Beats in Progress

Just some beats in progress if anyone's interested.
https://soundcloud.com/collin-mcnulty/sets/jammin

BioPic

Mary-Lou

           

Gramma Lou, or Mary-Lou as the rest of the world knows her, is an extraordinary woman, and has lived a full life. While she has not accomplished “greatness” in the sense that the media anticipates, she is a great woman, and many values could be taught from her lifestyle.

As a person, Mary-Lou is the most kind-hearted woman you will ever meet. Although she claims to have been shy in childhood, for the entirety of her adult life Mary-Lou has been outgoing and generous, making friends everywhere she goes. Honesty is her number one policy, for she cannot remember the last time she told a lie. Despite this, she is far from boring. Adventures are one of her favorite things, and she even enjoys getting lost from time to time, when on the road.

Mary-Lou had the difficult task of raising 5 daughters in a small house, as a single mom. Her and my future aunts and mom lived in Chicago, so life was intense at this time. Even at this difficult time in her life she mothered these children excellently, and even other children from the neighborhood would come to her for advice. She worked at a variety of restaurants as a waitress, a job she has thoroughly enjoyed until her recent retirement. Eventually she moved to Indiana with her late husband, although she visits quite frequently since we are so close.

This Biography however will focus on her time living in Chicago. Everyday brings completely new tribulations with this kind of environment, for life was extremely hectic. One example of this occurs when the restaurant she worked at spontaneously burnt to the ground. This documentary tells the true story of growing up in Chicago, and the real challenges faced not only by adults struggling with parenting, but confronts the struggles middle and high school as well.

Word Count: 309

THE BEST GAME I EVER PLAYED

Stronghold Crusaders; 

This game, created by Firefly Studios, takes place during the ancient Crusades in the Middle East. The player interacts from a third person perspective, similar to the Tycoon series, except in this case you control a castle, and a king. At the start of the game, the player and computer opponents (and optionally allies) start with nothing but a keep, a small number of men, and a basis of supplies to get them started. From here the game continues in live-action time, and you must build your defenses and create an economy as quickly as possible. Once all enemy kings are dead, you are declared the winner. Since the game takes place in the middle east, farms can only be built on oasis grass, and controlling resources is a crucial part of the game. 

Radio ad:

https://soundcloud.com/collin-mcnulty/strongholdcrusaders-ad/s-r7pyD

Genre-Mashing Remix

This project was difficult at first but I think I learned as time went on. The files I mashed were

1. Bath Salts by A$AP Mob and IDGAFOS by Dylan Francis. This mashup combined hip-hop with dubstep, not an uncommon combination.

2. Backseat Freestyle by Kendrick Lamar and Mirando by Ratatat. This combined hip-hop with electronica/indie rock. 

3. Let Me Be Me by Kendrick Lamar and Fireflies by Owl City. This combined hip-hop with electronica. 

Check them out here:

https://soundcloud.com/collin-mcnulty/sets/genre-mashing-remix

I Hate This Album

ONIFC Review

The album I chose to review was O.N.I.F.C. by Wiz Khalifa. This has been one of my least favorite albums by the artist, and a thorough play through of the album did little to change my opinion. I think this album makes it apparent that Wiz Khalifa has become wildly successful. This success unfortunately has created a bias in the music Wiz makes, and the content of the music is directly impacted.

The synthesizers on this CD sound much more electronic than the previous music of Wiz Khalifa, which is a major change in the genre of Wiz’s music. Furthermore, the message of individual songs are similar. The hook for one song "Bluffin" goes "I got so much money I think I should pay for all this, they ain't down to spend how much they say cuz they ain't ballin'"

The hook on another, named The Bluff is "I got so much."  These two songs send the same message, and is an extreme example of the monotony of the album.

Over the course of the album it became clear that money is the dominant theme, with relevance to Wiz's personal life. This is an entirely new approach to music for Wiz, who traditionally has made albums and mixtapes focused on smoking weed and merely enjoying life, as opposed to bragging about success and money.

Artists featured on this album were also different from previous styles of Wiz Khalifa. Wiz Khalifa has definitely branched out to other artists, primarily fellow successful artists, such as 2 Chainz and Juicy J. Juicy J in fact seems to be Wiz Khalifa’s goto partner at this time in his life. This was upsetting for me, for I've enjoyed his work with rappers such as Curren$y on the mixtape How Fly far more.

In conclusion, this album shows a drastic change in personality and lifestyle for Wiz Khalifa, which makes it ultimately my least favorite album by the man.

