My world on the web
Coming soon: a guide to getting started building your own synthesizers! I have some info on my website, but it mostly relates to my particular modular synthesizer and doesn’t really address how to actually get started, what tools you need, where to find circuits, etc. I’d like to change that and…
I’m building a small robotic orchestra. Why play drums yourself when you can get bits of code, wire, and solenoids to do it for you?
I built a little control unit that takes voltages and makes them into something that can power motors and stuff without anything catching on fire.
I think I might change my entire musical output to be Creative Commons, ie free for everybody to enjoy, remix, and share.
This is a generative piece I built just before my daughter was born. I envisioned something that would soothe a baby, like a mobile but with sound. Like wind chimes but smoother. As it turns out, once she was born I forgot about most everything, including this project. Much later I rediscovered it and found it soothing myself!
Took a trip to The Musical Instrument Museum in Scottsdale, Arizona today. What a great place! A huge variety of instruments from many places and cultures. I especially liked how inclusive they were; lots of displays highlighting female makers and musicians, displays with amateur homemade instrument…
I’ve been working on my website and added a new feature: Badges!
It’s basically like little digital awards you get on Foursquare, Untappd, etc. except I made them myself and award them to myself. It’s a way to get motivated and also share my achievements and skills on my website. Like the “Skills” section of LinkedIn, but self-hosted and DIY. 95% inspired by the kids show “Hey Duggee,” and 5% inspired by the * Scouts.
To see all my badges, check out chrisbeckstrom.com/badges
:synth: !!! working on adding custom emoji to my wordpress site… if I type `:synth:` it should be converted into a little image of a synthesizer, like this: :synth: (hopefully it works). What happens if this also gets posted to my Pleroma instance?
I should take a break from all this internet stuff and make some music on the new synthesizer I recently made
My brain is wired a bit differently than most other brains. I have synesthesia, a neurological condition where one sensory input can cause me to have more than one sensory experience.
I am intrigued as to how this appreciation of sound differs from the ‘phonographic memory’ experienced by artists like Paul Dempsey:
He’s amused by “people close to the band” chiding him for being “wilfully obscure” as a writer. Can he help it if he finds Galileo, Max Planck, electricity, echolalia and “brains in jars” more interesting than girls in cars? Or if his uncanny ability to play anything on a range of instruments after a single hearing – his bandmates call it his “phonographic memory” – naturally attracts him to more challenging musical ideas?
I also came upon this extensive list of artists on Wikipedia.
6 track album
The cold weather has arrived which means it’s time to transition from mostly outdoor activity to mostly indoor activity. I’ve been working on some electronics projects, perhaps gearing up to sell some of my creations (stay tuned!).
In the meantime, I’ve started working on a new modular synthes…
