/* Saturday September 12th, 2009 11:35:18 AM

I just figured out how to search by record label on Rhapsody.com.

First, go to an album on Rhapsody that is released by the record label you want to search. Copy the exact wording of the label's name (for example "Folkways Records"). Then go use Google with a query that is formatted like the following example:

"Record Label Folkways Records" site:rhapsody.com

This brings up 412 results. If you get a message like the following...

In order to show you the most relevant results, we have omitted some entries very similar to the 67 already displayed.
If you like, you can repeat the search with the omitted results included.

... repeat the search for more results.

Also, you can show album artwork by enabling "Show Options" > "Images from Page".

You can also use this to search for other keywords.
I am thinking about wrapping this up into a into a small website that would be an alternative rhapsody search engine. Any thoughts?

Enjoy!

_Richard */

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/* Saturday April 25th, 2009 03:43:21 PM

Machine Project Field Recording Workshop

Instructor Clay Chaplin

What is field recording?

Phonography (.org)
	For example, recording a stream.

Lomax Recordings
	Lead Belly

Colan Turnbol (1957)
	Recordings in Rainforest

Music Concrete
	Pier Shafer - Symfony for one man
	early 1950's

Hugh LaCain
	A drip of water varied
	"short but sweat"

Glen Gould--"Idea of North"
	Field recording interview
	Train ride north (like photokoto)
	his editing choices are most important

Field Recording as being related to photography

Jen Boyd--field recordings of trees with contact microphone
	She had a piece at the San Francisco Electronic Music festival

Hydrophone
	Field Recording and its connection to science

"Sound Quilts"

Collecting

Noise Water Meat

Quality
	Sample rate
		CD 44.1K
		Film 48k

	Bit Depth
		16bit, 24bit

Human Hearing ~ 20hz - 20khz

Harmonics make up timbre

Recording chain
	General rule: "anywhere crap in, crap out"

	1. Microphone
		- diaphragm
		- how sensitive is it?
	2. Preamp
		- amplifies the microphone
	3. A/D converter 

	Levels--12 peak value
	Don't turn the headphones up all the way

the WULF

_Richard */

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/* Monday August 18th, 2008 03:53:45 PM

As a kid growing up, my favorite video games were multiplayer games. Having spent so much time playing them, it is no surprise that I still desire multiplayer experiences. This NES controller to MIDI converter is another exploration of the connections between sound/music and play/games. It is an interface for sonic collaboration and entertainment.

When used by one performer, the interaction takes on a whole new direction. The performer finds ways to use all the controllers at once. This can be done with the feet, elbows, palms, head, etc.

The controllers as instruments can be used to trigger anything from sonic explosions to calm meditation.

Two arpeggiated mbiras with kettle noises and door squeaks:


Improvisational duet with melodious second half:


Noisy upright bass and kitchen noises:


See Video (youtube)

_Richard */

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/* Wednesday July 30th, 2008 12:46:12 PM

MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface, IPA: /ˈmɪdi/) is an industry-standard protocol that enables electronic musical instruments, computers, and other equipment to communicate, control, and synchronize with each other. MIDI allows computers, synthesizers, MIDI controllers, sound cards, samplers and drum machines to control one another, and to exchange system data.

MIDI does not transmit an audio signal or media — it transmits digital data "event messages" such as the pitch and intensity of musical notes to play, control signals for parameters such as volume, vibrato and panning, cues, and clock signals to set the tempo. As an electronic protocol, it is notable for its widespread adoption throughout the industry, and for continuing in use since its introduction in 1983 (Musical Instrument Digital Interface).

Most people know MIDI as the cheesy sounding music files that were popular in the early days of computers and the internet. Imagine a midi version of Christina Auguilera's "Genie In A Bottle" that suddenly loads and pollutes your sound space. Or maybe you have memories of downloading MIDI versions of your favorite video game tunes like the Super Mario World Overworld 2 song.

During the days of dial-up internet, MIDI files (.mid) were popular because of their small file size. The file simply contains a sort-of musical score that gets played by built in sounds on your computer, which are known as General MIDI sounds (GM). Now that most people use broadband internet, MIDI files are no longer popular, because people just download compressed audio formats such as MP3. The majority of people who download and listen to MIDI files do so for less pragmatic than nostalgic purposes.

