i <3 the onion

Flash Chromatic Scale

Hey, I've been playing with flash & fourier, and some other random Music-Related Math... Check this out:

This SWF Generates notes in the chromatic scale, in the range of about 2 or 3 octaves... The sound wave is seven degrees of fourier series saw-tooth, and it has a little decay added to it so it's more bleepy than ambient.

If you wanna peep at the source code, here it is.

Email From Wellons

I just got back in touch with a life-long friend, and asked him a technical question about sound and mathematics, now, I know a little about FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) Just from my musical self-training... BUT now he's pointed me to a little more knowledge, which I will share with you, dear reader.

Any periodic function, like those saw-tooth, triangle, square waves,
can be produced by summing up a series of sine waves. I.e. the Fourier
series,

http://mathworld.wolfram.com/FourierSeries.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourier_series

And, if you spend a couple years studying a series of numbers between
-1 and 1 (or any arbitrary bounds, really), you have almost earned
yourself an electrical engineering degree. What I am saying is, this
is a field called signal processing, and is a gigantic field of study
which some people have devoted their entire lives to, so you should
have no shortage of interesting things to see playing with this. ;-)

Your basic .wav file is the same thing: just an uncompressed series of
samples. If you write a program to dump these samples to a file in
binary form, then add the proper header, you have a .wav file. Also
see Fourier transforms and frequency domain filters.

Just as audio is a 1-dimensional signal, images are 2-dimensional
signals. Videos are 3-dimensional signals. The same theory applies to
them as well.

You can check out his blog @ http://nullprogram.com/

CPSIA: FAIL

I'm not usually upping personal politics, but this is nuts... The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) Is putting restrictions on what can be sold in the United States. They're doing this under the guise of protecting children from faulty, mostly chinese-manufactured, products. However they're not taking into consideration that this covers ALL manufactured, up-cycled, assembled, crafted, and DIY products too. Meaning that if Grandma knits shawls, she can't sell them to support her bingo addiction. And if "Joe the Plumber" builds toy cars in his garage, he'll have to pay thousands of dollars to test them to see if they're fit to sell at the Crafters Convention, in fact, there won't BE a crafters convention.

All of these changes will be fairly easy for large, multinational toy manufacturers to comply with. Large manufacturers who make thousands of units of each toy have very little incremental cost to pay for testing and update their molds to include batch labels.  

For small American, Canadian, and European toymakers, however, the costs of mandatory testing will likely drive them out of business.

...

If this law had been applied to the food industry, every farmers market in the country would be forced to close while Kraft and Dole prospered.

(via Handmade Toy Alliance)

This is insane, Why would any intelligent person vote for this? In fact only one congress-man voted against it, Ron Paul. I don't know why he couldn't beat out McCain for a rebublican nod this fall, Just kidding, it was the Media the same people who arn't reporting on THIS story.

If you want to find more you can do about this, try:

ToyAssociation.org

Anti-CPSIA Petition

Handmade Toy Alliance

National Bankruptcy Day

Javascript Audio Generation

I haven't looked into the actual source code of this ... But javascript just joined the audio-generation racket, check this out:
http://ajaxian.com/archives/generating-and-playing-sound-in-javascript

And a couple of days ago somebody made a drum machine with (only) javascript:

http://www.themaninblue.com/experiment/JS-909/

That comes complete with an audio visualizer built in JS, but I suspect it gets the hits etc. from the switches themselves instead of the audio generated.

I love this renesaince of coding that's making music production much more easy to experiment with...

Adobe Flash cs4

Well, finally some cross-over ... Flash CS4 (Flash Player 10) has the ability to generate sound using math. So naturally a sine wave is a function of sine...

