One of the photographers in our show sent me the link to her online album, they are wonderful wonderful pictures of us and our instruments.
http://public.fotki.com/po0pie/events/parsons-instruments/
Enjoy!
taken by Melissa Hom
melissahom@gmail.com
best,
Kyle
@ soho open house video 2
<prototype>
i really like the sound quality of tape recording, so i knew for my final instrument i wanted to do something with tapes. i always carry around a tape recorder and “document” sounds/conversations. i never really listen to them; i just always thought i’d use them for a sound sample in something that i make in the future. also, this semester i’ve been fascinated with musique concrete, so that was sort of an inspiration. i made a few tape loops, and was really looking forward to making a somewhat ambient composition, inspired by brian eno. i wanted to create a diy sample player, and make sound samples, and have the ability to control when the sounds come in and come out of the composition. i looked at this website: http://www.mysterycircuits.com/melloman/melloman.html but everything seemed very confusing to me because i never really did anything with circuits before. then i found this video, i emailed those guys and they were nice enough to send me a pdf of their project, yay. then i went and bought a lot of walkmen and make little switches which basically just controlled the battery. simple simple, then DV and i recorded sound samples, we made a sample using the synthesizer, and then i also used the sound of crumpling paper, scratching, etc. then, i distorted the sound by touching the playhead. i was actually really pleased with the end result. i’ll post some sound samples later because i don’t have them with me!
This semester has been plagued with sucess and failure in my world of musical resistance!
Success!
^this is a little precussion instrument i called “mothra” because mike gave me godzilla stickers for it and it sounds like a monster through reverb. i used it like a rainstick and a shaker. i also ate the rice in it a couple days after the show haha.
^ this is my little resonator string instrument. its made from tuning pegs, some scrap wood, garden wire, and a ginormous altoid tin!
^ heres some pictures of the tentatively titled “timebomb” which was a mattel synsonic drum pad i was circuit bending. it had an LDR controlling the volume and another controlling the pitch. it met an untimely demise when i found a really neat sounding overdrive kinda bend. turns out after like 30 seconds of doing this it fried the whole thing :(
http://a.parsons.edu/~owofford/misterresistor/ohalInstrument.mov
this is a short video demonstrating the tweaking and beeping capabilities of my hand made instrument. the oscillators are gated and the chain reaction is triggered by light. the pitch is higher when there is a lot of light and vice versa. i also added two potentiometers (one for volume) but one day they started behaving rather erratically so its hard to define what they do exactly.
this post is a follow-up to this one:
http://www.doot.com/resistor07/?p=146
Some of you might be interested in interning next semester at Harvestworks center for digital media in SoHo:
Internships
Harvestworks offers unpaid internships with a minimum commitment of
120 hours, working one day a week. In return for time worked,
interns can take up to two classes in our education program (pending
availability), take part in our “Interns Teach Interns” program, and
receive access to lab equipment free of charge. Individual
arrangements (e.g. in compliance with the requirements of your
school) up to a full-time position can be made if necessary. Interns
may work on the administrative aspects of the organization, but
based upon their background, interests, and the availability of
projects, interns may also work on audio, video or other technical
projects, teach other interns, assist clients or students, do
marketing for Harvestworks, write press releases, and maintain our
computer lab. We are interested in specialists in Max/MSP/Jitter,
Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro, and other digital media tools.There are no forms: applications should include a full work and/or
artistic resume and a cover letter describing interests, skills,
term for which applying and what days you would be available. After
initial review, qualified applicants will be contacted for an
interview.We prefer that applications are emailed (in plain text format) to hanst@harvestworks.org
Please don’t send work samples. The next internship term is January through April.
This is a song we will be playing at the concert. Enjoy.
We offer you a sneak preview of our upcoming album; Xing Raw Live.
I am building a machine that will be able to play multiple pre-recorded samples from audio tape attached to the outside of a rotating cylinder. In concept this is something like a mellotron which is a keyboard that plays a different tape for each key. On the Mellotron the samples were typically the same sound at a different pitch for each key. My machine will not have a keyboard but instead a tape head that can be slid back and forth to rest on different tape samples. The different samples will probably consist of different pitches but will probably have various sound sources. One note might be a violin, the next a singing voice. Some of the tracks may have beats but these will probably have to be made up of bits of tape arranged in a regularly spaced pattern rather than a prerecorded beat on a continuous tape because the physical length of the beat on the tape would have to exactly match the circumference of the cylinder.
the machine:
Mechanically the machine is coming along fine. The cylinder is rotating on its axle. The motor is mounted and driving the cylinder via a rubber belt. The tape head is mounted on a small swing arm that slides back and forth across the surface of the drum. The little arm swings freely up and down so that gravity will keep it in contact with the surface of the drum. The user will slide it back and forth to select the tape. I am mounting the entire mini-cassette player that I took the head out of on the machine since I don’t want to figure out which parts of the circuitry are needed and which aren’t.
the tape head/arm:
Three important things remain to work out.
