We need to setup the portable sound rack in the black box
We need to test the sound for a mic input and laptop
we need to drop video screen
test projector
test all pieces
Ben:
still need you notes and bio
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Where is FEMS?
Hi guys, not sure if any of you will check this in time, but I Googled for FEMS and found their website. They have a map, but it's very rudimentary (arrow pointing to where the Music Building is). Where exactly in the Music building are we supposed to meet? Or can we all meet out front?
Thanks!
Thanks!
Monday, June 16, 2008
Bio for Sheila
Bishop Bishop is an ordained minister (of the sign up online variety) and would be happy to marry or bury you. Bishop Bishop also is one of many stage names for Sheila Bishop. Sheila Bishop is a performer, writer, director, producer, nonprofit maven, jill of all trades, intellectual, aspiring wensch (mensch with a W), sassy Southerner and all around freak.
K. McGonigle Bio, Program Notes
Bio
Katherine McGonigle is an undergraduate Digital Media student anticipating her swiftly forthcoming graduation. She enjoys the eerie and ambient, but also the strangely humorous and absurd. She will be moving to Alabama and adopting a dachshund in the near future, and plans to work on web design and handmade crafts.
Program Notes
Spiritual Radiation (3'12") - Incorporates tracks of diverse origin, including modified parts of David Byrne and Brian Eno's "Bush of Ghosts," granular synthesis, MIDI instruments played on the keyboard, and tracks scavenged from Freesound.
Mutant Feline Lost in the Triumphantly Retributionist Forest (3'47") - All but two tracks are MIDI instruments performed on the keyboard. The remaining two tracks are modified running water and a cat meowing, obtained from Freesound.
Morte Time: Hi Be Boy Man (3'31") - Remediation of the MIDI version of the Britney Spears "hit."
Katherine McGonigle is an undergraduate Digital Media student anticipating her swiftly forthcoming graduation. She enjoys the eerie and ambient, but also the strangely humorous and absurd. She will be moving to Alabama and adopting a dachshund in the near future, and plans to work on web design and handmade crafts.
Program Notes
Spiritual Radiation (3'12") - Incorporates tracks of diverse origin, including modified parts of David Byrne and Brian Eno's "Bush of Ghosts," granular synthesis, MIDI instruments played on the keyboard, and tracks scavenged from Freesound.
Mutant Feline Lost in the Triumphantly Retributionist Forest (3'47") - All but two tracks are MIDI instruments performed on the keyboard. The remaining two tracks are modified running water and a cat meowing, obtained from Freesound.
Morte Time: Hi Be Boy Man (3'31") - Remediation of the MIDI version of the Britney Spears "hit."
Friday, June 13, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
titles
i could definitely go for 'after the crash'.
its a loaded title. Not only does it reference the idea of the black box, but it also signifies all our tech difficulties.(Sheila's pd constantly quitting, ben's rain damage, mandi and my issues with keykit, blah blah the list could go on forever)
other ideas could include maybe something with 'sampling' or 'alterations' or having to do with the number of performers.
its a loaded title. Not only does it reference the idea of the black box, but it also signifies all our tech difficulties.(Sheila's pd constantly quitting, ben's rain damage, mandi and my issues with keykit, blah blah the list could go on forever)
other ideas could include maybe something with 'sampling' or 'alterations' or having to do with the number of performers.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
our show
Reminder:
June 20th in Black Box
8:00-10:00 pm
As far as flyers, there's a computer lab on the Reitz 3rd floor where students can print free (i'm not sure how many, but i think its probably at least 100 pages).
June 20th in Black Box
8:00-10:00 pm
As far as flyers, there's a computer lab on the Reitz 3rd floor where students can print free (i'm not sure how many, but i think its probably at least 100 pages).
Monday, June 9, 2008
notes for sheila and katherine
1. There are rex files which can be found here http://www.loopmasters.com/Rex-Downloads.asp. These are audio files. We downloaded one or two and opened them as an audio track in live. Then if you right click on the audio track there is an option "slice into new midi track". Then you can select a method and it alters the audio(kind of like a filter) but it also sliced the audio into different tracks which you can rearrange.
2. We played in keykit. We used the Markov Maker and Bounce tools. Markov maker selects samples of a midi file at intervals you select and then plays them together. Bounce lets you select 4 midi files and plays them based on the visualization of a line bouncing to turn them on and off.
