Tales From The Punchbowl

bedinabox.com

2009-03-29T20:20:00.003-04:00

i ordered a queen-sized memory foam mattress online - they shipped it to me rolled up & vacuum-packed(!)

so, i took a time-lapse video of me and Eric (Deb's beau) setting it up:

music: "Pigeon Street" by Caustic Window

Portfolio

2008-12-22T21:13:00.002-05:00

Been working on it today and yesterday: click me.

bike polo

2008-08-08T07:26:00.008-04:00

(photo by Paolo Pedercini)

ok, i'm addicted. we have been playing here in Troy for about 2 months now, and there is some good stuff going on! there is talk of creating an RPI club so we can get some official playing space, but until then we play in the decrepit Troy City Hall parking lot. here's some links:

The League of Bike Polo - awesome forums
Troy Bike Polo - our Google group
Urban Cycle Polo (Wikipedia) - defined
Seattle Bike Polo - the guys that invented urban cycle polo

beard time lapse

2008-05-23T17:32:00.003-04:00

i decided to shave my beard today, so i whipped up a quick Max patch to do time-lapse photography, and stuck my laptop on the bathroom shelf. here is the result.

Touchscreen: Computer Music final

2008-05-01T23:13:00.004-04:00

Here is a link to my writeup of my composition for Computer Music. I used my touchscreen as a MIDI controller for Live, and recorded the results.

In other news, I'M DONE WITH COLLEGE! Today was my last class. I performed with the touchscreen, and Todd brought a Hang drum (check out this guy playing it). I got a video of me playing it - gonna have to get it from Todd though. It was a good end to the semester!

Now all that's left is wrap-up – tying up loose ends with the Capoeira Club, turning in documentation of my thesis presentation, and waiting for commencement...! WOOO!

Oh, yeah, I got a job at EMPAC. :D HUGELY AWESOME. I am really stoked, cause everybody there is seriously on top of their shit. It's only a 9-month fixed-term position, but it is gonna be really, really good.

My latest creation

2008-02-17T17:03:00.008-05:00

For Computer Music class:
1. Intro & Raw Sounds	(0:40, mp3, 1.3MB)
2. Pop Music	(2:11, mp3, 4.3MB)

As explained in the intro, all sounds are sourced from field recordings that I made (with a flash recorder & stereo mic, in case you were curious). Then I totally warped them into a piece of techno music in Pro Tools (with help from the daevl).

Let me know what you think!

Wine bottles with googly eyes

2007-12-06T13:45:00.002-05:00

Here is my final project for Animation I!

"Wild Wine"

Modeling, rigging, texturing, animation: Maya
Compositing: After Effects
Audio: Pro Tools
Video editing: Final Cut Pro

Everything: Copyright 2007 Jesse French

Senior project: Multitouch

2007-10-29T13:40:00.004-04:00

Whoaaaah, alright. I'm still alive. This is the first of several updates about my senior thesis project. I am building a multitouch screen and software to be controlled by it.

So far, I have:

*built a ghetto version of the screen, with an infrared webcam that I hacked, and an array of infrared LEDs that I wired up
*constructed a finger-tracking patch in Max/MSP that spits out X-Y data for each fingertip
*procured a projector, which will be set up later

To do:

*make some applications! virtual MPC-style drumpads in the works...
*construct a more permanent enclosure for touchscreen and internals
*make IR lighting better, i.e. more even
*make a front-silvered mirror using cheap Wal-Mart mirror and Aircraft Remover - see this Lumenlab post.
*set up projector, using aforementioned front-silvered mirror
*make my patch send X-Y data over OSC...

See pics of my setup and more details in the Flickr set.

Links that got me started:

NUI Group Forums - VITAL to this project! A good-sized community of varying skill levels, all working on multitouch in various forms. Software & hardware guides here!
Multi-touch Interaction Research - Jeff Han. Very inspirational to a lot of DIY touchscreen builders. This was the video that sparked the idea in my head - "Wouldn't it be cool to make one of these?"
Curtis Bahn - my professor for the senior thesis project. He's an inspirational, intelligent, and helpful guy.

2007-02-16T02:54:00.000-05:00

CRAZY and awesome stop-motion here. Can download the video to Grizzly Bear's "The Knife" here - TRIPPY. Not sure how I feel about the very end. You decide!

2007-01-19T22:08:00.000-05:00

this shit is awesome: beardyman beatbox

gobbly-gobbly humungo!

2006-11-27T16:17:00.000-05:00

Hello all! I had a lovely Turkey Day (week, really) in Clinton, Mass. Went home with Riley...or Gan, as he's known there. Everybody's got a nickname. We partied a whole bunch, and hung out a bit with his folks. We ate like kings, and Gan's buddies are good people. Felt at home there - on the same page. I was sad to leave! A few pics are up.

Hope everyone had a good break! I am SUPER STOKED to be home for Xmas. Two more weeks! Wish me luck...I'ma need it...

Dig:

Peter And The Wolf

Bike Kill/Batizado Weekend

2006-11-10T13:08:00.000-05:00

Pics are (finally) up! And videos here.
Enjoy! I sure did...

Dig:

Mirah - C'mon Miracle

I am in love with life,

2006-10-17T20:07:00.000-04:00

but sometimes I forget. This song helps me remember.

