Mokira/Tilliander – 303/303/303/606
Making something that is close(r) to musik using three Roland TB-303, one Roland TR-606 and EFX.
Disclaimer: I do realize that you could make something much better just using one TB-303. So can I but that’s not the idea behind this recording.
Via WFL
Bird Imitation Experiment
Background information:
Equipment: W5 Secret Bird Oscillator; Zoom H4; Panasonic Lumix GF1
Participants: Professor Waffel, Professor Fokuda-san, Doktor Døv
Site: Ruagerkilen Nature Reserve, Fevik, Norway
The Australian Lyre-bird (Menura superba), the Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos) and the Sky Lark (Alauda arvensis ) remain among the most inventive song birds in the natural fauna. The former is known to perform a ritual in which it clears a small circle in the forest and mimics all the other song birds in its’ region. Furthermore, it also interpolates imitations of human-related activities such as snapping photo-apparatuses, growling chain-saws and falling trees. In many respects, the Lyre bird resembles the famous CASIO SK-1 6 bit sampler, but it is not as circuit-bendable.
Professor Waffel constructed his W5 Secret Bird Oscillator from a cannibalized walkie talkie and other circuits which were placed inside a Test Oscillator from the 1950’s. Installing a hand-crank and joystick on the device, he found that it was capable of producing expressive sounds which could mimic local bird species. The current study was conducted during Hemmelig Tempo’s Skjærgårdsseminar 2010, and had two main objectives. 1) To examine whether the device was able to attract other song-birds. 2) To examine whether individual performance styles had an impact on the result.
A suitable location was selected within Ruagerkilen Nature Reserve. The W5 Secret Bird Oscillator was placed on a rock below a bird house which had been put up by Professor Waffel some time ago. Recording the performance with a Zoom H4 portable recorder and a Panasonic Lumix GF1 HD video camera, each performer was given 5,3 minutes to manipulate the bird imitation device using his own idiosyncratic methods.
The study remains inconclusive. It must be considered a major methodological flaw that local bird behaviour was not systematically monitored. Although Doktor Døv claimed to have established communication with a Northern Lapwing (Vanellus Vanellus), listening eagerly for reactions is hardly scientifically valid. Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that Professor Fokuda-san’s aggressive performance may have scared away several species from the nature reserve, making the entire study ethically questionable. How Professor Waffel will ever be able to communicate with his neighbours should be the focus of a future study.
VISUALIST, a ‘make it yourself’ instrument for the VJ/artist
Searching the internet you can find many audio effect circuits but analog video effect circuits are rare. Why? Is there no interest?
The aim of this project is to make a video instrument for VJ’s and other artists and open enough to experiment further. The parts are cheap and easy to find. Some knowledge of electronics is a pre. Special for the d.i.y. artist I made a PDF with building instructions:
https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/bertoa/VisualistKl.pdf
Shared by Bertoaus
A hexagonal monome
A hexagonal monome – a Hexome, made using an Arduino. Containing RGB LEDs
Here’s what Cook has to say:
A Monome is a well known undedicated controller much used in music. Traditionally these are an arrangement of switches and lights in a rectangular grid. This imposes a certain restriction on the sorts of interaction the user can have with the controller.
In an attempt to explore other configurations I built the Hexome, a Monome with a hexagonal layout. This project has taken almost three years to come to fruition with other Monome projects like the Mini Monome and the Econo Monome acting as test beds for my ideas, I even had to construct my CNC miller to fabricate some parts, most notably the PCB. However, it was with the help of the Manchester Fab Lab, that I was finally able to get laser cut parts to allow the keys to be made.
The Hexome consists of an arduino processor, 16 bit port expander, and three multiplexed fully dimming TLC5940 LED drivers. Each switch is illuminated by an RGB LED allowing flexibility of display colours.
Cook has information on the Hexome and his other DIY music projects at his site.
micronaut – experiment four
The very definition of getting carried away. I bought a Boss RRV-10 reverb last night, and just wanted to test it out to make sure it was all working, and 5 hours later, here we are.
This piece is done with no sequencing at all. A Max patch does the dirty work, and everything you hear except the snare drum is coming from the hardware synths, six of ’em. I’m arranging things by turning specific metro objects on and off in Max via the Korg nanoControl; they’re all quantized to the Global Clock.
Kinect technologies – future of controllers?
Perhaps, check this fascinating video out
Steerable AutoStereo 3-D Display: We use a special, flat optical lens (Wedge) behind an LCD monitor to direct a narrow beam of light into each of a viewer’s eyes. By using a Kinect head tracker, the user’s relation to the display is tracked, and thereby, the prototype is able to steer that narrow beam to the user. The combination creates a 3-D image that is steered to the viewer without the need for glasses or holding your head in place.
