plane m | vi | cv released

Back from Los Angeles. Plane m | vi | cv was in a mostly-done state, but I was monomeless whilst traveling, so I worked on things that had nothing to do with the monome. Basically this meant working on the user interface. Usually when I make something for the monome, I just sort of throw it out there without paying attention to the UI (which is one reason why I feel developers should not make their own user interfaces), so, that explains why plane looks more polished. There are no rasterized elements of the user interface, so you can zoom and everything is perfectly smooth.

Oh, you don't need an arc to make use of plane. Also, you don't need a modular synth. plane m|vi|cv works perfectly well as a monophonic MIDI sequencer. Any size monome grid will work, but monome emulators may not.

There are a few more things added since the preview video earlier:

Added the ability to program sequences from a MIDI keyboard.

Added the ability to drive the sequencer from an analog pulse from a modular, like an LFO or clock signal. This opens up clocking of plane to drum machines, arpeggiators, or whatever crazy analog logic you can come up with. Pressure points control of tempo, rotating clock divider, whatever. Go nuts.

Added two synced LFOs.

Added the legacy clock module from polygome so you can slave to a MIDI beat clock source.

download here

Monster Announces Gratitude earphones

I'm going to translate this recent press release from monster.

Monster announced the Gratitude In-Ear Headphones

translation: 'earphones'

...created in alliance with legendary band Earth, Wind & Fire...

translation: we gave EW&F some money.

specifically engineered and tuned to faithfully reproduce the true harmonics of live music and the sonic details of each musical instrument, resulting in a more natural and vibrant audio experience.

translation: other earphones faithlessly reproduce false harmonics. Reproducing 'live' music somehow has a different set of requirements from reproducing 'recorded' music.

They boast a specially engineered noise isolation architecture

translation: You jam them in your ear canal like every other isolation earphone.

that results in superior audiophile sound with the ability to reproduce detailed harmonic soundscapes.

Translation: we're just making shit up by this point.

Key Monster innovations that contribute to their natural sound

Translation: you don't want unnatural sound, right? What are you, a robot?

and help listeners truly get "inside the music,"

translation: more meaningless phrases. FFS, don't actually give us specifications like frequency response WITH DEVIATION or anything useful.

include a new Monster design that allows the earpiece to rest more comfortably and deeper within the wearer's ear canal

translation: shove this plastic thing into your ear

enabling a perfect fit, superior isolation and ultimate performance.

translation: ULTIMATE performance. To the extreme.

With 'Gratitude,' we aimed to capture the unique passion, feel and experience of the band with headphones that will reproduce the sounds of real music, not synthesized sample or tracks created purely in the studio. These headphones are specifically tuned to produce the signature tones and harmonics of brass, the staccato punch of the percussion, the cleanest possible bass and the most natural vocals.

translation: blah blah blah this is for 'real' music made on 'real' instruments by 'real' people. Not 'fake' music made by fake people because 'real' audio has magical qualities that require special earphones.

plane -p

Here is the polyphonic MIDI version of the plane sequencer for the monome grid and arc. Also works great for drum sequencing.

Download here.

combines the charms

This is a video capture of the recording session for 'combine the charms', which appears on 'could have the skies'

monome tuner display

Yesterday I planned to see if I could get plane -p into shape for release, but I had an idea for a tuner adapted to the monome using the analyzer~ external. Semitones are displayed on the grid, and you can shift the window side to side to display a different range of notes. The arc is displaying a strobe tuner simulation. I'm not sure how useful it is as a tuner in practice, but I'm still glad I did it.



Download the patch here.

vcvi maxforlive

vcvi is a suite of maxforlive devices to control your modular synth with a dc coupled audio interface.

You might be able to tell I'm clearing the decks a bit. My new modular case is arriving soon and I need to finish a few projects that were 90% done, such as 'could have the skies', for example.

One thing I'd like to release is plane. Everything in this collection of maxforlive devices is derived form stuff already inside plane. Since plane could easily be disassembled into the functionality in this suite, I simply decided it was something I should do myself and treated it as a pre-requisite to plane's release.

Not to mention, I'd find it useful. Which brings me back to my modular. I'd promised myself I'd shift my discretionary time to a follow up to 'a funneled stone' once the case arrives. I hope that sounds interesting to someone.

I recorded this tutorial because I can't be bothered to write documentation right now. It should get you started at least, or give you an idea of how the software is supposed to behave.



Included functions
Calibrated Step Sequencer
CV Source
CV Trigger Sequencer
MIDI Continuous Controller to CV
MIDI Note to Calibrated CV
MIDI Note to Gate
MIDI Note to Trigger
MIDI Note Velocity to CV
Synced LFO
Saw Cloud

download vcvi v1.0

Could Have the Skies

Could Have the Skies is the third set of solo piano improvs under the Escape Philosophy moniker. The same rules apply as the previous Escape Philosophy releases; I don't have a preconceived idea what I'm going to play when I sit down to record, but I try to visualize something or express a feeling or memory.

I have a short period in the morning when the house is empty. The emphasis is on capturing a moment, including the hesitations and mistakes which I feel are more interesteing than pristine sound quality or the perfect take. You'll hear the familiar birds from the previous albums, body movements, dampers rising of the strings, etc.

Some of the piano music from Escape Philosophy was once described as pointillistic which I thought was pretty, and apt. There is guitar and orff chime bars on one track but otherwise, it is all piano, often manipulated by the monome grid and arc.

Listen for free online at soundcloud
Download album in MP3 format in exchange for a tweet
Download album in any format at a price you set

Could Have the Skies by Escape Philosophy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://stretta.com.

Awareness & Persistence

Arguably, If you drink wine everyday for 20 years, You'd begin to become an expert on wine, or at least, what you like in wine. I drink sencha every single day.

There are a number of parameters you can adjust to get the most out of a tea. The timing of the infusions. Water temperature. Amount of tea. Teas have various qualities like intensity or duration of experience. Also, the quality of the tea varies over multiple infusions. The second infusion is sometimes the sweetest, or brews instantly. Some third infusions flower over a long sustained brewing. Others become undrinkable. Or give up completely. How you brew the first infusion affects the quality of the subsequent infusions.

And as grow older, you become aware of the scarcity or abundance of good tea. Some years are better than others. Often you can tell by the sweetness of the Spring harvest.

Just finished a slog through a 200g bag of old bulk sencha. Let me put it this way, I've never found a sencha in a 200g bag that wasn't like taking one for the team. Decent tea is still cheaper than coffee, but these are thrifty times. [brief daydream about a tea for music payment system]

Anyway, it was with trembling fingers I opened a shincha fukamushi this morning. I stuck my nose in the bag, inhaled deeply and nearly passed out. Tears welled in my eyes. I resisted an urge to burst out the front door, shove the newly unsealed bag into the face of the first person I met on the street and scream, "MY GOD, SMELL THIS!" It has been at least two or three years since I've had a tea like this in my hands. It wasn't expensive, it was just good. When I find an exceptional tea, I usually quickly buy some more because the good ones tend to disappear.

Knowing I've acquired the brewing rhythm for a geriatric sencha on life support, I gave great care to the first infusion, but struggled to remember how fukamushis behave. Fukamushis are temperamental teas to brew. They can go form nothing to overpowering within a small gradient of brewing parameters. Imagine two very different kinds of tea on one bag, With a fukamushi, you have broad and particulate leaf that brew at different rates. Because of the particulate, Fukamushis brew to an cloudy emerald green and are best admired in a white cup. Anyhow, I was very keen not to screw up any of the infusions.

First attempts sometimes fail. Tea, music, art, isn't for the easily discouraged. You have to know what you can salvage and when it is time to try again. An awareness of your mistakes is only useful when accompanied by persistence.

Despite screwing up my first attempt, I can taste the potential. The benefit of experience provides this insight. I look forward to tomorrow.