Drown Radio - Me Geek Pretty One Day » instruments

Experimental synth

Doc Pop — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 05:03:47 +0000

I love this twist on the traditional keyboard. The interface is like a tweaked out Stylophone. The user has contact points on his finger. When these points make contact with the board, the sound is triggered. What’s interesting is that this device is multitouch, unlike the monophonic input on the Stylophone.
Since there are no buttons, I assume there is no velocity sensors (for volume control based on how hard a key was hit for instance), but this keyboard does have something else really cool… It appears that touching the same note at different points on it’s Y axis will generate different timbres.
At the top of the board is one long touch interface. Instead of having discreet notes, the user slides continuously from one note to another. These notes line up with the keys below, so if you slid from a low C to a mid C on the slide, you could drag your finger down the X axis to land on the middle C key.
What’s really amazing about the sliding board is that is also polyphonic. I’ve never seen any sort of ribbon control or touch pad that handled multiple notes like this before.
I don’t know more about this device, but MatrixSynth has more videos and info on their site.

This morning’s bent improvisation

Doc Pop — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 19:13:27 +0000

When constructing music using circuit bent instruments, I tend to spend 10 minutes improvising to a click track then combing over the resulting audio and extracting the most interesting moments to be later chopped and sequenced in Reason. Basically, I’m the enemy of the “purest” bending community. My goal isn’t to make deconstructionist audio collages, but rather to take these little unpredictable sounds and turn them into something catchy. I want to get a glitch stuck in your head, that’s it.
Even when my music strays into experimental territory, as it did in Bentstrument Guitar (off of Atomic Bros VS Drown Radio), the process was still the same. Improvise, record, chop, sequence, publish.
This morning I tried to do something slightly different, instead of chopping up the audio, I decided to construct an atmospheric song using 3 tracks. Although you may still hear chunks of this audio sampled in future works, this is technically my first “organic”, or non-sequenced, circuit bent song. I’ve embedded the song below, but you can grab the mp3 or wav files too. I am offering this song up to other musicians to chop up and use, all that I ask in return is credit (with a link back) and that you post any resulting songs built from this song in the comments section below.

Mark plays the handlebars

Doc Pop — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:28:01 +0000

Mark Growden plays the handlebars from Doctor Popular on Vimeo.

Interview with VG musician Xoc

Doc Pop — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 05:35:33 +0000

Looking back, I probably wouldn’t have bought Xoc’s newest album, The Beginning of the End, if it had cost one dollar more. Not that I wasn’t interested… GameMusic4All’s description of the Sacramento based musician who performs live versions of video game sound tracks sounded enticing, but without as much as a single preview track, my decision to buy the limited edition 3” CD was ultimately based on it’s price. At $6 with shipping, it was just too good of a deal.

A few days later, the CD arrived, and after a quick household search for something that I could I could play the 3” CD, on I was finally able to see what’s Xoc’s music was about. I was totally won over in the first 5 seconds with the theme to Contra (one of my favorite video games) being played on a Casio SK-1 (one of my favorite instruments). There are 100 video game songs on The Beginning of the End, averaging about 7 seconds each and played on different combinations of toy pianos, distorted guitars, accordions, and drums.

I interviewed Xoc about the inspiration and the process of creating this unique album. Read it after the bump:

The description from your label’s site describes The Beginning of the End as an album 4 years in the making. Can you break down that process for us? Did the album become a full time job at some point, or was it assembled over a spread out series creative bursts?

The short songs became sort of a sub-hobby. By that I mean that there were all sorts of recording projects going on, but then I always did a few short songs every once in a while, and filed them away. When it looked like it was getting near the finish line, I started doing it full-time. There are a couple of songs in there that are four years old, but the way the medley is arranged, it’s a pretty even mix between new and old. Hopefully no one can tell!

The album features a wide array of instruments, ranging from theremin and toy keyboards, to drums and electric guitar. I get the feeling you come from a guitar/metal background, I was hoping you could talk a bit about your musical roots.

The drums were my first instrument. I’ve never thought of myself as a guitarist or bassist or accordionist. I feel like a drummer who’s misbehaving and stealing all the other guys’ instruments to be silly.

I’m actually not a very metal guy! I play in KnifeThruHead – that’s sort of grind/punk/comedy (knifethruhead.com!), and I do my own solo stuff as Recreational Episiotomy (recreationalepisiotomy.com!). But when it comes down to it, I don’t listen to a whole lot of harder stuff. I was a huge Anthrax fan growing up, however.

When you pick a video game track to cover, do you transcribe it carefully and plan out your version or do you just grab the nearest instrument you can find and hit record?

