Hello,

Happy new year anyone reading this, hope you had a nice Christmas. Thought I'd give a small update on what I have planned for 2025.

-I have an upgrade for my control room on the way, which means I'd like to do more musical engineering. I have a new computer coming, desk, chair, and acoustical treatment panels on the way right now. I'm also considering new monitoring speakers. I'll be looking for more professional level work once I get everything set up, Furries of Music has been great for me so far. I'd also like to spend some time writing music, but that's IF i find the time.

-I 100% plan on getting a fursuit this year, that also means I'll be updating Zen's design. It'll take a while, but I'd like to post some pictures here.

-I'm registered for Furnal Equinox, I'll be staying in and airbnb a short walk away. My main goal is to shop for fursuit makers while I'm there. I had the idea to host a panel but I doubt I'll be making that happen this year. I also intend to attend Canfurence. I like this con more than FE, the vibe feels much more personal which I like. Hopefully by then I'll have my suit, which is exciting.

Last year was the most generally productive year I've ever had, all I hope for out of 2025 is to keep everything improving as much as I can.

Have a great 2025,
Zen

What a great time. I saw a rock concert, met tons of incredible people, even a local who is now part of our local group. To top it all off, I got to wait in line for an elevator AND run up and down 26 flights of stairs. Lmao.

I was getting 10k steps in by noon. If I had to guess, I was averaging 30k steps every day. Talk about exhausting, it was utter chaos at times.

Sincerely, my heart goes out to Shenanigans. What an amazing person, I am whole. <3

The real worst part was pulling up to my apartment knowing I have to go back home. At least there will always be next year to look forward to.

Zen

Hi, everyone.

Sorry for the long silence. I'll be at Furnal Equinox this weekend, if anyone sees me, come say hi.

That is all.

Enjoy your weekend!

I haven't written in a while, so what's going on in my life? Hmm.

Well for one, I moved back home and got a day job at a gas station. That's cool, but really I'm just trying to get in experience until I can upgrade to something better. I kind of wish I had taken accounting in college, or something where I can make money.

With all my extra cash I started putting together a serious home studio and opened a savings account. I'm also looking for a decent place I can spend the next 5-10 years or so, when I moved back I kind of ended up in the ghetto, can't believe I pay almost a grand a month for such a bad place.

With my job, I don't have tons of time to focus on writing banger songs, I'm going to have to start collaborating with other producers if I want to make anything decent. The nice thing of having a job is I can afford all the expensive equipment I need for quality productions, the bad part is I don't have as much time for those productions. I have a song in the works right now, it's kind of a weird eurotrance tune, but the demos I'm getting back from my collaborator are stuff I wouldn't have thought of and I know I'll be able to apply a professional level of quality to the whole production. I did have some ideas to organize some other producers and DJ's and get something going, but Covid-19 kind of stopped that before it could even get off the ground. I was also wanted for an event in Thailand during the Songkran holiday, but again, Covid.

I'll probably also use some of my extra cash for some art commissions. I've already gotten one I was pretty happy with, it's too bad quality is so expensive. I've tried leveraging my musical skills as a bargaining tool, but no one really cares about music in the furry fandom. Unless it's in the context of furry dances or something like that, DJs get all the glory.

Maybe I'll make more journals, too. I'd like to try to connect with the furry fandom more, I just don't really know how.

The next five years seem to be turning into a period of prosper. Last year, I was taking electrical engineering. I wasn't really down with being a construction worker, however, I had an easy out. The entire school board went on strike for about five weeks, which turned out to be just the easy out I needed.

This year, I'm going back, this time for a digital animation program. The program focuses on all aspects of getting and maintaining a job in digital media, including stuff like web development, systems admin, etc. At the end of the program you get a job placement, but if i don't get one I really like, I really want to consider a degree in computer science. Along with my experience with music, I feel this will give me a good foundation to seriously build a career in digital media.

The music front has also been pretty exciting. I got an offer from a close personal friend to play a set in Thailand for Songkran 2021. The plan here, since i have so much time until then, is to rent Izotope Ozone and produce an album to debut. I can then use this experience to hopefully get into playing other events. Right now I need to invest in a CDJ and laptop.

