Single #9: Ginkgo Biloba

Song name: "Ginkgo Biloba"
Album name: Sleep State F
Release date: October 21, 1997

Tracks
1. Ginkgo Biloba (album version)
2. Little Germany
3. Ginkgo Biloba (instrumental)

Song History
This was the first single from the 1997 Mune Mud album Sleep State F.

And then Jason was interested in herbs and herbal remedies. One aspect that interested him in particular was memory. And Ginkgo Biloba supposedly has medicinal properties to improve memory. So this song is a story about someone connecting with their Ancient Chinese past through herbal means.

Track Breakdown
The first track is the version that appeared on the album.

The second track was recorded during the Sleep State F sessions but was not included on the final album. It's a peppy, up-tempo song about Jason's German grandma. The song is full of family inside jokes and is fun to listen to.

The third track is the instrumental version of the album track.

Album of the Week #45: Precursory 33

Project name: Mune Mud
Album name: Precursory 33
Release date: April 8, 2008
Release format: CD
Studio name: Metal XOR Studio

Tracks:
1. That's All I Need to Know
2. Plutonic
3. Ominous
4. Peach Tree
5. Lyric
6. Why Did You Go? v2.0
7. Harley
8. Fruit Preserve
9. Under the Sky
10. Umbra Flame
11. That's Life
12. Decomposition of a Song
13. I'll Be Here
14. I Dream
15. Go West
16. Tip 26
17. King Song
18. Just Defied
19. The One-Liner
20. Eighty-Eight II
21. We Dog
22. Suburban 70
23. Leaves Fall

When Mune Mud began recording in 1990, it was with rudimentary equipment and talent. By early 1991 there was enough material to collect onto a tape. The collection was simply called Mune Mud. Over the next couple of years Mune Mud recorded more music and released more tapes. In 1994 it was decided to re-release the original tape, so Mune Mud was was reissued.

Years went by and many more Mune Mud albums were recorded and released. It was decided in early 2008 to revisit the beginnings of the project once again. For the re-re-release of Mune Mud, the songs would be put into the computer and cleaned up, then released on CD. And for a more complete picture of the early music, songs from the original Mune Mud were used along with some songs from the 1994 Mune Mud EP Devaulted, which was a small collection of unused material from the debut Mune Mud album.

So when the songs were chosen and cleaned up in the computer, it was time for packaging. It has been confusing over the years to refer to the original 1991 Mune Mud album (usually refered to as the debut album) and the 1994 version (usually referred to as the re-release), since they were both called Mune Mud. So a new name for this release was needed. That is why this album of previously used material has a new name.

This album also had a Studio first... a website for the album. On the website you can read the history of the album and listen/download most of the songs. You can visit the website here.

The end.

Web Log #5: Posts 101-125

This fifth entry contains posts #101-125.

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Equipment File #17: Nexus MIDI switcher

Nexus MIDI switcher

This was purchased in the big Studio upgrade in June of 1993. As stated in a previous post, the biggest change in the Studio at that time was the implementation of MIDI. The Studio now had several pieces of equipment that was MIDI capable: a synthesizer, a drum machine, an effects unit, a sequencer, a sound module, and eventually the Studio computer itself. So it became clear that with all of those MIDI inputs and outputs something was needed to control and manage it all.

And that is where this little gem came in. It allowed up to three MIDI inputs (or triggers) to control up to eight different outputs. So with the flick of a switch, the synthesizer could go from controlling the sound module to triggering sounds from the drum machine. And just as easily, the sound module could be triggered by either the synthesizer or the drum machine with the flick of a switch.

So this unit provided the flexibility needed for the MIDI set-up the Studio used for many years. But the switcher was recently retired since the only MIDI now in use by the Studio is the synthesizer acting as a trigger for all instrument and drum sounds in the computer. And that is accomplished by the use of one MIDI cable.

Single #8: One Night

Song name: "One Night"
Album name: Equation of Time
Release date: October 8, 1996

Tracks
1. One Night (v2.0) (album version)
2. One Night (v1.0)
3. One Night (v2.0) (instrumental)

Song History
This was the second single from the 1996 Mune Mud album Equation of Time.

