Musical Sewing Machines, Electronic Honky-Tonk, and Handmade Music NYC Monday

March 5th, 2010

Sewing together music: designer and techno-textile artist Lara Grant constructs music with a modded sewing machine and Max. Lara is one of the artists playing Handmade Music in New York next week; stay tuned here for more behind the scenes of what those folks are doing. Photo (CC-BY-SA) See-ming Lee.

Before evolutionary adaptation comes mutation. Some of the weirdest stuff, in other words, could be the future – just ask biology. That was the conversation I had with folks like artist Rosa Menkman in Old Amsterdam (the one in Holland). So, as we gather back in New Amsterdam (NYC), we get a chance to celebrate the unusual.

Wherever you are in the world, here’s a look at some of those new mutations: a sewing machine converted into a musical instrument, an expressive audiovisual instrument borrowing ideas from the trumpet, and an electro-country band that covers classic honky-tonk American hits.

If you are in the sliver of our audience who live in the NYC area, of course, you can catch these folks live in a variety show-meets-science fair format. We don’t charge admission for the weird, and you can buy beer. Thanks to our new home at Galapagos Art Space, the NYC edition of Handmade Music can offer a proper stage and a lineup of live performances, along with the noisemaking and friendly atmosphere.

Live, Monday, March 8
Where: Galapagos Art Space, DUMBO Brooklyn [directions]
When: Doors open 7p
Cost: FREE
Highlights online for the rest of the planet here, later

Augmented Sewing Machine + Ensemble

Circuit Bending Orchestra: Lara Grant at Diana Eng’s Fairytale Fashion Show, Eyebeam NYC / SML from See-ming Lee ??? SML on Vimeo.

Lara Grant’s Augmented Sewing Machine, entitled “16TH AND MISSION,” takes the workings of the device and transforms it into musical control. Contact between needle and fabric and onboard switches and knobs (with help from Arduino and Max/MSP) make it a novel controller.

Lara joins myself and Matt Ganucheau providing additional electronic sounds (and possibly a surprise DIY creation or two from me), forming three quarters of the ensemble we formed to play a wearable technology fashion show. The Fairytale Fashion show, by Diana Eng, is documented below by MAKE’s/Adafruit’s Phil Torrone, with our group’s live (PA) music in the background. (See also an extensive photoblog of the designs by designer-technology See-ming Lee.)

fairytale fashion 2010 from adafruit industries on Vimeo.

Missing but rejoining me next week in San Francisco is Lara’s sister Sarah Grant. Together, the Grant Sisters work on conductive fabric sound. If you’re interested in how to work with textiles in sonic electronics, they’ve promised to share more of what they’re doing:
http://fsp.fm

The TOOB: An Audiovisual Hypertrumpet

How do you build on the idea of a trumpet? Give it digital control and control over audio and visuals, of course:

Arvid Tomayko-Peters plays The TOOB – a unique wireless electronic wind instrument that gives the performer a vast but intuitive and malleable range of sonic material, allowing creative freedom in solo or group improvisation. The instrument senses breath, finger pressure, tilt and acceleration and utilizes sound captured and processed on the fly to create expressive soundscapes ranging from comic to tragic to “a force of nature” and abstract live video.

At top, a recent short audiovisual improvisation recorded on the instrument, provided to CDM by the artist. The TOOB even made an appearance at SIGGRAPH, the geektastic visual conference. More information:

Short live video from SIGGRAPH:
http://arvidtp.net/music.php#siggraph2009

How it works:
http://arvidtp.net/portfolio/instruments.php

Performance with the TOOB:
http://arvidtp.net/portfolio/index.php#toob

And here’s what the creation looks like. Notice the clever use of a project enclosure, tubing, and force sensing resistors. (Getting the job done always earns bonus points in my book.)

Owen Lake, Electro-Country, and New Handmade Instrument Designs

Jeff Snyder is a country artist. He’s also an electronic artist. He’s also an inventor, creating instruments like the one he’s holding. Can you say “crossover”? (Then again, we’re all standing on the shoulders of the great Les Paul – so it’s time to hone our musical chops, our hardware-hacking chops, and our rebellious sonic side, all in parallel.) Photo courtesy Owen Lake.

They call it electro-country. This isn’t modern, top-of-the-charts, watered down Nashville pop. Think covers of classic 1950s honky-tonk, covered on modular synths and custom electronic instruments. The instrumental lineup for Owen Lake:

Owen Lake (jeff snyder) – voice and manta
Penny Hunt (kate soper) – voice and synthesizer
Tommy Byrd (matt hough) – voice and guitar
Frank Arnold (spencer russell) – bass
Buck Flash (alex ness) – live video

But alongside his love of country music, bandleader Jeff Snyder moonlights as inventor. His Manta is a fascinating new small-run, boutique touch controller with a hexagonal layout. I had been meaning to check out the Manta anyway. (Its design has caught the eye of folks like Cycling ‘74 engineer Darwin Grosse, one of the key minds behind Max.) Now I get to see it in person, with a full electro-country band behind it. Expect a full report thereafter.