Other than that, I have CanFURence coming up, which I'm hype for. I also applied to volunteer at my local humane society, which is exciting because I love doggos. I also have a bit of extra savings, along with some extra income coming up to help with my investment. If i'm lucky, I might try to get a fursuit or something. We'll need to see.

In summery; between my education and musical aspirations, i'm feeling good about the next few years. I know a few people who are going through a hard time, and i know they could use someone to spread some positivity.

I'm looking for an artist who can do a couple of busts that my mate and I can turn into con badges. I got about $50 CAD. I can do a little bit more for the right artist, but I'm hoping for someone who can draw masculine characters well. If you or someone you know might be interested, leave a comment or send me a note.

Since about the beginning of 2018, I haven't been able to upload songs. I keep getting the error:

"This site can’t be reached
The webpage at https://www.furaffinity.net/submit/ might be temporarily down or it may have moved permanently to a new web address.
ERR_SPDY_PING_FAILED"

Is anyone else experiencing this? Is there a fix?

https://soundcloud.com/zenthex-1/ze.....x-wander-alone

Since the internet wants to suck, I'm sharing my song like this.

This was originally going to be a drum and bass track, but I thought it sounded way better like this. I love this, it gives me some classic Halo vibes.

Contact me - zenthex[at]outlook.com
Donate - paypal.me/zenthex

FA's hosting service has failed be several times, repeatedly spitting out network errors. so I'm sharing my song this way for now.

https://soundcloud.com/zenthex-1/ze.....-cup-of-coffee

© Zenthex all rights reserved
Contact me @ zenthex[at]outlook.com

Donate paypal.me/zenthex

I was playing with some metronomes, and I decided to compile a small list of poly rhythms that I think sound cool.

2:3, 2:5, 2:7

3:2, 3:4

4:3, 4:6, 4:10,

5:2

6:4, 6:9

7:2

Consider these hyena approved.

I need a new alias, a name to release and market music. So far i have; P.J. in reference to the time my friend wore his pajama shirt to work, and Maxwell in reference to Maxwell's equations. Since i want to expand my pool of ideas, I'd like to hear any of your cool or clever names, and why you think they're cool or clever.

I've been playing around the an idea for a new brand. I'm thinking some sort of modernist EDM name would be cool af. While i'm confident in my writing, and technical ability, I'm lacking in the areas of drive and support. The kind of support I'd need are as follows; Artist(s), promoters, and distributors. Alternatively, I could join someone else's project if they required a musician that can write in a modernist style, or maybe an engineer. There aren't a ton of offers going around.

After a bit of careful consideration, I decided that there are better options than forming some furry music label/distributor. Instead I've decided on a non-furry collaborative group. Kinda like an electronic band. I've spent the last few days setting up the infrastructure for such a group, and I've recruited my cousin who lives 7 hours from me in Pittsburgh. The guy is pretty amazing, and he has some of the writing skills that i lack. I'll link some stuff he wrote. I'm hoping that with our combined skills, and perhaps the skills of some others if need be, we'll be able to put some demos together, and get noticed.

Links:
https://soundcloud.com/zenthex-1/ti.....ne-dollar-more
https://soundcloud.com/zenthex-1/ti.....-long-way-back
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR0eswqdzts

None. the survey totally flopped only getting <10 respondents. this tells me one of two things; the market for "furry music" is extremely minuscule, or that i totally stink at getting people's attention.

Although i'll probably put the idea of a furry specific channel to rest, i don't think if i'm done with the entire idea. I think a better idea would be a channel that bridges the gap between furry and more general interests.

In other news i've finally found some interest in my productions. A family member from Pittsburg recently contacted me showing interest. I also got a reply from amazing songwriter Blue Stahli. I think it would be very exciting to get the attention of someone like him.

I have scraps for an idea for a furry music channel. I believe i can make it work, but before i do anything i'd like to collect some data. Please fill out this straw poll.

http://www.strawpoll.me/10477247

Also if you can spread this around a little that would be very kind.

So, the reason for the delay between entries is because the website had an update and i didn't have the time or bother to relearn how to post journals. Since i'm up at 4 AM and can't sleep i figured i'd ramble about some stuff.

This time i want to talk about a topic i actually know something about. The state of engineering in audio, and maybe i can clear up some misconceptions.