Jason had a group of friends over one night. Even though it was after midnight when they left, he wanted to record a new song. So he recorded "One Night". The song was good, but could have been better. So he re-recorded the song with better vocals (still ad-libbed as the original version was) and slight changes in the composition. It was the second version (v2.0) that was used for the album.

Track Breakdown
The first track is the version that appeared on the album.

The second track was the original version of the song. It could also be considered the demo for the album version.

The third track is the instrumental version of the album track.

Album of the Week #44: PDF 10th Anniversary

Project name: Isthmus
Album name: Parabolic Dish Festival 10th Anniversary Edition
Release date: May 22, 2008
Release format: CD
Studio name: Metal XOR Studio

Tracks:
Disc 1 - see Parabolic Dish Festival Volume 1
Disc 2 - see Parabolic Dish Festival Volume 2
Disc 3 - various

It wasn't long after the first two volumes were originally released in 1998 and 1999 that talks began of a deluxe edition since there was so much extra content recorded and not used for the original two albums. So the project was started. Soon things got hectic and it was put on the back burner. A few years later it was worked on again, but it still was not finished.

Fast forward to 2008. The band was eagerly awaiting the release of the new Indiana Jones movie on May 22. And there were talks of possibly recording a new Isthmus album in June. So Harry said what would inspire him the most for another jam session would be the release of the Parabolic Dish Festival Deluxe Edition.

By coincidence, the date they recorded the album was May 22, 1998, exactly ten years to the day prior to the new Indiana Jones release. Jason dug up the material that was ready for the project and cleaned it up. Could it be done by May 22?

The new packaging was going to be adventure-themed since it was being released on the same day Indiana Jones was coming out. But due to time constraints, the only thing that remains of the adventure theme is the title font on the front cover. It was decided to go with a space theme for the rest of the packaging.

So the album did release on May 22, the first Metal XOR Studio album not released on a Tuesday. It contained 3 CD's, one for each of the original Volumes and a third that contained all the bonus content in the form of MP3's and PDF's. Being a multi-disc album was also a first for the Studio.

The band has been inspired to record the next album. Now it is a matter of getting their three schedules to allow for a recording session. And as of now, July looks promising.

Since the album was rather rushed to be completed by the May 22 deadline, there were some things that did not make it in this edition. So there are already plans for a bigger, much more complete edition to be released some time in the future. Let's hope it doesn't take another ten years for this one to be released!


Next week's Album of the Week: Precursory 33 by Mune Mud from 2008.

Studio News: New Website

Metal XOR Studio presents a new website...

The Time Door Is Closing

The new site has nothing to do with music. It is a collection of memories and stories from Jason's past. There will be a new story every Monday and Friday, so stop by and read about events that helped make Jason what he is today.

* A link to the site is included in the Studio Links section on the right side of this page.

Web Log #4: Posts 76-100

This fourth entry contains posts #76-100.

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Equipment File #16: Boss mixing board

Boss BX-8

It was in May of 1990 when the Studio received its first mixing board. It was an old, dirty board that was going to be thrown away where Jason worked. So he took it home and used it in the multi-track experiments with his home stereo (early Mune Mud).

In late 1991, after he bought the 4-track recorder and upgraded his keyboard to the Casio keyboard, it was time to upgrade the mixer. This little 8-channel Boss mixer was made to be used with keyboards but he has run all his instruments and equipment through it over the years.

And now in Metal XOR-E, it is currently being used as the funnel for his computer input. All instruments and equipment run to this board and the board goes into the computer. It is simple and efficient and will be the way the Studio is set up for quite some time.

Single #7: Summer Song

Song name: "Summer Song"
Album name: Equation of Time
Release date: September 10, 1996

Tracks
1. Summer Song (album version)
2. Winter Song
3. Summer Song (instrumental)

Song History
This was the first single from the 1996 Mune Mud album Equation of Time.

Jason was renting a small farmhouse with his friend Darrin when this song was recorded. It was a nice, sunny, warm March Sunday and Jason decided to record a song about the upcoming season. With the Studio window open, letting the cool breeze blow in, the song was recorded. It was recorded as the opposite of "Winter Song", which was recorded two months earlier during a snowstorm.