Word Count: 330

Your Personal Instrument + Gimme a Symphony

Attached is a link to two creative projects for class. For 'Your Personal Instrument', I attempted to duplicate the instrumental 'Fat Raps' by Chip Tha Ripper. This was not easy, however I gave it my best shot.

You can compare my version here: https://soundcloud.com/collin-mcnulty/sets/creative-projects/s-vysBf

To the original instrumental here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tvnHe1f9Uo

Next I composed a piece for the project 'Gimme a Symphony'. For my five instruments, I used the harpsichord, the oboe, bells, and studio strings, a combination of strings. 

This can also be viewed at: https://soundcloud.com/collin-mcnulty/sets/creative-projects/s-vysBf

Banana Jam

Banana Jam

Over the course of this year, I've formed a band with two other members, and we refer to ourselves as Banana Jam. It has been a blast playing with these musicians, and I look forward to our potential for next year. Attached is a small demo of recordings we made, 3 covers and 1 original. This is an accurate ratio regarding the amount of covers to originals that we have learned.

https://soundcloud.com/collin-mcnulty/sets/banana-jam-keaton-collin-eli

Cover Campus w/out Snow

This was a difficult project, however the end result was quite rewarding. I had the pleasure of working with Matt Vick. He mixed the audio, while I edited the video.

The song we covered was called "Thoughts from a Balcony" by Mac Miller. Our theme was based off the original music video, however I expanded on this and got somewhat creative. 

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BzLT9wfyAu6LZXFnM1U1SElyenc/edit

That's Not What I Heard

          The scene I selected came from episode 1 of The Walking dead, at 11:38-14:07. This scene was filled with suspense. At first police are shown, not taking the situation very seriously even though they are on the job. Suddenly a gunfight appears out of nowhere, the police are forced into action. When two of the outlaws are killed, they fall back into casual dialogue and it is shown that these cops are used to this kind of thing. Then out of nowhere one of them gets shot, and the situation suddenly becomes extremely serious. A birds eye view of the cop laying as his comrades surround him increased the tension and anxiety of this piece. The cop is then in the hospital with his friend talking to him from above, opposite the previous scene in a sense. The friend-cop looks extremely serious, as if his friend is going to die.

           In the actual scene there was an absence of background music, only silence and the actions of the characters. This built the tension quite high. The words used by the men were stereotypical, however there was a silence a majority of the time. There were no words during the actual gunfight, until the first two men have died. Then the cops quickly fall back into their traditional discourse, one of them is talking about not telling his wife which turns out to be the least of his worries. It is a second later that he is shot, his partner begins yelling immediately, and then talks to him in a hushed voice. In the hospital, this same cop talks to him in a normal voice. Saying traditional things that would be said to a patient in a coma, with an apologetic and concerned tone.

          There is little I would change, for the dialogue is used primarily to reinforce what is happening to the audience. This task is accomplished, but causes the dialogue to mostly be serious and straightforward. The only way to successfully alter the dialogue in this case would be approach it from a new angle, and enter a different genre of shows. For example if this were a comedy show about a zombie apocalypse, the dialogue would be much lighter and possibly sarcastic. I did my best to interpret  what a possible corporate zombie-comedy might be like. 

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BzLT9wfyAu6LT3pLdWpWaTRhenc/edit

1. Men approaching:
2. Steady, steady
3. I wanna be a firefighter!
4. You gon learn today! 
5. Dibs!
6. Aah!
7. OWwww
8. I got him im getting him
9. I'm dying
10. No, call an ambulance!
11. Kidding! Still, don't tell Laura.. 
12. Son of a biscuit Rick! Don't pull that shit. 
13. Still, I almost died. thT Qa xlose Are there any donuts left-oww!
14. Rick! Rick!
15. This doesn't hurt at all. Don't tell Laura I got shot, ok?
16. Call for help! This is an emergency!
17.  How is that possilbe? 
18. 1. Tell her I cheated on her if you have to.
19. I hope you;re joking. Rick...RIck!

More Beats

Beats and understanding of Logic Pro X showing slow signs of improvement. Example:

https://soundcloud.com/collin-mcnulty/sets/two-beats

Open Mic

Recently acquired these videos after doing an open mic...we played for about an hour, however this is the only footage. The second song is an original. The first, a classic.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwKichnfsiRTMno2RkEtQUduWDA/edit?usp=drive_web

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwKichnfsiRTNU44S2lsVDhXaTQ/edit?usp=drive_web

Demo - Work in Progress

Currently, I am working on a demo CD with these two men on my left. Although we do quite a few cover songs, there are some originals interspersed on occasion, and it should be fun although a lot of work. 