Just don’t get too rowdy with the beers and start tossing them at the band in excitement, like that scene from The Blues Brothers. (Ah, though maybe we should put all these players together and try to cover “Stand By Your Man.”)

The hardware project:
http://www.snyderphonics.com/

The band project:
http://www.owenlake.com/

The Event

Event details

http://handmademusic.noisepages.com/

on Facebook

Bonus! Saturday we’re hanging out with Babycastles, the indie arcade, and the folks of Loud Objects, chip-programming sound scientists. Bring a soldering iron (if you own one; if not, it’s a worthy investment), and stop in for hacking controllers and making one-button objects. Previous details | on Facebook

Émilie Simon, Making Homemade Sessions in Her Apartment

March 4th, 2010

Émilie Simon is a fantastically-talented artist with a unique background: her work now falls clearly into pop territory, but her lineage is just as much experimental and classical. Conservatory training gave way to time at the avant garde nerve center of Paris, IRCAM. IRCAM’s Director, Cyrille Brissot, still plays alongside her – more on his wild invention in a moment.

Simon has been a big hit in France; you may know her composition from the soundtrack to March of the Penguins. But now, she’s a New Yorker, which brings us to the topic of the headline. The singer-pianist-artist released a new record last fall, The Big Machine. I do miss some of the quirkier style on her older records, and I rather liked the singing in French (I’m sure NYC has its share of Francophones). The new record tends in a Kate Bush-influenced direction which has divided some fans. They are just as well-crafted, however, and Simon’s writing and performance is inventive as always. It’s a new direction, but it’s worth giving it some time. I think you’ll like the results, and it shows Simon’s continued versatility and artistry.

One thing with which you really can’t argue is Simon’s exceptional musicianship. I love her new series, which has her releasing studio sessions shot in her Bedford Avenue apartment. In the edition at top, the work begins with the expected ballad form, but takes a very different direction. Commanding sounds and effects from a militaristic, future-punk controller on her arm, Simon adds electronic textures, aided by a Yamaha Tenori-On and Doepfer Dark Energy synth. The wrist-strapped controller is Cyrille Brissot’s invention, aptly named “The Brissot.” Somewhere, Thomas Dolby is very jealous, indeed. (They would match his goggles.) Episode two, released yesterday, is after the jump.

Few of us would do a multi-cam rig in our apartment (I’d better make some friends), and I could do without the faux-film effects, but there’s still a terrific intimacy of the sessions, and her stage presence shines through. It’s a reminder that adding technology doesn’t have to mean removing that sense of a live performance – quite the opposite, in fact, as a solo act wouldn’t be able to do this much of this on the spot. Electronics are, as I keep saying, the ultimate renaissance of the one-man- (or one-woman-) band.

So, if you think you can do better – heck, even if not – let us know if you release a similar session. And Cyrille, Émilie, if you’re out there, I’d love to catch up on your work for CDM.

Google Android Phones Can Now Search With Written Gestures (PC World)

March 4th, 2010
PC World - Google announced an experimental application for its Android mobile operating system, which allows you to search your phone using written gestures. Instead of bringing up the keyboard, users of the newer Android phones can just draw letters on the screen to search through contacts, music or apps.

Australians more likely to pay for movies than news online (AFP)

March 4th, 2010

Customers surf the web in a internet cafe in Sydney. Australians are more likely to pay for music and movies online than to hand over money to read newspapers on the Internet, a survey released Thursday said.(AFP/File/Torsten Blackwood)AFP - Australians are more likely to pay for music and movies online than to hand over money to read newspapers on the Internet, a survey released Thursday said.


Naxos And Ripstyles Form A Nice Sounding Partnership

March 3rd, 2010

Conversion of CDs, cassettes and LPs to digital formats just got easier, thanks to the newly-minted partnership between Ripstyles LLC (www.ripstyles.com), a media conversion company, and Naxos (www.naxos.com), the world’s leading classical music label.

Music-lovers who are looking for a hassle-free solution to digitize their personal music and media collections now have the option to save hundreds of hours by using the services at www.naxosrip.com.

Read the rest of this entry »

BuskerLabel Launches Crowd-Funding For Upcoming Music Under Creative Commons

March 3rd, 2010

BuskerLabel announced the public availability of its crowd-funding platform for releasing music albums online under Creative Commons license.

BuskerLabel, a self-funded startup based in Rome, offers an innovative platform to the music business by focusing on the excitement and anticipation that precedes an album’s release.

In return for pledging cash, fans can get early access and listen to a stream of the entire album uploaded by the artist. Upon release, they are rewarded with a high-quality “lossless” tracks download and a public acknowledgment with their name displayed on the album’s page.

