A tribute to the insane cows of Switzerland. Recorded sounds of actual cowbells on actual cows, altered with some granular synthesis (props to my man Dan Van Hassel for helping with Max stuff). Featuring brilliant soprano Lindsay Kesselman as Hilde the mad Swiss cow. This is definitely a cut above the usual blog. I love having awesome musicians on hand, it's totally sweet.
6/29/11
297. gigantic creatures
Heya, a piece made with bass drum. This particular drum has some cool effects made possible by big elastic bands stretched across the surface, used by composer Amy Kirsten in her piece to be played tomorrow. Yeah I'm poaching her sounds a bit.
6/28/11
296. so freaking hot
ARRRUuugggl. It's really warm. Or, at least, it WAS really hot today, and I am now tired. And these are samples of marimba and tiny bells, and tiny bells on the marimba. Gently.
6/27/11
295. don't eat the singing trees
Old samples and new samples! Together in harmony! Uh, harmony in a more metaphorical sense. I found two tuning forks in one of the rehearsal rooms and whacked them together in front of my recorder a bunch of times; plus old PD samples; plus Katrina saying some things backwards.
294. katrina's song
Hey, here's a blog featuring the guitar playing of the lovely Katrina Leshan; you can find out more about her at www.katrinaleshan.com! Anyway, we had a lot of fun with our outdoor recording session yesterday and here's what we got, plus a little vibraphone, plus some birds in the background adding to the whole lovely outdoorsy feel of it.
Yes! another blog soon!
Yes! another blog soon!
6/25/11
6/24/11
292. glob of blogs
So did you ever see the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode where Riker has some sort of brain injury? And must remember all of his most painful and frightening experiences from the show thus far to survive? And it's obviously just a really sad, thinly veiled clip show? Made from clips of Riker fighting and screaming that aren't even particularly good?
Of course you have. Why do I even ask?
Yeah, that's what this blog is mainly. In my defense, I should have some actual performers on the blog soon. Meanwhile, hello again from Switzerland! and stuff.
Of course you have. Why do I even ask?
Yeah, that's what this blog is mainly. In my defense, I should have some actual performers on the blog soon. Meanwhile, hello again from Switzerland! and stuff.
6/23/11
291. marimba sneak attack
More nighttime atmospheric stuff. And lots and lots of panning and a little decimation.
6/22/11
290. nighttime away
Sounds of the building gently creaking in the wind and an odd rasping sound, like distant pipes.
(Note: that rasping sound, I later revealed to my roommate, was her snoring.)
(Note: that rasping sound, I later revealed to my roommate, was her snoring.)
6/21/11
289. morning bells and stuff
Bowed vibraphone and various small percussion items, secretly recorded in the dead of Swiss night by me sneaking around with the recorder. Bwa-ha-haaa.
6/20/11
288. fiberglass blanket
Behind again! And traveling again, too. Lots of neat airplane and train sounds on my trip which I didn't record, because my recorder was deeply buried in my overstuffed backpack. So sadly it's old stuff again.
6/19/11
287. scratching strangers
So I don't know crap about playing turntables, but I've wanted to do a record-scratching project for a while. This here is some needle-scratching of Merle Haggard and the Strangers, plus some tinfoil added here and there.
6/18/11
286. uncanny world
This was kind of a regular collection of samples, and then I tried slowing it down/speeding it up in Reaper. Then it got all weird.
6/17/11
285. delightful choices
Many flutes died to bring you this blogpost. Or, whatever. Bass recorder and such. Good times.
6/16/11
284. limp wrist
'Cuz it's kind of lame.
(Note: It's not THAT lame. A bouncy arrhythmic field of piano harmonics, kind of minimalist.)
(Note: It's not THAT lame. A bouncy arrhythmic field of piano harmonics, kind of minimalist.)
6/15/11
283. world of walls
Son, we live in a world of sounds. And we need weird women with kazoos that look like miniature trombones, with working slides and everything [not that the slide DOES anything], to guard those sounds and turn them into half-assed blogs.
6/14/11
280, 281, 282. TRIPLE blog: three short essays
Yep, I added it up; if I do three blogs today and three tomorrow, I'll be all caught up at last. Not exactly the letter of the law. Or is it the spirit I'm violating? Hard to say. Pick one, I guess.
Essay #1: My Favorite School Subject
(snare drum solo)
Essay #2: My Best Birthday Ever
(more snare drum, bowed glockenspiel, flute)
Essay #3: What I Did This Summer
(flute and more flute, a few other things too)
Essay #1: My Favorite School Subject
(snare drum solo)
Essay #2: My Best Birthday Ever
(more snare drum, bowed glockenspiel, flute)
Essay #3: What I Did This Summer
(flute and more flute, a few other things too)
6/11/11
279. getting down with geese
Okay, I'm disappointed in myself for failing to keep up with the blog this week. In my defense, I've been pretty darn busy and haven't had internet access consistently. Whatever. Here's some ambient sounds from Buffalo: squeaky chairs and geese. Is it sad that from this whole week of awesome new music and musicians, those are the sounds I've managed to capture? Don't answer that.
6/9/11
278. no one buys trail mix for the raisins
Drumbs! and more drumbs! More stuff later. I tried recording geese, but I don't think it worked. At least the geese got fed some free Apple Jacks.
6/8/11
277. omg srsly
Yep, so, late on blogs again. Not my fault this time! I've actually been too busy to find internet access for the last day or so. More blogs with more neat stuff upcoming now that I've found access. This is old singing bowl samples, by the way.
6/6/11
276. alternating problem
Yep, my car died again today. We could spend $500 or more on a new alternator. Or, we could drive it back to the dealership (with the dealer who sold it to us while lying to our faces), fill it full of dog poop, and light it on fire. One option sounds better than the other to me.
Oh, but this is all old piano sounds and has nothing to do with that.
Oh, but this is all old piano sounds and has nothing to do with that.
6/5/11
275. strike me down
Samples from Forward Lanes taken tonight. I always loved the sounds of bowling. Well, some of the sounds of bowling. Unfortunately it's too short; too much background noise on a Saturday night for good, pure bowling-noise samples. Plus some drumming.
6/4/11
274. cheap joke at your expense
Ugh. UGH UGH UGH old bike spoke samples and whistling UGH UGH I am fat.
(Note: just a reminder, at this point I was four months pregnant, tired, and starting to show.)
(Note: just a reminder, at this point I was four months pregnant, tired, and starting to show.)
6/3/11
273. hypno dance
Just some bits and pieces. Nothing to write home to the folks about. Wait, I mean, best piece ever!! self-promote! self-promote!
6/2/11
272. vibrant membranes
Various drum and glockenspiel effects all produced with a handheld electronic device. Yeah, let's leave it at that. Thanks again Mom, for reading this blog.
On the upside, it's about flipping time I had some new sounds working for me.
On the upside, it's about flipping time I had some new sounds working for me.
6/1/11
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