8/22/11

Haven't provided an update in awhile, as I don't use my PC as much anymore.  The ole' HP barely keeps going so I'll try to make this quick.  I haven't been up to a whole lot since Harshstar quit playing shows.  It was a good time playing video game tunes but it just wasn't for me in the end.  Since then, Mike has been working out at the farm, Tyler is working for Volt and in ThunderBeast (a video game collaborative) and Kenny has been playing a few impromptu shows w/ me. 

I joined a reggae band called the Poster Boys that does some Slightly Stoopid, Sublime, Bob Marley, and Grateful Dead tunes.  We have played a few shows at the Nestor, and an event that our drummer Adam sponsored out in Oak Grove Park.  Other than that I recorded a new album entitled "Wrecking Ball" featuring 10 original tunes w/ accompaniment from my old friend Ben, Katie singing vocals, and Chris doing Hey's.

You can listen to it here:
Dan Kaufman's Myspace Page 

Ben is moving back up here late September so we will most likely be starting a original/cover band w/ Ken-Bot.  Been looking at a lot of music and trying to find the right niches.

Recent Inventions:

The FrankenAmp:  Basically 4 guitar practice amps housed in one cabinet.
Porta-Kit:  Portable Drumset so you can put everything in the bass drum.

I've also attached a drumstick to the hi-hats rod so it hits the snare when I press down on the pedal.  I'm basically working on the bass drum and footsnare rhythms now so I accompany myself on guitar or make an easy 3 piece w/ a bassist.  Thinking about learning the harmonica but I don't have too much skill in that department, we'll see.

I fixed my dreamcast today by bending the pins and whatnot, really easy fix and it's been working fine ever since.

Anyways, things are good and no worries this time of year.  Have a good one :)


6/26/10

So I got about 3 songs ready to go on the new album; very rough mixes so far.  I'm currently recovering from functional endoscopic sinus surgery and waiting for my sinuses to get back in order before I do any singing.   Harshstar is going good and we are looking to start gigging around the end of July.   We have about an hour's worth of material, consisting of various videogame music we enjoy. 

Other than that, I've been looking into making my own guitar pedals using breadboard/protoboard techniques.  One site in particular is great for information on this subject, and their kit is quite snazzy as well.  If you got time you should check it out.

http://www.beavisaudio.com

5/16/10

Currently working on a 9-track album... more details to come soon.

9/9/09

On 9/9/99 The Dreamcast was released into the great wild.  Soul Calibur was soon given life, Crazy Taxi pissed you off, and homebrew quickly became tangible thing to the public.  Getting lost in Resident Evil: Code Veronica; using super powers in Power Stone; reeling in a big catch in Sega Bass Fishing, and reliving shareware classics such as Rise of the Triad, and the original Quake gave new life to the a market of PS1's and N64's.

The Dreamcast was quite popular when it first started out, grossing $132 million in sales in just 4 days.   However, with the advent of the PS2 (Playstation 2), consumers fled into the arms of Sony, and Dreamcast sales declined. 

About 7 years ago,  I noticed that Dreamcast systems  were no longer available at retail stores, and about the only way of obtaining one was to search out the pawn shops.  You might get lucky and find one on Craigslist, but they are becoming scarce. 

Reason why? 

Many Dreamcast systems, in my opinion, were sub-par simply due to the case expanding over extended use.  I've had to put a pencil sharpener on my power cable just to maintain power on unit; if I don't weight it down it will constantly reset.

(I know there is a way to fix this by bending the pins, but the pencil sharpener does the job for now)

With that aside it was probably one of the best consoles of it's time.  N64 never had the capability of homebrew, and nothing was more exciting than playing Soul Calibur for the first time.  Compare it to Mace (N64) and you'll know what I mean :)

I'm glad that Playstation 2 took over the reigns, but I'm sad that some next-gen games (xbox 360, nintendo wii, playstation 3) have graphics that are comparable to the Dreamcast.   

