Sunday
Sep272020

Caudal Variations - live performance on VCV Rack

Caudal is a module from the Vult collection (for VCV Rack and Voltage Modular) of Leonard Laguna Ruiz.  It simulates a 4-node pendulum, and it can quite easily generate semi-chaotic random voltages.  I was introduced to it a couple of years ago by one of my students, Matthew Paine, and I finally got around to looking at it, and using it, a couple of weeks ago.  The module has 3 modes: "Pendula," "Planets," and "Fish Tank."  The module here is triggering off physically modeled timbres from Audible Instruments "Resonator" module, which also has three modes of resonation ("Modal," "Sympathetic String," and "Modulated/Inharmonic String").  Through the use of feedback patching, we're able to get a patch that changes radically in sound-type and gesture-type from moment to moment.  To sweeten the mix, every 30 seconds I manually change either the Caudal mode, or the Resonator mode, or both.  A very pleasant 5 minute walk through a chaotic system results.
This piece is dedicated to the memory of my father-in-law, the late Willam C Schieve, quantum physicist extraordinaire.  While looking through a list of his papers (and there are a lot of them), I encountered "Chaos in an effective four-neuron neural network."  Although that paper is NOT about the pendulum algorithm that Laguna Ruiz is using, I liked the coincidence between the 4-mode pendulum and the 4-neuron neural network.  Bill was very skeptical that the mathematics and physics he studied could be applied to music composition.  He was more of an 18th century kinda guy, musically.  In fact, he introduced me to the music of Johann David Heinichen, whose music is amazing, whether or not it has anything to do with chaos theory, or applications of scientific ideas to musical composition.  Here are two URLs for Heinichen's music, if you want to explore it.
(And for an 18th century composer who DID combine the arts and sciences, here's a symphony by William Herschel, who not only discovered Uranus, in his off hours, but also composed symphonies like this as his day job: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZomM6xGH_M)
Meantime, I hope you enjoy this little five minute VCV Rack ramble.

 

Sunday
Sep272020

Latest Articles in Soundbytes Magazine

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!

 

Thursday
Sep172020

Distortion Study 17 September 2020

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. 

 

Saturday
Aug222020

Now and Xen podcasts - #21 featuring WB!

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!

https://nowandxen.libsyn.com/

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.

Saturday
Aug222020

Once upon a midnight dreary.....

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.