Non-traditional studio furniture

I've had a number of people ask me about the stands in this photo. They're Herman Miller Scooters. They're hight and tilt adjustable and absurdly useful. Great for monomes, keyboard/mice, drum machines, laptops, or next to the bed or chair (they tuck right in.) I have two at home and one at work. There are a couple versions; an expensive version at around $300, and an inexpensive version for around $60 that is exactly the same, but with a synthetic top. Ebay or google around and you'll be able to track one down.



I use an Offi Pocket Desk in my office in conjunction with a scooter so I can tuck a keyboard MIDI controller under the computer and roll it out whenever I need it. One thing the photos don't show you about the pocket desk is this HUGE cable management area on the other side. It is big enough to hold and hide routers, hubs, external hard drives, and a whole mess of cables.







There is a small clearance issue, though. I had to replace the standard knobs on the Novation to low profile caps in order for this to work.

Lego monome enclosure

If you're building your own monome from a kit, the biggest questions are: what will the case be, and how will you create a faceplate? This isn't the first Lego monome enclosure I've seen (I think that would be this one), but the design is very sleek and compact, and the designer, xiaoyang, has provided templates for 40h and 80h in a blog post. I like the fact that some of the old-school Lego colors were integrated into the design, because if it were all white, you wouldn't appreciate the Legoness of the enclosure.

Plus, you know, monome. And Legos. Together.

maxforlive monome suite released

There are seven maxforlive devices (not counting some minor variations of each) that are designed to work together in any combination or number of instances within a maxforlive project.

obo - my matrix step sequencer. usable on any monome, or even monomeless operation(!)

pitches - this is like polygomé without the step sequencer bits (like fourths/malbahabla for you monome-people). Transforms your monome into a playable surface.

polygomé 64 - I think you know what this is by now. bleep boop bleep.

press cafe - this version is based on press cafe 2.0 that has been redesigned and re-oriented more sensibly to make it playable with any size monome. "HEY! This makes music!" - my wife Nov 29, 2009

spectral display - adapted from tehn's vu_spec, there is a version for every size monome. Drop it on a track (or more) and watchen das blinkenlites.

step filter - one upon a time I built a step sequencer application and used it to control a doepfer vocoder filter bank. Now the filter bank is built-in. Usable with any size monome, but limited to eight bands.

automatorgator - there are two versions of this plug in for the 256, the audio version is a monome-controlled pattern gate with adjustable volume levels and slew. The MIDI version generates MIDI CC and OSC messages smoothed out at a high resolution for gooey OSC goodness.

Download here. Since they're designed to work together, and I anticipate some updates in the short term, I'll distribute this as a package, but eventually migrate the individual components to the monome wiki. I'm going to put my arms behind my head and tilt my chair back now. Mmmmmmmm, slanty.

Synth Highlights of the Last Decade

Boards of Canada
Geogaddi (2002)
If I'm honest with myself, 1998's 'Music Has the Right to Children' is a superior album, but Geogaddi is a more-than-worthy followup with 22 (no, I'm not counting the non-track 'Magic Window') glistening, warbly synthesizer gems, many of which clocking in at a minute and change. Favorites include 'Music is Math', 'Sunshine Recorder' and 'The Devil is in the Details'. The appeal of aptly-named Scottish duo is that they somehow manage to convey 1970's-era filmstrip nostalgia, while sounding fresh and fun and listenable. Makes me want a Space Echo or at least spend some time polarizing domains on magnetic tape.

Autechre
Draft 7.30 (2003)
Autechre put out a number of releases in the last decade, including Confieldand Quaristice, but Draft 7.30 is, in my opinion, a masterpiece and contender for synth album of the decade. It sounds like many, many hours of devoted, obsessive work where the final compositions are tuned and processed and edited until they only vaguely hint at their original form. I've often wondered how collaborations like Autechre function in reality, like, who does what? Do they work together or do they swap tracks between them and work in isolation?

Imogen Heap
Speak for Yourself (2005)
Ellipse (2009)
While Depeche Mode and Erasure continued to offer pleasing variations of their core electronica+vocal brands, Imogen Heap found her own voice and dazzled. Imogen is the real deal; a one woman triple threat producer/songwriter/vocalist. What I hear is as astonishing as what I don't hear, and that is the middling input from business people, managers, and A&R people. She is making the music she wants to hear and she has the last say, thank you very much. 'Speak For Yourself' continues to be enjoyable listen after listen and 'Ellipse' is a portrait of the artist at the peak of her powers. This is an example what can be done when a creative, driven individual is in a position where she has the tools and resources to realize her vision.

