For those that aren’t familiar with the BarBQ Interactive Music conference, it is quite an event. Held in darkest Texas, away from the distractions that so often inhibit our epiphany and catharsis, BarBQ is a gathering of some of the brightest minds working in interactive audio and computer music fields. The goal of the conference is Influencing Music Hardware and Software Over the Next Five Years, and before everyone gets there that is about as far as the topic planning has gone.
Over the next three nights, everyone gets together and chooses topics, breaks into workgroups, and proceed to gather as much insight as possible on what they feel are the most pressing or timely issues related to the state and development of interactive music. The culmination of the conference is a report detailing the groups’ synopses of the problems, and some recommended solutions. A remarkable number of innovations, such as iXMF, started here.
The BarBQ 2007 Report was just finished, and I feel there are some good indications of both problems and solutions the industry as a whole should deal with moving forward.
I was apart of two groups. The Interactive Audio group looked at the current state of adaptive audio and found that we have taken some steps back. It seems that we have traded some adaptability and flexibility in our interactive scores for higher fidelity audio assets. This is coupled with problems with available tools, education, and resource allocation. Our section of the report elucidates on all of these fronts, and attempts to take some steps toward solving them.
The second group I was apart of dealt with metadata, specifically the fact that there is no standard for sharing metadata among programs; especially programs in different stages of the production pipeline. A lot of the metadata created in different programs could be used further along in the process for asset management and manipulation. Also, rich and shared metadata could be used to attribute compositional elements to their authors; a problem becoming more and more relevant in our remix culture.
We proposed a solution called Highly Distributed Metadata, or HDM. This would use an RSS like protocol to share metadata among applications, and provide a mechanism for the search of missing data. By tagging files with a unique ID, their metadata would be attached to them like a pointer, but also be free to be dealt with at will.
The full reports on these two topics, and many more interesting aspects on the state of computer music are in this report, and I encourage anyone interesting in interactive audio to peruse it.
Originally from Project Bar-BQ 2007 Report Released
Last night I went to the Center for Sex and Culture to attend Cunts for Fags, a class geared towards gay men concerning innie sexual anatomy. The witty instructor progressively removed articles of clothing until she revealed her cunt, explaining the intricacies of her anatomy.
Along with visual aids and two other live models, attendees were able to see and even feel the internal and external parts of the cunt.
Most of the attendees were gay men (I enjoyed seeing their intrigued and surprised reactions to the visual demonstration) however, a variety of genders and sexualities were represented at the class.
Afterwards, I was able to interview a few attendees and people responsible for putting on the class, including sex educator Carol Queen. I recommend the class to everyone and would even like to propose a Cunts for Cunts class!!
Originally from Cunts for Fags
If you still care to read some dude’s take on the old year end wrap-up over a month late, I finally prepared my Best of 2007: One LOOOONG muthafuckin’ list. In between a busted hard drive and some hectic holidays this took way longer than I would have liked, but as the sporadic nature of maintaining this beast has proven, it seems most of my time is spent listening to music rather than writing about it and sharing it. With all the developments in electronic music it is a full time job just tracking down new singles and mixes from one genre or corner of the globe, let alone the good bits from the whole world of stuff out there. I will remember this past year as a time when pop music as a whole seemed weak, but the rest of the music galaxy felt stronger in its diversity & cohesion than in years. Everybody started feelin’ everybody else, hip-hop went all electro, techno confessed its love for dubstep, nu-disco for yacht rock, psych-folk for hipster metal, etc etc….. inclusivity reigned. This type of rampant cross fertilization has been a hallmark of the ’00s, but never before has it been as fully realized and unforced than in this past year. Our future is bright compadres.
