Change is sometimes good

I have felt for a long time that the need for me me to write about such a specific subject area has kept me from writing anything at all.  Aside from the simple fact that there are plenty of people who write on the subject the equipment centric aspects of creativity and do it better then I, I feel that I am as an artist and as a human being far to multi channeled to function in this way.

I don't know whether I will make some minor changes to the other all blog in terms of links or old content or i'll just move forward. Actually, it's entirely possible I will post this and then disappear for another year or so.

Stay with me if you will, perhaps I will put on a decent show.

Tommy Dog, NYC.

another one

His snare drum arrived today and I started fucking around with positions.

I did manage to fry one transistor in the outputs but that was my first fail in a while.

nitty gritty

Before I get accused of calling a single solenoid being held by a puppet a robot, let me fill you in on some of the details of how this little guy is actually set up in real life.

The controller board from Highly Liquid allows for MIDI input to trigger solenoids and motors. I am writing a number of apps in Max/MSP to allow for things like randomization of different parts of the playing within a clocked rhythm.

The Robot Drummer's set up actually has 16 channels set up divided between two boxes, one is set up for a 12 volt load the other for 24. So stuff like his eyes of different strikers can be individually controlled.

Robot Drummer Preview

I wanted to build a Robot Drummer back around 1990 but I was even more lacking in the skills needed to do it. Along came Highly Liquid with awesome products that made my dream become a reality.

In recent months a flurry of obsessive work has made it impossible for people to be around me without being forced into talking robots.

Yeah I know there are a lot of drumming robots out there. A quick google search will reveal some of the lamest shit excuses for bombastic drum wankery in video form. People who do this 1. don't have a clue where there sense of humor might be and 2. seem to like both drum machines and over playing.

My robot is made to play Punk Garage fuck you music. He's meant to make a racket. Now I can tell Plague Monkey to go fuck himself, he's been too gimmicky for too long.

The sad part is that most people will be disappointed when all is said and done because how could I live up to the hype. The good part is I don't give a rats dick hole what anyone thinks. I am pleased as a pig in donut fat with myself.

I should say that John from Highly Liquid was awesome as hell and David & Jeff really were great friends and teachers and shit, my wife should have tossed me out months ago for bringing home all kinds of garbage every day.

Anyway, here's the first real peek at the Robot Drummer.



UPDATE: for some details go here

shits and giggles

If you don't know what project I've been obsessively working on the last few months this video isn't for you.

Actually it really isn't for anyone but me, I just wanted to document something.

"hello David"

Here's a little improv done with Livewire, Doepfer and Bubblesound modules. The main voice is the ULFO and the Doepfer A-112

It got it's name because when I heard the sound I thought I should push David to get a A-112 because it sounded great processing the ULFO in oscillator mode.
Hello david by Tommy DOG

computers can really suck

So I'm all happy as I pop another TB HD into my computer and I look to see a drive I bought in December is SMART coding on me. What? yep, back up everything son and walk away quickly.

Great. I "might" be able to return the now dead drive BUT I am at a stand still because I am running out of space and all my bays are otherwise taken.

Trojan Man? Liquid Plumber? Mr. Clean?
"Jane, stop this crazy thing..."

Obit: Walter Sear

Walter Sear has been a fixture in NYC pro audio since before we called it that. He could play tuba, sell you a Moog and school you on making records all at the same time. Anyone who met him, talked to him or worked with him learned something about something.

We respect those who teach by remembering their lessons and passing them on.

http://www.searsound.com/

one caveat

In my last post all smelled rosey and everyone was happy in the land of technology but I did forget the real test. Pro Tools.

Yes, I do most of my stuff in Pro Tools so it would be a good idea to test this plugin demo in there before I buy it. Before you remind me that I am kidding myself in believing that Digidesign's iron citadel was going to be a nice place to play, don't.

Rounds 1-5 consited of my trying to get Pro Tools to accept the fact that a demo of a five piece drum kit shouldn't overload the CPU in my Quad-Core T0wer. Needless to say FAIL.

Rounds 6-9 involved trying to figure out how to route through Sound Flower and out of the computer and back into the computer with a multitude of optical and other assorted orifices. The result, diddly squat.

So in this day and age where companies are benefiting from sharing information and supporting each other Digidesign still is holding on to the old way which not only sucked but if I recall the AVID video editing systems didn't fair well when they didn't want to allow developers to develop for the platform.

All this to say the growing pains of the tech world are still causing my head to hurt.

his own drummer

For many years I have used drum machines and samples to embellish recordings during the overdubbing process. Often my preference is to record the basic tracks live and then go in and play around once that foundation is there.

As drum machines began to use samples they became more viable for certain types of Rock music. When the Roland V-drums hit the market we now had a level of editing that turned these electronic drums into viable musical instruments.

It had been a while since something new has come along that actually caught my ear in the E-drum dept. when I heard about XLN Audio's Addictive Drums. I was told by a touring musician that they had held up really well over weeks of shows and that they sounded great. Well that was enough for me to want to at least look them up.

When I hit the website I was sort of surprised to see a product that was packaged in a mainstream way, offering styles (including "Punk") and at a relatively low street cost of about $200. I have to say that I was totally skeptical having been so spoiled by the quality of boutique gear and stuff that at face value was decidedly noncommercial in that hipster sort of commercial way.

I jotted off a question or two which was quickly responded to by Tore Jarlo at the company.

Soon I had downloaded their demo, which is usable and really is just limited by the fact that it only gives you a few drums to play. One can edit the sounds and get a real sense of the software in terms of one's ability to tweak and get the best out of the software.

Having not read any instructions or made any special provisions as to what I was going to do I loaded the demo up in VSTLord and began to play around with the drums by playing them with The Manta.

I am safe in saying that I am fully qualified as a musician and musicologist to make an unequivocal statement that I really am not a good drummer. THAT being said, I do know what drums sound like and I do know when a controller like The Manta has hit a good match in terms of being able to use it's expressiveness to a high degree and both the hardware and software blended so well that I actually felt a pang of artistic joy.

It's rare that a test comes out like an actual musical event. When one works with technology one tends to distance one's self at times like these.

My desire in the studio is always to be able to add drums and percussion during the overdubs that blend easily with the original tracks but I want the flexibility to go gonzo and I want the real drummers to feel comfortable using the tools. Today was one of those epiphany days.