3spds

i haven’t used midi to do anything other than play an outboard hardware synth with a keyboard since 2006.

that being said, it certainly has its advantages as a protocol. actually, it only has one that i can think of: that everyone uses it. so far a few clients have asked me to make them things that use midi, so they can interface with other music software. the above track is a proof of concept working toward that project; yet another example of how projects i do for other people push me out of my comfort zone.

the code in supercollider is embarrassingly simple. like i said, it’s a proof of concept. all it does is randomly plays midi notes. the timing is scaled so that lower notes last longer. that’s it.

slightly more complex was the process of setting up an IAC bus in OSX, and getting logic to listen to that bus.

in “audio midi setup,” select the “midi devices,” pane. from there, you should see your “IAC driver”. double click it and turn it on by checking the “device is online” box. you can add ports in the menu on the bottom left. each port has 16 channels. i have never been able to get the bottom right number boxes to say anything other than “1″ and it doesn’t seem like this matters much at all. that’s it for setting up the IAC; supercollider and whatever other audio software you might want to use will now recognize these ports and treat them as physical midi connections.

in “logic,” go to the “environment” window. from the top left of that window, you should select “all objects,” and under the “view” menu, de-select “by text”. then make a new “physical input” object and connect the little triangle next to your IAC port to the “sequencer input” box.

(an aside, do you see why i hate graphical interfaces?? this could have all been done with a few lines of code and there would be way fewer opportunities for error. i spent most of my night tooling around ambiguously titled menus and windows… rawr)

anyhoo, i used a bass sound from garage band– the only instrument from garage band i have on my computer. also, the only software synth on my computer. while i was in logic, i decided to practice my spectral compression chops, and give the sound some depth. there is also a touch of reverb.

so there! you don’t need max for live, you can just do this and use a free program like pd or supercollider to check your email with your daw. because that’s so useful.

this may or may not be finished. i submit it to you anyway, reader, because feedback would potentially be cool.

it began as a patch to keep my bird company while i was out at work. it uses brownian motion (random walk behavior) for several of the controls. it’s a stream of sawtooth grains, each one no more than a few cycles long. each grain’s frequency is an exponential curve, so each grain is a little glissando. i also passed the signal through a vintage spring reverb i pulled out of a weird old mixer. i left this patch running for about 3 days to keep kapow company. a lot of the textures remind me of analog stuff, a good thing in my book. also, he seems to enjoy it. mission accomplished. (the first one, anyway, read on…)

you can grab the code here.

so that explains the patch, but the recording you’re listening to is a different thing altogether. i had two main goals with this, although i didn’t originally set out with them in mind. the first one was to use only the algorithm as a base material, with no realtime gestural control at all –that will come later, be patient– but to make it sound gestural with subtle mixing techniques. the other goal was to limit my palette to only those two textures (dry vs wet), while keeping the listeners’ attention through, again, subtle mixing techniques. no “plug-ins” were used except eq and dynamics processing. i’m realizing now that these two goals are actually related. so what started as an exercise in algorithmic music turned into an exercise in mixing.

next steps are to turn this patch into an instrument, complete with realtime implementations of the mastering-like stuff (eg, eq + dyn processing), and some kind of an interface. there are a lot of different possible controls for this beast, but i’d love to have it be an intuitive, gestural sort of thing. my two options as i see them are buying a playstation style usb controller, with two joysticks, which is higher on ye olde $$$ / time metric, or to build one from all these linear faders i have lying around and an arduino, which is lower on the $$$ / time metric. i have to decide which is more of a priority. currently i have neither, so it’s moot.

as promised, here’s some more documentation of this workshop’s final concert. it happened as part of the unsound festival’s “silence and noise” concert, featuring mountains, tape, radian, and tim hecker. there will probably be more video coming soon from various parties. enjoy!! ^_^

Kids Noise Concert at Le Poisson Rouge from Tedb0t on Vimeo.

