Photographic evidence of my being at the Potteries HackSpace:
I’m working on (fixing and) making some alterations to my Vibrati Punk Console using reclaimed switches and stuff…
I had planned to use a reclaimed LED, but found that new ones are so much brighter for the same energy usage!
Laurence Counihan clicking a heart shaped glyph today triggered a notification to me that brought one of my video recordings form 2010 to my attention… I couldn’t remember what
happens in ‘live code Max MSP 20100220‘, so I watched it again.
I saw that Counihan had also clicked ‘like’ on Max/MSP Live Coding #2 from Kingsley Ash, of which I had been aware when recording in 2010:
Max/MSP Live Coding #2 from Kingsley Ash on Vimeo.
Using a buffer with variable speed record (poke~) and playback (index~) to generate sounds. Some really interesting noises using a very small number of objects, but the controls are unpredictable and sometimes slip out of range.
The subject of live coding is trending in my mind at the moment as I prepare for a number of things that happen or start in the next few weeks… rambling on that and those to follow (perhaps).
I don’t think I had seen this one before today, I’ve both clicked the ‘like button’ and added it to improvithing :
MaxMSP Live Coding nr.2 from Edo Paulus on Vimeo.
A realtime performance of creating a Max-patch, starting from zero.
The Rules:
– You have 6 minutes to build a Max-patch and do a performance with it.
– Start with an empty patch.
– Only use the standard objects that are part of Max/MSP/Jitter.
– Don't use externals, pre-build external datafiles, help files, or anything of that kind.
Personal interest here extends to the following observations:
The date 20100220 (used as title) is significant to me because it is the day before 20100221 which has been discussed in my thesis in connection the work that began in live code practice and later was given the name sub synth amp map… The video from Paulus above fits the same pattern of construction as sub synth amp map because it begins with the building of a soundmaking algorithm, a visual representation of data generated in that algorithm is then added, and then the algorithm is edited to control the (now audiovisual) output.
an impromptu neighborly jam in the street;
a soloist with circles and circles and lines;
a duo in front of a green screen soon after first meeting;
the documented cacophony of a shared space and time;
edited improvisations on an EMS VCS 3 synthesizer;
improvithing: improvised things and improvising (a newly created collection on vimeo)
77 of 250 videos that were found by searching vimeo for ‘improvised’:
Continuing, and completing, looking back at the collection of ‘improvised’ video offerings that have accumulated on vimeo in the past few weeks (not including the past few days – I’ll have to get to that tomorrow!), and contemplating possible destinations for this research…
This CreativePact would have ended today-ish, but because I did not get even close to a post a day in the past 30 days, I’m planning to continue through to the end of September. What started out as a vague intention to re-engage with the inclusive improv thing from a different perspective seems to have become some sort of exercise in analysis of contemporary praxis as viewed through a very narrow slice of the internet.
That narrow slice is represented by this url: https://vimeo.com/search/sort:date/format:thumbnail?q=improvised
That data is then filtered by the changing and evolving subjective parameters of what I consider to be found examples of improvised content in the videos returned by that search, and thus has become a neural entanglement of thought patterns within my skull. As the effort of not ignoring ‘those 250 videos’ (see previous posts) comes to a close, I wonder how best to externalise some the observations being made…
In the meantime, the promised list of listed video links is the next step…
never mind why, here’s what: each page shows ten links to videos as image and title pairs, they don’t all fit on screen so one must scroll down to see them all; whilst scrolling, some of the linked video pages are clicked in such a way that they load in new tabs; at the end of the ten there are navigational links for loading the next ten, but before doing that, the opened tabs are visited one at a time; (I have attempted to play multiple videos at once, but vimeo is programmed to suppress such behaviour) the description under the video player is looked at, translated if necessary, and then maybe the video is played; usually the video is watched attentively, headphones on for audio, and usually the session is over when attention is spent, but of late i have pushed to sometimes skipping ahead in time within the video; when starting these 250 I decided to use the ‘watch later’ feature of the medium to save the ones that I’d like to see on the inclusive improv list; (it would be cool by me if they were added, but I’m unlikely to add them; maybe when i get back far enough in time to have looked over these 250 I’ll go back to page one and two (and maybe three by then) and maybe add something from there; as those that made it to the watch later list… i’ll create a text file of their numbers and process that somehow for sharing) the open tabs are closed in the browser until only the search results remain, where the ‘next page’ link is ready to load another ten…
September is here – it’s the traditional month for CreativePact – and in the two weeks or so since I last posted there have been about 250 videos uploaded to vimeo that are returned by a search for ‘improvised’, sorted by date.