I would have added links to listen to everything here but the list kept growing and growing, making this damn near impossible to do. Please do leave your comments on what you were digging the most in this past year, what looks right-on with my list, what is whack, etc. Here’s to a
you luved ‘em, i luved ‘em, we all luved ‘em
Panda Bear, Person Pitch [Paw Tracks]
M.I.A, Kala [XL]
LCD Soundsystem, Sound Of Silver [DFA/EMI]superbad lps
Matthew Dear, Asa Breed [Ghostly International]
DeepChord Presents Echospace, The Coldest Season [Modern Love]
Skull Disco, Soundboy Punishments [Skull Disco]
Burial, Untrue [Hyperdub]
Animal Collective, Strawberry Jam [Domino]
Holy Fuck, LP [XL]
Kalabrese, Rumpelzirkus [Muve]
Supermayer, Saves The World [Kompakt]
Pole, Steingarten Remixes [~Scape]
Melchior Productions Ltd., No Disco Future [Perlon]
Jens Lekman, Night Falls Over Kortedola [Secretly Canadian]
False, 2007 [M_nus]
Cobblestone Jazz, 23 Seconds [Studio !K7]
Chloé, The Waiting Room [Kill The DJ](Notably, this was also the only year in the past ten when Radiohead or Björk released an album that hasn’t warranted inclusion on such a list.)
mixed and/or compiled
V/A, After Dark, [Italians Do It Better]
Prins Thomas, Cosmo Galactic Prism [Eskimo]
Ricardo Villalobos, Fabric 36 [Fabric]
V/A, Dirty Space Disco [Tigersushi]
Justine D, Rvng Prsnts MX5 [Rvng]
Optimo, Walkabout [Endless Flight]
Dixon, Body Language Volume 4 [Get Physical]
V/A, Ed Rec Vol. 2 [Ed Banger]
A-Trak, Dirty South Dance [Obey]short stuff
Junior Boys, The Dead Horse Ep [Domino]
Lawrence, Rabbit Tube [Mule Electronic]
Dave Aju & The Invisible Art Trio, Love Always [Circus Company]
Âme, Balandine Ep [Innervisions]
Baby Oliver, Feelings 2 / Shot Caller [Environ]
Lovefingers, Rvng Of The Nrds Vol. 4 [Rvng]
Stimming, Funkworm Ep [Diynamic]
Audion, Noiser / Fred’s Bells [Spectral]
Nôze, Remember Love [My Best Friend] & Piano Ep [Milnor Modern]
Jichael Mackson, …Wasn’t Me [Musique Risquée]
DJ Koze, All The Time / Cicely [Philpot]
Alex Under, Gris Anthemo [Cmyk]
Robag Wruhme Als Rolf Oksen, Bart Eins Ep [Freude Am Tanzen]
Hatchback, White Diamond Ep [THISISNOTANEXIT]
Roland Appel, Dark Soldier / Changes [Sonar Kollektiv]
Lee Douglas, New York Story [Rong]
Excepter, ‘Burgers / The Punjab [Paw Tracks]
Gang Gang Dance, RAWWAR Ep [Social Registry]
Durrty Goodz, Axiom Ep [Awkward]
Studio, Life’s A Beach Remixes [Information]
Hercules & Love Affair, Classique #2 /Roar [DFA]
The Lift Boys, Anarchy Village / Anarchy Way [Smalltown Supersound]shorter stuff
Marc Romboy vs. Chelonis R. Jones, “Helen Cornell (Stefan Goldmann Macro Version)
Rihanna, “Umbrella (Vandalism Mix)”
D1, “Mind & Soul”
Benga & Coki, “Night”
Chromatics, “Running Up That Hill”
Rufus Wainwright, “Tiergarten (Supermayer Remix)”
Hot Chip, “My Piano”
Black Dice, “Roll Up”
Efdemin, “Just A Track”
Radiohead, “All I Need”
T2 feat. Jodie Aysha, “Heartbroken”
Peverelist, “Roll With The Punches”
Klaxons, “Golden Skans”
The Tough Alliance, “Miami”
Mari Boine, “Vuoi Vuoi Me (Henrik Schwarz Remix)”
Lindstrøm, “Breakfast In Heaven”
Battles, “Atlas”
Prinzhorn Dance School, “You Are The Space Invader”
DJ Blaqstarr, “Shake It To The Ground (Claude VonStroke Remix)”
Radio Slave, “Bell Clap Dance”
Pharoahe Monch, “Body Baby (An Optimo (Espacio) Mix)”
Jamie Woon, “Wayfaring Stranger (Burial Remix)”
Cortney Tidwell “Don’t Let Stars Keep Us Tangled Up (Ewan’s Objects in Space Remix)”
Mark E., “R&B Drunkie”
Maps, “To The Sky (The Loving Hand Remix)”
Hurricane Chris, “Ay Bay Bay”
Kanye West ft. Daft Punk, “Stronger”
50 Cent, “I Get Money”
50 Cent ft. Justin Timberlake & Timbaland, “Ayo Technology”
Snoop Dogg, “Sensual Seduction”
UGK ft. Outkast, “International Players Anthem”
Lil Mama, “Lip Gloss”
R. Kelly ft. T-Pain & T.I., “I’m A Flirt (Remix)”
Kia Shine, “Krispy”
Timbaland ft. Keri Hilson & D.O.E., “Way I Are”
Grinderman, “No Pussy Blues”
Kid Sister, “Control”
Samim, “Heater”
Burial, “Archangel”
Justice, “D.A.N.C.E.”
