June 7, 2010 - 4:17 pm
* A sequencer for the telephone
A sequencer programmed in Asterisk, the open source telephony project. Record and address a sound bite to keys 1-8 and either play them back in any order you choose, or play them back in the numerically sequential order. This project is meant to be used for when creativity strikes. Field recordings or your voice can lend be the source for creating different beats, melodies or noize.
This project is currently under construction and should be back on the server soon. Also being developed is a website that stores and plays back yours and the communities creations.
basic dial plan user flow
June 6, 2010 - 7:03 pm
September 29, 2009 - 10:52 pm
Chosen below are some inspirational performances that do not necessarily apply to my NIME performance, but have made a mark on me in some way.
The first is a balinese kecak “monkey chant” performance. Communal participation is the heart of this phenomenon. Listen for the “bope, bope, bope” type repetitive sound, this is the one guy who is in a sense the metronome, he is the only one responsible for keeping the timing. I believe there is another who gives audible cues to different sections to produce the layered effect.
The power of the togetherness and the coordination of many working as one organism was unbelievable to me when I witnessed this for the first time.
kecak
I got to participate in a recreation of this practice while at burning man either in 2004 or 2005. This is a clip from one of the sessions in 2005.
burning man kecak
Jimi Hendrix gives an incredible show of guitar mastery, he transcends traditional mastery into one of blind playing while resulting in sexing the guitar and setting in on fire. Even the sound of the guitar as he smashes it on the stage is a beautiful thing.
guitar god
Talkdemonic is a Portland duo I discovered as an opening band when I went to see another portland band Quasi. I was particularly move by the viola player’s (Lisa Molinaro) seemingly emotional attachment and conveyance through her instrument. I was literally entranced and could not keep my eyes from her. The quality of the vid is a little shotty, but it’s one of the better I could find where she is swaying and dancing with the instrument. Perhaps it’s because in order to play, you literally need to press your cheek to the instrument that it seems so intimate.
Talkdemonic
I recently saw the Pet Shop Boys in concert to promote their new album, “Yes”. The production level was a m a z i n g !! The transformable backdrop which consisted of stackable cubes covered in white scrim that they uses to project on, as well as a dance floor. Each song they did something completely different so I’m including a few of my favorites.
There were several costume changes and choreographed dancing that was performed by the same 4 dancers all night. During the song “Jealousy” (one of my favorites!) 2 of them acted out a couple dance that conveyed the theme of the song which is endless chasing, loneliness, anger and the passion of jealousy. Really powerful. I appreciate performances that think of the big picture; set, costume, movement and audio all working as one to transport the audience into the world that you are creating in front of their eyes. Being able to use all available mediums in order to tell a story.
heartbeat
jealousy
building a wall/go west
two divided by zero
September 22, 2009 - 1:14 pm
Imagining what I believe my project to sound like is harder to pin down than I thought. Coming with the notion that medium would induce the end result, my mind still fractures. Though, I do always tend to have an indecisiveness about me. What I do know is I like my valleys with my hills, I want both ends of the spectrum to be represented, and I am always moved by music that engages this. For example, a wall of noise with a tinkling overlaying melody, or a tight looped jungle track with a violin or saxophone sample threaded through. My point being is I want the abstract color field painting with the comic book hero drawn the middle.
Below are some clips of inspirational sounds and musical projects done by either myself or others noted.
listen from :20 – 1:00
heavyhearts
written and produced by lara grant and danielle de roberts
edited and sound by mikie graham and pete spicer
song by jeffrey lewis
MAX/MSP being controlled by three sewing machine pedals
created by ellis electronics
September 15, 2009 - 12:35 pm
journal
i spent the whole week listening and taking notes on the music around me. whether it was someone else’s, or my own. along with making what seems to be a list of music encountered, i blurted out thoughts that would enter my mind while i was listening or thinking about a particular type of music and/or how it was being used. ready for a rant-ish journal type entry? ok, here we go!
9.8
to keep me going through the night
160 bpms are just the thing to keep you going. i spend the evening listening to old skool hardcore/jungle, i have been rekindling my affair with the like.