Here's a bit of code I put together to show this off:

import flash.events.*;

import flash.media.*;

var sound:Sound = new Sound();

sound.addEventListener(SampleDataEvent.SAMPLE_DATA, onCallback);

var channel = sound.play();

function onCallback(e:SampleDataEvent):void {

var noise:Number = Math.round(Math.random()*100)/100;

for (var i:int = 0; i <>

var sample:Number=Math.sin((Number(i/Math.PI/2)/6)));

e.data.writeFloat(sample * noise);

e.data.writeFloat(sample * noise);

}}

My noise variable in there makes the tone jump from pitch to pitch in an aleatoric fashion. John Cage in 12 lines of code.

My goal with this process is to create a fully-functional synth in flash, or at least some sort of drum machine clone with all the data derived by math.

Oh, if you modify this so that sample = math.random() you get some decent white noise. I'm still working on controlling the volume of the sound before being generated, and some filtering. But right now I'm just focusing on emulating the waves.

Noteflight ... too cool for school

Hey, this was posted on musicthing today & it's AWESOME ...

(img by svarting)

Noteflight is a powerful full-featured application to edit, display and play back music notation in a standard web browser, integrated in an online library of musical scores that anyone can publish, link to, or embed.

Check it out @ http://www.noteflight.com/

DS HomeBrew Review:

I've had the R4DS for about a month now, and I love it. I haven't had an official cart in my gameboy for weeks... let's review what I've downloaded, where to find it, and what I think about it...

1. StillAliveDS: http://stillaliveds.free.fr/
   PORTAL clone. fun as hell, I've been obsessed... Might get a console just to play the real thing
2. LAMEBOY: http://lameboy.nutki.com/
   GameBoy emulator. Sure I have a real gameboy, but I can play those games on the DS instead of risking damaging my precious carts
3. ProteinDS: http://gorgull.googlepages.com/home2
   Crazy music app, 2 loops (that you can scratch) a sampler, and a controller (I think it's midi) I'm still fumbling my way around the details but it's great.
4. Population Tire / Secret Collect: http://www.mrphlip.com/ds/
   Videlectrix can make a good game, I'm glad somebody ported these, I'm just waiting for a version of 20 ex-dee 6
5. PocketPhysics: http://www.freewebs.com/pocketphysics/
   Draw something and then run it through your drawn world ... more fun than a barrel of monkeys, I keep making crazy domino runs with balls & pendulums and stuff.
6. Colors: http://www.collectingsmiles.com/colors/ds.htm
   Man, I love to doodle. If this thing had an eraser I'd be a lot happier, but the replay function replays every line of you making your drawing, sweet.
7. DS2Key: http://www.1emulation.com/forums/index.php?showforum=88
   A DS wardriver/gamepad emulator... I found 10 wifi networks on my street, some of them are completely open !!
   
8. ChorDS: http://nobkilla.free.fr/spip.php?article1&lang=en
   A Tab-viewer for DS soon to have a chord dictionary & a section called "Beginners"

I have some other things on there but none really worth mentioning, and a few things I have yet to even touch... 

What I got ...

I got all 3 packages from my last post. r4ds, screwdrivers, arduino ... and I've been playing around pretty hard ... gotta say, much love to the lameboy It's been keeping me entertained with some music roms (and a couple other weird games I pulled off the interwebs) also Protein[DS] is more fun than I ever dreamed...

Naturally I took apart my gameboy color, but I couldn't find any wire around suitable for the pro-sound mod ...

And the arduino (which I just got started with because my power's been out for two days) Is awesome ... I've just been playing around with that. and naturally any time a true nerd is given processing power over LED's this has to happen:

Which was done using a little "Work Around" I learned from flash:

dir = true;

if(pinA == 9){

dir = false;

}else if(pinA == 2){

dir=true;

}

if(dir){

pinA++;

pinA = HIGH;

pinA -1 = LOW;

}else{

pinA--;

pinA = HIGH;

pinA +1 = LOW;

}

Recent Purchases, very exciting

I'm very excited ... decided to buy some geek-stuff last week, which means that soon I'll have some new geek stuff to pass on to you... (other than what-ever soldered in those capacitors from last post is friggin' invincible.) But on the way is : R4DS, DS homebrew music ^_^ ... then there's an arduino comin' in some some interesting midi apps or something has to come out of that ... and as a side note I got some screw-drivers to open up palm & nintendo products so warranties be warned!

