Consumption to Participation

If everybody is making something, where is the time coming from? This is the question a post-'Here Comes Everybody' Clay Shirky offers in a recent speech he gave at a Web 2.0 conference.

The first thing he does is create a unit of human thought, which unfortunately he doesn't name. Let's call it a 'Shirky'. He and Martin Wattenberg of IBM calculate that the current state of Wikipedia represents 100 million hours of human thought. So, right now, Wikipedia equals one Shirky. Television watching, in the United States, in one year, consumes 2,000 Shirkies.



The next thing he does is propose that the Shirkies people are spending online is a cognitive surplus that has been masked by television consumption. In other words, television is hemorrhaging Shirkies to the internet, and other creative projects. This parallels my own personal experience. Strangely, it was the tivo that killed my television time. I stopped having to make appointments to watch something just because it was on. I didn't have to worry about it. My tivo was watching TV for me, so I didn't have to. Eventually, I lost interest.

This shift from consumption to participation is not a fad, it is a substantive change in the way we spend our Shirkies. I look forward to a world inhabited by the next generation who have been immersed in this environment all their life. Brenda Laurel had a term for this, something that possibly recalled a Greek myth where parents placed their children on a ship, destined for a presumably better place, where their parents are unable to follow.

AHNE 2008: reactable demo

AHNE 2008: Flicker Set

This was by far the best year ever for the annual Analog Heaven North East gathering. The turnout was amazing. Tons of interesting things that go bleep. There were many very interesting demos and we opened our arms to some other interesting instruments you may not find stocked at your local music store such as the Kork Oasis, reactable and Marcodi harpejji.

I plan to post a video of the reactable and buchla demos soon. Stay tuned.

Click here for my photostream

Where is everybody?

Helen Thomas is a woman who has consistently asked questions that needed to be asked, when no one else would.

In this recent video, Helen Thomas asks the White House to reconcile their statements on torture.



It's not torture because we get to define what torture is. Right. I get it. However, waterboarding is torture and illegal under both U.S. and international law – with experts, government officials and those who have been subject to the harsh treatment all agreeing.

If you like what Helen is doing, you can express your appreciation by chipping in a few bucks to buy her flowers. They seem to have collected quite a bit of money so far. I can only imagine what other reporters will think when this gets delivered. Who knows? They might grow a backbone.

What to do with echonest?

Echonest has created an online system that will listen to music for you. Here is how it works. You upload an MP3 to echonest, and it will return an XML file of rich data describing the audio, including beat and tempo, key, time signature, form and more.

The problem is, nobody really knows what to do with this information. I'll offer a few suggestions.

First of all, iTunes needs to download the XML for every song in your library like it already does for album artwork. This would be useful to automatically fill in some metadata, like the BPM field, but mostly I'm interested in how quickly this would destroy the echonest servers. Of course, each user would have to request their own API key to do this, but still... Actually, this data would be very useful for visualizers. The default iTunes visualizer has obviously spent a lot of time extracting its own data from the audio stream, but I bet echonest's analysis is more detailed, and could be used by third party visualizers.

Now, here is something I really want: I want Adobe After Effects to parse the XML and extract useful keyframe data. Beats, form, you name it, create those key frames. This would be really useful.

Here is an odd project for someone: combine the Echonest API with the Flickr API. Download images tagged with phrases extracted from the audio title (or from the lyrics somewhere, and use the Echonest XML to edit the images together into a custom video. Then we can flood youtube with bot-generated music videos. The results would be... interesting.

Give me some more time. I'll think of some other ideas.

Tiptop Audio Z5000 review. Verdict: go buy one.

Why is it the only reverb modules you find for modulars are spring reverbs? Maybe it is because of the precedent set by ARP 2600. But, at that time, a spring reverb was the only realistic option. But today. we have a spring reverb in the Macbeth M5 and the Eurorack Doepfer A-199. I personally see a spring reverb as an electro mechanical device and not 'analog' - vintage, yes, analog, not by my standards. But some people get hung up with the 'analogness' of their modular - if it isn't analog, the what is the point?

