The astute and diligent reader may notice that there is a new entry in the Projects menu: Sound Design Tools. I spent some time this weekend sorting through old demo recordings from BentPedals.com, culling samples for the Gurdonark-requested circuit bent sample library. I’m not entirely satisfied by the site’s current navigation structure, so I kicked around a few ideas this morning on how I could clean it up. Ultimately I decided that what I have is the best I’m going to get with WordPress, for the time being. But, rather than add another entry to the Projects menu, I opted for a general Sound Design Tools page to include Unnatural Spaces, as well as the upcoming library. While poking around the server, I discovered that I still had copies of Aural Piercing, A Deep, Dark Place and The Threshold available. It all came together rather fluidly, like a jigsaw puzzle of jagged glass pieces, and thus these severely old and dated libraries are being re-introduced (yet again) for your grabbing pleasure. I’m updating the ZIP files with the appropriate CC licensing information, which is taking a significant amount of time. I’m also going to dig around my backup drive when I get home and see if I still have a copy of Drone Structures somewhere. If so, I’ll get that up tomorrow.
Category: Projects
Project in Progress: Universe of Logic
NTNS Radio boasts, among other things, the dedication and unique talents of one of its listeners, Jared aka universallogic. Using the sounds of NTNS as his muse, Jared creates visual representations, his own interpretations, of the tracks of a given night’s playlist. Some images are abstract while others are silly; some dark and menacing while others are light and ethereal. From his collection of such representations, two have been culled for an exercise in role reversal.
The project? Pick one of these images and make it your muse. No other rules. Obviously the compilation will be geared towards abstract/noise/dark ambient, as with all previous releases, but otherwise have at it. Preferably chose one image or the other. The hope is that there will be enough entries for each to divide the release by image of inspiration, but that doesn’t mean you can’t submit two tracks, one for each image.
Submissions due by October 31st. Spread the word.
Can’t Take My Eyes Off You
I’m finally getting around to doing something that I’ve been meaning to do for a long time: updating the Databending page. Put a small dent in my overall idea of progress, but my goal this weekend is to have it completely finished with tutorials worthy of gracing the same site as the Mutant Phaser and Pedal Bending Guide tutorials.
We’re less than two weeks from the release of Of Places and Moments, so I may also, sometime this weekend, get the official page up for the new project.
Speaking of databending, anyone out there have any suggestions for instruments/applications that use granular synthesis? I’m thinking of including a quick and dirty link list on the Databending page for those interested, but the only one I can think of, off the top of me own dirty head, is AtomicCloud.
As always, caveat emptor, motherfuckers.
So, about that “details” leak…
I promised that I would leak some of the details about the next project, so here goes.
Without getting into the entire story (that will come with the official announcement), the gist of the project is to compose a track that is inspired by one of the following images:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/universallogic/4259235838/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/universallogic/4277919605/in/photostream/
Pick one of these images and make it your muse. No other rules. Obviously the compilation will be geared towards abstract/noise/dark ambient, as with all previous releases, but otherwise have at it. Preferably chose one image or the other, since I’m planning to divide the release by image of inspiration, but that doesn’t mean you can’t submit two tracks, one for each image. Full project information will be forthcoming in the next few weeks.
Until then, etc. etc.
Banned From The Pubs
First order of business: Check this out. The audio won’t be available until the official release date of September 7th, but I thought one or two people might be interested in seeing the tracklist in advance. It was a phenomenal turnout and I want to thank everyone who contributed a track for making it a successful return to the wide world of random experimental music compilations. This has certainly given me the motivation to roll out another project, and I have just the thing in mind. I need only confer with an interested party before announcing the project, so stay tuned for more news on that.
Second order of business: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World was a truly unique movie experience. At first I felt a little uncomfortably “too old” for the movie, but that passed pretty quickly as the story got underway. It was bombastic, nerdy, quirky and amusing; and the action scenes were surprisingly… for lack of a better word, astounding. I wasn’t expecting the action to be so intense.
Third order of business: The Expendables was horrible. My initial reaction was that it was the worst movie I’ve ever seen. I later amended that to “it’s the worst movie I’ve paid to see since I got suckered into seeing Dumb & Dumber on opening weekend”. Granted, nobody walked into that theater expecting great cinema, but Jesus this stuff was terrible. It was downright boring. Twice I almost walked out of the movie, but I remembered that it was 97 outside, so I started to convince myself that I’d paid $9.00 for two hours in the AC and the movie was secondary entertainment. The plot was a mess. The dialog was atrocious. All of these guys look like total shit (seriously, Mickey Rourke looks good compared to Stallone, Lundgren and Schwarzenegger), and the tacked on subplots that were supposed to flesh out the characters were amateurish and hackneyed. Terrible on such a level that I weep for all these guys.
(The one redeeming scene is owned pwned by Terry Crews. You’ll know it when you see it.)
Fourth order of business: Will have to wait. It’s time for the new episode of Warehouse 13. Huzzah!
Until next time, skanks, etc. etc.