Reply #40: To make this video, I used...

[gadjitfreek]

1) MacBook Pro with Garageband (just ordered Logic Express...it's got time-manipulation tools)
2) For the beats, I used a Korg Kaosillator processed through a Korg KP3 effects box and an Alesis SR-18, two alternating loops repeating
3) For the guitar sounds, I used the Kaosillator processed through the KP3
4) Two tracks were made with a Moog Etherwave theremin...one track unprocessed except for some echo and reverb, and the other passed through a grain decimator on the KP3.
5) The lead synth is actually a Kazooka electric kazoo passed though the KP3 (a very useful device indeed!)
6) The vocal parts were added by downloading the mp4 version of a YouTube video and extracting the audio.

I am not a trained musician...I don't play any instrument well enough for even a live performance. I am self-taught by virtue of a decent ear for music. This frees me from the constraints of training and gives me room to experiment with bizarre stuff.

The whole was rendered into an mp3 file. It's actually a 4-minute long tune that I imported into Sony Movie Studio, cut down to two minutes and then edited. I used Microsoft Paint to edit the images, not Photoshop. I have used Paint for nearly two decades, and there is a lot you can do with its simple tools.

The theme of the music is that of confused repetition and distorted overtones. I wanted it to reflect the disjointed drone coming from those who oppose health care reform not on its merits (because, like any bill, there must be questions asked, and there have been some very legitimate discussions about actual substantive issues), but those who oppose it based on the distortions and lies that have been promulgated by those with the most to lose if reform goes forward. I did not design this to be some juvenile prank, putting alien heads onto people, it was symbolic of those people with whom a rational discussion has become impossible, combined with Barney Frank's "what planet" comment. When someone tries to win an argument by using the terms "Hitler" or "Nazi", the argument has reached the point where further discussion is not worth it.