Cosmic Pulses

TEENAGE ENGINEERING - OP-1

2010-11-02T07:27:00.000-07:00

OP-1. The portable wonder from Teenage Engineering.

Take a close look at the key to the left. It instantly let you record anything you do on the OP-1 to any track of the built-in Tape feature. Record your sound tweaks or beats in real-time. Change speed during recording, or record backwards. Split, lift and join. Make a loop or record a section with Tape Step Recording. You have twelve minutes recording time in normal tape speed and 4 tracks to put your magic on. Turn on Beat Matching to sync tape speed to the internal sequencer. When you change the tape speed the sequenced tempo follows but the pitch of the sound is constant. This is great for creating beats on multiple tracks with different pitch. Join us in our mission to make the Tape a musical instrument in it’s own right!

Everything color coded.

Like everything else on the OP-1 the tape loop keys are color coded to match the loop graphic on the brilliant AMOLED display. For a super intuitive and fast work flow. Take a closer look at the active track. It’s blue. Turn the blue encoder to slide the take? Yes.

All-in-one Wonder.

OP-1 is the all-in-one portable Synthesizer, Sampler and Controller. With additional features like the FM Radio and a G-Force sensor for pitch and bend effects. Beside a fresh and creative approach to sequencing with multiple choice of sequencers, you just have to love the OP-1’s built-in Tape feature.

Portable controller.

Connect it to your computer and control your DAW with the common play, stop, rec, forward and rewind. Use the 4 rotary encoders and 8 x 2 dedicated quick keys for fast selections. Just use them with your software synthesizers. All in a portable package that fits next to the laptop in your bag.

Drag and drop audio.

When plugged in to the mini USB port the OP-1 shows up as a mass storage device. Ready for you to drag and drop audio files between your computer and the OP-1. The 4 tape tracks are available as well as sampled waveforms for you to manipulate. No additional software or drivers required!

Main Features

User friendly Synthesizer.

With 8 different synthesizer engines, the OP-1 can create some really great and unique sounds. You have FM, physical modeled strings (with a twist), Cluster, DRW, Pulse and more. All engines are swappable, so you can have 8 FMs as your sound presets if you want. We have removed as much of the numeric input as we possibly could. All with a color coded and easily understandable interface. No hassle with saving. Everything is always where you left it, even if you turn the power off.

The 8 Synthesizer engines:

FM • String • DRW • Pulse • T10 • Cluster • PSE (Shown above is the Pulse Synthesizer engine.)

FM demo

Sound Architecture

Exchangable Architecture.

When you create a sound on the OP-1, you use the keys T1 - T4 to switch between the different sound pages. The example below shows the browser for effects, which is activated by the T3 key.

Super friendly Sampler.

We think sampling should be fun and super quick. So we made the sampler simple and inspiring. Use the built in microphone or line-in jack to sample sound or voice. The sampler automatically maps your recorded sample across the keys. If you need to tweak it later just press a key on the musical keyboard and fine tune the in and out points manually. You may also adjust the pitch and choose between different play modes. Record a sample: Press any key on the musical keyboard and the OP-1 turns into stand-by mode waiting for a signal to trig recording. You set the trig level by turning the orange encoder in sampling mode. As soon as the trig level is reached the recording starts. End the recording at any time by releasing the pressed key.

Mixer and Sequencers.

The end station for your sound is the mixer where you set track levels, pan and EQ. Or add a master effect to your recordings. The OP-1 will be shipped with several different types of sequencers. From step to... (More on this matter at the final release)

Envelopes. The classic ADSR envelope is fine, but sometimes you need another way to model the volume of your sound. With the OP-1’s swappable architecture this is no problem. There are several other envelopes for you to choose from. From ADS to ADD to ADHD.

Additional features

Built-in FM Radio.

Tune in a radio frequency, and use it as an unexpected tool for creating beats and sounds.

G-force Motion Sensor.

Combine that rice sound with a x/y/z motion or add rubber chicken legs for a vibratidn sound.

Controller.

Using the USB-port the OP-1 will act as the sleekest midi controller available. Very flexible, TBD!

Designed to be used.

Timeless and functional design. Color coded for easy reading. Keyboard tested for millions of keystrokes. Super bright, high contrast AMOLED for clear display even in direct sunlight. Dimensions: 282 (W) x 102 (H) x 13.5 (D) mm

Engineered to last.

The durable painted aluminium body gives it a solid feel and also works as a protection for the internals.

Noteworthy: The OP-1 has no visible screws.

Techincal details

In and Out’s

On the right side of the case you’ll find the neccasary connectors and the power switch.

Slide to ON power switch.

3.5mm input for line in / external microphone.

3.5mm output for line out / headphones.

USB 2.0 port for hooking up your OP-1 to your computer.

Two holes special machined for carrying strap.

Turn the machine upside-down to find two M6 screw holes for use with our Studio System parts.