Even though MIDI files are no longer popular for the consumption of music, they are still popular for the creation of music. Most music composition programs can import/export MIDI files. See Finale, Ableton Live, Pro Tools", and List of Scorewriters. MIDI files act as mediators between different software programs.

The MIDI file format is only one implementation of the MIDI communication protocol. If you take a look at just about any synthesizer, sequencer, drum machine, etc. created after 1983, you will find up to three MIDI ports (IN, OUT, THRU).



These ports allow communication with other electronic instruments. For example, a music studio could sync all their sequencers to a central computer. The play button on that computer could trigger all the other sequencers to start playing in unison. The stop button would stop them all.

The most popular use of the MIDI communication protocol is to use a MIDI controller to play an external sound module. This is like using a video game controller to control a video game system. The controller sends information that is interpreted by receiving device. Using a MIDI controller is almost essential for laptop musicians who need a way to control software synthesizers. The most common controllers are piano keyboards such as the M-AUDIO Oxygen 8. There are other kinds of midi controllers such as drum pad controllers for playing rhythms such as the Korg padKONTROL (released in 2006). On Korg's website, they describe this machine as

The all-new padKONTROL joins Korg’s expanding line-up of MIDI studio controllers. Adding another dimension beyond traditional keyboard control, the padKONTROL is the most expressive and versatile pad controller ever! (Korg padKONTROL)

Even though it is old, the MIDI protocol is still widely used and being developed for.

Most commercial MIDI controllers stay within the realm of keyboards, drum pads, and/or knob/slider boxes. With a few exceptions such as the Korg MS20, the most exciting MIDI interfaces are homemade or produced on a small scale. An advantage of building a homemade MIDI controller is that it can be designed to meet an exact requirement. Artist Laetitia Sonami, is a excellent example of an artist who has invented her own electronic instrument for performance. She calls it "Lady's Glove". It is made of "five microswitches, four Hall effect transducers, pressure pad, resistive strips and two ultrasonic receivers" and "a mercury switch on the top of the hand and an accelerometer which measures the speed of motion of the hand" (Lady's Glove). The video C74 Perspectives: Laetitia Sonami on Youtube shows her describing and performing the instrument.


(from MAKE: Blog: Alternate MIDI controllers)

In general, the interface that is used has a direct relationship to the creativity that is produced. This is a design issue. A generic all-purpose MIDI controller such as the M-AUDIO Oxygen 8 will not produce or incline the same creativity as for example Sonami's "Lady's Glove". Or take for example a piano compared to a trumpet. The main difference is that piano's sounds are created with only the hands, and the trumpet requires hands and blowing. Another difference is that the piano is polyphonic (multiple notes at a time), whereas the trumpet is monophonic (one note at time). Ironically, a MIDI controller that is designed for generic applications, will be less useful than a MIDI interface that is designed for a specific application. In other words, a MIDI instrument is better than a MIDI controller. Sonami successfully blends both interface and sound to create a unique musical instrument.

Before the popularization of the DIY craft scene, interfacing to MIDI required a great deal more engineering skills. Now, creating homemade MIDI instruments is more accessible than ever. Websites such as Instructables and Make Magazine provide introductory guides for beginners and inspiration for experienced inventors. One of the easiest ways to make a MIDI interface is to use a special device such as Lada Ada's MIDIsense. This circuit has MIDI ports and connections for hooking up sensors - simply connect some knobs, pressure sensors, switches, etc. to a MIDIsense and a new MIDI interface will be born. This however, is not an ideal solution, because a MIDIsense costs approximately $50. For creating multiple projects, this overhead is too steep. If one instead uses the Arduino platform, overhead can be cut down to a meager $13 by using the low-footprint Really Bare Bones Board Arduino clone by Modern Devices and a 5 PIN DIN Jack (All Electronics # DIN-5C). Sending MIDI messages out of an Arduino is simple and explained in an NYU ITP Article on MIDI Output.

