Someone just pointed out to me that thinkgeek is selling the kaossilator, a small 199 dollar synthesizer with only a couple of knobs, and a touchpad. Don't get me wrong, this thing is cool, way cool.
But i do see it as a mix of instrument, and toy...and i am fine with that.
These sort of devices have been brewing in the distance for some time now, with mostly tinkerers and DIY'ers creating these odd little instruments to take with them to shows to amaze, or simply get one thing done very quickly in a way that is still artistic enough (as to not be a tape loop or cd playing in the background.
Then came the monome, and that sort of changed the game. It was a pretty box consisting of nothing but white buttons with red LEDs in them. It did not do anything on it's own however and the greatest link it has to toy instruments is it's ease of use. After programming it to do whatever it is that you needed it to do (sequence, sample, loop, look pretty) it was quite handy as an instrument to call up loops and beats, create keyboard cascades without having to interact with the laptop (this is in the burgeoning field of "laptop musician")
The laptop is functional, but let's be honest. It took the sexy out of music. There's no Fender or Flying V appeal here, just some dude looking at a screen. It appeals to scientists and people who adore scientists, but no one else.
The monome has clean lines, brings in that attractiveness that apple computers enjoy, and is very pretty to look at. It brings the form back to the function, while being extremely functional itself.
Last year yamaha introduced in short format the "tenori-on" created by the same guy that brought us "elektroplankton" for the DS (and by the way, if anyone can find that game for me, i'd do about anything for it.) The tenori was once again, very pretty, and this time you could see the buttons light up and interact from both sides. But it was it's own instrument. It didn't need anything else to interact with to be it's own player.
Later we found that the tenori was really of little use, and more a toy that was expensive than anything. Even still, it did have a musical quality. You had to have some indication of knowing what music sounded like to use it. The appeal of this release was in how exclusive it was. It was made in japan, only to be sold in record stores in Great Britain. For DJs with money.
In other fronts KORG has been building it's KAOSS pads. They were plug in effects boxes with a large pad on the top that users could drag their finger around to accomplish some pretty cool and crazy effects with. Flange, reverb, chorus, it was all there. DJs started flocking to these and KORG noticed. With each succession the KAOSS pads became more and more catered to the DJ, even appearing in a couple of scratch mixers for the DJ.
They got smaller and smaller, more sophisticated. They started having their own onboard synthesizer chip for creating sounds or beats, and suddenly, KORG dropped the bomb with the kaossilator.
It really is revolutionary, even though in the scheme of things it is quite limited.
But i am wondering if these things will fan out, or if they really are the start of something bigger, in the way that computers changed the way alot of people in their bedrooms made, compose, and recorded music. Will it inspire people to music in the same way that the computer did, or even the four track in the decades before that? Will it foster a new type of burgeoning bedroom sound?
As it stands now, there are albums out there using nothing but the monome, or the tenori, or the kaossilator, and the two latter show their limits, but are a nice curiosity anyway. I'm willing to bet, that if we keep our eyes open, and our ears to the ground, we will see a good bit more of these releases in the future, more sophisticated and evolved. As this spurs development of more of these toys, it could very well spill over into the pseudo-mainstream consciousness, giving us a whole new type of music to listen to. What do you think?
btw, those last three links will send you to the totally free albums made by those instruments. give a listen, they are pretty enjoyable.
Comments
Will it foster a new type of
Will it foster a new type of burgeoning bedroom sound?
It reminds me of all of my fruitless attempts at creating music. I have always been very good with computers. I can make them do anything. So back in the early days of MIDI I set down and transcribed a few songs from sheet music to learn the basics. Then I worked my way up to creating my own sounds. But I was sitting in front of a computer screen, fiddling with midi code. Contrast that to using an instrument or one of these new devices. The motor skills required puts more soul into the music. You connect much more of your body to the music you are creating.
What do you think? I don't have too much experience with music creation, as I realized (a few time... I kept forgetting) that it wasn't my forte. Do you connect with the music better when using some sort of motor skills vs. pure brain power on your laptop?
Xavier Ashe
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i have two basic modes of
i have two basic modes of creation. my first one is pure jam mode, pure performance. get on the instrument (guitar, keyboard, drums) and just do whatever it makes me do. there's no real reason for what it is that i am doing, but maybe that is because i've always been a musical person. this mode is best realized when i am not thinking about what i am doing at all.
my other mode is programming, or composition. this is like what you were referring to earlier, sitting in front of code, seeing the music while hearing it in your head. trying to shape it before it's created. i didn't get into this side until i started programming with midi in 1994. it was a whole new world.
with the way the software has evolved, and the way control surfaces have evolved, i have the best of both worlds. on a whim, i can go back and forth, modifying what i need to do in whatever way i need to in order to accomplish the type of sound, beat, performance i am looking for (well mostly.)
when i am playing a "real" instrument, i connect with it in a different way than i do with a control surface.
i generally start out jamming out, finding a simple groove that i can get into. i would capture that (via midi) and take a look at it, clean it up, make sure it's the right sound, etc etc. i'll generally repeat this process over and over until i have these various midi clips of me. then it comes to arranging and composition. i'll program extra things as i think of them, move things around, try various things. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. if i just can't get into playing that day, i'll go back to my library of midi clips, to see if something can inspire me.
sorry, sort of rambled there. but to answer your last question, it's easier when using motor skills to get into what i call the god zone. that's this point you reach when are the music, the music is all around you, and nothing else exists. if you've ever seen me start to contort my face, and violently shake, i am in that place. i've not been able to reach that just using a computer. i can hear it, feel it, etc, but i could never reach the god zone without a knob to tweak, a button to press, a drum to hit, a mic to scream in, etc.
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I don't know music all that
I don't know music all that well, but I've seen similar phenomena in the photography world. It seems that any time something new comes along (technique or equipment), all sorts of people inexpertly try their hand at it. Ultimately, they produce what can only be described as curiosities (to borrow your word). It may be interesting, but ultimately it lacks any real depth. Usually, though, you will find a small group that employ the technique or gear with such skill that make you realize what all the others were trying to do.
To be more specific, HDR (high dynamic range) photography is a relatively new technique that takes advantage of digital post processing to create a range of light that would be impossible to capture with a single exposure. Do a search on Flickr for HDR, and you'll find thousands of images that resemble cartoons. Then you'll find a few (like this one http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuckincustoms/459418289/) that make you think, maybe there's something to this after all.
The point of all that, is that it's not the tools or the techniques, but the artist skillfully using them that make great art. I've seen great art produced with toy/disposable cameras and I've seen crap produced with cameras that cost as much as a house.
hey man, good to see you
hey man, good to see you over here on this side of town ;-)
but i agree, i think it has as much if not more to do with the creative process than it has to do with any singular style of photography, film, music, painting, etc.
as our tools get more diverse, so does the range of creations. this sometimes turns into mush, and sometimes creates something truly inspiring.
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