Crazy instrument
A friend recently recommended i watch some of this guy’s video’s. I did and it instantly reminded me of some of the animations i have posted recently, exept this is no animation….. this is the real deal! Amazing stuff from ‘Felix’s Machine’s’ Many more videos on youtube so get watching them!!!
Drum Machine
I found this animation years ago, and had completely forgotten about it till my friend posted a link to it on facebook. This is fantastic and everybody should watch it.
Pilobolus
I’m not usually into dance, unless it’s something pretty special and impressive. I found these guys and think they are amazing, thought i’d share it do you can experience their rather unique style.
As i watched i was left wondering what kind of music they would create if i used video capture technology to let their dance manipulate sound!!
Cymatics 2
Following on from my previous post about the science of seeing sound, Julio d’Escrivan has bought this video to my attention. Well worth a watch.
Pin-Barrel Harp
This musical sculpture, a beautiful piece of engineering, was commissioned by ‘The English Folk Dance and Song Society’ using a Lottery grant. However, it far exceeds the original brief and it’s rather unsuitable for it’s intended purpose, and is now looking for a new home. Any takers??
(Fortunately it does NOT come complete with a man playing the saw, who’s face of concentration is rather scary!)
The Zeusaphone
More odd instruments in todays post. Tesla coils have always been visually very impressive, they are not usually noted for their musical application. But they can be used as instruments demonstrated at this website
and in this video
Electronically Modified Didgeridoo
My brother found this link recently and forwarded it to me. I thought you guys would want to see this too!!
Free Synth
As i’m always up for free software, but i’d rather not download cracked or patched illegal copies, i’m always on the look out for freeware. Heres a nice sounding synth (just play with the presets to hear what it can do). I especially like the ‘breed’ button that seems to allow you to take the settings from two presets and ‘morph’ them together taking some settings from one, and others from the second, randomly picking settings on each ‘breed’.
Check it out, it’s completely free easy to install and it’s legal. (I actually found it through posts on the Logic Pro user forum
http://www.logicprohelp.com/index.php)
Get this (and other effects plugins) from:
http://www.greenoak.com/vst.html
Goddamn Hippies!!
Having previously posted regarding the Lava Lamp midi controller i thought it worth while bringing this up too.
After taking part in our own laptop ensembles, and being shown footage of Laptop Orchestras, i started looking for more footage, to see what other groups are producing…. then i stumbled upon this. The following link leads to a video that shows a short clip from a laptop ensemble, making use of video capture to use the smoke from an incense stick to control sounds.
Turbulenzen – EMU Laptop Ensemble @ Wasserturm, Lüneburg from Andhi Pabst on Vimeo.
MUTO – A wall-painted animation
Not only is the animation of this video amazing, but the use of sounds and music to create the soundtrack is fantastic. A must see!
Lasse Gjertson and his musical video editing
The following video shows a Norwegian guy called Lasse Gjertson playing drums and piano, as he states at the end of the video he can play neither drums or piano, but has constructed the music by editing video clips of himself either playing individual piano notes or drum hits. I really like his style and the music sounds good too.
He has done other videos as well, i quite like his human beatbox video, but embeding has been blocked by youtube for this video, so here’s a link instead
Hobnox Audio tool
Leading on from a post by Andy Buclaw about the tone matrix,( http://andyinwriting.wordpress.com/ ) i followed a link on the page he mentioned and found this cool site for easy music creation. The idea is that you can load up different modules (tone matrix, bass synth, phaser, delay etc) and graphically connect them together and use them to create music. (screenshot shown below)
It is a lot of fun. I have had a little play around and guarantee you i will be playing with it alot more. Follow this link and start having some fun. : HobNox Audiotool
Tenori-On
Yet another cool musical gadget that i would like… but can’t afford.
More info at www.tenori-on.co.uk
My favourite music videos.
Here’s the video for one of my favourite artists (and my favourite of his tracks) Aphex Twin ‘Come to Daddy’.
And here is SquarePusher ‘Come on my Selector’
(Both videos by Chris Cunningham , you really should check out more of Chris’ work!!!)