On the CreativePact side of things, it’s clear that I’m just not focussed enough to keep up a daily routine; I did it in 2010 – see sdfhtml5.blogspot.co.uk – and maybe next year I’ll choose a more proper project with less ambiguity and more creative incentive. This year’s CreativePact project by Adam Jansch has been a joy to drop in on as a reader/listener from time to time; this one in particular:
Adam has also been the driving force behind the continuation of CreativePact for the past four years.
I recently posted on this blog (but not as part of CreativePact) link to a video excerpt from a lecture by Kim Cascone, and that took me to thinking about what is the message of the medium of vimeo? . . . as with so many things, one is able to connect with, and through it in multiple ways . . .
But what of those 250 search results? I skipped ahead and found the last video I recognised at the top of page 26; there are ten video links per page, which is where the number 250 came from… I am today scanning through each page, and watching some of the videos… it is still a mystery to me just what criteria for selection are being acted upon, but the process is both intellectually stimulating and (in its own way) rewarding: I am becoming more conscious of the analytical frameworks by which I attempt to objectify the subjectivity of experience . . . but there are far more interesting things to talk about to…
dot dot dot the trouble now is that I am, perhaps, over stimulated: so many parallel ideas germinating; a blathering stream of consciousness being written – post ends.
After noticing that Kirby Ferguson has released the first part of his long-in-the-making new documentary series This is Not a Conspiracy Theory, I noticed that the series (which included some work-in-progress updates that were published over the last six months) is available through the on demand area of vimeo. The price is $12 for the whole series.
Ferguson is known to me because of the Everything is a Remix series which began in September 2010. The quality of that work is very high, from multiple points of view; not only are the videos well produced, there is also a wealth of supporting documentation with sources being cited for the information used. In February this year I compiled a list of links to that information: samuelfreeman.me.uk/stuff/EverythingRemixLinks/
Everything is a Remix is licensed with a creative commons license, but it is not at all clear what license is used for the current This is not a Conspiracy Theory series.
I do not object to paying to view work, but I am uncomfortable with the apparent lack of detailed information about what it is that I would be paying for… In particular, would I be permitted by the licensing of this series to screen the videos to a group of people in an educational context? – I have no idea if I’d want to do that or not, because I have not yet seen the new videos…
after some busy days, it’s time to get back to this CreativePact thing…
On the 16th (two days ago) I had a quick look back at some of the ‘improvised’ videos that had been uploaded to (using this search url) and bookmarked some of them. One of those is no longer available; this one is from a 2009 performance and includes a number of edits; and two of the others are constructed as video edits (of improvised dance) arranged to non-improvised music; finally there are three that are of instrumentalists playing on camera (synths, guitar, guitar and bass), and the third of these – because of the inset video layering (see embedded below) – reminded me of a 4-track improvised video piece that I created last year…
At Last – 1963 Gretsch Double Anniversary 6117 archtop guitar – 1978 Fender Jazz Bass Fretless from franco1953meta on Vimeo.
Here’s the thing it reminded me of:
uke-yello from Samuel Freeman on Vimeo.
26 October 2013, Marsh, Huddersfield.
Both to take a break from thesis writing (i.e. procrastinate) and to confront the fact that I have never really got on with the ukulele as an instrument, the video here is an experiment that follows a process that I have employed several times before: using the built-in mic on the laptop overdubs are re recorded (with little or no rehearsal) whilst the previously recorded audio is allow to bleed through to the new recording (headphones are not used).
For this video the QuickTime Player (10.0) software was used, first to record direct from the built-in camera and built-in mic, and then on three more takes to record the desktop (screen-casting) whilst the camera input is visible alongside the previously recorded video.
The audio heard here is a stereo mix that was made by taking the audio out of the four videos that were recorded during the process.
…and then today, after deciding to actually post uke-yello I repeated the recent uploads search and found this:
The Calm Night Air (Ukulele Improvisation) from Stephen Froeber on Vimeo.
This is a Tenor Ukulele Improvisation that I recorded in one take while in South Korea.
Recently uploaded:
Kim Cascone – Huddersfield Lecture 2011 from Rob Lycett on Vimeo.
Part-recording of a lecture by Kim Cascone
University of Huddersfield19th May 2011
An earlier section of this talk is quoted in my PhD thesis (§3.7.5).
I have been AFK for most of this week, but there has still been activity on the inclusive improv group in that time:
The description of this one tells of the work undertaken to restore guitars that are have been abandoned or neglected… to someone who has a slowly growing collection of such instruments, this (which is part of a series of) video(s) inspires in multiple ways:
Alain’s Guitars – Impro #1: Ouverture from Josue Febles on Vimeo.
