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February 28, 2007
28x28 Day 28 - The Heanies
Day 28 of the 28x28 Gig Poster project! Hurrah! I'm rather pleased. This took quite a bit more time and effort than I thought, and I'd like to thank each and every band for requesting their poster, and providing a soundtrack for the month of February for me! I'd also like to thank friends and friends (online or otherwise) for encouraging me in this project - and especially my girlfriend who has been very tolerant of me spending hours every night making each poster.
In the next day or so, I will create a book containing all the posters that you will be able to download for free! Keep an eye out for that in the short-term future. This will be the last poster for me for at least a couple of weeks. After I've had some time off, I might just do another poster. But not for the next few days!
Today's poster is for The Heanies. The Heanies actually didn't have any music online. But they are my best mate's little sister's boyfriend's band, so I bent the rules for them! Get some music online guys! Sheesh!
Posted by funnelbc at 10:14 PM | Comments (0)
February 27, 2007
28x28 Day 27 - Tsuki
Day 27 of the 28x28 Gig Poster project. So close. so very close. 1 more to go! Tomorrow at work promises to be absolutely batshit-loco. Worries me a bit because I want to pull out all the stops for poster 28. Stay tuned folks!
Today's poster is for Tsuki, who are the second act so far from Portugal. Cool. The music is experimental, slightly jazzed, with circuit bent clips and beeps with sax and all sorts of business going on. I dig it.
Posted by funnelbc at 09:33 PM | Comments (0)
February 26, 2007
28x28 Day 26 - The Defenistration Unit
Day 26 of the 28x28 Gig Poster project. In the home straight. Still not feeling fantastic. But the posters must go on.
Today's poster is for The Defenestration Unit, who will be taking the prize for longest band name so far. Gar! That takes longer people! Anyway, TDU do improv jazz craziness. Check out their myspace.
Posted by funnelbc at 10:54 PM | Comments (0)
February 25, 2007
28x28 Day 25 - Aqua Groove
Day 25 of the 28x28 Gig Poster project. Couldn't really get into the groove with today's poster. Feeling a little sick actually. Oh well, the 28x28 juggernaut rolls on regardless. I hate having to work when I'm not feeling well.
Today's poster is for Aqua Groove, who do swing, jazz, rock & r&b tracks. Looks mostly like covers from their website, but I could be (and often am) wrong!
Posted by funnelbc at 03:31 PM | Comments (0)
February 24, 2007
Music Nerd Graff
Via Hypebot.com
Posted by funnelbc at 06:20 PM | Comments (0)
28x28 Day 24 - Dalt Wisney
Day 24 of the 28x28 Gig Poster project. I have come to love weekends. Nothing like having more than an hour or so to bash out a poster design. Spent the morning down at the gallery and looking art artbooks. Lovely.
Today's poster is for Dalt Wisney, who produces some sweet lazy electro beats. You can download his 2 song EP from the site, and I recommend you do so. We need more tracks Mr Wisney!
Posted by funnelbc at 05:48 PM | Comments (0)
February 23, 2007
28x28 Day 23 - JuCa
Day 23 of the 28x28 Gig Poster project. It's been an obscenely long week. I've had so much work on, and I've taken a few hours to put together this one. Looks like it was done in 2 seconds. It wasn't.
Today's poster is for JuCa, who are a Latin inspired slightly down tempo chillout due. There's a bit of electro in there too. Nice.
Posted by funnelbc at 08:58 PM | Comments (0)
February 22, 2007
28x28 Day 22 - Knox Bronson
Day 22 of the 28x28 Gig Poster project. It's a very stripped back affair, this poster. I experimented with a more full layout, but I ended up going for black and white. Which is actually a 1st for me.
Today's poster is for Knox Bronson. It's an interesting mix of Bowie-esque, slightly 80's inspired, but darker - music. 3 Sec b4 mia smiled is my pick of the myspace tracks.
Posted by funnelbc at 10:45 PM | Comments (1)
February 21, 2007
28x28 Day 21 - City of Glass & Analogue Consumption
Day 21 of the 28x28 Gig Poster project. Long day at work today. Very long. Quite happy with the quality of this poster, all things considered.
Today's poster is for City of Glass & Analogue Consumption. My pic from the City of Glass Myspace tracks is Doughboy.
I actually really dig the tracks from Analogue Consumption, and they really grew on me while doing the poster. Do yourself a favour and listen to all 4 of the tracks on their Myspace. It's a little bit eighties, a little bit electro synth indie pop, and very good. Highly recommended.
Posted by funnelbc at 10:54 PM | Comments (0)
February 20, 2007
28x28 Day 20 - The Other Side
Day 20 of the 28x28 Gig Poster project. The weather here sucks at the moment. So sick of working away in the study in heat even worse, muggy heat. It's despicable.
Today's poster is for The Other Side. They're a 4 piece outfit playing roots-rock. Check out their webpage here. Or you can listen to some tracks on their myspace. There's only a couple of tracks on myspace, but I like I just wanna be you, not a bad little track that.
Posted by funnelbc at 11:05 PM | Comments (0)
Good Weather for Airstrikes: Song Top 50 2006
Theres an absolute behemoth, colossal megalith of a post on Good Weather for Airstrikes. It's their top 50 tracks of the year, and it's an amazing effort.