Hopefully all this means more posts in the near-future about some pretty advanced & blog-worthy stuff.

Cylon

About a week ago I've decided to build the cylon-lights project from parts laying around the house (apparently I'm really good at getting more parts than I need for a project)...

Anywho ... I'm going by the Cylon-O-Lantern design, because it seemed pretty straight forward, and I'm sure I had all the stuff sitting around.

Found a 555, the of 4017's and a bag of led's & resitors and started hacking away... But after searching my stock-pile and my dad's only found 4 appropriate diodes. I have no suitable capacitors either so I found a bunch in a beat-up non-functional DVD player, But they're friggin impossible to un-solder :-(

So I had to break down & head out to radioShack... Grabbed a new tin of flux, a bunch of diodes, and a solder-sucker (I usually use braid) ... Still no luck on those caps though, Where does the 'Industry' get this super-solder !! it's driving me nuts ... Hopefully someday I'll get the caps off that damn board and finish this up for my super-evil plans...

By the way, the basics of this circuit (as in not connecting it to 6 leds) can be built into a pretty mean step-sequencer for DIY synths by connecting it thusly:

The pots all connect to one LED to control its brightness, which in turn controls the resistor's value makeing it play a simple melody.

Free Ipod Touch ??

I've never been able to get anything for free (except for lunch at costco, where I walk past the samples a dozen times) So I'm testing this free Ipod Touch deal, I chose the easiest to complete (8gb iPod Touch) it only takes 1 offer and 5 refferals... so Please help me out with my little experiment...

Click here:

OR go to this link: http://www.YourFreeVideoiPods.com/index.php?ref=5305182

Sign up for something .... I did the free credit report ...

and then I'll let you know how it goes...  Alot of people are doing it, so it can't be that bad.

Also it'll give you your OWN referral number so you can get a free ipod too...

And if I get an iPod, you know I'll jailbreak & hack it, and give you all the details....

Video Spy-Glasses

Awesome ! ::

How To: Spy Sunglasses! - video powered by Metacafe

Dr. Horrible...

Greatest thing EVER ... very funny ... thanks doogie.

http://www.drhorrible.com

Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

I didn't really want an iPhone/iPod touch ... til I saw this:


Henny makes beat on iPhone 3G using Beatmaker!!! from Henny on Vimeo.

via CDM

WTF? IE is being weird ...

OK ... this is strange, Internet Explorer is acting much funnier than usual ... check out this error message I just got:
How is that even possible ?? How is success an error ??

Editable Websites !?

Yes, you too can engulf yourself in the wonderful world of website design, with just a few simple clicks .... Just use this bookmarklet :
javascript:document.body.contentEditable='true';%20document.designMode='on';%20void%200
(if you click & drag this to your bookmarks bar it'll give you a button for it) ... It will make any page editable ... want to see your name @ the top of the google search list ? just type it in! ... extremely useful for scamming yourself and others ... enjoy

Aurora

Not Illinois but a cool new DIY-dj midi device ...

CDM recently posted about aurora, an open source hardware mixer.

From the aurora website:

aurora is a usb powered multichannel mixer in a typical dj form factor. the device features two linear channel faders, a single a/b crossfader and eight backlit buttons. twenty four backlit knobs allow you to control effects. aurora, unlike most midi controllers, enhances performances with controllable ambient lighting. aurora easily integrates with your favorite midi compatible software.

This thing looks badd-a$$

aurora mixer controller - click image to see the Flickr set

since aurora is an open source project they got all the info to BUILD YOUR OWN... sweet.

the intent of publishing the files is to generate interest in the community, not to make you rich. we are interested in seeing how you use aurora, feel free to post any mods in the forum.

