Kevan Paul Music and Art Notes

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 10 Aug 2015 01:19:00 +0000

Grid.io Founding Member #12160

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 06 Dec 2014 06:24:00 +0000

I have joined "The Grid.io" project. Officially as Founding Member #12160

(I lost my screen-shot for my #... and has gone up to #12177 in a couple of hours)

Let's hope something good will come of this project! Delayed gratification until next Spring 2015, so the goals should be to become a developer for this technology.

Inprobable Geometry from TriDiv

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 06 Dec 2014 04:14:00 +0000

http://tridiv.com/d/7w6

Sound Designs with Analog Violin and Synthesized Guitar in Logic Pro X

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 09 Nov 2014 23:45:00 +0000

The possibilities for sound design of modified analog instrument recordings are now endless. Chaining together multiple effects via Aux-inputs seems unnecessary to me in Logic Pro X, since we can add multiple plugins/effects via the Track settings (left panel). I want to explore the various effects that can be applied to the violin, for example, and describe here some basic techniques.

Here is a sample of modified violin using built-in Logic Pro X Delay Designer component, along with CamelPhat demo plugin added just for fun. Additionally, the track includes a synthesized guitar stack using Omnisphere.

For the violin track, I started with the Delay Designer plugin, and used the preset called
"Hearing Doubles". I did not change any of the default parameters for this sample.

I added the CamelPhat plugin, and randomized the preset called LoopCrop

Also, the violin track is using a custom Analogue Tape compressor setting from the Logic Pro X built-in tool (Dynamics, Compressor):

For the second track, I create an Omnisphere stack using the built-in PRS Guitar sound, and with multiple modifications, creates a nice accompaniment for the modulated violin track. Here's a basic view of the Omnisphere settings:

I recorded a quick snippet for this demo track. I plan on using these sound sources for the KP5-8 composition.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 18 Jul 2013 05:56:00 +0000

The last painting that I was working on and "got stuck" with how to finish it, is shown below. This painting, oil on masonite board, had started off with multiple glaze layers that seemed to glow nicely, but then when I tried to add the Antelope image, the entire painting seemed to collapse. It is obviously too large for even a foreground presence and must be modified or eliminated from the painting.

The subject of the painting is "Temple Mountain" in the San Rafael Swell area of Central Utah, near Goblin Valley National Monument (Northwest of the monument).

Since the subject is Utah desert sandstone and limestone formations, we can use poetic license and exaggerate the coloring a little more on the red side. Also, it is difficult to posterize the edges to explain the rock crevices and cracks, but this is a central requirement for the finished painting.

Here's the painting on the windshield of my car. Notice the disproportionate size of the Antelope and difficulty in presenting the rock crevices.

Now I'll use Photoshop to define what it needs for a finished painting:

Now we're getting somewhere. If I can finish the painting like this, then it would be adequate to the vision of the location that I was trying to portray. The question is how to posterize the edges correctly to create the desired effect? Maybe a very dry brush and ink? Or, maybe it has to be an extremely large mural sized painting to allow for the brush to define the edges correctly. Or, maybe it will now live in the digital realm and get printed as a large-format painting as if finished as a painting.

Does it really matter how we arrive at the image we are trying to create? As long as the journey is taken and the desired image is available for replication and enjoyment, what difference is there in dabs of paint or finishing extrapolation of edges via photo editor tools? There are very fuzzy lines here for an artist like me that just wants to see the envisioned end-product created, regardless of convention or mandatory procedures from antiquated academics.

Current Art Project - "Falling Up in the Redwoods"

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 18 Jul 2013 02:27:00 +0000

Now is the time to return to fine art painting, and I have the perfect project planned to get back into the groove. This next piece will be oil on wood-panels with several layers of acrylic glazing for the under-painting. I started this type of preparation on the last art work that I started, and now I need to go back to that process and refine it further, and also to finish that piece in the interim. (click on picture to see in full-screen)

This sketch provides of some of the ideas I've been playing out in my head:

- Side panels of looking up into Redwood trees
- with lens flare lines that extend into the middle panel to have the eye follow into the middle panel.

- Side panels on wood to be able to cut out for curvature to provide 3D visual effect.

- Center panel to introduce butterfly elliptical shapes, with textures for metal, rock, and other earth elements.

- White line concentric circles to imply acoustic events taking place, and drum beats.

- will also include a spiral shape of similar style (no shown in this sketch version).

- Middle panel with complementary colors from trees

- The sketch is not rendered accurately to color balance; will be worked out in painting.

- The side panels will be finished first and can be hung independent of the middle panel.

- The middle panel can include different versions to change the mood of the environment.

Purpose and Manner:

The painting will represent the mental transformation experienced with being in a Redwood forest and looking up into the trees and experiencing a moment of inspiration. The shape of the side panels will suggest a panoramic view and dimensional illusion, while the center panel will focus the eye on a fixed space with multiple textures that contrast yet complement the softness of the forest colors. The hues will be somewhat subdued to allow the viewer to gaze as if in a dream-like state of mind. When viewed laying down and looking at the wall, the illusion of being in the forest with a magical twist will be the desired result.

Process:

The colors will be matched better in the painting, and may be done with acrylic-based paints, with perhaps some oil glazes over some sections of the middle panel. Scumbling and other randomized rendering techniques will be used to build texture, while the precise lines of the concentric circles, outline of the elliptical shapes, and spiral shapes will contrast to the other earthy organic shapes.

The lens flare lines will extend from the side-panels and encroach into the middle panel to suggest that there is unity in the middle image that appears in the middle of the trees.

The use of wood panels will bring out colors better than canvas.