Animal Collective, “Fireworks”
Vampire Weekend, “Mansard Roof”in person
Benga & Hatcha @ Temple, SF
Italoboyz @ Decibel Festival, Seattle
Grizzly Bear @ Great American Music Hall, SF
Soulwax @ Mezzanine, SF
Daft Punk @ Greek Theatre, Berkeley
JD Twitch & Tim Sweeney @ Gun Club, SF
seeing Lemonade about 5 or 6 time around townflicks
There Will Be Blood, dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
Zodiac, dir. David Fincher
Silent Light, dir. Carlos Reygadas
I’m Not There, dir. Todd Haynes
No Country For Old Men, dir. Joel & Ethan Coen
Death Proof, dir. Quentin Tarantino
Inland Empire, dir. David Lynchother takes
FACT Magazine’s Top 100 Tracks
Idolator Pop 07
TAPE’s Top 100 12″s of 2007
Resident Advisor Poll: Top 10 Albums
Dusted Magazine - End of the Year: 2007
Pitchfork’s Top 50 Albums of 2007
Originally from http://anindiantoo.blogspot.com/2008/01/if-you-still-care-to-read-some-dudes.html
(Update: I’ve been rightly informed that this is actually a Buchla 300 system.)
Last week I was down in San Deigo working on some ongoing projects with Keith McMillen (of the BEAM Foundation) and Miller Puckette (of Max and pd fame), and ran into this gem, the Buchla 100 from Ircam, in a spare bedroom. Miller said he pulled this noble old warhorse from the dumpster at Ircam. Even in its current place of rest, under quite a bit of dust, it seems to hearken back youthfully to a earlier time before this age of DSP, when men were men and resistors, resistors.
Notice the keyboard. This is actually floating on top of springs. You can shake the keyboard as you play, and this motion comes out as control voltage. Don was, and still is, a genius.
Here is a picture of this Prince among synths in its heyday, that I got via Matrix Synth via Chroniques de la Mao. OK, so the picture is backwards…but its nice to see it in action, lest we forget.
Originally from Where are they now? IRCAM’s Buchla 100.
From Bill Orcutt comes the first beta of his JavaScript and browser based visual patching language, Lily.
It’s a visual patching language, like Max/MSP, pd, or Plogue Bidule, but it is tied directly into the Mozilla framework with all of its browser functionality and XUL interface capabilities. Its a bit like Yahoo Pipes in many respects, but also has OSC functionality, which pretty much allows it to interact with any video or music production application these days, as well as a great deal of hardware such as the Arduino or MakeController or Lemur.
The videos below demonstrate more of what Lily can do. It’s a pretty exciting new direction for media art development.
http://www.vimeo.com/625294
http://www.vimeo.com/625739
http://www.vimeo.com/625400
http://www.vimeo.com/625460
Originally from Lily Beta Released