Three Things: Pure Data, Alternative Music, and AV Club (EC performance)
First of all, I'm sorry that this blog post is so late, but I wanted to incorperate all of this week's events into my post. It's been a busy week for Digital Media Studio, and there's a lot to talk about.
Pure Data
In all honesty, I've only been able to do a couple of experiments with Pure Data. I was able to use the tutorial on how to create the simple synth (http://en.flossmanuals.net/PureData/SimpleSynthIntroduction) and I've been experimenting with different types of oscillations. I think that someone else may have pointed this out, but Pure Data is a vastly complex program, and I'm still not exactly sure of what can be done with it. I feel that, in terms of reproducing synth sound, there may be simpler programs with a more targeted approach. I see that it has far reaching potential, as demonstrated by its use in changing stage lights based on input factors, but at my current point in digital media studio, it's nothing more than a simple synth. If I were to continue further with Pure Data for a future project, I think that I'd have to come by office hours to learn a bit more about its applications.
Alternative Music
In class last monday, we began the discussion of alternative music history, starting with The Velvet Underground. I have been a fan of The Velvet Underground for quite some time but I never really considered their place in the evolution of musical composition. In freshman year, I took History of Rock and Roll, which took the more mainstream view of music, so it was interesting to see music history from this side. History of Rock was heavily focused on the works of Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys, and considered them to be the most influential band of the time. In my opinion, it's hard not to consider Pet Sounds to be influential when it threatened the Beatles' iron grip on the music scene. Of course, now that I have a good idea of when the The Velvet Underground was around, it's easy to see how they could be considered influential in the alternative music scene.
AV Club Performance
I went into the AV Club performance not knowing what to expect. Gathering from what the Professor had shown us, and the classroom's interesting set-up itself, I knew that I was in for something completely different from anything I had ever seen before. I was absolutely correct. While I can't say that all of it was what I'd normally listen to, I will say that it was a great experience to see such different takes on art and music. Ironing was really fascinating, and I liked how he used multiple records cut into different shapes and stacked on top of each other to re-create the process of mixing records without having to use a mixer. Of course, the other highlight of this performance was the extremely fascinating image generator program. I'd love to see this in use at concerts and raves, because it adds a totally new aspect to a performance that I've never even been able to imagine. My other favorite piece was Ars Phoenix. They seemed heavily influenced by another band I like, V and V Nation. The guitarist was excellent, and I felt that the electronica compisition was perfectly atmospheric and mesmerising. I would definitely like to see them again.
Pure Data
In all honesty, I've only been able to do a couple of experiments with Pure Data. I was able to use the tutorial on how to create the simple synth (http://en.flossmanuals.net/PureData/SimpleSynthIntroduction) and I've been experimenting with different types of oscillations. I think that someone else may have pointed this out, but Pure Data is a vastly complex program, and I'm still not exactly sure of what can be done with it. I feel that, in terms of reproducing synth sound, there may be simpler programs with a more targeted approach. I see that it has far reaching potential, as demonstrated by its use in changing stage lights based on input factors, but at my current point in digital media studio, it's nothing more than a simple synth. If I were to continue further with Pure Data for a future project, I think that I'd have to come by office hours to learn a bit more about its applications.
Alternative Music
In class last monday, we began the discussion of alternative music history, starting with The Velvet Underground. I have been a fan of The Velvet Underground for quite some time but I never really considered their place in the evolution of musical composition. In freshman year, I took History of Rock and Roll, which took the more mainstream view of music, so it was interesting to see music history from this side. History of Rock was heavily focused on the works of Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys, and considered them to be the most influential band of the time. In my opinion, it's hard not to consider Pet Sounds to be influential when it threatened the Beatles' iron grip on the music scene. Of course, now that I have a good idea of when the The Velvet Underground was around, it's easy to see how they could be considered influential in the alternative music scene.
AV Club Performance
I went into the AV Club performance not knowing what to expect. Gathering from what the Professor had shown us, and the classroom's interesting set-up itself, I knew that I was in for something completely different from anything I had ever seen before. I was absolutely correct. While I can't say that all of it was what I'd normally listen to, I will say that it was a great experience to see such different takes on art and music. Ironing was really fascinating, and I liked how he used multiple records cut into different shapes and stacked on top of each other to re-create the process of mixing records without having to use a mixer. Of course, the other highlight of this performance was the extremely fascinating image generator program. I'd love to see this in use at concerts and raves, because it adds a totally new aspect to a performance that I've never even been able to imagine. My other favorite piece was Ars Phoenix. They seemed heavily influenced by another band I like, V and V Nation. The guitarist was excellent, and I felt that the electronica compisition was perfectly atmospheric and mesmerising. I would definitely like to see them again.
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