DIY Workshop Madness

I am really excited to be teaching a series of open source software and hardware workshops this year at Yale as part of a new initiative we started called the Open Music Initiative.  The aim of the initiative is to indoctrinat… er, expose faculty and students to the merits of FLOSS and open source hardware via workshops wherein attendees will get hands-on experience working with, and more importantly making music with open source technologies.  Additionally, it is my hope that the initiative will eventually become a self-sustaining endeavor largely operated and promulgated by members of the Yale community.

Filed under: Phase 1, arduino, audio, DIY, electronic music, FLOSS, makehaven, Music, open source, workshops, Yale

Modular Synth Components

(top, left to right) Oscillator with voltage divider, low pass filter, white noise generator, amplifier

Last night El MuCo (The Mutagenic Cooptoraptors) accomplished a feat heretofore unimaginable: three circuit projects were undertaken and three projects were completed successfully.  While you may be tempted to think that, with the assistance of a book (Ray Wilson’s Analog Synthesizers) and the vast power of the internet this is not a big deal, you could not be more mistaken. Not only because of our chronic electronic ineptitude, but because even getting all the parts together for this much electronic awesome is daunting.  Of course, we didn’t have all the right parts, but we did it anyway because SCOFFING AT CONVENTION IS OUR BREAD AND JAM™!

Filed under: Phase 1, Tutorial / How-to, analog, DIY, electronics, modular, synthesis, synthesizer

Music V: Back to the Future

In 1969 Max Mathews published The Technology of Computer Music in which he provides a  primer to digital sound and synthesis, describes the function of a computer music program, and provides a manual to the language he was describing, namely MUSIC V. It was to be the last MUSIC-N language he would write, and was the culmination of audio programming innovation that Mathews began in 1957 when he created the series of programs that formed MUSIC.

Filed under: Code, Music, Phase 1, Tutorial / How-to, Code, computer, Csound, electronic music, Max Mathews, MaxMSP, Music, MUSIC V, MUSIC-N, Pure Data, supercollider

Intro to SuperCollider 3 for the Uninitiated

There are so many good tutorials, books, and websites out there for learning SuperCollider that one may scoff at “yet another…” SuperCollider intro and for good reason.  This article, however, aims to answer really basic questions at the absolute beginner level, questions such as “ok, but how do I get SuperCollider and what version do I want?”  I will present information in the form of an extended FAQ largely based on questions I have answered over and over again. 

Filed under: Code, SC3 - Code - Music - More, Tutorial / How-to, Code, electronic music, how-to, Music, supercollider, synthesis

SuperCollider on CrunchBang Linux

[UPDATE] This post has been updated to reflect better practices.

Following my post for installing SC3.6 on Ubuntu (Xubuntu) where I advised readers of the awesomeness of #! (CrunchBang) linux I have decided to post a quick how-to for getting SC3.6 IDE installed on your CrunchBang system.

Filed under: Phase 1, Code, computer music, crunchbang, electronic music, linux, supercollider

New SuperCollider on (x)Ubuntu

My page on installing SC3.x on Ubuntu has been a popular page here at scacinto.com. Because it was written 3+ years ago, and more importantly, because so much changed with the SC3.6 update I felt compelled to write up another tut. This time I’m installed 3.6.x on Xubuntu 13.10. The flavor of Ubuntu you choose doesn’t matter. I like X because it uses the lighter XFCE desktop environment. Actually, I like and use #! Linux more, but Ubuntu is the easier and more people use it (even though #! is better!) so here goes:

Filed under: SC3 - Code - Music - More, Tutorial / How-to, Code, computer, electronic music, how-to, interactive, Music, supercollider, synthesis

Experimental Musical Instrument Workshop @MakeHaven

Contact Mics hanging up to dry following workshop 1

Yesterday was the 2nd of what will now be three workshops I’m giving at MakeHaven hacker space in New Haven, CT. The first two focused on creating contact mics and designing and building acoustic instruments. The third workshop, TBA sometime in October, will center on basics of electronics and circuits, bending/hacking instruments, toys, household objects, etc, and then interfacing the analog with the digital via Arduino. If you are interested in coming to the third workshop, please leave a comment below, or go to http://www.makehaven.org to check out the event. (You do not need to have attended parts 1 and 2 to attend part 3.)

You can see some pictures and videos from the workshops at the following link:

https://plus.google.com/u/1/photos/106620628921347606840/albums/5925690144502315857

Filed under: El MuCo, Tutorial / How-to, contact mic, DIY, El MuCo, hardware hacking, instrument, makehaven, Music

Experimental Musical Instrument Workshop @ MakeHaven

I am pleased to announce another experimental musical instrument workshop in New Haven, this time at MakeHaven (266 State Street New Haven CT.)  The event page is below.  From there you can RSVP if you are interested in coming!

http://www.makehaven.org/event/experimental-musical-instrument-workshop-part-i

Just in case you’re still not sold on the idea of whacky musical instruments, here’s a video of me “performing” on an Udderbot that I made at work today.

Filed under: Current Projects, El MuCo, Miscellany, Music, Phase 1

Sonic Options à Go·Go

 

Because all of the cool kids are going to MySpace and because I am not one to be left behind, I have recently updated my MySpace page with a lot of music.  (and virtually nothing else.)  

www.myspace.com/scottepetersen 

If you don’t want to muddle through the sea of pretty icons and menus on this page in a vain attempt to hear what I have to offer, you can find a lot of it in one easy location at the above.  Please enjoy, +friend, tweetclick or whatever you like over there and socially mediatize me ad nauseum.  

Filed under: Phase 1

Aural Assault?!?

http://375auralassaults.com/

Hello all!  Many apologies for my long absence – life happend between February and now and it sort of kicked my butt a little.  By way of an apology, I would like to offer you a link to a new project I am doing: 375 Aural Assaults!

You can check out the page for the “what the h*$# is this?!?” question and enjoy the sonorous splenfdiforousness while you are there.  I will be adding sounds to this site as often as I can.  After all, what else am I going to do?..  (<– trick question)

375 Aural Assaults! 

Filed under: Code, SC3 - Code - Music - More, Code, computer, electronic music, feedback, free, frequency modulation, musique concrete, noise, supercollider, synthesis