Dear Apple...

You and I have been together many years, I was there in the 1980's with the Apple II/e. I became a serious user with around 1990/91 with a Mac IIcx.  I've stood by through the rough years of Gil Amelio when it was just pro users and I happily went from my Quadra 650 to my beloved but difficult to open 8500.

Steve Jobs came back at some point and drove the company into being a serious market competitor with the iMac and iPod. He ultimately hit pay dirt with the iPhone but around that time the boutique pro company had changed into the mainstream, the big corporation, the man. Apple was no longer the underdog, the hippie run computer run company that had forged its way with an attitude that said, yeah we are more expensive but we are worth it.

The idea that Jobs maintained that he was right and the user was wrong, that he knew what was best for us regardless of whether that was about dumbing down pro software or forcing how we went about using our computers. This on going insult was made all the more pointed as models of computers became harder for users to fix or upgrade and not critical applications became non removable from mobile devices.

The most recent slap happened when Apple decided that forced upgrades on mobile devices was not only going to be the norm but Apple would remain non responsive to the vast amount of pleas when people suddenly were stuck with a new OS (7) that dropped battery life so significantly some users just gave up.

I recently was forced to upgrade my iPad, a device I absolutely adored from 6.xx to 7 because Skype insisted on it and there was no way out, it would no longer launch. I use Skype for work, so this was a proverbial gun help to my head. This is an offensive business practice and one that has made me consider leaving Apple a lot over recent years. 

I upgraded to iOS 7 thinking I'd get used to the changes as one does, after all I have been through many computers and I know that ultimately most things one adjusts to or removes them from ones work vision. iOS 7 is different, yes it's ugly, yes it changes how one does many things in most cases without much reason or logic BUT it also eats the fucking battery power.

How bad can that be? Well from my own experience I used to change the iPad a couple of times a week and now it's every day. Reports all over the internet are exactly the same, not in time but in general battery drain. There are tons of articles to make the problem a bit less gigantic but none that make it small enough to not notice it.

Because Apple has made it impossible to downgrade devices, I am stuck without hacking my device (which I don't want to do and shouldn't have to)..  Apple has chosen the big brother approach, the lowest common denominator towards its users and now they have taken away a product that I found extremely useful and enjoyable.

I have some connections in and around the company but I would rather not use that route, I would rather find some realistic and permanent solution to the current position that Apple is right and many long time supporters are wrong. I want to be able to run an older OS instead of being bullied into using a new OS which seem to serve to only make machines unusable thus forcing people to buy more product.

Personally I don't know that I would buy another Apple product new until their attitude towards customers changes, which I imagine won't be happening any time soon. So Apple, consider whether treating your users like prisoners or idiots is a good long term plan. I don't care to ask "what would Steve do" -he was often wrong when it came to the human factor, I don't know that he "got" people.      

Fix my iPad.

An A/V demo

This is a edit of live projection work I did using a couple of Optikinetics 250s, slides, video feedback. The wheels are hand made. The sound track is a bunch of robots clanging around.
http://youtu.be/i1k_KIGlKAE

The New Muffwiggler store

Though some may not know this but since the late 90's there has been a modular synthesizer Renascence. This was spear headed by companies like Doepfer and numerous forums, most significantly in recent years by MuffWiggler which has not only allowed synth geeks to find each other all over the world but it has allowed many builders to have their own pseudo focus groups to discuss possible features and price point.

Today, not to many's surprise a store baring the name MuffWiggler appeared.
Although based of years of Mike "Muff"s personal ethics, the store and the forum will probably remain fairly separate and open debate, complaints and all the other stuff the internet is known for will take place uncensored.

I decided to weigh in on what some worry about in terms of impact on what is a somewhat small fringe scene. I mainly focus on what I think the choices will mean for everyone involved.

Begin...

I done a fair amount of business with Shawn at Analog Haven and before that Douglas at Enport (anyone know how he's doing). I have never had any issues with either gentlemen which probably has had an impact on my not using Switched On, Control, Big City or Noise Bug or any of the other US dealers as often.

This is a market that probably needs a bit of competition as much as it needs support among users and manufacturers. At this point in time there a very few full time builders, but a huge amount of part timers. There are an awful lot of products coming out to an audience that seems very happy to try things and then resell them.

All of this is going to change to some degree, not because of the new shop but because markets change. If the shops want to stay in business they are better off supporting each other to whatever reasonable way that they can.

If buyers want to cease this moment and try to push competition, they should consider aiming those demands in areas of pricing like cabling, shipping that have a lesser impact on the builders and if the stores want yo compete they should try to keep it in the areas of how they handle customers and builders.

This is going to be a big moment that could weed out some of the utter shit product. This could be the moment where dealers try to focus on costumer service, creating their own unique style in the choices of what they carry and very importantly treat the people who build the modules with real support and respect because at least 20% of those folks would be well able to carry on doing only direct mail order and be paid better.

I wish Mike and crew the very best, this is a good an interesting moment and I hope that everyone chooses to not act like a bunch of assholes.

Th Joes Garage Sale

Good Frank

OK, perfect moment for a dumb story.

When Frank Zappa died his family sold at very low prices his tour gear, some may remember the Joes' Garage Sale. At the time I had more space and decided that despite my not really giving a shit about famous people's stuff I'd rifle through the list.

Despite my initially looking for bargains, I spotted what clearly was in my mind a perfect tribute to the artist and his sense of humor, it was his wardrobe road case.

Frank Zappa was not the best dressed guitar player on the block, in fact he prided himself on saying fuck you to what ever was hip at that moment. By the 1980's his wardrobe was amazingly awful, sometimes making him look like a pastel Cosby sweater joke.

