Biology

Works well as a Windows desktop.

Beware The Flood... (Part II)

Now with official moon.

I'm Going To Call My Son 'Adobe'

Or perhaps 'Gaussian Blur' for a more exotic twist.

The Battalion

177KB JPEG

Beware The Flood...

Creative Computing - Major Project

The inspiration for my Creative Computing major project came primarily from two
places; a vocal Spectral Freeze bidule that I created in Plogue about 3 months ago
(posted on this blog) and an interest in live computer controlled synthesised
accompaniment. I found several CDs in Elder Library which attempted this,
particularly Richard Teitelbaum’s Concerto Grosso, in which a pianist plays a piano
that is connected to a computer, which then controls two other pianos for
accompaniment. The result was quite, uhh, objectionable, but the idea was solid.

I decided to use a grand piano as the sound source for my Bidule creations, as I had
an idea to place microphones in such a way that each mic would pick up different
frequency bands (low notes, mid notes, high notes) and my bidules could be customised
for each mic signal. The OmniGraffle plan helped me to realise the physical
limitations of the Recording Space, and I deduced that I needed to use Studio 1 in
conjunction with the Space for the performance due to the number of microphones I was
using.

Bidule creation consumed my life for 2 weeks, and I was quite pleased with the final
6. Detailed descriptions of each bidule and sub-bidule have been entered into the
“***** Explanation…” boxes scattered throughout my Plogue session file. I created the
score for my piece after creating my bidules, as the score would be used for the
performance rather than the aesthetic design, plus I wanted to discuss it with the
performer. My original performer dropped out, but thankfully Jake Morris was
interested in being the guinea pig. My score has three parts; the main form, the
piano score and the computer score. The main form was chosen by Jake and I to be
ternary form, best described as |A|BA| (similar to sonata form). We kept our opinions
on how we should proceed from each other, knowing that the overall form would allow
our interpretations to coincide in the performance. Jake’s score consisted of a piece
of paper with a theme progression, namely “autumn leaves > nightwalker > autumn
leaves2 “, (which I jazzed up in Photoshop afterwards of course). My score consisted
of an effect group order, in which the ternary form controls the change between
direct sound manipulation and sound synthesis/Live. Effect nuances like Decimation
were improvised.













I believe the performance was a success. I connected the K5000 MIDI controller to
gain controls plus some of the effects controls for each of my bidules. This allowed
me to affect the piano sound as I saw fit, adhering to my score. I really did not
want to use Live, however the loops I built on-the-fly in the mix came out quite
nice, and right when they stopped Jake changed his playing style in a twist of
improvisation (there‘s that word again). Rather than audition the spliced sounds for
Live through headphones I patched them straight into the rear speakers in Studio 1
for some ‘surround DJing’. The only issue I had regarded the 'synthesised
accompaniment' going schitzo instead of actually accompanying, but that seems to be
related to the instrument I chose. Oh, and lets not forget that a G5 Mac runs my
bidule at 50%+ dsp, yet my very cheap laptop pulls off 20% max.


If you have some time, pilfer through my Plogue patch, there’s plenty of instructions
and explanations inside each bidule which may be of interest. If you want to try them
out, most of them work best with a microphone. At least check out the Delay Time Proportionate Attenuator in the Devine Delay GUI.


CC Major MP3 7.13MB

Bidule File

Johannes' Ultimate Fantasy

Mmm, plastic...

SWOT BAD! PHOTOSHOP GOOD!

AA - Week 7 - FM Synthesis

Ding. I matched the frequencies to the sonogram exactly but it still sounds higher than
the original. If only I had a sonogram thing on my laptop, I could compare. MP3 23Kb

Sans Video

I would have my complete Sans video up already but the Cubase file is corrupted and
it isn't worth syncing all the sounds again. Cut my losses. Anyway, here's a zip of
all the sounds (728Kb)
and an abstract list of everything I did with the paper to make them.

Wind - (Shake - Nothing)
Shovelling - (Monster chew - Pitch down)
Furnace roar + fire - (Monster chew- duplicated and phased x4, slowed down by about 70%)(slow
screw - pitch up, 2 layers out of phase)
Tram wheel rattle (mosnter chew- speed up, looped, retimed)
Tram Bell (whistle- slowed down, amplitude envelope for quick attack and slow decay)
Traffic noise -(ocean- amplified, slowed down, duplicated+reversed x4, panned)(motobike-
deamplified, fade in/out, panned left)(whistle- slowed down, pulsated, fade out, panned left
- horn1)(whistle- slowed down, pulsated, fade out, panned right - horn2)
Truck engine (Motocycle- doubled up, pitched down)
Footsteps on metal ladder (tappy- pitched up)(whistle- clipped, fade in/out, pitched
up/down, timed with footsteps)
Electricity hum (whistle- slowed down about 140%)
Metal clunk of big switch (big rip- duplicatedx3 and sped up)
Electricity buzz sound (02.blowing- sped up, looped)
factory noise - (ocean - pitch down)
metal squeal sound from turning handle (blowing-fade in/out)
pressured air release hiss (ocean-duplicate+offsetx3)
lever clunk (mosnter chew- duplicate+layerx4, attack and decay fix, pitch down)
engine ignition sound (friction)
Vibration buzz (02.Blowing)
Whizzing machinery (shake- sped up by 500%)
Machine hum (whistle- slow down 98%)
Spools rattle (ocean- snippet, loop)
Engine hum noise (02.blowing- slowed down)
Gear clunk (Chew- clip, slowed down by 96%, fade in/out)
Cog spin acceleration (02.blowing - speed slowed by 90%)
Tool box click (Chew- clip)
Sewing machine sounds (slow screw- loop clip and speed up)(chew- loop clip)
Fabric movement (ocean- fade in/out)
scissor cutting (bite- clip, pitch up)
footsteps with echo (tappy- duplicated, retimed, pitched up, faded out and panned)
hissing air valves (ocean- duplicated, amplified)
pulsing piston hiss (shake- clip, loop)
oil dispenser click (chew)
heavy cogs rumbling (ocean- slowed down 95%)(moto blowout- slowed down 95%)
person moving sound (ocean- fade in/out)
switch (shake- clip, slowed down 45%)
whizzing machinery II (02.blowing, looped, sped up by 400%, duplicated and panned)
air hiss (ocean- clip, loop, amplify, slow down)
idle machine hum (whistle- slowed down 99%)

