Milkcrate 32: Adventures In Homewares Featuring The Mortar And The Pestle Now Online

"An exploration of the sounds of the mortar and the pestle. Enter a sonic world of isolation."

Milkcrate 32: Adventures In Homewares Featuring The Mortar And The Pestle is now online on the milkcrate website. Grab it here.

Milkcrate 31: rrrr Now Online

"A wonderful masterpiece of drone music, created using rocks and stones. "

Milkcrate 31: rrrr is now online on the milkcrate website. Grab it here.

Marc Maron WTFPOD Shirt

I'm a fan of Marc Maron (the comedian). I've become a subscriber to his podcast called "WTF With Marc Maron". Brilliant stuff. So anyway, a shirt arrived for me in the post the other day. Pretty neat, huh?

Novation Launchpad: Ripple Sequencer

Today I made a simple ripple-based sequencer for the Novation Launchpad. The idea is simple. By pressing a grid button, a yellow, square ripple is created that emanates from the point that was touched. By holding down a modifier button and pressing a grid button, static, red points are created. Each red point represents a musical note. Whenever a given yellow ripple intersects (touches) a red point, the sequencer plays a note.

I am quite happy with this patch so far, but I want to add additional features. So I won't make it available quite yet.

The Hidden Beauty of the Willy Wagtail

I've recently moved house, and I've gone from living in a very urban, high density living area to a more suburban place. One thing that has struck me are the amount of birds that are in the area, especially at around 5am or so. I've been doing some field recordingin my backyard recently from between 5am and 6am, and I've been noticing this willy wagtail bird that has been singing quite consistently.

After transposing one of his phrases down by 24 semitones, I am amazed at the rich detail in the sound. It always intrigues me - this idea that there are many aesthetically pleasing elements of sound that fall outside of our direct perception and must be treated in some way in order to be revealed and brought into our conscious awareness.

Now for some sound examples:
- willy wagtail phrase (normal)
- willy wagtail phrase (slowed down by 2 octaves)

Novation Launchpad: Waveform Editor

This evening I made a Launchpad-based 3-bit by 3-bit waveform editor. In a way, this is related to my ever-present desire to touch sound (eg. the Toriton water-based instrument etc). If anyone is interested in downloading the Max/MSP patch, please let me know.

So the idea is very simple. The 8 x 8 grid is a representation of an audio waveform, whose shape is controlled by the grid. The frequency of the waveform is controlled by the horizontal aux buttons.

Novation Launchpad: Linear Sequencer

Today I made a simple linear sequencer for the Launchpad in Max/MSP
Features:
• 5 row by 8 subdivision drum sequencer, which outputs MIDI notes geared towards using the Impulse instrument in Live
• Up to 8 patterns can be stored in volatile memory
• Each pattern can be edited whilst any of the patterns are playing ie. editing and playback are completely separate, yet continuous.
• 8 MIDI CC controls, with a resolution of 8 steps across the 128 data value range



Use:
• Boot up the Max/MSP patch (which can be found here)
• Select the Launchpad as the inputs and outputs
• Select your external MIDI bus (say, for Live for example)
• Select your sequencer speed (in milliseconds)
• Hit the toggle to start and stop the sequencer
• Rows 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 are the main sequencing area. A green LED means that a note will be played as the sequencer transport crosses that point
• Row 8 is an indicator of where the sequencer is at
• Row 1 selects one of 8 MIDI CC controllers (from MIDI CC #16 onwards)
• Row 2 controls the MIDI CC value of the controller as selected in row 1
• The horizontal auxiliary buttons control which of the eight patterns are currently being played back
• The vertical auxiliary buttons control which of the eight patterns can be currently seen in the sequencing area, and can therefore be edited.


Demo Video:

A Sneak Peek At My Next Release!

I will be selling this release at Blip Festival 2009.

Earpoke 2009 Roundup - incl. Video!

We had the annual Earpoke music concert last night, which is basically the end of year show for the Electronic Music Unit. A number of groups performed, but for me the highlights were the two solo performances - one by Stephen Whittington (who did a 'rap') and one by Tristan Louth-Robins (who did live processing using a bare wire as a sound source). All in all, it was a fun and inspirational night.

Below you can see a few pics and a video of when Poppi Doser and I opened the evening with a few tracks from our forthcoming release.

Novation Launchpad Toggle Control

My friend Alex Yabsley aka Dot.AY wanted to send out toggle-based control from his Novation Launchpad. So we decided to make a Max/MSP patch.Very simple, but it works.

Sound Bytes 5 Footage!

Carl Testa: Kalle - Signals

I thought I would post about Carl Testa's newest release, being a Nanolooop 2.3 EP!

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This is a short (20 minute) release of music written for and played on a Gameboy Micro running Nanoloop 2.3


Download: http://music.carltesta.net/

"Kalle is the name of my solo electronic music project. I use a variety of software and hardware in my electronic music, including a laptop, synth modules, printers, SuperCollider, and Logic. I have also recently started using a gameboy in my electronic setup. Signals is a 20-minute EP featuring some of my electronic music written on and for the gameboy micro running nanoloop 2.3. This EP is the first result of my experimentation. I simply wanted to write music that utilizes the gameboy sounds within my own musical aesthetic. I hope you enjoy.

This music was recorded in July 2009 and mastered by Chris McDonald in October 2009. The great cover art and design is by Carolyn Wachnicki."

- Carl Testa

little-scale and Poppi Doser @ Earpoke 2009, Nov 23

Poppi Doser and I will be performing a short set at Earpoke 2009 (EMU's end of year show).

To get a taste of the music we will be performing, check out our track 'Litmus'.

When: November 23, 8 PM onwards
Where: The Wheatsheaf, Thebarton, SA

SEGA Mster System Internal MIDI Interface!

I'm very happy with this modification / hack - basically, it's a SEGA Master System with an internal MIDI interface and a direct audio line output. You just plug in cables for power, audio output and MIDI input, and there you go. I've also added a power LED, which can help for quick troubleshooting.

Chiptune Is NOT A Hairstyle

My HHH shirt arrived today. Dig it? If so, grab one here.

FM is for the PEOPLE - VOL. 1 - Out Now!

Brady Leo says:

"Compiled by notorious OPL buff , Oxygenstar, this release serves up a healthy dose of frequency modulation synthesis which varies nicely in both style and technique. Get it here."

01. OxygenStar – Welcome (Adlib Tracker II, recorded on a Pro Audio Spectrum16)
02. stijl – Slelett o garderoben (TFM/Reaktor)
03. freezedream – RacerRX (recorded on a YM2612)
04. Monsters – The forest Song (TFM)
05. OxygenStar – I used to love her (Adlib Tracker II, recorded on a Pro Audio Spectrum16)
06. Tiido – Cosmic synthesizer (MD Tracker/TMSE)
07. little-scale – Birthright (recorded on a YM2413)
08. rico z – Lonely gigolo standing in the rain (Milky Tracker, YM2413 samples)
09. sci – Three notes (TFM)
10. Tristendo – The pizza dinosaurs of planet awesome (TFM)
11. µB – Suspicious user (OPL emulation)
12. Alex Luthor – Alone in the Playground (TFM)
13. Lazerbeat – Knock (NL2.3 in FM mode)

little-scale and Poppi Doser: Litmus

Listen to it here: Litmus

Poppi Doser: Voice, Piano
little-scale: Atari 2600, Sega Mega Drive

I'm quite happy with this one. Please check it out if you have a moment to spare. Thanks!