Archive for March, 2009

Steve Baltes visited us last weekend to talk about his work with Ashra in Japan (see earlier blog post).
There is a great article in Keyboards magazine about the setup he used for his performance, check it out!

I just came across a great application made in Processing, called Tiction. Check out http://www.tinkthank.net/software/tiction/.

Tiction is a flexible, nodal music sequencer.

It’s pretty simple: Each node represents an event, and a connection from one node to the next triggers the next event after a certain number of tics. Nodes send MIDI note messages and/or MIDI controller change messages when triggered. Connecting nodes in a circuit lets you start a repeating pattern when one of the nodes is triggered.

A node can change its pitch and controller values based on its position on the screen. When a node is triggered, it performs some physical action: either repelling or attracting other nearby nodes, or nudging itself in a random direction. The physical interaction between nodes allows you to construct complex, rhythmic melodies and effects without having to draw filter envelopes or touch a traditional sequencer.

We’d love to hear from anyone who has setup AudioCubes with this software. The nodes in Tiction could be moved and connected with AudioCubes while parameters could be controlled by AudioCubes sensors. Interfacing AudioCubes to Tiction through OSC is possible using the Max/MSP kit of AudioCubes patches, there is an example to send OSC using AudioCubes.

From a Qwartz publication:

The aims of the Qwartz are as follows: to present and make heard the many facets of the contemporary electronic and digital music scene; give people the opportunity to enhance their knowledge of this music and enjoy it to the full; support the creativity and cultural diversity that independent production can ensure.

A gala awards ceremony dedicated to musical and artistic excellence closes each edition and is held in Paris. This gala evening, open to the public, brings together the nominated artists and labels, as well as the principal players on the electronic and cultural scene: producers, artists, delegates from cultural centres, representatives of institutions and civil societies, journalists, partners.

Taylor Deupree presides the fifth edition and the Jury’s president is Enki Bilal. The Awards Ceremony takes place in the prestigious Cirque d’Hiver Bouglione on Friday, the 3rd of April.

Qwartz Writes:

Qwartz Max Mathews rewards a genius invention: this year, we attribute the Qwartz Max Mathews to Bert Schiettecatte, of Percussa, for the invention of Audiocubes instruments.

More info about Qwartz at http://www.qwartz.org/

Martin from Univerve (Bielefeld, Germany) sends us some photos from their recent performances.

See also http://www.flickr.com/photos/percussa/3337819690/

More info about Univerve’s music at http://www.myspace.com/univerve and http://univerve.de/?action=news

UNIVERVE gründete sich im Mai 2006 und besteht aus Martin Herbst – Keyboards, Ludger Struff – Schlagzeug, Udo Tanger – Bass, Frank Wölfer – Gitarre und Nora Saadhoff – Gesang. Alle Musiker haben jahrelange Bühnen- und Studioerfahrungen in verschiedenen Bands und Projekten bzw. in den unterschiedlichsten Stilarten gesammelt.

Aus diesem Erfahrungsschatz entwickelte UNIVERVE einen eigenständigen Rock-Stil, den die Band selbst NEW PROGRESSIVE GROOVE SOUND nennt. Dieser “NPG”-Sound erinnert einerseits an den Progessive Rock der Siebziger Jahre, bezieht sich aber ebenso stark auf aktuelle Progressive-Spielarten, bei denen Metal-Elemente ebenso eine Rolle spielen wie Eletronic, Funk oder Blues. Hier liegt auch die eigentliche Stärke der Band: eine hohe Stildichte zu nutzen und dennoch einen homogenen und eigenständigen Bandsound mit hohem Wiedererkennungswert zu schaffen. Dabei klingt UNIVERVE immer warm und funky, ihre Vorliebe für tanzbare Grooves, spacige Keyboardsounds und ein bisweilen souliger Ausdruck sind ebenfalls Bandsound bestimmend.
Trotz teilweise langer Instrumentalparts steht UNIVERVE vor allem für aussagekräftige Songs mit starken Hooklines, die durch die ausdrucksstarke Stimme und einer mitreißenden Bühnenperformance von Frontfrau Nora Saadhoff überzeugend transportiert werden. Eine große Dynamikbandbreite von ruhig-meditativ bis agressiv-heavy, präzises Zusammenspiel und virtuose Soli runden den Stilmix ab.