Weighing in at over 14,000 words you might want to be packing a cup of tea and a biscuit. It's a monster. List looks good though. Looking forward to investigating this with said cuppa and packet of bikkies in hand.
Good Weather for Airstrikes Top 50
Posted by funnelbc at 02:46 PM | Comments (0)
How's that DRM poll going?
Just incase you are interested in a followup, here's how that DRM poll on The Financial Times website is going:
Ouch. :)
Previously on onetonne FT DRM Poll
Posted by funnelbc at 07:47 AM | Comments (0)
February 19, 2007
Free recording time at AIM's Q Studios
The Australian Institute of Music, (based in Sydney) was offering FREE recording sessions where your band can come along, get recorded by a sound engineer with students in the room! Details are included after the jump, but if you're in Sydney and can't afford to record, this might be a great opportunity.
You retain copyright of your music, but they hang onto the actual recording data for teaching purposes. Tasty! Good on em!
Free Recording time at AIMs Q Studios
In the coming weeks we will require bands to aid in the recording process for our classes at Q Recording, AIM’s very own recording facility. Various time slots will be available in the two following periods:
1. Monday 26th of February – Friday 9th of March
2. Monday 12th of March – Friday 23rd of March
* Recording time will be free.
* The recording classes will consist of 3-4 students and a qualified engineer.
* The classes will occur once a week, for 4 hours, over the 3 week period, totalling 12 hours studio time.
* Each band should have at least 3-4 instruments, vocals optional, but preferred.
* Songs will be recorded to a 24 track multitrack.
* The songs will not be the property of anyone else but the artist, although the files will remain the property of Q Recording and shall be used as teaching resources for the following trimesters
* The songs will be used for student mixing and examining.
* SONGS SHOULD NOT BE OVER 5 MINUTES.
* A DEMO CD/CASSETTE IS NEEDED TO AID SETUPS & QUALITY ++++++++CONTROL.
If your band would like to be recorded and mixed for our Recording Technology classes please ask for Beau on – 92124851. or you can email qstudios at aim.edu.au .
Posted by funnelbc at 10:55 PM | Comments (0)
28x28 Day 19 - Aaron Wilkinson
Alternate version here Clicky!
Day 19 of the 28x28 Gig Poster project. Well, the weather has finally cooled down a little here. It's shaping up to be a very long week though. I really enjoyed doing tonights poster though. I couldn't decide on which colour scheme I liked best, so Aaron will get the two posters to use as he likes! Hurrah for indecision.
Today's poster is for Aaron Wilkinson. His music is pretty eclectic with clear Country, Blues, Acoustic, and rock influences. I actually really liked his country record (EP? I guess) which was called Osho Mask. There's certainly plenty of tracks to listen to!
Posted by funnelbc at 09:18 PM | Comments (0)
diyaudioprojects.com is cool
diyaudioprojects.com looks pretty cool. You can download schematics and specs for building your own audio gear. There's an aussie designed 12AX7 pre-amp which even looks like I could put together. Hopefully, without sticking the soldering iron into my knee. Too deeply.
There's a small, but good collection of instructions for pre-amps, speaker enclosures and transistor based amps, and more.
On a similar note, I remember my father rebuilding a set of old studio monitor speakers (he used to work at a radio station) with a pair of generic drivers from Jaycar (a cheap electronics store here in Australia), and the sound was very nearly as good, if not as good as the original drivers. I think for a relatively small sum, replacing drivers in a good enclosure can be a great way to save money and get a great sound.
diyaudioprojects.com via the outstanding Make:Blog
Posted by funnelbc at 03:40 PM | Comments (0)
Zelda Reorchestrated
Zelda Reorchestrated is a website with a community that seeks to recreate the Zelda music with full Orchestra sounds. I am going to be hitting this hard when I get home from work tonight.
ZREO stands for Zelda Reorchestrated. It is our goal to transcribe the musical masterpieces that you have heard in the greatest video game series ever created: The Legend of Zelda! Our goal is to give each and every song from The Legend of Zelda series a realistic and atmospheric sound with the quality that you would expect from such film composers as John Williams, Howard Shore, and James Horner.
We don't look to seek profit or fame. This is merely our own form of artistic expression that stems from The Legend of Zelda. If it weren't for Zelda, ZREO wouldn't exist. So we are grateful to have such a legendary video game series that can pull so much inspiration out of us.
What a lovely tribute to a video game. If Nintendo has any sense at all they will contribute to the hosting costs of this amazing community project from these Zelda fans.
Zelda Reorchestrated, thanks Rowan!
Previously on onetonne: Zelda Theme on Theremin + others!
Posted by funnelbc at 12:34 PM | Comments (0)
DRM Poll on Financial Times
The Financial Times has a poll online where you can vote whether you think the record companies should drop DRM. A good chance say what you think. If you have a second, please go and visit the Financial Times website DRM poll, and vote.
Via boingboing
Related: Wired: How to explain DRM to your dad Via digg
Posted by funnelbc at 10:35 AM | Comments (0)
February 18, 2007
Cakewalk Youtube Channel Launched
The team at Cakewalk have launched their own Youtube channel which is already packed with tutorials, cakewalk promo stuff, tips, techniques and other goodies. This goes along with their myspace page which is a rather nice touch. I think what differentiates the Youtube channel, is the time and effort they've put into to getting that content online and accessible. Good on them!