(related post)

right off, i want to apologize for the terrible quality of the video footage. it was taken from my phone during one of the practice sessions we had at harvestworks. more footage is coming, and as soon as it does, it will be posted to this blog and distributed to all involved.

from last sunday, february 7th, to tuesday, february 9th, a small but amazing group of kids, aged 6-12, built electro-mechanical instruments and talked about sound / music in ways even some educated adults might have problems comprehending. we didn’t talk about scales, notes, or staves. we explored the sounds you hear every day, like dishwashers, telephones, and traffic. we discussed the multiplicity of sounds– how each and every sound is different and how some are similar to others. we thought about where sounds come from and why they sound the way they do. most of all, we listened and played.

the students were really awesome! as one of the teachers (who were also totally sweet), i found myself spending much less time beating around the bush, and more time diving into, say, a discussion of the physics behind string tension, or a minute-long silent listening exercise. keep in mind our youngest was 6!

there was also absolutely no time spent discussing whether the sounds we encountered were “music” or “noise.” we just spent our time enjoying them. i can’t tell you how many art / music classes i’ve run into where the professor thinks it’s a good idea to have this conversation right off the bat. in my experience, this invariably breeds a contrarian, pedantic atmosphere and generally just wastes time. it’s always better to lead by example and field those kinds of questions, without hostility, as they come up. for many classes i’ve seen, this topic isn’t needed at all.

i was also impressed by how well the students listened to each other. i was expecting our rehearsals –and possibly the concert itself– to devolve into a number of simultaneous solos instead of one ensemble. (this happens regularly with adults, even ones who love to preach about improvisation and listening.) on their own, some of the students started tuning their instruments and techniques to fit their neighbors’. we teachers had wanted to suggest this at the outset, but as it turned out this guidance wasn’t needed. many times, we were only a few steps ahead of our students, due to the unexpected level of our students’ engagement. there was a lot of ad-hoc thinking involved. we had to learn fast.

this was one of my first experiences teaching this age group. most of the teaching jobs i had done until this point were one-on-one tutorials, usually with people near my own age. while i also find that form of teaching to be exciting and rewarding, i have never experienced something so invigorating as working with children. even the simplest discoveries can be inspiring. all of this activity came at a time when i was really starting to question the despite the fact that these workshops would immediately follow an 8+ hour work day, and i was getting fewer than 4 hours of sleep per night on the average, i felt renewed after each session. i would come in tired and angry and leave excited and inspired!

the workshops culminated in a performance on february 10th, where the kids opened a night of beautiful, challenging music by mountains, tape, radian and tim hecker. t3db0t conducted us brilliantly through a simple system of hand gestures (mostly pointing), and i knelt on the stage, helping the students manage their levels with our mixer.

when we had presented improvisation to the class, we borrowed an idea from Anthony Braxton he called the “language improvisation,” where sounds are categorized into general types like “long, sustained tones,” “pulses” or “tremolos.” the result was a marvelous, futuristic din, complete with two ovations from an enthusiastic crowd.

after we finished, before we struck the stage, our ensemble’s wonky-slinky-can player turned to me and said “i want to play more!” i told her i hoped she played much, much more, and that she would let me know when she did.

i am so very thankful to the belgrade kids’ patch worshops for providing the template, to kate for bringing these workshops to new york, and to lori for having me contribute! hopefully there will be many more! in the meantime, stay tuned for more documentation as it comes…

lori and steve diligently preparing.

building light theremins!