Week 9 - AA - Tone Wheel Patch

This tone wheel started off as Luke's, but considering I'm always after an excuse to
not do my own I work I started helping. We ended up making a very intricate bidule, as
the pics attest. Attest? Attest. Anyway this was a very good learning experience for
me in Plogue, as I had not done much with multiple layer grouping. I am running out
of download memory so I can't attach the sound file, however it can be accessed on
Luke's blog.


Nevermind, I just compressed it. MP3 446Kb



Main Drawerbars

Harmonic Controllers









Harmonic Bidule

All The Harmonics

AC - Week 8 - No Particular Reason

I made a piano synth in plogue for no reason. So I'm trying to give it purpose in its
existence by blogging it. You may recall this is the one that sounds like a marimba.
I hate marimbas. MP3 129Kb

CC - Week 7 - Realtime Processing (3)

Grouping and polyphonication. I like polyphony. Can you name the tune?

MP3 73.1Kb


Outside view


In the Super Fun Happy Slide

CC - Week 6 - Real Time Processing (2)

Ooh, fun. Well I laughed at the ID3 tag when I found this sound file again.

MP3 103Kb.

CC - Week 9 - RT Network Control

Well I was busy screwing around in Photoshop (surprise) when Dave was creating 'our'
OSC network- luckily he gave me a shout before he started so I could take some
credit. We did some quick finishing hacks to the connected computers and started the
party, with these results MP3 128Kb. (actual size, not kbps)

Good times, good times.

Bidule Patch

CC - Week 11 - Workshop

This is my OmniCrapple diagram, complete with piano and lines and arrows.
Aren't you excited?

AA - Minor project - MP3

Indeed. I did a bus. The squeaking sound in this was supposed to be the rubber of the
bendy part of the bus squeaking, but it didn't come off too good. The stereo mix seems
to have dropped out a couple things too. But I don't care. Here it is in all of its
96kbps glory. MP3 2.08Mb

Forum - Week 12 - Forumskin and Dirty Dancing

Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days we improvise. I thought today was
Friday so I didn’t get up until 10, and missed CC plus 10 minutes of an aural exam.
Anyway we had a nice improv session today, albeit slightly less energetic than last
time. It seems Dirty Harry must be reading my blog, as this time he actually stayed
in the room and even got us into a 7/8 jam with him on piano. Stephen came to visit
but didn’t say anything, which I guess is his way of saying “Not bad.” Due to my
morning rush I didn’t bring the effects pedal again, but I have managed to get a
convincing bass drum sound through 2 layers of EQ. Jake experimented with Live v.6
with great success. Using the Impulse feature, he created drum loops on the spot and
distorted them with much greater efficiency, thanks to Live 6’s easier effects
interface. Matt pulled out some nice synth solos as usual and Adrian lay down the
bass with a sometimes serial edge. Dave injected the necessary funk or solo and I did
whatever it is I pretend to do. Although a few members down again, we still kept it
fairly clean and got ‘down and dirty’ on occasions. That last sentence has just
collapsed my motivation to write any more.



Tending to the herd



Anyway. The 7/8 timing was a good experience. After about 4 minutes I got Jake to
slow the tempo from 90 to 84 so we could catch on to the ‘un-rhythm’, and
this allowed us to keep a groove going for about 10 minutes. Dirts pulled off some
very chromatic and abstract pianocism, and it was great to see him getting into it as
much as we do. I’m looking forwards to our performance (whenever it is), and I might
try and kill some of the less useful band members so as to even out the numbers. Oh
shit, did I say that out loud?

Finding His Happy Place...

Oddly enough this pic looks better on a PC than a Mac.
Although I guess that isn't odd at all.
Click to enlarge.

Napster Bad! Plogue Good!

As shocking as it may be to hear, I actually like plogue now. Have a listen to what
I did on it yesterday in Studio 1 with a microphone. The spectral freezing is just so
beautiful! I also had it going in 5.1 before the recording.
If only this was for a gradable part of the blog... MP3 458KB

Forum - Week 11 - Luke but not the Audio Lab Luke

Luke Harrold formed the artist talk portion of forum, and presented his Music Tech
ventures throughout Europe. Despite the experience being intriguing in itself, we spent
most of the time watching videos of other artists rather than Luke. The star of the
presentation was the video of Adachi Tomomi, a musical artist that uses an infrared
shirt to manipulate his own singing and screaming (example 1.4Mb).