More Bizarre Intrument animation
Another in the series of bizarre instrument animation. The video previously blogged was from the same animation company ‘Animusic’. These guys are really good at what they do. More info at www.animusic.com
‘Juggling the music’
I love the idea of incorporating juggling with musical performance. For many years i have been juggling using the diablo, if your not sure what that is here is a picture:
After seeing Julio using his i-phone motion sensors to control supercollider, i started thinking ‘Would it be possible to fit my diablo with sensors and use that to control supercollider?’ I think it could work, and look great at the same time. I’d have several sensors : 1 accelerometer detecting the speed the diablo spins at, a static receiver on the floor detecting the height of the diablo and sensors on the sticks (to measure a/ the distance between the sticks, and b/ the distance between the diablo and the sticks). Using this information to control pitch, amplitude, filter frequencies etc, i think this could sound really interesting (with alot of trial and error checking which variables suit which sensors). Obviously this is a long term project, and i need to learn a hell of a lot more about supercollider (and motion sensors) to do this, but i think it would be really fun.
Here’s a clip of some really good diablo juggling, this is a friend of mine, and he’s alot better than me (in fact he taught me all i know). Try and imagine the effect this sort of motion could have on sounds. (Music is ‘The Mistermen’ Theme tune, remixed by my brother check out www.myspace.com/smutbot)
Anyway here’s another example of ‘juggling the music’, (not quite as full on as the ideas i’ve spoken about, but it’s pretty damn good all the same.)
and here’s more musical juggling. No electronic technology here, but i still love the concept. Some interesting rhythms here. I wonder if you could set midi triggers into the side of the triangle to play different notes???
Bizarre instrument (animated)
Although the blurb for this video states that is an actual real instrument, it’s pretty damn obvious that it is CGI. Still, nice tune and nice idea.
The Eigenharp
I want one of these. Pics and info taken from http://eigenlabs.com/alpha/
Eigenharp
A professional level instrument which allows the musician to play and improvise using a limitless range of sounds with virtuoso skill. The unique design of the keys makes this the most expressive electronic musical instrument ever made. The Alpha can play and record loops, change scale and key, transpose, alter tempo, program beats, create arrangements, switch and layer multiple sounds, all while the musician is performing live on stage.
Dr Joyce Shintani – Digital Music in Media Art 2009 : Highlights – Trends and Aesthetic Implications
As i assume this talk was not intended for 1st year CMT students, i felt quite privileged to be there. The focus of the talk was in highlighting many pieces from 3 major digital media festivals Dr Shintani attended, and drawing conclusions from these experiences relating to the use of digital music in media art. Not all the pieces described/shown by Dr Shintani were my cup of tea, some of the installations seemed too conceptual for my tastes; others i was very impressed by, Julio Lucio’s interactive ‘Sound Walk” for example (video available at Dr Shintani’s blog). Also not all the pieces demonstrated displayed music as playing major roles, but i still found them very interesting (for example see below for pictures of ‘Facade’ – Ars Electronica Center in Linz, and video of Laurence Malstaf’s ‘Nemo Observatorium’)
Another interesting part of the talk was the questions/answers period at the end. Seeing our tutors (and others) voicing their opinions and discussing the issues in a manner not usually seen during our ‘teaching time’ was very intriguing. (Note: it is only our 2nd week so i’m sure i’ll see lots more of this)
Despite not ‘liking’ all the works presented, i could understand what she was trying to express – That the divides between Music and Art are becoming more and more blurred, that the blending of different creative disciplines is becoming more commonplace, more sophisticated and easier to access/participate with. As she described, the barriers between ‘the subject’, ‘the object’ and ‘the observer’ are being dissolved, increasing overall impact of the work.
I have added links to a few of the works mentioned in the talk, and after emailing Dr Shintani, she has generously emailed me the pdf of the presentation containing ALL the links that were mentioned.
Presentation by Dr Shintani, ARU 30th September 2009
Thomas Koner’s award winning ‘musical multimedia’ piece- Suburbs of the Void
Bill Fontana – Speeds of Time
Facade – Ars Electronica Center (Linz)
Facade - 40,000 LEDs illuminate the Ars Electronica Center
Laurence Malstaf’s ‘Nemo Observatorium’ (a ‘tornado simulator’ experienced from a chair in the centre of the room)
For more interesting stuff check out her own blog @ http://shintanis.blogspot.com/
Some cool sites/links
I found this site a while ago and have had a lot of fun with it. Lots of artists have uploaded the seperate parts to their tracks for you to download and remix.
www.realworldremixed.com
And also for anyone looking, i have found some links to some of the tracks on the ‘Listening List’ for Mondays Fundamentals lecture.
Luigi Russolo – Risveglio di una citta
Edgard Varese – Ionisation
(Edgard Varese – Ionisation; Ensemble InterContemporain conducted by Pierre Boulez)
