Archive for the ‘Music Technology’ Category
ABS just posted a feature on the trumpet titled Miles Beyond: The New Sounds Of Trumpet. Of course, we here at Greenleaf are fans of the instrument. And there are some great tunes streaming from Forbes Graham, Peter Evans, Kris Tiner, Nate Wooley, and Toshinori Kondo. Great feature. Reminded me of the D:O post Dave did awhile back.
So much cool stuff happening with this instrument. Hard to absorb it all.
It’s no secret that I’m an iPhone user. I post about cool new apps as much as I think people are interested. I do find that most apps that I download just sit there after the week-or-so honeymoon period. There are a few exceptions. A camera program called Hipstamatic (thanks Max) is a recent purchase that’ll have some legs — different film types, lenses, and flash options for the iPhone camera.
But the one I go back to again and again is Shazam, the app that listens to your surroundings and tells you what tune is on the speakers you’re listening to. I’m always interested in new (to my ears) music. Part of why I did the alphabetical listening project way back — maybe I’ll pick that up again; Dave interrupted my listening habits by giving me 3 records to release of which I’ve been listening to on repeat a lot.
Anyway, Shazam. I thought it’d be cool to post a playlist chronicling my recent tags. Feel free to chime in. Part of getting into new music is word of mouth. Post yours in the comments if you so choose.
12 Tracks from recent Shazaming:
I still haven’t had the drive to go pick up that new iPad or the new iPhone. But more and more apps like this keep coming out making the case that, instead of a new guitar or pedal, I should hunker down and grab one of these. So many amazing tools are being released every day.
(via CreativeApplications.net)
In the beginning I wanted to create a digital toy to record and play sound, with some creative controls like scratching. After playing the prototype for a while, I added more functions. In edit mode I can adjust the volume, attack, release, playing speed. Also there are some utility tools like copy, paste and trim, helps you to manage the clips. In play mode, I can tap to play a clip, or I can drag in circles to scratch the clip. If I wind the clip and drag away, it will loop the clip at the speed it was dragged.
Sound Yeah from Henry Chu on Vimeo.
One of the better Onion articles I’ve seen in awhile. Couldn’t resist reposting…
Rock Fans Outraged As Bob Dylan Goes Electronica
July 12, 2010 | ISSUE 46•28NEWPORT, RI—Audience members at the Newport Rock Festival were “outraged” Monday when rock icon Bob Dylan followed up such classic hits as “Like A Rolling Stone” and “Maggie’s Farm” with an electronica set composed of atonal drones, hyperactive drumbeats, and the repeated mechanized lyric “Dance to the club life!” “We came here to see the authentic Dylan, the one with the Stratocaster guitar and signature wild blues-rock band behind him,” audience member Robert Hochschild said. “Then he walks out with these puffy headphones, some turntables, and a laptop? The guy’s a Judas.” When asked later about his musical transformation by reporters, Dylan said he had nothing to say about the beats he programs, he just programs them.
Thanks for passing on, Joe.
The iPad is all the rage at the moment. I have to say, as cool as they look, I’m going to stick with my iPhone for the moment.
There’s an interesting perspective on this technology over at Boing Boing in a post titled Why I won’t buy an iPad (and think you shouldn’t, either), though his argument falls on deaf ears since I’m not too familiar or that interested in opening one up and learning what the innards do. Though it’s not easy to edit or customize, there doesn’t seem to me to be a reason to dislike something because it’s easy to use. And plenty of people in line down the street at the Mac store are on that side of the coin.
One of the cooler things that I’ve seen comes from the Electronica Blips blog. Check out the vid below.
More instruments like that will be popping up soon I’m sure. Check out a good list of what’s to come over at Create Digital Music’s blog.
I played a one-off in Iowa City this past week. We’ve always had a good turnout at this specific club so we decided to bring a lite horn section with us to kind of cement us in there. Funny how adding horns to a guitar rock band makes a stereotypically wallflower indie-rock crowd markedly dancier.
Before and after the show, our trumpet player was working on charts for a different band (while we lazily enjoyed our pizza). His on-the-road setup really inspired me to get one together for myself.
Though I’ve always been a huge fan of hand-written charts — something about the process of inking up paper with a pen has always helped me internalize what I was writing since it’s driven by what’s in my head rather than a synth — I’m going to get a new copy of Finale or Sibelius (which do you prefer?). And I’m going to get the little USB keyboard that trumpet player was using — the Akai LPK25 (in pic). It’s the exact width of the laptop so it’s able to fit in any bag. Seemed pretty sturdy, too.