Track Breakdown
The first track is the version that appeared on the album.

The second track was recorded two months before the first. It was recorded in January on a day that took him almost two hours to drive home from work because of a heavy snow storm. As soon as he got home he called his boss and said he would not be in to work the next day either. And to make things worse, the power went off for a little while. So when the power came back on he recorded this song. The song did appear as a bonus track on the Equation of Time 10th Anniversary Collection.

The third track is the instrumental version of the album track.

This Day in Studio History

It was on this day in 1996 that the Mune Mud album Monograph was recorded.

This is the only "live" solo album recorded to date. It was "live" because Jason sung all the songs live to the pre-recorded music in one take. The music was from the original 4-track master tapes, so the only thing new were the vocals. Most of the songs came from the 1991 album Olympus and many others were preview songs for the upcoming Equation of Time album.

Hopefully this won't be the last "live" solo album.

Album of the Week #43: Sleep State F 10th Anniversary

Project name: Mune Mud
Album name: Sleep State F 10th Anniversary Collection
Release date: 2007
Release format: CD
Studio name: Metal XOR Studio

Tracks:
1. Waxed
2. Ginkgo Biloba
3. Reflection
4. Occam's Razor
5. Locker Life
6. Contact
7. Before (Again)
8. Sleeping with the Fishes
9. Last Five Miles
10. Dofuzia
11. Molybdenum
12. Clouds Set Free (Silent Cumulus Mix)
13. Overfed
14. The Phantom Funeral
15. Dolphins and a Seahorse
16. Biobot
17. Just Denied
18. Etesian Wind (Denny's Mix)
19. Prospecting Saturn
20. Atlantis
21. Back Up, Please?
22. Crystal
23. One Second
24. Sepia

This was the fifth and final album in the Mune Mud 10th Anniversary Collection. It was a digital re-release of the 1997 Sleep State F album.

The first nineteen tracks are the same as the original 1997 album, just digitally remixed. Tracks 20-24 are previously unreleased bonus tracks. They were unused tracks from the Sleep State F recording sessions.

Tracks 20-22 were not used on the original because they were not finished. The versions included here are the unfinished versions, preserved exactly where Jason left off with them. And tracks 23 and 24 come from a short four-song session that Jason recorded while house-sitting some one's house in August of 1997. The other two songs of the four recorded at the house were "Overfed" and "Contact", both of which appeared on the original Sleep State F album. "One Second" also appeared as the b-side to the "Reflection" single in November of 1997.

Unfortunately, as with the previous two albums in this collection (Pryme Material 10th and Equation of Time 10th), this album was never totally finished. The tracks were compiled but the CD's were never burned. And in this case, none of the labels or covers were even designed or printed. It does retain the 2007 release date though. The Studio is working to hopefully complete the album soon.


Next week's Album of the Week: Parabolic Dish Festival 10th Anniversary Edition by Isthmus from 2008.

Just For Fun #11

Happy Father's Day

From all of us at Metal XOR Studio

Web Log #3: Posts 51-75

This third entry contains posts #51-75.

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Equipment File #15: U-220 sound module

Roland U-220

In June of 1993, the Studio changed forever. It purchased a large amount of new equipment and was rebuilt from the ground up. This was phase 2 of Circle IX Studio.

The biggest change was the implementation of MIDI. A sequencer could now be programmed to play the music parts all at once and recorded to one of the tracks on the 4-track recorder, leaving three tracks open for guitars, vocals, or sounds.

Arguably, the second biggest change resulting in the purchase was this Roland U-220 sound module. Now the Studio wasn't limited to the sounds of portable keyboards. With this sound module it had access to hundreds of new sounds, most derived from actual instruments. It also had dozens of strange sounds and sound effects. It contained new drum kits for the Studio to use. And the unit, being controlled from a sequencer, could play up to six instrument parts at once.

As has always been the case when new sounds are available to the Studio, inspiration came forth! Many new songs and sounds were used in the 1993 recording sessions, leading to the Mune Mud album Pryme Material and eventually the whole NueroMud project.

