This continues from an earlier entry.

The 1st order interface is a system of MIDI and USB interfaces and software patches to send and receive messages to my off-board sound modules and controllers. This includes a GUI in Max/MSP that receives and sends data to my two controllers (ART X-15 and Behringer BCR2000).

Designing this order included studying the MIDI implementation on each piece of gear and writing a Max patch to take advantage of the features including SysEx. The final step was to create a matrix router for the MIDI data.

I can now send to and receive from each device, and I can route MIDI signal flow.

The next step was to start to implement this data and control what it was doing. Read the rest of this entry »

There was an interesting line of discussion going on the Pendulum Blog, if you are inclined to read such things. In one of my lapses of judgment, I made some sweeping statements about music and art.

During a seminar at the ISIM conference, Jane Ira Bloom inquired about the “table” aspect of many computer-instrument interface performance setups. I assume that she was opposed to the idea of being behind a table in performance, especially with the amount of movement that she uses in her work.

Her question opens a line of inquiry in design. I suppose that a person’s performance practice comes into play. A keyboard player would probably be comfortable with a table in front of them on stage. The piano, harpsichord, and electronic keyboard are instruments mounted on tables. The performance tradition of keyboard instruments has developed around this need for a mitigating object between performer and audience.

My performance experience has been split between two worlds:

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I spent the day working on the GUI for the Behringer BCR2000 in Max/MSP.

It is pretty slick. It reacts to anything you do on the actual unit, and changes made to the GUI send out the appropriate MIDI messages.

I figured a few ways to do things better than I did in the original version of the ART X-15 interface, so I overhauled it as well.

Here is an image:

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Photos from my performance at the ISIM conference:

I make funny faces when I play Read the rest of this entry »

This continues a thread from a previous post.

Alright, enough with the gear catalog and reviews.

For analog or analog/digital electric guitar systems, there are three paradigms of signal processing: a pedalboard paradigm, a patch paradigm, and a patch paradigm based on MIDI (that allows for modular pieces of gear to be controlled by a single message) .

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I started the overhaul of the guitar system yesterday. I spent most of the day working on the rack. I rearranged the gear to better reflect the need to easily get at the back of certain pieces of gear, some of which are quite shallow. I used to spend a lot of time trying to find to plugs on the MOTU when it was at the bottom of the rack, and this happens every time I set up. Clearly, that needed to change.

I’m also slowly replacing cables in the rack with Monster and Mogami. This is actually really expensive (there are 30+ patch connections in my rig), so I have to do it a few cables at a time.

Since this is my first entry about my guitar system, I’ll outline what I’m doing. This needs to be documented for some part of my dissertation, so this will serve as a draft for my ideas. I’m brainstorming, so this won’t be in a great format.

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I am now on winter break from CU. I still have a bit of grading to finish, but I can start thinking about projects for the next few weeks.

There are a few things:

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I played a solo set at the ISIM conference this year. It was nice to see some old friends and meet some new ones. I had a wonderful time and thought I’d share some thoughts and memories. These are my daily entries from the last few days.

BV

Sunday, December 16^th.

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I played a solo set at the ISIM conference this year. It was nice to see some old friends and meet some new ones. I had a wonderful time and thought I’d share some thoughts and memories. These are my daily entries from the last few days.

BV

Saturday, December 15^th.

Read the rest of this entry »