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I will be presenting my thesis, the Gesture-Control Exploration in a panel discussion titled "Emotive Narrative: Internal Representations" on Saturday May 2, from 2 to 3:30 in the Theresa Lang Auditorium at 55 W. 13th Street (2nd Floor) along with Hsiang Ju Huang, Jason Tseng, Carrie Mae Kreyche, Pasquale Chieffalo and special guest moderator: Yury Gitman.
I will also have a demonstration booth set up on Sunday, May 3, from 2 till 5 (also in the Theresa Lang auditorium) where you can come by an play with the controllers. Hope to see some of y'all there.
Visit mfadt.parsons.edu for more information.
Download the Schedule (pdf)
Download the Catlog (pdf)
Labels: Design, MFA, Technology
It's been doing that a lot lately.
Just when I'm in the throws of banging my head against the wall developing (and re-developing, and developing again, and holding my head in my hands, and throwing wads of paper in the waste-basket like a man-at-the-drawing-board from days of yore) the GCe3 is precisely not when I want to see this amazing little pocket synth / controller from Teenage Engineering.
It is elegant, gorgeous, white, simple, complex, and sexy-as-all-git-out. It's both a controller and a stand-alone synthesizer. Oh, and it's got a motion sensor. (Cries a bit) I'm in awe. Good job guys, can't wait to actually see one in action.
By the way, these screens they've developed are ridiculous.
Still struggling with visual feedback issues with the GCe3. Teenage Industries solution here might solve a lot of my problems. Interesting to think on for the future.
ps In other news, Teenage Industries is a pretty sweet name.
[via]
It is elegant, gorgeous, white, simple, complex, and sexy-as-all-git-out. It's both a controller and a stand-alone synthesizer. Oh, and it's got a motion sensor. (Cries a bit) I'm in awe. Good job guys, can't wait to actually see one in action.
By the way, these screens they've developed are ridiculous.
Still struggling with visual feedback issues with the GCe3. Teenage Industries solution here might solve a lot of my problems. Interesting to think on for the future.
ps In other news, Teenage Industries is a pretty sweet name.
[via]
Labels: MFA, Precedents, Technology
Popular Science Magazine was in attendance at the Handmade Music Night last Thursday, and they were kind enough to interview us and feature the GCe2 on their blog.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Labels: Design, MFA, Music, Technology
There's going to be all sorts of great handmade music projects there. So please come on by and support your city's musicians and makers. (We need all the support we can get)
Here's the deets:
Free (+ free beer while it lasts)
Thursday, January 15
7:30-10:30pm (drop by for as long as you'd lie)
3rd Ward, Brooklyn NY
RSVP to handmade (at) 3rdward (dot) com — walk-ups welcome, but it helps us to know how many folks are coming!
Directions to the Space
See you there!
ps The GCe2 was also featured on Create Digital Music which has my heart all in a patter.
Labels: Design, MFA, Music, Technology
GCe2 // GestureSynth from Mouse & the Billionaire on Vimeo.
Hi everyone. I just thought I'd finally let you all see what I've been doing for the last few months. This is the GCe2 (Gestural Controller - Exploration 2). It makes music. It could do other things as well, but we'll have to wait and see about that.
There's a bunch more information here if you're interested.
Happy New Year, y'all.
Labels: Design, MFA, Music, Technology
This photo is of him playing his 1200 phonoharp, a mix of live and pre-recorded analogue signals. He describes it on his website as, " incredibly versatile and can sound like bass guitar, a lap steel guitar, a hammered dulcimer, a drumset, chimes... many sounds are unique to this instrument. There are many ways to play it. The built in mixer and cross-fader allows cutting and scratching with the turntable and there is even a headphone jack for cueing records."
There's many more where that came from. Tons and tons of beautifully crafted pieces. Truly stunning.
Labels: MFA, Music, Technology
Anyways, today's new interface: Stanton's Da Scratch, which Stanton claims will "change the DJ world forever." I'm not exactly sure how a virtual turntable will turn the world upside down, but we'll have to wait until tomorrow for the official unveiling to find out for sure. Maybe it will just mean less DJs with back aches. Either way, it's still pretty neat looking, and I'm so easily taken by touch sensors. And blue.
[ via create digital music ]
Labels: MFA, Music, Technology
Continuing in my fervor for all things Raymond Scott, I am very excited about On to Something the documentary about his life that his son is currently working on. It looks amazing, but, as it's not done yet, the trailer will have to do for now.
[ via music thing ]
Labels: MFA, Music, Technology
Scott (born 100 years ago today in Brooklyn, NY) built some of the earliest synthesizers in the 1960's. People said he was like a mad scientist. He invented all sort of great musical tools, including, some say, the first sequencer. He was one of Bob Moog's influences.