Cakewalk Software Youtube channel Via Harmony Central
Posted by funnelbc at 10:57 PM | Comments (0)
28x28 Day 18 - Amplifed People
Day 18 of the 28x28 Gig Poster project. It's about a billion degrees in my study today. Hopefully some cool weather soon, but at the moment, in high summer here, and it's stinking hot.
Today's poster is for Amplified People. They hail from Paris, which is a first for a poster recipient from me. They do heavy, beats orientated electro tracks. The In Business is my pick for the best track from their myspace.
Posted by funnelbc at 02:08 PM | Comments (0)
February 17, 2007
28x28 Day 17 - Moulinex + Xinobi
Day 17 of the 28x28 Gig Poster project. Loving the weekends, it makes it possible to mess around with the poster until I'm happy with it. It's also great to do some posters for bands in more obscure places, today's acts are from Portugal which is pretty cool as far as I'm concerned. I accidentally skipped a few posters in the request thread, but I will be continuing in order from oom's request from tomorrow.
Today's poster is for Moulinex + another band called Xinobi, fans of 8-bit sounds need go no further. Both these bands are great, and if I was in Portugal I would certainly check em out. My fave track from Moulinex would be Health Care, and Xinobi's track Welcome to the bonus stage is great too.
Posted by funnelbc at 12:32 PM | Comments (0)
Help Wanted!
Yes, that's me.
Okay folks I have some things I wish to share with you. Onetonnemusic currently gets a little over 1,000 visitors per day. Which is good considering that it's really only a hobby project. This month will crack 30,000 visits without any problem at all. Problem is, it's just me sorta saying stuff out into the ether, and I would like to get more folks on-board.
I want to find anyone who is interested in having a shot at music writing. If you are into and interested in writing a post or two per week (no major commitments here folks) on the subject of:
- Unsigned Indie Bands (anywhere in the world) that you think are interesting.
- Interesting music geek gear, especially home-made and user created
- Music trivia & silly Youtube clips that are funny and relevant to people with epicurean music taste
- Tips and tricks for making your own music.
- Funny music rants and raves.
Then I want to talk to you.
It's horrendously easy to do this stuff, and if you've ever fancied having a shot at freelance writing for a crust, maybe a few articles on onetonne could be the start of your career. Or possibly you just want to blow off steam. Believe it or not - I have a bunch of professional writing experience, and I am happy to share what experience I have to help you develop as a writer.
Should you have a blog also, and you would like to boost your visitors, you could possibly consider giving me permission to syndicate your content. I repost your stuff, with full credit and you get a lot of extra exposure.
I know it's lame, but I cannot offer you any cash at this stage. (If you are in a band, a gig poster certainly wouldn't be out of the question) I run the site out of my back pocket, and it's steadily growing. If it makes money, of course I am dead keen to pay for real content from writers. I do my posters for free because I love doing them, and maybe sometime in the future I can turn that into my main line of income. I see it as a simple way for me to support indie bands and do the stuff I love. I'm hoping there's some potential writers out there who feel the same way, who would like to give it a shot.
I am intending to put together and launch onetonnefilm in the short term future which will be covering film, tv & all things celluloid experience. If writing about film and tv is more your bag, then I'd also be VERY keen to talk to you.
Please drop me an email on info at ausmusician.com and I would be absolutely stoked to receive any contributions or set you up and account so that you can become members of the onetonne family.
Thanks,
funnel
Posted by funnelbc at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)
February 16, 2007
28x28 Day 16 - oom
Day 16 of the 28x28 Gig Poster project. Pretty long day at work. Very much looking forward to the weekend and chance to spend some more time on the posters. Neck still very sore.
Today's poster is for oom, It's very dark, Lamb style and it's quite tasty. According to one of the oom folks;
the music has elements of glitchy beats, noisey guitars and beautiful female vocals (our vocalist also sings with massive attack and is on the recent best of album)
Cool man! You can check oom on their website or on thier myspace
Posted by funnelbc at 08:03 PM | Comments (0)
NI Traktor Controller jammed in a C-64 case
This is old (at least in internet terms - June last year), but it's a beautiful bit of work. Really lovely looking bit of kit. Well done to the creator!
This is homebuilt MIDI controller for NI Traktor. The panel is made of laser cut / engraved, scratch-acid-UV-resistant, very durable plastic. Everything is built into black painted C64 case which was absolutely perfect for this use.
Home made Traktor controller on flickr Via Gear Junkies
Posted by funnelbc at 04:27 PM | Comments (0)
Piano playing cat!
Via boingboing
Posted by funnelbc at 09:23 AM | Comments (0)
February 15, 2007
28x28 Day 15 - f@#k cancer fest
Before you click, please note that this poster features the f-bomb pretty prominently, so if rude words upset you, please don't click.
Day 15 of the 28x28 Gig Poster project. Been at home today from work with a sore neck, and have been trying to avoid hurting myself any more by doing too much work. Hopefully by tomorrow it will have cleared up a little.
Today's poster is for the f@#k cancer fest, a show in New York where rudey words are all good. I made an exception for the rule that there must be music to listen to because it was a group show and a benefit by the looks of things.
Off to bed. Night all.
Posted by funnelbc at 11:11 PM | Comments (0)
February 14, 2007
28x28 Day 14 - Roedor
Day 14 of the 28x28 Gig Poster project. Half way! I cannot believe exactly how much work this has been. I have no idea whether it's physically possible to get to the end. I am in the process of organising to move house and this seems just insane. The posters aren't so bad, except I have an enormous amount of other work on, as well as the moving stuff. Good lord.
