Caudal Variations - live performance on VCV Rack
Three articles in the current issue of Soundbytes Magazine. First up is an interview with the delightful Henry Lowengard, developer of many music apps, including Droneo, SrutiBox, Aumi, PolyHarp and many others. This interview was a lot of fun to do, and I hope you find it a lot of fun to read:
https://soundbytesmag.net/music-for-tablets-interview-with-henry-lowengard-app-developer/
Next is a review of a wonderful sample set from UVI - Ircam Solo Instruments 2. This not only samples classical solo acoustic instruments in great detail, but each player contributes a full selection of extended techniques as well, making it incredibly useful for composers of a more experimental bent:
https://soundbytesmag.net/review-ircam-solo-instruments-2-from-uvi/
Finally, there's a short review of a very nice FREE sound mangling device from GlitchMachines:
https://soundbytesmag.net/freebie-of-the-month-fracture-by-glitchmachines/
Enjoy!
Here's a piece made with miRack software on the iPad. miRack is the version of VCV Rack made for the iPad, and it has a number of wonderful modules in it. In this piece, I'm using three distortion modules, which do very different things. First is the Audible Instruments Resonator, which is a physical modelling module, designed to place sounds inside various stimulated resonating objects. Second is an emulator of the old Serge Wavefolder from Lindenberg Research. And finally is a very nice realization of a very versatile Filter from Squinky Labs. A sample of William Burroughs reading from Junky is played through the patch - first just the Resonator, then the Resonator through the Wavefolder, then the Resonator and the Wavefolder through the Filter. Accompanying this is a little microtonal melody made by a couple of out of phase counters triggering off steps in the Squonk, which is Antonio Tuzzi's realization of the Serge Touch Keyboard Sequencer. Later the Squonk also changes pitches on the Resonator, which makes the modified voice sound positively recitative like, to my ears. Made on the iPad with headphones while lying in bed in the middle of the night. I probably should be sleeping instead. If you look carefully at all the knobs, you can see how various controls are turned at various times, making the changes in the sounds you hear.
About a year ago, Stephan Weigel and friends, at the microtonal podcast "Now and Xen" interviewed me for their show. I just discovered the podcast today on YouTube, and found that the interview with me actually was posted on-line almost a year ago! I'd been so busy last year, I didn't notice. Oops! However, I found it today - they're now up to episode 44, and the cast list of who they've been interviewing is stellar. I highly recommend the podcast - looks like there's more info up there than you can shake an enharmonic tetrachord at!
And here's the link to Episode 21, which features the interview with me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsgluVweghw
It's a longish interview (about 75 minutes), but if you want to find out some things about my composing methods and motivations, it's quite good. You might enjoy it. I did.
I'd never played with Henry Lowengard's wonderful AUMI app all that much, and one late night I felt it was time to learn about it. It's wonderful. I quickly set up 2 iPads (iPad 4 and iPad Pro) and my iPhone 6, all controlling electric piano sounds, microtonally tuned, in Thumbjam, then set them on my desk and played. (The computer in the background is rendering a video for a class, having nothing to do with the project.) I told Catherine to have a look, and she liked the lighting, and the movement of my hands, and made a 39 second video of my improvising. We both liked the video so much that she put it on her Facebook page, and I put it on my Youtube site and one my website (www.warrenburt.com). We both hope you like the video as well.