ITALIAN LAPTOP ORCHESTRA

2010-04-12T17:50:00.000-07:00

The Laptop Orchestra idea born from the desire to reinterpret the computer music meaning, that often means individual work as translation of one’s own composition tension using the digital instrument. This increasing mass movement is the cause of both the emotional charge flattening and the team work content richness impoverishment. Thanks to a new approach and to Roberto Vernetti’s arrangements, the IED Sound Design class students co-ordinated by Painè Cuadrelli with some guests, will develop the concept of multi hands performance where every performer has to develop a single part. We assist to a classic orchestra digital re-visitation playing some Italian pop songs live. The famous conductor Fabio Gurian will drive the ten members in the performance and the Alessio Bertallot will sing the Italian songs. The project takes place from a Dino Lupelli’s idea and INSOUND will be the media partner.

BLIPTRONIC 5000 LED SYNTHESIZER - In the low-cost times..

2009-11-26T14:00:00.000-08:00

If HAL 9000 mated with R2-D2 and their electronic offspring was tutored by Kraftwerk it would probably end up something like the Bliptronic 5000 LED Synthesizer.

At once a minimalist musical plaything and a hardcore old-skool synthesizer, the Bliptronic defies categorization as it belts out 8-Bit style style tunes from its grid of glowing buttons.

You'll notice sound similar to a retro Casiotone with an interface not unlike a simplified Yamaha TENORI-ON... if that makes any sense. Either way, once you start touching the keys of the Bliptronic you'll be hooked by it's simple pattern-based approach to music.

Bliptronic Philosophy... in Regards to Music

In the world of the Bliptronic, creating a song revolves around an ever evolving 4-beat pattern. Each row of vertical buttons represents the notes in one octave. Push a button to turn on a note, push the button again to turn off a note. Push multiple buttons in one vertical row to make a chord. The Bliptronic plays whatever you have selected in sequence horizontally across the display. When it reaches the end of the pattern, it repeats. The genius comes as you modify the pattern by turning notes on and off while the pattern is still looping to create evolving electronic melodies

Knobs and Buttons, There are Some

In addition to the grid of glowing LED buttons you'll notice some other controls on the Bliptronic. These allow you to set the tempo (From 60-160 BPM), choose the instrument (From 8 different retro-synth type sounds), adjust the volume and turn looping on or off. A big "play" button at the bottom makes the Bliptronic uh... play. If you hit it again it stops. Yep.

The Bliptronic is a Social Butterfly

One Bliptronic is grand, but more Bliptronics are even grander. An infinite number of Bliptronics can be attached together using the link ports and included cables. When one Bliptronic reaches the end of it's pattern, the next Bliptronic is instantly triggered to start playing. This allows you to make longer songs where each person controls a section of the song. You can even set the tempo and instrument differently on each Bliptronic in the chain to achieve unconventional musical results.

Product Features

Unusual retro synthesizer is played with a grid of glowing buttons
Create looping patterns and change them dynamically while playing
Chain multiple units together and create more complex melodies
One octave range. 8 notes can be played simultaneously
8 different old-skool synth sounding instruments to choose from
Sounds created using FM waveform synthesis
Set the BPM (beats per minute) from 60 to 180 in 20 BPM increments
Built in speaker with headphone jack and line-out jack
Front panel is constructed from brushed aluminum
Includes, manual and 2 link cables for connecting additional Bliptronic units
Requires 4 x AA batteries (not included)

SONIC STATES - State Of Indepen/dance

2009-11-21T13:52:00.000-08:00

State of Indepen/Dance is the theme chosen for the 9th edition of Club To Club, which -while registering an ever-increasing success that brought the attendance to more than 20,000 people in the 2008 edition- has furtherly consolidated its quality level and contributed to put it on the map of the most prestigious European festivals dedicated to electronic music and cutting-edge creativity.

The concept of independence -creative and musical- will be central in the programme of Club To Club, Torino's International Festival of Electronic Music and Arts, which will take place from Thursday 5th to Saturday 7th November 2009 and will expand even more in the urban area, in extraordinary places such as Teatro Carignano, Mole Antonelliana, Teatro Gobetti, Espace, Lingotto Fiere Padiglione 1, Mirafiori Motor Village, and in clubs like Hiroshima Mon Amour, and at Libertine Supersport in Brussells.

The challenge for Club To Club 09 is to define indipendence by answering the question: whom or what can you be independent from, at the end of the noughties?

Club To Club has created for fun its own currency (tuxel), banknotes (you can see the picture of Karlheinz Stockhausen on the 5 tuxel note, or Arthur Russell on the 99 tuxel one), stamps, passports, its own flag, anthem -exceptionally commissioned to Teho Teardo (who won the 2009 "David di Donatello" award for his soundtrack of Paolo Sorrentino's "Il Divo"), together with promoting the setting-up of an imaginary state -obviously a peaceful one- at Teatro Gobetti, a state called State of Indepen/Dance.

Club To Club takes part as a main feature in "Torino – Piemonte Contemporary Arts", while interacting and planning together with Artissima, Teatro Stabile's Prospettiva 09 (the opening of Club To Club 09 will be exceptionally hosted at Teatro Carignano), Torino 2010 European Youth Capital, Italia 150, Share Festival and View Conference (for the Digital Orbit project), Museo Nazionale del Cinema, CReATE International Conference, PiemonteGroove. Also, after twinning with Berlin (2006), Barcelona (2007) and Rotterdam (2008), this year Club To Club will also be in Brussels, with some innovative productions. Also, thanks to the collaboration of Piedmontese project Wi-Pie, a live video streaming of all involved clubs will be running online and in the clubs themselves.

