moonmilk

all posts about sound sculpture and music

(3)

video: making an accordion automaton, in a hurryJuly 21st, 2010

Motherboard tv was kind enough to ask me to make a music machine for them. Here’s their video of the process!

(0)

noise carnival composer’s guideMay 19th, 2010

Noise Carnival is my sound sculpture/music machine with Nick Yulman, permanently installed at Coney Island USA – Coney Island’s combination history & art museum, sideshow, and bar.

The machine has three parts, though we may add more in the future: a bass guitar, a xylophone, and a percussion section. I recently wired it up to play a short tune whenever someone drops a coin into nearby donation funnel. As you add more coins, it adds more layers to the tunes.

We want to invite composers to create new original mini-tunes for the machine. Here’s information about how to write music for Noise Carnival! We’re also interested in proposals for live performances incorporating the machine – all the parts can be played live through midi.

If you’re interested in creating music for Noise Carnival and you’d like to arrange a site visit, please contact me. I highly recommend checking it out in person to get an idea of the quirks of the electromechanical instruments. That said, you’re welcome to submit a score without visiting first.

FORMAT: please submit each score as a set simple midi files (.mid) with one track, playing on midi channel 1. Please specify the meter and tempo (in BPM) separately – don’t put any tempo changes inside the file. Each score should be between about 20 and 50 seconds long.

In addition, each tune should have three or four variations. Each time another coin is dropped, the machine will skip to the next variation (at the same time point – it does not start over at the beginning). We want to reward visitors for donating more money, so each succeeding variation should be denser, more ornamented, or otherwise more exciting than the previous ones. Some of the ways we’ve done this in the past include adding more percussion, adding arpeggiation, adding a bassline. Please submit a separate midi file for each variation. All the variations must be the exact same duration, tempo, etc. so that the software can freely flip between them.

For a single variation, you can put all the instruments in a single midi file, or separate them into up to three files for xylophone/guitar/percussion, or for melody/harmony/beat, or whatever works for you. Just make sure to label everything clearly!

THE INSTRUMENTS
TOY XYLOPHONE

The toy xylophone is the most straightforward of the instruments. It has a single high-pitched octave. It is controlled by MIDI notes C2 through C3 (white notes only). That is, if you program a C2, the xylophone will play its low C, etc. The xylophone has a fairly fast repeat rate.

PERCUSSION

The percussion section has five items, and we’ll probably add more (suggestions welcome). It’s played by MIDI notes D5 through G5, as follows:

D5 – monkey clapping
E5 – ping pong ball thump
F5 – metal duck target (left)
F#5 – metal duck target (right)
G5 – metal bear target (center)

The percussion items all have a fairly slow repeat rate. Don’t expect to be able to play the same one over and over rapidly.

BASS GUITAR

The bass guitar is much more complicated than the other parts, because there isn’t a simple relationship between midi notes and what the guitar plays. The guitar has a single string, a pick, four fretting fingers, and a “whammy” which raises the pitch by one semitone by increasing the tension. The open string plays a low F#; the frets are at A, B, C#, and E. These elements are played by MIDI notes G#3 through C#4 as follows:

G#3 – whammy – raises the pitch 1 semitone
A3 – fret 1 – plays A or A# with whammy
A#3 – fret 2 – plays B or C
B3 – fret 3 – plays C# or D
C4 – fret 4 – plays E or F
C#4 – pick – plays low F# on open string – strums the string on both note on and note off

Notes:

Each of these elements is controlled by midi notes, by activating on Note On and releasing on Note Off.
You can create a vibrato effect by toggling the whammy on and off on alternating 8th or 16th notes.
When you activate a fret finger, there’s a strong “hammer-on” tone, so you don’t also need to use the pick, except to play the open string. However, using the pick makes the note louder.
There’s also a hammer-off tone when you release a fret finger; it plays the unfretted note (or the note from a lower fret, if a lower fret finger is active). There’s no way to avoid this, so you have to write for it.
The pick will strum the string both on note on and note off, so you must plan for this as well.
The open string + whammy combination doesn’t play reliably, so F# (open string) is achievable but don’t rely on G (open string + whammy)

