Monday, May 28, 2012
the wonder of modern technology
Saturday, November 15, 2008
rjdj ...redux?
rjdj is a nifty little iphone app which creates 'music' out of incoming sound. there's a fascinating video clip on the developer site, an outtake from G4's 'attack of the show' in which the two hosts get visibly excited by the app's reaction to their audio input.
in a way, this excitement is more interesting to me than the app itself - i remember an Eno interview where he went off on a concept a collaborator of his called 'idiot glee' when asked to describe the state of mind that he considered most important to creating art...
in a way, this excitement is more interesting to me than the app itself - i remember an Eno interview where he went off on a concept a collaborator of his called 'idiot glee' when asked to describe the state of mind that he considered most important to creating art...
Sunday, November 2, 2008
a club website leads to musings about audience...
i was pointed at 'awdio' recently, and have been finding it a pretty interesting concept.
near as i can tell, it's an accumulator for live streams, specifically clubs which are strewn all over the planet. eventually it'll host things such as DJ [and i'd assume also key 'party people'] profiles.
although this site's pretty far removed from what i'd define as an interactive creative site, it's got a lot of elements which i believe will give it traction -
it references a global, persistent phenomenon which traditionally attracts audience.
it provides a sense of self and place within cyberspace.
it provides 'free music' with realtime validity that netradio doesn't seem to capture.
...not sure if i'll continue nattering about this sort of thing, as i think it's peripheral to the reasons i decided to start quietly blogging about this stuff, but i do think it's interesting.
btw, i'll offer something else: i'm active on a 'new and experimental music' list based out here on the left coast of america, and have been somewhat engaged in an interesting _opposing_ argument about immediacy and audience. what i find really interesting is the very self-oriented stance of many of the artists on this list. when asked about 'audience', they respond speaking about themselves. when the issue of 'audience' is forced, the response is dismissive - that 'audience' is some sort of occult thing that cannot be defined, or collected.
i feel that this touches on one of the core issues in social interactivity and art - that the demands on the artist tend to force one into a very egocentric model, else they cannot 'create'. once in that mode, the artist is sort of stuck - he or she is forced to stay there, essentially denying the outreach which would enable them to extend one friend into three audience members who in turn become friends, creating nine more audience members, etc.
admittedly, i'm speaking from an idealist perspective - the truth is that one friend does not automatically yield three people who come to live shows, or purchase tunes, or even listen. it's very difficult to force individual creative work on people who are saturated with the stuff - i'm that way myself: often, i'll find myself coming home and turning OFF music, REFUSING to watch videos, NOT reading. it's just too draining these days, what with the stress of making a living, etc.
at times like these, i find that it's better to just go out into the yard and look at the plants, or sit and enjoy the quiet.
this is a very rambling blog, and i didn't anticipate being led into this subject by referencing a global live-PA accumulator community [in fact, one of the banner buttons on awdio is a link to a local all-night club called the endup . i drove by there at about 0800 this morning and am listening to the feed as i type].
no conclusion to offer here, just musing about how this thing relates to peoples' interest, and how that interest might refract down to a globe full of practitioners creating beats in realtime, separated by timezone and geography, but united in practice...
yeah; dream on, right?
near as i can tell, it's an accumulator for live streams, specifically clubs which are strewn all over the planet. eventually it'll host things such as DJ [and i'd assume also key 'party people'] profiles.
although this site's pretty far removed from what i'd define as an interactive creative site, it's got a lot of elements which i believe will give it traction -
it references a global, persistent phenomenon which traditionally attracts audience.
it provides a sense of self and place within cyberspace.
it provides 'free music' with realtime validity that netradio doesn't seem to capture.
...not sure if i'll continue nattering about this sort of thing, as i think it's peripheral to the reasons i decided to start quietly blogging about this stuff, but i do think it's interesting.
btw, i'll offer something else: i'm active on a 'new and experimental music' list based out here on the left coast of america, and have been somewhat engaged in an interesting _opposing_ argument about immediacy and audience. what i find really interesting is the very self-oriented stance of many of the artists on this list. when asked about 'audience', they respond speaking about themselves. when the issue of 'audience' is forced, the response is dismissive - that 'audience' is some sort of occult thing that cannot be defined, or collected.
