In a few hours I’m headed to California for a night class on MaxMSP at CNMAT, the Center for New Music and Audio Technology, UC Berkeley. I am very excited to be visiting this historic college on their twentieth anniversary. In preparation for my trip I put my favorite pair of my trainers in the dryer after a wet ride in the rain. Naturally I recorded the stumbling rhythm they produced while tumbling in the heated bin.
Trainers in The Dryer
Cuba Illinois is the last track on Precambrian Resonance. I produced this experimental ambient piece last September and have made very few changes from the first version that can be heard in the original Audio Cookbook post titled Cuba, Illinois. A consistent thread through piece is made up of sampled vowels sounds running through a vocoder. Here’s the full-length mastered preview on Last.fm.
Listen to Cuba Illinois on Last.fm.
Did I mention that is has delay?
More from Bebot
Blitzen Machine is one of the first tracks that I finished for Precambrian Resonance, and one of the few that includes a keyboard solo, although I’d describe the solo as melodic passages with improvised variations.
Regular ACB listeners might hear sounds that were originally One Sound Every Day entries, like AM Radio Static. I also included techniques that I described in Robot Music and in Robot Conspiracy as a basis for the track. For this album I essentially have an online diary that describes how each of the pieces were produced, the concepts involved, and sounds used right here on Audio Cookbook.
Listen to Blitzen Machine on Last.fm.
By now most of us have experienced several, or even dozens of instrument apps on the iPhone and iPod Touch. From acoustic pianos, to analog modeling synthesizers, to step sequencers, there’s enough out there to create a veritable, electronic, orchestra of multi-touch maestros.
However, which, if any, of these apps are viable as instruments for production or performing? I’d argue that just about anything is. In my view it’s how the artist uses an object or device that makes it into an instrument. So perhaps a better question is, which apps might lend themselves to being productive tools for creative artists?
One of my favorites so far is Bebot. It took less than an hour of experimenting with Bebot to convince me that it could be used effectively for performances and recording. Here’s a few phrases of playing with Bebot.
Bebot Music