First things first. When someone says "audio engineer" generally what they're talking about are producers, mix & mastering engineers, and/or stage technicians. Rarely will anyone be talking about "audio engineers" and be referring to the actual engineers who design studios, equipment, software, ect. (This should be a hint to how i feel about the state of engineering in audio.)
The reason for this is because since around the '80s engineers have engineered the tools we use to produce audio to the point where the most elementary knowledge of sound and signals is enough to be proficient with them. This new low barrier to entry is a double edged sword. While it's great that we can have more people producing more music, the overall quality of sound has taken enough of a hit that it can't be fixed with better tools.
This effect isn't just limited to bedroom producers, the top 40 is absolutely littered with over-affected nonsense. There is a video of this big time producer hanging around east west studios trying to explain his production process. The video is pretty short, but almost half of it is him struggling to describe what a volume knob does.

[/rant]

There is still hope though. people like Skrillex in '08 are still exploring the boundaries of audio, and today we have people like Seamlessr who acts like a bit of a scientist, exploring what is possible in the systems given to him. We even have people like Jerobeam Fenderson (i seriously suggest checking him out on youtube if you like having you mind blown) who are exploring the mathematical side of signals. I've tried replicating his work and did okay, but my attempts were nothing compared to what he can do.
I'm also certain that there are thousands of people just like me who care about integrity in their engineering handy work, but just aren't marketable because they're not actively working in audio, and/or no one cares a whole lot.

I thought this blogging thing would be a way to interact with people on important subjects. instead i found myself constantly too busy to think about what i want to write about, and then articulate ideas about said topic. On top of that i'm not the most popular person to begin with. I image that there is like two or three people who are going to be reading these.

This brings me onto today's subject. I want to know: what IS celebrity status? Is it when a certain percentage of a population recognizes your brand? Does it have anything to do with how you act, and who you interact with? What role does media have in this? What would a meaningful definition for all of this even look like/is there one?

I'd imagine that this is one of those things that there exists answers to, but because no one wants to spill the beans on any trade secrets it's difficult to learn about. Personally i think that becoming a celebrity has very little to do with merit, otherwise i could think of a few people who are long overdue for some awards. It isn't entirely arbitrary either, there exists people whos entire livelihood revolves around making people famous. So it must be some middle ground, but i don't know where to go from here, or what factors should be considered. What if some factors are merit based, and some are arbitrary? How would one go about finding out?

So i've spent a lot of time proving that i no nothing about becoming famous. Maybe i should hire an agent and just stick to music.

Before i start, i'll say some things about what's happening in my life. It's currently 6:03 AM, so that means my sleep schedule is doing well. Right on time too, because i start classes this week, which i'm really excited for. The school said that if i worked hard i could go from having 2 credits to having graduated highschool by December 2016. Which is great because i'd love to finally get school behind me and really focus on being productive in society. Other than that, my birthday is coming up in less than a month. I'm excited for this because it'll be the first birthday i get to celebrate away from my crap family.

Now to the good stuff, epistemology. This really is something everyone needs to think about, because it ultimately works to define everything you think. That is, what is truth, and how do you know truth when you see it? Now it's important to make a distinction between words, and the meaning of words, and things that actually happen in the real world. If the statement "X is true" is a coherent argument, that doesn't give us the freedom to go apply that to everything we see. This is called The analytic–synthetic distinction. The idea that our axioms and definitions don't say anything about the real world seems obvious, but this is something a lot of people need drilled into their head. For example, when discussing something like morality, it's tempting to think that people are sort of above the law. But really, in the real world, we're bound to consequentialism. And so we make decisions based on potential outcomes, and NOT because of morality. (The sad part, is this is something that's been known for like 40 years, and i still need to explain it to people.) So now onto the question, what is truth? Well truth isn't anything that exists, it's a label we put on propositions, there's no essence of truthiness you can quantify. The important part here is how we decide what gets the label of truth and what doesn't. Now, i'm not qualified to talk about the right way to do this, or the wrong way to do this. Personally, i like pragmatism. Basically, if an idea is useful, and it can produce practical consequences, then that's what i like to label as true. If something fails in that goal, then it's not true. I like this ideology because it generalizes well, and it leaves the door open for things that aren't intuitive.