These are the artists which will take part in Club To Club 09's rich and eclectic programme: Alexander Balanescu (Romania), Blixa Bargeld (Germany), Carl Craig (USA), Chiara Guidi (Italy), Culoe De Song (South Africa), Dj Pierre (USA), Dorian Concept (Austria), Filastine (USA), Francesco Tristano (Luxembourg), Hudson Mohawke (Scotland), Jeff Mills (USA), Joe Goddard degli Hot Chip (England), Jon Hopkins (England), Laurent Garnier (France), Marcel Dettmann (Germany), Martyn (Netherlands), Moritz Von Oswald (Germany), Optimo (Scotland), Pathosformel (Italy), Scanner (England), Seth Troxler (USA), Shed (Germany), Soap&Skin (Austria), Steffi (Germany), Teho Teardo (Italy), The Present (USA), Tim Exile (England), ToDo (Italy) and many artists from the PiemonteGroove community; more artists will be announced in the next few days.

Club To Club will feature international showcases, exclusive projects and partnerships, and in the festival's week it will activate a meeting point at Teatro Gobetti, which will become a temporary art center for projections, sound installations, performances, lectures, especially conceived for the festival on the theme of creative independence.

A Festival preview event, Viva Club To Club, will take place in Milan's IED - Spazio Teatro on 22nd October 2009, organized together with IED and UOVO Festival, and presented by Alfa Romeo MiTo, which is once again this year's festival Main Partner. More "Viva Club To Club" events will happen in Torino, from Wednesday 21st to Saturday 24th at Cinema Massimo, La Drogheria (in Piazza Vittorio), Puddhu Bar (Murazzi area) and the San Salvario area.

Club To Club will be the ideal meeting point amongst different art forms, people, cities, places, all looking for the State of Indepen/Dance. The Tuxel and a sly Stockhausen are inviting you to believe and invest in it.

During the event will be presenteda project born from the collaboration between students in sound design with musician Robin Rimbaud (aka Scanner) .An experiment designed to create sensations through electronic experimentation. A 'musical environment in which every emotion is transformed into sound and every note becomes a vision in itself. A 'web of insistent beats and ethereal sound carpets likely to create a' single fascinating work.

Club To Club (To) - Sonic States Live Set by Giuseppe Albrizio

The workshop is a collaboration between FDI and Milan Club To Club, started in 2007 and is designed to produce performances and soundscapes which will be presented and performed at the event Viva Club To Club on October 22 in Milan (Space Theater, Via Pompeo Leoni 3) and during the Festival Club To Club on 7 November in Turin (Teatro Gobetti, Via Rossini 8). By following the slogan "State of Independent / Dance", the students' work will focus on issues of national identity and cultural met through the production and processing of sounds.

Club To Club - Sonic States Perfomance - Part 1 from Giuseppe Albrizio on Vimeo.
The workshop is a collaboration between FDI and Milan Club To Club, started in 2007 and is designed to produce performances and soundscapes which will be presented and performed at the event Viva Club To Club on October 22 in Milan (Space Theater, Via Pompeo Leoni 3) and during the Festival Club To Club on 7 November in Turin (Teatro Gobetti, Via Rossini 8). By following the slogan "State of Independent / Dance", the students' work will focus on issues of national identity and cultural met through the production and processing of sounds.

Club To Club - Sonic States Perfomance - Part 2 from Giuseppe Albrizio on Vimeo.
The workshop is a collaboration between FDI and Milan Club To Club, started in 2007 and is designed to produce performances and soundscapes which will be presented and performed at the event Viva Club To Club on October 22 in Milan (Space Theater, Via Pompeo Leoni 3) and during the Festival Club To Club on 7 November in Turin (Teatro Gobetti, Via Rossini 8). By following the slogan "State of Independent / Dance", the students' work will focus on issues of national identity and cultural met through the production and processing of sounds.

MONOME - Control Surface 2.0

2009-11-04T17:47:00.000-08:00

Adaptable, minimalist interfaces

three models: two fifty six (16×16), one twenty eight (16×8), and sixty four (8×8).

each is a reconfigurable grid of backlit keypads which connects to a computer. interaction between the keys and lights is determined by the application running on the computer. there is no hard-wired functionality.

this new series evolved from the 40h which began as an interface for our own music performance and art practice. we also make available a kit version which allows users to create their own 40h-like devices.

Applications

live sample cutters, math simulations, drum machines, generative controllers, tonal maps, games, visualizations. browse here. we make available all sources to encourage community contribution and enthusiasm. we share and thrive.

Design

new custom silicone rubber keypads
bright orange backlighting
clear anodized aluminum top plate, no visible screws
hand-crafted black walnut enclosure
black rubber bottom lining for non-slip

Pricing

two fifty six: $1400
one twenty eight: $800
sixty four: $500

Monome is a small Catskills-based hardware company that makes controllers for electronic music performance and new media art. Their first product, the 40h, is an eight-by-eight grid of backlit buttons which connects to a computer using a USB cable and the Open Sound Control (OSC) protocol. Originally developed as an open ended performance interface for electronic music, its developers have said "The wonderful thing about this device is that it doesn't do anything really". As a result, developers have begun to use the Monome as an interface for other types of software, from text displays to games.

