> The next two HISSandaROAR libraries I’ve been working on for over a year, but when I say working what I really mean is buying/collecting variations of specific props…. But now its time to put these collections into action… Both sets are relatively subtle sounds that require a very quiet room to really capture them, so I’ve booked a session at Park Road Post on their ADR stage and have borrowed a serious set of mics: a Sennheiser MKH800, two MKH8020s and a MKH8050, plus I’ll add two contact mics at times depending on the setup… more news soon-ish…. and also some news about the HISSandaROAR Xmas Present!
> Lastly I’m posting a link to this article on innovation for one person – others may benefit from it but I really seriously hope that one person reads it and takes it to heart… Don’t get me wrong – we all reference, learn and are influenced be each other, and good ideas have a life of their own but putting aside the considerable subject of ethics for a moment, directly copying just shows a total lack of imagination – I’ve had to threaten legal action once already with this person, so he knows who he is. Enough already!
From one point of view these are just amusing mashups, from another they are parallel realities, and from yet another they are remarkable technical & creative efforts that work musically, kind of…
But there’s also a slightly juvenile appeal that makes me think of how the diehard fans of each band will react, and for those people (who maybe take it all a little too seriously) these videos provide a wonderfully therapeutic service! Check out Andy Rehfeldts youtube channel – there’s probably a band that you like, that he has genre shifted!
Frankly ALL Christmas songs shred my ears as much as this one, but at least this made me laugh…
> Incase you haven’t seen it, this footage is truly amazing due to the fact that no one was seriously hurt or killed – a helicopter was meant to be moving a big Christmas tree on the Auckland waterfront in NZ when it hire a guy wire & crashed… the pilot was unhurt but there were a couple of people filming at the time & OMG – the footage is astounding. But so is the sound! Have a listen HERE
> Electronic Van Orlax? more photos & a recording of it in action here
> This could be the most interesting kickstarter project I’ve seen yet, and the fact they aimed to raise $35k and just passed $60k with 38 days still to go says a lot… But not as much as what I imagine you could do with the finished product: a tiny device that can connect anything to the internet – check out Twine
One of the first things I thought of: the Sound Devices 788t can be controlled by an iPhone, so it has wifi – imagine having a 788t set up in the middle of nowhere, and using Twine to activate record (with preroll buffer) any time it detects motion…
via babelfish: Acousmographe (download here) is a software of listening and representation of the aural signal. It facilitates the location, the annotation and the thorough description of any recording and any music, in particular electroacoustic or of oral tradition. Capacities of visualizations of the signal, listenings in modes slowed down or filtered, and many graphic tools make it possible to carry out a presentation worked out for the teaching or the musicologic analysis of the not written musics.” – its the first app I’ve seen for creating graphic scores!!
This isn’t a post about music to play while you take part in that most dreadful middle class event known as dinner parties (can you tell I have an allergy?) – this is about those times when music is so captivating & beautiful you forget to eat… Last night I had a three course musical feast!
First up, the entree: Nils Frahm album Felt – I’ve posted links to his beautiful album before but I never knew the context for the very interesting piano sound in some of the tracks:
“Originally I wanted to do my neighbours a favour by damping the sound of my piano. If I want to play piano during the quiet of the night, the only respectful way is by layering thick felt in front of the strings and using very gentle fingers. It was then that I discovered that my piano sounds beautiful with the damper. I hear myself breathing and panting, the scraping sound of the piano’s action and the creaking of my wooden floorboards – all equally as loud as the music. The music becomes a contingency, a chance, an accident within all this rustling. My heart opens and I wonder what exactly it is that makes me feel so happy.” – Nils Frahm.
The main course was listening to a three CD set of electro acoustic works by New Zealand pioneering composer Douglas Lilburn – the set is released by the Attol record label and includes a DVD with 4 channel works on it – I haven’t listened to it yet… But how or why its taken me until now to listen to Lilburns work I cannot explain, because it is simply extraordinary!
More info on the 3 CD + DVD set is available from Attoll
UPDATE: was just reading the booklet that comes with it & then did a search – theres a bit of info about the studio Lilburn started at Victoria University here which lists Roland 100 Modular Synth, AKS Synthi-A and Putney VCS-3 amongst the equipment, but in the booklet it also describes & has a photo of a “60-by-70 patching matrix” which was I guess based on the smaller patch matrix of the Synthi…
For dessert was an album of outtakes & soundboard recordings of the legendary album by Brian Eno & David Byrne called Ghosts (“Outtakes from My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts. Very good to excellent soundboard”) – not sure how legit the source is but I downloaded it here but they do say “Thanks to booomboom who shared these tracks on the net in 2005….. As far as we can ascertain, these tracks have never been officially released on CD.” – they make for fascinating listening!
Track 01. Interview 3:06 (4.2MB)
Excerpt from Brian Eno’s February 2, 1980 KPFA-FM interview.
Track 02. Mea Culpa 5:04 (6.9MB)
Track 03. Into the Spirit Womb 6:19 (8.6MB)
Track 04. Regiment 4:19 (5.9MB)
05. The Friends Of Amos Tutuola – Omitted*
Track 06. America Is Waiting 3:48 (5.2MB)
Track 07. The Carrier 4:29 (6.1MB)
Track 08. Very Very Hungry 3:29 (4.7MB)
09. On The Way To Zagora – Omitted*
10. Les Hommes Ne Le Sauront Jamais – Omitted*
Track 11. A Secret Life 2:37 (3.6MB)
Track 12. Come with Us 2:44 (3.7MB)
Track 13. Mountain of Needles 2:37 (3.5MB)
Now I want to go mess with that Bush of Ghosts remix I started and never finished… But if you need an after dinner mint, maybe have a listen to the great collection of contenders at Disquiet – Our lives in the bush of disquiet (wow, was that really back in 2006! time really does fly!)
I’ve already posted the video here, so this time I’ll just post the photos of each of the locations.. but for anyone not on the HISSandaROAR mail list, AMB002 BEACHES is now released! – yes it really is a hiss and a roar!
