Slow and Pretty Things - Radio Feature

If you live in Wisconsin or own a computer, check out WDRT radio Sunday at 9 and 3 for some of my stuff - Slow and Pretty Things to be precise. If you want to listen again, check it out here, and if you like it, consider making a donation to the Alzheimer's Association.

Kickstarter is online

Hello bloggers!  The official Kickstarter page to fund my multimedia extravaganza "I Am Watch Television Zombie" is online!  Check it out here:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/905261689/i-am-watch-television-zombie-a-multimedia-extravag

We need your help to make the project a huge success - both in terms of donations and in terms of helping us come up with names, images, and videos to project during the show!  Brraaaaaaaains!!!

8 New Videos

As promised, here are the videos from my most recent premiere, elements. The preferred viewing order is as follows:

Introduction

Crescendo

Fermata

Staccato (ugh, it drops a lot of frames)

Trill

Slur

Sforzando

Decrescendo

YouTube is experimenting with a new HD mode, but at the time being, my videos are failing to play at that resolution. Anyway, please enjoy!

Unconventional Publishing

So as strange as this seems, my latest soprano/piano piece Open Me is published in the latest issue of Ouroboros (a poetry and art magazine).  The images from the score are placed next to Amy Pence's original poetry. There is (at least for now) a free version available online, or you can purchase print issues from their website.  You can listen to an mp3 here, or watch videos of the premiere here and here.

New Ultradian Bipolar Disorder Videos

Firstly, I am well aware that many of my recent posts have been videos.  A video section is on the way.  In the mean time, please enjoy this recording of Ultradian Bipolar Disorder.  If you want a mastered, excellent sounding version, please visit my compositions page.  I also have an excellent new shopping cart on that page if you are interested in scores.

Ultradian Bipolar Disorder: part 1 of 2

Ultradian Bipolar Disorder: part 2 of 2

Gi•nt's Eye Rehearsal, Altered

So I got it in my head to post videos of all the "background fodder" I used for Gi•nt's Eye.  Some of it is pretty cool, and a lot of it doesn't show up on the current videos I have online (since it was a 2 night performance, the projected video changed from one night to the other).  For right now, let me just post this one.  It's from a rehearsal of Gi•nt's Eye, with the dancers experimenting and the piano being controlled by MaxMSP.  Keep in mind the piano programming (at the time the video was recorded) has NO MELODY and NO ADDITIONAL PEOPLE playing live.  The result is loud and "whack whack whack" but kind of dull :)

I added some video filtering (ghosting, saturation) and captured the film to use as a quasi-dynamic background, on which I mixed real time video during the performance.  Enjoy:

Update: After adding all these videos, I'm starting to get very serious about the idea of including a video section.  Maybe after DMA applications are sent out!  In the mean time, here's another video of a performance from the Boulder library that I altered in a similar way for the performance.

New Harry Potter Video

Before you ask, yes it is a $5 harry potter wand duct-taped to the end of a nintendo wii-mote.  This piece is a great example of why youtube is terrible.  As hard as Case Western tried, and as good a job that they did recording and mastering this - Harry Potter Returns to Hogwarts is a piece that absolutely relies on surround sound.  There are things constantly being thrown around, spinning and moving - and almost all of that is lost on youtube.  Case Western did a great job of presenting the piece in full surround sound (and Amasa Stone Chapel is a perfect venue for a Harry Potter piece), but youtube just can't hack it :)

Putting that issue aside, the video turned out to be pretty cool!  Check it out below.

Update:  I think it's worth mentioning a specific element of this piece I really liked.  As my much tech class can attest, I am constantly complaining about two things: uninformative titles of pieces and using tech for the sake of tech.

I won't attest to the quality (or lack thereof) of my title, but I can say that what I like most about this piece is that there is no visible computer (or other tech).  From the perspective of the audience, there is no intermediary - no system of translation between my intent and their perceived meaning.  Modern wireless protocols allow us to break down that computerized barrier that separates (often times physically) performers from audience.  You are not staring blindly at a set of speakers.  You are also not starring at a person who is staring at (or at least focused on) a computer or other automated system.  Everything becomes organic.  It's personal.

This is a piece without score, largely improvisatory - which requires the tech I used (and nothing more).  It is also a presentation that draws the audience and performer together.  This is the future of electronic (electro-acoustic) music, or at least this is what I hope it will be.  I don't want people to have to draw meaning and musical sentiment from inanimate objects; I want to establish a connection (a mechanism of trust) between performer and audience.

These thoughts are rough hewn and extemporaneous; I may post a longer, more thought out version on the Cu-Pendulum blog.

Program Notes - Novus Ordo Seclorum

Click here for a link to a basic explanation of how the tech in Novus Ordo Seclorum Works. The description is mine, but the layout and formatting is from the wonderful composer Paul Hembree.

Update: there's also the briefest of mentions of me in the local paper.  The article is very Michael Daugherty, not very me - but still worth a mention ;)

Cleveland Concert

If you're in cleveland Wednesday, drop by Amasa Stone at 12:30 for the premiere of my new piece "Harry Potter Returns to Hogwarts".  If you're not around, I'll post a youtube as soon as it's available.  I am also waiting on the youtube from last week's premiere "Novus Ordo Seclorum".