The point for myself is process - and manipulating audio with control voltage. I see the marriage of analog and digital technology in modulars as the best of both worlds and I welcome all the modern technology I can get my hands on within my system. The Buchla 200e takes this approach to the logical extreme.

Honestly, I've never been a fan of spring reverb, but I like the idea of a reverb module. Spring reverb has character, and is useful at times, but I just don't find the sound that appealing, and placing a reverb tank inside a modular so it doesn't pick up hum from the power supplies is... a problem.

What the world needs is a Eurorack-format DSP with CV control. Along comes the Tiptop Audio Z5000. First of all, it is in stock, you can buy it now. None of this, announce, wait six months, pre pay, wait some more, get aggravated, learn the boards or parts are delayed, etc... This is a real product that you can have in your hot little hands in the time it takes to ship to your door. Kudos for this. Really. Standing ovation.

Secondly, it weighs in at under $200. Yes, really. That, my friends, is what I call a reasonably-priced module. Actually, the price is more like, "I don't have to think about this at all, I'm just going to buy it."

I spent all of last night playing with it, giggling. Tons of fun. I love putting reverb before the amplifier so the lines you play are smeared, but still gated by the keyboard. A reverb module makes patching far more easy, and opens up creative opportunities you may not have considered before. The Z5000 also includes a handful of other programs like chorus, flanging, but the real focus is on various reverbs. Now I really want the Plan B Model 40 Elf-series headphone preamp - everything is contained in the modular case!

As far as I'm concerned, a modular format signal processor without CV is sort of 'meh' so I'm happy to report the Z5000 includes a provision for voltage control for 13 of the programs. There isn't any included documentation, so I don't know which of the programs you're not supposed to twizzle, but this is an area I'd need to explore more in depth.

Not to quibble at this price, but CV control of mix would be useful. This could be achieved via other means in a modular environment, albeit with a bit more difficulty than simply patching into a CV input on the module itself. I would gladly sacrifice the program panel legend for this function, but I'm ecstatic they've included signal LEDs for both channels. Most of the time signal levels are obscured in your patch and you really have to 'feel' signal level. Digital signal processors are less forgiving of overloads, so LEDs are more than welcome here.

The packaging is much nicer than what you'd normally find in the boutique module market, featuring a real, custom-printed box and carefully-packaged included screws. The DSP sub board is fully encased in epoxy for whatever reason. I should have taken a picture of this. Knowing nothing about where Tiptop audio came from, this has certainly aroused my curiosity. It may be the Z5000 is basically an existing signal processor with CV control and Eurorack faceplate grafted on. However, according to their web site, they use "custom FFT programs running on a Tiptop Audio DSP core."

There is nothing about the Z5000 that feels inexpensive. The knobs are nice, the panel graphics and logo have a professional's eye. Nothing to complain about at all. It feels and works like a solid, professional product, and not some hobbyist side-project. I'm utterly baffled. I hope Tiptop has more products in development, I'm a happy customer.

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When you get a new module, your old instrument is entirely new again. This is the really cool thing about modulars, and a concept I'm dying to exploit in software. You want to try the module with everything else you already have. It makes the entire system more powerful. You're not just buying a single new module, you're gaining what that module can do, in interaction with everything else in the system.

Normal synths are monolithic. Note and controller data go in and audio comes out. The extent of their interaction with the rest of your system is limited primarily to what happens in your audio mixer. Modulars evolve, live, breathe.

See, this is why I don't trust DRM

MSN Entertainment and Video Services general manager Rob Bennett sent out an e-mail to customers, advising them to make any and all authorizations or deauthorizations before August 31 because they're going to shut off their authorization servers.

As of August 31, 2008, we will no longer be able to support the retrieval of license keys for the songs you purchased from MSN Music or the authorization of additional computers," reads the e-mail seen by Ars. "You will need to obtain a license key for each of your songs downloaded from MSN Music on any new computer, and you must do so before August 31, 2008. If you attempt to transfer your songs to additional computers after August 31, 2008, those songs will not successfully play.

