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Re: Rambling thoughts and a new track



Resonates with me!

daniel
On Aug 30, 2011, at 9:39 AM, kkissinger@kevinkissinger.com wrote:

> Hi everyone,
> 
> Over the last year I've lurked more than I've posted so I'm writing to 
> share some philosophical, musical, and technical thoughts.
> 
> As musicians we get many of, what I call, "15 minute of fame" moments.  
> We all decide what to do with them.  In a sense, an internet post is 
> also such a moment and I am aware that for some people my post will lack 
> resonance, some will find it entertaining, and perhaps someone will take 
> some piece of fresh knowledge or inspiration from it.  The same with a 
> performance or really with any interaction.  I try to avoid posting when 
> I'm in a bad mood because the transient negativity will find its way 
> onto the page and achieve permanance.
> 
> Anyway, I've spent a good deal of time with DIY electronics -- furiously 
> adding new modules to my modular synth.  My synth has a MIDI-to-CV 
> converter and, among other functions, converts MIDI Clock messages to 
> clock signals.
> 
> The LP1 is a rock-solid MIDI clock source.  The way it works is that 
> when one records and ends the master track (by default, the first track) 
> the LP1 -- based on the length of the track and the Beats-per-Measure 
> setting, outputs perfectly aligned MIDI clock events.
> 
> This opens up possibilities to do tightly synced work with the 
> synthesizer.  One of the first issues that arise is that the result of 
> these repeated triggers is repitition -- that is, percussive envelopes 
> restart on every trigger producing a marimba or mandolin effect.
> 
> I modded some hardware logic circuits such that it would combine the 
> triggers (from the MIDI CLOCK) with gates (from my keyboards) such that 
> a Logical "AND" drives the output 'high' and remains high until a 
> logical NOT OR condition occurs.   This allows long envelopes to start 
> precisely on a clock without repeating on subsequent clocks.
> 
> This allows me to build very long loops that start with seemingly random 
> events with big gaps of silence between them and to slowly add events 
> that eventually coalesce into a groove.  The clock assures that each 
> event will happen "on the beat" so to speak.
> 
> This track, entitled "Mysterious Bells" demonstrates this idea:
> 
> http://kevinkissinger.com/downloads/music/mysteriousbells_681.mp3
> 
> I created this track in 2010 -- and if I already shared this with you, 
> please forgive me -- I honestly can't remember if I wrote about this 
> here.
> 
> There was a recent thread here about the use of the LP1 when slaved to a 
> clock -- however I like to use it as a master.
> 
> Off topic:
> 
> I haven't really done much music in 2011.  Last August my (grown up) 
> kids, on a whim, decided to visit a nearby dropzone to do a "first jump" 
> course.  They asked if I wanted to join them and I apprehensively 
> agreed.  I was in a state of shear terror as I sat in the door of the 
> airplane but as soon as I jumped out I was hooked and decided to keep 
> jumping.  I'm up to 35 jumps and around 10 minutes of freefall time and 
> will have my license in just one or two more jumps.  This has become 
> pretty consuming -- much harder and more time-consuming that I ever 
> imagined -- and I look forward to getting back into the studio once I 
> get the skydiving license and with the onset of winter in a few months.
> 
> All the best to one and all!
> 
> -- Kevin
>