The word "Monome" is also often used as a name for the various devices that Monome produces.

tehn with two fifty six from tehn on Vimeo.

Monome as a company is committed to a minimalist philosophy both with regards to design on the one hand, and economic and ecological production principles on the other.

Monome's minimalist design philosophy manifests in its production of interface devices that avoid complexity in order to promote greater possible versatility (see Functionality, below). Monome places emphasis on greater accessibility through minimal design, in order to increase the adaptability of the device in terms of software implementation. The name "Monome" itself derives from the mathematical term monomial, a gesture to the concept of many variables made possible through something that is nevertheless singular or simple in nature.

Monome's production approach emphasizes local and sustainable economies. For example, the materials and services involved in the production of their devices are domestic and often found regionally, enabling relationships with those involved in the production. In terms of sustainability, for example, all packaging is recyclable. Furthermore, Monome's open source policy uses distributed development for the software used by its devices.

An active user community maintains Monome documentation and implementation of the devices through open source software applications.

[Installation] Living Picture from bart on Vimeo.

"Living Pictures" is an interactive installation. It allow you to control the drawings of Alexandra Petracchi and play with sounds and pictures.

Draws: Alexanda Petracchi - faitetrit.com

Sound design: Charles Dubois

Animation: Volt'air aka Bart & Anome

Using:

Modul8 + Monomal "Vernissage" Module + Monome 40h

Download the Monomal Module from the online library of Modul8. Monomal Module has been written by Iduun.

MORE INFO AT faitetrit.com AND iduun.com/blog/2008/12/17/tableaux-vivants/

Property Of Vimeo

KARLHEINZ STOCKAHAUSEN - What "Cosmic Pulses"© is

2009-11-01T15:12:00.000-08:00

From "Cosmic Pulses":

In KLANG (SOUND), The 24 Hours of the Day, the 13th Hour is entitled COSMIC PULSES

(Electronic Music).

24 melodic loops, each of which has a different number of pitches between 1 and 24, rotate in

24 tempi between 240 and 1.17 rotations per minute in 24 registers within a range of circa 7 octaves.

They are successively layered on top of each other from low to high and from the slowest to the fastest

tempo and end one after another in the same order.

The loops were enlivened by manual regulation of the accelerandi and ritardandi around the respective

tempo, and by quite narrow glissandi upwards and downwards around the original melodies. This

was carried out by Kathinka Pasveer according to the score (see the form scheme).

What is completely new for me is the new kind of spatialisation: each section of each of the

24 layers has its own spatial motion between 8 loudspeakers, which means that I had to compose

241 different trajectories in space. That sounds very technical – and it is.

For the first time, I have tried out superimposing 24 layers of sound, as if I had to compose the orbits

of 24 moons or 24 planets (for example, the planet Saturn has 48 moons).

For making this possible, I am grateful to Joachim Haas and Gregorio Karman, collaborators in the

Experimental Studio for Acoustic Art in Freiburg.

The loops and the synchronisation were realised by my collaborator Antonio Pérez Abellán.

If it is possible to hear everything, I do not yet know. In any case, the experiment is extremely

fascinating!

INTERESTING LINK ABOUT THE ALBUM REVIEW

SONY ROLL - How to play with the music

2009-11-01T11:23:00.000-08:00

The Sony Rolly SEP-10BT is a Sound Entertainment Player. It is a combination of a little robot, a little Mp3 player and a little boombox. It plays MP3, ATRAC, or AAC tunes via Bluetooth with A2DP / AVRCP or the 1GB internal memory. Rolly is gonna dance to your music and you can also choreograph it and share your Rolly moves with friends via internet. It has battery life of five hours straight music, four hours of dance and music, or three and a half hours dancing, music, and Bluetooth use together. The Sony Rolly SEP-10BT will be available on the September 29 for ¥40,000 (approx $350) in Japan.

Sound effects demonstration

Rolly™ analyses your favourite music and responds with funky moves - twisting, spinning and flashing his lights to the sound of the beat

The integrated digital amplifier and soft dome speakers give you high quality sound too

Built-in Bluetooth® so you can stream music directly from other enabled devices like PC's, mobiles and Hi Fi systems

Innovative navigation, a twist to choose a track, a shake to shuffle or a turn to change the volume.

Use the bundled software to create your own easy to design dance sequences, then share them online and download your favourite.

Two LED lights give you up to 700 colour options you can add to your dance moves

Sony Roll - 3D Render

Sony rolly dancing

Sony Rolly: Dancing - Foo Fighters from Blogeek on Vimeo.

http://www.blogeek.ch

SOUND & LIGHT - Interactions for the consumers future

2009-11-01T09:33:00.000-08:00

Wake up naturally

The Wake-up Light wakes you up in a natural way, using light that increases gradually. From now on, waking up will be a pleasant experience. It makes use of an energy-saving lamp and the design in the shape of a lamp suits every bedroom.