Nine Inch Nails
With Teeth (2005)
Year Zero (2007)
It was an amazing decade for Nine Inch Nails. 'With Teeth' signaled the start of a new phase of NIN. 'Year Zero' followed with eyebrow-raising rapidity. Then came 'Ghosts' and 'The Slip.' What the hell? Trent Reznor seemed to make all the right business decisions while experiencing a creative peak and sustained prolific output that eluded the troubled 90s version. That isn't to say I don't sincerely appreciate the exquisite craftsmanship of The Fragile and The Downward Spiral, it is just that Trent found his ability to execute quickly. I think this is a combination of technology catching up to the artist and the artist himself finding the right mental space. Trent knows precisely what the hell he is doing and I really like that.

Crystal Castles
Crystal Castles(2008)
Crystal Castles debut has all the intensity, DIY-aesthetic and 'where the hell did this come from'-factor as Pretty Hate Machine did 20 years prior. It is a pure blast and one I'm curious how they'll follow up.

Now it is your turn. What did I miss?

How to buy a monome

OK, so you want a monome. monomes are built in small batches, so unless your timing is very fortuitous, you won't be able to buy one 'off the shelf'. You have several options.

1) Wait for the next batch. 256s, 128s, 64s and kits are available on a rotating basis.

2) Build an arduinome

3) Buy a used one from the monome forums. There is a category just for this purpose. Used monomes appear frequently, in fact, there may be one there now. Hint: subscribe to the forum RSS feed.

4) There's always ebay

Wireless Keyboard and Touchpad

I was needing one of these just a couple days ago; a full keyboard and touchpad in a handheld configuration. I have a VNC client and iTunes remote application on my iPhone, but, let's face it, waiting for the iPhone to find the wireless network and launching a VNC connection is less than ideal. I can see many uses for this as I frequently find myself held down by a cat. It would be great for media centers, remote control of DAWs, couch youtube surfing, and... hey - what about live performance? Want! $62

Let the hacking begin!

Just in time for the holidays, the Bliptronic 5000 LED Synthesizer is in stock and ready for ordering at $49.99 per measure (chain additional units for longer sequences, heh). I give it about two weeks before someone has hacked this into an arduinome.

maxforlive: monome integration

It is one thing to adapt max patches for maxforlive but it is another thing entirely to construct them so they can handle multiple instances without stepping all over each other by accessing the same data. Then there is the issue of telling monomeserial which instance has control of the monome hardware.

I wanted to make it elegant to use. For example, if you click on a track in live that has a monome application running, that monome application is in focus on the hardware. It is this level of integration that makes maxforlive so appealing. So, now you can run as many obos, polygomes, stepfilters, or automatorgators as you like, and the monome switches between them effortlessly. Once you have everything set up, you can save your project for later recall.

So think about what you have here just with obo - an endless MPC or a super burly tenori on.

I never intended for anyone to use polygomé by itself, I always envisioned it as a small piece in a larger context, but that context didn't really exist before. The alternative is to create an application that is sophisticated enough to be a complete system unto itself. Some applications went the monolithic route which necessitated function rows, chording and pages which made the experience a little more impenetrable. I saw the same thing happen with moving fader control surfaces for daws where they tried to do everything from the control surface. People soon discovered that editing plug ins on a small LCD window is actually a step backwards, regardless of tangible controls. Same thing with the monome.

Now with maxforlive, monome apps can be simpler and you can pipe together the functions you need. So, instead of on application being a clip launcher, floor wax and a desert topping, it can do _one_ thing, like a plug in, and the user can select which functions are needed for the task. It is a level of functionality granularity I think the hardware is well suited for. If the apps are simpler, then the need for function rows and pages is reduced (now shifted to live) and the applications themselves become easier to adapt for all sizes of monomes. The five maxforlive apps I have work on the 64, 128 and 256 without having special versions for each type.

I'm getting very close to releasing this suite of monome maxforlive plug-ins. I have to back port some of the features I introduced in obo to the others, and clean up the UI of polygome.

Please check out the video in HD here.