KP5 - Current Music Influences and Comments

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 05:55:00 +0000

Project Outline for KP5 Album

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 05:48:00 +0000

Mellow Collaboration with Nick Gent

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 19:05:00 +0000

Another Collaboration Piece with Nick Gent

Whenever I collaborate with other musicians, I never know what to expect, but Nick Gent has always been a good collaborator. I like his voice and his composition style. He should be signed with a record company already, in my opinion.

Here's the latest mix on "Respect, Then Love" song.

A new motto:
"Collaborate While You Can"

Jazz Chord Progressions - Accelerated Practice

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 18:28:00 +0000

Jazz Chord Progressions –

Accelerated Practice and Chord Modeling Techniques

APP REVIEW: ProChords for iPAD

I downloaded the iPAD app called “ProChords” that allows you to stack up chords with chord suggestions, modify and arrange the voicing and set the octave, etc., and then email as a MIDI file. This is a fun program to play if you want to hear how different chord arrangements sound, but if you want to understand why you should use a certain chord pattern, then this app doesn’t inform well.

The app doesn’t suggest common stylistic progressions (folk, jazz, rock, blues, etc.), so we need to look for these from other references. With some stylistic references in hand, this app will be more useful for someone trying to output a song structure to work from. For example, how do you make chord progressions for jazz music? The starting point for traditional jazz music is to follow the ii-V-I chord pattern, so making some reference MIDI files from “ProChords” for these patterns would be a nice educational training exercise. Also, jazz music rarely uses triad chords, and so the 7^th note, and/or extended octave notes are usually included in the chords.

Towards this goal of creating or using “Jazz chord progression” reference material, I found a great video presented by GuitarLessons365.com on how to practice traditional jazz chord progressions using the circle of 4ths/5ths, by cycling through the ii-V-I chord patterns.

While going through the mental exercise of ii-V-I patterns through the circle-of-fifths, and input of this chord sequence into “ProChords” app, I realized that putting this in shorthand in a text document first, may be another good mental exercise. So here it is:

ii-V-I chord progressions in Major keys, Cycled through the circle-of-fifths, starting with C Maj with Mixolydian (lower 7th interval) mode chords:

C Major= Dm7—G7—C7

F Major = Gm7—C7—F7

Bb Major = Cm7—F7—Bb7

Eb Major = Fm7—Bb7—Eb7

Ab Major= Bbm7—Eb7—Ab7

Db Major= Ebm7—Ab7—Db7

GbMajor= Abm7—Db7—Gb7 or F#7

B Major= C#m7—F#7—B7

E Major= F#m7—B7—E7

A Major= Bm7—E7—A7

D Major= Em7—A7—D7

G Major= Am7—D7—G7

courtesy of: http://goo.gl/kmxLz

The trick here is that the minor (ii) of the chord progression, will be two notes away in the clockwise direction of the circle-of-fifths from the tonic (root or I), so visualizing the circle-of-fifths, or using as a reference, will quickly generate this chord-pattern list. Another way that works for me is to visualize the violin finger-board, since the strings are in ascending fifths/descending fourths.

Now I’m going back to the “ProChords” app to input these sequences, and then record with a “guitar-like-strumming” rhythmic patterns, so that the MIDI files could possibly be useful for a guitar part later in the audio editing program. Ah, there might be a way to make "ProChord" more professional here.

Whether or not the "ProChords" app can be a useful educational tool completely depends on how you come to terms with each suggestion being made. For this information, you can engage in easy to understand resources that explain how the jazz scales fit into chord patterns used in jazz. To write a good jazz song, we need a good understanding of how a jazz musician can move through the chord changes. These are good references to build this understanding:
http://www.thejazzresource.com/jazz_theory.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz_scale

Best Explained Chord Progression Theory:


courtesy of: http://goo.gl/fGvNP

From this chart, it is easy to see how the ii-V-I jazz chord progressions fall into place with the natural movements of tonal harmony.

Conclusion: For ProChords and other applications that attempt to give us some insights on how chord progressions work, it would be nice for the authors to go full-circle (pun intended), and give guidance to assure that we are using chord progressions that create good songs. Otherwise, we may fool ourselves into believing that chord progressions in music composition are just a gimmick. Movements do matter, after all, and the wisdom of the ages in music composition are important regardless of the fluid nature of musical preferences. People always prefer music with good solid chord progressions that are pleasant, and fit the natural harmonic progressions established over time.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 22:43:00 +0000

New Collaboration Session on Indaba Music

A very talented song writer, Nick Gent has written a great song called "Respect, Then Love". He has given me an opportunity to record some violin tracks for the piece. Over the weekend, I came up with an interesting track to complement the varied styles incorporated in the piece. "World Music" is the genre that he labels the piece, there is a strange latin-jazz, European cafe vibe, but the basis of the piece is from his interaction with a friend from India, so I added a little "Raga" style too!

Nick Gent's Picture on Indaba Music

Here's a sample mix of Nick Gent's "Respect, Then Love" with Kevan Paul on Violin:

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 18:51:00 +0000

Embedded Playlist.com Playlist (oops) for the Chopin-Transformed Project:

Prior to June 2012, you could embed a playlist.com playlist on a website and reference the playlist without leaving the original website (traditional flash-player type widget).

There should still be a way to embed the playlist, since the playlist.com site is supposedly now HTML5, but the reference site would have to support the HTML5 player, etc.

The playlist.com site support forum just writes that it is "restricted"; I'm not sure if this means can't be done at all, or if you have to get your own HTML5 widget code; maybe they just don't want to answer questions regarding how to do this.