Well, on the bright side, they're at least giving their customer advance notice.

Technically, the authorizations will live as long as the computer does, but in practice, you're basically screwed. It is like you bought a CD and authorized a specific CD player to play the songs. You're fine as long as you use that CD player for the rest of your life and hope it never breaks. This analogy is imperfect, as you don't find people upgrading their CD player from XP to Vista, which would wipe out the authorizations in the process.

In the end, this is another example of punishing honest customers.

Max 5 nearly here!

Cycling 74 announced that Max 5 will arrive on April 22nd. If you're an existing user, there is an upgrade FAQ here . Of particular note is the fact that Pluggo is going to be mothballed for an unspecified period of time - including the ability to run existing Pluggo plug-ins inside Max 5, but this should be temporary.

This looks to be the largest single overhaul of Max ever, and the issues they've addressed make this version more friendly for new users. There is a grace period, so if you buy Max now, you get the upgrade to Max 5 for free. But, you could always simply wait and download Max 5 and try the 30 day demo.

Presenting the first monome tattoo

technoartgurl presents us with the following:



here is the kicker: she doesn't own a monome (yet)

The importance of mastering your instrument

Matrixsynth is a better, more popular clearinghouse for this content, and I'm not interested in propagating videos that have been already posted there. However, a discussion has arisen in the comments related to the video, with people clamoring for a new Music Easel. I began to wedge my thoughts into the comments section, and they got out of hand, so I'm moved them here. First, the video:




I have put my own two hands on a Music Easel, and I came away with the impression that the concept was cool, but it really wasn't for me. I'm sure if I saw a demo like the one above, I would have come away with a far different opinion. I've also spent a lot of time pouring over the 200e pages, making a spreadsheet, calculating the feasibility of selling everything I own to buy a system with enough power to justify the sacrifice - a truly frightening commitment.

People look at what Charles Cohen does and begin lusting for this instrument. They're extremely rare and expensive, and, in an age where we have more modular manufacturers than I can count (Buchla included), people have begun wondering why there are no 'new' Music Easels.

My first thought about the requests for a 'new' easel product are in line with people who have already commented that a reasonable facsimile could be constructed out of 200e components (including the required 222e).

However, Peter Grenader brings up an interesting point.

"...but one thing you must take into consideration with a 200e vs. an easel or any analog VCO is the response to short transient voltage control signals, chiffs if you will - hard to translate through the ADC correctly even at 14 bit resolution. Analog does a better job at it."

I suspect sample rate would be a factor, too.

But the technical discussion dances around the core issue, which is, Charles Cohen is a musician. He has chosen to dedicate himself to a particular instrument for, ahem, decades. That instrument happens to be electronic and it happens to be a Music Easel.

If more electronic musicians did the same, perhaps they'd be more talk about mastery of technology instead of the technology itself.

Cat Playing a Theremin

I love cats. I love electronic music. If you're reading this blog, you'll enjoy this video. The audience remains unimpressed. The fact of the matter is most people playing a Theremin don't sound any better than this.

The future careers of creatives: want fries with that?

I think the headline of this interview Will Efficient Social Software Take Your Job Away? is misleading. Software isn't making your job disappear. People are.

If you feel like everyone is posting MP3s, taking photos, and making videos, well... you're right, according to Clay Shirky in his new book, Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations

...on average people won't get paid, because the pool of creators has gotten too large. But significant talent will still be rewarded. Wedding photographers and stock photo people are going to get creamed. But Herb Ritts' fees may go up. When the bottleneck is not longer worth paying for (because it mostly doesn't exist) talent becomes the only differentiating metric.

io9: So do you think in the end we'll get a world where more people will be compensated to do creative work? Or that creative work will become more lilke cooking, where everybody does it?

CS: More people overall, maybe, but many fewer on average. And most of the ones who do get compensated don't have it as their main source of income.

Read the full interview. Whew, it is a good thing I'm still young and can re-invent myself, and not some middle-aged... DOH!

