An older piece for an easy weekend reading on the sofa. 

Slow Sunday

This is the end result of the piece I was working on in the day-long installation "It's Not a Crime To be Seen Learning in Public (Affirmation #1, for John, 2011)." It's based on a Sound-of-an-Image-generated set of midi files stemming from a photograph of a card made for me by my late friend and colleague John Warren. John's research centered in critical pedagogy and the disciplining of bodies in the classroom. Many thanks to those who visited me during the course of the day as I worked on the piece. I enjoyed our conversations about the courage to keep learning in difficult times.

It's Not a Crime to be Seen Learning in Public

Just an ambient cloud of glitter and salt, experimenting with Sinevibes' great new plug-in, Octagon.

Cloud Of Salt

Just an ambient sketch, using Sinevibes's plug ins (Fracture, Strobe, Multitude) to turn a single guitar loop into the evolving shimmer that dominates, behind the beat, which is also run through Fracture to break it up and randomize it for its own evolution. There are a couple other loops in there, too (much fainter, for tiny textural work), all time-stretched over the 4+ minutes. Only the drum loop and repeating blurry, chime-like, pitched up bass are their original length. 

At this stage in making a piece, I am interested in creating a mass I will go in and carve out in the next stage. Growing up driving up and down I5 and I99 in California, watching rice fields and farmland go by, changing subtly, with the rhythm of the fence posts continuing throughout, this stage always lingers with me for a few days as I listen for the subtle changes I want to feature by making space around them. At this point, it's about accepting and listening to what the randomizers I've set in play have done, trying to discern what they are on their own, rather than what I want them to be as I pass by the sounds as much as they pass by me. Later, as I make changes, I'll determine a new title to replace the one I gave it, as I give all new pieces, to mark my main association with it/mood. 

Other plug ins include Camel Crusher, Audio Damage's Pan Station, and U-he's Satin.

Sweet Blur Sugar [Stage 1]

This is a soundscape I made for a piece in my partner's most recent performance, The Matter in Hand. The show explored constructions of non-human animals, and this sound was used as a backdrop for a meditative, slow scene in which the performers became a herd of deer moving slowly and simply across the stage. It's a few samples, heavily time stretched and processed with Sinevibes' relatively new plug in, "Fraction," and several other things they have made.

Landscape With Cicadas And Deer

Something about the World Makes Me Love It

That Day at the Temple with Stacy and Anne

That Day at the Temple with  Stacy and Anne

Basket for Winnowing Night from the Rain

Phone Calls from the Dead

This piece was created as my participation in the "Tree-Blogging" project of @Platea, a web-based global online public art collective. Information about the project can be found here: http://plateastweets.blogspot.com/2011/01/project-viii-tree-blogging-trunk.html

I used Sound of an Image to create midi files based on a processing of the attached image, by Jonathan Gray. Sound of an Image is a freeware program for apple computers, and is available here: http://www.skyfell.org/soundofanimage.html

One set of the generated files was assigned various instruments from Bolder Sounds, a company that makes exquisite sampler instruments. While the ones I used were from the American Folk collection, Bolder Sounds also has several free instruments available. I love their stuff and really recommend them. Please check them out here: http://www.boldersounds.com/

I processed a second set of the midi information through the "European Folk Kit" in Logic.

I also used a woodpecker sample created by s described in the @Platea protocol, recorded by Benboncan, who has his own array of amazing samples available through the freesound project, here: http://www.freesound.org/usersViewSingle.php?id=634166

Salt Theory

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