Meanwhile, here's the playlist.com playlist I created for the Chopin Preludes, so that I can play from anywhere to listen and get ideas for the KP5-Album "Chopin Transformed" project. I'm looking for other options to embed.

Playlist.com Chopin Preludes

Listen Anywhere:

Wordpress peddling their HTML5 widget friends:

In June 2012, Wordpress also updated their blog with instructions for embedding HTML5 MP3 player in the WordPress.

WordPress HTML5 MP3 Player with Playlist

This is really an advertisement to buy the code from svnlabs for $25 because it prompts through the playlist creating process to save in proper XML format, etc. But at least we can see how people would use this.

Get To The Source:

jPlayer, HTML5 Audio & Video for jQuery

OK, this looks promising.... with this demo of the audio player.

No wonder the worm is so happy!

Back To My Current Streaming and Embedded Playlist Issues:

To stream audio from blogger, I tried to store the .mp3 files on Google Drive, but Google Drive blocks streaming audio. So, I can't use Google Drive as a .mp3 file repository and stream audio.

Google obviously has to cover their ( \ ) and assume that all .mp3's are stolen goods... I'm creating my own content here!
Why can't Google allow G Drive streaming just for Blogger?
Google really needs to catch up to WordPress on media support.

I created a DropBox account to stash my files in a public folder. Now I can stream from there. (Thank you, DropBox!)

I couldn't use Amazon Cloud Drive, because there are no public-share settings.
On a side-note, DropBox has two-factor authentication via your cell phone now, and I immediately set that up. Way to go DropBox! Other websites need to follow this lead; this is one way to get control of our personal security again in the cloud. Passwords are not enough!

I could also use my Indaba Music account to store the files, but I won't do this unless this turns into a more lively collaboration project.

I understand that MixPOD.com is another option for an embedded playlist, so I'm going there next to try my Chopin playlist.

Here's the MixPod and Gygget widget code.

Here's the code I'm currently using for DropBox streaming for my project files:

EHOW article
Google has an audio flash-player, at least.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 21:00:00 +0000

KP5 = Chopin Preludes (Opus 28) Transformed

The goal of this project is to re-imagine and re-interpret the Chopin Preludes with a combination of piano, violin, and synthesizer elements. This project was suggested by my brother, Rex Baker, who will contribute piano parts and composition ideas, while I will be adding violin, synthesizer and mixing.

Why Chopin Preludes?:

Chopin had an interesting creative life, and the Preludes were the short and sweet pieces from an interesting early development period. They included every key, so there are 24 unique pieces. This 24 piece approach is fertile ground for imitation and inspiration. If Chopin were to suddenly re-appear and wish to refresh his style, this is the imaginary scenario we are working on. Classical music transformed.

What is the expected result?:

It's is difficult to predict the output of this project, but it will be interesting to hear violin added to a Chopin framework if nothing else. The pieces will be inevitably longer than the original, the piano parts will change dramatically, and hopefully the pieces will be interesting for both intellectual and emotional attributes. There is no intention of keeping true to Chopin for style, precision, melody, or mood. We are "jamming with Chopin", and we hope those who love Chopin's music will find enrichment.

Workflow Ideas:

1. Analyzing for Compositional Ideas:

Take each piece one at time, and in no particular order, and analyze, improvise, and synthesize ideas from the original. Find at least one element in the original piece that inspires or evokes ideas as a starting point for further development.

For example:

Simplify a run into a chord pattern.
Embellish a phrase.
Change a phrase to a rhythmic pattern, and keep some of the notes.
Sample the original to turn into beats.
Develop interesting harmonic relationships between piano and violin.
Keep the mood, key and tempo, but change everything else, etc.

Change different variables, like a math problem.

2. Simplified Workflow for recording piano, violin, drum, synthesizer parts:

Note key signature, tempo, and analyze chord information using CAPO app (Mac OS X 10.8 machine).
Import original into Logic as a "header" track after setup project with original tempo.
Setup cycle recording for violin track after the "header" track.
Copy the original in the violin track cycle region.
Record multiple-takes of violin, synth, piano, etc, with original track to explore ideas.
Isolate violin-track and record additional synth, piano, and/or drum ideas without the original piano track.

This is a combination of composing and mixing.

Post and share for comment and input.
Apply the analytical process outlined in 1. and select elements to explore further. Make outline, mind-map, flow-chart, etc. if helpful.
Create a new project for re-composing based on draft mixes, new tempo, and analytical ideas.
Recreate, re-record, as required.
Include guest-collaboration tracks if possible.
Prepare final mix.
Post and share for comment and input.

Create a YouTube video, for example.

Examples from Prelude in C-Maj (recorded 9/28/12; starts with original track as a "header" first, then goes into violin + original

chopin-remix-opus28-1-Agitato-Cmaj-violin-v1.mp3

*Play 1

chopin-remix-opus28-1-Agitato-Cmaj-violin-v2.mp3

*Play 2

chopin-remix-opus28-1-Agitato-Cmaj-violin-v3.mp3

*Play 3

chopin-remix-opus28-1-Agitato-Cmaj-violin-v4.mp3

*Play 4

Development Tools for Javascript - Reference Guide

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 22:17:00 +0000

Development Tools for Javascript:

NOTE: This is reference document compiled from the embedded links. All credit is given to the original sources; this document does not contain original writing. I will be making further comments about these tools as I begin to evaluate or use in any upcoming projects. I've started a JAVA-based Algorithms class on Coursera and I will be focused on JAVA and Python for the next few months.

What is pyjs? http://pyjs.org/Download.html

pyjs is a Rich Internet Application (RIA) Development Platform for both Web and Desktop. With pyjs you can write your JavaScript-powered web applications entirely in Python.

pyjs contains a Python-to-JavaScript compiler, an AJAX framework and a Widget Set API. pyjs started life as a Python port of Google Web Toolkit, the Java-to-JavaScript compiler.

What is pyjs Desktop?

pyjs Desktop allows the exact same Python web application source code to be executed as a standalone desktop application (running under Python) instead of being stuck in a Web browser.

For Free Software platforms, most Linux Distributions now come with pyjs and pyjs Desktop pre-packaged: Debian/Testing, FC13, ArchLinux and Gentoo.

For Windows, pyjs Desktop uses MSHTML. Since MSHTML comes pre-installed on Windows (as part of IE), there is very little extra to download (other than Python itself).

Why should I use pyjs?

You can write web applications in Python - a readable programming language - instead of in HTML and JavaScript, both of which become quickly unreadable for even medium-sized applications. Your application's design can benefit from encapsulating high level concepts into classes and modules (instead of trying to fit as much HTML as you can stand into one page); you can reuse - and import - classes and modules.

Also, the AJAX library takes care of all the browser interoperability issues on your behalf, leaving you free to focus on application development instead of learning all the "usual" browser incompatibilities.

9 JavaScript tools aimed at easing development

Reference:

Once considered a script-kiddie toy, JavaScript has become a stalwart scripting language for developing Web applications, and vendors and open source organizations alike are pushing out IDEs and tools targeted at making JavaScript development easier and more reliable.

These tools move beyond familiar JavaScript technologies like jQuery and the growing set of JavaScript libraries to provide Web developers with a plethora of functionality, including debugging and support for HTML5 and other popular scripting languages.

Here is a look at some of the more compelling tools and frameworks for taking your JavaScript Web development projects to the next level.

ActiveState Komodo IDE 7

ActiveState Komodo IDE 7 supports JavaScript development, in addition to other popular Web development languages like PHP, Python, and Ruby. Version 7 backs the Node.js server-side JavaScript environment, offering such capabilities as editing, syntax-checking, code intelligence, and debugging. Support for CoffeeScript, which compiles to JavaScript, is featured, too. Improved syntax checking in Version 7 enables developers to check JavaScript or CSS within HTML.

Appcelerator Aptana Studio 3

Appcelerator's Aptana Studio 3 is an open source Web development IDE that supports JavaScript, HTML, and CSS Code Assist, to aid in authoring. Integrated JavaScript debugging is offered, as is debugging for Ruby on Rails applications. Other features include support for HTML5, Git repository integration, and the ability to customize the IDE. Aptana Studio can be installed as an Eclipse IDE plug-in. Appcelerator, which recently acquired Aptana Studio, also offers the Titanium Studio IDE, which provides similar functionality.

4D Wakanda

4D Wakanda is a JavaScript development platform for building Web and mobile business applications. The included Wakanda Server features a datastore for housing application data and models, and it's run by the WakandaDB NoSQL object engine. WakandaDB leverages JavaScript and classes for an application's business logic. Also featured are Wakanda Studio (a visual designer and code editor) and Wakanda Framework (a client-side framework comprised of interface widgets for the browser front end, a data source layer, and a data provider to communicate with the server).

dotCloud JS

The dotCloud JS software development kit is for building Web applications rapidly with JavaScript and HTML. Applications built with dotCloud JS can be deployed on the dotCloud PaaS cloud. Developers gain access to a selection of cloud APIs without having to write back-end code or deal with servers. APIs access capabilities like data storage and real-time data synchronization. Integration with Twilio and Twitter APIs is also featured. Developers can access 14 cloud services via dotCloud JS. A software stack based on Node.js, MongoDB, Redis, and WebSocket is included as well.

Copy the following lines and start hacking!

dotcloud.ready(function(){

// your code goes here!

});

Telerik Kendo UI

Telerik Kendo UI is a framework for building HTML5 and JavaScript mobile applications and sites. It incorporates adaptive rendering and leverages JavaScript, HTML5, and CSS3 to adapt a mobile application's native look and feel on any smartphone or tablet while supporting all major browsers. Controls and widgets for building iPad user interfaces are also part of the tool. Kendo also features themes, templates, and an MVVM (Model View View Model) framework.

SproutCore

The open source SproutCore JavaScript framework is intended to enable development of Web applications with less code. SproutCore applications move business logic to the browser to provide immediate responses to users' taps and clicks; there is no need for round trips across network connections. A binding system is featured for building data-centric applications, leveraging application state and data flow descriptions. Semantic templates allow developers to write HTML and CSS that automatically update when models change. An in-memory database is provided for managing and querying data and synchronizing with a server. Applications build a directory of static assets that can be deployed to any server.

Alpha Five v11

The Alpha Fire rapid application development tool is aimed at building AJAX business applications for Web and mobile devices. Developers can include charts, graphs, and analytics in their applications, enabling users to summarize trends. The tool features JavaScript classes and libraries, and it supports jQuery. JavaScript is generated for the developer, enabling usage by those who are not able to write the code. The tool also leverages CSS3.

Eclipse JavaScript Development Tools

The Eclipse JSDT (JavaScript Development Tools) is a set of plug-ins for Eclipse aimed at supporting JavaScript application and Web development. JSDT adds a JavaScript project type to the Eclipse Workbench, along with views, editors, wizards, and builders. The tool set features JSDT Core, including a parser and compiler DOM; JSDT UI, with user interface code to create the JavaScript IDE; and JSDT Debug, for debugging JavaScript using Rhino and Crossfire. Also featured is JSDT Web, which supports client-side JavaScript implemented in the Eclipse Web Tools Platform's Source Editing project.

