Posted only 18 days ago and with over 78333 plays already, its Bodhi‘s remix of ‘Angels’ by The xx from the album ‘Coexist’. Beautiful.

 Let’s get a little mathematical for a sec. Imagine a Venn diagram; on one side you have the classical contemporary music you’d expect from Cinematic Orchestra or Bonobo. A heavy combination of electronic elements stimulated with complex bassline and harmonies of multifaceted sounds rich in classical orchestral instrumentation and intimate jazzy blues. On the other side you have [...]

The Lollapalooza live stream video webcast is happening for Sunday, the schedule boasts Jack White, The Walkmen, White Rabbits, At the Drive-In, Miike Snow and The Big Pink (among others); all set for the Lollapalooza webcast. | VIDEO

There are wonderful oddities of synth creation breeds out there in the wild — strange, one-of-a-kind birds with three wings and forked duck-bills and other oddities. They might not all be practical for more than their creator, but like evolutionary anomalies, some adaptation or design feature might well make it into other productions – all the more reason that open schematics and permissive licenses could benefit the larger ecosystem, the rich, muddy wetland marsh of sounds.

Friend and neighbor Marc Resibois points me this week to the Fatduino. It’s pertinent to our discussion of marriages between DIY synths and the open source Arduino prototyping platform. Specs:

• Paia Fatman analog synth (described by the creator here as “a digitally-controlled analog monophonic synth kit. It has 2 sawtooth oscillators, a resonant filter, ADSR for amplitude and ASR for filter cutoff.”)
• Arduino MEGA as controller.
• Synth + step sequencer + arp + software LFO.

Here’s the idea: the Fatman already has a controller that receives MIDI notes, and uses those as digital control of the analog oscillators fine and coarse tuning (and envelope generators). In this project, the Arduino cleverly substitutes for that controller for easier programmability and inputs.

Upshot: you get arpeggiator and step sequencer modes, and, for those wanting to program, the cozy confines of the Arduino environment.

There’s also a new, software-based, routable LFO.

Full details and schematics and code are available on the site. Bless you, garage Scottish engineering, and Nibbler Nibbles:

https://sites.google.com/site/nibblernibbles/

This wouldn’t be a bad starting point for other projects interfacing digital control with an analog synth for more convenience. And you get some tasty-sounding results, as in the videos.

On the MeeBlip project, we’ve had a number of conversations about interfacing with the Arduino. They come down to this: the Arduino is most useful in musical purposes as an interface for controls, sequencing, and MIDI. Now, you don’t actually need much in the way of interfacing for most projects. Because the MeeBlip is already a digital project, you don’t really even need a “shield” as such – you can just connect serial or MIDI directly into the synth. By contrast, trying to implement a synth on the Arduino’s fixed hardware and firmware isn’t necessarily satisfying.

But I’ll defend the Arduino for simple sequence timing and control input; on these tasks, it’s pretty straightforward for a hobbyist.

The previous example:
SJS-ONE: Open, Arduino-Based Synth, with Crazy Cases and Web Troubleshooting

I’m interested to see if anyone builds on this kind of project.

"Prepare for a few controversial decisions" as Attack Magazine rounds up their favourite drum machines of all time.

I'm teaching an online class entitled Personal Sound Concepts. This link is an interview I did with Cyclic Defrost about it recently. The class revolves around listening to the world differently, recording sound, editing with an ear towards memory association, and generally opening up one's conception of their work and how to complete it.

Freak Ass E is a DJ, producer and instrumentalist from Berlin. He’s one half of the x.a.cute sound system and member of outernational lo-fi Quartet lo/noise. To confuse things even more, he appears as Wolfgang Noise and Sun Ra Bullock from time to time. In his new mix freakOUTernational he waves together his recent treasures sparkling in Jazz, Cumbia, Dub, Afrobeat and Dancehall.

Listen:

Tracklist:

Sun Ra Arkestra – Egypt Strut – Lilith
Thelonoius Monk Trio – Well You Needn’t – Poll Winners Records
Rahsaan Roland Kirk – Ain’t No Sunshine – Atlantic
Los Miticos del Ritmo – Cumbia Comejen – Soundway Records
La Pesada – Cumbia y Tambo (En La Lluvia) – Strut
Ta Ano e lo Memo Sexteto – La Mata Donde la Encuente
Nguenang – Wouck / DJ Julien Lebrun Edit – Hot Casa
The Funkees – Break Through New Dub – Soundway Records
Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars – Goombay Interlude: Rain Come Sun Come – CUmbancha
Antibalas – Him Belly No Go Sweet – Daptone Records
Bola – Hoyenbesa nini – Awesome Tapes From Africa
Jagwa Music – Heshima – Crammed Discs
Analogik – Lantchi – Munka Munka Records
Los Transatlanticos feat. Freddy Livingston, Pina & Goggy Fresh – Moving Up (Se Me Siento Fine) – BBE
Ondatrópica – Iron Man – Soundway Records
Atomic Forest – Sunshine Day – Now Again
Thelonious Monk Quartet – Crepuscule With Nelly – Jazzline

show:

Berlin, August 8th:
Sun Ra Bullock playing vinyl @ The Soulcat