Author Archives: Jacob Joaquin

Martians

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Martians by Zia

“ZIA is an exclusively electronic band who began performing on the East Cost in 1992. Founded by Elaine Walker, ZIA bangs out pro-space and sci-fi music on futuristic instruments. The notes and samples are triggered ALL LIVE with drum sticks! Microtonal musical scales run rampant throughout the ZIA repertoire. In the pop genre this is a monumental task which adds an eerie, futuristic edge to the songs.” (source)

ZIA is by far my favorite pro-space electronic band. They just released their new album Martians. Ordered mine last week. If you’re curious as to what ZIA sounds like, check out their myspace.

CalArts Halloween

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Made it down to the Los Angeles area this weekend, where I attended this years CalArts Halloween Bash. Despite the party being a bit on the lame side, I did have a great time. Probably because I ran into an old friend, Johnny Chang, whom I hadn’t seen since graduating in 2002. We did a lot of catching up, and we’re already talking about collaborating on a new project.

I also got a chance to talk with CalArts Bob about the heightened state of security this year. Guards everywhere. Seems like the traditional loose nature of CalArts culture might finally be tightening up after all these years. These events used to be infamous for their outgoing hedonistic tone. So much so, that one year way back in the past, the town successfully stopped the Halloween party from happening. Well, a lot of good that did them. That spring, CalArts threw a new type of party, the Erotic Ball. CalArts now throws two parties a year.

Moog Patents

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US Patent 3,475,623:
Electronic High-pass and Low-pass Filters Employing the Base-to-Emitter Resistance of Bipolar Transistors

“I have been collecting copies of Moog patents, those invented by Robert Moog and as well as those assigned to Moog Music, Inc., and the synthesizer-related patents of Norlin Music, Inc., the company that purchased Moog Music. I present them here along with some hopefully entertaining commentary.”

– J. Donald Tillman

Visit Moog Patents at www.till.com.

Have a Csound Halloween

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Halloween by Hans Mikelson:

hallown.orc
hallown.sco

You’ll need to download Csound to render these two text files into an audio file. And in case you are wondering what Csound is:

“Csound is an incredibly powerful and versatile software synthesis program. Drawing from a toolkit of over 450 signal processing modules, one can use Csound to model virtually any commercial synthesizer or multi-effects processor. Csound literally transforms a personal computer into a high-end digital audio workstation — an environment in which the worlds of sound-design, acoustic research, digital audio production and computer music composition all join together in the ultimate expressive instrument.” – Dr. Richard Boulanger (source)

In other words, a straight-up hard-core modular computer music language. Csound makes my top three list of favorite synthesizers of all time. For more info, visit Csounds.com.

Personal Log Stardate 60278.1

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Csound Instr

I’ve recently started the painstaking process of compiling all of my compositions into one cohesive online portfolio. Already, I’ve discovered I’ve lost some older works. Oops! The butterflies are nibbling at my stomach as I type. My hope is that some of the people I’ve collaborated with in the past have copies. There is always the possibility that one or two pieces exist in an archive at CalArts. But I’m going to have to face the reality that some of my works are forever lost…

The blunt of the project should take me about two weeks. After which, I will slowly add to the collection. I have a few papers and tutorials I’ve written I will eventually include, though the priority for now is the music. I want to note that I’m re-releasing most of these works under a Creative Commons license. I subscribe to the philosophy that putting too many restraints on art can kill the art. Creative Commons allows me to free my music so that it might someday find an audience, and hopefully inspire derivative works.

last.fm – the social music revolution

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thumbuki's Profile Page

My Recent Tracks

Last.fm is a service that records what you listen to, and then presents you with an array of interesting things based upon your tastes — artists you might like, users with similar taste, personalised radio streams, charts, and much more.

Are you a playlist exhibitionist? Then “show us your tracks!” Last.fm is a prime example of the social voyeurism we experience daily in the age of the internet.

Thanks to my friends at blip.tv for tuning me in.

Shinola Low-Pass

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Shinola Low-Pass

“It works okay, I guess.”

I’ve recently taken a detour from the alien world of circuit-bending into the greater cosmos of electronics. And what better thing is there to do with my new found hobby than to build modules for my Doepfer Modular? If you answered “why nothing,” you deserve a cookie.

Shinola Low-Pass Inside

Inside the box

Above you’ll see the result of my entire Saturday, the Shinola Low-Pass. It is a simple, passive knob-controllable low-pass filter. Its constructed from an old GBA-SP box, two capacitors, wire, two 3.5mm jacks and a 50k potentiometer.

It works okay, I guess. I intentionally crowded the jacks and pot into the corner, giving me room to expand it’s functionality later. The cutoff only goes so low, which could have been fixed with higher capacitance capacitors. Still, not bad for a first try. Despite being mostly useless, I’m quite proud of it.