Oracle NetBeans IDE

Oracle's NetBeans IDE supports error-checking for JavaScript, CSS, and HTML, including JavaScript 1.7. The editor also recognizes JavaScript and HTML in XTHML, PHP, and JSP (JavaServer Pages) files. Browser compatibility is provided when developers specify browser types and versions in the JavaScript Options panel. The IDE features an AJAX-ready environment for choosing a server-side scripting language like PHP or Groovy, and integration is enabled for third-party JavaScript toolkits and Web frameworks. Code completion and integrated documentation for JavaScript toolkits like JQuery and Script.aculo.us is provided via the NetBeans JavaScript editor.

Beyond jQuery: 17 JavaScript tools for the HTML5 generation

Reference:

jQuery sure seems to be everywhere, and with good reason: Its creators took all of the neat ideas from libraries like Prototype, Dojo, and Yahoo's YUI, then turned them into something easier to use. When jQuery nurtured a fertile plug-in culture, the library became irreplaceable.

In the midst of all of this success, it's easy to forget that plenty of other JavaScript libraries are worth checking out. Some do much the same thing as jQuery, simplifying the basic chores of manipulating the DOM, while offering their own advantages. A number of other libraries offer newer features -- for animation, data visualization, or other niches -- or different ways of thinking about life in the browser. Here are 17-plus JavaScript libraries worth adding to your toolset.

YUI (Yahoo User Inferface)

The Yahoo User Interface Library was one of the first big, cross-browser toolsets released as open source, and it remains one of the biggest and most fertile. Yahoo started version 3 in 2009, and both versions 2 and 3 continue to get better. The collection of charts, widgets, and other tools has more variety than almost any other JavaScript library. Yahoo has also devoted more attention to cosmetic issues than some of the others. Many of the features that drive Flickr and Yahoo Mail are here, and are waiting for your glue code.

Mashi

One of the stated goals of HTML5, at least for some groups, is to replace the Flash plug-in, the gold standard for making sprites and letters dance across the screen. This change is slowly coming as the game industry and the presentation industry start to duplicate some of the sophisticated tools available in the Flash universe. Mashi is an impressive example of how the sprites can be set in motion. It offers more than several dozen standard easing functions for moving sprites along a timeline.

MooTools

Like jQuery and YUI, MooTools offers nice, browser-independent shorthand for manipulating arrays, divs, spans, and whatnot. My favorite part continues to be the custom library construction tool that lets you select the functions you want. Check some boxes and get an entirely optimized version of MooTools with just the functions you need and none of the bloat you don't. That's lightweight.

pp3Dico

The list of game engines for the browser is long and growing longer now that the JavaScript canvas object is better established and relatively consistent. The results don't look as nice as Flash to my eyes, but I suspect that the gap will close dramatically. If you like board games, you'll like the three-dimensional, orthographic views of game boards from pp3Diso. It takes just a few lines of code to set them up.

https://github.com/bebraw/jswiki/wiki/Game-Engines

VideoForEverybody

http://camendesign.com/code/video_for_everybody

In theory, nothing could be easier than sticking a video tag into your HTML. In practice, the behavior of so many supposedly standard-compliant browsers is different enough that you'll be pulling out your hair if you try to support all of them. A number of good HTML5 libraries let you write standard HTML5 video tags that will be replaced with Flash or QuickTime if the browser isn't ready to handle your video. The Video for Everybody project offers one of the better libraries, filled with features that operate in the background to smooth delivery on older browsers like IE8.

Raphaël

http://raphaeljs.com/

If the pundits are correct, there are many, many terabytes of data just waiting for people to come along and try to make sense of the bits. The first generation of HTML5 libraries was more focused on building forms and generating tables. Now a number of libraries are zeroing in on building charts and drawing graphs on the

object. You'll find plenty of great options for basic line graphs, bar graphs, and combinations. Raphaël is a small JavaScript library that should simplify your work with vector graphics on the Web.

JSChart

http://www.jscharts.com/home

Also among the libraries aimed at chart building is JSCharts, which allows you to easily create charts in different templates like bar charts, pie charts, or simple line graphs.

Flot

Flot for its part produces graphical plots of arbitrary datasets on-the-fly client-side, and it includes interactive features like zooming and mouse tracking.

Protovis

Some libraries go even further for data visualization. The collection of demos for Protovis and its newer cousin D3 -- a name meant as shorthand for Data Driven Documents -- show how sophisticated constructions like Voronoi diagrams and network graphs can illustrate more than the up and down of some value.

Simile Widgets

Simile Widgets offers a different collection of views for data visualization that are more focused on maps and timelines. Each of these data visualization projects illustrate how we're just beginning to come up with good ways of turning data into pictures that can help us absorb large volumes of information quickly and efficiently.

Tile5

Most of us will continue to use the big mapping libraries for standard jobs like showing street addresses. But what if you want to do something different, like change the rendering or fiddle with layers in ways the big libraries don't allow? Tile5 can pull the mapping tiles from such sources as GeoCommons, then lay them out so that the user can shove them around just like the maps from Google, Mapquest, or Yahoo. But there are other opportunities: The animation operation can change any of the parameters of the display. This is usually used for panning across the map and landing in one spot.

jQuery Mobile

As the mobile browsers begin to dominate the Web, it becomes more and more important to package the information in a form that's easier to browse on smartphones and tablets. That's not so easy when the fingers are fat and the eyes can't focus on small fonts. jQuery Mobile, Jo, and Sencha Touch are three libraries that offer touch-friendly menus that dig down into data structures and present the information for the small screen.

