From the description: “This week I cover the basic concept of MIDI and Controllers as I sometimes get asked questions like “Will this controller sound good for bass lines” or “Will this (USB) MIDI controller work with X interface”. So I did this episode to point out why they dont effect your sound. “

          

Although I normally tend to gravitate to stories about novel instrument uses, but lately I’ve become enamored with Chet Atkins. His lesson videos have inspired me to get my guitar out. You wont be getting a video of my performance though, so here is his.

          

In the mean time, here are some cool things you should have seen already:

mlrv 2.0–an open source program(hypersampler) for grid controllers. Featuring HUGE TEXT for a supporting contribution of $80.

The MeeBlip–An open source hardware synth based on the Atmega 32a. With lots of knobs.

          

http://www.thereminhero.com/

Theremin hero seems to adapt the theremin to function as a controller for guitar hero. The volume antenna controls the note trigger and the pitch antenna controls the note value. If you look at the note screen on the right side of the video, you’ll notice a little orientation arrow indication the selected note.

Impressive hack. If the little guitar shaped controller convinced people to take up guitar lessons, perhaps this game could inspire more people to take theremin lessons. I look forward to the day when throngs of disaffected youth punk-out in packed rooms watching a band stand perfectly still for an hour or more.

          

The game features new instruments, including an octave and half keyboard and a 17-fret guitar w/ six strings.

I’m not going to wax and wane philosophical about whether this is good or bad for music. If it’s a fun game, I think the creators have done good work, but with rumors of midi input adapters– will I be able to play with my DG-20?

More from Joystick:
and CDM: http://createdigitalmusic.com/2010/06/11/rock-band-3-gets-real-keyboard-guitar-and-midi-io/#comments

          

Tristan Perich: 1-Bit Symphony (Part 1: Overview) from Tristan Perich on Vimeo.

Released on a circuit, that’s plugs into an 1/8 inch jack makes this performance piece somewhat hard to describe. It’s not a conventional sound recording because the oscillations are not reproductions of an original source, but are original performance in the sense that all of the synthesis happens live as you listen to the device. Unlike a synthesizer which you’d normally think of as an instrument, it lacks familiar plasticity or interactivity(when used as designed). Instead the musical ensemble itself is packaged for your enjoyment.

http://www.paleofuture.com/blog/2010/5/2/jean-marc-cotes-visions-of-the-year-2000-1899.html

It’s like a postcard from the 1890s proclaiming wild visions of robot orchestras and lives of leisure for their human stewards. Although our interpretation is more subdued than this postcard– a few bits of wires in a white case– it still feels eccentric. Which is a good thing.

1-Bit Symphony official site
Pre-order here release date is 24 Aug 2010.

          

Daedelus “Righteous Fists of Harmony” from DestroyRockMusic Inc. on Vimeo.

The concept is a soundtrack for the boxer rebellion.

From brainfeeder:

After seventy years of China’s opium-related subjugation by Queen
Victoria and her allies, a force of resistance fighters — termed
“Boxers” by the British — rose to the challenge in 1898. Calling
themselves “The Righteous Fists of Harmony,” this secret society of
martial artists felt they held magical powers: they believed
themselves bulletproof, able to fly, and capable of raising the dead
(who would then fight alongside them). And so began the brief Boxer
Rebellion; three years later 100,000 Boxers had fallen, their magic
helpless against the cutting-edge machinery of war. The British
prevailed only to face ultimate defeat, as their empire rapidly
declined.

Daedelus endeavors to compose a requiem for the end — of beliefs, of
lives, and of an era. This elegy for a bygone battle sheds light on
our own contemporary conundrum: will our faith in modernity be our
downfall? Are we blinded by this age of wonders, doomed to be
destroyed by our ingenious inventions? Although Daedelus’ music has
always juxtaposed organic and electronic elements, they war as never
before on “Righteous Fists of Harmony,” a portrait of a tumultuous era
that came crashing to a close.

DAEDELUS – “Righteous Fists of Harmony” Tracklist:
BF006
23 MARCH 2010
Heavy Weight Vinyl / Digital

1. An Armada Approaches
2. Tidal Waves Uprising
3. The Open Hand Avows
4. Order Of The Golden Dawn (featuring Laura Darling)
5. The Finishing of a Thing
6. Succumbing To (featuring Kid A)
7. Stampede Me (with Amir Yaghmai)
8. Fin De Siècle

          

Someone in NYC decided now was future enough and built that building, but this one is for housing people not corporations. 200 Eleventh Avenue is a construction project in NYC’s Chelsea neighborhood that puts a floor level garage attached to each apartment and reachable by elevator.

Fun stuff for those with at least 7 figures in their housing budgets.

          

This video provides a wonderful description of an early sampling based instrument. Every sound was recorded on a tape track and played in sync with the other track. The keys appear to control the tape heads. The instrument has since appeared on an impressive list of popular recordings for such a novel instrument.