Die aktuelle CD ist seit Mai 2007 im Handel und kann auch auf dieser homepage (unter “Music”) käuflich erworben werden.

Spencer from Vapor Mache emails us with a story about his use of AudioCubes while and after he studied at Berklee College of Music.

I use AudioCubes in a number of ways in both creation and performance situations. The first way I began using the Cubes was to control region switching in Ableton Live. I’ll often set up my Live session to feature a “solo” section where there are a bunch of regions piled together that I can sift through on the fly by turning the Cubes and moving them around each other. It’s a great way for me to directly interact with the audience I’m in front of as well as to generate some unexpected sounds and progressions particularly when I’m moving them around quickly and in an unrehearsed order. Already a very physical and visual interaction with a computer, those movements I make with the cubes are aided by dummy clips in my Live sessions that change the intensity and color of the cubes as I perform. I also use the Cubes’ proximity sensors in Live to open and close filters, control the wet signal on delays, stutter beats, open and close different EQ bands, control send amounts and much more. When I’m not using the Cubes to control functions in Ableton Live, I’m using them to control patches I design in Jitter. Before I started using the Cubes a major objective of mine when performing with video/visual patches was to stay out of the way of the screen – don’t distract my viewers with my own goofy movements. That all changed when I was able to incorporate the cubes. I can immediately become part of the visual experience whether I’m in front of the screen, off to the side or even part of what’s on screen by feeding video of myself back into the patch.

About Spencer:

I was raised in Omaha, Nebraska and played several instruments growing up. I started looping guitar and bass lines in high school along with factory beats from an old Roland keyboard I had. It was a revelation when I got everything to sync up for the first time with Cakewalk sending MIDI clock to my keyboard…a major musical moment for me. When I arrived in Boston to study at Berklee College of Music in ‘03 I was given a laptop with Reason installed on it. That was my formal introduction to electronic beat-making and sound design. Reason provided me with the opportunity to take control of my entire arrangement and pull forward some sound design elements that were totally new to me. At that point, though, I was still trying to apply those beats I was making to music I was performing with a band. It wasn’t until I started digging into Logic a couple years later that I really discovered the wealth of potential a little home studio could provide. I let loose and focused on laptop-based electronic music production pretty much full time from then on out. I am now based in Los Angeles working as a freelance composer, producer and sound designer. I self-released my debut album, People., in October 2008 under the moniker Vapor Maché. I am currently in the process of completing my second LP and hope to have it wrapped up within a couple months.

I found out about AudioCubes when I noticed them in the Berklee Music Synthesis equipment office. They looked too fascinating to be left alone so I checked them out for practice and was ecstatic about the opportunity to perform and create with a truly hands-on live music production platform to anything else that was around and available. I had a concert at Berklee coming up within a couple weeks of my discovery so it was perfect timing. I dove right into incorporating the Cubes into my live set as the main instrument interacting with Ableton Live. The show went off without a hitch and the Cubes drew much positive attention to my performance. Eventually I moved on to using the AudioCubes in conjunction with Jitter to control a few patches I designed. I used the Cubes as my Jitter live-performance instrument and utilized them during the creation/design phase to provoke trial and error moments that often yielded cool results in portions of my patches that I had trouble generating ideas for.

To listen to Spencer’s music please visit http://www.myspace.com/vapormache

Port Vell from Joe Daniel's myth on Vimeo.

Thanks to Arecio for sending this in!

Bert-iLL from Germany emails us with some photos of his percussion setup during concerts! He uses AudioCubes to control his live setup.

Bert-iLL is a special user of AudioCubes. Because his percussion work is quite elaborate and he often plays Dub rythms, he cannot afford to put down his drum sticks to apply effects.

The cubes’ built-in sensors let him apply effects without putting his sticks down. He can even apply effects to individual hits.

The colours of the cubes and built-in lighting let him see the cubes and sensors under complete darkness and provide a visual reference during his performing work.

More info about his work at myspace.com/bertil