In July 2018 at a venue in downtown LA I gave a talk that described some of the background, historical references and motivation behind the development of the VS4 project. This discussion touched upon topics including Wagner and early 20th-century avant-garde art, moving to UX and design of the current revision of the software visual instrument.
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VS4, Part Two
Late last year, as described in this previous post, I decided it was time to rebuild the VS3 live visual synthesis tool in a modern development environment. After a considerable amount of fits and starts, an “alpha” VS4 is finally up and running, with all new C# code (implemented in Unity 5.6). Still the same basic paradigm, but with greatly expanded creative options. Continue reading →
DB21 Festival
Columbus Day weekend (or, rather, Indigenous People’s Day weekend, as it is officially referred to here in Los Angeles) has come to a close; now we’re looking back on the last couple of days and the performance by The Coredark at the Das Bunker 21st Anniversary event here in our hometown. Continue reading →
VS4, Part One
It’s time to revisit this realtime visual synthesis tool, and build the next iteration on a modern platform. The last version was called “VS3” (for Visual Synthesizer, 3rd iteration); over the next few weeks I’ll be banging out an “alpha” VS4. Stay tuned. In the meantime, here’s the backstory.
This visual instrument concept was developed because typical VJ software tends to be more-or-less a cross between After Effects and Ableton, and I wanted an alternative. Why? Well, certainly not because I don’t love After Effects and Ableton (I use them regularly, of course). It’s just that I found this model limiting for creating the sorts of live visuals I had in mind. Continue reading →
The Return of the Dub Rig
The whole point of the dub station rig, which lives in the upstairs studio, is doing live improvised electronics, mixing, and treatments. “Dub,” of course, refers to the early form of electronic music that developed out of reggae, the protagonists of which considered the mixing console as an instrument and that involved generous amounts of dynamic delay, reverb and other effects in a live mix.
The first iteration of this dub rig was constructed in Boston, and was not surprisingly built primarily around the use of digital delays and feedback. This was with our buddy Jim (who developed his dub chops at the Western Front in Cambridge, MA and who we recently tracked down back in Boston, incidentally). Now the dub rig lives again in Amy’s capable hands and has been expanded to include some new effects and more filtering options. And more analog synths! Continue reading →
The Studio Project, Part Three
We’ve arrived in Los Angeles and unloaded a van full of vintage studio gear into our shop … now it’s time to get down to business! This is a major project: rebuilding a Soundcraft TS-24 that has been in many pieces for years and had just been driven across the country in a van … from unpacking all the bubble-wrapped components to the first signal through the desk!
The console reassembly represents the biggest project, but there’s also the JUPITER-6 and JUNO-106, and the Kurzweil, among other pieces of fine old gear that haven’t been powered up in well over a decade. What’s going to happen? Continue reading →