Today's poster is for a Roedor, who are winning the prize for most exotic act so far, as they are located in Costa Rica! Cool man! The audio is fantastic too, the live set Plastikset is fantastic and well worth your time.
Have a look at this happy musician in a field somewhere in Costa Rica and tell me you don't want to be at that gig. Here's another shot of the location.
Posted by funnelbc at 11:42 PM | Comments (0)
Ukelele DS Homebrew + Soundcells 1.0
I think the world will keep turning even if you don't have the ukelele installed on your homebrew compatible Nintendo DS. But I think you should have it anyway. I am intending to give this a bash tonight. I mentioned this in an passing in an earlier post, but I think it deserves some lovin' given the recent coverage of other DS guitar software.
Concept seems to be similar to m-06 DS guitar, although interface looks a bit more primitive. Still. You can't beat the price!
Download from NDS Homebrew or from Patryk's website
In other follow news, Soundcells 1.00 is now ready for download also (and has been for some time) and looks like quite a bit of fun. Yay for DS Music homebrew.
Previously on onetonne: Soundcells for DS
Posted by funnelbc at 04:56 PM | Comments (0)
Kenton Killamax Mini - Small, Sexy, Expensive.
There's no doubt in my mind that this little midi controller is an absolute beauty. Really nicely designed, sleek and classy. I could see it being absolutely fantastic positioned just above my keyboard for that extra bit of control where you need it. I know that my Microkontrol sometimes is a bit unweildy when all I want is basic fader control, especially when just doing automation for volume etc.
What I can't understand is why it's so expensive? At 229 Pounds sterling or $571Australian Dollars, you're certainly paying for the privelage. Still. Small, Sexy, and Expensive is how I would best describe it.
It does look hot though, and I do love a good MIDI controller...
Posted by funnelbc at 02:31 PM | Comments (0)
HitStix and Wii remote separated at birth?
With all this talk about re-purposing the Wii remote and using it for triggering music gear, retro thing reminds us of of the illegitimate half sister of the Wii remote, Hit Stix!
See video for... well... 80's neon craziness.
Via Retro-Thing
Posted by funnelbc at 02:11 PM | Comments (0)
Native Instruments Massive hits v1.1
Apparently Native Instrument's MASSIVE synthesizer has gone to version 1.1. I hadn't even heard of it until about 20 minutes ago. Looks good though. Anyone know if in fact, it is good? Commenters?
Via gear junkies
Posted by funnelbc at 10:30 AM | Comments (0)
Dj Wiij on Traktor
I just lost this post because I closed the wrong window. Argh. You're going to get the abridged version now. DJ Wiij.com features a bunch of great clips of the Wii remote paired up with mixing software (such as Traktor).
I've recently picked up a bluetooth adapter and have a couple of Wii remotes, so I better check this out before the Zeitgeist changes and I have to buy another video game console and re-purpose whatever controller that has.
Check out djwiij.com via GoNintendo
More clips after the jump.
Posted by funnelbc at 10:13 AM | Comments (0)
February 13, 2007
28x28 Day 13 Nerd Parade + Nerd O Bot
Day 13 of the 28x28 Gig Poster project. Oh god. So tired. Such a bad idea. Head hurts. Too tired to editorialize.
Today's poster is for a The Nerd Parade & Retard o Bot.
Posted by funnelbc at 08:10 PM | Comments (0)
Nina Simone Clips
I love boing boing, which is where i got this amazing clip from. It's a rare clip of Nina Simone from 1962 performing the Israeli folk song Eretz Zavat Chalav u'Dvash or Land of Milk and Honey.
After the jump is a selection of other Nina Simone clips from around the same vintage. Nice way to check out older performances and rarities. Performances like these need need to be seen. Having them available to see improves your quality of life, thankyou YouTube uploader.
Here's an improvisation from 1961
When I was In My Prime - 1961. Really lovely and mournful performance too. Just wonderful.
Zungo - 1961. This is introduced at the end of the previous clip.
For All we Know - 1961. Lovely song, and there's some really nice arpeggiated harp and piano in there that is frankly, inspiring.
I Love You Porgy - 1962.
Posted by funnelbc at 11:12 AM | Comments (0)
February 12, 2007
28x28 Day 12 - Scientific American
Day 12 of the 28x28 Gig Poster project. Had to pitch for a rather decent size job after work today, which means that even though I had every intention to go pretty minimal with this poster... I kinda had to anyway. Did I mention that I am doing these after work as well? Well I am.
Today's poster is for a Scientific American. There's a good mix of tracks to listen to, and production values seem to be pretty high, so go check em out.
Posted by funnelbc at 10:32 PM | Comments (0)
I want you to record an album in 28 Days!
It appears that there are some other people online who are mad keen for a silly challenge! Check out this:
This is the challenge: record an album in 28 days, just because you can.
That’s 10 songs or 35 minutes of original material recorded during the month of February. Go ahead… put it to tape.
Don't wait for inspiration - taking action puts you in a position to get inspired. You'll stumble across ideas you would have never come up with otherwise, and maybe only because you were trying to meet a day’s quota of (song)writing. Show up and get something done, and invest in yourself and each other.
Anyone can come up with an excuse to say “no,” so don’t.
