welcome!
This page is a workspace for me to develop things I want to publish. Whatever I make here, if it becomes something significant and fairly complete, will be broken out into it's own page on this site. I would like to get away from the blog idea and more into the idea of articles, writeups, howto's, etc. Beeeeeeeem!
deejaying
I've been playing records since 1994. I started in grade 10 with a set of Technics home turntables and a Pyramid mixer. My brother and I started collecting Dancehall and Hip Hop and I also started buying Top 40 dance music. At the time, Top 40 was House and you could make alot of money playing it, regardless of if you could mix or not. My main source of vinyl was The Record Bar in Oshawa, but we would also go down to Play De Record, Traxx, and New York Connection on Yonge Street in Toronto. Our aunt worked in Toronto and we would go down with her on a PA day at like 6 AM. So we would get to Yonge Street way before the stores openned and when we actually got into the store, we would have the whole place to ourselves. I was 15 and my brother 13.
I made some good money from djing throughout high school. My very first gig was the comencement at Annandale Golf Club in Ajax. Sound was provided by my Dad's Studio Lab speakers. The pay for this gig was $200. Since I didn't really have many records at the time, I just went to Record Bar and bought all the top 20 dance singles. A 12" was $10 back then.
In grade 11, I met Dwayne McDowell in Communications class. Dwayne was already a veteran dj with mad scratch skills, endless crates of records, and super hifi equipment. He was into 'oldschool', which was 80s roller skating music (funk and disco) and hip hop. We started attending The Regent nightclub in Oshawa on friday nights. Cover was $10 and you could dance from 10 to 2:30. This is where we both developed a love for House. After awhile, The Regent closed. The new hot spot was Classique Palace in Ajax. We threw a party there called Ultimate Reality where we threw down all kinds of party music. It was intended to be a weekly. We did the first week and a bunch of people showd up. This was an all ages event and the thing to do in High School. A couple of under-agers realized that they could get drinks at this place, including my brother who lost his dinner on the front sidewalk :) So the next week was rammed. I remember that one of our concerns was where do we keep all the cash that's pouring in.
I was introduced to Jungle in 1996 by James Cover (aka DJ Fanon, aka Man Like Cover) through recordings of raves and the unbelievable mixes he made. That was a turning point and an acceleration into the hyper dub space of the UK. I heard echos from childhood freaked and dubbed out, a powerful expression of love for the source material. Jungle made me rave. I didn't attend too many raves, but the ones I attended lit me on fire. The main appeal for me was the transportation into another dimension. Dark, experimental, sound drenched, energy filled, and without bounds, euphoric. Not drugs, just rushing to beats and bass all night.
Close Encounters July 16, 1998
Student Life Center, University of Waterloo
In 1997 I started school at the University of Waterloo in Physics. When I arrived at the campus, I made a point of finding the radio station. My experience in Ajax was that campus/community radio was the only radio worth listening to. After tuning into hit FM stations through public school, I found that stations like University of Toronto's CIUT (89.5 FM) and Ryerson's CKLN (88.1 FM) were providing a solid connection to Toronto communities and underground music in general. I was inspired by shows like: The Prophesy with DJ Marcus, the Morning Ride with King Turbo, and Ron and Lisa's Dancehall show. With these experiences in mind, I was eager to bring my own flavour and advancements to radio. I met this punker in my class by the name of Hugh (aka Mad Hughagi after Mad Cobra) and we started The Pressure Drop radio show, an ecclectic mix of Jungle, Reggae, Rap, House, Punk and Ska. Toots and the Maytals' 'Pressure Drop' was our opening theme.
As time went on, Pressure Drop became focussed more on Jungle / Drum and Bass. New DJ's joined the show, like: Bucky, Scoobs, CBell, Shaft, Dru. People went away and came back again, including myself. We've had the chance to DJ out at various places in Waterloo, Toronto, Kitchener, some parties we threw. The show has served to keep me connected to djing to this day. Despite all my other interests and projects, the show keeps my hands on the decks on a weekly basis.
Despite all the years, my gear has gone through relatively few changes. I replaced the original Radio Shack quality mixer with a Numark 2002X 3-channel in around 1998. This was the advent of affordable 3-band EQ for DJs and it changed the way I mixed in several ways. The most dramatic was the sounds quality. Scratching sounded so much better and that made it more fun. This mixer also had effect send for each channel, controlled by a switch. Later on, this became immensely useful with the Roland Space Echo. A few work terms later I purchased a pair of Numark turntables. These were shiny, but they had some problems. They would feed back terribly at shows, so much that I had to get rid of them. I picked up 2 battered Technics 1200 decks with cases. These were rental units for about 10 years until James got them in a fairly f-ed up state. The tonearm heights were no longer adjustable. In fact, the whole assembly was not put together properly. After James was done with them, they should have been encapsulated in gold and put in a museum, considering what he managed do with them. Instead, I bought them, fixed them, and have been rocking them ever since. The last critical piece of equipment for dj use was the Roland Space Echo, THE vintage effects box used by every pyschadelic producer. I picked this up on eBay for a small fortune. What the Space Echo allowed us to do was take djing to a whole new depth. This is a signature of the Pressure Drop Radio show. At one point in time, I met someone who couldn't figure out how many people we had on the show since all vocals went through the echo. Well, it sounds sweeter with the echo chamber!