The U-220 has not been used in quite some time since the Studio now uses computers for its sounds. But the U-220 is still in the Studio waiting to eventually be used once again.

Single #6: Clouds Set Free

Song name: "Clouds Set Free"
Album name: Pryme Material
Release date: November 2, 1993

Tracks
1. Clouds Set Free (album version)
2. Up A Lonely Road (original demo)
3. Clouds Set Free (instrumental)

Song History
This was the second single from the 1993 Mune Mud album Pryme Material.

This was a slower song, recorded just a month before its sister song, "I Still Know You" (which also appears on Pryme Material). It is obviously some sort of love song, but is the protagonist happy or sad? Are they in a relationship or is it after the relationship was over? It is hard to tell, but it is still a pretty song to listen to.

Track Breakdown
The first track is the version that appeared on the album.

The second track was the original demo version of "Up A Lonely Road" recorded by Jason and Darrin on April 28, 1990. Two new versions of the song were recorded in 1993, the remake version that appears on Pryme Material and the 'Splitz Mix' version that appeared as a bonus track on the 2003 release of Pryme Material 10th Anniversary Collection.

The third track is the instrumental version of the album track.

Album of the Week #42: Equation of Time 10th Anniversary

Project name: Mune Mud
Album name: Equation of Time 10th Anniversary Collection
Release date: 2006
Release format: CD
Studio name: Metal XOR Studio

Tracks:
1. Fake Houdini
2. In the Memory of Man
3. Follow the Steps
4. En Crypt
5. Krietner
6. Summer Song
7. Essence of Pearl
8. Bumpy and Jumpy
9. I'm With You (Outcome)
10. Ever Regret
11. One Night (v2.0)
12. Under Venus
13. Before
14. Nightspell
15. On Good Terms
16. One Lunar Minute
17. Deviate
18. One Night (v1.0)
19. Winter Song
20. Little Germany
21. The End Den
22. Etesian Wind (Metal-X Mix)

This was the fourth album in the 10th Anniversary Collection. It was a digital re-release of the 1996 Equation of Time album.

The first seventeen tracks are the same as the original 1996 album, just digitally remixed. Tracks 18-22 are the previously unreleased bonus tracks. They were unused tracks from the Equation of Time recording sessions.

Track 18 was the original version of the song. The version that appeared on the album, "One Night (v2.0)", was the re-recorded version. The next three tracks were finished songs, they just didn't seem to fit on the album. And the last track was yet another version of the famous "Etesian Wind" song that first appeared on the 1991 album Olympus. This was a faster, almost disco version of the song that had lots of vocal effects.

Unfortunately, as with the previous album in this collection (Pryme Material 10th), this album was never totally finished. The tracks were compiled but the CD's were never burned. And in this case, none of the labels or covers were even designed or printed. It does retain the 2006 release date though. The Studio is working to hopefully complete the album soon.


Next week's Album of the Week: Sleep State F 10th Anniversary Collection by Mune Mud from 2007.

Web Log #2: Posts 26-50

This second entry contains posts #26-50.

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Studio News: Hosting Problems

The website that I use(d) to host all audio files, Mediamax, has re-launched as The Link Up. When they made the change, all paid subscribers had their data moved to the new site. All free subscribers, myself included, were apparently forgotten. At this point I cannot access my Mediamax account since they no longer exist and I cannot access a Link Up account because the free accounts did not transfer. So everything I uploaded is now in limbo and all links I created to those files are broken.

My only solution is to find another site with free hosting and upload all the files again. Then the longest part will be fixing all the links to those new files. This affects all my websites: the Metal XOR blog, Metal XOR Information Source, The Traveling Deengelburys site, the Albino Boy site, the Precursory 33 official site, etc. So this is going to be a big project to get straightened out.

I will begin the migration soon. Until then no audio will be available from any of my sites. I will post another Studio News update when the files are available again.

Equipment File #14: ART SGX effects unit

ART SGX LT

The Studio purchased this unit in 1993 during the big Studio upgrade. There were not many effects in the unit, so it was mainly used to add delay or distortion to drum machines or keyboard parts.