Covering something that’s easily deciphered will always take priority for me! Nintendo music is always so much easier to figure out, as compared to Genesis stuff. I have actually sought out MIDI covers of songs that I couldn’t get a handle on, because I can deconstruct it and discover things I couldn’t on my own. I’m not too good with just the ear.

Although the instrumentation is fantastic, what really blew me away about The Beginning of the End is your production. I know it’s no easy task to assemble such a diverse group of songs and styles into one cohesive medley, but you really pulled it off. What sort of tools do you use for recording and how did you get the whole album to sound so fluid? If you use a program, is there anyway we can get a screen shot of what the final product looked like before you mixed it all down?

Thanks! The arrangement of all the songs was really tough, since I didn’t start out with the medley idea. If/when I do another batch of them, I’m going to try and plan things out ahead of time, I think… or would that take away from the sound of it? Maybe mixing up the production style/quality is what makes it good… I don’t know.

A screen shot of the final product wouldn’t look very exciting, since each song was mixed down and rendered a separate ahead of time. It just looks like a staircase. (If you’d really like to see what I was doing to arrange this stuff – http://www.xocmusic.com/xoc_beginningoftheend_medleychart.html)

The first time I had seen your work was the incredible NESpaul in 2004 (via BoingBoing). Does the NESpaul make an appearance on this album?

It might! Ha ha. It’s hard to tell, there’s a lot of stuff in there. If it does, it’s only for something very simple, since the NES Paul is extraordinarily difficult to keep in tune.

I’ve heard that you were working on an updated version of the NESpaul, using nicer guitar parts. How is that coming along? Are there any other Xoc retrofit projects in the works?

I’m not actively working on a new one – I’ll leave it to someone with a greater knowledge of guitar construction. I’m not the first to attempt such a thing; I remember seeing Genesis guitars and basses, and I think a SNES guitar.

Your musical influences are obviously rooted deeply in retro gaming. Do you play any newer games, or are you loyal only to games from the 80s and 90s?

The last console I bought was a Gamecube, and I recently played through Doom 3. But honestly, that’s as current as I go. I’m not a gamer in the strictest sense.

For retro gaming; console or emulator?

I have to use an NES emulator, since I turned my Nintendo into a guitar! Yeah, emulators all the way. I’m more of an arcade fan, so to have every one of my favorites in MAME is something pretty special – it’s completely worth the trade-off of a joystick to a keyboard.

With the exception of the Crystal Castles medley, you have more Castlevania songs on your album than any other games. Would it be safe to say Castlevania is one of your favorite games (or at least favorite game soundtracks)?

It’s more of a favorite soundtrack – at least for the first NES one and the Gameboy game. I never played beyond those. But the music is pure artistry. If I had to pick a favorite game franchise, it would probably be Metroid.

Aside from being a game music historian, you’re also highly knowledgeable on many other aspects of gaming culture in the 80’s. I loved your write up on the obscure 80’s film Video Game: The Movie complete with news about the movie’s release and the video game that came out based the movie and the game’s soundtrack… And then to top it all off, you even covered the entire video game’s soundtrack. Was the sound track to Video Game: The Movie something that really impressed you musically, or was the idea of using real instruments to perform the music from a video game about a movie about video games just too cool to pass up?

I’m not sure whether this will be good news or bad to you, but that project was 100% original fiction – the movie, the game, the music, everything. I just wanted to make sure you knew that.

That was for a contest to create a fictional game and soundtrack. I started writing archetypal game music (a Mario-style song, a Metroid-style song, etc.), and the story of a game that ripped off other games was the best way I could think to tie it all together. All the stuff about the movie was just window dressing. And I have to confess, I’m not that knowledgeable – that story was the product of a LOT of Wikipedia browsing!

Oh my Joss, Video Game: The Movie was all a joke? I feel like such a fool. It was so wonderfully detailed though, I was totally convinced… and it’s not totally inconceivable either, given the era. So the arrangements for the “game” soundtrack are all original? What did you build the “NES” versions in then?

I tried to make it as believable as possible, so I take it to be a high compliment that you were convinced!

All the songs are original; I recorded all the songs with instruments first, and then for some reason I thought it would be funny to create semi-credible 8-bit versions. But I’ve never been able to figure out any NES tracker programs, and I don’t use MIDI for anything either, so I just sampled NES sounds, and assembled the entire thing step-recording style in Acid. [see screenshot of "Hometownton USA"] I tried to keep it credible, in the sense that the number of voices doesn’t exceed what would be possible on a real Nintendo. But there was a forum, I can’t remember which, where some real chiptune artists figured out that I was doing it that way – they could just tell it wasn’t tracked. I’m a chiptune poser!