3. In order to export a file you select 'snarf' in the options and then create a 'group' tool. select read->snarf. and write->(this is where you save your file, you might have to add '.mid' to the end of the filename. You can then import these midi files into live.
2. We played in keykit. We used the Markov Maker and Bounce tools. Markov maker selects samples of a midi file at intervals you select and then plays them together. Bounce lets you select 4 midi files and plays them based on the visualization of a line bouncing to turn them on and off.
3. In order to export a file you select 'snarf' in the options and then create a 'group' tool. select read->snarf. and write->(this is where you save your file, you might have to add '.mid' to the end of the filename. You can then import these midi files into live.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
specifications for our show
We each have about 15 minutes of time (+ pat):
Pieces with estimated minimum times:
2 mins - composition for synthesizer
2 mins - remidi-ed file
2 mins - eno/nin remix
2 mins - main individual composition compiling everything learned
Also optional:
2 mins - cecilia composition
2 mins - pd composition
Leftover time to add/re-arrange amongst compositions:
3 mins
7 mins (if no cecilia or pd compositions)
But really just put in whatever you want to as long as its not more than 15 mins.
Pieces with estimated minimum times:
2 mins - composition for synthesizer
2 mins - remidi-ed file
2 mins - eno/nin remix
2 mins - main individual composition compiling everything learned
Also optional:
2 mins - cecilia composition
2 mins - pd composition
Leftover time to add/re-arrange amongst compositions:
3 mins
7 mins (if no cecilia or pd compositions)
But really just put in whatever you want to as long as its not more than 15 mins.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
i have no idea what im doing
Good plug-ins... are hard to find.
Here's a set of OSX AU/VST effects, free for the downloading: http://mda.smartelectronix.com/
These I might actually use, as they're effects that don't pop up a whole new interface. As my max resolution is pretty small, Live itself takes up essentially the whole screen, and extra interfaces are just annoying. I'm still searching for others I might actually use and could therefore pass on to others. A lot of them frustratingly are not recognized by Live or are just meh.
These I might actually use, as they're effects that don't pop up a whole new interface. As my max resolution is pretty small, Live itself takes up essentially the whole screen, and extra interfaces are just annoying. I'm still searching for others I might actually use and could therefore pass on to others. A lot of them frustratingly are not recognized by Live or are just meh.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Electronic City
My email is Duo2142@hotmail.com - email me if you want an electronic copy of the script.
Scanner
My initial reaction was needing to hear some of his stuff in order to have any opinion. The article was a bit trippy in its wordings, but I guess that's the way musicians can be. Anyway, I think his music is interesting, definitely valid and able to be used for pieces and inspiration, but it's not something I'd sit and listen to. I do think it's very cool to use found sounds to create a piece though, and something we should do more of while keeping melody in mind.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Tempophone home
The tempophone is a device that varies pitch or tempo but not at the same time. It involves multiple playback heads mounted on a rotating cylinder. (All descriptions come from Handbook on Acoustic Ecology). The machine, essentially, was to create new sounds that are "normally impossible." The "time stretching" of the tempophone is similar to digital techniques like granulation.
What I find interesting about this are two things- one much of what we think is new is just a variation on a theme. And two, what comes before shapes what comes after and how it is used.
Scanning Scanner
Due to a very bad case of cantankerousness, I found myself annoyed with Scanner's article. I would have preferred five pages spent discussing a couple of projects in depth versus a series of brief glosses that do not give a good picture of what these projects did and why they were done. For example, he tells us that performance is limited for electronic music, but not how it is limited. I wanted to hear more about why he choose to have multiple people perform as Scanner on the same night and what it means that people believed it was him. Why did he do it? What did it tell him? What does he think it tells us about the limitations of performance.
Despite this, I found his projects interesting. My favorite piece is the Sound Polaroids. Without romanticizing the possibilities of public participation, I enjoy projects that involve the public affecting the outcome of the project, besides it sounds (hardy har har) like a lot of fun to read teh questionnaires people filled out and then go find those sounds and record them. I wanted to know more about how synethesia came to play in the work and why it was important.
As for his idea that buildings store memories or more accurately, that lost memories are to be found in buildings, I find, despite a somewhat appealing poetic line like "archeology of loss," that his emphasis on "pathos" and "missed connections" frustrating. Yes, any "archeology" digs into something that has been lost, but is it pathetic? Could it perhaps be joyful discovery? Perhaps it could be that we need to lose things because we cannot hold onto to everything? And finding bits and pieces of our histories- far or recent past- give us new insights into our present moment.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Reaction
--scanner--
I found the article very interesting. particularly the section on how Scanner was able to use the city announcement system to broadcast one of his performances. I found the willingness of the city and the scale of the project to be quite amazing. One specific example is the On Broad Way another performance where soundtracks and other familiar media played around a gallery and each viewer's experience changed depending on walking speed and style.