Gradual light positively affects energy hormones

Light gradually increases over 30 minutes before your set wake up time. Light falls on your eyes and positively affects your energy hormones, preparing your body to wake up. This makes waking up a more pleasant feeling.

Up to 300 Lux for natural awakening

The sensitivity to light differs a lot per person. In general, when using a higher light intensity a person needs less time to become fully awake. The light intensity of the Wake-up Light can be set up to 300 Lux. This makes sure you can wake up to the light intensity that suits your personal preference best.

Choice of 4 natural and pleasant wake-up sounds

At your set wake-up time, you will start hearing a natural sound or the selected radio station. It starts out quietly and takes a minute and a half to reach the volume level you selected. There are four sounds you can choose from: morning birds in the forest, a relaxing beep, the sounds of the African jungle or soft chimes in the wind. The gradually increasing sound will make the waking up process even more pleasant, ensuring you are never rudely awakened.

The speaker in this Wake-up Light is backed up by an integrated sound box, assuring great sound quality when listing to the FM radio or when waking up with the natural wake-up sounds.

Energy-saving lamp

Wake-up Light is the only dawn simulator that makes use of an energy-saving lamp. It consumes up to 24% less energy compared to a Wake-up Light with a normal light bulb.

Review: Philips Wake-up Light from Blogeek on Vimeo.

http://www.blogeek.ch

LIVID - Trough the world of controllers

2009-10-31T08:36:00.000-07:00

This is one of the new "LIVID" product used for generic midi control.

Block is a compact and programmable MIDI control surface designed for interactive audio performance. Built on the same bi-directional and adaptable platform as the Ohm64, Block provides a powerful interface for creating and interacting with sound in a small easy-to-transport body. Sixty four backlight led buttons provide endless possibilities for visual feedback with the instrument by connecting it to Ableton Live, Max/Msp, our open source sounds apps, or any other software that supports MIDI. The open source blockEditor application lets you reprogram any of the controller's sixty four clip buttons, eight knobs, two faders, and seven function buttons. Block is hand crafted from lightweight wood and aluminum for easy portability.

Block has bi-directional talkback communication allowing the controller to talk to your software, and software to your device. MIDI messages can be sent to the Block to light up the buttons for an interactive performance. Completely programable and mappable, block provides a flexible control surface that be used with any software or setup. Completely USB powered means you don’t have to worry about adapters and and power strips, and it is plug and play so no drivers are required.

Specs

• 10.25" x 10.25" x 1.5" (WLH) / weight 3 lbs. (26 cm x 26 cm x 3.8 cm, 1.36 kg)

• USB Powered

• Bi-Directional MIDI communication (talkback)

• Class-compliant: no drivers needed for Mac, Windows, or Linux.

• 64 Programmable backlight buttons for talk-back and interactive performance

• Programmable MIDI mapping allows you to change the MIDI settings on the hardware

• Anodized Aluminum Faceplate

• Open Source software tools to create your own LED talkback interaction

• Editor included for MIDI editing, and LED talkback programming

• Made in the USA

• Compatible with any software that supports MIDI learn

• ROHS compliant

• USB cable include

Livid Block and Ableton Live from Livid Instruments on Vimeo.

LIVID - OFFICIAL SITE

SIFTABLES - A new way for the sound design experience

2009-10-30T02:54:00.000-07:00

About the new sound design technlogy:

Siftables Music Sequencer from Jeevan Kalanithi on Vimeo.

Imagine overturning a container of nuts and bolts, then looking through the resulting pile for a particular item. Or spreading photographs out on a tabletop and then beginning to sort them into piles. During these activities we interact with large numbers of small objects at the same time, and they utilize all of our fingers and both hands together. We humans are skilled at using our hands in these ways, and can effortlessly sift and sort - focusing on our higher level goals rather than the items themselves.

Siftables aims to enable people to interact with information and media in physical, natural ways that approach interactions with physical objects in our everyday lives. As an interaction platform, Siftables applies technology and methodology from wireless sensor networks to tangible user interfaces. Siftables are independent, compact devices with sensing, graphical display, and wireless communication capabilities. They can be physically manipulated as a group to interact with digital information and media. Siftables can be used to implement any number of gestural interaction languages and HCI applications.

The Siftables interaction platform is a collaboration with Jeevan Kalanithi, of Taco Lab.

The cats and kittens at the MIT Media Lab are always on some next-level type of wackiness, and the Siftables project doesn't break from that trend. The concept seems simple enough: a collection of small, self-contained input / display devices wirelessly link together to form an independent mini-network, or a control system for a PC. The cubes feature OLED screens, a 3-axis accelerometer, Bluetooth, flash memory, and a haptic actuation driver, and feature additional ports for attaching other devices. The aim is to create a more natural system for handling and displaying data, though we won't be surprised if this is somehow incorporated into an even more realistic version of Call of Duty. Check out the video after the break to see the little guys in action.

The new computing platform is extremely interactive and allows users to manipulate data in a more natural manner. Each "Siftables" unit is in fact a miniature computer that is powered by a 20 MHz AVR processor with ultra-low power requirements.