Unbeknownst to him, Luke has earnt the nickname "Magic Mango Man" from one time when I
was telling Jake how I was jealous of Luke's hair, and Jake informed me it smelt like
Mango shampoo. So there you have it.

Forum - Week 11 - Millions of Peaches

Finally, a genuinely great improvisation session. Despite being a couple members
down, our group managed to bond very well, often giving each other space and using
their 15 seconds to the max. David D apparently recorded the whole thing on his
crappy voice recorder, so hopefully I will be able to provide links to some of the
best grooves. One accidental groove that proved humorous to the group was when Matt
figured out the main mandolin theme from that Deep Forest song “Sweet Lullaby” on the
keyboard, and I attempted to sing the bit that the girl sings (Ni ma oe e fasi
korona. Dolali dasa na, lao dai afuimae). Needless to say, it sounded pretty
hilarious and I’m glad it was at a time when Stephen Whittington was present. I think
next time I will pull out some Presidents of the USA lyrics.

A new avenue was taken in this session, as now I walk around the room informing
members of upcoming changes to key or tempo. This is perhaps the magic key to our
band’s success, as we could improvise for 20 minutes without getting tedious. Perhaps
the most prominent example would be when I told everyone that Jake is about to slow
the tempo right down, then told Jake that everyone is expecting him to do it. We fell
from a high energy funk bash into a ultra-smooth porno groove, and it really put a
smile on everyone’s face. Jake has found a great position in the group, where he
provides basic timekeeping in some parts then all out drum loop disintegration for
his sections. I had an idea that Jake could use Live for the looping and tempo
functions, but mess with the beats in Plogue. I think this would allow a greater
degree of customisation of sound, especially considering Live’s clunky effects
interface. Matt also pulled out some genius moments, including pitch-bent chords and
even a whammy-bar-esque piano solo. A welcome addition is Adrian's bass guitar,
especially when coupled with Dave pulling off an incredible guitar solo in the heat
of a groove. Aural nirvana.

It was a shame that some members were not present, yet I can’t help but wonder if the
smaller group allowed for a more concentrated environment. In turn, I blame the
lecturers for making the groups too big. I’m sure they could skip over the idea (as
they do) and say “Well you should learn how to work in a large group”, to which I ask
the question, “Who says?”. I mean, since when is there limits to improvisation? Are
we getting graded on group size? Like 2 of my 3 ex-girlfriends say, “Size doesn’t
matter.”

And by popular demand (Luke), here is my latest photoshoppery.
Click to enlarge.

Forum - Week 10 - Got Forum?

Back to normal 'forum' again- 2 hours of straight improvisation in our groups. I’m
really starting to miss the old days, when Dirty Harry would put on his little song
and dance, then some influential artist would have a blathering about how great they
are and we’d all be like “Ooh, I hope I turn out as good as them”. It was something
that inspired thought and made all of us struggle to fit our opinions into the 500
word blog limit. Nonetheless here we are paying for this, so it is in dismay that I’d
have to agree with old Weimerhead, in that this week was a generally unsuccessful
improv session. Some group members are still finding their feet it would seem, as
instruments were interchanged numerous times. Too much time is spent exploring synth
effects instead of actually playing, and we cannot get into a groove when people
change the groove constantly.

Considering our lecturers only spent a maximum of five minutes in our room for the
entire two hour session, I am curious how much time was spent on other rooms. If at
all. Even more baffling is that when our group is failing to start anything
productive, the lecturers do not intervene and tell us what the problem is or give us
a point of departure, they just shake their heads and mutter something as they leave.
Are they getting paid to baby sit us? They are so ready to criticise us on something
that they haven’t helped with, hence why this picture has taken on a new meaning.


Shut in a glass room and thrown into the sun

Forum - Week 9 - Tr!ppin' on Chewbacca

Well here I am in the EMU kitchen, eating Suimin noodles,
cinnamon donuts and a bread stick. Yes Luke, this is exactly
why I burp frequently. Our guest presenter for forum this
week was Tyson “DJ Tr!p” Hopprich, or as his friends call
him, Tyson (probably). Prior to the presentation, the early
gatherers (including myself) and Tr!p fell into a premature
jam, unfortunately not caught on tape. As cool as last week’s
trip to India was, I was much more engaged this time ‘round
by Tr!p’s gadget collection. Myself being privy to the Gameboy
Camera’s hidden DJ mixer, I was surprised to hear such funk
come out the previously-thought-crap program.

I would normally consider the talking part of these forums
‘artistic blatherings’, however Tr!p had a much more tangible
way of explaining his profession, perhaps due to his innate
youth. After his first little improvisation on his own, my
group joined in and tentatively pursued improvisational nirvana.
Of course all good things must come to an end, in my case my
pedal finally collapsed under the weight of its own inferiority
and died. Right at the start. So without my safety blanket I
stepped into the cold dark woods of performance, and diminished
my input to skeletal beat boxing. But I’m not going to dwell on
the fact, just pretend it never happened and let it fester
quietly as a mental illness. Listening back on my Studio 1
recordings of the session it all sounded pretty good, with
the piano often creating some great moments. I would say the
best part of the day was Dave’s guitar solos in the 3rd
‘trip-hop’ improv- even listening back it still gives me
shivers. “Chewie, is that you?”


2nd Jam MP3 15MB


Are these pictures getting too abstract?


Remember everyone,
Ubi cáritas et ámor, Déus ibi est.
Congregávit nos in únum Christi ámor. Exsultémus et in ípso jucundémur.
Timeámus et amémus Déum vívum. Et ex córde diligámus nos sincéro.
Ubi cáritas et ámor, Déus ibi est. Amen.