9.9
to wake me up
in the morning i use music to get me up, the first items i tend to think about while i’m waking is what i have dreamt about and how i would like to go back, record or get away from that world as soon as possible or what will get me out of bed, which is at the moment dnb music/talk radio and tea.
to attract which crowd?
after work i come home to a loud neighborhood and the ice cream truck rolling through at 9:30 pm. hmmmmm…
to practice the right to
all the time in my hood music is blasting out of windows and cars driving by, no one seems to mind the limit of which they can push the volume before it becomes a nuisance for another. perhaps there is an unwritten law of ‘you can play yours as loud as you want, as long as i can too.’
to lose myself in concentration
i have just punched play on my mp3 player, which has reminded me of another use for music; the force field between my world containing my computer, me and our productiveness and the world outside the edge of my bed which both of us are planted.
to distract
sometimes i waiver and fool myself into listening to a talk radio show, what i really want is to be distracted from my own feeble attempts at studying. i need someone to tell me a bizarre, fascinating story, or to give me funny anecdotes.
putting on my music has become an iron door shutting me in a room of all intended seriousness, sounds a bit daunting? yes, somehow i have made it that way, i then remind myself that the play button is in fact a pause as well. i sometimes need to eject myself out of the bubble or i can give myself an anxiety attack.
while reading i usually like slow melancholy sounding songs
music’s influence in work while listening to it. you know the mood of the owrk you want to create, or you put on music that you deem as interesting or complex, and tell yourself, you’ll see how you will react to it, to see what will flow from your hands when you hear it.
to reduce or to wallow in loneliness
i have to be careful not to select sentimental songs with narratives and with ‘everybody shut the fuck up, this is the good part’ parts. they really distract me from my work since i end up wanting to sing and relive a moment or get lost in a new one that’s being creating.
a recording i made on the F train
9.10
to socially connect
i have spent all morning finding music online and budgeting shows in. plus making a playlist in myspace. i have taken my computer with me everywhere this morning, even the bathroom and the kitchen to make eggs. i will now listen to wfmu.
in order to get some reading done, i had to switch to something instrumental.
chatted with someone on aim, we were attracted to each other by the taste in music we both had. we have bonded over our appreciation for old skool hardcore/jungle and jump-up dnb. he now sends me files to listen to since he produces tracks in this genre. i have been listening to them very approvingly and will be in order to get ready for my day.
song by vinyl fatigue
itpalooza is tonight at the tank where fellow itp students will be playing in their bands with and without hand made musical instruments.
i have come back from the tank, and have recorded two sets from the evening.
a sample of current_working_directory
9.11
listening to radio lab in the morning gives me things to think about throughout the day.
recorded itpalooza once more.
sample of and um yeah
to connect
listened to grizzly bear behind closed doors for hours.
9.12
to stimulate the mind
woke up rather late and put on some wfmu.
to create a collectively pleasing atmosphere
went to jimmy’s diner in williamsburg were 90s music was playing, which appeased the crowd and the workers. everyone was between 24 and 30, dolly parton “jolene” came on and every girl started singing including me.
9.13
to put in the right mood
to wake me up i listened to a band that has a long warm fuzzy history with me. i either want to be jolted up out of bed, or regress to a familiar time in my life to take the edge off.
to endure the day
going to the furniture store was interesting, i walked down the linoleum stairs to the cheap ply wood furniture selection and noticed a mash up of music. one kind was in the back which got louder as you approached the employees, three men sitting on the mattresses wrapped in plastic listening to a top 40 rap station. the other came from the register where south indian music was playing to keep the register girl occupied.
clearly this music was to keep the employees from falling asleep or causing bodily harm to others and themselves, with total disregard for the masses wants or any marketing studies that might say a certain kind of music would produce more sales. the garage sale prices and shouted answers to the customers questions were enough for the customers to keep coming back.
in the evening i chose an uplifting dnb set to put together my new dresser to, this was good work music.
9.14
did not listen to music this morning, just talk radio.
class all day, then numbing programs later that night to lull me to sleep.
9.15
to set a mood and physiological reaction
more talk radio in the morning, i then went to a facial appt. where there was a drone of a a sea melody playing on repeat. as i was being taken deeper into place of relaxation by neck and shoulder massage, i noticed a stomach gurgle. i couldn’t figure out if it was mine or the lady who was working on me. i kept hearing it, i was then convinced that mine and hers were communicating. as i kept slipping away into my subconscious, the gurgles blended into the sounds coming from the speakers. i recognized them originating from our stomachs, then splashing into the soundtrack i knew to be playing. it eventually dissolved into other thoughts and images that lulled me into a deep state of relaxation. in other words, it was a really good facial.
this weeks mini playlist
Quasi – Our Happiness is Guaranteed
Talkdemonic – White Gymnasium
Jeffrey Lewis – End Result (from the album where he covers all Crass songs)
The Dears – Saviour
Dj Hype – The Chopper
Erasure – Piano Song
MONO/POLY – Lucid Day Dreaming
