you-name-it hero

Earlier today, my friends online and I were reading this alternative video game controller article, and bemoaning the fact that the accordion controller depicted doesn’t really exist. We all agreed that we’d totally buy an Accordion Hero videogame.

Thus ensued a bevy of alternative music game controller titles:

14:16 < @Wohali> that's a cute controler, conty
14:17 < @Wohali> can we play weird al songs?
14:17 < @Conty> Wohali: We can play Weird Al dad's songs!
14:17 < @Wohali> oktoberfest!
14:17 < @OldCrow> a pitch convertor controller would be cheap to make these days
14:18 < @Conty> Then we can have Accordion Hero: HEINO Edition!
14:18 < @OldCrow> I mean, one DSP for kazoo hero wouldn't need to be exactly studio quality
14:18 < @Wonky-P> conty, how about moonshine jug hero?
14:19 < @Wonky-P> how about wet finger around the glass hero?
14:19 < @Wonky-P> pan flute hero
14:20 < @Conty> Wonky: Glass Harmonica Hero!
14:21 < @GoofyRobo> I would so buy accordian hero
14:22 < @Wirc_Hat> Pan Flute Hero: The Legend of Zamfir
14:23 < @ShinoWrk> Saxophone Hero, Kenny GX
14:23 < @Wohali> Lawrence Welk's Bubblemania

Which ones would you buy?

P.S. Holding on one more day – woke up feeling pretty good, so I’m staying in forced bedrest another 24h. If this doesn’t do it, I’ll head into the hospital tomorrow.

biker chiq

I am now a fully-licensed motorcyclist, with a fully-licensed bike, a 1978 Honda CB750 Supersport (more pictures).  I’ve fixed up the bike a bunch since these photos were taken; expect new pictures by the end of today.
Big, big thanks to Cat, who taught me everything I know about wrenching bikes, and Chris, who helped us fix it and built the shed around it (and even made us cocoa at 2AM on a late Saturday night while we replaced the chain!)

Now, where should I ride to?  Any suggestions for good day-trips within reach of Toronto?

Also, seems Atlassian picked up my previous post about their awesome tools, JIRA and Confluence.  I’m just tickled pink about the functionality, as is everyone at my former employer.  Though they have their own free license, I’m pondering shelling out a bit for a 50-user license to run my own project sites, such as the ircd-hybrid stuff, and the Voyetra 8 and Andromeda A6 synthesizer sites.  It’d pay for itself in no time…maintaining HTML lists by hand is so early-1990s.  ;)

barracuda

dys4iK’s Barracuda (256k VBR mp3, 1:25:30, ~127MB)

Set List (also in the ID3 tag)

Slam – Human (Vector Lovers Remix)
Red Moon – The Beautiful (DJ Hal’s House Mix)
Atomic Grater – Movin’ (possibly heavenly spliff, white label record)
Muzzaik – It Ain’t Right vs Rhythm of Life (Tommyboy Bootleg Mix)
whitelabel (seems to be a remix of Lamb – Gorecki)
Sean Miller – Swells (Colors & Chus Iberican Mix)
Phunk Police – The Problem
Scanners – Crying Shame (Oliver Moldan presents Prawler’s Dub Mix)
Photek – Mine to Give feat. Robert Owens (David Morales Facedown Mix)
Rhythm Code – Lullaby (Long Distance Mix)
Niki B & Christian E.F.F.E. – The African Song (Dark Mix)
The Askew – Invisible (D-Formation Remix)
Matthew Dakey vs Proluctors – What If
Paul Oakenfold – Hold your Hand (Hamel 4/4 Mix)
Atmos – Raumwelt Signal (Herman Cattaneo & John Tonks Remix)
Blasfilth – Pleasure Giver (4×4 Mix)

Engineered by Wohali. Produced by Psykotic Productions.

theremin mating call

My second track of the year is complete. Inspired by Hearts of Space‘s Space Guitars series (6 programs in all), I wrote this all-analogue number over the weekend. Originally it was going to be a theremin aria of sorts, but after adding echo, delay, chorus and reverb, I realized that I may finally be able to play guitar without getting calluses on my fingers…

Equipment: Yamaha CS-80, Andromeda A6, Moog Etherwave Theremin, Moog Minimoog Voyager, Lexicon MPX-1. Recorded and mixed at Waynemanor Studios, 2005-02-26.

and what about naomi?

An Open Letter to Joan Ganz Cooney, former president, Sesame Workshop (Childrens Television Workshop)

Dear Mrs. Cooney,

What a pleasure it was to receive in the mail today the 4-DVD set of The Best of the Electric Company. It is a joy to see these programs available in purchasable media, and to be assured that the money will help fund future Sesame Workshop programs.