…lots of them!!!!!!!!!!1

our marble-pan-stick player, flangey-record-scrubber player, and wonky-spring-can player.

on right: our one-stringed-can-guitar player, nommin’ out.

our cranky-screw-can player… also t3db0t snappin more mugs. (& kate in bkgrnd!!)

i have been debugging this fm instrument i’m building for a client. (his name is keith o_0 ). i installed supercollider on his machine and updated his class library to accommodate for the requisite changes i made to the class library (see previous post- nothing has changed in that regard). the demo was pretty successful- this project is turning out to be really fun. there’s something really satisfying about watching someone interact with something you’ve built for them, especially if it’s a creative tool. for me personally, the tool’s interface and paradigm weren’t terribly interesting, until i put it in keith’s hands and saw his eyes light up. then the inevitable feature requests came, although honestly i think i made more of myself than he did. ok, so i should qualify the above statement further, the demo was pretty successful *until* he tried to save and reload some previous settings. a bug showed up that i thought had been ironed out. i’ve now fixed it. the code may be found here. make sure, if you want to run this on vanilla supercollider, to make the changes documented in this file.

here’s a screenshot:

the program consists of 16 oscillators, which can be routed into one another for frequency modulation. more rigorously, the synthesis process is phase modulation, since the audible effects are more sensible, at the expense of slightly weirder math. i like to think the sonic results are pretty intuitive. the interface itself is designed to look like a 16 channel mixer, where you can re-route any channel into any other channel. i know what you’re thinking, but audible feedback is not allowed since each oscillator can go to only one output. the pre-amplitude of the input for each channel may be set with the “pres” row of number boxes. this value is kind of like a “trim” setting on the input of a mixer- all the incoming signal of the channel is multiplied by this value. among the feature requests i am entertaining for the next iteration cycle are ringing filters, noise generation, and delays.

check out that previous post (linked above) for a delightfully blissed-out video demo! ^_^

i have been working on this fuzz / tremolo circuit on and off for a few weeks. i am very excited to put it all together, although at the time of the recordings below, it was not housed. i ran into some logistical problems with putting the circuit into the chassis of an old countryman di box, but i think i’ve figured it out at this point. its unhoused state was messy but totally functional:

the fuzz comes from a variation on craig anderton’s circuit with two gainstages. the difference between mine and anderton’s is that i used a 2n3904 npn transistor in the feedback path of the first gainstage, in parallel with a silicon diode. the result is a smooth, creamy fuzz with tons of overtones and plenty of sustain. it’s nearly identical to the fuzz used in this previous post. the difference is that now the tremolo is optical, resulting from a blinking led and photocell pair. the trem has a variable speed and can also be completely bypassed. since i can’t play the guitar to save my life, i invited my friend kunal prakash over to try it out.

here’s an audio sample of a fast trem setting.

here’s an example of a slower trem setting.

here’s an example with less fuzz.

i was very pleased with this pedal’s sound on a guitar. also kunal can really shred. we played for a few hours after these samples were made, using my ring mod to create a hybrid texture between his guitar and my laptop. i was livecoding on my eeepc in supercollider, starting with a simple sine tone to test the effect, and eventually experimenting with lowpassed sawtooth tones. sadly, i had stopped recording at this point so description is the only documentation i can provide. suffice it to say, it was lots of fun.

this morning, after naming the pedal the “jack chop fuzz,” i tried to fit the circuit into the di chassis. in order to fit everything in, i ended up taking a hacksaw to it. thus, i arrived at the perfect name for this pedal: the hacksaw. unfortunately, the archive pages still say “jack chop,” so i will accept either name, although “hacksaw” is more appropriate, in my opinion. housed, it looks like this:

i’ve already got one taker. who else wants one? ^_^

The Unsound Festival has been rocking Poland since 2003 as a hub for experimental music in east Europe. This year, Unsound comes to NYC.

It’s a ten-day event, spread across many venues, hosting an international lineup of eclectic acts from noise to house music. Quoted from the press release:

”
Acts confirmed to appear at Unsound Festival New York include 2562 (Netherlands), ACME (USA), Pavel Ambiont (Belarus), Vince Aletti (USA), Borne (USA), Blondes (USA), Kabir Carter (USA), Eric Cloutier (USA), Carl Craig (USA), Marcin Czubala (Poland), David Daniell (USA), Vladislav Delay (Finland), Ensemble LPR (USA), Falty DL (USA), Groupshow (Jan Jelinek, Andrew Pekler, Hanno Leichtmann) (Germany), Tim Hecker (Canada), Luke Hess (USA), Ezekiel Honig (USA), Mike Huckaby (USA), Petre Inspirescu (Romania), Jacaszek (Poland), Jan Jelinek (Germany), Kadebostan (Germany), Alexander Kaline (USA), Konque (USA), Kwartludium (Poland), Legowelt (Netherlands), Hanno Leichtmann (Germany), Alan Licht (USA), Lillevan (Germany), Sebastian Meissner (Germany), Moritz Von Oswald Trio (Germany), Mountains (USA), Nadja (Canada), Neurotic Drum Band (USA), Newworldaquarium (Netherlands), nsi. (Germany), Joshua Ott (USA), Andrew Pekler (Germany), Tristian Perich (USA), Derek Plaslaiko (USA), Pole (Germany), Barbara Preisinger (Germany), Dave Q (USA), DJ Qu (USA), Radian (Austria), Lee Renaldo (USA), Simon Reynolds (USA), Patrick Russell (USA), Sawako (USA / Japan), Anthony “Shake” Shakir (USA), Sepalcure (USA), Michael J. Schumacher (USA), Mike Servito (USA), Jacek Sienkiewicz (Poland), Spinoza (USA), Asa Stjerna (Sweden), Morton Subotnick (USA), Tape (Sweden), Tobias. (Germany), TRG (Romania), Untold (UK), Levon Vincent (USA), Xavier Van Wersch (Netherlands), Bora Yoon (USA), Zavoloka (Ukraine) and Zenial (Poland), and more.
”

This is going to rule.

In addition to these performances by some of the movers and shakers in modern music, there will be seminars and workshops on a variety of related topics, scattered throughout the week.

Several ITP heads (including yours truly) will be leading a set of kids-only (12-17) workshops on electronic music. These events will be hosted at Harvestworks, where kids will learn about the underlying physics behind sound, learn how to make electronic instruments from everyday objects, transform light and mechanisms into sound, dive into signal processing, and eventually perform a concert with us at Le Poisson Rouge, where we’ll open for a stellar lineup of Mountains, Tape, Radian, and Tim Hecker! Here are the dates & times:

Sunday February 7th – 11 am – 5 pm @ Harvestworks
Monday February 8th – 4:30 pm – 7:30 pm @ Harvestworks
Tuesday February 9th – 4:30 pm – 7:30 pm @ Harvestworks
Wednesday February 10th – 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm – live performance @ (Le) Poisson Rouge

From the press release:

”
Sunday: Creative Amplification.

Workshop 1: unfolding the basic physics of sound with contact microphones, creating and discovering “tiny” sounds from hands-on demos of materials, and learning how a contact microphone is made.
Workshop 2: translating light into sound using light sensors (photocells). Learning how to make tones and rhythms from lights
Jam session 1: students are encouraged to play, invent, create, and address individual ideas with instructors.

Monday: Mechanisms Workshop.

learn to create “noise” and rhythm-makers out of simple gears. Build your own mechanical gear set (materials provided) and then add materials to it to change the sounds it makes. Then amplify it using the electronic components from sunday’s workshop and see what new sounds emerge!

Tuesday: Enhancing, Effecting, and Composition.

Instructors will provide an array of effects pedals and techniques for looping, delaying, distorting, and turning sounds into musical compositions.
Jam session 2: small groups will create and practice a short performance for Le Poisson Rouge the following day; instructors will be assigned to assist each group

Wednesday: public performance

at (Le) Poisson Rouge (same bill as Radian, Tape, Mountains, Tim Hecker)

How:
Children ages 12-17 can participate.
Space is limited so please sign up ASAP.
Enrollment is $25 per child.