Listen | Myspace

A million tents and trailers will cover the open desert
your kids will learn again
how to build a fire,
where to look for water
and the families are bound together now
by the fall of all the great cities,
finally,
to sing out their stories and their histories
of hunger and of victory
back into the old gypsy circles where
the swaying girls will
play out the old rituals
the boys will be delirious
but desperate and serious
the chasin will be furious

the drums and the rain
will come together
howlin
the cities are all lost but the circle is found
that will
tie us together
my kind of town

who were you before the fall?
I was a singer
saw the future laid out in dominoes
now I hunt the buffaloes

and my darlin, who were you,
behind the counter with the day memorized
and those cold vacant eyes

well you swore you were free
swore you could see him comin'
it was Old Angel Midnight,
starin you down
he's stealing the water right out of the ground
and the news may be true,
but the facts were never found
and the market it is dead and the phone lines are down
but it ties us together
my kind of town

Choppification

2006-10-06T17:08:00.000-04:00

After several false finishes, the chopper is now fully functional! I went out and bought a taller seatpost today, which, coupled with the facts that a) the lower front fork no longer falls off and b) neither do the handlebars, makes it truly a joy to ride. Pictures and details here!

Public domain...

2006-10-06T01:21:00.000-04:00

Currently downloading: the 1964 movie "Santa Claus Conquers The Martians." Oh man. Plus, I can cut it up, play it in the background at gigs, etc. This will lead to something productive, really!

The Quadropus

2006-09-01T23:28:00.000-04:00

What is it? Why, the most amazing floating device I've ever seen! Take a look (scroll down to the veeeery bottom)!

cocorosie

2006-08-29T18:27:00.000-04:00

from the (other) blogs:

go watch this video. the song, it is beautiful.

wtf

2006-08-24T10:27:00.000-04:00

Um...I'm downloading a Wolfmother show...from BitTorrent. I'm getting almost 400k/sec on a wireless connection in my house. Is that supposed to happen?

Road Trip: Last Leg

2006-08-23T23:51:00.000-04:00

Well, we've been back in Troy for a few days, and let me tell you, it is STRANGE to be back! It was like, "What happened? I didn't take a plane...but somehow here we are!" Everything is connected, and the US is both very small and very large.

I miss Seattle badly, but I have just settled into my new digs here, and let me just say that they are SWEET SWEET SWEET! I am living in a nice house with two nice girls, it's a block away from campus and a block away from my best friends here, there's a backyard, deck, basement which is gonna be finished, and my room is just right. I have a feeling that this year will be better than the last. And if it's not, then I'm gonna MAKE IT!

So there's these last few pictures from the trip, to wrap it up: click me.

Also, Pet Sounds is pretty damn amazing.

Dig:

The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds

Road Trip, Part III - Chicago to Ontario

2006-08-20T23:11:00.000-04:00

You know the drill. Pics here and here. Video here.

We're in London, Ontario at the moment, with another of Kris' Battlefield friends. We decided to spend two nights here, rather than driving late tonight back to Troy. Just hanging out, playing videogames. Back tomorrow to the new house! Stoked! Out.

Road Trip '06, Part II

2006-08-17T22:39:00.000-04:00

Alright, installation 2 of the trip photos available here. Watch the video here. (if not working, here's a direct download)

In Chicago tonight, crashing on the floor at Ben & Leslie's place. They've been great; we talked about all and sundry and had a yummy dinner. About to head for bed and then we will explore a bit in the morning. Then Columbus, Ohio for more of Kris' Battlefield friends. Woo!

-J

ROAD TRIP '06!

2006-08-15T04:22:00.000-04:00

Woooo! So Kris flew out and we partied for a few days in Seattle. Then we set out on the great interstate - 90, that is. Photodocumentation is here, and here is a video which hopefully will play properly. If not then try downloading direct: (mp4 format)

I shall say no more tonight for I am wicked tired. More later!

-J

...and you wonder why Iraqis hate us...

2006-07-04T05:23:00.000-04:00

First we bomb the crap out of the civilians, then we rape and murder them! I need to get out of this country.

For good info on what's *actually* going on in Iraq, check this site: Dahr Jamail Iraq. He's an independent US journalist who was embedded in Iraq for 8 months, and he still maintains lots of local contacts there. This is what the mainstream media does not show you.

The Paper Chase

2006-07-02T20:48:00.000-04:00

Never heard this band before..I picked it up last time I was in Olympia; just listened to it today.

EVIL. It is SO EVIL! If you can get into it, it's frickin' amazing, and it's pretty accessible. The production is done by the singer/guitarist, John Congleton, and he does a great job - this album is incredibly well-produced. Nearly all the tracks have a depth to them that becomes clearer upon each successive listen. He also has a really interesting guitar style - plays this sliding, stabbing, unsteady madness.

Download this track and then buy the album from KRS!

We Know Where You Sleep (mp3)

official site

going home!

2006-05-13T10:38:00.000-04:00

waugghhhh i'm going HOME! YESSS!

I'm about to check out of my dorm room and then kill 4 hours! And then go to the airport and leave! Woo. Damn I'm hungry! Home tonight. Sister picks me up. Yay!

Where's my darn RA? He needs to sign me out or whatever.

new pics and LEAVING

2006-05-11T21:18:00.000-04:00

A few new pics on Flickr! Check the East Coast set. Cannot WAIT to be home! Seattle, here I come!