When I took over running the grey-area online archive of Electric Company video and audio clips a few years ago, I knew I was taking a risk. I never intended to threaten Sesame Workshop’s claim to ownership of these works. However, the rich heritage of these programs, and the profound impact they had on multiple generations of American children deserved a wider audience…even if it was just grainy, small online translations of grainy copies of copies of off-the-air broadcasts. It was with no small surprise that I received a C&D letter from Sesame Workshop’s legal department shortly after Cory Doctorow linked to my site from boingboing. The monthly transfer rates from the site after his link (but prior to the Workshop’s letter!) confirmed that there was an incredible market for the material. I’m ever so glad that Sesame Workshop stepped up and reclaimed its heritage for itself! I was especially pleased to see your segments on the second DVD, and to see some (though limited) framing of the content in its original educational context.

Clearly, with a renewed interest in the show, it is everyone’s hope to whom I have spoken that Sesame Workshop renews the show in this millenium. The format and content will most certainly be different, but continuing the mission to help children read through positive cultural references without the heavy-handed moralism of many an educational television program could very well be a breakthrough. I wasn’t ever directly involved in the original production…but I sure would love to be involved in future work, if there’s a place for someone like me.

Again, I salute your efforts on Sesame Street, The Electric Company, 3-2-1 Contact and the myriads of other educational efforts that followed, both on and off screen. As I struggle to educate both children and adults alike, I continue to look to your pioneering work as a source of inspiration. I still think of your statement in the original Parents’ Guide released just as The Electric Company was set to air: “If television’s true potential as a weapon in the fight against reading failure is to be realized, the full range of television techniques and talents must be exercised.” And, just like your 8 year old granddaughter recently said – this show still is “REALLY good.”

Thank you once again for your hard efforts.

Sincerely,
Joan Sarah Touzet

alma mater jazz

It’s funny, I think about my high school – New Trier, class of ’91 – more than I think of my university years. Tonight marks the 23rd annual (non-competitive!) Frank Mantooth Jazz Festival, currently being webcast live at http://ntjazz.com/, and it is nothing short of deeply moving.

I am listening now to the strains of Sherrie Maricle & the DIVA Jazz orchestra, and I am floored. Jim Warrick always did a fantastic job with bringing good jazz to New Trier, and he always let the students and musicians shine. It was never about himself, making money, or false prestige. Some of my classmates went on to become professional musicians, and I feel honoured to have shared the stage with them. The rest seem to have gone on to lead successful lives in every sphere. (It has been hard for me to stay in touch with them as they’ve scattered, and also because I have only returned to Chicago once since I graduated.) In a word – Jim took many a lonely outcast musician, and helped them find inner peace and confidence through their senses of rhythm and melody.

To Dan, James, Ben, Matt, Scott, Andy, and all of the other friends who I loved but whose names escape me at this late, sentimental hour — but most of all to Jim Warrick — my sincerest thanks for allowing a mediocre piano player to grace your stage for four years. I will never forget the memories, nor will I ever lose my love for jazz. And, if it’s quiet enough in the house, I just might sit down at my piano and try to play Spain again…or one of the old Spyro Gyra Synthesizer Ensemble arrangements…

new studio software

Waynemanor Studios now has some new software, in addition to the fantastic, quintessential Digital Performer:

  • DSP-Quattro realtime audio editor/CD mastering tool/VI hosting tool/hardware sampler librarian, perfect for the pair of Kurzweil samplers
  • MidiQuest XL 9.0 patch editor/librarian, the only editor available that actually has support for the Voyetra 8
  • Minimoog Voyager Patch Editor/Librarian, a beautiful work that meets the highest standards for such an application
  • Cherrypicker, a MIDI patchfile editor that cleans up .middev files.
  • MIDI Commander, formerly the Kurzweil Commander, a remote control solution for the Kurzweil synths

On order is a SCSI card + cable to connect DSP-Quattro to the Kurzweil(s), the V3 upgrade for the Voyager, plus a gooseneck light and dust cover also for the Voyager.

this is radio waynemanor

Tonight, in a fit of procrastination, I worked on a new identifier for Waynemanor Studios. The resulting track is 10s long, and includes 6 separate synthesized components. I’m very proud of the work. Special thanks to nanaimo for helping me get the final mix just right.

When you’re done guessing the various synths used, view the MP3 info for full details.

I’m so excited to be making tracks again!

lilac

dys4iK‘s Lilac (256k VBR mp3, 1:21:32, ~120MB)

_Set List_

Stama & Nick Proteus – People and Places from the Past (Original Mix)
Soul Tan and Tone Depth feat. Heroic – Back to You (Original Mix)
West London Deep – Inside my Head
Piece Process – Synthsations (Luke Fair Remix)
Piece Process – New Driver
Distance – Vertigo (HedStatic Remix)
Chus & Cebalos vs Tedd Patterson – In Stereo (Mucho Dub Mix)
The Funky Badgers – Funky Tramp (TFB Original Mix)
Smokin’ Jo & Washington present The Black Europeans – State of Mind (D-formation Remix)
Chris Cargo – Saddle Funk (Graeme L. Remix)
Mateo Murphy – Contact
Christian Varela – Carlos Duran (Christian Varela Remix)
Mateo Murphy – Meltdown
Ant – The Tempest
Kristoff – Digital Degenerate (Original Mix)

Engineered by Wohali. Produced by Psykotic Productions.

[EDIT: Link changed to one with unlimited bandwidth.]