Awesome. RPM Challenge via Brotherhood of the Octopuss
Posted by funnelbc at 07:34 PM | Comments (0)
Zelda theme tune on theremin(!) + others!
If you're not a video game music fan, avert thine eyes.
I feel angry that I didn't come up with idea first, but over on dsfanboy you can see the mario themetune played on 15 different instruments. Scarily enough I have seen quite a few of these before.
:( I think I nerd pwnd myself.
Still. I'm a nerd and I'm up for a challenge. I present to you (found on youtube obviously) the Zelda theme tune on Theremin!
More Zelda Video Sillyness after the jump. Including, Legend of Zelda Medley in String Quartet Form, accordian, a cosplaying nerd on flute, bass guitar, and Ocarina. And and also how to play the Zelda theme tune on piano. Plus some extras. In your face dsfanboy ;).
Legend of Zelda Medley in String Quartet Form
I... just don't know how to describe this. But it's awesome.
Zelda theme on Electric Guitar
Zelda on Ukelele
Zelda (Ocarina of Time Medley) on Accordian
Zelda on Ocarina!
Lost woods Theme Tune - blindfolded on piano
Zelda Kokiri Forest Theme
How to play Zelda's lullabye tune on piano
Cosplaying nerd playing lullabye on flute.
Ordon theme on bass guitar
Zelda @ Video Games Live
Zelda on harmonica
And last but certainly not least. Zelda 2: Adventure of Link theme on big-ass organ. For an absolutely massive sound.
Posted by funnelbc at 04:03 PM | Comments (0)
Guitar Wii-ro SOLO!
I'm irrationally excited about the possibility of having Guitar Hero on Wii. It saves me from having to buy a PS2 and I'm sure that the Wii remote's motion sensors offers some great possibilities for theatrics and messing about.
AAAAND... Why not guitar hero multiplayer with Drumming backup? Why the hell not!? (Apart from vastly increased cost and development time. But still, with guitar hero 2, you can play as rhythm guitar, lead guitar, bass, why not drums? Can you imagine a more crazy party game? Oh make it be so.
Via the whole internet but also Gizmodo
Related: DS Solooooo
Posted by funnelbc at 11:54 AM | Comments (0)
February 11, 2007
New iPod Announced!
Sony has conceded defeat in the gadget wars, so to recoup some of their recent losses they have teamed up with Apple to create the amazing WalkPod:
Source: Say no to crack
Posted by funnelbc at 03:33 PM | Comments (0)
28x28 Day 11 - Cooterpuss
Day 11 of the 28x28 Gig Poster project. Settling into a bit of a rhythm now, and getting the posters done is a bit easier. Oh and it's the weekend so I have more time and I haven't already worked 9 hours before starting them. That helps too.
Todays poster is for a Cooterpuss.
We are a very crazy and bizarre rock group influenced heavily by Zappa and heavier rock.
Yep, I get the space rock influence. Check em out. Only 1 song to listen to on their myspace page, so leave a comment to hassle them to get some more music online! 1 song is not enough! For shame!
Posted by funnelbc at 03:23 PM | Comments (0)
February 10, 2007
28x28 Day 10 - Inverse Room
Day 10 of the 28x28 Gig Poster project. A few hours extra sleep has really helped me I think. Looking forward to tomorrows poster, even if the name of the act scares me a little. Feeling okay, but I still have a significant amount of posters to do.
Todays poster is for a Inverse Room (for more complete listening try out the myspace page. I quite like the music and the variety of sounds he's getting. Nice.
Posted by funnelbc at 11:12 PM | Comments (0)
February 09, 2007
28x28 Day 9 - A bunch of acts at The Shed
Day 9 of the 28x28 Gig Poster project. Really looking forward to the weekend and a chance to sleep in. I got an offer for a new job today, and I've been so busy that I'm not sure which way is up. Also i've had a few beers. Might explain a poster that's mostly about snot.
Todays poster is for a bunch of Punk/Indie acts playing at the shed, check out the music of:
Greenwood, Damiera, Moneen & Pistolita
Till tomorrow, your brother in posters, and snot gags. I had a look for snot jokes to append to this post, but it seemed like a bad idea. So I listened to some Yo La Tengo instead.
Posted by funnelbc at 08:24 PM | Comments (0)
Super Mario Theme on Flute
I'm sorry.
Via Joystiq
Posted by funnelbc at 04:08 PM | Comments (0)
February 08, 2007
28x28 Day 8 - The Riot Squad
Day 8 of the 28x28 Gig Poster project. Very long and difficult day today for me, and I think it shows in this poster. Wanted to do more, but I've been up since 6 this morning, and I didn't get much more than a few hours sleep that night anyway.
Todays poster is for The Riot Squad. This for the launch of their EP.
The Riot Squad is a jazz-funk collective based in Stanford, California. With members from all corners of North America, and drawing inspiration from an eclectic mix of jazz, reggae, hip hop, funk and electronica, the Riot Squad lays down a pulsing groove of catchy tunes and cooking rhythms.
Grooby man! Orrite, off to bed for me.
Posted by funnelbc at 10:39 PM | Comments (0)
February 07, 2007
28x28 Day 7 - Valentines Mixtape
Day 7 of the 28x28 Gig Poster project. Yesterday's poster threw me a little, so I decided to get stuck into this one as soon as I got home.
