How Do You Know When a New Music Instrument Design is Done?

Reviewing the Pyramid Eel and reflecting on other instruments, I set my foot down in the sand and label the first Pyramid Eel "done." Watch the video to hear the full details!

Adding Sensitivity and Expression Using Optical Encoders on Electric Eel Generators

I recently upgrade the generators on my Electric Eel instruments to include optical encoders.  Check out this video to see how it works.

This means I'll be able to measure the speed and acceleration of the bow, leading to much more sensitive and expressive instruments.  I've been wanting to do this for YEARS and now it's finally happening...  

Over the years of playing my generator-based Electric Eel instruments, I have been enjoying how pushing them hard increases the sound volume.  It makes for sound so much more expressive than even my best MIDI keyboards with aftertouch.  It's slowly becoming apparent to me, though, that if I had a better idea how fast the player is pushing/sliding/bowing the generator, the sound could be even more sensitive and expressive.

Early on, I tried to do this by measuring the voltage on the temporary capacitors.   That approach works a little bit, but it doesn't change fast enough and different sound outputs consume the voltage at different rates, so it's way too entangled with the output sound, rather, than focused on what the player is doing.  Therefore, I decided to go WHOLE HOG and use an optical encoder.

This wasn't an easy decision.  These are more expensive and the algorithms get much more complex.  However, I am working again and don't have children (my instruments are my children!), so I went for it.  And actually I had a nice surprise---- over the last ten years, prices have come waaaaay down for these parts.  What used to cost about $300, can now be for only $40.  Yes, it's hard to believe.  It must be through the mass quantities of these parts that get used in factories.  Anyway, I picked up two of them and I've been wiring them up and writing code for them.  Soon I'll be putting them right into the instruments.  I can't wait.  It's going to be a whole new era.  In the meantime, please my newest video so you can share some the excitement that I'm going through!

New Playlist For Electric Eel Christmas Carols

 My new playlist: Electric Eel Christmas Carols

Subscribe to find out when new songs are added on my upcoming trip to Germany!

This is me playing traditional Christmas Carols like Silent Night, Joy to the World, etc., on an instrument I designed while at the MIT Media Lab.  It's called the Electric Eel.  I designed it because I was stuck between the two worlds of electronic and acoustic music.  I like the sounds of electronic music, but I also like the spontaneous, collaborative, nature of acoustic music.  So I designed this instrument which responds to the intensity of sliding the belt up and down by generating more power to emphasize notes.  If you're really curious, check out my wiki Exertion Music where I show how to design and build your own.

Volca Sample SDK - A Sample and Sequence Encoding Library for Volca Sample

A Sample and Sequence Encoding Library for Volca Sample

Did you know that you can upload samples and sequences into the Korg Volca?

Yes, it's possible and now it's much easier with this software from Korg, including the source code. Wow!

This program takes your sequences and samples and turns them into an audio file that you play into the Korg Volca Sample to record the data into its memory!  Wow!

It even comes with a Visual Studio project and a GNU makefile! 

This is seriously cool, thank you Korg!

Music Instruments are Not About Music

This is a long, but brilliant essay.


I especially enjoyed the section on Music Instruments about 1/4 down the page.
The theme argues the idea that civilization/society/humans create for the sake of social status, not for the effect of the creation.

For example: We choose to learn to play guitar to "be cool," or piano to indicate we want to be thought of as high-class rather than because we value the sounds of either of these instruments.

This can be incredibly earth-shattering to realize. I hope it's not 100% true, but there is plenty of evidence to show it is.

This type of thinking may also inform the famous "Mac vs. PC vs. Linux" debates. Do we choose our OS based on it's social significance or its technical, productive and visual benefits?

Music Hack Day in Cambridge, USA

This is music Hack Day, November 8th - 9th 2014, in Cambridge, MA, at Microsoft N.E.R.D.

The day begins with an incredible amount of information dissemination and research on topics related to online music software development and APIs.

The Geometric Principles of String Instrument Making in Brescia [pdf]

http://infoluthier.free.fr/francois%20denis/en/resources/Articolo.Denis.pdf

.MOD music player ported to BitBox

If you're not familar with .mod  format, you should read up on it, because they're an efficient way to store music.  Instead of recording a full waveform, like mp3/aac, they store a number of short samples and a score file for the music.

Having mod-playing code on a platform is extremely useful because it allows that platform to play songs with very limited resources - which is often the case in embedded environments where DSP is most useful. 

The Bitbox itself is a DIY video game console based on the excellent stm32f4 processor.  So, having the mod player there is valuable because it will let you add music to your video games without having much memory and disk space.  Speaking of disk space, this release of the mod player is extra great because it can play the mod files directly from an SD card!  So, check it out!

Constructing an Aristocrat (Programmable Guitar DSP Pedal)

Aristocrat Construction Photos

Satellite CCRMA for Art and Music Instruments

https://ccrma.stanford.edu/~eberdahl/Satellite

Satellite CCRMA is a platform for building embedded musical instruments and embedded art installations. Used by artists and engineers alike, Satellite CCRMA integrates together open-source software and hardware components including some novel software. Most importantly, Satellite CCRMA comes with examples that make it possible for new users to get up and running within a matter of minutes.

Hurdy Gurdies - An Introduction to Constructing Them

Hurdy Gurdies - An Introduction to Constructing Them

Recently a neighbor mentioned his desire to possibly someday construct a hurdy gurdy.  I was very curious to know what goes into it and what solutions/possibilities and plans are available, so I did some research into it.

One of the coolest customized Hurdy Gurdy constructions I've seen.  

Notice how it includes 7 electronic control knobs!

• This was my favorite construction page, apparently from a Swiss instrument builder from scratch!

• This place seems to have a nice kit available.

• This person built the above kit and made a 20-minute slideshow of the entire process - 133 images!!!

• This is a person who is blogging the entire process of building their hurdy gurdy!

• Here is another website with a kit, a bit cheaper than the above one.

• This guy has lots of great information if you're deciding whether to build a hurdy gurdy from scratch or from a kit

• This website also has a kit and you can pay in alternative currency!

• This website has smaller, more guitar-like hurdy gurdies and a kit!

Guitar Maker at Dzaleka Refugee Camp, Malawi

Guitar-making from scratch - there are many informative videos out there!

What makes this one special?

1. The style of music they play.  It's different from how we play in the United States.  Listen for it!

2. Limited constraints force this guitar maker to effect the bare essentials.

3. Inside of a refugee camp - what is life like there?  Are people free to move about?  How do they stay happy?  An entry point into all of that is right here.  Somehow, it's much more comprehensible - we can relate when we think of people playing music there.

Bonus

Wondering where Malawi is?  Here's a hint: It is completely landlocked, but a major lake forms its border.  Take a guess, then click here to find it on map.

Exhibition of Gijs Gieskes' Music Instruments

A friend introduced Gijs to me many years ago.  We've stayed in touch as much as possible, considering he lives all the way over on the other side of the ocean in Holland!

 

He recently had an exhibition of some of his vast instrument library.


His elegant, yet slightly jagged approach always impresses me.

His adoration of the connection between the sounds of physical and electrical media tickles my fancy!

What physical objects would you go out of your way to incorporate into electronic instruments?