The Arduino is the microcontroller of choice for the DIY and new media artist community. It is even being incorporated into the curriculum of many universities such as in the class Programming Media 2, which is taught by Casey Reas at UCLA's Design | Media Arts program. It is not the only microcontroller option, however.Youtube user "recotana" has demonstrated that it is possible to send MIDI with a tiny circuit the size of a thumbnail using a PIC microcontroller. The PIC platform remains too complex with the lack of an online community that is comparable to the Arduino community.

MIDI is a standard electronic musical protocol. The possibilities are endless. One could for example connect an old Palm V to a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) by using Mini Music's Spin Pad software, a Palm to MIDI cable and Wayfar's NES MIDI interface. Or one could make his/her own electronic instrument that controls sounds generated in custom software such as Max/Msp or Pure Data. Custom-made MIDI instruments are more expressive than generic MIDI controllers. MIDI instruments are more interesting for both the performer and the audience as seen through the work of Leatitia Sonami. The overhead for creating MIDI projects is cheap, the programming is not as complex as it used to be, and there is a supportive online community.

I hope I have shared my excitement and inspired you to create your own MIDI instruments.


Further Reading:

http://www.sonami.net/lady_glove2.htm (Sonami's "Lady's Glove")
http://tomscarff.tripod.com/index.htm ("old school" MIDI hardware designs)
http://www.arduino.cc/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1187962258/ (Arduino MIDI in schematic)
http://nagasm.suac.net/ASL/NIME03/index.html (Interesting research on sensors for instruments)
http://itp.nyu.edu/physcomp/Labs/MIDIOutput (Arduino MIDI output)
http://little-scale.blogspot.com/2007/06/arduino-midi-out-example.html (Another Arduino MIDI output)
http://www.ladyada.net/make/midisense/forcesensors.html (Force Sensors)
http://www.saxmusicplus.com/?p=126 (A article on MIDI Controllers)
http://www.ucapps.de/midibox_gallery.html (Gallery of devices made with the MIDIbox)
http://home.comcast.net/~ijfritz/sos_over.htm (Excellent homemade MIDI instruments)
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?sofocus=bs&sbrftog=1&dfsp=32&catref=C6&from=R40&satitle=midi+controller&sacat=-1%26catref%3DC6&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D2&sadis=200&fpos=90024&sabfmts=1&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=32%26fsoo%3D2&fgtp= (EBAY search for MIDI Controller)
http://createdigitalmusic.com/index.php?s=+midi+controller (Create Digital Music blog tag=midi controller)
http://www.dreamcastgallery.com/dc/gallery.asp?selected_otherkit_id=638 (MIDI to Sega Dreamcast)
http://wayfar.net/0xf00000_overview.php (MIDI to NES)
http://code.google.com/p/arduinoboy/ (MIDI to GAMEBOY)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIDI_Maze (Computer game that uses the MIDI protocol for multiplayer)
http://natrium42.com/w/images/thumb/d/dd/Midi-overview.jpg/400px-Midi-overview.jpg (Image of Nintendo DS to MIDI adaptor)
http://youtube.com/results?search_query=midi+controller&search_type=&aq=f (Youtube search for MIDI Controller)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZsF9DVKSnP0 (Although not MIDI, an interesting electronic controller)
http://reactable.iua.upf.edu/?related (Although not MIDI, an interesting instrument)
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/03/alternative_midi_controll.html (Make Magazine article on alternate MIDI controllers)
http://www.minimusic.com/spinpad.html (Palm MIDI software)
http://www.frankwillems.com/gig-rig/old_gig-rig9.html (Palm MIDI make)
http://petemoss.org/software/midihw.txt (Palm MIDI make two)
http://www.ittymidi.com/product_a0005.asp (Palm MIDI buy)

_Richard */

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/* Thursday July 03rd, 2008 09:34:57 PM

As you may or may not have noticed, I have been updating this site recently. There is more content on the Touch page, there is pagination on this ReadMe page, and now there are ReadMe Comments.

I am updating my site, because I want to reach more people. Ideally, there could be a community around this site similar to the little-scale blog or the website of Gijs Gieskes. I like how there is a relationship between their creativity and a community. For example, I check these sites often and track their progress, because I enjoy and learn from their projects. For these sites, it seems that the relationship with their followers could inspire them to be creative, which in turn inspires their followers to be creative.