Todays poster is for Shockwave: Mixtape. Mixtape is a monthly show put on by Shockwave that features musicians, and beatboxers. This poster is for a Valentines theme show.
After the jump you can check out their Christmas show, and it's pretty cool, especially the beatboxing Santas.
Posted by funnelbc at 06:47 PM | Comments (0)
Steve Jobs & DRM
Fascinating tidbit over on Engadget - Steve Jobs on DRM: let's get rid of it. Here's a snippet:
"Why would the big four music companies [ever] agree to let Apple and others distribute their music without using DRM systems to protect it? The simplest answer is because DRMs haven't worked, and may never work, to halt music piracy. ... Much of the concern over DRM systems has arisen in European countries. Perhaps those unhappy with the current situation should redirect their energies towards persuading the music companies to sell their music DRM-free. ... Convincing them to license their music to Apple and others DRM-free will create a truly interoperable music marketplace. Apple will embrace this wholeheartedly."
DRM doesn't stop piracy, and while things exist in the digital domain, it's virtually impossible to stop the copying of those things. If the value of the music is such that it doesn't compel someone to buy it in the first place, then you're probably looking at a prime target for piracy. I buy plenty of albums, but the way I discover new music is through last.fm, public radio, and pirate copies from friends. All those things are free, and I certainly don't think that I would purchase as much music as I do, or even be as interested as I am in music.
Even just as recently as yesterday's poster, I came across HomeSkillet records who have a refreshing take on music piracy:
There is a general assumption around corporate music that stealing music is bad. We disagree, in fact we encourage it.
However, this does not mean we will put out albums in the traditional sense and not ask for money.
Studio time is an investment. If we invest in studio time, then we ask for you, the fan, to invest in us. This way, we will stick around.
Most of the time our music will be recorded over computers. About half of which will be uploaded to this site. This music will be free, and we encourage people to download and share.
HomeSkillet Records encourages stealing music. However, we also encourage donations. If a person was so obliged, we are glad to accept.
HomeSkillet is to be applauded. Visit their site, check out some tracks, and if you like it, please support them.
DRM harries consumers, espescially now that you can download and have access to illegitimate versions which are hassle free so easily, big music isn't doing a whole lot to protect and promote more sales. It's all so obvious to everyone who actually listens to music. The way to protect the music industry is not to harangue those who support it by lumbering them with DRM.
Engadget - Steve Jobs on DRM: let's get rid of it. & HomeSkillet Records
Posted by funnelbc at 07:30 AM | Comments (0)
February 06, 2007
28x28 Day 6 - Alone With A Ghost
Day 6 of the 28x28 Gig Poster project. I threw out 5 versions of this before I got to a version I thought worked well with the music. I blame the bottle of red consumed before embarking upon the job. Sorry. Still, I've got over that, and there it is.
Todays poster is for Alone With a Ghost. Big chunky Dirty Three style sounds here, very emotional, starting out soft end very nearly cacophonous climax with each track. My pick from the songs online is A House to Haunt
The 28x28 Poster Project - Get your poster FREE! - get in quick!
Posted by funnelbc at 11:00 PM | Comments (0)
No circuitbent stuff? I'll have to fix that!
I was poking around on Casper Electonics and I thought to myself how great is all this stuff? Too bad I've already blogged it. Apparently I haven't. Sorry. That happens to me quite a bit, I assume I've written about something and it turns out, I only thought about posting it. Weaksauce.
Anyway. If you need convincing of just how cool circuit bent gear (or perhaps need to challenge the idea that it's all static and glitches) then I strongly recommend checking out the video after the jump. It features the incredible looking bit of kit above.
Also they have a logo design competition where you can win an Echobender FX Console. I might just throw my hat into the ring for that one!
Posted by funnelbc at 03:18 PM | Comments (0)
Discovering Electronic Music 1983 Style
Title pretty much says it all. Lovely dodgy looking footage, vintage gear and it's educational! I'm pretty sure in their own sherry infused way, the Museum of Techno is a homage to this.
You'll love this film if you love analog synthesizers, electronic music (historic, not electronica), or music geeks. : ) Lots of cool oscilloscope shots, primitive sequencers, etc.
Oh yes, we do.
Parts 2 & 3 embedded after the jump.
Part 2
Part 3
Posted by funnelbc at 02:48 PM | Comments (0)
DS Guitar.... DS SOLOOOOOOO! \m/
This is insane. I will have to track down a copy to give it a go, but here's a bit of guitar for your DS. It's called Hiite Utaeru DS, and it looks groovin. By the look of the NSCX description, you only have access to chords rather than single string plucks, but it does work with upward and downward stylus (and presumably pick) movement.
Apparently the d-pad buttons and the a/b/x/y buttons all denote a key and then you also have the L and R shoulder buttons which function as modifiers. Fantastic.
Meet the strangest axe ever in the annals of guitar technology. With 16 chords to use at any time from a library of 120, users may strum out a song relatively easily if you're familiar with basic guitar playing. We were able to play the Main Riff I for "Fast Car" by Tracy Chapman and "Torn" from Natalie Imbruglia this morning by following guitar tabs found on the web. In addition to its function as a guitar, the software also includes a library of 20 songs and a listening-then-repeating exercise.
Nice. Although I'm a bit suss on anyone playing Torn for any other value than comedy. The cover backshot explains things a little better, also check out the great little illustration down in the corner!
Your DS is now a guitar - Game Set Watch!