For all you road warriors out there working on tunes in the van, on the train or plane, what’s your setup? Would like some more options before pulling the trigger.
Happy weekend.
One of the coolest things about electronics is that you can make pretty much anything electronic. With MIDI, synths, triggering, software, etc the possibilities are endless. Case and point.
The Electronic Didgeridoo. From MAKE Mag via Popular Science.
Kyle Evans, a 24-year-old artist, bought his first didgeridoo in a small shop in Cairns, Australia, three years ago. The owner helped him pick out one of his handmade Aboriginal instruments, and after Evans taught himself to play, he decided to build an enhanced version: an electronically modified, Bluetooth-enhanced PVC pipe that cranks out didgeridoo-like sound with added digital flourishes.
He cut a length of PVC pipe to form the body of the instrument and then mounted several square sections of a larger-diameter pipe to the outside. These platforms hide the wiring for the Bluetooth board and the control knobs that let him tweak the instrument’s steady drone.
When Evans plays, he blows through a beeswax-coated mouthpiece on one end, as with a traditional didgeridoo, and a wireless microphone positioned inside the far end relays the sound to his computer, which outputs sound to a speaker. At the same time, he can adjust the knobs, wirelessly signaling his computer to modulate the notes.
And this…
As blogged at more than 95 theses.
PRODUCED AND MANAGED BY: Scott Haines
COMPOSED AND CONDUCTED BY: Eric Whitacre
Representing 12 Countries:
Austria, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, The Philippines, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States of America
It’s amazing what reverb sounds like in the hallways of space.
Last month I started a listening project in which I vowed to listen to my whole iTunes library in alphabetical order sorted by songs. Last week, I updated and said I had stopped due to the strains in caused on my ears — it was somewhere between Esther’s Nose Job by The Soft Machine and Estribillo by Aaron Copland. But I’m back on the horse as of yesterday, persevering to get those play counts up.
One of the reasons I stopped was because of the schizophrenic nature of such a playlist jumping from one tune to a completely disparate one. As much as I tout my multi-genre appreciation, trying to hear order in an orderless list — even if the common denominator is that it begins with “Everybody”– is tough. Things do pop out though. Putting on a full album while working usually brings me to eventually tune out a lot if my mind is on something else rendering it background music. This list is a jarring punch in the face at times. It wakes me up — ex. European Son by Velvet Underground into European Trip from Woody Allen’s Standup Comic album.
I have found so many hidden gems in my library. Tunes I didn’t know where there or had never even heard or heard of making me wonder how they even got on my computer. Pieces in the Steve Reich boxset that I hadn’t gone all the way through popped out immediately. Guitar instrumentals by the fuzz guitar inventor Link Wray. And tunes from my past, things I hadn’t listened to since high school or college. How interesting it is to know that after almost 8 years, I can still sing all the words to Asleep On A Sunbeam by Belle and Sebastian. It’s crazy sometimes what the mind retains.
On the other side, I have deleted 30 to 40 albums. I mentioned a Metallica album (note: I kept all albums before the Black Album). Other deletions: songs and albums without complete ID3 info, mislabeled Faces albums, some of The Frogs catalog, some later AC/DC albums sans Bon Scott, Roky Erikson & The Aliens, etc etc. I could name more, but I don’t want to start a fight. I feel like deleting as I go helps the list move along. And it’s making room for new purchases and vinyl rips.
Anyway, onwards and downwards through the list. Here’s what I have to look forward to as I finish with the E’s…
Again with a techy post for those of us musician iPhone users…
Sampletoy looks much like the Korg Kaos pad, a really cool tool for any instrument. Gonna be downloading this one soon.
From CreativeApplications.Net:
At it’s core, Sampletoy is a simple sampler. It lets you record audio using the iPhone microphone and play it back at different pitches. You can set the loop points for the recording and play multiple copies of it at the same time using the multitouch note area. You have control over the pitch range, filter and delay effects and looping parameters. The interface is easy to use and the important parameters are up front at your fingertips. Settings can be saved and you can email yourself recordings of your ‘performances’.
Platform: iPhone
Version: 1.0.0
Cost: $1.99
Developer: Marek Bereza