Check out his electronium.
That thing is hot.
Not only that, but he made amazing electronic music himself. It is fantastic. It's Brin Eno before Brian Eno. It's electronic when electronic was something new. He also collaborated on most of Jim Henson's experimental films. I just got the Manhattan Research INC collection and I cannot stop listening to it. Check out his song Lightwork from the late 50s early 60s. (If it sounds familiar, perhaps you recognize the sample from J Dilla's Donuts)
Lightwork - Raymond Scott
Pretty sweet, eh?
So, all that to say, here's to Raymond Scott, all-around musical genius and someone to look up to during this next 9 months of MFA exploration.
Labels: MFA, Music, Technology
While working on my thesis over the past few months, I've been exploring the different forms of musical expression that are possible in a synthesized environment.
Here is an experiment I did with automatically generated musique concrete. Using Max/Msp I can record 3 seconds or audio in to a buffer which then randomly moves the playhead through the recorded audio at a set speed.
I call it "When You Wish Upon a Synthesizer." This one's for all those avant-garde Disney fans out there.
Here is an experiment I did with automatically generated musique concrete. Using Max/Msp I can record 3 seconds or audio in to a buffer which then randomly moves the playhead through the recorded audio at a set speed.
I call it "When You Wish Upon a Synthesizer." This one's for all those avant-garde Disney fans out there.
So far, I am super impressed with Nanoloop. I saw Bubblyfish give a talk on chiptune music a couple months back, and immediately saw how much nicer Nanoloop was to work with than LSDJ, which I had played around with a few years back. It's not nearly as powerful, but it's a great way to come up with some super fun songs. The interface is extremely easy to understand. It's easy to navigate between the different screens, and it visualy makes sense what is happening when you apply certain functions on the sound. I need to keep this in mind when developing my own interface this coming year.
Thought: It may be interesting to actually map the key commands from the Gameboy to an external device, making it more performative.
Also, a side note: I am crapping myself over that picture of Rabato's rig. Check out more at his Gameboy music site.
Labels: MFA, Music, Technology
Dipity.com has a fascinating chronological map of the history of internet memes. It is a really nice information layout. Timelines really are generally the wayto go. Just ask National Geographic. They have placed bigger (more popular) memes towards the top of the screen, which is a great navigation element. You can also drill down and display all of the content from a given time period. Clicking on a topic will launch a window to either read about the item or watch the video.
On a side note. It's also fun to see how we have advanced in our tastes.
On a side note. It's also fun to see how we have advanced in our tastes.
It is a great little exploration in the world of sound and machines. Much of the material covered, especially the earlier chapters (soldering?), I am already familiar with, but there is a great deal of fun projects in here. Ripe with possibilities! I have been feeling stone-walled with the simplistic microchip sounds I've been making (a person can only take so many square waves), so I look forward to chapters 20 - 24 with some more advanced oscillators. Hopefully Bob Moog is smiling down.
I am getting very excited about this upcoming year of school. I can't believe there's only one more year left. I want to play with electronics, music, and the internet 18 hours a day, forever.
Labels: MFA, Music, Technology
This 3D controller is an interesting concept. I'd really like to see it working in a sound-based application for better evaluation purposes. I wonder if it would be possible to take this technology and include more fluid transitioning, like a theremin? File under: things to consider.
DIY 3D Interface: Tic Tac Toe from Kyle McDonald on Vimeo
DIY 3D Interface: Tic Tac Toe from Kyle McDonald on Vimeo
Labels: MFA
This comes at a perfect time since I just bought a kick-ass little robot that I justified by saying it was vintage and cool (but really had no specific use for it). That is until now. Hopefully in a few months the world will witness the rise of Thingamachat! Stay tuned.
See more photos of people's thingamakit adaptations at Bleep Labs Flickr Pool.
Labels: MFA, Music, Technology
I won't bore you with a list of all the books we've read over the past few months, but I will tell you that my current selection, "This is Your Brain on Music," by Daniel Levetin is fascinating.
This wonderful book has a wealth of information for anyone who is interested in, as he puts it, the "science of a human obsession." In it he discusses the functions of the brain as they pertain to both music-listening and creating, and, as I begin working on my MFA thesis, I find myself continually dwelling on these ideas. Music as "organized sound." The direct mapping of pitch from the auditory cortex to your brain. (Neurons in your brain fire at the exact frequencies of sound you hear!) Does 10,000 hours of practice really make a virtuoso? These questions and more will certainly effect the way I approach the coming year of studies. So, heads up, it's about to get real nerdy around here for the next 9 months.