Posted by funnelbc at 08:09 AM | Comments (0)
February 05, 2007
28x28 Day 5 - Silver Jackson
Day 5 of the 28x28 Gig Poster project. This one was a bit of a collaborative effort. My girlfriend sat in and gave some good advice, thanks jen!
Todays poster is for Silver Jackson. We've got some indie guitar tunes happening here, and it's rather good. My pick from the myspace songs is Tomorrow
Silver Jackson's label Homeskillet Records has a great deal of music available online, with a refreshing and intelligent take on piracy.
Silver Jackson aka Nicholas Galanin seems like an amazingly talented chappie, and I found on his site an amazing clip featuring tribal dancing set to (and I'm paraphrasing Vince Noir from The Mighty Boosh) harsh tasty beats.
Clip is embedded after the jump.
The 28x28 Poster Project - Get your poster FREE! - get in quick!
Posted by funnelbc at 09:59 PM | Comments (0)
Sampleswap.org online. 4.6Gb of Samples FREE!
This one goes out to all our DR202 using visitors. There's a new kid on the sample block, and they've got a big library of FREE samples for you to get into.
This AIFF/WAV collection is currently 4.6 GB (7,579 sounds) including 1,420 techno, hiphop, trance, and drum and bass loops & breakbeats, 950 drum hits, 874 sound FX, 581 instrument samples, 579 vocal samples, 440 melodic loops, and more.
"The other exciting thing is that we're still doing this for free. We haven't had to put any advertisements on the site to cover our costs because, for the first time ever, we're allowing our members to make donations. To thank some of these folks, we've been mailing them DVD-ROMs of the entire sample collection,"
Check out Sampleswap.org Via Harmony Central
Previously Freesound project
Posted by funnelbc at 02:19 PM | Comments (0)
Good Weather for Airstrikes: Filmclip Top 50
There's an absolutely massive post on the wonderful, always educational and often handsome music blog Good Weather for Airstrikes. It's a huge compilation of the best music videos as picked by the GWFA folks, and it's a damn fine thing. As is the actual site itself. Clearly run by music lovers, they often put together compilations and sample tracks online, even if it errs perhaps on the other side of legality, I would definitely argue that their site has sold many more records as a result, not less.
Apparently we can expect a best tracks of 2006 soon too. But in the mean time, please visit Good Weather for Airstrikes and bask in the radiance of their cleverness.
Posted by funnelbc at 02:08 PM | Comments (0)
February 04, 2007
Webzen: Folk & Anti-Folk
*blows in category*
*dust flies out*
Been a while since I posted in playlist. High time I actually used it. Oh no! I'm breaking the 4th wall! :(
I've been listening to a lot of folk records lately. Mostly because of a little act called the mountain goats. And it's high time I did a roundup of the cream of the folk crop. So you can locate and listen to some good music. Why folk though? I dunno, but i'm pretty sure nobody can do decent bloody minded optimism as well as your folk band. Also, and this is a recent discovery, but apparently anti-folk is a thing - which is pretty much folk with a bit of punk sensibility injected. It's a good thing.
Oh, and I'm going to post Amazon links to my Amazon store. So far I've made $1.74 on my Amazon store, so I'm well on my way to a country house and a cool car.
Okay So bands worth checking out:
The Mountain Goats
These guys got me interested in acoustic guitar music again, and they also made me feel a whole lot better when going through a really shitty time. Typical features are intelligent angst ridden lyrics, filled with quiet hope, optimism and sometimes, killer hooky riffs. Amazing and transcendent live, I cannot strongly enough recommend The Mountain Goats. For my money, the spiritual successor to Jeff Buckley, what John Darnielle lacks in ethereal waif singing makes up in heart and style. Just sublime.
Album recommendations:
The Sunset Tree
Kimya Dawson
Well, this is what anti-folk is apparently about. I could care less, sometimes these new genre names rub me up the wrong way. Kimya Dawson is a supremely talented singer/songwriter. For further evidence, I recommend My Mom off the Remember That I Love You record. I will wait while you go check that out. Convinced? I am. I cannot stop playing Remember That I Love You and really is amazing. What gets me is the mix for the soft of her voice contrasted with darker & sub-cultural references with little regard for standard song convention. I like that it reflects cultural artifacts that have been otherwise ignored, like Kimya's references to videogames such as the largely overlooked Gamecube title Supermonkeyball Deluxe.
Album recommendation:
Leo Kottke
Many years ago, I was given a tape recording of Leo Kottke's 6 & 12 String Guitar Album. I had heard nothing like it before, and it still makes me immensely happy to listen to Leo Kottke's amazing music. He is nothing short of a genius on Guitar. His skill on 12 string guitar is almost legendary, and when you find a guitar nerd who knows about his work, you should see their face light up. Amazingly gifted, and a prolific back catalogue of work means there is an incredible depth of music for new fans to get into.
Album recommendations:
6- and 12-String Guitar
Iron & Wine
I must admit Iron & Wine was recommended to me a long time ago, and I've only just started to get into it, and it's been an unexpected joy. It's quieter and more mournful than your average folk bear artist, but really wonderfully and darkly constructed. Famous recently for his cover of Such Great Heights by The Postal Cover on the Garden State soundtrack, Iron & Wine are getting a lot more attention recently. The Rooster Moans on The 2002 album Creek Drank the Cradle is possibly my favourite track, even though it's a little more stylistically departed from the rest of the songs on that album. Lovely stuff.