HTML5SQL

It's easy to forget that cookies can store 4,096 bytes of data. You would never want to store that much because each cookie is bundled together with subsequent trips to the server -- that's why local databases were invented. Taking advantage of them is getting easier as new libraries simplify the details of interacting with the API. HTML5SQL, for instance, will feed relatively simple SQL statements to the database, allowing you to create tables, fill them with data, and then query them. You'll spend more time crafting your SQL than your JavaScript.

TaffyDB

If you don't want to think in SQL while writing JavaScript, TaffyDB accomplishes much of the same tabular querying with JSON, and the queries and the updates can be chained together.

Firebug

One of the biggest challenges for JavaScript programmers is building larger applications, and bigger always means more debugging. While you can get by with embedding alert statements in smaller pages, larger ones require more structure for the debugging information. Firebug, an extension for Firefox, offers an elaborate debugging platform, including conditional breakpoints and the ability to edit the state. The JavaScript can write directly to the console object with three levels of severity.

Blackbird

Blackbird is a stand-alone library that pops up a separate console window that looks quite elegant. You can set four levels of bugs and the user can turn the messages on or off. A profiler is ready to time the routines on the local browser.

Gameboy

This collection of JavaScript libraries only scratches the surface because a wide collection of translators and emulators makes it possible to run practically any language in your browser. Pyjamas is a rich development platform built around a Python-to-JavaScript compiler. The Google Web Toolkit converts Java into JavaScript, and RubyJS converts Ruby. The list of languages that can be emulated is long, and practically nothing is out of reach. Rather than continue to list them, I'll just link to a Gameboy emulator to prove the point.

REQUIRE.JS - A Javascript Module Loader

http://requirejs.org/docs/jquery.html

RequireJS can help you manage the script modules, load them in the right order, and make it easy to combine the scripts later via the RequireJS optimizer without needing to change your markup. It also gives you an easy way to load scripts after the page has loaded, allowing you to spread out the download size over time.

RequireJS has a module system that lets you define well-scoped modules, but you do not have to follow that system to get the benefits of dependency management and build-time optimizations. Over time, if you start to create more modular code that needs to be reused in a few places, the module format for RequireJS makes it easy to write encapsulated code that can be loaded on the fly. It can grow with you, particularly if you want to incorporate internationalization (i18n) string bundles, to localize your project for different languages, or load some HTML strings and make sure those strings are available before executing code, or even use JSONP services as dependencies.

</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">jQuery+RequireJS Sample Page</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">

jQuery+RequireJS Sample Page

Batch Tools:

Phatch – Python app to batch process photographs for web applications

http://pythonide.stani.be/

Phatch is a simple to use cross-platform GUI Photo Batch Processor which handles all popular image formats and can duplicate (sub)folder hierarchies. Phatch can batch resize, rotate, apply perspective, shadows, rounded corners, ... and more in minutes instead of hours or days if you do it manually. Phatch allows you to use EXIF and IPTC tags for renaming and data stamping. Phatch also supports a console version to batch photos on webservers.

Eclipse Plug-in Installation:

http://download.aptana.com/studio3/plugin/install

From the Help menu, select Install New Software... to open the Install New Software dialog.
Paste the URL for the update site into the Work With text box, and hit the Enter (or Return) key.
In the populated table below, check the box next to the name of the plug-in, and then click the Next button.
Click the Next button to go to the license page.
Choose the option to accept the terms of the license agreement, and click the Finish button.
You may need to restart Eclipse to continue.

Online Collaboration and Social Media: The Promise and The Reality

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 22:11:00 +0000

A Plea for Online Music Collaboration:

I'm not a genius at using social media! In fact I was completely bored with Facebook and did not understand why being "liked" on Facebook meant anything to anyone. To me, "everyone", and "everything they do", is much more nuanced and complex than what is reflected in a thumbs-up or thumbs-down icon click-count or friend tally. All I could think of was the Roman gladiators getting the signal.... not a pleasant thought. I find more value in one face-to-face conversation than in a months' worth of Facebook postings.

In fact, I deactivated my Facebook account the day before the big IPO for principled reasons: I didn't think my personal information needed to be bought and sold for the advertising feeding frenzy that is expected to unfold as Facebook attempts to monetize their grossly overvalued IPO. I don't mind seeing billionaires created from idealized investment scenarios, but where is the value to the people who are supplying all of the free analytic data about what they "like" or "don't like". Have we all been reduced to this one-dimensional level of intellectual assessment? Are we sure this data is even accurate or relevant?

bye bye pot-o-gold....

     All those virtual friends did not seem to be doing anything interesting on Facebook, but on blogs, there seems to be a lot of interesting "collecting" of data, photography harvesting/cataloging, and sometimes some good opinion-making. Some blogs share good original writing, original graphics-arts, tips-and-tricks, etc. In other words, there is real content. Sometimes you can find personalized and intellectually sincere contributions in blogs; so I'm sticking with blogs for now to get my curiosity fix.

     Then there is Twitter. I do have a Twitter account @kpaul99, but I have no idea how to express myself correctly in 140 characters. All I hear about is the people that get in trouble for saying stupid things or sending stupid images. I see the little Twitter widgets in the bottom or side of a web-page, but I don't see anything more than people sending a Tweet to their followers to look at the web page.... huh? I thought that was what Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc., was for. I don't need people to notify me what to read, especially content on the web. Tweet that!

