Martians

Posted on October 31, 2006 by Jacob Joaquin

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.

Have a Csound Halloween

Posted on October 25, 2006 by Jacob Joaquin

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.

Whitney Music Box

Posted on October 16, 2006 by Jacob Joaquin

The Whitney Music Box is a wonderful example of Process Music. The audio generated is musical in nature, and the process itself is obvious thanks to the simplicity of the animation. Each of the 18 variations have their own distinct qualities, showing the versatility of the instrument and of the sound spaces it creates.

Whitney Music Box is based on John Whitney’s motion graphics, realized by Jim Bumgardner, aka KrazyDad.

From the description:

in three minutes, the largest dot will travel around the circle once, the next largest dot will travel around the circle twice, the next largest dot three times, and so on. the dots are arranged to trigger notes on a chromatic scale when they pass the line

Thanks to PAgent of PAgen’ts Progress for the link.

‘Electronica’ – Live at FACT (excerpt)

Posted on October 12, 2006 by Jacob Joaquin

I only wish they had posted the entire performance. From the description:

This is a taster of our live performance mix of ‘Electronica’, a piece which uses clips from a 1940’s russian film ‘Experiments in the Revival of Organisms’ which can be found on www.archive.org. Music by Kinetic Fallacy (Hannah Peel and Emma Welsby). Video chopped, treated and performed by Smeech.

Permalink @ blip.tv

Know Your Roots: OHM+

Posted on October 12, 2006 by Jacob Joaquin

:the early gurus of electronic music

“Electronic music represents freedom from conventional music forms: it liberates the production of sound. I was very interested in electronic music from its philosophical point of view. It is music that takes chances: it’s adventurous, it doesn’t sit still. And that’s something that should be applied to culture at large.” – Iara Lee

Ohm: The Early Gurus of Electronic Music is a sensational sonic history, grounded in mold-breaking experimentation. With virtually no rules to follow, or previous works to emulate, these composers were given a new freedom unlike anything else before. Naysayers would call this compilation a lot of things, but not music. For the open minded, this three disc +dvd set is an opportunity for exploring a world of sound you may have not experienced before.