Category Archives: the cosmos

everything that is && everything that isn’t

Thumbuki 13 – part II

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Catch up with the Thumbuki 13:

Editor’s Choice:

The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust!

Reason:

Not since 1999 has an album had such an impact on me.

Thumbuki 13 – part I

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I’m implementing a new blogging feature today I call the Thumbuki 13. Quite simply, I list the headlines of the last 13 posts. And why call it the Thumbuki Thirteen? Because it rolls off the tongue better than Thumbuki Seventeen or Thumbuki Eight. And Thumbuki Thirty is just to many damn posts for a summary.

Today, I’m doing this twice, to reflect all the new blogs I’ve posted since resuming operations on December 27th. Here’s the list in chronological order, oldest to newest:

Editor’s Choice:

Barack Obama and Tolerance Fatigue

Reason:

The internet has given us our voice back. This vlog, whether or not you agree with the message, is a wonderful real world example.

The Beat-Bearing Sequencer

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Beat-Bearing Sequencer

Here‘s an interesting alternate controller I’ve not yet seen: a step sequencer where one composes a pattern by placing ball bearings onto a grid.

Though I don’t exactly have one in front of me, I would imagine the sensation of manipulating the device would be similar to patching a modular synth. There must be something entirely satisfying interfacing with music in this manner, akin to eating with a well-balanced set of weighted flatware.


A tangible rhythm sequencer. Ball bearings are used to trigger drum sounds. Visual feedback is displayed from underneath to indicate the current time and the state of each ball bearing.

The brainchild behind the Beat-Bearing Sequencer is Peter Bennett.

Video posted to YouTube by peterdbennett.
Thanks to PAgent of PAgent’s Progress for sending me this link to technabob.com.

Synthesized Bach in W. Carlos Style – Stereo

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Video posted to YouTube by Elhardt
Link discovered via matrixsynth.com

Here are some experiments I did in trying to mimic the style of Walter/Wendy Carlos’ synthesizer technique and style of timbres. Carlos was using a 1960’s era patchable modular Moog synthesizer with a different architecture than that of the Alesis Andromeda synthesizer. Each one has some advantages and disadvantages over the other but both use analog circuitry.

All I can say is Bravo! As many of my friends can attest to, I’ve listened to a lot of Wendy Carlos over the years. Elhardt has managed to perfect the sound design, arrangement and performance stylings of Carlos. Be sure to check out the Scarlatti piece, too.

Musiques Pour Cultes

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Musiques Pour Cultes

I just wanted to announce my latest release, Musiques Pour Cultes, written with composer Severine Baron and realized almost entirely in Csound. Musiques Pour Cultes is a collections of abstract music and soundscapes attempting to establish a connection between music and spirituality, between sound and the physical space that surrounds us.

Musiques Pour Cultes was released on Al’s Records and is available for download on iTunes.

– Jean-Luc Cohen (aka Jean-Luc Sinclair)

You can also listen to Musiques Pour Cultes at MySpace.

I have personally listened to multiple iterations of this piece over the years. Musiques Pour Cultes is full of both rich complexity and subtlety. I highly recommend you to sit in a dark room filled with candles and incense while listening to this beautiful illustration of computer music. It is an experience.