Some interesting things I found recently:

# Otomata

Otomata is a generative sequencer. It employs a cellular automaton type logic I’ve devised to produce sound events.

# Paper Record Player via CDM

This is a wedding invitation for my friends Karen and Mike. We created a paper record player to house + play a flexi disc pressed with their original song, inviting guests to the wedding.

# An Exclusive First Look at Tim Thompson’s Kinect-Based Instrument: MultiMultiTouchTouch

Mark writes:

Tim Thompson is a software engineer, musician, and installation artist. He was recently mentioned in Roger Linn’s post “Research Project: LinnStrument — A New Musical Instrument Concept” where Roger credits Tim with writing a program that “translates the TouchCo's proprietary USB messages into TUIO messages sent over OSC.”

I met Tim at my recent concert at the Art Institute of California/Sunnyvale and he was kind enough to invite me over to see his latest development project, the MultiMultiTouchTouch. This custom solution offers players any number of arbitrarily-shaped multitouch areas with three-dimensional spatial control. Interaction with this space allows users to control and play virtual synthesizers using nothing but a Microsoft Kinect as the controller.

Some interesting things I found recently:

# AnalogTelePhonographer

Christopher Locke made an Analog Tele-Phonographer, a sound amplifier for his cell phone/portable music player.

I made it from a broken trumpet and a fistful of scrap metal. The unit uses no external power or batteries, has no moving parts, and is entirely self-contained.

More info: Heartless Machine

# Antique Light Bulb Organ – MIDI/OSC Controlled

Instructables user capricorn1 shows how to create your own antique light bulb organ to add nostalgic ambiance to any midi instrument.

12 light bulbs correspond to the 12 notes in an octave (minus the octave note). The rectangular box unfolds to position the light bulbs vertically for display, while at the same time providing a platform for the keyboard in use. Playing a note on the keyboard directly via midi, or through the usb port illuminates the light bulb for a particular key. Releasing the note, releases the key. Pedal presses are also recognized and keep the bulb maintained. The bulbs can be controlled without a computer by using the front mounted midi port, or via computer which allows for remote control via midi or osc messages.

# Circles and Euclidian Rhythms: Off the Grid, a Few Music Makers That Go Round and Round

Peter Kirn rounds up some music making tools that take the circular approach.

There’s no reason apart from the printed score to assume music has to be divided into grids laid on rectangles. Even the “piano roll” as a concept began as just that – a roll. Cycles the world around, from a mechanical clock to Indonesian gamelan, can be thought of in circles.

Imagine an alternate universe in which Raymond Scott’s circle machine – a great, mechanical disc capable of sequencing sounds – became the dominant paradigm. We might have circles everywhere, in place of left-to-right timelines now common in media software. Regardless, it’s very likely Scott’s invention inspired Bob Moog’s own modular sequencers; it was almost certainly the young Moog’s exposure to the inventions in Scott’s basement that prompted that inventor to go into the electronic music business, thus setting the course for music technology as we know it.

# Cry Baby: The Pedal That Rocks The World on Vimeo

Cry Baby: The Pedal That Rocks The World tells the story of the wah wah effect pedal, from its invention in 1966 to the present day.

Some interesting things I found recently:

# Arcophone Mk II

From the Perth Artifactory:

Owing to the Arcophone Mk I being stuck somewhere on the Nullabor owing to damage to train tracks from the recent rains.

As we had a gig at Scitech we needed a new Arcophone, using the prototype batch of v1.2 coil drivers, Brett, Simon & Daniel spent the better part of the last week building the Arcophone Mk II. The case was designed and cut by Simon Kirkby and the electronics designed and assembled by Brett Downing and Daniel Harmsworth.

More on the Acrophone here.

# Using EXE files to create found audio

Turning data strings like DNA and what-not into audio can produce interesting results. YouTube user r2blend says, "If you import an EXE file into an audio program as audio data, you hear all kinds of cool stuff. The most awesome by far for me was MS Paint." Fisco130 then made a club remix of the MS Paint data audio. Wonder if any scans of great works of art contain secret music? Does malware translate to sad trombone sound, or Rick Astley?

# Chaircrusher – For Delia Derbyshire 2010-03-10

Free 5-track album by Kent Williams.

This EMS Putney came into my hands when I purchased it from Iowa City South East Junior High School in 1997. It is one of the unique artifacts of electronic music. The Putney & it’s close relative, the attache-case-housed Synthi, were workhorse synths at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, and was a favorite of musicians like Brian Eno, Pink Floyd, and other Space Rock bands of the 70s.

It’s sonic character derives in large part from the cheapness of the design and construction. Moog Synthesizers were laboratory grade audio equipment; the Putney is cheap and difficult to use in a traditional musical context. And yet it was seductive. It’s limitations and imperfections enlarged musican’s ideas of what sounds could be musical.

Delia Derbyshire was one of the pioneers of electronic music during and after her tenure at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. She was both a gifted composer and an audacious and precise engineer. Since seeing her in documentaries, and hearing her music I’m both awed by her and have a synth-geek’s crush on her. She was on my mind as I recorded these pieces, and I dedicate them to her memory.

The 5 parts of this piece were recorded in one evening, with no editing or overdubbing. The Putney was plugged into the Stereo Memory Man pedal, and the pedal was plugged into my computer.