I noticed that most of your videogame music is surprisingly devoid of blippy sounds, yet your track “Rubles from Heaven” for II’s Heartcode compilation [free download!] is a glitchy chiptuney masterpiece. I love the organic renditions of video game music you’ve done on your albums, but are you planning on doing more electro tracks? Maybe even an entire album’s worth?

It would have to be a hybrid with real instruments thrown in. I can’t see doing a lot of pure 8-bit stuff without a solid concept behind it. “Rubles From Heaven” (thanks for digging it, by the way) was sorta like an experiment, to see if I could pull it off!

Another problem is the sheer amount of mouse work that step recording requires. (Which explains why the third volume of Xoc & Heavy Friends hasn’t been finished yet…) I have tendonitis in my right arm, so stuff like that is pretty slow going.

Are there any plans of playing The Beginning of the End live? When can we expect a show in San Francisco?

I’ve never performed any of the Xoc stuff live, no. The closest I came to that was playing Super Mario Bros. on banjo with Las Pesadillas when we opened up for The Advantage.

I’ve always been interested in forming a band, but I feel like it should be something really unique in order to succeed. Even if it were easy to reproduce these recordings live, I think I’d want something more distinctive. Lately, there’s been some talk about forming a band to play SMW live, albeit with different orchestration. I would have to be the drummer – I couldn’t handle any of the other instruments in a live setting!

If it ever happens, playing in SF is a 100% lock. For one thing, it’s only 90 minutes from here, but it’s also my favorite city. If I ever relocate myself, it’ll be to somewhere in the Bay.

The 100 original CD copies are now sold out, but The Beginning of the End is now available for download from Concatnation for $5. TBOTE includes the 18 minute/100 song medley as well as each song as it’s own separate mp3. It’s well worth the measly five bucks, you cheapskate.

Selling my Casio DM-100 on eBizzle

Doc Pop — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:45:34 +0000

After years of use, I’m finally retiring my circuit bent Casio DM-100. The DM-100 is one of the rarest Casio’s out there and a unique piece for any collector. This keyboard is basically two separate units; the top tier, which is believed to actually be the guts from a Casio SK-5, where the lower keys are attached to a different circuit full of stereo sounds and whatnot. The keyboard’s sampler spits out wonderful lo-fi samples which can either be used with a built in mic or using the line in. The keyboard also has various line outs, including a l/r out.

This keyboard was modified by John from HighlyLiquid.com to accept a midi signal. John added the midi port to the back of the keyboard, and a patch bay to the top of the keyboard. Parts of this patch bay are wired to the lower keyboards circuit board, and the rest are tethered to the upper circuit board. This means that you can run the effects from the sampling keyboard through the other boards stereo effects and vice versa.

I’ve used this keyboard for many years for soundtrack and commercial work. This DM-100 was the backbone of MC Frontalot’s “Pr0n S0ng” and it also appears on many tracks on my new album Me Geek Pretty One Day. Check out the eBay auction for more pictures, details, and audio samples.

+2 nerd cred, +3 Casio cred, -2 gold coins.

Love for sale

Doc Pop — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 16:21:41 +0000

I had written before about a few super SK-1 circuit bent synths. Well one of those keyboards, King Capitol Punishment’s modified SK-1 is for sale on ebay, starting price $550.

This SK-1 was one of the first modded casios to have a step sequencer added to the patchbay. This sequencer has a standalone tempo dial and can work in 1 to 8 steps, each step activating a different bend. As well, other instruments can be patched to this sequencer, making them part of the SK-1’s rhythmic glitching.

Although it’s not as gorgeous as some of Casper’s mods, it does feature moog-esque wooden paneling.

Pixelh8’s Music Tech Game Boy Synthesizer

Doc Pop — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 05:36:23 +0000

I’ve recently come across the work of programmer and chiptune musician Pixelh8. For me, a lot of chiptune music sounds the same. I think that many artists allow themselves to be controlled by their devices more than they control the devices themselves. Although the chiptune scene is full of artists who frown on using anything other than a Gameboy (taking pride in their extensive knowledge of Nanoloop or LSDJ), my favorite producers are usually the ones who use a variety of instruments to achieve a broader sound.

Pixelh8 combines a variety of devices (including children’s keyboards, Commodore 64, and a SNES), but has even gone a step further by writing his own music program for the Gameboy. On his myspace blog, Pixelh8 described how he created the program in C. You can also see more of the Music Tech program in action on Hidden Fortress’s youtube page.

What makes the Music Tech program different is that it appears to turn your gameboy into a playable real time synth, as opposed to a step music sequencer. It looks like the device is played by assigning various notes to the directional pad and the A and B buttons. I wonder what the Konami cheat code would sound like (↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → B A).