i feel that this touches on one of the core issues in social interactivity and art - that the demands on the artist tend to force one into a very egocentric model, else they cannot 'create'. once in that mode, the artist is sort of stuck - he or she is forced to stay there, essentially denying the outreach which would enable them to extend one friend into three audience members who in turn become friends, creating nine more audience members, etc.
admittedly, i'm speaking from an idealist perspective - the truth is that one friend does not automatically yield three people who come to live shows, or purchase tunes, or even listen. it's very difficult to force individual creative work on people who are saturated with the stuff - i'm that way myself: often, i'll find myself coming home and turning OFF music, REFUSING to watch videos, NOT reading. it's just too draining these days, what with the stress of making a living, etc.
at times like these, i find that it's better to just go out into the yard and look at the plants, or sit and enjoy the quiet.
this is a very rambling blog, and i didn't anticipate being led into this subject by referencing a global live-PA accumulator community [in fact, one of the banner buttons on awdio is a link to a local all-night club called the endup . i drove by there at about 0800 this morning and am listening to the feed as i type].
no conclusion to offer here, just musing about how this thing relates to peoples' interest, and how that interest might refract down to a globe full of practitioners creating beats in realtime, separated by timezone and geography, but united in practice...
yeah; dream on, right?
Thursday, October 23, 2008
tragedy of the myspace commons
thanks to carlos for this link:
http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/25/technology/myspace.fortune/
as far as i'm concerned, myspace is a 'major label'. for entities like that, independent artists are natural growth, and don't require tending or attention.
in fact, i'd have to assume that there is an internal notion that it is the indie's _job_ to supply myspace with content and not get uppity about how it is promoted or distributed.
they do, after all, provide free webspace for artists to advertise themselves...isn't that enough?
next up, 'pay to play'. NOT!
;)
http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/25/technology/myspace.fortune/
as far as i'm concerned, myspace is a 'major label'. for entities like that, independent artists are natural growth, and don't require tending or attention.
in fact, i'd have to assume that there is an internal notion that it is the indie's _job_ to supply myspace with content and not get uppity about how it is promoted or distributed.
they do, after all, provide free webspace for artists to advertise themselves...isn't that enough?
next up, 'pay to play'. NOT!
;)
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
interactive audio wiki
...i was just chatting with one of the participants here about setting up a wiki to deal with the many things we're finding. big DOH. i looked more closely at one of the pages i've been reading, and instantly found one
...not _quite_ what i wanted, so maybe there's call for another, perhaps a dedicated public forum. any opinions?
...not _quite_ what i wanted, so maybe there's call for another, perhaps a dedicated public forum. any opinions?
how to justify interactive music forms
imvho it'll be a combination of:
1- new delivery mechanisms and formats which maintain creator identity of component parts.
2- automated systems which use AI to track shared media and report back, either directly to the artist or to something like paypal,
i.e.: fully automated micro and nano-economies designed to ensure proper credit.
[in other words - if i create a drumloop which is used in someone's song, every time someone 'buys' or 'rents' that tune, i get a few nano-cents. if it's distributed free of charge, i get 'whuffie'
3- a 'walled garden' approach to creative content, i.e. virtual 'club' environments which limit distribution of said formats above, possibly restrict distribution to 'rendered' and static forms, such as mp3s...
4- a subculture of endusers who _willfully reject_ popular entertainments such as Britney Spears. in much the same way that we have 'hip hop' fans and 'country' fans today, we'd probably have 'creative commons hip hop' fans and 'mashup country' fans who are allied to specific 'accumulator' websites and online 'media stations', themselves yet to be invented, i think...
1- new delivery mechanisms and formats which maintain creator identity of component parts.
2- automated systems which use AI to track shared media and report back, either directly to the artist or to something like paypal,
i.e.: fully automated micro and nano-economies designed to ensure proper credit.
[in other words - if i create a drumloop which is used in someone's song, every time someone 'buys' or 'rents' that tune, i get a few nano-cents. if it's distributed free of charge, i get 'whuffie'
3- a 'walled garden' approach to creative content, i.e. virtual 'club' environments which limit distribution of said formats above, possibly restrict distribution to 'rendered' and static forms, such as mp3s...
4- a subculture of endusers who _willfully reject_ popular entertainments such as Britney Spears. in much the same way that we have 'hip hop' fans and 'country' fans today, we'd probably have 'creative commons hip hop' fans and 'mashup country' fans who are allied to specific 'accumulator' websites and online 'media stations', themselves yet to be invented, i think...