Beer and burgers

2006-04-10T20:04:00.000-04:00

at Sherlock and Watson pub. Damn good after a fairly relaxed Monday - 'twas my birthday dinner from Gabe. Being 21 is awesome!

Last Monday was my b-day, and a few days later John and I were wandering around on one of the nice sunny days that are slowly becoming more common around here - we were wondering what to do, walked by Sig Ep and saw them chilling on couches outside and drinking. We were like, damn! That looks like a good idea, but we don't really want to hang out there. What to do? Walk a bit more, and then suddenly - "Wait a minute. I can buy alcohol!" The best realization ever on a beautiful day with nothing to do! Chilled in my room with the windows open and drank Coronas. Wonderful.

This weekend was pretty sweet - Friday night was this crazy party at Allisahn's, with rad jam session with ummmm whatshisface from GZ. Kind of unexpected - those Ground Zero kids are alright, but mostly the venue serves as musical masturbation for them. Anyways, then Saturday we randomly mobbed over to Rhode Island and visited some folks at RISD. Alex and Kris were seeing this show, and Kris said, hey, come along with us! So Mulletor and John and I were like ROAD TRIP! WOOO!

Chilled out and drank some beers with John's buddy Amanda, and I called up Nick Simpson, who I haven't seen in forever, so that was rad! Caught up and stuff while Alex and Kris saw the show (some band called Wolf Parade), and then when they got back, we went to a party. Apparently, the RISD kids had just got back from break, so they were partying like all get-out. This place was packed, and we danced a bit and chilled. Got to be a little much, so we were outside getting some air when this girl comes out of nowhere screaming John's name! I guess he knows her from home (Long Island) and so she led us to another party, which was even *more* crowded - didn't think it was possible!

This second place was awesome, tho - this wide hallway between the kitchen and living room/balcony, with no ceiling, just straight up to the roof - so on the beams on either side of the hall, there were people perched and looking down on the mass of people below. Cool vibe. Mostly just sat around, cause we didn't know anyone, but all the people at both parties were artsy hipster types, which I was digging cause I'm getting sick of engineers constantly. I do think that I would get sick of just artsy types alla time, too. Just nice to get away.

Anyway, we got back at like 4 am. Pretty sweet random road trip!

Oh yeah, and capoeira is rad as well - we started learning the instruments, finally. I'm learning some songs, so I can sing the verses in Portuguese, not just the choruses. Sweet! I'm so much more into it because of the energy from the music. My birthday roda (tradition: you play everyone in the class in a row. Phew!) was easier than I thought it was gonna be, cause I was catching the energy of the roda. Nice! On Friday we participated in Cultural Cookoff, which is where all the minority groups around campus make a bunch of food from their countries of origin. We made some DELICIOUS Brazilian food, and it went damn fast. Got some pics and video of that, which will doubtless show up on the site in a while (here). Fun! Tasty!

Cannot WAIT to be home in like a month! Summer should be awesome as always! Damn. One final thing - I've had the song "Bands With Managers" stuck in my head for a while now, by Pedro The Lion. Check out the album!

Dig:

Pedro The Lion - Achilles Heel

Dear Diary,

2006-04-01T02:21:00.000-05:00

today was incredible. All this time I was thinking that RPI had some sort of ill-will aura that all the students were on, but today changed all that. It was a-MAZINGLY beautiful outside. Good God! Everyone was all smiles, lovin' the weather. It's just this crazy 180º switch from the usual poker faces around here. The cumulative effect of everyone smiling was just nuts. So much happiness!

I skipped math class, cause I ace the tests anyway, and hucked a disc around with John. Blissed out and being a dirty hippie in the sun...then work study, sitting in a basement for 3 hours while the sunlight slowly dies. DAMN. No windows, neither! It was all right, tho - always dead there, so I messed around with a little stop-motion animation and played some videogames and that. Got out at 5 and played some more hippie games - hackysack this time - with my RA, Glenn. John wandered up and we got some food, played pool, then nap-time. 2 hours of rest and I'm back on my feet again, to check out my man Kevin's show at TEP. He ROCKED it! I was grooving off it so bad - what he's doing is rap with a live band. Killer MC. Chilled out for a bit after the show, and now I'm back home listening to Nas and getting ready to go to SLEEP! Hope y'all enjoyed your day as well - peace!

-Jesse Freedom

A funny little thing

2006-03-24T20:39:00.000-05:00

I have made. 'Tis a "net narrative" for my imaging class. See it here. It runs slow, because I used a bunch of images...was snappier when it was hosted locally (on my machine). If you want to see it in its full glory, you can download this folder (right-click and Save Target As... or Option-click) to your desktop,unzip it, then open the index.html file in the folder.

p.s. don't be put off by the first page! There *is* a link there. Somewhere...

This band is rad!

2006-03-23T21:19:00.000-05:00

OK, those of you in Seattle may remember Carissa's Wierd. Some of you may be obsessed with them (cough*PIRO*cough). I was never really into them, but they had a big following, and they played their last show a year ago or so. Their ex-singer Jenn Ghetto has her side project, S, which I have not heard...

