Their Unfailing Test from abre ojos on Vimeo.
New work from my friend Abre Ojos, see more HAXAN at his website.Everything makes music
Lovely sentiment. Sometimes kids books really stoke their sense of wonder.
From the book Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees.
Bloody kids
Took my old monitors to Burning Seed so I could play DJ in the Kids Camp and found someone pushed my speaker dome in.
Kicked to death
Found a dead spider on my kick drum. I like to think my kick was powerful enough to kill but it was probably my smelly feet.
It's not the first time a spider has been attracted to my music gear.
Intergalactic effects
Spotted these Star Wars-themed pedals on Ebay. Neat.
Another promising boutique effect pedal on Ebay is this one:
Talking Machine
A few months ago I posted a video of a theremin through a Talking Machine pedal, which made me want to try one. Seeing as the Australian dollar has been punching above its weight, I decided now was the time and I recommend Mad Ape on Ebay for superior service -- not only did the pedal ship quickly from the US but they included an Australian power adapter. Fantastic service!
Haven't given it much of a go yet but it sounds amazing on bass guitar, great variety of filters ranging from fuzzy wah through to vowel-y and classic funky sounds.
See Audio Technology this month
You'll find many tips on recording with contact microphones, as well as free software in my interview in the October issue of Audio Technology.
Or you can read it on your tablet FREE at www.audiotechnology.com.au/tablet
Rod Cooper's instruments
I'd forgotten how cool Rod's instruments sound. Saw him perform in Wagga a couple of times and have been meaning to hear his work on the Rogue soundtrack.
Rare Speak and Spell back cover
This Texas Instruments Speak & Spell possesses a rare component, one which anyone who has ever looked at secondhand Speak & Spell units would appreciate. This Speak & Spell unit has an intact battery cover.The device works but soon I hope to make it work in way not intended by Texas Instruments by creating some new connections.
Covered
These images were taken at The CAD Factory's night of short performances at Wagga Wagga Art Gallery last weekend for the Uncovered exhibition. I've begun editing my video footage and am thoroughly enjoying revisiting the event.
Fisher Price clock
Recently I treated myself to a Barcus-Berry piezo microphone and tried it out on this Fisher Price clock I've been meaning to record for a while. Listening back to it now I can hear there's too much compression, just listen to way the sound is slapped down after each tick.
Don't Look Bach
Here's my track for the Disquiet Junto group on Soundcloud this week.The instructions were:
Disquiet Junto Project 0036: Still Life
The painter Clyfford Still (1904-1980) was one of the great practitioners of abstract expressionism. The Clyfford Still Museum in Denver, Colorado, not only houses a wealth of his works, it also has on display artifacts from Still's daily life and practice, such as his smock, his old paint cans — and his record collection. These records, displayed behind glass, include pieces by Wagner, Mozart, Beethoven, and Bach, among others, and they're accompanied by a small note: "Clyfford Still was passionate about music, particularly classical music. Shown here are several samples from his record collection." In this week's project we're going to take that word "sample" literally.
There's an interesting question inherent here about matters of aesthetic influence: how it is that the man who painted such massive and graphically evocative works was, in fact, listening to music far more figurative than the art he himself produced? The goal of this week's Disquiet Junto project is to take a shared sample of the sort of music that Still loved — a 78rpm recording of J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, II. Andante — and turn it into something that might be deserving of the term "abstract expressionism."
So, the instructions for this week are as follows:
Step 1. Please select part of this MP3 of J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, II. Andante:
http://goo.gl/XqBvb
Step 2. Then transform that sample, through any methods you desire, into something that you feel meets the definition of "abstract expressionism" provided by the Clyfford Still Museum: "marked by abstract forms, expressive brushwork, and monumental scale."
You cannot add any sounds to the sample, but you can manipulate the sample in any way you see fit.
Deadline: Monday, September 10, at 11:59pm wherever you are.
Length: Your finished work should be between 2 and 10 minutes in length.
Information: Please when posting your track on SoundCloud, include a description of your process in planning, composing, and recording it. This description is an essential element of the communicative process inherent in the Disquiet Junto.
Milestones in recording technology
A little while ago I mentioned Perfecting Sound Forever and how it gave a great overview of the development of audio recording technology in the 20th Century. This remarkable video does a great job of demonstrating the technology.
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