For the Music Technologist...

SynthAndSon.MP3 - 0.5MB

The Station for Hard Rockers...

VROCK.MP3 270KB

Forum - Week 8 - Sensing Sensual Incense in Senses

A sensuous Indian extravaganza awaited
all who dared to enter the EMU space on
Friday, complete with incense, sitar and
personable Indian native. Dr. Chandrakant
Sardeshmukh (1) is possibly the best guest
we’ve ever had, as I was absorbed by his
expansive knowledge and quick wit. His
personality was only transcended by his
instrumental skill, which was demonstrated
through his osteopathic sitar playing. He
presented us with the basics of traditional
Indian sitar improvisation, none of which
I remember, and proceeded to initiate the
improvisation with the unsuspecting members
of Group 2.

As a whole this was a great success- of particular note was
the chemistry between the Dr. and Vinny on tabla, where a certain
musical (perhaps ethnical) connection was perceivable. Surprisingly
beneficial to the sound was Poppi’s (Poppies?) ethereal vocals wandering
around the heavens and delving to great depths, unleashing a powerfully
organic emotion almost spiritual in its role. have to agree with the young
John “Squarepants” Delaney with his views on improvisational restriction.
This session was far more successful than last week’s, and I believe the
constraints of ‘allowable notes and rhythms’ was the cause of such a
result. The entire improvisation spanned for about 40 minutes or so,
which I believe was the necessary time for the piece to fully develop. To
top off a great forum, David “Dr. D” Dowling and I had a 2 hour
improvisation of our own in Studio 5, where I discovered some funky
bass line vocals that complimented the groove laid down by the Doctor
himself. It’s a shame our performance will probably be nothing like this,
as the members of our group that actually need the extra sessions lack
the initiative to participate. Once again I suppose we are only being
graded on our participation in the final performance, so truancy to such
extracurricular sessions is not a real issue.

1. Dr. Chandrakant Sardeshmukh. "Who Needs The Kwik-E-Mart?"
Presented at the Electronic Music Unit, University of Adelaide. 14/09/2006

Forum - Week 7 - John 3:16 and Revelations

An actual artist for the “Artist Talk”! Derek Pascoe is a renowned improvisatory
saxophonist, and we were lucky enough to have some Improv tips imparted for use in
our own performances, and perhaps in our very lives. Despite his obvious talent, he
had no qualms in saying he can be ‘wrong’ in his approaches to music, and seems to
have instigated a sponge-like attitude- literally absorbing various attitudes
towards improvisation from musical experiences. It was very engaging to have a
totally selfless professional musician present us with his ideals. A thought occurs-
perhaps this is the personality that improvisation breeds? I’m sure having to
respect other musician’s personal musical space during performances would eventually
spill over into other aspects of life, possibly even amalgamating into a total
respect for you fellow man. Derek said he is not a religious man, but when he plays
he feels something other than himself inside him, allowing the music to come from
some other place. Although I am not religious either, the power that ‘his’ talent
has had on his life and thus imparted to others is something to ponder through. Can
we be so self-absorbed to believe that existence is limited to perception? Perhaps
we are just maggots in a carcass, but our carcass is a vacuum filled with exploding
balls of hydrogen and helium. Difficult to prove either way, I suppose ‘faith’ comes
from picking a side. And if you don’t believe in aliens you are too shallow to talk
to.

Group 3 (?) was given the chance to jam with the man himself. After several topic
changes they reached a nice area of conversation, the most engaging being the
instrumental arguments occurring between the guitarist John “3:16” Delaney and
Derek. I gained a valuable perspective on improvisation from this session- it’s more
about what everyone else is playing than what you are playing. You can’t just jump
in to a scene because you haven’t played in a while, there must be an entry point.
Although theoretically there might never be, such is the nature of improvisation. I
guess you could say, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at
all.” Or even, “Better to be quiet and let people think you’re an idiot, than open
your mouth and prove it.”



Two Irishmen are standing at the bottom of a flagpole, when a blonde pulls up in her car. She gets
out and asks the men, "Why are you looking at that pole?” One of the Irishmen replies, "We're
trying to figure out how high this pole is so we know how much rope we need to hoist a flag, but
we have no idea how to measure it." The blonde declares, "Oh that's easy, just wait here." The
two Irishmen watch curiously as she removes a spanner and measuring tape from her car, and
proceeds to unscrew the pole, lay it down and measure it. "15 metres" stated the blonde proudly,
as she got back in her car and drove off. "Typical blonde," said one of the Irishmen, "We wanted
to know how high it is, not how long it is."

Forum - Week 6 - Metallica and ACDC

Improvisation Practice (1) continued its wave of contradiction, this week however
involved a couple of synthesisers being persuaded into Hell. Jake filled out his
drum-loopage some more, which is sounding good, and I am still exploring the
nuances of my effects pedal. I honestly believe the performances should be scored
individually on how well you work as a team player, not just on showing up. Even
if you were just playing the spoons, practice and teamwork would be perceivable.
All the other music degrees have grading on performances, how about we use this
opportunity to pretend we are actually members of the Conservatorium? It’s
obvious who in the groups gives a shit and who is there for the face-time, and all
of us are scored the same regardless. I would like this degree to stay as far away
from the “Bachelor of Attendance” cliché as possible, especially while we are still
trying to concréte ourselves as a viable music study area. We all get the sideways
glances from the ‘real’ degree students, and every step we take towards
musicianship makes us a little more reputable and respected. Either that or we sit
in our little niche and use our anonymity as a tool in our eventual ‘worldwide
takeover’, to quote Stephen Whittington in Week 1 Semester 1. How is that going,
by the way? Perhaps the plan was lost with our Semester 1 blog scores.