Anyway, the point is that the guitarist/vocalist and bassist from Carissa's Wierd have this project now called Band of Horses. I downloaded a couple tracks when I read about it in Insound, like I usually do with things that sound interesting, and it came on iTunes while I was doing some homework. Beautiful. Sounds a bit like Arcade Fire, just cause it's spacious, and uplifting, and melancholy. Not as pretentious, tho. Seattle, for sure - Emily says that all the music she hears from Seattle sounds like sun breaking through the clouds. That's pretty much this. I just ordered the album, cause I'm stoked about it. Hooray for music!

As far as my own projects go, I am in the process of writing another song for Emilie. This one is a hip-hop track about how much I miss Seattle, which will probably be kind of cheesy, since I am not deeply immersed in hip-hop. I know my roots, tho...so maybe it won't be all bad. The beat sounds pretty damn good. Working on lyrics.

Also, (let's get a name for us) is doing well...we jammed yesterday and John busted out with this BADASS riff that sounds like butterflies to me, for some reason. It's dark, and twisted. Love it! We are planning on filling out the tracks some more, cause they sound real empty with just guitar and drums. Needs vocals, maybe bass, another guitar...? Dunno. Give it time, I may post some stuff up here in a month or two.

I turn 21 a week from this Monday! Wheeeee! Ima try to find someone to throw me a giant party. Wish me luck. Out.

Dig:

Band of Horses - Everything All The Time

oooooh

2006-03-02T17:30:00.000-05:00

it's Deerhoof like you've never heard them before!

Dig:

Deerhoof - The Runners Four

NO! SLEEP!

2006-02-24T01:14:00.000-05:00

TILL, uh, till...6 in the mo'nin'? Am I allowed to do that? Nevermind. I realized that despite being all ready for bed, I don't really wanna sleep yet. I'm gonna eat oatmeal and listen to music and dick around on the web instead.

Lately, I've been able to do pretty much what I want, when I want. This is the joy of being an EMAC major. If I don't feel like doing homework, usually I don't have to. Only when it comes down to the wire, and so far it's been mostly easy. I pull a few all-nighters, but I kind of enjoy it. It's totally fucking rad, because I'm just enjoying life, and learning when I want to. Which is what I want to be doing.

I was talking to my friend Laura (the female one) today at lunch, and I ended up preaching the Jesse gospel like I sometimes do. Something about how if you try to stress out about things as little as possible, life is great. An event is not innately good or bad in itself, it's only how you react to it. The point is that you are the only person that determines your happiness. This I truly believe. I mean, yeah, sometimes it's really hard to react well to certain situations, but if you get the chance, stop and take a step back. Ask yourself "Is this really worth getting pissed off/sad about?"

Then, on the other hand, you can take Wes' point of view, which I agree with from an intellectual standpoint but can't seem to put into practice, which is that no *emotion* is innately good or bad, and thus each should be embraced equally. Something to try, for sure!

Anyway, have a good one y'all. Music = life. My latest project is called (let's get a name for us) with John McGill and you'll hear it in a bit. Out!

Dig:

The Symptoms - "A Night Without"

p.s. HERE'S A PICTURE! That's Jamie and me at WRPI. Yup. Radio rocks.

Post-midnight delight

2006-02-13T03:45:00.000-05:00

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I love music. The new Mogwai is sooooo good! Hitting the spot right now.

I know I haven't posted in forever, and I know barely anyone reads this, and maybe that's cause and effect in some form right there...but maybe I should make things more entertaining. Are we not products, to be sold? Bah.

Lately, I am in love with life. Things have been very good at school; what with people settling in, general chillaxing, classes being really interesting and totally sweet, and me getting stoked about music all over again every couple days.

Speaking of which! I have this project (which I should probably name) where I'm writing songs for my friend Emilie, because she asked me to and because it sounded like the reason I needed to start writing solo stuff. So here is the first installment in an ongoing series, entitled "I Dunno What It Is, But It's Stuck To My Shoe" - Idea | Finished

Enjoy!

Dig:

Mogwai - Mr Beast

Webley

2006-01-28T18:00:00.000-05:00

Jason Webley stayed in my room last night. He played in Troy, which I promoted for, played him on the radio, brought some folks down, got him in touch with people at Ground Zero here at RPI. After the show (which was rad even though it was in a bar where some people in the back were talking the whole time) he mentioned he needed a place to stay, and I have this guest bed, so...yup. We talked a bunch; he's more real now instead of some mysterious cult figure. Interesting guy...a little caught up in himself, it seems. Wonder if it's the devoted followers or if I'm just projecting or what.

Anyway, I have video of the show which I may or may not be posting somewhere, if I can figure out a way to host it. Peace out y'all!

Just got a call

2005-12-18T22:07:00.000-05:00

from Wes and Durban; was amazingly wonderful to talk to them! Durban offered to pick me up from the airport (sweetheart) and Wes agreed (sweet or whipped, I can't tell :) and I am SO STOKED to be home!

These past few days have been really good. I've just been kicking back and relaxing with a variety of good people. Saw I <3 Huckabees which I MUST OWN. Love that movie!

Been chilling out with Gabe; he cooked me an incredible dinner last night, pretty much out of the blue - mushroom and cheese quesadilla, with hot sauce and onions and garlic and DELICIOUS, in exchange for which I washed the dishes. Today, we went snowboarding with two of his friends. Up to Stratton to pick up our season passes! First snowboarding in maybe two years, cause I have NO clue if I even went up last season...? Anyway, it was really good, especially because I'm in better shape now than I have ever been in my life, thanks to capoeira. Had lots of energy even tho I only got like 3 hours of sleep last night. Woopah! Gonna go now, cause I'm listening to lots of awesome music, like this:

Cornelius - Point

DONE!