Premiere

My newest premiere is in Boulder, at CU, in Grusin hall.  It's called Novus Ordo Seclorum, and was commissioned for Constitution Day by the University of Colorado.  It uses a projected score, a series of dramatic readings, and I sing at the end (processed audio of course).  There also may or may not be fireworks.  If you can't attend, I'll post a youtube when it's up.

new iPhone apps

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . Banking . . . . . . . . . . . News . . . . . . . . .Search Engines

This is an unusual post, but I just finished learning how to make iPod / iPhone apps and web apps - - so I thought I would share with the world. I didn't submit any of my apps to the store, but the 3 webapps (above) have proven quite useful. This comes on the heels of designing a new handler for wiimote / Max5 interactivity. Look for more information about the my 2 wiimote projects as I finalize all the details of the commissions and concert dates. (These work on Safari and iPhone, but probably not in Firefox or IE).

New Gi•nt's Eye Videos

Better late than never. Here are a few movements from one of the Gi•nt's Eye performances that happened last April. Click on the videos for a brief description on who the performers are, who the audience is, what is improvised, and where the computer is coming into play. Enjoy!

Movement 1 (The "Launch" Movement)
Live audience member on piano, with reactive piano-playing computer algorithm.

Movement 2 (The "Fantasy Game" Movement)
Improvised dance, improvised music reacting to a movement-sensitive digital body suit. Real time audio and video processing.

Movement 4 (The "Valentine" Movement)

Movement 5 (The "So Long" Movement)
Soprano vocalist, live piano, computer controlled piano, and offstage flute, trumpet, ebow, saxophone. Poetry by Serena Chopra (created in Mvmt 4). Improvisational music.

I'm engaged

That's right!  After 5 years and 7 months of dating, Megan and I are finally engaged.  To see pictures and read the story of how it went down, you can visit my personal website (MeganAndHunter.com).  Keep in mind that the website is only about 80% done, but it's still good enough to be entertaining.  Enjoy!

New and Interesting Web Links

It's getting harder and harder for me to visit every website that mentions me, but I have been keeping a list of interesting articles and references people find online. Below are some of the cool ones:

Boulder Dance Bridge, Cleveland Fine Arts Guide, SCI, CNT Blurb, Pipl, Bozza Review, Myspace, GCFS, Graphic Design, Pendulum, Old Video Game, Old Concert, Blog, ZoomInfo, TBP. Enjoy.

My stuff is at Tower Records!

Please visit Tower Records to purchase Greg Banaszak's newest album "Romances for Saxophone and Orchestra", which contains my arrangement of Eugene Bozza's Aria for Saxophone. Also, please visit this fun traffic map application which tracks the locations of the last 100 people to visit this site. As I look right now, the last 100 people all came from Colorado. If you're not from CO, good for you!

New Poster for 2/27 Concert

Faculty Templates

Though this is not strictly related to music, the faculty web templates are done. These templates are meant for music faculty members who would like a web presence but don't have the time or inclination to create their own website. Feel free to contact me for more information or to setup a time to meet.

New City, New Job

I just accepted a position as the Student Assistant to the Distributed Academic Technology Coordinator (DATC) for the Music department. My responsibilities include helping faculty with website building, using online resources like CULearn, and providing instruction and advice for programs like Finale, Photoshop, Office, and iLife. Feel free to contact me directly with questions about the DATC, or check back here later for more information about my availability, one-on-one sessions, faculty workshops, and more!

New Projects

Due to the success and popularity of the solo bassoon project Key Buxom Kamikaze @ H.Q., I have decided to debut the "User Interface" for the second piece in that series. For those of you who weren't following Key Buxom Kamikaze @ H.Q., the premise was that people purchased notes (through this website) and the proceeds went to charity. You chose the pitch, duration, and measure number, and I chose the octave and ordering in the measure. For that project, the user interface was setup like an online retail store. For this (second) project, the user interface is setup like a flash introduction. There are 100+ boxes displayed on the screen--you pick one, and the corresponding note becomes the next note in the piece.

The third new project in this series is a computer generated string quintet entitled Cantilène & Caprice. This piece is in the early stages of development, but the idea for the user interface comes from online forms. You fill out the form, and a randomly generated piece is sent to you (pdf and midi) via email. I plan to upload C++ snippets as they become available (and hopefully get some good feedback from computer engineers or CompSci people).

Free Screen-Savers for Everyone!

So I was on the Apple download page, looking at their free screen-savers, and it struck me that a lot of them stink. After fooling around with Quartz Composer for the better part of half an hour, I discovered that making a screen-saver on a Mac is sort of like working with Reason. You end up working with a series of signal controllers that can be rerouted to other controllers, with near-limitless flexibility. Please enjoy this set of three quartz screen-savers. FlameSaver and WebCamSaver both show my RSS feed, and FairySaver is a cute little yellow light that flies around the screen (on top of a photo I took at the botanical gardens). Why doesn't Apple publicize this little program better to non-developers? Surprisingly, it IS quite user friendly. What other cool things are lurking deep within my PowerMac? Anyway, please enjoy these (Mac OS X-only) screen-savers!