Recently I got a kalimba (thumb piano) as birthday present. Unbelievable how much fun that little toy is! Following examples were recorded with a contact mic.
With effects:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Without effects:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
“In time, I came to the conclusion that the dehydrated cats and the application of Fourier analysis to hearing problems became more and more a handicap for research in hearing.”
Georg von Békésy
As announced earlier, I’m working on my next release. My original plan was to release it around christmas, however, I skipped this plan for several reasons.
First: There might be a very limited physical release of this record, which takes additional time for realization. Second: I do want to add some remixes of the original compositions. I’m working on different versions myself…
I’ve been busy quite some time lately, different projects catched my attention and destroyed my free time. First, there’s a Capybara320/Kyma in my studio now. Wonderful sound design workstation, I must admit.
On the other hand there’ve been just enough summerdays left not to stay in doors too long, keeping me away from the Kyma a bit.
Nevertheless I’ve been working hard on two projects, first my Fairground Recordings, which I’ve been able to give a listen and further postprocessing. I’ll probably finish a sample pack this winter, if you’re interested.
Apart from this I found my bandcamp page somewhat half-empty. So I decided to work on a follow up to my imperfect objects for perfect moments EP. Have a first glance:
Also some time ago I placed this demo recording on soundcloud. A different version of this song will end up on the EP: opaque texture by ab-arts
I’ll report when the thing is finished and released, meanwhile please also watch my soundcloud and bandcamp!
I took the saturday afternoon to do some field recordings of fairground organs at the Volksfest in Nuremberg. A more detailed post about the recording session itself will follow. Some cool results came out when the organ recordings got in touch with my modular system. Some results of this event follow now.
A short segment, looped with the Doepfer Sampler module:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
The same segment, but with pitch modulation by a Woggle Bug. Gives us quite some tape-flair, doesn’t it?
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
And a droney segment:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
And last but not least, here’s a teaser for the original (=unmodified) recordings, which I will upload at some time. Fairground Organ by ab-arts
I’m on “summer vacation” currently, which does not mean that I’ve a time off and travel or so, but rather that there were lots of people visiting me durint their summer vacation, so I spent my free time with friends instead of machines.
There will be updates on my soundblog though, since I’m working on a release again. Watch here and the bandcamp site in the next months!
However, to make this post somewhat sound related: I bought the supercollider book and started learning this powerful language in a more formalized way. I’m lacking time though (when room temperatures reach 25°C and more, like in the last period of heat lately, I don’t start up the computer for several reasons).
Latest addition to my Eurorack Modular is the MOTM E-340 Cloud Bee Generator.
A short droney demo is here:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Idle Chatter, that’s the title of a classic computer composition from the pioneering computer musician Paul Lansky.
But it’s also what happens when you turn on the Flame Midi Talking Synth, a weird synthesis unit that happens to be here in my studio for some days before it makes it’s way to it’s owner. The Midi Talking Synth is out of stock and used units are rare, but fortunately Flame offers a Talking Synth Eurorack Module, which basically is half of the Midi Talking Synth without sequencing and midi functionality.
I had no time to dig deeper into this piece of synth, so this demo was made tweaking the Midi Talking Synths’ joysticks, buttons and switches randomly.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Playing live is always an ambitious project – but it’s especially when it comes to new material.
I got this new toy, the Electro Harmonix 2880 looper, which is more than awesome. It enables me for the first time to play the songs of my EP “imperfect objects for perfect moments” live. So I started practicing.
You can judge yourself how hard this is; my first live interpretations of my own songs sound clumsy. Ends (live, excerpt) by ab-arts