Friday, October 17, 2008
Interactive eXtensible Music Format
been a lot of work on interactive music done over the last few decades. the use and application was VERY obscure, mostly stuff you heard on college campuses, or perhaps locked deep in a computer lab in the basement of said college.
when i was doing soundtrack work for videogames in the 80s and 90s, the idea of an everchanging background score was a sort of 'holy grail' for many composers.
in general it was hard slogging work, semi-successful and just not worth the cost in time or money.
several of us persevered, however. tom white of the MMA has supported this wild-eyed stuff since the mid-90s, worked with chris grigg to establish a working group devoted to the subject, and it's just now being ratified. here are links to the original work, and i think the most recent mentions are here.
additional information relating to the Interactive Audio Special Interest Group can be found here.
...this isn't very easy to digest. it's important foundation, though, as it touches on MANY issues that composers are about to face - for example, if a music format which is itself a 'container' for many files can be deployed as a generic solution, those individual sounds and control data are portable, and identifiable. within that notion, it suddenly becomes possible [and mandatory] to work out how to 'watermark' things like authored phrases, hooks, drum samples, etc so that the original creators can be credited.
further, it's important to make sure that creators get that credit. if one 'collaborator' gets paid, everyone should. end of subject.
the music industry currently enjoys a lot of slop in how they account for individual creative work. amidst all the hullaballoo about sampling, many practitioners never see profit for their work, itself simply appropriated and used by someone else and if they're caught, then they must be sued. ...and that costs money, and most people who make music do not make enough money to justify the time or cost to pursue legal action.
ASCAP and BMI play hob with composers/creators. unless you're a big artist with big lawyers, you don't get proper accounting for royalties, and often your royalties go to other composers with more prominence, or even to 'services' of questionable worth.
this is a subject worthy of its own blog, way too big for us to even want to approach.
...but i think that it should be considered in the background - if i make an 'interactive music' piece, hand said piece off to strangers and someone else takes my work to create an 'original object' that yields profit, i'm part of that process, and i should be rewarded.
not so much for ethics, or profit, but to maintain _my_ inspiration so that i can continue to inspire others...
i'm digressing, so i'll just leave it at that for now. lemme know if the linked articles cause any headaches... :D
when i was doing soundtrack work for videogames in the 80s and 90s, the idea of an everchanging background score was a sort of 'holy grail' for many composers.
in general it was hard slogging work, semi-successful and just not worth the cost in time or money.
several of us persevered, however. tom white of the MMA has supported this wild-eyed stuff since the mid-90s, worked with chris grigg to establish a working group devoted to the subject, and it's just now being ratified. here are links to the original work, and i think the most recent mentions are here.
additional information relating to the Interactive Audio Special Interest Group can be found here.
...this isn't very easy to digest. it's important foundation, though, as it touches on MANY issues that composers are about to face - for example, if a music format which is itself a 'container' for many files can be deployed as a generic solution, those individual sounds and control data are portable, and identifiable. within that notion, it suddenly becomes possible [and mandatory] to work out how to 'watermark' things like authored phrases, hooks, drum samples, etc so that the original creators can be credited.
further, it's important to make sure that creators get that credit. if one 'collaborator' gets paid, everyone should. end of subject.
the music industry currently enjoys a lot of slop in how they account for individual creative work. amidst all the hullaballoo about sampling, many practitioners never see profit for their work, itself simply appropriated and used by someone else and if they're caught, then they must be sued. ...and that costs money, and most people who make music do not make enough money to justify the time or cost to pursue legal action.
ASCAP and BMI play hob with composers/creators. unless you're a big artist with big lawyers, you don't get proper accounting for royalties, and often your royalties go to other composers with more prominence, or even to 'services' of questionable worth.
this is a subject worthy of its own blog, way too big for us to even want to approach.
...but i think that it should be considered in the background - if i make an 'interactive music' piece, hand said piece off to strangers and someone else takes my work to create an 'original object' that yields profit, i'm part of that process, and i should be rewarded.
not so much for ethics, or profit, but to maintain _my_ inspiration so that i can continue to inspire others...
i'm digressing, so i'll just leave it at that for now. lemme know if the linked articles cause any headaches... :D
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