If it is indeed played by using the directional pad, it could be fairly limited, however it would probably be really easy to convert the cartridge into a midi-playable. Essentially this program could be a gateway towards a Midi-NES for the Gameboy system… Let me wipe the drool from my chin.
On his blog, Pixelh8 pomises to cover the details on how to get your program onto a cartridge, but the last time he mentioned that was in January.

Pixelh8 also says that he is working on manufacturing his Music Tech Synthesizer and that sales of his cd’s will help him achieve that goal.

Whether or not that goal will actually happen anytime soon, I’d say that buying a copy of Videogames Ruined My Life off of his Myspace Page ($15.97 US which includes shipping worldwide) would be a good investment.

You can also download Pixel8’s Fish & Chips EP for free here.

For now we’ll just have to wait for part 3 of the youtube Music Tech videos.

edit: Pixelh8 just sent me a link to his Music Tech info page here. Check it out, you can play an online demo and place a pre-order for the cartridge or software!

The Vacorec

Doc Pop — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 01:33:25 +0000

Click here for the video

In the infrequent battle against a lack of Drown Pirate Radio podcasting, The Vacorec is a major unit in my arsenal.

Designed in the 70’s by VRO industries out of Anaheim CA, the Vacorec is both a record cleaner and static remover.

Just slide the record into the slot, and the motor will slowly spin it around, as the brushes and vacuums do the rest. In conjunction with some Gruv-Glide I’m set. btw- These guys appear quite frequently on eBay.

Note; when I first got my Vacorec, the motor was clearly running, but the records would not spin. When I took the machine apart I noticed the spindle that record sits on was completely worn away. So I dipped it into some liquid rubber and that seems to have done the trick even though the record movement is a little less consistent (usually these devices have a very smooth spin). If you have the same problem, but don’t have any Plasti-Dip handy, you can substitute a rubber band.

midisync for chiptunes

Doc Pop — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 04:02:19 +0000

Although I hardly ever create chiptunes on my handhelds anymore, I have always wanted a way to sync the gameboy with a midi trigger. Often haunted by dreams of triggering my circuit bent TR-707 along with nanoloop. Such devices exist, but you have to make them yourself.

I first saw plans a few years ago for an external pitch control mod. It was only for LSDJ and involved some complex soldering and building, but it was awesome… It had two knobs for pitch control and a start/stop toggle switch. Aside from the work involved making it, the controls were not midi syncable and the device wasn’t removable (without soldering).

Yesterday I saw this ebay listing for a homemade midi sync that works for nanoloop or lsdj. With it you can run a sync from your midi source up to 3 gameboys. Although the maker used existing plans that can be found online, he has made his own improvements on the design and I think it’s definetly worth paying for someone to build one of these devices.

If you are interested in building your midi sync, there is a great wiki project over on LittleSoundDJ.com and a different set of plans here.

I’d be interested in seeing my buddy John at Highly Liquid develop a way to activate the sounds via midi (like he did with his midi Speak).

Speaking of Speak and Spells, I can’t believe this one is still availlable on eBay! Pushbutton Speaks are extremely hard to find… and a $95 buy it now is definetly not a bad deal. Seriously, I was going to post about this yesterday but I figured “Why bother? This is not going to be availlable for long.”

One more tip, I dig my midiNES.

Tannerin For Sale on Ebay

Doc Pop — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 19:02:04 +0000

Item number 140058470242 is a prototype Tannerin built by Tom Polk in 1999. Tom’s design was based on Paul Tanner’s original instrument the Electro-Theremin. Tom also built a Tannerin for Brian Wilson’s 1999 solo tour and 2 more compact models for the 2005 Broadway production of “Good Vibrations”.

The Electro-Theremin, or Tannerin, is an electronic instrument that shares many similarities with the Theremin, as a matter of fact the sounds they create are often mistaken. The eerie melody featured on The Beach Boys “Good Vibrations” is often mistaken as a theremin but actaully was a an Electro-Theremin.The Electro-Theremin is typically played by moving a slide control to control the pitch, which is what gives it that Theremin-like portamento sound. There wheren’t any “keys” to press, but as you can see on the image below, an image of a keyboard lays atop the case to provide a map of the slides pitch.

The prototype for sale on eBay is not played with a slide control but rather with a wand. When pressed against the bar along the device it controls the pitch, similar to a stylophone. The left hand controls the volume knob for swells and tremelo, while the right hand controls the pitch. Since the prototype has a wand instead of a slide, it can also give staccato sounds without using the volume knob.

Although the prototype listed in the auction is not one of Tanner’s original devices, I do not believe that either the Electro-Theremin or the Tannerin where ever formally produced and sold. This may be your only chance to find one of these rare devices.

Much of this information came from Tom Polk’s informative hobby page and David Miller’s comprehensive Electro-Theremin.com

Update: The auction has sold for $341. A pretty good deal for the winner.