--SCHIZOPHONIC--
This is a splitting of noise between original sound and its electroacoustic reproduction. it has to do with Original sounds being tied to the mechanisms which produce them. ties to fidelity, tape recorders, and sound pollution. The examples are all lo-fi noise filled recordings. Interesting as an intentional process.
I found the article very interesting. particularly the section on how Scanner was able to use the city announcement system to broadcast one of his performances. I found the willingness of the city and the scale of the project to be quite amazing. One specific example is the On Broad Way another performance where soundtracks and other familiar media played around a gallery and each viewer's experience changed depending on walking speed and style.
--SCHIZOPHONIC--
This is a splitting of noise between original sound and its electroacoustic reproduction. it has to do with Original sounds being tied to the mechanisms which produce them. ties to fidelity, tape recorders, and sound pollution. The examples are all lo-fi noise filled recordings. Interesting as an intentional process.
scanner
after reading the article, i feel like i have similar interests of sound exploration with scanner. a lot of what he discussed followed the associative links people develop, which i find myself wondering about all the time. i especially love that he gathered and communicated the sound/place associations of hundreds of people. a collaborative synesthesia.
The Mel Scale
Sheila uploaded the Handbook for Acoustic Ecology for me, so I was able to read about (among other things) the Mel Scale.
Mel Scale - Descending
Instead of being derived from a mathematical series of "steps," the Mel Scale is psychological and perceptual. It is based on steps that SOUND like they are equally spaced, even if they aren't.
I really like the way it sounds. It's kind of playful, and reminds me of the music in the old SNES game Bubsy and other games from the same time period.
Mel Scale - Descending
Instead of being derived from a mathematical series of "steps," the Mel Scale is psychological and perceptual. It is based on steps that SOUND like they are equally spaced, even if they aren't.
I really like the way it sounds. It's kind of playful, and reminds me of the music in the old SNES game Bubsy and other games from the same time period.
Scanner
Overall, I liked this article, but it was a really quick gloss over his work and was missing a crucial component, for the most part - links to video documentation and/or sound. It's very difficult to imagine what a soundscape is like without being immersed in it.
The concept of reality was interesting - what makes a sound "real"? It isn't based entirely in clarity, although clarity is a very important component. Likewise, what dates a sound, makes it sound old or fake? Scanner's concept of a "Sound Polaroid" seemed like an accurate way to describe it, although the temporality and "real"-ness of the sound can be shaped or faked. A modern recording can SOUND like it's from the 60s. But what's interesting is how our minds associate certain elements of a sound with certain time periods and locations.
I like how Scanner started his recordings in the early 90s by the way he lived his life - he had a ham radio and would hear transmissions over the music he was already listening to. I like that he was able to take that and transform it into music/manipulated sound. I also found one of the last pieces he talked about, his "Promotional Show" to be pretty interesting, in that, "one show was reviewed favorably in Germany without the realization that [he] was not in fact present." In this age of digital transmission and storage, the presence of the artist is becoming less and less crucial, but also it seems there is a trend toward ways of performing digital processes live, ways that entertain an audience rather than bore them.
The concept of reality was interesting - what makes a sound "real"? It isn't based entirely in clarity, although clarity is a very important component. Likewise, what dates a sound, makes it sound old or fake? Scanner's concept of a "Sound Polaroid" seemed like an accurate way to describe it, although the temporality and "real"-ness of the sound can be shaped or faked. A modern recording can SOUND like it's from the 60s. But what's interesting is how our minds associate certain elements of a sound with certain time periods and locations.
I like how Scanner started his recordings in the early 90s by the way he lived his life - he had a ham radio and would hear transmissions over the music he was already listening to. I like that he was able to take that and transform it into music/manipulated sound. I also found one of the last pieces he talked about, his "Promotional Show" to be pretty interesting, in that, "one show was reviewed favorably in Germany without the realization that [he] was not in fact present." In this age of digital transmission and storage, the presence of the artist is becoming less and less crucial, but also it seems there is a trend toward ways of performing digital processes live, ways that entertain an audience rather than bore them.
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