1. I need to make a speed control. Currently it’s running on a cell phone tranformer which gives a very
steady 5.2 VDC. The motor can run on up to 12VDC, maybe more. I need to get a higher voltage tranformer and put a simple voltage divider with a potentiometer to give me variable speed control. This is going to be important because if this thing will have any possiblity for expressive performance, it will probably come from having subtle and sensitive speed control. I will probably run it through a (homemade) volume pedal as well for a little extra performance control.
2. I need to record the content, the actual sounds. This is obviously going to have the largest effect on the ultimate sound of the machine. If I can lay my hands on a reel to reel taper recorder I hope to try that out in order to get wider and perhaps higher output tracks on the tape. The recorded tracks on a cassette are extremely narrow. There are actually 4 tracks on a tape abut 1/4” wide. I think a two track ¼” tape such as most reel to reels would make it easier to really get the head over the recorded sound.
The choice of sounds is more of a question at this point. I plan to record the sounds myself but some of them could be samples of existing music.
3. I need to figure out the best way to attach pieces of tape to the surface of the drum. I’m thinking of spray mount.
Some technical details:
The motor is a “gear head motor” which is like a normal DC motor but with a gear assembly that reduces the RPMs. This is an excellent type of motor for many applications because it delivers much more power at a more useful speed. Most DC motors run at hundreds or thousands of RPMs. Motors with gear reduction can run at much lower speeds. I got mine on eBay. Its range is between 100 and 200 RPMs.
For the drive belt I used a piece of a bicycle inner tube. Inner tubes are a great resource for any type of rubber belt or band. Cross sections make a very strong and super-durable rubber band of whatever width is needed. Using a tire patching kit, any strip of inner tube can be glued to itself to form a longer band of whatever size (not as strong as a cross section).
This is a sketch of my instrument which is still under construction. I added a rail for changing the pitches more easily.
thought:
I decided to build my music instrument with a set of phototransisters (light sensors) and a paper shredder. A paper shredder serves as the last stop for a piece of used paper. Music Shredder generates music tones from the content of the used paper before it turns to shreds. It is like to play from a sheet music, the difference is that Music Shredder is an irreversible process, every piece of paper only has one chance to shine.
precedent:
my final project has been going rather slow. i am still not sure what the final product will look like but i started making simple oscillators circuits and hopefully by the end of this week i will be able to put together a few oscillators that modulate each other. I attempted (and failed) to modify one of the oscillators circuits i’ve made to a distorted preamp. this has been discouraging and although I can follow most of the explanations in the book, i still don’t completely understand how to read the diagrams. I hope that toward the end of the semester as I acquire better capabilities in circuitry making, I will be able to somehow combine the modulating oscillators with a live sound input (guitar, voice, etc.) thus, creating a primitive sort of effect pedal for voice or instrument.
we are team ‘Plan B’ again.
DT is offering soldering workshops – highly recommended if you’re interested in physical computing and electronics. Check it out:
Please RSVP to wilcoxj at newschool.edu for ONE SESSION. There is space for 10 participants per session:
10th Floor Lab, 2 W 13th St.
Session 1: October 27 12PM to 6PM
Session 2: November 3 12PM to 6PM
SOLDERING WORKSHOP:
Got a great idea for your thesis final that incorporates electronics? Want that project to work every time you fire it up AND fit neatly into a sharp looking project box? Or maybe you want to improve your soldering skills and learn some effective tricks. Either way, this soldering workshop is for you. You will build up a circuit on your breadboard [556 dual timer in A-Stable and Mono-Stable mode http://electronics.joelmurphy.net/556%20Timer.htm] and transfer it to a perforated PCB that fits into a Super Cool project box with timer control knobs and the potential for low voltage or high voltage output. Don’t let your projects suffer any more from loose connections or messy electronics!
One six hour session will set you up with the skills you need to take any circuit schematic and turn it into a working bread-boarded prototype… and THEN convert that prototype into a solidly soldered professional looking project which will make your clients head spin.
You will need:
- Your own breadboard and prior knowledge of how to build up a circuit on it.
- A 9V battery and connector, wire strippers, pliers, your own multi-meter.
- The courage not to burn yourself.
- Approximately $30-35.00 to buy the kit that you will turn into a practical electronics project that you will use over and over again.