Album recommendations:
The Creek Drank the Cradle
The Frames
I've no idea whether this actually properly classifies as folk, but it's my birthday (it's not actually) and I'll miss-classify music if I want to. Paired back, downtempo, and beautifully evocative is the best way I can describe the work of The Frames. I got very heavily into For The Birds and I haven't investigated their other music. That I think may have been a mistake, and I intend to check out their back catalogue next time I head down to the music shop. Lay Me Down off For the Birds is absolutely compulsory listening.
Album recommendation:
Well that's just a few bands and records that I've come to genuinely love recently. I hope that this has been an interesting read, and if you think that this section worked well for you, drop a comment here or on the forums and I will do more like it.
Posted by funnelbc at 03:02 PM | Comments (1)
28x28 Day 4 - lyday
Day 4 of the 28x28 Gig Poster project. Feeling good a few days in, this poster took a little longer than I hoped. Sometimes that's what happens though.
Todays poster is for lyday. This time the music is turntablist, breaking, sample heavy, tunes and today's pick for best lyday myspace listening is Pure & Right for my money.
I'd also like to thank some very kind people who have chosen to donate to the site, any money taken in donations is 50% split between the running costs of the site, and Future Cambodia Fund whom at the end of the month won't be receiving a novelty cheque, but a donation nonetheless!
The 28x28 Poster Project - Get your poster FREE! - get in quick!
Posted by funnelbc at 02:48 PM | Comments (0)
February 03, 2007
Music nerd fun with Patent Search
How do you know you are in desparate need of a life? When searching google patent search for patent filings for music gear seems like a good idea.
"An electronic music synthesizer is disclosed in which the sound producing chain includes a voltage-controlled oscillator, band-pass filter, low-pass filter, and amplifier in which selected control currents are supplied to low impedance points within the synthesizer circuit from a resistor matrix"
Oh my! This reads like geek porn. And another one!
Ibanez TS-9 (tubescreamer) Patent
he invention relates to the provision of a sustainer that is compatible with single coil pickups and stacked, single coil pickups. In this regard, feedback is substantially eliminated by processing and altering the direct electromagnetic radiation emitted by the driver.
Bit-tunes fans will LOVE the description given to the Gameboy Patent application - Electronic Gaming Device with Pseudo Stereophonic Sound Generating Capabilities. Come on Nintendo, it didn't sound that bad did it? Oh yeah it did.
Sadly my search for Robot Monster & Kilbot didn't turn up anything interesting. I did however find a AMUSEMENT DEVICE SIMULATING A GUITAR CONTAINING A CONCEALED WEAPON (!)
Love it. Thankyou internet.
Posted by funnelbc at 07:08 PM | Comments (0)
Tangible Sequencer Update with GUI & new site
I was very excited when I first saw Jeffrey Traer Bernstein's tangible sequencer. Jeffrey has put up a website at tangiblesequencer.com where you can read a little bit more about how the project works, and tantalizingly, see the GUI for loading up the cubes with samples.
Here's a quote from the site
Inside each box there's a Freescale HCS08 low-power microcontroller; a low-power 2.4 GHz zigbee radio; a CR2032 coin cell; some infra-red communications electronics; and a big white LED. The white hub is the same as the boxes with some additional USB hardware.
The software that runs on the computer uses OpenGL, GLUT, and STK for the audio. Earlier software protoypes were made in Processing.
The boxes are made of laser-cut colored acrylic, sanded to be matte and then assembled by hand.
Now we just need a price & availability! It's a really simple, elegant and appealing way to mess around with music, and I'm very keen to see what happens next with these! The potential beyond simple knob twiddling audio-nerdology is obvious to me.
Visit TangibleSequencer.com to stay up to date on the tangible sequencer.
Posted by funnelbc at 05:48 PM | Comments (0)
28x28 Day 3 - Battle!Cat!
Day 3 of the 28x28 Gig Poster project. Its Saturday morning and I've decided that on the weekend I will try and get these done in the morning, so I can't procrastinate my way out of this.
Todays poster is for Battle!Cat!. It's some mixed up techno metal style stuff. I like the track "So Theres Another One I've Lost...". I always like to make up posters while listening to the band's music.
The 28x28 Poster Project - Get your poster FREE! - get in quick!
Posted by funnelbc at 10:27 AM | Comments (0)
February 02, 2007
28x28 Day 2 - Foreverware
Day 2 of the 28x28 Gig Poster project. The realization of just how much work this promises to be is dawning on me. Thanks to Jaymis of CDM for giving this a much needed boost, with a massive influx of bands. I have at least the next 10 days posters sorted by the looks of the forums.
Have a listen to Foreverware. It's dark, and theres an awful lot of work going on to make each track.
The 28x28 Poster Project - Get your poster FREE! - get in quick!
Posted by funnelbc at 11:51 PM | Comments (0)
February 01, 2007
28x28 Day 1 - Segue
Day 1 of the 28x28 Gig Poster project and I am off and racing!
Have a listen to the Segue. They do banging electro beats, and they are the first in a project that hopefully won't kill me! If you are an audio nerd you will get the references I am making with the tree and the funny symbols. If you're not, I hope you like green and yellow.
The 28x28 Poster Project - Get your poster FREE! - get in quick!
Posted by funnelbc at 09:23 PM | Comments (0)