Tyrell, Poppi, Albert and Josh gave their presentations this week. I have heard some
of Tyrell’s computer game compositions before and enjoyed them, however the
pieces he presented were more child oriented to fit the game style. Despite this
they remained interesting and suitably ‘happy’. I would like to start composing
again, but any spare time I have generally goes to actual Uni work, which is
disappointing considering the equipment that is available to us. Poppi’s presentation
involved excerpts from short films she has made. I have seen some of her work
previously as well, in this case in the ‘Asylum’ during the ACMC (ACDC), and was as
impressed now as I was then. Her rapping could use a some ‘gangsterisation’,
although it was little Hilltop Hoods-esque. Which is a good thing. I do agree with
Weimerhead with his perception of ‘typical Uni student’, however this is to be
expected from a Uni student. Isn’t that what we all wish to achieve? Uni student level
work? In any case, success at surpassing ‘Uni student level’ would be a paradox in
itself, as any level of excellence that you reach will consequently become ‘Uni student
level’. I suppose there’s nothing wrong with being great though, as I would know.
Josh played us his Musique Concrete composition of which was centred around
‘metallicism’, which he didn’t say but is what he meant. It would have been a good
name for the piece, but I don’t think he would have cared. Nonetheless, the outcome
was quite interesting and I believe it certainly lived up to its metallic ideal. Albert’s
recording of a Jazz band had high production values, and whatever microphones were
used really captured the feel of the band.

1. Stephen Whittington. "Music Technology Workshop: Improvisation" At the Electronic
Music Unit, University of Adelaide, 31/08/2006.

Fun With Everyone

CC2 - Week 5 - Real-Time Processing

Ug. Plogue Bidule is not my friend. I tried for a while to get
anything of value, and this is what I ended up with. I think
you'll agree with me when I say "I hate you Ben. Go to hell."

CC - Week 4 - Performance Sequencing

Many of you already heard this Live creation in my
presentation, yet here it is to further assault
your eardrums. Sound 1.25Mb.MP3



Again this was far too easy to make, and I loathe
the fact that I actually really like the piece- kind of
"Neo-Classical Electrodeath".

CC - Week 3 - Performance Sequencing

I have found Live to be too easy to make music on- it leaves
me feeling dirty after having used it. Where has all the
effort gone? Nonetheless, this is my resulting abhorration.
Sound 1.58Mb.MP3

CC2 - Week 2 - Cubase Soundtrack

Because I am not a bastard I have not and will not imbed my sound files.
This one can be downloaded by choice here. Sound 48kb.MP3

Forum - Week 5 - Burning Schulz and Selfish Salubriations

A fairly successful improvisation session was achieved this week,
despite an emergency fire evacuation and a nameless theremin
virtuoso (cough). Dave had set up my FX pedal and mic before the
class, so I was crackin’ off beats as soon as I got there. Jake had
some drum loops ready for live manipulation, and the resultant
rhythms were well suited, if occasionally repetitive. I think the
full-on drum loops would be best applied when other members
get into a groove with each other, perhaps just providing a light
rhythm beforehand. One thing that we seem to have established
from this session is that we can’t all play at the same time, and
we each need to know when our ‘instrument’ would be a suitable
inclusion to a happening groove.

Student presentations were taken to a higher level this week, and
not necessarily because it was my turn. 3rd year Music Tech student
Tim Gabbusch presented his first year tape composition, however
he actually played the wrong piece. For those who didn’t stay behind,
the intended piece made a lot more sense when considering the
description of ‘water sounds’. Tim also played a recording he had
done of a Jazz band. As soon as I had heard the piano, I noticed it
was recorded with the Midside Stereo technique. I’ve recorded piano
with this set up recently, which sounded okay, but I ended up adding
a couple Neumann KM-84i’s to get a crisper sound anyway. I think the
M-S mic placement is becoming a bit overdone, or at least I’m finding
it a little clichéd. Jake Morris showcased his Creative Computing
composition from Semester 1 this year, titled “Surround…. Something”.
The piece emphasised the narrative side of musique concrete, with a
deep and meaningful back-story about a guy and a journey. Anyway,
the important thing is that I was the voice of Satan (or “Sapan” as I
became known), and this provided me with a great entrance for my piece.
My musique concrete piece started off as a wave file I recorded for Jake
of my own voice, which I experimentally slowed down to a point of
“organic separation” (If you don’t know, I don’t care). Anyway, I was
surprised that nobody asked about the end of the piece where I gradually
disintegrated the sound, but I guess I found it more interesting than most.
Will Revill also performed his musique concrete piece, of which low
rumbling frequencies were echoed around the room and gated silence
popped in the stereo field. I found it enjoyable, but Will seemed to dislike
it. So I don’t like it either.

Forum - Week 4 - Pedal Pushers and Flushing Toilets

I was certainly lined up for a good improvisation workshop this
week, as I have managed to source a multi-FX pedal that I plan
use with a microphone. During the week I had plugged it into the
Laney amp to great effect, with the octave-down pitch shift and
power-chord effects sounding very interesting with vocals. It
seems as though I will need to arouse an amplifier from elsewhere
in the Shultz building, as there is a great need for the old Laney.
Nonetheless our group spent 40 minutes trying to get a sound
from anything, especially now that one of the decks that Matt was
using has been pilfered by another group. I am curious why a
group has suddenly decided that they need a deck, in week 4.
In any case I have little to report.