Looking at it the other way, if you want to hear a certain note, this is the midi combination to get it (subject to the complications above!):

F# – open string + pick (C#4)
G – open string + whammy + pick (G#3 + C#4) (not reliable)
A – fret 1 (A3)
A# – fret 1 + whammy (A3 + G#3)
B – fret 2 (A#3)
C – fret 2 + whammy (A#3 + G#3)
C# – fret 3 (B3)
D – fret 3 + whammy (B3 + G#3)
E – fret 4 (C4)
F – fret 4 + whammy (C4 + G#3)

Really, the best way to program the guitar is to play it live with a keyboard until you get the hang of it.

If you have any questions, get in touch with me!

more about sound sculpture for the Coney Island Museum

(2)

excerpt from last night’s performanceApril 3rd, 2010

Pianist Tiffany Lin adjusts the piano monster

Here’s an excerpt from last night’s performance of Zachary James Watkins’ composition “Moveable” for augmented piano. (I built the piano-tickling monster for this performance.) This is just a low quality recording – a much better one will be available later. The full piece is about 75 minutes long; the excerpt is 8 minutes.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

(1)

moveable in seattle april 2March 28th, 2010

I’m building a piano-tickling machine for Zachary James Watkins’ piece “Moveable,” which pianist Tiffany Lin will premiere in Seattle on April 2. More info within.

Moveable, long commutes between loved ones, music for motors and resonant strings

Friday April 2nd, 2010 8PM
Performance by pianist Tiffany Lin of a new evening length composition scored for retuned piano and a new mechanical extension called the Piano Monster built by NYC artist Ranjit Bhatnagar that uses 16 MIDI triggered voltage controlled motors with attached objects that resonate piano strings.

Wayward Music Series

The Chapel Performance Space at the Good Shepherd Center

4649 Sunnyside Avenue N., 4th Floor, Seattle, Washington

Tickets: Suggested Scale $5-$15

Tickets will be available at the door on the evening of the performance.

Moveable, long commutes between loved ones, music for motors and resonant strings is the elusive yet evocative title for the new composition by bay area composer Zachary James Watkins. This new evening length work is scored for retuned piano and a new mechanical extension called the Piano Monster built by NYC artist Ranjit Bhatnagar that uses 16 MIDI triggered voltage controlled motors with attached objects that resonate piano strings. The April 2nd premiere performance by pianist Tiffany Lin is presented by Nonsequitur as part of the Wayward Music Series at Seattle’s Chapel Performance Space. The title can be read many ways. Literal interpretations evoke the daily reality of so many modern day workers who must travel long distances to reach the work place or the distances traveled when in love. This title also touches upon the collaborative process between three artists who reside on two coasts and separated by thousands of miles. Trust, vulnerability and the creation of rich new works drive collaborations along distances. In our every day lives, the harmonic series is the fundamental building block of all sounds in constant collision transformed creating language, noise, and the plethora of instrumental timbres, which shape our aural, cultural and sensual experience. Moveable, long commutes between loved ones, music for motors and resonant strings celebrates diverse sounds combining electrical current hum, pure intonation, equal temperament and percussive noises into a vibrant sonic tapestry creating new imaginative narratives.

more about homemade musical instruments

(0)

closing doors at nycemf march 25March 28th, 2010

I presented my piece “Closing Doors” for robot toy piano at the NYC Electro-Acoustic Music Festival last week. It sounded something like this:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Previously with robot toy piano…

more about homemade musical instruments

(0)

Noisy noises videoMarch 17th, 2010

Posted via email from moonmilk’s posterous

(1)

instrument-a-day 28: Baba Yaga’s BalalaikaFebruary 28th, 2010

It's made from a wooden mortar and pestle and some scraps of guitar string. I strapped a rechargable battery to my thumb to use as a slide, just like Baba Yaga used to do.

That's it for instrument-a-day for this year, but Jason, Chris and I will be performing with some of these instruments on Wednesday at Barbes in Brooklyn.