The computer uses a tiny OLED panel to interact with the human, and an infrared sensor that allows it to communicate with other "Siftables" computers. Each unit also includes Bluetooth radio, rechargeable Li-Polymer batteries, tactile/haptic actuation driver circuits, a 3-axis accelerometer, on-board flash memory, and tiny expansion slots for additional sensors.

SOUND DESIGN - To shape the perception of sound

2009-10-29T16:46:00.000-07:00

Starting from the sound design definition:

Sound design is a conceptually creative/technical field. It covers all non-compositional elements of a film, a play, a music performance or recording, computer game software or any other multimedia project. A person who practices the art of sound design is known as a Sound Designer.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognizes the finest or most aesthetic sound design for a film with the Academy Award for Best Sound Editing, historically given to an English-language film. The new Tony Award for Best Sound Design is to be awarded for the best sound design in American theatre.

Sound Design can also be defined as: "The manipulation of audio elements to achieve a desired effect."

Here a different ways to intend the sound design concept build trough the manipulation of software like Reaktor or using a different libraries of clean and simple sounds:

Body Fade Out - Sound Design E.T.M. (Giuseppe Albrizio, Manuel Goletto, Giacomo Cella) from Giuseppe Albrizio on Vimeo.
A different way of understanding the concept of cubism. An experiment that take the interpolation between video and audio in order to represent the concept of cubism.

Giu-Uan - Sound Design Giuseppe Albrizio from Giuseppe Albrizio on Vimeo.

Larve - Sound Design Giuseppe Albrizio from Giuseppe Albrizio on Vimeo.

Mininoir - Sound Design Giuseppe Albrizio from Giuseppe Albrizio on Vimeo.

TECHNO CULTURE - Noise for freedom

2009-10-27T16:10:00.000-07:00

TECHNO CULTURE – Progetto

Il mio progetto consiste nella realizzazione di una breve analisi
e di un podcast (o programma radiofonico virtuale) circa la
nascita e l’ evoluzione della cultura techno. Le tracce mixate
sono diciassette e ripercorrono in un certo senso il percorso
che la cultura techno ha compiuto dai Kraftwerk fino a piu
recenti artisti come Matthew Dear e Richie Hawtin. Tra una
traccia e l’altra ho inserito ovviamente degli interventi circa la
storia e l’ evoluzione del fenomeno includendo anche ricerche
sulle tecniche compositive e stilistiche e sulle curiosita
riguardanti le tecnologie adoperate per comporre questo tipo di
musica. La voce narrante è quella di Alex, una forma sintetica
di voce di proprietà Apple. Attraverso l’ uso di Word ho inserito
del testo in un flusso di lavoro che converte il testo in audio e
cosi sono riuscito ad ottenere una voce piu o meno umana. Ho
deciso di strutturare il tutto come una sorta di programma
radiofonico in cui la voce interviene con regolarità e sempre con
tematiche inerenti alle tracce in sottofondo (o viceversa). La
durata totale del podcast è di 56 minuti e 27 secondi.

PACCHETTO PODCAST SCARICABILE

A HISTORY OF
TECHNO

Noise For Freedom

Detroit, 1981

Punto di partenza di questa breve analisi circa
la nascita e l' evoluzione della cultura
techno, è sicuramente l' ambientazione in cui
questo scenario va via via componendosi. È il
1981 quando a Detroit un musicista di nome Juan
Atkins affascinato dalle sonorita Synth-Pop
europee fonda il gruppo Cybotron con il quale
rilascia sul mercato la sua prima traccia
(definita un esempio di traccia Prototechno)"
Alleys of your Mind". Nel ricercare le
cause che hanno spinto questi musicisti ad
esplorare un nuovo territorio musicale,
contraddistinto dalla totale assenza di
spartiti e strumenti musicali, sicuramente
risulta di grandissima importanza la condizione
sociale in cui questi artisti vertono. La
cultura techno difatti, diviene subito la
massima espressione dei sentimenti eterogeni e
contraddittori di una società in cui alla
stessa maniera convivono sia il desiderio di
resistenza comune che di puro individualismo e
consumismo. Suoni elettronici, casse ritmiche,
sonorità acide ipnotiche e ripetitive, groove
martellanti: questi gli ingredienti principali
di questa nuova espressione artistica che vede
al vertice delle fonti ispiratrici, la denuncia
verso una societa caratterizzata solo da
fattori negativi quali la disoccupazione e la
povertà. Proprio per questo motivo, la techno è
da sempre stata relegata ai margini della
società. In definitiva nasce un movimento
caratterizzato da una spinta dal basso che ha
come obbiettivo quello di un miglioramento
delle condizioni di vita. È interessante notare
come un fenomeno che oggi è considerato una
mera espressione artistica figlia del
consumismo, sia nato grazie alla voglia di
migliorare la condizione sociale della
popolazione giovanile. La struttura ipnotica e
ripetitiva diviene da subito un modo per
celebrare la liberazione dell' uomo dall'
alienazione nei confronti della macchina e allo
stesso tempo diviene la maniera più efficace
per attuare i principi descritti da Toffler in
"The Third Wave", il quale vede questi
"ribelli" come capaci di asservire la società
ai propri scopi. Una naturale attrazione nei
confronti della ripetitività; è questo che
spinge tutti i giovani a radunarsi nelle
fabbriche per testimoniare con la solo loro
presenza la denuncia verso un sistema che offre
ben poco alla nuova generazione. La cultura
techno punta all’ arte della sovversione
silente per denunciare cio che di sbagliato
esiste nella società. È una cultura che punta
all’ emarginazione da una condizione in cui
nessuno è libero di esprimersi se non evadendo
in quella direzione.