If you sign up to their mailing list, they'll get in touch with you when they start selling pre-assembled versions.... also cool.

Check the aurora website for more information.

Geeks Day

About Once a year me & my dad (a professional musician) go out and look @ all the cool little local shops to check out the new & used equipment. As Usual, we spent about 4 hours out & about playing with stuff.

Also as usual, I found some stuff I wanted but want to spend that much money on (Usually New equipment, But a lot of used was over-priced too)

Golden Used finds included: Casio CZ-101 ($100), Turntables($65-200), midi controllers($50-200) and an Upright 3/4 Bass ($499) ...

Fortunately my dad has been searching for an upright for sometime, and this just happened to be about 1/4 of the price of buying a new one. So he now has a bass in his arsenal, which I am welcome to come play with.

I myself left with a handful of cables and adapters, cuz I am poor.

FireFox woes

It happens every time a new firefox comes out, about half my addons break. well I've learned to live with it, and cross my fingers waiting for an update.

But this is a different reason to be upset. Firefox was promoting a 'Download Day' to help set a world record for most downloads. FF3.0 was due out today at 10am pacific. So i waited until then to try to get it, getfirefox.com shows the link to FF2.0.0.14, mozilla.com is dead in the water. So the only place you can get it is the mirrors, which don't contribute to the world record count.

What a bunch of phooey, If you're going to promote a landrush on a download, at least have the decency to ACTUALLY be prepared instead of asking the world to assist in a DoS attack on your system. And actually have the product readily available.

DARPA is funding some fantastic research but being able to Harness Insect Flight and Vision Electronically is a concept that is far out. The goal is lofty but based on the research results they have achieved to date I think their plans are attainable.

Pretty cool but ... Dr. Robotnik's been doin' this kind of stuff for over 20 years!

Check out the whole post @ hackedgadgets

Hooray for sound.

I've been playing with PD almost daily since the move, and boy is it fun... it's even better with LoopBe1 an internal midi loop which let's you send and receive midi data in the machine.

I've found alot of stuff on chip-tunes and Lo-Fi sounds for PD on the web. Most notibly mmonoplayer.com has emulated the sound chips from several classic consoles. http://mmonoplayer.com/mspexternals.php They're mainly patches for MAX/MSP but some of the good stuff is available for PD as well.

loads of fun

Moving Fin / Nintendo DS

Moving went well, about 3 hours door to door.

A bunch of friends and family showed up so it was easy as pie, and on another note of luck most people left before they received their promised pizza & beer, so we got away with 1 extra-large and Gatorade.

ALSO, I got a Nintendo DS Lite over the weekend, I got an Ubisoft title called "Jam Session" that basically makes your DS into a guitar. It's pretty nifty. it has effects and everything. next up: protein[DS] just gotta figure out how to get that working. those crazy homebrew kids.

Moving Day ....

I'm moving today to a MUCH bigger apartment ... I'm tres excited because I'll have a garage lab to work in instead of a fooseball table AND i don't have to take the bus as far ... sweet ... once the move has gone underway I'll be posting alot more music-related stuff (as opposed to the computer related stuff right now)

PureData rocks, add on AudioPint & it KILLS

I've been playing around with PureData for about a week now, and it's so much fun and easy to use. I built a metronome with tap-tempo and BPM setting in about an hour.

You can also use pureData to make soft-synths that are midi controlled, and even use it to process audio being sent into your sound card. Low on cash? want a new guitar effect? write it in PD, plug into your computer & bam, amazing sound-warping possibilities.