Anyways, I thought I'd update the page a bit

- fixed the mp3 page so everything appears correctly
-changed the video players to a nice blue


I'm currently working w/ Harshstar and forming up a band that specializes in video game music.  We're still in 8-bit, but we're moving up :)  I hope put more effort into webpage this time around, but as I said on 5/12/09 I can't make any promises :)

Winter is coming though, and that should change it up and lead to more recording sessions.  Talk to you later,

Kaufman.


5/12/09

New Song!

Recently uploaded "Boardwalk Beatdown," which features nds toy piano homebrew, and nds daigasso brothers for the drums.  Imagine taking it to them Double Dragon style while listening to this piece.  I'm finally getting back in the swing of updating this webpage, but I can't make any promises :)  Have a great week.  DK.

Boardwalk Beatdown


5/10/09

Finally got my computer hooked up!  Sorry for the delay but laziness got the best of me.  I've been playing a lot of videogames, and making a jam shack for the summer.  Other than that, I've been dabbling with a newly acquired Power Macintosh 7600/132; trying to find some music apps and software to play with on this old beast.

I ended up having to semi-evacuate during the flood... so I moved a lot of my music instruments and computers to my girlfriend's house.  Since then I've brought a lot of stuff back to my house, (which was in no way affected.. SCORE!)... but better safe then sorry :)

Other than that not much else has been going on.  Email me if you feel like jamming sometime.  Peace.  

3/24/09

There has been a certain craziness circling the recent flood situation in the Fargo-Moorhead area.  People are sandbagging the hell out of the river in hopes that it doesn't crest over the dikes, but I have remained optimistic that Moorhead will be alright.  It's a hard one to say about Fargo, but I think it'll do alright in the end.

After reading countless articles online and seeing the Red river dramatically rise around the Main and Center avenue bridges, I decided to at least get my rubbage off the crawl space floor and onto higher elevation.  I'm thinking about doing the same for all my musical equipment in the basement as well.  It's scary to some extent but this is what this place is all about :)

I've taken off "The Filthy Philharmonic" and "Harshstar" sections of the site because they are no longer related to the future of my site or that of Harshstar.  Simply doing some spring cleaning.   I've also added the sitemap which links back to the main site.

I'll be adding new videos most likely after I move out of place in June, and I will be uploading a new song within the coming weeks.  I'm still playing the tri-keyboard every now and then but I've grown more interested in playing my baritone uke and all the new video games for the Xbox 360 and PS3.  Hopefully I'll feel inspired to write another album this summer, but being a gamer and a musician don't always go hand in hand.  Just haven't got hold of a firm concept just yet.

I was thinking about recording a christmas album for this year though.  Was thinking about calling it "Dan Kaufman's Ukulele Christmas." :)

Sorry for such belated updates, but I get lazy like everyone else and have to do something else for a change.  Looking to bigger changes in the future.  

2/12/09
First Ever Harshstar Podcast Coming Soon!!!  We will be talking about the site, it's music, video games, current events, movies, groups, the economy, and being piss-poor broke.  Stay Tuned...  Should be here by the end of the week.

...

It's been awhile since I updated the main page of the site.  A lot of new videos are being added to the Harshstar section of the site, and new MP3's have been put into to place in "The Filthy Philharmonic" section as well. 

The Filthy Philharmonic debut album, which was recorded in 2005, has been released to the public for free download.  Live cuts from previous shows will also be thrown in the mix as time goes on and I master them from old 4-track tapes. 

Harshstar is developing a facebook group which will allow users to submit ideas, lyrics, and artwork to the site, which in turn will be used by Harshstar to create new content and give it's users credit for their work.  If you would like to help in the collaboration process, simply find our group on facebook by typing in Harshstar, or send me an email at kaufmandk@hotmail.com entitled "Harshstar Idea" and we will put it up for consideration or use on the site.

With all of this, feedback is greatly appreciated.  So don't be shy; let me know what you'd like to see.  Below is how the Video Sections have been split up.  

"Videos" is just me playing guitar and whatnot
"Harshstar" has it's videos for our electronica project
"Demos" has equipment demonstrations

or you can just go to

http://www.youtube.com/coughzilla

Have Fun