“It’s better to practice one song for 24 hours than play 24 tunes in one hour.”
—Attributed to Bill Evans
I have recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to publish traditional songs and rhymes, especially those not freely available on the Internet. Let me explain.
I assumed every traditional song could be found free on the internet, but I was wrong. My grandmother recently sang a song to me, a song her mother sang to her when she was a little girl. When I searched online for the song, I was surprised at what I found!
See my campaign to learn more (and to hear my grandmother sing).
It’s always nice to get this kind of email. on Flickr.
I recently sat down for an interview with local Charlotte sax player, Tim Gordon. It’s been my good fortune to know and be able to play with Tim. (First while I was in school, and later, professionally.) Not only is he a fantastic musician, he’s an all around great guy.
In this interview, we talk about the current state of music education, being a professional, and making a living. Tim even gives an economic history lesson on the music scene in Charlotte. Check it out!
I just transcribed a lead sheet for “God Only Knows” by The Beach Boys. Yes, Brian Wilson is a genius.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Ze Frank (zefrankenfriends), but his advice for creatives seems right on.
NASA’s Voyager spacecraft is leaving the Solar System, so let’s use it as a reason to listen to some Coltrane.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/voyager/voyager20120803.html
3D Printed Record - Audio Tests
In order to explore the current limits of 3D printing technology, I’ve created a program for converting digital audio into a 3D model of a record and printed some functional prototypes that play on ordinary record players.
The audio on the records is very low resolution, it has a sampling rate of 11kHz (a quarter of typical mp3 audio) and 5-6bit resolution (less than one thousandth of the resolution of typical 16 bit audio), but the result is easily recognizable.
Find my Processing code, 3D model downloads, photos, and a detailed discussion of the design process on Instructables: instructables.com/id/3D-Printed-Record/
http://www.creativeapplications.net/processing/3d-printed-record-600dpi-into-11khz-with-processing-and-modelbuilder/
Songs:
Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
New Order-Blue Monday
Pixies - Debaser
Daft Punk - Around The World
Radiohead - Everything In Its Right Place
Joy Division - Disorder
Aphex Twin - Windowlicker
The times, they are a changin’.