But what about live ?? do I have to carry around my wimpy laptop? or my huge desktop ? NO that's where audiopint comes in, possibly the best/coolest idea I've seen so far. It's a near-indestructible pelican case full of computer hardware allowing you to run all your pureData patches. live.

drop it? who cares, pelican cases are like the little-black-box on airplanes.

check it all out:

http://audiopint.org/

http://puredata.info/

and lastly, a pelican case torture test.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgEefnTeOGU

Flash 10, jawdropper ahoy!!

Just found this via bit-101, a great Flash Blog (since my day-job involves flash)

First off Install flash 10 from:
http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flashplayer10/


then check this out, it's flash generating sound based on your mouse's x/y position:
http://www.bit-101.com/astro/sound01.html


Read the whole post (code included) at:
http://www.bit-101.com/blog/?p=1264


Too bad this code probably won't work when the new stuff comes out, it's still Beta... But I'm willing to drop the dough on doing it straight from flash, no more Flash -> FLOSC -> PureData... Friggin sweet.

for more flash 10 demo's check out:
http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flashplayer10/demos/

PS2 to Midi !!

Just saw this today on Curious Inventor: PS2 to MIDI converter... control Ambleton or whatever with a ps2 controller .... how cool is that.

Those friggin' geniuses ... and they're selling it fully assembled for 80 bucks ... cheapest midi controller ....

http://www.curiousinventor.com/kits/midiator

Google Image Hack - full-sized gImages

Ok, I finally got this to work the way I wanted it .... Go to google images, look something up and put this in the address bar :

javascript:i=document.getElementsByTagName('a');var htm; var output; var out = new Array();for(a=25;a<(i.length-15);a++){htm = i[a]; htmS= htm.search.substring(1); ampS = htmS.split("&");equS = ampS[0].split("=");out.push(equS[1])};r = document.getElementsByTagName('img'); var im;for(b=0;b<r.length;b++){r[b].setAttribute('src',out[b]);
r[b].setAttribute('width','auto');r[b].setAttribute('height','auto');};

It'll display full-sized images instead of thumbnails ... fun

Minthesizer

The Minthesizer ... very cool little synth build in an altoids tin... perfect for the battery-operated music I've come to love... I gotta get one of these things....

More info @ http://www.minthesizer.com/minthesizer.html ...

He's also got a theremint 'coming soon' guess what THAT does ...

Google Images hack - full-sized images ONLY

Tired of looking at all those tiny thumbnails on google images ?

This hack will make a google images page disappear, and be replaced with the full-sized images from that page.

goto google images, and search for whatever you want.

when that page comes up type or copy & paste this into your browser's address bar.


javascript:i=document.getElementsByTagName('a');var output;var htm;for(a=25;a<(i.length-15);a++){htm = i[a]; htmS= htm.search.substring(1); ampS = htmS.split("&");equS = ampS[0].split("="); output +="<img src='" + equS[1] + "'><br/>";};document.body.innerHTML =output;



Hope you all enjoy, the bummer is that I can't get it to keep displaying the google frame :-( if anybody out there has idea's please post them here.

Download Music/Video from pandora/you-tube

Remember Pandora's Jar & all those You-Tube Video Grabbers ?

Well I just discovered a lovely little "trick"....

Downloaded the latest RealPlayer 11.0.3 powered by helix 6.0.14.806...

Pop open pandora or you-tube and real-player pops up a "download this video" dialog,
click it, and now you have a free mp3, flv, or whatever....

actually it grabs pandora's music as an mp4 ... and you'll have to re-name it (it automatically names it "Pandora Radio - Listen to Free Internet Radio, Find New Music.mp4" But you-tube video's are named after their title ... on winXP it saves them to: "\My Documents\My Videos\RealPlayer Downloads"

friggin' sweet.

for more info check out : http://i.realone.com/product/help/rp11/en/Content/Recording_Download-Record_Web.htm

First post... naturally

Hey, i'm starting a new blog because I'm tired of switching servers, or my account being terminated and all my posts being deleted, at least with blogger you got google on your side... stay tuned for some music/technology related stuff coming real soon.