     OK, I'll concede that a couple of days ago I did find some information via Twitter by searching for the word "violin". This gave me a list of Tweets from some well-known violinists and self-promoted artists that exposed me to some interesting people that I had not heard of before. That search also led to me start to follow some of these violinists and artists. This led me to learn about Mark O'Conner's announcement for his violin method publications, and interesting artists like Zoe Keating, who does cello "looping and layering" performances (she supposedly also has 1.3M Twitter followers, and people buy her albums as a result).

     Maybe I need to get "with-the-program" and Tweet: "Please collaborate with me online!" everyday, and then beg people to follow me on Twitter until they say yes. Why? Because so far the online music collaboration thing is not working out as well as I had hoped and dreamed, even though I am passionate about the possibilities of sharing original music composition and music production efforts via the web.

Indaba Music

      I've tried to use Indaba Music for the last two and one-half years to find musicians to collaborate with, but I don't want to be the "project manager" and drive the recording project, and/or beg other people to record with me. I just want to jump into a group of people that will put equal effort into a project and share a common vision about the music they want to produce. I want to be invited to a project based on my existing output available on the web for everyone to hear. I know this is a lot to expect, because in the real world, we have to self-promote every day to get access to the portals of success, or get someone's attention who may be already distracted by everyone else (on Facebook).

      Now I am not discounting the finished projects that I have been involved in on Indaba (we did publish two albums on iTunes), but after our "project leader" got back to his real-job photography projects, the group activity dwindled and finally halted. While we had a strong project-leader, we seemed to have some success. The lesson here is that online collaboration takes a strong leader to bring other people into activity, and just like the face-to-face world, the work does not get done without very dedicated and inspired people. Of course paying people up-front for their output will get production going faster...(Thank you record-companies for at least doing this for some people; some musicians are living the dream).

     Indaba Music is fantastic for people who want to join "remixing" contests they offer, but if you just want to jump into an awesome collaborating group for a recording project, it will take a lot of persuasion, patience, and persistence to get something going. I don't have that much steam at the end of the day.

     I still believe that online collaboration is great for musicians who have a day-job and can only afford part-time investments in their music. I believe that record companies should audition and hire more "studio musicians" via online submission sites, as there are many musicians who can record their individual tracks in their own home studios, and submit for mixing elsewhere. I'm sure this is already being done with full-timers, but what about the part-timers?

     I really do admire the people who can successfully "socialize" and make connections via the web, but for me, the reality has not met the expectation. My expectation has been that I could find musicians who have their own steam and shared vision to create music via online collaboration. I'm still looking for these collaborators, and hopefully someone will read this and send me an email, a Tweet, or something else.... You don't even need to "like" me on Facebook; just collaborate with me. Thank you.

     P.S. Somebody will dig this out of the Google archives someday and laugh at the naivety. Until then, you can buy my 2012 album on iTunes. Since this is blogspot, we can still "socialize" on Google+.

Don't be...

Review: Peter Kater "wind, rock, sea & flame" album. Music for "deepening..."

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 16:42:00 +0000

Some of the synthesizer sounds sound similar to the "green glass" custom synthesizer sound that I created in Omnisphere.

I love the cello and soprano-sax overlay, and piano arpeggios on top of the ambient undulating synthesizer and symphonic strings. Conversation between sax and cello is interesting because of glissandi, etc.

I've never seen the expression "music for deepening" before, and I'm trying to contemplate what that means. Perhaps this type of music is thought to allow a deeper meditative state.

Applying Network Maps and Music Data to the Production and Compositon Process

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 16:33:00 +0000

For this experiment in thinking: Recreate this chart to make more sense on my music composition and recording processes. Also create similar graphics for violin styles, music composition techniques, chord progression charts, and other types of "music data".

Goal: Use this type of "music data" as quick-references for reproducing setups, experiments, application settings, plug-in settings, etc. for the audio-recording and composition processes. This is just like using a chord-chart reference to learn a song on a guitar, only expanded to be useful for other music production processes.

This could be a cool Prezzi graphics and/or dynamic slide show. Try it. Or maybe HTML5 application (instead of the Flash tools).

"How-To" (YouTube, etc.) videos are great too, and easier than ever to create, but sometimes you would like to get the reference "at a glance" instead of going through the whole "show-and-tell".

Mind-mapping is the equivalent of a website wire-frame reference document for a website: you are trying to identify how to interconnect tasks, ideas, ingredients, processes, products, etc. But I have found mind-mapping, as a part of the creative process, is a layer of abstraction away from actual creative activity, so it either gets in the way or is ignored as I work on a project (especially music). I can visualize a different way of using mind-mapping that does not focus on the map itself, but like jump-links on a web-page, they are naturally linking back to the ongoing map or wire-frame of the project.

For example, inside a music composition program, as you create new tracks, add synthesizer patches, create dynamics, etc. there is a map created that flows automatically from the top-level hierarchy of "song" and catalogs all of the elements that have influenced and/or contributed to the song process. This is hard to imagine as an automated process, but I need something like this to continuously document my experiments so that I can "retrace my steps" to get the same results again. For example, when I make certain adjustments to classic audio-controls (delay, reverb, compression, gain), or adjustments to synthesizer settings, I would like to see a visual record of these settings for later reference, and a set of links that ties this information together like hyperlinks to be able to walk through, replicate, or further modify from this "baseline" so that this can be "repeated" in performance, recorded as part of the copyrighted music-score, etc.

In other words, I want an expanded music-scoring system that includes the embedded application details from within the recording-tools, and especially for synthesized-derived compositions.

I will be experimenting with this type of documentation process in future audio-recording/composition projects.