Jungle as I loved it had now almost dissapeared, being replaced by repetative beats and uninspired bass. It was difficult to find records to buy. Around 2002, I went to a small party in Toronto called Ragga Clash with no one on the lineup that I recognized. I went by myself, knowing only that the party was about ragga jungle and with a gut feeling that I was going to find gold. I did! I discovered a group of people who had never given up ragga, always refused to compromise jungle, and had loads of tracks I had literally wished were produced, but never knew existed. DJs like C-Rat and Frankie Gunns blew my ass away with dancehall refix's rinsed out to perfection. Here was all the dancehall I loved finally fused with proper jungle. I started checking ragga-jungle.com and buying North American produced ragga from producers like General Malice, Chopstick Dubplate, Debaser, Krinjah, Soundmurderer.
In recent times, the ragga element in DnB has come back in varying forms. Ragga DnB is not Ragga Jungle. Ragga Jungle is reggae and dancehall dubbed out on jungle beats. The principles of dub, sampling only the most impactful vocal parts and using them sparingly, is greatly missing in much new "Ragga". The music must relfect a thorough knowledge for Reggae and an understanding of what's being said and what it means in its original context. Therefore ragga producers must listen primarily to Reggae just like how the original jungle producers listened to Jazz, Funk, Techno, Rap, Dub, and many other genres.
In 2006, Mary Anne Hobbs of BBC Radio 1 aired a special on her Breezeblock show called Dubstep Warz. Scoobs introduced this to me. It consisted of mini sets from some of the biggest players in the dubstep scene. The sound was dark, a bit moody, varied, and dub reggae driven. At first I was bored by this music, but the one track that stood out was Midnight Request Line by Skream, which seemed to echo the old school hardcore rave sound. My interest grew around that track and the set by Digital Mystikz. I started listening to SubFM and RinseFM. I went out to Subtrac parties in Toronto. I started buying records from Redeye. I started discovering a sound that I could relate to. The most suprising thing happens when you play dubstep through a sub. You hear much more and you experience the physical aspect of the sub bass. You cannot "hear" dubstep if you don't physically feel it. If you don't have a sub, then you're not listening to what the producer made.
instrumentation
What a DJ needs. At least 2 music players, each having realtime transport controls and clean undistorted sound output. A mixer to allow overlapping of the audio from different sources. A mic for addressing the listeners.
The standard setup. Two Technics 1200 turntables with slipmats and an analog mixer. The source medium is the vinyl phonograph disc. The setup allows realtime control of the audio. Precise cueing, jogging, and speed control. Two records can be mixed seamlessly by matching tempo, phase, and frequency content. The DJ has total transport control over the music. Any part can be started, stopped, looped, played fwd or reverse, at any speed.
The digital setup. A laptop computer loaded with digital recordings, software to allow control and mixing of the recordings, and some external control mechanism. The controller is entirely flexible using digital and analog transducers. Vinyl control is possible through the use of records printed with a control signal. DJ's who have developed motor skills for vinyl will find this the most immediately productive. Any MIDI controller can also be used and there are many to choose from designed specifically for DJing.
The future of the deejay is dub.
festiva
Since I got my licence, I drove my mom's 1989 Toyota Corolla LE. It was a 4-door sedan, a small family car that was economical and well built. The car's odometer went to about 460,000 km in my posession and past 500 before it was scrapped.
In 2002 I got a new car, one that I chose. I had always been a fan of small cars like The Mini, VW Rabbit, Subaru Justy, etc. The best looking car out of that class was the Ford Festiva. I found one for sale in Toronto by a pair of school teachers who had driven it from BC. The car had spent its whole life there after being imported from the states, so it was almost rust free.
A few facts about my Ford Festiva:
| Model | 1991 L |
| Engine | Mazda B3, 1.3 L inline 4-cylinder, EFI, 63 hp |
| Transmission | 5-speed manual, cable clutch |
| Curb Weight | 1900 Lbs |
| Tire Size | 145/80/R12 |
| Front Suspension | coil over strut, single control arm stabalized by roll bar |
| Rear Suspension | trailing torsion beam, coil over shock |
| Brakes | front solid disc, rear drum, wheel bolts (not studs) |
| Interior | front bucket seats, fold-forward rear bench seat, 4-speaker stereo (4") |
In 20XX, Sport Compact Car magazine ran a story about Cam Waugh of CWS Tuning about his fully built Ford Festiva. Cam swapped the original motor for a 1.6 L turbo-charged engine of the same series, the almighty Mazda B6T, as well as other trick mods. The swap gave the sub tonne car about 135 hp, clearly ready to embarass any potential competition. While this was not the reason I wanted this car, it was a good reason to own it. I was mostly interested in optimizing the car's performance, but creating a sleeper seemed like a very sweet project. I started to gather information via fordfestiva.com, the meeting place on the web for all things Festiva. After awhile, I was convinced that a swap for the BP engine was the most practical. The B6T engines are found in only a few models. The Mazda 323GT and GTX cars have it, but these cars are already so badass that it would be a shame to gut them. The Mercury Capri XR2 also has it. These cars are hard, if not impossible, to find in Canada. The BP on the other hand is found in the Escort GT, which enjoyed considerable success in Canada and can be found in rusty condition for a few hundred dollars.