2005-12-14T22:54:00.000-05:00

YESSS, I am so done with this semester! WOOO! Last night I turned in my videos for Media Studio, and today I jammed like a madman, first with Blar and Kyle, and second with Colin, who I then played pool with. Twice. I mean, on two separate occasions. Man, I love pool. And Colin. That kid is rad, and it sucks cause he's transferring, so he will not be back next semester! BLAH.

Anyways, I'm super stoked to come back home, cause I get to see my family and friends, and cause The Symptoms got an ALBUM comin out! Yeah, that's right! 13 tracks! CD release on the night of January 11th, at Studio 7 - check out our Myspace for more info.

Now, I got time to kill. Home in a week! Peace.

Suddenly, John dropped the pop, and now he sounds like a cross between Hendrix and Stevie Ray! Check it:

John Mayer Trio - TRY!

Gingerbread...

2005-12-01T19:48:00.000-05:00

OK, so, for the last hour and a half, myself, Marc, and Abe lovingly designed and constructed a gingerbread R2D2. If I had pictures, I would put them up here, but I have no camera. DAMN!

In other news, I stayed up late last night working on some graphic design stuff for Intro to VisComm...it was actually pretty fun! I'm really happy with the way things turned out. I'll post some pics of the ads I made in a while.

I'm SO stoked to go home! Three weeks left! I have an optional Calc final, this advertising project for VisComm, nothing for History of Western Music, and all my videos to do for Media Studio. Heh. Heh heh. At least the videos are short. They're due a week from Tuesday, so I've got this weekend and the next to work on 'em. Wish me luck.

I'm gonna read for a bit and go to SLEEP! Later, suckas!

Photos!

2005-11-28T01:00:00.000-05:00

Check it: Thanksgiving in Maine.

Turkey Day break...

2005-11-25T21:22:00.000-05:00

Arghhh it was a good Turkey Day and I should really be doing homework for VisComm, but I'm at Emily's and it just feels like vacation. So of course I can't bring myself to actually work on things.

I checked out a little digital camera from the ER, so I've been taking lots of pictures. It's pretty sweet - I feel this need to document my life and I never really have before. Also, I'm learning a bit about photography - exposure and ISO and that sort of thing. I need a frickin' tripod, cause with all the longer exposure pics I'm taking, everything ends up slightly blurred cause my hand moves. Damn it.

There was a little open-mic in Boston, Tuesday night, that Emily and I attended. I say little because there were 5 other people there, one of whom was also playing. So it was just Emily, Shira, and I, playing two songs apiece and switching for like an hour and a half. Fun! Cosy! I got some really good pics and video, too! Some of which I will doubtless put on my new Flickr account when I get around to it.

Wednesday night, Emily and I went to this dude's little home studio, where he recorded three of Em's songs. Just guitar parts, but they sounded pretty good. The guy was really nice, and he kind of knew what he was doing. The only part that bothered me was that his software couldn't punch in (or he didn't know how to do it), and that he was terrible about talking to the talent (Emily). There would be loooooong pauses after takes, which you gotta fill in, cause the talent is just hanging and waiting for you to say something about the take, or ask how they felt about it. If you let the pause go, then they feel like you're not really paying attention, and that's not good. I guess the realization of that need to talk comes from watching pros work...of which I've had very little experience. Just watching Steve Malott, and he's very good at talking to people. One of the quickest thinkers I've met in my life. But the point is, this guy has never watched a pro.

Anyway, I wanna record more. I really enjoy it and I wanna get good at it! So it kinda sucks that I've set it aside for a while. At least I know I can pick it back up again.

Emily and I had a nice long conversation while looking at the stars last night in the hot tub. It's strange for us to be around each other, because we have this mental picture of who the other person is, compiled through phone calls...but it's not accurate to how we act around people. At the same time, we're totally comfortable with each other, more so than anyone else in our lives. So it's confusing.

Gonna go to a dance party! Bye!

Beauty.

2005-11-16T22:47:00.000-05:00

This song is amazing. Go here and listen to Heartbeats. (sound quality on there is terrible, but what can you do). Apparently it's a cover of some Swedish band, The Knife. Either way, it's beautiful, and I just bought the guy's album off of iTunes.

Dig:

José González - Veneer

This weekend

2005-11-14T08:46:00.000-05:00

was pretty damn cool. On Saturday, I attended this crazy capoeira fundraiser/dance party in NYC - big thanks to Pezinho for the ride and fat beats at the party! We helped set up, and it was pretty dead at first, but I went for a walk with some of the guys from my class and when we came back, things were a little better. Finally, the lights went out and everyone got on the dance floor. I must have danced for three hours, with breaks to let my ears rest - that shit was LOUD! I was wishing Emily was there so she could tear it up on the floor. I ended up dancing in a circle with the folks that came down from RPI and this woman Vaquera, who I later found out gave Furacao a place to stay when he was bumming it in Brazil. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The last 45 minutes or so of the party was a giant roda, which is when everyone gets in a circle, claps, and sings capoeira songs, while two people "fight" in the middle, or, as we say, play the game of capoeira. It was INTENSE. First of all, the roda was huge - there must have been about a hundred people in the circle, with about half actually capoeiras. Second of all, most of the people there were really good. I guess the group in NYC trains harder or more often or something, cause everyone there seems to be ripped and better than us. Could be they've just been around longer.

