of this phase, she continued to worship her idol, Ke$ha. “People tell me Ke$ha is a very bad role model, but I completely disagree.” (Side note to the reader - Ke$ha is known for drinking, drugs, and being ‘flirty’. Check out her songs if you want to know the details.) “I just...I just don’t understand.” LaQui$ha mumbles. “I think the worst part of all this is how my family is reacting. They just don’t understand me and my decisions. I am who I am.” LaQui$ha is now 13 years old, and has changed her name to Rebecca. She came out with a very popular single a few months ago, she composed the song how Ke$ha composes her songs, pointlessly. with absolutely no meaning; but none the less, it was a hit - number one in the nation.
BLAH BLAHBLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH
how to record at home These days, it’s getting easier and easier to record in your bedroom or home than traveling to an expensive recording studio. At a recording studio, you pay per hour, which can result in a rushed song that’s not satisfactory. The only problem is finding the right equiptment at an affordable price.
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Start out with a computer. A computer is necessary for powering microphones, editing tracks, and saving your music. You also want to invest in an editing program, such as Apple’s Logic Studio, Reaper, or the free program, Audacity. You may want to try a trial version of these programs before
Invest in a quality condensor USB microphone. An good USB microphone will easily plug into your computer, while keeping a high quality sound. Good brands to look at include Audio Technica and Audix. If the microphone you choose does not come with a stand, a boom stand is a must buy. If you have extra money to splurge, look into getting a shock mount. A shock mount absorbs and reduces the amount of vibrations that reach the microphone, resulting in a clearer sound.
If you are looking into recording vocals, a pop filter is necessary. Hold your hand in front of your mouth and say, “pink”. You can feel the burst of air that comes from the “pih” sound. This burst of air is usually produced when saying words with Ps, Bs, and Ts. When recording vocals, these bursts of air will create a loud popping sound. These sounds will ruin your track. a pop filter will block the air, while allowing sound to pass cleanly through.
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Lastly, own a pair of earphones. Especially when recording multiple tracks, earphones will help keep you on beat and with the rest of your music. These do not have to be expensive, they can range from cheap earbuds to noise-cancelling earphones depending on the level of quality you want and your budget. You now have the equiptment to record a song at home!
Quick Rapping Tips Dumpin’ the Rhymes
Expressin’ Yo’ Feelings
Need a Minute?
SWAGGER
Many rappers have to make sure their lyrics have a smooth and edgy flow, this means havign some awesome rhymes. A common method used by rappers, like Lady Freeze, is “Rhyme Dumping.” What you do is say words aloud that rhyme and then place them in an appropriate place among your lyrics.
Can’t think of a line quick enough? No need to fret, just use fillers. A filler is phrase you use that would go well between any places you don’t have a line for. Fillers consist of “Uh”s, “Listen”s, and my favorite “What’s my name?” Not cool enough for you? That’s cool, you can make something up on your own too. Like... “Uh, let’s do dis thang!”
These days there are rappers who like to show the meaning behind the words they rap through hand signs. A lot of these hand signs consist of throwing your hands up and putting your hands all up in yo’ face/ your opponents face. Be careful though, don’t hurt yourself.
Every artist needs a cool accessory to show off when they perform. It can be anything from a chain to a unicorn earring. You mad? The whole point is that you OWN your accessory and work it!
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Stories by Lizza P. and Natalie T.
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MUSIC IN YOUR CLOSET By Lizza P.
Music’s influence on your wardrobe
JAZZ:Warm Tones
The sound of Jazz in your ears just brings out a sense of coziness and calmness. Warm tones like brown, light blue and toned down pink bring forward this feeling as well.
Photograph By Lizza P.
HIP HOP: Caps Every hip hop artist owns a cap that goes with every outfit they own. A cap adds persona to an artist and often shows up in hip hop music videos with a tilt or just plain down, They add an “oomph” to the outfit.
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Photograph By Lizza P.
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POP: Accessories Pop music is all about being up-beat and noticeable. Bright accessories are common among pop artists, being seen as daring and eye catching. accessories often include bags, sunglasses and jewelry.
Photograph By Lizza P.
ROCK: Studs Studs is a common fashion theme found on the clothing of many rockers. It adds a sense of danger and aggression, with taste, rawr. Clothing with studs include belts, boots, gloves, sweatshirts, and jeans. They’re everywhere!
Photograph By Lizza P.
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