Student presentations swung into action again, first up being
Henry Reed, who’s existence I was unaware of until this class.
His composition was a heartfelt piece dedicated to his
Grandfather who served in World War II, and consisted of
various war sounds and other less definable noises. It may have
been on purpose or perhaps because of the speakers, but there
seemed to be very little low end sound, and it even sounded
monophonic. Overall it was an enjoyable piece, and maintained
the listener’s interest throughout. Following Henry was
Matthew Mazzone, presenting various compositions. The first
was designed for a computer game, and would live up to this
very well with a great atmosphere and nice harmonics. The only
negative I drew was that it used synth strings, which denigrated
the organic feel presented by the piano. His next piece was
created on Live earlier in the day, and it was enjoyable if a little
repetitive. The next song was something he had made in previous
years, and was basically a pop dance song. It was agreeable, but
I am not a fan of this style of music. Considering this and Dragos’
piece from last week, I believe I may have moved away from the
4-chord song structure that I used so much in high school. Surely
this isn’t a bad thing? Finally there was guy (who’s name escapes
me) presenting a recording of his death metal band. I have a soft
spot for Slipknot, Soulfly and Sepultura, so I did enjoy this except
for some small engineering issues. I’ll just put this out there- has
anyone who has recorded with the RODE NTV found it to have a
dead sound? I would think such an expensive microphone would
be relatively indiscriminate in its frequency pickup. Vocal
recordings I have done on Neumann U87/89 turn out beautiful,
but NTV recordings have needed drastic equalisation to get a clean
and natural sound. Due to this I have demoted the NTV to
‘room-mic’ as it seems quite capable of pick up a flushing a toilet 2
floors down.

Forum - Week 3 - Funk Jam and Indian Sunset

Practising improvisation seems to be a conflict of interest
in itself, but I suppose there is nothing wrong with being
prepared. This session was the first introduction of our
chosen instruments; Jake on drums in ‘Live’, Matt on the
decks with LP’s, Dave on guitar (“The Axe”), Dragos and
Adrian with their whole computer thing, and me with vocal
acrobatics. I would say our initial aspirations for the final
performance seem to be within the realm of possibility, as
our first jam session could have been the performance in
itself. David begun a funky jam on guitar with special
thanks to his wah pedal, and I was putting down bass lines
and beats on a microphone plugged into the Laney guitar
amplifier with the distortion set high. As a result I have
decided to try and find an effects pedal for which I can
further assault my voice. I am looking forward to hearing
other groups improvisations, especially John “Private Parts”
Delaney’s group, as I understand he has an interest in
playing a barbecue. Such an act would be open to many puns,
so I’ll see what I can “cook” up.

This week’s student presentations were by David Dowling,
Dragos Nastasie and Vinny Bhagat. David presented his
Semester 1 Audio Arts recording of a band called Tuscadero.
I am hardly a fan of country music, and unfortunately this
was too close for comfort (also the singer was crap). David
also presented his Creative Computing composition,
consisting of non-stop spine-melting guitar solos, performed
by John “Colonel Sanders” Delaney and David himself. A
very enjoyable piece, with the difference in soloing technique
between the two virtuosos adding humour to the mix. The
next presentation was from Dragos, who quite possibly has
the coolest name in the world. It was nice to know that
somebody else isn’t obsessed with ambient like the majority
of EMU- Dragos slapped them all in the face with some
Hi-NRG dance. As far as dance tracks go I found it a little
amateur, as it was highly repetitive and melodically slapdash.
Even though it was made entirely on Reason 2.0, it still
sounded like MIDI music I made on Logic in high school.
Perhaps my classical training has ruined me for dance music?
Vinny was the last performer, and he finished off the
afternoon nicely with a claming, Indian inspired ‘rag’,
combining the grand piano with the laptop to wonderful
effect. I was captivated by the symmetry of the visuals and
droning tanpura underneath the melodic explorations on the
grand, and the experience could only have been improved
if we had a view of the sunset at the same time.


When writing the title for this blog entry I had an idea for
a cocktail drink-
- 2 oz Tequila
- 4 oz Orange Juice
- 1 oz Grenadine
- 4 drops tabasco sauce

Forum - Week 2 - Improv Delegation and Religious Relegation

When Clint Eastwood jumps into the ocean he doesn't get wet,

the ocean gets Clint Eastwood.



No more Dirty Harry music? What am I going to write about!?

We have instead been prescribed an adventure in improvisation (1).

I am curious what subject our ‘workshop’ class is actually an

extension of, as we do not have any improvisation lectures or

tutorials. Nonetheless, the first workshop comprised of

subject explanation and group organisation. After Stephen

Whittington made a big deal about how the randomly chosen

groups would allow the various year level to work together,

my group had four 1st years and two 2nd years, while another

group had four 3rd years and one 1st year. Despite this, the

group I was involved in turned out to have the same vision

for a final performance that I had: a central theme of rhythm,

removed from ambient. Luckily we all had differing talents,

so we have a nice instrumental diversity. I say ‘talent’

loosely as I don’t play any real instrument. I have nominated

myself to provide vocal… umm… effects. I’m not sure how

well this is going to turn out, but I’m sure it will be fun in the

very least.