DETROIT, 1985

Solamente nel 1985, tuttavia, la cultura techno
inizierà ad avere la sua giusta diffusione
grazie al progetto “Model 500” creato da Juan
Atkins il quale grazie a “No UFO’s” riceverà
un’attenzione particolare sotto ogni punto di
vista. Questo esperimento musicale puo essere
considerato come il primo passo verso la
commercializzazione di un fenomeno ormai troppo
grande e d’ impatto sociale per rimanere
relegato alla scena underground. Questi sono
gli anni in cui si costituisce il sodalizio tra
coloro che possono essere considerati i padri
della techno ovvero Juan Atkins, Derrick May e
Kevin Saunderson. Il punto di partenza che
accomuna questi tre artisti risiede nella
passione verso il sound elettronico europeo,
definibile sotto certi aspetti “Proto-techno”.
Kraftwerk, Giorgio Moroder, Visage, Gary Numan,
Devo: questi gli artisti che piu influenzano
musicalmente la scena di Detroit. Il punto
d’incontro tra queste due correnti risiede
proprio nella caratterizzazione stilistica e
compositiva dei dischi i quali prevedono l’ uso
di suoni esclusivamente riconducibili al lavoro
di un computer o a suoni di fabbriche
robotizzate. La ricerca timbrica e strutturale
di un arrangiamento vengono abbandonate
lasciando spazio alla mera manipolazione di un
suono o di un rumore. L’intera composizione è
strutturata secondo una precisa intersezione di
“campioni sonori”, ripetitiva e ossessiva.
Questi tre artisti faranno di queste innovative
caratterizzazioni musicali la loro “ragione di
vita”. È solo grazie all’ investimento in nuove
etichette discografiche che la cultura techno
avrà la sua diffusione al di fuori del
continente americano. Questi sono gli anni,
infatti, in cui lo stesso Juan Atkins fonderà
la “Metroplex”, in altre parole, l’ etichetta
discografica che ancora oggi grazie alle sue
innovative e sempre attuali sonorità riesce ad
influenzare grandi produzioni e grandi artisti
contemporanei.

DETROIT, 1988

Il 1988 è considerato l’anno della svolta
poiché finalmente la cultura techno si insidia
con forza nel panorama musicale mondiale grazie
al disco “Big Fun” il quale porta Kevin
Saunderson ad essere considerato uno dei
produttori piu influenti della nuova scena
dance mondiale. Anche Derrick May raggiungerà
lo stesso successo mondiale grazie al brano
“Strings Of Life” nel quale sono presenti
chiare rievocazioni al fenomeno musicale
denominato “House music” sviluppatosi in
contemporanea a Chicago e New York. Grazie a
questi successi mondiali la Virgin Records
decide nel 1988 di portare allo scoperto e
commercializzare il fenomeno musicale grazie ad
una raccolta di brani che prende il nome di
“Techno”. Grazie a questa manovra commerciale
anche i media iniziarono ad interessarsi a
questo nuovo fenomeno musicale. Derrick May fu
il primo a dare al mondo una definizione di
questa nuova cultura descrivendola come l’
immagine di Detroit ovvero “…uno sbaglio
completo”. A questo punto diventa chiaro che il
fenomeno culturale inizia a svilupparsi nei
paesi in cui è presente una forte crisi
sociale, politica e militare. Diventa da subito
l’espressione dei sentimenti di rivendicazione
sociale da parte dei giovani. La techno diventa
il perno attorno cui ruota il processo
evolutivo che vede la società industriale
lasciar spazio alla società tecnologica, in cui
l’ uomo non ha più ragione di esistere se non
come “tecnico dei vari processi”. Fin da subito
in Francia e in Belgio questa cultura diviene
espressione di uno slancio di resistenza fisica
e morale da parte degli omosessuali. La cultura
underground inizia a dare spazio a una
diffusione sempre più esponenziale, grazie
anche alla strumentalizzazione da parte dei
media. Sempre più artisti abbandoneranno
l’aspetto concettuale del fenomeno culturale
per affermarsi solo ed esclusivamente sotto un
punto di vista commerciale. Pian piano la
cultura techno si trasforma in un prodotto
della società consumistica. Artisti come Jeff
Mills, Derrick May, Carl Craig e Juan Atkins
decideranno di vendersi alle major ponendo in
questa maniera fine ad un fenomeno culturale
che affonda le sue radici solo ed
esclusivamente in un movimento di denuncia
sociale. La bella magia che contraddistingueva
la techno agli inizi svanisce per dar spazio
alla visibilità e alla popolarità dell’artista.