Reference example from: http://www.mkbergman.com/415/cytoscape-hands-down-winner-for-large-scale-graph-visualization/

Art Experiment with Merging of Biological and Natural Forms

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 06:40:00 +0000


Isosurface molecular representation					NIH VMD Tool for Molecular Visualization

source:
Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group
NIH Resource for Macromolecular Modeling and Bioinformatics
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Inspiration for art experiment:

Concept: Merge the molecular representations with sketches and create a visual art play on biological forms (micro and macro forms coming together).

Sketch: (Sketch made while listening to music and attempting to create musical icons, impressions, wave-forms, tree-structures, etc.) 4/19/12.

This looks very organic to me, and seems to capture some "natural forms". I created two letter forms, "C" and "D", and contemplated moving between the two chords in simple I-II pattern.

Sketch made while listening to Levon Helm, Pat Metheny, and Peter Kater

Next: Merge in Photoshop and play with various adjustment layers (trace outline, rotate, etc.)

Result: The picture looks very organic and I can conjecture seeing the letters as "eyes" and some of the other isosurfaces as internal organs. This evokes to me a micro-macro mystery; it seems to be a peering directly into a completely imaginary biological world.

Levon Helm - In Memory

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 06:21:00 +0000

I heard that Levon Helm had passed away today. (4/19/2012). Another great musician passes through the portal.
"The Weight" is one of my favorite songs. Here John Hiatt is singing with Levon, on "Rumble at the Ryman" album.


Levon Helm on Spotify - from my "Grammy Preview" playlist from February

Link:
USA Today Article on Levon Helm

Summary of New Album Style - Invite for Collaboration

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 17:45:00 +0000

I'm excited about the new album "Passing Through The Portal", as this album brings to fruition better quality mixing techniques, that, I believe, delivers a better quality mix from my previous albums, and continues the further development of an experimental composition style that I like to call "neo-classical fusion". This style, in my mind, is a blend between jazz instrumentals, jazz chord progressions, modern rhythmic elements, and swelling soundtrack ideas.

The violin has been a somewhat neglected instrument in modern popular music, as the methods of constructing songs by taking lyrics and common chord progression patterns and then "jamming" into a useable tune, will create obstacles for many lyrical instrumentalists. This is because the vocal tracks will almost always take precedence over any other lyrical or melodic instruments. In short three minute song forms, this usually only leaves room for some quick licks from the guitarists. In competition with the guitar and violin for those licks, the guitarist will usually win. Nashville style songs will allow the violin to sneak in a few licks, but the violin usually does not contribute much to the overall melodic development.

In any event, I'm trying to give voice to the modern electric-violin style while blending with synthesizer sounds. I have always loved the synthesizer, but have rejected the mediocre MIDI "string" sounds. What I'm searching for is the balanced blending of the "natural string instrument" sound and the synthesized string sounds. This will hopefully become the accepted level of quality for the future. I believe the blending of analog and digital instrumentation will give us some more energetic and interesting music. I would like to hear this blending from more natural/traditional instrumentalists as well.

I'm always looking for music collaborators, so if you are willing to jump into a composition project, or even a remix project offered by Indaba Music, then please go to www.indabamusic.com and join me on an online collaboration project!

Album Purchase Available on Indaba Music

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:57:00 +0000

If you would like to purchase the new album, it is available from Indaba Music store, and will also be available on iTunes in a few days as well.

Thank you for your interest in this music, and I hope you enjoy it.

If you are interested in working with me on an online collaboration project, then please join Indaba Music and send me a message!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 17:33:00 +0000

Royalty Free Music - Stock Music Library | Jamendo PRO

Play the new album here....

New Album to be released soon on iTunes and Indaba Music Store

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 16:54:00 +0000

Here's the artwork for the new CD Album "Passing Through the Portal" The release on iTunes and Indaba Music is pending will be available very soon. I'm excited to share this with everyone, and will be working on much more music this year. The western-folk trio that I perform with is also working on a recording, and I will be posting some new samples for this collection as well. This blog will become more active this year to keep track of everything that is going on, and hopefully everyone will enjoy as much as I do this music.

"Passing Through The Portal" digital cover

Jewel-case front and inside page

Jewel-case tray card

CDROM art Preview of the Album can be listened to now at: http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/109329

New album to be released by April, 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 20:35:00 +0000

There will be a new album released by April, 2012 with original compositions and exclusive recording production by Kevan Paul. The emphasis is on electric-violin in various fusion styles overlay-ed across a background of jazz-rock, smooth-jazz, and ambient electronic styles. The album will be initially available through Google Play, but will try to get published on iTunes, etc. as the project progresses. At least half of the songs will be added to the YouTube channel (2010media) to experiment with other visual elements and related ideas for the compositions. A more detailed description of the songs will be added to this web page. The name of the album is "Passing Through The Portal" which is also the name of track 4 of the album. The intent of the album is to continue the exploration of using electric-violin in fusion styles, especially where synthesizer sounds can be added and invented. The intent is to go beyond the dance-beat influences and provide an interesting sound-scape to overlay melodic violin to blend into an interesting ambient quality of sound. There are obvious influences from classical, new-age, jazz-rock fusion, and smooth-jazz that tend towards allowing the violin to create effortless melodies. This is the foundation for this album.

Falling Water

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 06:29:00 +0000

Here's my latest composition published as video on YouTube. This is the second song of a series to be published this year on Jamendo, which will be my third album collection to be self-recorded and produced in the "Ambient, New Age, Instrumental, Soundtrack" type of composition. I am continuing to explore the various techniques for incorporating electric-violin in music for dance, film, and concert-halls.