Another new part of forum is student presentations, where

we are now obligated to give a talk on something we worked

on last semester. First up was Luke Digance and

John “Maggot” Delaney, both presenting their Semester 1

Creative Computing compositions. Luke’s was an interesting

journey through harmonics(2), the sounds of which were

sourced from items in the EMU kitchen. While he seemed

to cop some slack over the introduction of rhythmic drum

sounds, such people seemed to have forgotten that the point

of the piece was to unite harmony and rhythm with Musique

Concrete. Maggot Delaney’s piece (3) was not new to me, as I

was one of the performers recorded in the production. Patrick

McCartney and I joined forces, and slapped the Buddhist

religion with our attempt at vocal harmonics. The resultant

sound was very cool, but I wish I had done my part now as

I have discovered a way to do harmonics more effectively.

Here's a guy you wouldn't want to be in a jail cell with.

1. David Harris and Stephen Whittington. "Improvisation

Workshop" Presented at the Electronic Music Unit, University

of Adelaide. 3/08/2006.

2. Luke Digance. “Musique Concrete Presentation.”

Presented at the Electronic Music Unit, University of

Adelaide. 3/08/2006.

3. John Delaney. “Performance Symmetry.” Presented at

the Electronic Music Unit, University of Adelaide. 3/08/2006.

Pictures
Dirty Harry -
http://www.space-debris.com/spy_eastwood_dirtyHarry_LG.jpg

Hmm...

If anyone knows how I can stop the text going all the way to the right of the page, can you please inform me. Cheers!

Forum - Week 1 - Martin Armiger's Career Choice Problems

Like a herd of pigs being fattened up for consumption, we
begin feeding on a second semester of the psychological
slops trough known as “Forum”. Sadly it was only half
a forum, with my old pal Dirty Harry
indisposed, perhaps polishing his .44 Magnum while reading
my blog from last semester. Nonetheless, guest presenter
Martin Armiger (1) kept us entertained and jealous. AFTRS
head of screen composition and screen composer
himself, Martin has the job most of us would wish we were
good enough for, which is why his aversion towards almost
everything in film music upset me. To roughly quote;
“There is a lot of shit”. Sorry Martin, I’ll try and do
better next time okay?

Apart from his industry gripe, and
after a pointless stab at any religious
people in the room about evolution,
he did have some interesting nuggets
of thought to share. An interesting
observation was that “Film is a
collision of many aesthetics”, for
which he listed about 15 components
which must work symbiotically to
achieve a pleasing and profitable
result. Another area covered was
human responses to certain
frequencies, epitomised in the “Psycho” shower scene in the
use of high pitched sounds to enhance panic and suspense.
He continued with this subject, stating “Music is a mechanism
for controlling behaviour”. Something clicked in my brain, and
I got flashbacks of Christian telling me how everybody in high
positions in the world are actually lizards. Could it be? Martin,
a lizard that can control behaviour? Hold on, didn’t Godzilla
have theme music!?

Of particular interest was the “7 functions of a movie score”,
regurgitated by Martin from a book by Claudia Gorbman
(Unheard Melodies). To re-regurgitate*: Invisible, Inaudible,
Cues emotions, Sense of place, Provides point-of-view,
Continuity, and Unity in repetition/variation. Considering
this, it is understandable that a composer in the industry
may be bitter, as there is much constriction on his/her
outcome, and composer’s tastes seem to carry little
weight on the process.

*Interestingly, ‘gurgitate’ does not actually mean eat.
You ‘ingest’ food then ‘regurgitate’ it. Kind of like putting
‘bread’ in a toaster and getting ‘toast’ back.


1. Martin Armiger. “The Problem with Film Music.” Lecture
presented at the Electronic Music Unit, University of Adelaide,
South Australia, 27/07/2006.


Picture: Claudia Gorbman. From The University Of Washington,
Tacoma website. http://www.tacoma.washington.edu/

NB. As I could not source a picture of Martin from the web,
I have borrowed the ever reliable Intangent's. In this process
I had to delete a copy of the picture, from which XP kindly
asked me, "Are you sure you want to send "Martin" to the
recycling bin?" Yes. Yes I do.

CC2 - Week 1 - Cubase Video Setup.

I didn't have real trouble setting up this, so I included the MIDI
thing we learnt as well. You'll notice in this snapshot that the
'note on' thing in Reason is on, thus proving how cool I am. I don't
know what it does yet though. I guess one problem I had was
taking a screen shot, as I had forgotten the 12-button ultra-cool
Mac code for the shortcut. After minimising ALL the open
windows I was able to double click on one of the temp drives,
and from there searched backwards for the 'screen grab' program.
Kiss my user-friendly arse. Oh wait, now it is in .tiff format.
Export as jpeg then. Oh great, now my file upload server won't
accept ANYTHING from this computer. Well, I guess I'll just
transfer it to my laptop (through email of course) and add the
picture link then. Here you go.

