toast haiku » Music

The Eigenharp

drtoast — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:03:31 +0000

The Eigenharp is a new electronic performance instrument designed to maximize expressive control of modern virtual software instruments. It has 120 keys arranged in a 5×24 grid, each of which can register 2048 levels of pressure in 3 dimensions. This means you could play a chord with your left hand, and use each finger to simultaneously alter the pitch, volume, and expression of each note of the chord (or any other parameters of your choice). That leaves your other hand free to play a drum rhythm on the 12 additional percussion keys, or to use another part of the keyboard as a programmable looping pattern sequencer. There’s also a mouthpiece for breath control, two ribbon expression controllers on the sides, LED indicators on each key, etc. Check out the video of the product launch at Sonic State, or learn more at Eigenlabs‘ website.

In Bb

drtoast — Sat, 23 May 2009 20:47:47 +0000

In the YouTube mash-up spirit of Kutiman, a project called In Bb presents you with a grid of unrelated YouTube videos that all happen to be in the key of B-flat. There is no percussion or meter, so things will always blend together smoothly no matter when you start or stop each video. Try to resist the urge to play them all at once – turn on a couple at a time, then add new ones as time goes on. The effect is incredibly beautiful.

Pierre Bastien

drtoast — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:20:59 +0000

French composer Pierre Bastien builds small mechanical musical devices, which click and whirr and play somber melodies on keyboards as he follows along on his muted trumpet, occasionally reaching over to adjust a lever or attach a new part. It’s an intimate and introspective affair.

The Most Unwanted Song

drtoast — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 20:17:42 +0000

In the late 1990s, artists Vitaly Komar and Alex Melamid, along with composer David Soldier, polled 500 music listeners to determine the least desirable musical qualities. They compiled their data and then composed a piece of music that incorporated as many of these qualities as possible, titling the final product “The Most Unwanted Song”. The folks polled apparently don’t like rap music, sopranos, or songs about cowboys, so their song prominently features a soprano rapping about cowboys. Other features include tubas, banjos, accordions, sudden changes in dynamics and tempo, children’s choirs singing about holidays (Labor Day, Ramadan) and corporations (Wal Mart, Coca Cola), and an uncomfortable length of 25 minutes.

The end result, in my opinion, is catchy and fascinating – much more than the sum of its unwanted parts. If you’ve ever enjoyed Mr. Bungle, I think you’ll love this song. You can stream it from the Wired article, or download the MP3.

Bruce Dickinson is Awesome

drtoast — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 16:39:07 +0000

So Bruce is the lead singer for this heavy metal band called Iron Maiden, which was pretty big in the 80′s but is still rocking out today. As if being the lead singer for Iron Maiden wasn’t awesome enough, Bruce was also really into fencing and competed internationally, and started his own fencing equipment company. And as if being the lead singer of Iron Maiden and being a top international fencer wasn’t awesome enough, Bruce also decided to become an airline pilot and now flies Boeing 757 jets for a UK charter airline. Then, in a final coup de awesome, he had a 757 painted with the Iron Maiden logo, climbed into the pilot’s seat, and flew his band on their world tour. Bruce Dickinson, you’re awesome.

Direct Note Access

drtoast — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 01:14:05 +0000

Music software company Celemony has announced the latest version of their pitch correction software, Melodyne. While it’s been possible for quite some time to use software to correct or change an individual note in a recorded melody, until now it’s only been able to do that with a monophonic melody, meaning only one note is playing at a time, such as a voice or a flute. The breakthrough is that they’ve finally made it possible to actually access all of the notes in a polyphonic recording, such as a strumming guitar or a chorus of voices. The software extracts each note and displays it in a grid, where time goes from left to right and pitch goes from bottom to top. You can then select each individual note with your mouse and move it up or down in pitch, forward or backwards in time, adjust it louder or quieter in volume. You can use this as a tool to make subtle corrections, or create a whole new piece with the same instrument. Check out the video to see it in action (and forgive the poor voiceover announcer for not knowing how to pronounce “monophonic” or “MIDI”).

Records on X-Ray Film

drtoast — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 03:54:28 +0000

In Hungary during World War II, vinyl for making records was hard to come by. So some clever folks used discarded medical X-ray film instead. Jozsef Hajdu presents some fine examples.