In 2005 I found my Escort and in the Summer of 2006 I began the transplant, using Matt Swabb's excellent Cardomain writeup as my guide. Props to him for paving the way for many other people as well. The old B3 was removed in working order. A rectangle had to be cut out of the firewall and recessed and one of the frame rails needed to be clearanced and then reinforced. Alan helped me with the fabrication of the patches and we welded them in and painted over. I purchased a brand new Stage II clutch from Spec and had the original B3 flywheel machined flat. I used the B3 flywheel because I was retaining the stock transmission. The new clutch had to match the input shaft of the transmission and the pressure plate that came with the new clutch had to bolt up to the B3 flywheel. This has the added advantage of having a lighter flywheel than the stock BP part.
Many people who do this swap want to use the large transmission that comes attached to the BP and there have been successes in doing so. However, it takes alot more work in adapting the axles to work with the hubs, fiting the bigger transmission, etc. I decided to stick with the B3 tranny to keep things simple. Some people have had problems with the transmission breaking when doing a hard launch. Since I didn't plan to do that, I figured it would be OK. The bonus is that the transmission is much lighter so it's better for say autocross.
In installing the engine, one mount had to be fabricated. I used the cylindrical part of the BP mount and added some steel. I also cut the cast iron part that attached to the original mount to clear the mounting bracket on the chassis. I had to drill and tap another hole in it to accept the mount I created.
All four corners recieved new Festiva Motorsport springs and KYB GR-2 shocks. This lowered the car about 1.5 inches. The rear springs are progressive. The shocks damp a little better than stock and a lot better than the old ones that came off. I replaced all brake and fuel lines on the car. Trying to bend extremely long lines and then flare the ends in place was a frustrating endeavor. When I got the brake system back together, many of my connections leaked so I had to re-make many flares. The way flares are made is a two stage process. First, the end of the tube is bulged and second the end is pressed in with a 90 degree taper so that the mating surface is conical. The trick is to not competely crush the end when you do the second step. Allow the die to shape the end, but do not compress the bulge. When the fitting finally goes together, the nut itself will make the final deformation and allow the tube end to conform to the male part. I figured this out by looking at the pre-made lines available at the store.
I upgraded the Festiva tires to 195/45/14 and put them on 14" Suzuki Swift GT aluminum wheels which Alan lended me. The tires I picked, the only brand of that size, were the awesome Toyo T1R. These are classified as ultra high performance Summer tires. They have deep V-grooves for channeling water away and not much else. There are no cross cuts. A lot of tire sits on the road and the compound is nice and soft. This upgrade was actually made a year before the swap and the difference it made in handling was dramatic. It really drove home what I had read, that tires make the biggest performance difference for the money.
racing
WOSCA 1 2008 - Sarnia, ON
The clear advantage of having a high power to weight ratio in a vehicle that most Canadians regard as hardly a car is the potential to win races. I'm led to believe that at one point in time street racing, similar to drinking and driving or not wearing a seatbelt, was acceptable. We now know that racing on the street is just as dangerous as driving to the mall in the Christmas season: very dangerous. So to really be able to have fun with a car requires a controlled environment. As a result of reading Grassroots Motorsports Magazine, I was introduced to the sport of Autoslalom racing.
Autoslalom (Autocross in the Excited States of America) is legal race in which each car drives one at a time on a flat course marked by pylons. Each car tries to get the best time and time is added for hitting cones, going off the course, or not stopping in the designated box. The track is different for each event, meaning that memory and quick thinking are important. The entry fee is usually $35 for at least 5 laps throughout the day. Any car can enter and competition is based on car classes. My Festiva usually runs in an open type class since the engine has been changed.
Starting in the summer of 2007, I attended the Push it to the Limit racing series run by the Mazda Sports Car club of Toronto. This was a very well organized event with about 120 drivers and a broad range of experience and skill levels. The venue was the Bronte GO train station in Oakville. Due to train service now extended to Sunday, PITL lost the venue and is still searching out a new space.
Events I've attended:
PITL 2007: events 1, 2, 4, 5. Results
WOSCA 2008: event 1. Results Photos
HADA 2008: events 1, 2, 4. Results
films
- The Freshest Kids
- Style Wars
- Beef
- The Last Dragon
- The Karate Kid
- The Outlaw Josee Wales
books
- Isaac Asimov's Chronology of the World - Isaac Asimov
- Hamlet's Mill - Giorgio De Santillana
- The Sign and the Seal - Graham Hancock