Any artist can start the fund-raising phase with the simple action of uploading tracks and choosing a release date in the future. Artist offers a single track for free as a promo. Based on this, users can decide whether or not to make a pledge using BuskerLabel’s own virtual currency, called a “Koin”. One Koin is equal to one Euro and can be purchased conveniently using PayPal. After giving one or more Koins, fans gain the privilege to playback a stream of the entire album. If a person does not like the album, the fan can withdraw support in the last five days before release.

On the chosen date, the album is released under a Creative Commons license allowing all Internet users to freely download and share tracks for personal use. Creative Commons licenses maximize the legal diffusion of music by bringing more and more fans to the artist for subsequent releases and, most importantly, for live tours that depend mostly on the “brand awareness” of the artist’s name.

BuskerLabel passes on to the artists 80 percent of the collected money immediately following the release date.

BuskerLabel is different from existing fund-raising online services because it goes beyond simple donations for already released music. Instead, it deals with produced music that is ready for distribution.

As most of the major labels complain, releasing music in digital form is a critical moment, since it starts a huge wave of downloading and sharing activity. Licensing under Creative Commons allows music lovers to share tracks legally. In addition, the fans that pledge money effectively grants them the status of co-producers. BuskerLabel blends these two factors aiming to turn former copyright violators — so called “pirates” — into True Fans.

Microsoft Zune Media Player (PC World)

March 3rd, 2010
PC World - TigerDirect is sweetening its offer of a refurbished Zune 4GB with an FM transmitter and charger, a dashboard grip pad, and a leather carrying case--all for $50 (you can find the new MP3 player by itself at Amazon for over $100).

New TiVo DVRs Blend TV and Internet Viewing (NewsFactor)

March 3rd, 2010
NewsFactor - TiVo on Tuesday set out to reinvent itself with DVRs that blend television and Internet viewing experiences. The TiVo Premiere and TV Premiere XL combine access to cable programming, movies, web videos, and music.

A LEGO Sequencer, Imaginary Electronic Antiques, and Other Yoshi Akai Creations

March 3rd, 2010


Artist and design Yoshi Akai (no relation, as far as I know) treats analog electronics as an art form, a sculpture, an instrument, and an exercise in interaction design, all wrapped in the velour of vintage hardware design. For everyone who misses the deco elegance of meticulously-engraved surfaces and tastefully-appointed enclosures of early-century electronics, Yoshi’s work will be a special treat.

These aren’t just pretty boxes, though: they work as instruments. A prolific inventor with a background in textiles and design, Nagoya-born Yoshi Akai has spun out countless playful experiments in musical interaction, and all make fascinating sounds. There’s a turntable that scratches Swedish rye crackers as though they’re records, a step sequencer made from a telegraph, thumb-controlled instruments, and various synths, noisemakers, effects, and drum machines, some quite practical. Some emphasis electrical, analog sounds, while others go chip/8-bit in timbre. All look beautifully handmade, with some tending toward luxurious front panels while others flaunt intentionally disorganized arrays of knobs.

(Just don’t say the word “steampunk” — the designs seem to be to be placed pretty firmly in the electrically-powered early 20th Century, and there’s even a reference to Czech proto-science fiction landmark R.U.R..)

Yoshi Akai Artist Site + Gallery

MrYoshiAkai YouTube Channel

There are many models, so it’s worth investigating the full YouTube gallery and his site gallery. I’ll call attention to the two most theatrical. First, LEGO blocks form the playing pieces for a musical sequencer. That’s fitting: Ableton CEO and founder Gerhard Behles once revealed to me that he adored playing with LEGO blocks as a child, a design element that resurfaces in the sequencer he helped design. LEGO blocks are modular, they’re playful, they’re neatly color-coded, and because of their shape and interchangeable design, they easily represent blocks of sequenced time in music.

Here’s a video of the LEGO sequencer in action:

The Wireless Catcher produces rawer sounds than some of Yoshi’s creations, but you can’t beat its whimsical presentation and unusual conception. This isn’t just another Theremin-style device, either: the creation intentionally sucks up the wireless radio activities happening around you. Adjusting the angle of the device causes it to receive different sounds. In an age when wireless interference and overcrowded spectrums threaten to shut down even digital technology, this is one of the few instruments I’ve seen that makes interference the signal, rather than background noise. This could be what we’re all playing wirelessly as the spectrum continues to fill up.

I knew those Knäckebröd Swedish rye crackers would be good for something. See how neatly they fit on a turntable?

It Is Not Enough to Stare Up the Steps, You Also Have to Step Up the Stairs

March 2nd, 2010

So many ways to go and look at the stars.

A space elevator is a proposed structure designed to transport material from a celestial body’s surface into space. Many variants have been proposed, all of which involve traveling along a fixed structure instead of using rocket powered space launch. The concept most often refers to a structure that reaches from the surface of the Earth on or near the Equator to geostationary orbit (GSO) and a counter-mass beyond.

This is not rock music.

Listen here. Download here. Contact here.

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