Bad Frank

I figured it was the most ridiculous item I could possibly buy from the estate. He had nothing to do with music, represented something I didn't feel was his strong point and would be hard to find any realistic use in the studio for it.

I called the guy who was handling the sales, bought it and received a faxed receipt.

Sadly, as is my understanding of what happened the guy who was "in charge" was selling multiple people the same items. He wasn't putting payment through he just was going through the motions. I think I was told that he was simply not capable of handling this job, screwed things up for the family who were no doubt busy was more important things like mourning and I think one collector ended up just buying everything lock stock and barrel.

I admit that it was disappointing because it was as if I was having a laugh with Frank Zappa who had certainly given me a lot of music to enjoy over the years and I had felt it was a tribute he might have liked.

I still keep that fax and maybe one day I'll here what really happened or another similar story. I have no real idea if the details as to what went array with the sale are correct, simplified or erroneous. Either way I am glad to have the story.   

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.

Is it ready yet?

With the modular explosion of the last few years one would think the last few modules I need to complete my vision for this Moog would have popped up.. Not really, it's slow going.

I am however a little closer then I was thanks to doing a random spontaneous search for the 905 Reverb.

Someone please send me a 984 Matrix mixer and I'll shut up (for a moment)

instruments and folklore

Although much of what is interesting and exciting about a musical instrument is a holistic experience that comes from making music, there are times when one's intellect has other questions.

Sadly not many people seem as interested as I am in the history and folklore that goes along with instrument design. This is not to say that the various people with whom I spoke weren't generous with their time, quite the contrary.

My feeling is as a general rule is that for example, some aspects of an instrument's development and the changes that occurred before it reached the point of being considered classic are not that interesting to people when for me they are important touch stones that often reveal what a designer may have had in mind to begin with with.

I am trying to unravel a bit of a mystery relating to my Wiard system. See if you can follow me.

Wiard system number 2 (six modules plus controller) was sold by it's original owner when they moved abroad, theoretically as a whole unit. That system was integrated into a lager system which ultimately ended up being 24 or so modules. It was used on a bunch of recordings and then sold of in parts.

I ended up with what I assumed to be some pretty early modules among the ones I bought. The first three Wiard systems reacted to black light, I never tested mine but I figured that two (VCO & SEQ) plus the controller where early enough.

Fast forward a few years and I buy 1 module (The Filter) and realize that my friend is selling two more from that system. He is the forth owner so already the details are harder to trace but from what I can figure out from talking to a number of people involved including previous owners, I feel like I am one module away from owning system two. I have put out the word that i am looking for the last module.

Now, 5 of the 6 modules believe to be part of that early system are in my case and I'm doing some dusting. I finally, all these years later pull out the black light.. What do you know, the Filter, Sequentizer and VCO don't glow. Only the Envelator and the Waveform City.

It is clear from the graphics on these panels that they are very early and were done in Grant's garage. My understanding is that there is only one blue "The Filter" and it does appear in a photo I have that is alleged to be system 2. I also know that the first three systems had glowing paint.

Where does that leave me?

Information may come from my posting this but in truth, the end result is my instrument s my instrument and it may have some aspect of folklore to it but it's most important that we make our own.

todays improv

Sept 18 09 by Tommy DOG

EDIT some patch info:

Two Anti-O, inter modulating dulled down with a Boogie then a Borg 2. The controllers on this patch where Evelator & Sequentizer with tempo controlled and interrupted by the Wogglebug and noise ring. LFO for timing was s always a Borg.

A little electronic improv

I do as much improvisation as I can, often with modular synthesizers as they remind me of plasticine which I used for so many years to relax. make toys do animation. I am especially fond of The Wiard as it is truly something that inspires and surprises.

This bit of racket came from my screwing around with the Sequentizer which is one of my least used, thus understood modules. What started to come out where these notes that reminded me of Clavichord music.

Klavawiard by Tommy DOG

Sometimes life is too busy to really comment on it virtually. It's not the lack of things I feel like writing about, it's the fact that I'd rather be making music then writing about it's gritty technological details.

I've noticed that there are constant trends in the modular synth community. Not surprising as it is booming in a way that makes the past seem quiet. Between the awareness that people are developing and the push to make things that never existed before, it is both an expensive time and an exiting one.

One subject that is of current interest to many is Don Buchla's amazing instruments which are now the source of much gear talk. Having gone from institution and avant garde to a seemingly more available state, many in the synth community have developed a Buchla lust.

I understand one's affinity to an instrument and do personally like some specific designs that Buchla made but when it comes to full systems my heart belongs to Moog and Wiard.

foot pedals

At some point I saw these wonderful photos of a very early Moog that lives at the University Of Michigan. I was very taken with the early pedals that seemed so slapped together, in fact I was so much so that I began asking around to see if anyone had a set of pedals to sell.

From what I had seen the early systems had two different types of pedals. There were the ones pictured and another style that not only went up and down but sideways as well. This was somewhere in between an early stompbox design that I have an example of, which controlled volume and tone and the Wonka elevator.

While buying some panels from a nice gentleman named Bill, I did the logical thing and shot off a note about the few Moog parts I was still after.

It turned out Bill had a few of these pedals raw and loose. No mounting, no instructions but some valuable information instead. Bill was able to tell me that they were common of a lot of organs, much like the Pratt-Reed keyboard that Moog also used. He thought that they had been manufactured by Allen.

A short time later I received a strange E-mail telling me of a shipment. Shortly the explanation followed. Bill had generously sent me the pedals. I was thrilled and nervous because I had no idea how I was going to get them to work.

After some attempts to get an actual diagram or something from some Moog experts I know failed, I decided to just go for it. Tonight they work again, pitch control and groovy detuning at very reasonable voltage ranges. Yeah, I used a meter because I wasn't going to blow anything up.

Here's my reproduction.