It was used in less than a dozen recordings over the years. Although the Studio still has it on-hand, the computers that are used today can do much more than this unit. But it is a part of the Studio history and will remain with the Studio for a while longer.

Single #5: Reality Found Me

Song name: "Reality Found Me"
Album name: Pryme Material
Release date: October 5, 1993

Tracks
1. Reality Found Me (album version)
2. Ominous (remake)
3. Reality Found Me (instrumental)

Song History
This was the first single from the 1993 Mune Mud album Pryme Material.

This song was about an unexpected trip to a strange place. There was an earlier demo of the song recorded that eventually appeared as a bonus track on the 2003 album Pryme Material 10th Anniversary Collection.

Track Breakdown
The first track is the version that appeared on the album.

The second track was a 1993 remake of the song "Ominous" that originally appeared on the 1991 Mune Mud debut album (and again on the 1994 Mune Mud debut re-release and 2008 Precursory 33 album).

The third track is the instrumental version of the album track.

Blog News: 250th Post

Guess what?

This is post #250 for the Metal XOR Studio blog! It is now hard to remember a time before the blog.

MANY things have been featured on this site: albums, musicians, equipment, songs, etc. And there is much more that still needs to be featured.

So keep on reading. And before you know it you'll be reading the 300th post!!!

State of the Studio #10: June '08

Summer is almost here. The Studio does not like summer. Summer is hot.

Coming this month, the Album of the Week wraps up the 10th Anniversary Collection albums, then the feature shifts gears and discusses some of the more current albums.

The Equipment File also continues. This month will see the end of the effects units and then it will be on to other equipment that has been used throughout the years.

The new Web Log feature continues. This month will cover blog posts through #125.

The Singles feature also continues. By the end of the month we'll be up to the singles from the 1997 Mune Mud album Sleep State F.

And there may be HUGE Isthmus news soon. There are rumors that this is the month that the new Isthmus album will be recorded. We will see if that turns out to be true.

Otherwise it's business as usual here at the Studio. Another milestone will be reached real soon, post #250.

So until the first of next month, keep cool!!!

Album of the Week #41: Pryme Material 10th Anniversary

Project name: Mune Mud
Album name: Pryme Material 10th Anniversary Collection
Release date: 2003
Release format: CD
Studio name: Metal XOR Studio

Tracks:
1. Reality Found Me
2. Four Concepts
3. Clouds Set Free
4. An Urban Theory
5. The Only One
6. Up A Lonely Road
7. Etesian Wind (Ethereal Mix)
8. Turn It Up
9. I Still Know You
10. To My Owl
11. Wait A While
12. SID II
13. Aqua Celeste
14. You Noticed Me
15. Mental Instru
16. I'm Sick
17. UFO
18. Fantasy Dream
19. Reality Found Me (demo)
20. Turn It Up (demo)
21. I Still Know You (demo)
22. Wait A While (demo)
23. Aqua Celest (demo)
24. Up A Lonely Road (Splitz Mix)

This was the third album in the 10th Anniversary Collection. It was a digital re-release of the 1993 Pryme Material album.

The first seventeen tracks are the same as the original 1993 album, just digitally remixed. Tracks 18-24 are the previously unreleased bonus tracks. Track 18 was a short song recorded using the new sequencer the Studio bought in 1993. The song remained unnamed until it was used for this album.

Tracks 19-23 are demo versions of songs from the album. This was a period when the Studio started recording demo tapes. When a demo was recorded that could possibly become a real song, it was worked on and usually ended up on an album. So there are many demos and unused tracks from the Pryme Material recording sessions.

The final track is an instrumental version of "Up A Lonely Road" using a different patch on the sound module. So instead of piano, strings, etc. from the original song, this version has all kinds of different sounds playing.

Unfortunately this album was never totally finished. The tracks were compiled but the CD's were never burned. Even the CD labels were printed. The back cover was also printed. But the front jacket wasn't even designed. It's still considered to be 'released' in 2003, but there is no complete packaged CD available. The Studio is working to finally complete the album soon.


Next week's Album of the Week: Equation of Time 10th Anniversary Collection by Mune Mud from 2006.