Anyway, capoeira's speed is dictated by the music - in a roda, there is at least one person playing the berimbau, and maybe drums and such - this roda had two berimbaus, a conga drum, and an agogo (cowbells). Furacao, who is the leader of NYC Abada, was playing the berimbau and singing, along with our instructor Pezinho and some of Fura's friends. He had a mic, which was needed, cause when we sang the responses (capoeira songs are call and response), we were a force to be heard!

I was gonna go in while it was slow, in the beginning, but I was too intimidated. My friend Zaid went in, and got kicked in the jaw cause he wasn't watching the other guy (or maybe girl - can't remember). The tempo sped up in segments - the first 15 minutes were mid-tempo, then the next faster, and so on - until it was sao bento grande, which is the fastest variety of capoeira. It's also the flashiest, cause all that speed converts into lots of momentum. I thought it was intimidating before, but I had never seen a game of sao bento grande - there were guys pulling back handsprings to backflips, and kicks were flying so fast it was crazy.

Furacao finally called a halt, and then talked a bit. It's the third annual fundraiser, and he sincerely thanked his friends and family, one by one, for coming and putting the thing together, and gave bits of background on the people who we had seen in the roda and on the dance floor. We cheered and clapped for everyone he named, and I felt the warmth and energy from the group. So much goodwill comes from capoeira! Plus amazing sociopolitical mixing - I wouldn't have been hanging out with some of those people if it hadn't been for capoeira, and it was awesome! I am inspired to train harder now, and get deeper into the culture. Seems like it sucks you in, but I think it's a good thing to be sucked into - some great opportunities here and a deep meaning and community that seems to be lacking in most of the U.S. today.

Gotta run to class now - catch y'all on the flip side! If you wanna find out more about capoeira, you can check out the Abada NY page, or just Google capoeira - there's lots of info out there! I know there's a few capoeira groups in Seattle, for those of you reading back home who wanna get involved. Totally sweet!

p.s. thanks to Marc and Steph, I have discovered this BRILLIANT webcomic - Perry Bible Fellowship. Here's a taste:

The beauty of it is the extreme diversity of illustration styles, plus the fresh and twisted humor. Check it.

Dig:

Boards of Canada - Music Has The Right To Children

Live music.

2005-11-05T01:41:00.000-05:00

OK, so in the past three days, I've seen two incredible shows, both with my friend Lis, who is awesome. The first was on Wednesday - Opeth and Nevermore. Nevermore was solid, but I still don't really like their singer, and their music is a little cheesy for me, or something. I was headbanging for most of their set, though. Opeth, on the other hand, are a very unique band, and one of my favorites. They sound fucking HUGE live! The singer was being a dick in a hilarious way, cause some people in the audience were being assholes. I like him a lot - he reminds me of Jason Webley, for some reason.

Anyway, they closed with Deliverance and Blackwater Park, which are two of my favorite songs, and I nearly broke my freakin' neck. I love the band because their music combines the really heavy shit with haunting melodies, GREAT guitar riffs, and killer solos. Plus, the singer sounds like a lion when he screams, and has an awesome regular voice as well! They all give the vibe that they really love what they play, and that's just awesome to watch.

Tonight, I saw Converge, Darkest Hour, and The Red Chord. Aaron Kennedy got me into Converge about six months ago, probly, and they always get me totally amped whenever I listen to their recorded stuff, and they sure as hell don't disappoint live! Lis and I were at the very front of the pit, pressed against the stage, so close to the band that I hit my head on the singer's knee at one point, and had him crouching or standing about two inches away from us too many times to count. They are INTENSE! I love their drummer - he looks completely insane the entire time he's playing - he's got this manic grin on his face, and evil eyebrows - gotta love it!

Jacob Bannon (singer) has a lot of interesting things to say - he writes great lyrics (although they're not actually intelligible when he sings them) and he was really sincere about thanking us for coming out, supporting them, supporting the scene. In fact, the whole night I was watching people in the pit clap each other on the back and be really friendly. It was awesome! I've never been to any hardcore shows in Seattle, so I don't know if it's like that back home, but it was really cool. Jacob lost the mic in the crowd a bunch of times during the night, but always reeled it back in just in time for the next verse. Rad! I bought a t-shirt with the Jane Doe face on it for $10 - very reasonable compared to the $30 Opeth shirts (what the fuck!?). After the show, we were starving, so Lis and I headed to Bombers for some delicious burrito goodness.

My brain was bouncing around in my skull a lot tonight, so I think I'm gonna give it a rest and hit the sack, but it's been a great couple of days!

p.s. quote from Lis, while in her room listening to Otep: "If I were sexually assaulted, I could sing like that."

Dig:

Converge - Jane Doe

On my way back from work,

2005-10-31T17:24:00.000-05:00

I saw a murder of crows darken the sky. Easily a hundred birds. First time I've seen that many.

This place continues to become more like home. I guess that's good.

I miss Webley. He's symbolized fall, and Halloween in particular, for me over the past few years. The cold wind, the dead leaves, and the wild spark, still dancing despite the gathering gloom.