Steerable Multiview Display: The same optical system used in the 3-D system, Wedge behind an LCD, is used to steer two separate images to two separate people rather than two separate eyes, as in the 3-D case. Using a Kinect head tracker, we find and track multiple viewers and send each viewer his or her own unique image. Therefore, two people can be looking at the same display but see two completely different images. If the two users switch positions, the same image continuously is steered toward them.
Retro-Reflective Air-Gesture Display: Sometimes, it’s better to control with gestures than buttons. Using a retro-reflective screen and a camera close to the projector makes all objects cast a shadow, regardless of their color. This makes it easy to apply computer-vision algorithms to sense above-screen gestures that can be used for control, navigation, and many other applications.
A display that can see: Using the flat Wedge optic in camera mode behind a special, transparent organic-light-emitting-diode display, we can capture images that are both on and above the display. This enables touch and above-screen gesture interfaces, as well as telepresence applications.
Kinect based Virtual Window
Using Kinect we track a user’s position relative to a 3D display to create the illusion of looking through a Window. This view dependent rendered technique is used in both the wedge 3D and multi-view demos, but the effect is much more prevalent in this demo. The user quickly should realize the need for a multi-view display as this illusion is only valid for one user with a conventional display. This technique along with the Wedge 3D output and 3D input techniques we are developing at Microsoft are the basic building blocks to build the ultimate telepresence display. This Magic Window is a bi-directional light-field interactive display that gives multiple users in a telepresence session the illusion that they are interacting and talking to each other through a simple glass window.
Fluid simulation
A fluid simulation drives a stack of detuned oscillators, brings pleasure to initiated and otherwise, facilitates the making of musick. New synth coming ASAP from The Strange Agency to your local App Store.
Shared by strange agency
Expanding the Vidisynth
I suppose since my partner has blazed the trail with some awesome posts that I should say something about my first design: VidiSynth. Thanks to the help of Mike and my pal Adam Wolf (check him out at wayneandlayne.com) VidiSynth was a total success. Naturally there is always room for improvement and I will be tweaking a couple of things for the first production run, but I couldn’t be happier with how the prototype turned out.
VidiSynth by the way is a fun little noise toy that has 4 square wave oscillators mixed together into a single output. The frequency of each oscillator is controlled by an external resistance loop that can be a simple potentiometer, photo-resistor or something more complex like a sequencer. If light sensors are used you can produce a wide variety of sounds by finding interesting light sources to drive them. One of my favorites is good old CRT television which gives a nice lo-fi buzzy tone and can add a new dimension to your favorite movie.
The synthesizer that does not exist
IMAGINARY SYNTHS episode 1, Alpha JUNO-8
This synth exists only in in my imagination! I wanted to imagine, and replicate what an 8 part multitimbral Alpha Juno would sound like. In fact, if it did exist, here’s a small audio demo of what it actually would sound like. Play it in HD to do it justice!
Using only my Alpha Juno 2, the first pad part was recorded in Pro Tools playing manually to a click, on 8 individual passes.
The second part was created using MIDI sequencing in Pro Tools. I laid down a simple MIDI arpeggio and started recording the audio parts 1 stereo track at a time, each with their own “on the fly” modulations.
The oscillator de-tuning was accomplished by simply de-tuning using the Tune/function button while tweaking the root pitch with the alpha dial in real-time on a few of the audio passes . The “reversed” arpeggio sections were simple audio edits to the stereo mixdown.
I’ve always loved this synth, with it’s unique rich sound. Now I love it even more
as an 8 part multitimbral (albeit imagined, but possible to replicate) SYNTH BEAST!
Via rudiedisone
Analoguebertragung
while 4/4 isn’t generally released by us, this one escaped destruction. we happened to be recording when this “analog transmission” bounced around the studio inadvertently. while waiting to record a future release we flagged down the drink cart, toasted the invention of analogue, and let the machines pilot themselves for a moment. afterward we coaxed and prodded and this was the result. in it’s entirety it’s over 30 minutes. we edited it down to 5. it is, in the truest sense, an example of control voltages fluctuating, peaking and subsiding. the tr727,while not heard on this track, is the “tightest” machine we have to keep the antiquated midi clock semi controllable. for this project in the (almost finished) studio, everything gets recorded to multiple tracks in one pass. the timing is so loose, good luck capturing dubs that would match.
the gear heard on this recording is: korg ms-10, korg sq-10, roland tr808, moogerfoogers, ensoniq dp/4, memorymoog, akai ax 60, akai s612 samplers.
video shot & manipulated by Dayvid LeMmon, Berlin S-Bahn & U-Bahn, Juli 2009
DATAMASKIN