Week 1 - AA - Sans Analysis

0:00 | Honky-tonk piano | Non-diegetic sound | Music | Old-fashioned happy music
0:00 | Smoking pipe | Non-diegetic sound | SFX | Wind noise
0:01 | Man shovelling | Diegetic sound | On screen | Object | Shovel noises
0:01 | Man shovelling| Diegetic sound | Off screen | Object | Furnace roar noises
0:02 | Smoking pipe | Non-diegetic sound | SFX | Wind noise
0:03 | Man shovelling | Diegetic sound | On screen | Object | Shovel noises
0:03 | Man shovelling | Diegetic sound | Off screen | Object | Furnace roar noises
0:06 | Busy street | Diegetic sound | On screen | Object | Tram wheel rattle sound
0:06 | Busy street | Diegetic sound | On screen | Object | Tram bell sound
0:06 | Busy street | Diegetic sound | On screen | Objects | Traffic noise
0:07 | Busy street | Diegetic sound | On screen | Object | Truck engine sound
0:11 | Man climbing smoking pipe | Non-diegetic sound | SFX | Wind noise
0:11 | Man climbing smoking pipe | Diegetic sound | On screen | Object | Footsteps sound on metal ladder
0:15 | Power switch | Non-diegetic sound | SFX | Electricity hum
0:16 | Power switch | Diegetic sound | On screen | Object | Metallic clunk sound of switch
0:16 | Power switch | Diegetic sound | Off screen | Object | Electricity buzz sound
0:17 | Wheel handle | Diegetic sound | Off screen | Object | Factory noise
0:18 | Wheel handle | Diegetic sound | On screen | Object | Metal squeal sound from turning handle
0:18 | Wheel handle | Non-diegetic sound | SFX | Pressured-air release
0:20 | Man pushing lever | Diegetic sound | On screen | Object | Lever clunk sound
0:20 | Man pushing lever | Diegetic sound | Off screen | Object | Engine ignition sound
0:21 | Single spinning spool | Diegetic sound | On screen | Object | Vibration buzz noise
0:22 | Man climbing smoking pipe | Non-diegetic sound | SFX | Wind noise
0:22 | Man climbing smoking pipe | Diegetic sound | On screen | Object | Footsteps sound on metal ladder
0:25 | Woman watching spooling machine | Diegetic sound | On screen | Whizzing machinery noise
0:25 | Woman watching spooling machine | Diegetic sound | Off screen | Machine hum sound
0:29 | Man climbing smoking pipe | Non-diegetic sound | SFX | Wind noise
0:29 | Man climbing smoking pipe | Diegetic sound | On screen | Object | Footsteps sound on metal ladder
0:31 | Multiple spinning spools | Diegetic sound | On screen | Objects | Spool rattle noise
0:31 | Multiple spinning spools | Diegetic sound | Off screen | Objects | Engine hum noise
0:34 | Man climbing smoking pipe | Non-diegetic sound | SFX | Wind noise
0:34 | Man climbing smoking pipe | Diegetic sound | On screen | Object | Footsteps sound on metal ladder
0:36 | Hand pulling cog switch | Diegetic sound | Off screen | Engine hum noise
0:37 | Hand pulling cog switch | Diegetic sound | On screen | Gear clunk sound
0:38 | Hand pulling cog switch | Diegetic sound | On screen | Cog spin acceleration hum
0:39 | Man climbing smoking pipe | Non-diegetic sound | SFX | Wind noise
0:39 | Man climbing smoking pipe | Diegetic sound | On screen | Object | Footsteps sound on metal ladder
0:41 | Multiple spinning spools | Diegetic sound | On screen | Objects | Spool rattle noise
0:41 | Multiple spinning spools | Non-diegetic sound | Engine hum noise
0:44 | Man on smoking pipe ladder | Non-diegetic sound | SFX | Wind noise
0:44 | Man on smoking pipe ladder | Diegetic sound | On screen | Object | Tool box click
0:48 | Busy street | Diegetic sound | On screen | Object | Tram wheel rattle sound
0:48 | Busy street | Diegetic sound | On screen | Objects | Traffic noise
0:53 | Busy street | Diegetic sound | On screen | Object | Tram bell sound
0:55 | Woman not sewing | Diegetic sound | Off screen | Objects | Sewing machine sounds
0:55 | Woman not sewing | Diegetic sound | On screen | Object | Fabric movement sound
0:58 | Woman not sewing | Diegetic sound | On screen | Object | Scissor cutting sound
0:59 | Staircase walker | Diegetic sound | On screen | Object | Footstep sound with echo
0:59 | Staircase walker | Non-diegetic sound | SFX | Hissing air valves
1:02 | Pistons | Diegetic sounds | On screen | Objects | Factory noise
1:02 | Pistons | Diegetic sounds | On screen | Objects | Pulsing piston hiss
1:03 | Pistons | Diegetic sound | On screen | Object | Oil dispenser click
1:09 | Man with spanner | Diegetic sound | On screen | Objects | Heavy cogs rumbling
1:13 | Small machine with separate cog arms | Diegetic sound | On screen | Person moving sound
1:14 | Small machine with separate cog arms | Diegetic sound | On screen | Switch sound
1:14 | Small machine with separate cog arms | Diegetic sound | On screen | Whizzing machinery sound
1:14 | Small machine with separate cog arms | Diegetic sound | On screen | Air hiss sound
1:19 | Small machine with triangle wheel arm | Diegetic sound | On screen | Person moving sound
1:20 | Small machine with triangle wheel arm | Diegetic sound | On screen | Switch sound
1:20 | Small machine with triangle wheel arm | Diegetic sound | On screen | Whizzing machinery sound
1:24 | Cog rotating machine arm | Non-diegetic sound | Idle machine hum
1:26 | Cog rotating machine arm | Diegetic sound | Off screen | Switch sound
1:26 | Cog rotating machine arm | Diegetic sound | On screen | Whizzing machinery sound
1:30 | End | No sound