Lewis and Clark's Adventures

Final project for Audio Production Basics, I had a lot of fun making this one.https://soundcloud.com/collin-mcnulty/lewis-and-clarks-adventures

Title Sequence

Experimental title sequence using Final Cut Pro X, and footage from The Social Network.

Breaking Bad Game Ideas

Collin McNulty

02/19/2014

Media & the Creative Process

Breaking Bad Game Ideas

Hey everybody! As you know Insomniac Games needs some game ideas for the world renowned Breaking Bad television show, and fast! We need to beat out our competitors. Below is a list of some potential ideas i’ve brainstormed. I need feedback as soon as possible, please and thank you. 

1. For Nintendo: In this game, the player will simply try to sell as much meth as possible. Money can be used to purchase meth as well as purchase special abilities. Players must go across a flat screen (no gravity), in a Pac-man like atmosphere. As players encounter customers, they will make sales, depending on how much meth they have on them. Once out of meth they return to the ‘lab’ spending as much time as possible at this point (the more time spent at this place the more meth) with a maximum of 10. Players will not always be able to stay here long however, for they will constantly be pursued by police characters. If caught by a police the game ends immediately and the score is tallied. The longer players survive, the more police units will enter gameplay

Special abilities:

1. Stealth - police cannot see character

2. Speed - character moves twice as fast

3. Strapped - player acquires a weapon to kill police unites

4. Backpack - player can carry twice as much meth

See sketch #1

2. For the Internet - an action shooter, wherein players play as Walter White. This is a platform shooter. In it, Gus has killed Walter’s family as he often threatened and Walter is bent on revenge. Shoot-em-up styled gameplay with as much violence as possible. Kill various bad guys as you progress across levels, collect meth for extra points, and gold to upgrade weapons. 

See sketch #2

3. Fun Family Game - we could advertise this one on the show’s website, since it is much more family friendly and is more accurate to the story of breaking bad. This game uses interactions and choices, and focuses solely on not getting exposed as being the Heisenberg of the game. Multiplayer, on of the players is Heisenberg and players all investigate each other. The game ends when Heisenberg is exposed, in a game similar to the Clue experience. An alternative ending Heisenberg earns one billion dollars, at which point all other players lose. Various ways to determine who Heisenberg is, incomes are kept, each player has a different job and “secrets” that give players clues until they know enough to make a guess. This game requires 4 players.

See sketch #3

4. Alternative 1 - In this game each player owns their own lab, with scientists and protective men. The goal is to be the first to develop “pure meth”…this is done by completing quests. The pieces of formula are scattered across the board and must be collected, as well as the supplies to make them. The supplies will be different each time since the formula changes each game (it will be a random combination of elements and recipe not the actual meth formula obviously). Supplies must therefor be gotten after players know what the recipe is, so there are two stages to the game for everybody. 

5. Alternative 2 - “Meth tycoon” essentially. You start as a small town cook, and must know how to manage your finances to expand your empire. Money will be given initially and must be spent on meth supplies as well as dealers and a safe place. Finance options increase with money, and it is possible to accept money from dealers if you are talented enough to use this money to pay them back. This is a fast way to increase your empire however if it goes wrong the game will end that much faster, for example if you spend your finances in the wrong way, and don’t make enough money back they will kill your family and then capture you unless you somehow purchase more military men than them. If you are captured, there is nothing further you can do in the game. 

Beat 3

Making instrumental tracks. Still need to clean this one up a bit but it's rather catchy. https://soundcloud.com/collin-mcnulty/beat3

Icon Switch Recording (Hatshepsut the Pharaoh)

Here is my parody song, a song about Hatshepsut the Pharaoh to the tune of Puff the Magic Dragon. Enjoy...
https://soundcloud.com/collin123456/hatshepsut

Beat2

Instrumental track I created while playing around with the various sound effects of Logic Pro X https://soundcloud.com/collin-mcnulty/beat-2

Beat1

Just a lil melody I made fooling with Logic Pro X, looking forward to using this software very much.
https://soundcloud.com/collin-mcnulty/beat1

Bittersweet Symphony Montage

My first completed video, experimenting with Final Cut Pro X

Audio Tsunami

Audio Tsunami, using Pro Tools