Area man, 37, devastated to read 37 is 'middle-aged'

It has been a while since I've read The Onion. I came across this article today, Area Man Makes It Through Day I quote:

According to witnesses, though it seemed on more than one occasion throughout the day that his life would come to an end, Blume valiantly found the wherewithal to carry on. Not only did the 37-year-old successfully get out of bed and leave his apartment, but he somehow found the strength to navigate through the day's many challenges and, once victorious, made his way back home again.

Now, imagine my horror when I read this. Emphasis is mine.

According to roommate Joe Tesch, with whom Blume shares an apartment despite already having reached middle age, the physically, financially, and spiritually exhausted man then stared at his hollow face in the mirror for approximately three minutes before showering, shaving, and moving his bowels in time to catch the 7:04 bus.

_takes deep breath_

AiiiIEiiIEiEiiIEIEieiIGGGhghHHHHGhghh!

The complete Total Harmonic Distortion sample library now available for free

Fragments of the Total Harmonic Distortion sample library have popped up in various places, like the recent OLPC Sample Library Set. The complete library weighs in at nearly 3GB uncompressed. It is comprised of loops at various tempos created and processed with my modular synthesizer. Other pieces of hardware made guest appearances like the DSI Evolver, Roland R8 and Waldorf Microwave IIxt, but the bulk of it is the modular.



This stuff isn't doing anyone any good sitting on my hard drive. I'd like to make it available to the public. I intended to release this via a creative commons license for some time, but the problem is distribution. It seemed rather excessive to dump on archive.org. Torrenting is ideal, but who is going to seed it? Recently, the final piece of the puzzle slipped into place: legaltorrents.com - a community created to distribute Creative Commons licensed media. Download the torrent here. Much thanks to legaltorrents.com and Jonathan Dugan, Ph.D.



Total Harmonic Distortion by stretta is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.

Morton Subotnick at Emmanuel Church

This was one of the more effective 'laptop' performances I've seen in a while. Morton used two microphones, a Presonus Faderport, MIDI keyboard and an Apple laptop to perform a piece from the 70's Until Spring Revisited in quad. I thought the quad was very effective in this environment with location cues interacting with the room ambience in a natural manner. The beginning of the piece seems to use loads of feedback delay with pitch shifting. Actually, tons of pitch shifting all around. Later, he used some distinctively Buchlaesque sounds and I was mightily impressed they were synthesized on the laptop, but after the performance, he revealed there were some samples used from the original work.

The visuals were interesting, but I remained fixated on watching the composer shape the piece. I was sure this was something constructed in MaxMSP and Jitter, but apparently he uses something called Isadora. Afterwards, he spent some time talking about his children's software, which I'm pretty sure my kids would enjoy.

This was the first time I wished I had IS on my f/2.8 70-200. Even so, there was still subject movement to contend with, so I'm not sure it would have made that much of a difference. This was the best I could do with a monopod and ISO 1600. Yes, I felt silly walking into a church with a three pound lens on a stick.

The flickr page for this photo is here.

Amazon TextBuyIt

Ever go shopping IRL, pick up a book and think to yourself, "Golly. I'm enjoying browsing in this beautiful store, but I'm sure I could save $1.53 and wait a few days for it to arrive if I bought this from Amazon. How will I ever save that money AND get the instant gratification from conducing this purchase right now even though I'm nowhere near a web browser?"

Well, with Amazon TextBuyIt, you can buy books (and anything else) from Amazon with your cell phone, even if you're standing inside a Barnes & Noble. Just text search keywords (like the ISBN code from the book you're holding) to AMAZON.

My gut tells me this service is pretty close to pure evil, but I'm conflicted. The geeky side of me might find it handy someday.

Analogue Haven musical chairs

Analog Haven seems to be moving to a new location. The web site is down too. But, they promise "exciting new changes coming soon"

In its place will be noisebug, an 'arcane musical gear, live performance space and plan b asylum.' Opening May 2008. It also looks as though analogue haven will no longer distribute Plan B. AND Plan B is 'shifting focus from modules only to full systems.'

May you live in interesting times.