I added comments, because I want people to go to my site. I want people to critique and question my work and ideas. I want to share what I know with people, and I want to learn from people. I want to form creative relationships.

_Richard */

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/* Sunday June 29th, 2008 08:21:39 AM

I just spent the last three hours browsing the internet and trying to interface a joystick with Pure Data. I want to create a two-joystick software-based version of the joystick synth. Pure Data has been a frustrating program so far. First of all, there is hardly any documentation available on the web. The closest thing I found to an introduction were two video tutorials on youtube that were helpful, but still not enough to get me really started with PD. I keep leaning towards using MAX MSP because of the clean user interface and less steep learning curve. I am using PD-extended, and the HID joystick examples that it comes with do not work because there are missing objects.

I am evaluating the benefits of trying to learn a complicated software (Pure Data) versus using software with a higher level of abstraction. I could for example, just route the joystick data to Ableton Live and use a pre-made software synthesizer or sampler. These however have a completely different sound quality than the barebones sine/square wave oscillators of Pure Data. But is the use minimalist synthesis just a trend, a sort of intellectual masturbation?

I spend some time each day browsing the web and searching for new interesting videos and projects. Youtube is a good place to do this. While exploring these projects, I can't help but wonder what my and other people's motivations are. Some times I feel like the situation is a constant one-up competition to see who can do the most technically challenging feat. Other times I feel like each person thinks they are the next experimental music auteur - the next John Cage.

The phrase "the next" has a dialectical relationship to history or the past. It refers to a previous who is or will no longer be because the next will take its place. The next would not exist without the past, and the past would not exist without the next. What happens to the present when we are preoccupied by the past and future? Is it ignored?

Just because the earlier pioneers of electronic music used sine waves and square waves because that was all the had, does not mean that we still have to use them with our advanced technology with which any sound is possible. Innovation can draw from history, but it must be about the present, because the goal is, after all, to communicate with people - to share experience and ideas.

_Richard */

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/* Friday June 27th, 2008 10:43:28 AM

At one point I was in a experimental trio with musicians Cynthia Payne and Leaf Tine. We would get together and play experimental music over Internet 2 with Stanford CCRMA and Rensselaer. Leaf's primary instruments were a circuit bent keyboard, amplified rocks, and a joystick synthesizer, which I was always envious of.

Since I am now acquainted with electronics, I created my own joystick synthesizer. It is a modified pc joystick with a built-in square wave oscillator and lowpass filter. It is an excellent sound source to use on its own or feed into effects. I have posted the schematic and parts list so that you can build your own (I take no responsibility for damage you cause to your speaker or yourself ... etc)!






Joy Stick Part List

_Richard */

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/* Wednesday June 18th, 2008 09:21:54 PM

It's summer. I am taking Linear Algebra at community college. It's a way to get my day started early and learn some fun matrices at the same time. I am working on several projects at the moment. The first is a square wave joystick synth based off of the instrument used by musician Leaf Tine. The next is a two player pair of midi NES controllers. Next is turning organ pedals to be a midi controller. A midi drum pad is in the works. Practicing classical piano everyday. Working on a secret new website in php. :)

_Richard */

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/* Thursday May 22nd, 2008 10:34:18 PM

Playing the piano (or any other musical instrument) is like planting a seed. Each time you practice you add water and nutrients to the plant. You cannot tell if the plant is growing on a day to day basis. If you trust that your care is effective, however, and keep on showing it love everyday, you will start to notice slow growth, and overtime, you will notice significant changes that would surprise you.

_Richard */

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/* Friday February 01st, 2008 11:10:11 PM

This camera sequencer was made by Gijs Gieskes (see :http://gieskes.nl/). He is one my favorite new media artists and one my inspirations. I also wouldn't mind owning one of his gameboy bricks.

Another one of my inspirations is Toshio Iwai. He is most famous for creating the Nintendo DS game Electroplankton and also for his interactive musical installations (see :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgifXO0z7Us).

_Richard */

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