I haven't decided on how i'd like to format these blogs, or how often i'd like to do them, so just bare with me and i'm sure there'll be a pattern eventually.

PS it's now 7:30 and i've woken up a bit to realize how meaningless this was. note to self: don't blog immediately after waking up.

A lot has happened in that last year or so. Since i moved, I've gone through a huge lifestyle change, and now I'm pretty confident in my ability to live where i am. My new found stability has given me the ability to do things that i couldn't before, like finishing my education, or start a blog.

And so this brings me onto the point of this journal, I'll be using these journals as a blog to document my ideology. I'll be sharing my ideas about everything from politics, to journalism, religion, even science isn't safe from my ridicule. And of course i'll talk about mundane things as well like whatever version of iphone people are losing their sh*t about.

The thing that inspired me to start this is a video about music production. Now the guy giving instruction obviously doesn't know what he's talking about, you can hear him struggle to describe what volume knob does. As you can imagine he's gotten a lot of crap about it in the comments section. The thing is, there's an overwhelming theme that is the no true scottsman fallacy. The argument is something like "sure, he might make music. but since he doesn't know what he's talking about, he's not a REAL music producer." Now here's the thing, the reason there are jokes about people clipping, overcompressing, and randomly equing their productions, is because that's actually what happens. Music has become so easy to produce that you don't need to know better. And it's not like this guy is a nobody, look at the studio he's in.

So, in closing. It would be nice if knowing things, like what a fourier transformation is, actually meant something. Then again, welcome to the music industry, And welcome to my blog. I plan to make many more of these, hopefully a few people can find them entertaining or insightful.

Got myself a brand spanking new laptop, i7, 12gb ram, gtx 850m. not quite what i was going for but it'll do the job just fine. i also picked up some sennheisser hd-202 headphones and i downloaded the newest version of FLStudio (12.0.2). and i think i'm bank in buisness.

The only thing now is i have a constant need to exist, but with $2000 in my pocket and more entertainment than i can ever hope to consume, i should be set once i find myself a decent job.

My mate's father is in the radio industry, i'm sure he knows a few people that can use a cheap freelance producer/engineer. May i'll persue that as a hobby to fuel my musical needs.

After i faught with a cold for a week or two, i Just about settled into my new place in Belleville. It's a pretty nice town, easier to get around that Sudbury, and i live about as close to a college as i did before. the only thing i'm missing is a computer of my own, i'm currently using my mates. Been thinking about getting a sweet new laptop. Maube my next update will be on one of those ;)

all the ads on this website will be the death of the site. IMVU is worth over 40 million dollars, i'm pretty sure they can afford to skip shameless money grabs this one time. do it for the fandom that you publicly stated you wanted to preserve.

Man, it's been a while. I've been so busy, it's not even funny. I'm really only writing this because i'm not in a condition to leave the house. I have a rash on my ankle and can't put my boots on, and with no boots i'm not getting anywhere in the snow.

Where i've been:
Everywhere, from Ottawa, To Toronto, to my hometown Sudbury. I'm pretty grounded in Sudbury right now for reasons i'll get to in a second, and don't ask where i got the money to travel around from.

What i'm doing:
School. i'm one of those kids that fell between the ass-crack of a broken system, and bad parents. So now that i'm all grown up and have developed some merit, i have some catching up to do. The studio project is still on my to do list, but it might get slowed down by... life. I also have a very nice mate that i plan to move in with this summer. Not that i have a choice since my mom is taking off to go live in her dream world and not taking anyone with her.

Finally:
I like to talk to furs. If you have Skype i'm: zenthex1 I'll be active there for anyone interested in keeping in touch.

FREE SOUNDS!
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/hkjx38hu.....Ym9tlxOUa?dl=0

At this point i have a pretty solid life. Realizing that i decided i want to take advantage of my situation, and build a small studio. I have a room, i'm working on the money. I gave myself a budget of about $5000 to get everything i need; monitoring systems, recording interface and software, i'm even going to treat a room to be acoustically acceptable for the application. i even have potential clients who want me to record and engineer material. next year i hope to put out some actual professional music and maybe start making the big bucks. I've been grinding this whole music thing for close to 5 years, i think i'm about ready to take off.