Enrollment:
to sign up please send a paypal payment of $25 to – icemachine82@yahooo.com After payment is received Kids Electronic Music Workshop organizers will send you further information and forms.
Deadline to enroll is January 29th 2010.
”

Thank you, Lori, for making this happen (and letting me be a part of it)! We’re all very excited to hear what sounds come out of these workshops! This festival will surely break down barriers of genre, location, and age in the name of new sounds and ideas!

click here to listen to the sound file.

click here to look at the code for generating the original pulse track.

click here to look at the code for turning the track into an irrational set.

this is a continuing experiment that extends my work in massive irrational rhythmic / harmonic sets. for some theoretical background, consult this earlier blog entry. i have been exploring the effects of taking many copies of a sonic event, retuning it to a large irrational set- generally some equal-temperament scale- and playing all of those copies simultaneously. the resulting copies begin perfectly aligned, but gradually move out of phase with one another and produce a doppler-like shift, with ever-increasing and expanding complexity since the sets never realign. i have tried other irrational sets, as you will see from my fairly messy code, but so far nothing has compared to the geometric series produced by many-toned equal-temperaments. the difference between this code and the earlier experiments is that instead of firing off events directly, i am retuning an entire track of audio to produce something like an irrational delay.

the one issue i have with the process is that the waves fall out of alignment very perceptibly quickly, and as this process progresses the changes become more subtle. the transformation becomes essentially less interesting as time goes on. i have found one way to combat this is to gradually speed everything up. this works to an extent, and i will continue looking into different curves that might aid this effect further. another set of experiments i have done in the past involved delaying the items in the set to cause the ’singularity point’ to occur at a time other than the beginning. i would like to try that approach with this implementation, but that will have to happen later.

the original track, which i may also post later, is derived from a bizarre version of an excitation-response style percussion synthesizer. the filter responses themselves are irrational sets, which i have found produces a nice doppler-esque tail, similar to the inharmonic ringing of a piano string. the pattern itself repeats fairly quickly, and divides the pulse into fifths.

click here to listen to the aiff file.

click here to look at the code.

this was partially improvised in supercollider. my goal is to start re-incorporating rhythmic elements into my work, while avoiding certain tropes of electronic dance music. ideally, i’d like to continue playing with things like tempo changes and metric subdivisions as i had been before. this piece also uses massive irrational pitch/rhythmic sets, although the main rhythm remains more or less stable. the two samples that i use are a brief recording of contact mic’ed guitar strings and a single distorted kick sample i generated previously. neither of these sources are very apparent, as the samples are very harshly manipulated. the piece’s meter, determined by the interaction between the source sample and the function that scrubs through it, is in some larger even multiple of 5, possibly 40.

side one: winter.

side two: bloom.

i played this set in a basement in 2007. people seemed to like most of it, even the scary parts. i know it’s ancient history, but i didn’t have this blog back then, and steve wanted to hear it. so i’ve put it on archive.

set list:
//—winter—

pigs feet
a fern sullied
artichoke on the run
pay attention!

//—bloom—

blue bus (c’mon)
thingfetisher
equos onda
3 quarks for master mark (charmed mix) – feat. miles pearce on flute
piik

(180 bpm)

the set was made in supercollider, digital performer, and abelton live. it basically marked the end of my exploration of dance-music styles, mostly dark psy, happy hardcore, hard house, and drill n bass. in addition to these genres, compositionally i was (and continue to be) obsessed with microtonality, oddmeter and polyrhythms. the sound palette i used was very influenced by the work of curtis roads and iannis xenakis. i also regularly did studies where i’d use less than one second of sound material to generate entire 15 minute works. since then, i have almost totally moved away from beat oriented music, but i could definitely see myself revisiting this in the future. so wise up!

what was great about this night in particular was the sense of a truly open, positive community dedicated to experimentation and collaboration. everyone involved had something really unique and beautiful to offer, and i don’t just mean the dudes with the gear (although they were awesome too!). only a few times in my life since have i felt such a sense of collective pride and accomplishment. one such night, in recent memory, was the night chronotronic played monkeytown. i sincerely hope to have more nights like this in the future.

let’s make it happen!