I'm reading The Folk Of The Air, by Peter S. Beagle, and it makes me feel like the world is full of magic. Bye!

"I Wanna Rock Your Body ('Till The Break Of Dawn)"

2005-10-24T01:21:00.000-04:00

is the title of the cock-rock song that Mark and I wrote tonight. I won't divulge any secrets, but you might see a recording of it up here in a while. You might also see our name at the top of the charts...that's right. We're kind of a big deal.

done!

2005-10-10T21:02:00.000-04:00

yay! here's the finished product: triptych.

lemme know what you think! just keep in mind that you gots to be patient to listen to it, cause it doesn't happen fast.

2005-10-10T18:44:00.000-04:00

it's cold and i have to pee, but i am definitely getting work done on my composition! after reading some bits from some books about John Cage's compositions, i decided to take his micro-macrocosmic approach - the piece i'm writing is made up of 3 movements, each of which contains 3 groups of 3 notes. i actually may go up another level or introduce some sort of B section, because the piece has to be 5 minutes long. oh, and each group is 3 notes long because i time-stretched the prepared piano samples i made, so they're about 10 seconds long on average, and a whole hell of a lot deeper. they sound AWESOME. i'll post the finished piece, for shizzles.

Dig:

American Analog Set - Know By Heart

Procrastination...

2005-10-06T14:59:00.000-04:00

I have some stuff to do for Wednesday...but this is more fun.

Dig:

Heatmiser - Mic City Sons

Damn!

2005-10-05T00:55:00.000-04:00

I feel SO GOOD! I love Capoeira!

2005-10-02T19:07:00.000-04:00

I found this in my mailbox today.

How To Turn A Piano Into A Drum Set: Part II

2005-10-02T02:26:00.000-04:00

Er, let's see, step four! Check out the ridiculously expensive Earthworks mics from the Equipment Room. Seriously, I have no idea why we have these - there's two pairs of SR-77s, which are around $2000 a pair, and a pair of AKG 414s, which run about the same. I feel pretty stupid running such nice mics through the noisy preamps in my Mbox, but whatever. No $2000 mic pres in our inventory...

Upon receiving no response from the "person in charge" I e-mailed about piano use, I decided to just go for it and use whatever piano I wanted. In this case, the piano in question is the grand that's in a glass room in the Union, chosen both for the entertainment of putting nuts and bolts into it with people watching and possibly getting kicked out, and because a grand is more accessible than an upright for what I want to do. However, when I gave the room the once-over, the A/C was pretty loud, and - the final straw - no outlets in the room to plug my laptop into. So, I headed over to the practice rooms in West Hall.

Campus is DEAD on the weekends! At least on the west side, anyway. Didn't see a soul as I was walking.

What is it about colleges and Kawai upright pianos? SCC had 'em, and RPI has 'em. I picked the one in the big room, which apparently is the only one that's actually decently in tune. ::evil laugh::

I spent about two hours in there, doing the following:
Take off the cover, expose the strings and hammers inside. Stick bolts, plastic, sticks, washers, and a fork in between certain strings. Set up laptop and Mbox, realize that there's a mic stand in the room (the only thing I wasn't able to check out from the equipment room!), rejoice, set up the Earthworks. I used the handle of a guitar amp for a mic stand behind the piano, and put the other mic pointing at the hammers from the front. Sounds good...

It took quite a while to figure out which notes to fuck with, as well as precisely where to stick the foreign objects along the length of the strings. I played a little bit; couldn't really come up with too much on the spot as far as composition goes, but here's some clips: jango | slow/jumpy. I was mainly there to sample, anyway.

I recorded about a half-hour total into Pro Tools, and I just spent like three hours cutting it all up and loading it into a sampler in Reason. Ugh. It sounds good, though! I learned a bunch about the NN-XT sampler, too - it's pretty dope! I made sure to record samples of each note at different volumes, so now I can crossfade between them depending on how hard I strike the keys on my MIDI keyboard (which I'm gonna get from the ER on Monday). Sounds much more natural that way. Also, there's a RAD feature where you can switch between a few samples on repeated hits of one key - so it's not just the same sample playing over and over again, which sounds really fake.

Frickin' cool! Weird textures, crazy bell sounds. I discovered that the middle pedal on the piano, which is basically a sustain for the bass strings only, functions as a wild natural reverb if you hold it down while playing a high note. All the bass strings resonate in sympathy with the note played, but it's all harmonics, and it sounds FANTASTIC. I recorded one for every note, so what I'ma do is instead of using a simulated reverb in Reason or Pro Tools, I can just put my recorded piano 'verb on a separate sampler in Reason and bring it up on another fader.

Erm, I'm not sure if this is remotely interesting or comprehensible to those of you who AREN'T total audio nerds like me, but at least it sounds cool, right? Right?

Dig:

Aphex Twin - drukqs
(incidentally, there are several tracks on here that are played on a prepared piano - hence the album art)

How To Turn A Piano Into A Drum Set: Part I

2005-09-30T15:42:00.000-04:00

First, make a visit to your local hardware store. You're looking for cheap bolts and washers, and maybe some felt weatherseal.

Second, on your way back from the aforementioned hardware store, look on the ground around you for small flat objects, anything that you can stick in between the strings of a piano. Sticks are good, as long as there's not too much loose bark, and little plastic gewgaws are good too.

