Hello All!
A new store. An invitation to visit. And in all honesty, something of a blog (read, emotion and value laden opining, but also some good arguments). This store sells cross-media work. I am not shy: technically advanced, intellectually grounded and emotionally inspired. But it is only half accomplished without audience. You of course, and your review. I will one ever grateful for your reviews, even a simple like or dislike; they are invaluable. Thank you in advance! Incidentally, the cost is nominal.
When you go to the Vimeo On Demand site, the preview / trailer will tell you a lot, especially about the production process. So I won’t repeat that here. The preview is only 4 minutes. I will tell now what a trailer should not take the time for.
Why should you listen and view this work, and support it? What have you to gain?
1/ An understanding of where music technology stands today. (What is a musical instrument?)
2/ An appreciation of where we stand from the perspective of a progressive history of music. (As a form of research, music is not unlike science. Where are we now?)
3/ exposure to the possibilities of cross-media production made possible in the ever quickly evolving Digital world. (Data is anonymous, not aware of where it came from or where it’s going, how it was produced or how it will be implemented. Endless possibilities for cross fertilization between content fields.)
4/ an emotion that has never existed before. (Emotions are historical.)
5/ reference to feelings already familiar to you (sound semantics), from the perspective of a concept of history where everything is recycled and re-affirmed. (Some forms, some meanings appear as eternal. Nothing new under the sun.)
6/ a challenge to your listening habits, and to your viewing habits. (What is your listening stamina?)
7/ a challenge to your listening skill. (Have you really exhausted what is there to be heard? What is your listening depth?)
7/ puzzles. (how is it that these two media - audio and visual - are interacting?)
Sound like too much work?
8/ Sheer pleasure and entertainment in the play of light and sound.
9/ Pleasure in the narrative agreement and contradiction.
Viewing and Listening
These are made for iOS, Mac/PC and TV scale viewing. Audio is usually very constrained in these formats. It is highly recommended that you use headphones if you don’t have a good sound system. There is a wide frequency bandwidth here which you will not hear on speakers designed for mid-range and voice transmission. Additionally, I highly recommend the free cross-platform player VLC for playback. Awesome app!
Visual Music and ‘narrative’
The expression 'visual music' goes back to the early 20th century work of abstract film pioneer Walter Ruttmann and the synaesthetic aspirations of painter Wassily Kandinsky. I follow a premise of these two; abstract form and color are emotionally and semantically suggestive and evocative. Music is already emotional narrative.The ’story’ follows from their interaction.
Performance medium or studio medium
Both. The improvisation is multi-track audio recorded, edited and mastered. The video is screen recorded and kept in its original form. Perhaps this is a performance medium more than a studio medium. It is debatable. As a performance medium, skill is demonstrated in managing multiple layers of audio and visual material as it is generated for the first time. As a studio medium, skill is demonstrated in pre-composition preparation and post-performance editing.
Software and Hardware
The graphic 'animation' in this video follows from control generated by tablet controllers, and from frequency/amplitude analyses of sound generations from within the artist's sound generating and control environment application 'OPEN (Open Performance Environment Navigator),' written with Cycling 74's Max. This comprises most of the software used. Native Instrument's Reaktor and Kontakt are also used for additional synthesis and sampling. In the control domain, Hexler's TouchOSC is also used to write iPad control surfaces, Keith McMillen's QuNeo tablet is used as is the computer keyboard. Graphic animation routines are written with Cycling 74's Jitter.
Where to go
Please come and visit!
Thank you!
bruce gremo
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