BERLINO, 1989

Questo è l’anno in cui a Berlino per la prima
volta viene organizzato un evento che ha come
tema preponderante la cultura techno; questo
evento prende il nome di Love Parade, ovvero,
una parata di giovani amanti della cultura
techno che trovano l’occasione giusta per
denunciare il forte disagio dovuto ad un regime
militare che annulla ogni tipo di spinta o
velleità artistica e espressiva. Quindi la
cultura techno trova il suo contenitore in
Europa proprio a Berlino la quale diventa il
perno attorno al quale ruota l’ evoluzione
della cultura techno, passando dall’ essere un
fenomeno totalmente underground ad essere un
fenomeno puramente di consumo. Questi sono gli
anni in cui a Detroit si assiste ad un
evoluzione sia dal punto di vista musicale che
generazionale. Difatti è sintomatico l’esodo
verso l’Europa di artisti come Derrick May,
Kevin Saunderson e nella seconda ondata Jeff
Mills, Carl Craig, Kenny Larkin. La causa di
questo mutamento è da ricercarsi nella
frustrazione che la città di Detroit generava
con le sue limitate possibilita di dare
visibilità nel mondo a questi artisti. Il
mutamento culturale è avvertito anche grazie
alla nascita di due collettivi musicali quali
la Underground Resistance e la Plus 8
capeggiata dai canadesi Richie Hawtin e John
Acquaviva, i quali spingeranno tantissimo sull’
esportazione del prodotto techno nel mondo. L’
interesse verso sonorità sempre più industriali
porterà come conseguenza inevitabile l’
avvicinamento alla scena musicale berlinese.
Questo sodalizio musicale è, infatti,
testimoniato da una raccolta di brani
licenziata nel 1993 dal nome “Tresor II –
Berlin & Detroit – A Techno Alliance”. Questi
sono anni in cui si riscopre il valore del club
come contenitore di nuove idee e mode e non a
caso il fenomeno che avrà maggior rilevanza e
che permettera di avere maggior visibilità alla
cultura techno saranno proprio la nascita di
club quali il “Tresor”, “Der Bunker” e
“Planet”. In questi anni si assiste anche a una
sorta d’inversione musicale che prevede l’
abbandono di sonorità ormai sempre più
asettiche e martellanti per dare spazio ad
arrangiamenti contenenti anche parti di piano o
vocali. Circa a metà degli anni 90 si assisterà
a un recupero di ritmiche jazz che ben si
fondono alle ritmiche techno di quell’epoca.
Esempi di questo genere sono l’album “Nation 2
Nation” degli Underground Resistance e altri
esempi quali “Jazz is the teacher”(1993) e
“High Tech Jazz” (1993).

IL FENOMENO DELLA
COMMERCIALIZZAZIONE

Negli anni ’90 la cultura techno grazie alla
sua dinamicità e al suo potere ipnotico diventa
l’arma dei media. La cultura techno attraverso
la sua neutralità politica e diventa il
veicolo che conduce la gente all’acquisto. Si
sviluppano sempre nuovi sub-generi che non
hanno né un punto di partenza “culturalmente
valido” ne un “fine nobile”, quale era l’
obbiettivo dei fondatori della cultura techno
in generale. Il tutto oggi verte su una mera
speculazione del fenomeno al fine di alimentare
sempre più un consumismo smoderato, che ha come
punto di partenza la visibilità che un artista
riesce a raggiungere a livello mondiale e come
punto d’arrivo la possibilità di sfruttare il
tutto all’interno dello show-business, il quale
prevede un continuo annullamento del libero
pensiero lasciando il posto a un’alienazione
collettiva. Oggi si assiste ad una
standardizzazione del fenomeno musicale dance
in genere, che vede protagonisti tutti e
nessuno. La banalizzazione dei sistemi di
costruzione ha permesso che chiunque potesse
avere un suo punto di vista sul fenomeno
culturale. Questa commercializzazione pero ha
dato il via ad una saturazione improvvisa nel
mondo degli artisti i quali hanno da subito
compreso che la sensibilità una volta
considerata lo scarto necessario per
differenziarsi dalla gente comune non aveva più
ragione di esistere. Tutto è diventato
calibrato e privo di libertà espressiva,
finalizzato esclusivamente alla vendita di un
prodotto socialmente e esteticamente
accettabile. Questo tipo di evoluzione,
tuttavia, si puo definire distruttiva per un
tipo di cultura che fondamentalmente non nasce
come un messaggio, bensì solo come fenomeno
musicale specchio della società in cui ci
troviamo costretti a vivere. Ogni singolo
aspetto della cultura techno sarebbe dovuto
rimanere vincolato ad un semplice e ironico
tentativo di sovversione e ribellione verso un
sistema corrotto che lascia poco spazio ai
giovani. Al giorno d’ oggi cio che rimane di
quella cultura è un minimalismo smoderato che
appare agl’ occhi della gente come un
avanguardia e non come è giusto che sia
definito: l’ espressione di una totale assenza
di idee. La cultura techno nasce come un
avamposto, uno strumento per fotografare solo
il presente e darne un immagine al mondo. La
bellezza della ripetitività e la magia
dell’ipnotismo che inizialmente serviva
utopicamente ai ribelli per asservire la
società ai propri scopi (Toffler – “The Third
Wave”) al giorno d’oggi sono diventate armi
reali e assai efficaci in mano ai media, al
fine di creare un pensiero comune forzato.