Results for Waveformless

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:

# 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.

Waveformless Soundware has launched with the release of the Vanguard Phoenix Bank, a collection of patches for the Vanguard virtual synthesizer by reFX.

Why is our debut product a bank of sounds for a relatively old soft-synth? Because we believe that every good programmer knows that just because a synth is a little long in the tooth, that doesn’t mean there aren’t still great sounds to be found within it. With that in mind, “Vanguard Phoenix” aims to breathe new life into Vanguard and take it places you never knew it could go.

Floor-rattling Moog basses, thick, lush pads, searing leads, convincing vintage synths, icy, digital tones, complex, evolving arps – you’ll find them all here in a bank of 128 brand new patches programmed by Tom Shear. These sounds go well beyond the expected trance leads (which you’ll also find here) and would be equally at home in electro-house, minimal, synth-pop, EBM, and even old-school vintage styles.

All sounds included both as a full bank (.fxb format) and as individual patches (.fxp format). Also includes a PDF installation guide. Requires Vanguard 1.8.

The Waveformless Vanguard Phoenix Bank is available to purchase as a download for $9.99 USD. A demo bank with 10 free patches is available to download from the Waveformless Soundware website.

More information: Waveformless Soundware

Some interesting things I found recently:

# Touchscreen or Tangible? Use Both: A Practical, Affordable, Playable PC Rig with Usine

Peter Kirn writes:

Touchscreens? Good, old-fashioned faders, knobs, and pads? Why not just use what suits the job – especially when you can choose both on the cheap?

Nay-Seven shares some of his latest work with Usine, the brilliant, modular and touch-centric tool for Windows. It’s a futuristic rig that’s also down-to-earth. Touchscreen monitors can be had for around US$300 street, and the Akai LPD8 and Korg nanoKONTROL controllers each figure under a hundred bucks. Usine, the software, is a bargain for its depth at EUR120, and free and educational versions are available.

Nay-Seven: Here a work where i use the sequencer of Usine not to sequence audio or midi but patches : patches appear only when i need them , easy way to have only the controls you need on the screen, i also associate here works with faders and pads via personal patches for lpd8 and nano kontrol and the use of a touchscreen . Made with Usine ( sensomusic.com ) thanks also to Michael Ourednik for his great vst Argotlunar

# John Olson: LIFE’s Young Photographer at Work – Rock Stars and Their Parents

They had fame, reams of money, and fans willing to do wild, unmentionable things just to breathe the same air — but in 1971, LIFE illustrated a different side of rock stars: Just like most of us mere mortals, they came from humble backgrounds, with moms and dads who bragged and worried about them every day. Assigned to take portraits of the artists at home with their sweetly square folks, photographer John Olson traveled everywhere from the suburbs of London to Brooklyn to the San Francisco Bay Area, capturing in his work the love that bridged any cultural divide that may have existed between his subjects. Now, as a special treat for Mother's Day, LIFE.com brings back Olson's nostalgia-inducing photos — check out the awesome '70s decor! — and talks with the photographer himself about his memories of those shoots.

Includes pictures of Frank Zappa, The Jackson Five, Joe Cocker, and more.

The truth about the gentle reviewer

Carl at Plughugger:

Writing about and reviewing products is a subject that is brought up in forums and reader correspondence, and it generally follows the same story. Someone has read a magazine, got annoyed because 98% of the products got at least 8/10 ratings and/or a fancy award. Conclusion – the reviewers are in the pockets or the advertisers or simply bribed.

After working in the publishing business as a daily job for many years, I have to say that – sadly – I still haven't met a music technology journalist who drives a BMW or bloating around in a Hummer.

Writers in this genre are not bought, nor incompetent.

Carl brings up some excellent points in this article.

I generally don’t post any reviews of products I really don’t like. I just can’t be bothered to spend time on something really bad… Seems Tom at Waveformless is a different kind of reviewer… (not really of course, just pulling your leg, Tom)

# "Sounds from a Distant Outpost" Ableton Live Pack Experiment Update – New Compositions + 1000 Downloads and Counting

Mark Mosher writes:

On December 17th, 2010 I released the Sounds from a Distant Outpost FREE Live Pack.

Now, a little over a month later there have been over 1,000 downloads from http://www.outpostexperiment.com/!

The most exciting thing for me is that a two people have REALLY dug into the 12 instruments in the Live Pack and have taken the time to compose tracks using ONLY instruments from this pack.

I’ve attached their two songs plus a third I created below. It’s pretty fantastic that while we didn’t directly collaborate all the works are quite different yet sound they all sound like they are telling stories from the same universe.

Some interesting things I found recently:

# Spoon Organ

Spoon Organ is an instrument that I created to show at the Make Tokyo Meeting 06 this past weekend. The user can play musical tunes simply by touching a row of spoons sitting on a table, with a fork added in for good measure. A microcontroller is used to detect changes in capacitance caused by a finger pressing against the metal, which are then sent to a computer using the MIDI protocol.

# Interview: Music Production Guru and Violinist Laura Escude

Peter Kirn interviews Laura Escudé.

She’s a composer, a sound designer, a performer, and a violinist; she’s recognized as an expert in Ableton Live and has worked with artists ranging from Cirque du Soleil to Kanye West. But now we really get to hear Laura Escudé’s musical vision as a complete picture in her debut album this year, Pororoca. That seemed the perfect time to talk to Laura about her work, particularly as it lies at the intersection of vectors in sound, visuals, and technology that matter so much to so many of us. Laura shares where she sees the music scene going, her own evolution in finding her sound and performance style, and what still lies ahead, and proves – as expected – a fantastic resource for thinking about issues artistic and technological.

Looks like some of Laura’s favorite software instruments are the same as mine, including Rob Papen synths (especially BLUE), Native Instruments Massive and Reaktor, and u-he’s wireless virtual modular Zebra synth.

# Jethroe Dub DJ FX

Jethroe has posted a free Ableton FX rack which will help you get some of those dirty dub sounds.

He also posted a couple of other interesting Ableton related things recently. Wondering how to warp multitrack audio files in Ableton Live? Check here. Also, a variphrasing in Ableton Live step-by-step here.