The only post processing applied was normalization. These recordings are as close to the original, raw sound of the instrument as I could make them.

Some interesting things I found recently:

# Mike Cook Hexome

A hexagonal monome – a Hexome, made using an Arduino. Containing RGB LEDs

More info at Mike’s website: Hexome

# Imagining a Tablet Synth: Developer Christopher Penrose Shows Us SynthTronica for iPad

Peter at CDM writes:

What can a new digital synth be in 2011? How will it work and sound? And given access to so many excellent tools, how can it stand apart?

In place of a press release and some marketing-speak, developer Christopher Penrose (Leisuresonic, Cosmovox) sent us an extended essay explaining his thinking behind his imminent SynthTronica synth for the iPad. Aside from getting into the nitty-gritty technical details, it cuts to the crux of the issue: how to make something personal and new that nonetheless can work for other people, and how that idea can be tailored to a tablet.

SynthTronica for iPad is now available, iTunes link.

# Dustland – Real-time Live performance by Diego Stocco.

"Dustland" is a cinematic sounding improv that I recorded with the Fence Bass. This instrument has a rough and edgy sound since it's all made of metal, so I imagined a piece that could work in a modern Western film, I'm a fan of the genre.

Everything is created in real time, no pre-existing loops, additional tracks or post-efx involved. I built a chain of processors in Live that I control with a pedal board, all rhythmic parts and ambiences are derived from whatever sound/noise comes from the Fence Bass. I hope you'll like it!

# Beep-it! – Michael Una's Beep-it! device, an optical theremin.

It outputs a square wave whose pitch is controlled by the amount of light striking a photoresistor. You control the pitch by casting shadows over the light sensor, or by pointing it towards/away from a light source. Flashing lights induce an interesting oscillating effect. A single momentary button turns Beep-it on or off.

There is an 1/4″ output jack for connecting to audio equipment like amplifiers, guitar pedals, recording, etc.

Details on Beep-it! at Michael’s website here

# Derek Enos deMIDulator

Short: MIDI-controlled 8-bit digital synthesizer and audio sampler

Long: Device generates several different sounds based on incoming MIDI Note On/Off, Pitch Wheel and Control Change messages. Default waveforms are Sine and Square. An audio sampling function is available to record custom waveform samples that can then be played-back similarly to Sine and Square waveforms (think Impulse Tracker or Scream Tracker or any other tracker from 1997). Audio input is switchable between on-board microphone and external 4-conductor headset jack.

Some interesting things I found recently:

# Beat Meshing – Octatrack – Richard Devine takes the Octatrack for a spin. Want!

First session with the Elektron Octatrack. Checking out some of the capabilities of this new machine. No drum loops used in this short jam. Just triggering single shot samples of nord percussion and analogue drum sounds. Using the three stages of LFO's for each track to control effects animation and various other parameters. Making some use of the re-trigger sample functions spanned across 4 patterns.

More info on the Octatrack at Elektron, and Peter Kirn at CDM has some more thoughts + a video by Matthew Dear here.

# Apple themed Overnight Sensation MTM

Brett Martin aka PCmofo has finished his DIY desktop speaker system project. Nice job!

Finally the speakers are finished! Now for the fun part….. The final pictures!

Assembly went great, I was able to stuff them and the bass sounds much better as do the mids. I am really loving the black coated screws, from some angles and distances they completely disappear, then up close the detail comes out and they look pretty cool.

I plan on using these speakers with Apples 27" cinema display, as they are both the same height. Unfortunately, I dont have mine yet so I borrowed a 26" iMac which is also the same design for a few photos to get an idea of the size of these speakers.

via Make

# Remember Chernobyl – 25th Anniversary Music Compilation by Ambientaria Records

For the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl Accident, Ambientaria Records has gathered many Dark Ambient artists, including famous ones like Northaunt or Atomtrakt, for a Compilation project.

The album will be released on April 1st, 2011.

All the benefits shall be reversed to Chernobyl Children International (http://www.chernobyl-international.com/), a non-profit organisation with United Nations NGO status, in order to help people suffering from Radiation Poisoning.

Details at the official project page and the Facebook event page.

Some interesting things I found recently:

# Visualized: 37 years of Roland synths in one awesome animated GIF

Engadget reports on an animated gif which holds a collection of 88 Roland synths:

You know how much we love our vintage MIDI gear, and apparently our friend Ronny from Das Kraftfuttermischwerk is every bit as big a fan as we are. To that end, he's taken Music Radar's recent guide to all-things Roland and turned it into an awesome (and headache-inducing) animated GIF.

Apparently the collection lacks the TR and TB series instruments, otherwise everything the company has produced between 1973 and 2010 should be there.

Check the Das Kraftfuttermischwerk site for the animated gif and a large image with all synths included.

# KVR: new skin (Triple Cheese)

New skin for u-he's freeware Triple Cheese software synthesizer.

u-he Triple Cheese in a new skin

Download Triple Cheese for Windows and Mac (VST/AU) from u-he

# The MC-20 Controller

The MC-20 Controller. Special build for iMS-20 APP from Korg, to use with the iPad.

With iPad Slot to keep the iPad inside the case, and remove it, when ever you want, without opening the case.

# MPC Poster

MPC users rejoice with this lovely poster by Hip Hop Makers.