Third, find a piano! Grand pianos are preferable, but finding someone who'll let you use theirs is hard - "You want to do what!?" Remember, preparing a piano does no harm to it, and is a temporary process!

I'm on step three at the moment...more later.

Dig:

Regina Spektor - Soviet Kitsch

BOSTON

2005-09-26T00:27:00.000-04:00

is where it's AT!

Spent the weekend out there at Emily's dorm, which is basically a frickin' apartment! 4 doubles in a suite setup, and I mean sweet! (ouch) There's a living room, kitchen, and two bathrooms with ample space for everything. Emily's at Northeastern, by the way. Kickass. Lots of people out there...contrasts sharply with Troy. I'm definitely a big city kid. Dammit.

We just chilled hardcore for most of the weekend - caught her roomie Linda's rugby game today, which was savage! I had no idea. Much more entertaining than football; I actually got into the game and yelled, which is rare with me and sports.

Going further back in time, on Friday me and Lis went into Albany for a bit. Lis is rad - down-to-earth, hilariously irreverent, about half hippie. Reassuring - I was getting worried about people out here!

We went to Bomber's, which apparently has fucking amazing burritos, but I was not hungry. Dumb! I'll be back. Lis showed me around a bit - Albany seems pretty dope. We went and chilled on an awesome sculpture outside the art museum, and then she showed me the biggest balls I've ever seen.

Yup. A statue of a horse. With some guy riding it. With gigantic balls.

Not the guy, the horse.

Anyway, I wanna sleep soon, but first I have a few Type Faces to make - a project for Visual Communications; we're arranging letters to form faces in Illustrator. Somewhat entertaining. Good evening.

Dig:

Beck - Midnight Vultures

From concept to completion in approximately two hours...

2005-09-19T21:23:00.000-04:00

YO THIS THE NEW HOT TRACK!

Kevin for prez, fo' SHO!

2005-09-16T23:02:00.000-04:00

Um, OK, so: clarification of the previous post. A friend who is a grad student here at RPI has an FTP, which is full of music. I've been downloading pretty constantly for the past few days - wonderful.

American Analog Set, Amon Tobin, Apples In Stereo, A Tribe Called Quest, Badly Drawn Boy, Beck, Brian Eno (!), Captain Beefheart, Deerhoof, frickin' Devo, Duke Ellington, Echo And The Bunnymen, Fantomas, Fela Kuti, Herbie Hancock, Interpol, Joy Division, Kid Koala, Mission of Burma, Neutral Milk Hotel, Pixies, Ray Charles, and lots of Ween.

Does this dude have awesome taste in music or what? There's so much stuff he has that I've heard of, wanted to hear, and never gotten to for one reason or another, and now I have so much music that it will take me weeks to listen to it all (I mean, technically it's two days worth, but I can't listen constantly...).

Oh, and I also pre-ordered the new Sigur Ros album from Insound, and got two Battles albums, plus Regina Spektor. Soviet Kitsch (which I've been listening to for the past month or two since Emily gave it to me and finally bought) and Songs. She is so incredible (Regina, that is. I mean, Emily is too, but let's not get off-topic here :). Sometimes the cuteness gets to me, but she writes great songs, so it's all good.

Dude. I LOVE music. My media studio class here has been turning me on to some awesome shit, and I've been reading all these essays in our textbook (which is FANTASTIC) about music and thoughts about noise, futurism, etc, etc. Been listening to a lot of the originators of electronic music: guys playing with tape recorders and vinyl in the 50s or some shit. Musique concréte. Pierre Schaeffer, Ussachevsky, Steve Reich, John Cage. Etc, etc.

There's one essay by William Burroughs that totally inspired me - he talks about taking tape recorders and making an army - record everything - play it back - create chaos in the streets - play back sirens and make the cars stop - so so awesome. Good god. I love this school.

The only problem is, I have nobody to play with yet. I mean, the aforementioned grad student (who I will not name because of this lawsuit last year - 29 students at RPI got sued by the RIAA and the MPAA for sharing music and movies) is a good guitarist, and plays awesome stuff, but I don't really connect with him. Mike and Wes and Andy and Aaron, where are you! I miss you! Fuck.

It'll happen. Hope y'all are doing well. Later.

Dig:

Brian Eno - Ambient 1: Music For Airports
from frickin' 1978!

2005-09-15T23:48:00.000-04:00

holy shit, i love music!

riddle me this, batman:

2005-09-15T16:48:00.000-04:00

what is the point of having (count 'em) three myspaces, a livejournal, facebook, AND blog?

is the internet a tool of Satan?

why does the post office close just as I get out of classes/work study?

which is more important: a college education or a satisfied soul? I mean, I'm learning so much amazing shit here, but I miss Andy, Wes, Mike, Devon, Aaron, AND DURBAN, and more, and all the music and chill.

I need to find someone with a drumset. And a hookah.

The laundry room

2005-08-29T18:00:00.000-04:00

is a surprisingly good place to work on tracks. I got some glitch/beat editing done, and deconstructed this RAD sample.

Check it: DnB? - still need to change up the bass thing, but dig the beat.
I worked on this one as well: Chains v2

Eine kleine Nachtmusik

2005-08-28T23:32:00.000-04:00

for y'all. Just a little something I was working on today - still very rough: Chains.mp3

hella makes me spastic

2005-08-28T14:54:00.000-04:00

and i need laundry detergent.