Guitar: "MUNDIA-MUSIC" West Germany (1960/65)
EN: Some years ago my friend Alain decided he wanted to do something to rescue the lives of the poor, beaten, badly mistreated and often broken guitars he sees at street markets. He's become a self taught luthier since then. Alain always asks me to test his rescued guitars and tell him what I think. Some of the instruments he saves end up having a pretty good sound.
I love the principle of bringing those poor guitars back to life – I made 2 entire albums with one that only cost him 2 Euros -and a lot of work! The last time I saw Alain, I thought it would be good to do something else with his guitars. I spent an evening improvising on the ones that had the most appealing sound to me. We would've loved to film it outdoors, but it felt like Autumn in July! So we stayed at his place instead. These videos are the result. I'm calling this series: Alain's Guitars.FR: Il ya quelques années, mon ami Alain a décidé qu'il voulait faire quelque chose pour sauver la vie des pauvres, et souvent maltraitées guitares qu'il voit sur les marchés de rue. Il est devenu un luthier autodidacte depuis. Alain me demande toujours de tester ses guitares et lui dire ce que j'en pense. Certains de ces instruments finissent par avoir un très bon son.
J'aime le principe de redonner de la vie a ces pauvres guitares – j'ai fait deux albums entiers avec une que lui a coûté seulement 2 euros (et pas mal de travail ) .La dernière fois que j'ai vu Alain, j'ai pensé qu'il serait bon de faire autre chose. J'ai passé une soirée a improviser sur celles qui avaient le son le plus attrayant pour moi. Nous aurions aimé filmer à l'extérieur, mais c'était l' Automne en Juillet! Donc nous sommes restés chez lui. Ces vidéos en sont le résultat.
A few technical hitches with rendering the video for this one… here’s a preview posted here whilst sorting that out:
The video is now uploaded:
Showing an improvised melodica part to an experimental work in progress titled ‘stretch’.
About the work: Five stereo sound recordings (of around ten seconds to two minutes duration) have been stretched to a duration of around 12 to 14 minutes; the digital audio workstation (DAW, in this case Reaper) maintains the pitch content of the original sounds, with some audible artefacts being introduced by the processing. The exact length chosen as the final duration for each of these five tracks was selected with some visual reference to their waveform displays in the DAW. Four of the five recordings were then pitch-shifted to roughly ‘tune’ them to the reference spectra of the first one recorded. This tuning was done quickly and with little thought, the Photosounder Spiral plugin (as shown on the right in this video) was used to observe the spectra of the sounds during this activity. A melodica part was then recorded as an improvisation, performed whilst listening to the mix (on headphones) and watching the spectrum analysis which was interpreted as a real-time score of sorts, suggesting the notes that could be played. After being recorded the changing spectrum of the melodica improv was also observed, this time using the Photosounder SpiralCM plugin (seen on the left in the video). An offset of pitch (-16 cent) was applied to the melodica in order to better align the fundamental frequency of each note to 12TET (twelve-tone equal-temperament). Some artificial reverb was also applied to the melodica recording, in lieu of the artefacts introduced by the extreme time-stretching on the other parts.
To see what’s new, and possibly on topic, I used again the search URL posted yesterday…
There are 16 more videos atop of the ones found yesterday, here’s a selected few of them – in the sequence that they were viewed – one is added to the inclusive improv group collection.
Seeing the title ‘Improvising Consciousness lecture test’ I quite expected a test recording of an improvised lecture about consciousness, but it is a planned, prepared and edited together delivery of what would seem to be a new series of lectures on the subject:
At first the edits away from the improvised music, in the this next video, were perceived as interrupting, but the context they give to the project is welcome. Work by Hali Santamas was brought to mind by the book of photography accompanied by a CD of music described here:
Both Miklos’ Musical Odyssey from nicky almasy on Vimeo.
The momentum of this film that all music is improvised in it. The musicians didn't discuss anything just sat down and started to play. We were shooting around Yunnan Province, China where Hungarian guitarist Both Miklos was collecting folk melodies from locals. We were going from village to village, town to town with him and a sound engineer. He found this Tibetian singer, Yang Ji Ma, we arranged a session with her and this was the result.
“Improvisations électroacoustiques et vocales“:
Lastly,’improvisation # 2′, which I only scanned through:
improvisation # 2 from kimsungik on Vimeo.
2
A quick one today… I did a simple search (no filters) on vimeo for ‘improvised’ sorted the results by date:
http://vimeo.com/search/sort:date/format:thumbnail?q=Improvised
The video I uploaded 22 hours ago was seventh in the results, and the one called ‘random landscape’ was uploaded around the same time:
Here it is: