Month: August 2009

New Mix – Jello Submarine

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Jello Submarine is my new mix that features mostly new music from August of 2009. This is primarily a deep house mix although there are definitely some high energy house tracks and some material with more of an edge that is included here as well. I am really into updated remixes of older songs, so the Calvertron remix of 80s classic Feel For You by Chaka Khan is one of the highlights. If you have heard similar remixes that you can recommend, please include them in the comments.

Stream: Jello Submarine

Download: Jello Submarine

Airdeck Project Update 1.5

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I haven’t posted anything new for a couple of days as I’ve been busy working on some new elements for the Airdeck. For starters, I am designing some Infrared LED gloves. I know virtually nothing about electronics, so I had to research this, but I think I have a decent design in mind now. I actually had a working glove this weekend, but I didn’t know that you needed resistors, so I have to order some and start over. Also, my dad shared with me some information about Molex solderless connectors, so I am gonna try those for some of the connections because my soldering skills need some work. Hopefully, I’ll be able to post some more info on the gloves by the weekend.

As for coding, I have been trying to incorporate some new features. I have two oscillators available now that get mixed together. So if a user picks a “Custom” preset, the radio button panels for oscillators 1 and 2 will be available to  select different waveforms. I also have a panel with several faders, but they don’t do anything yet. The idea is to offer some filtering and modulation to the waveforms. Additionally, because the left hand(Y-axis) is only used for volume… I thought that any left hand movement on the X-Axis should be available to control another parameter such as a filter, if the user desires.

I still need to program the preset sounds, program the filters, and figure out how to get MIDI out to work. Also, when I added two waveforms mixed together,  for some  reason the amplitude control sounds a little glitchy when you try and raise or lower the volume with the left hand. So I have to figure out what that is all about.

Finally, I’ve been working on making the GUI look a little nicer. I still have to work some kinks out, but this is one of the ideas I had. Going old school. Although it might be cool to offer several skins that the user can select from. I will give that some thought as well.

airdeck2b

Michael Brecker on EWI Wind Controller

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As I state in my About page, my musical career began with the woodwind instruments, primarily flute and saxophone (alto, tenor and baritone). Call me biased, but when it comes to pure expressivity, I still think nothing beats the breath-controlled instruments (brass included). The two biggest limitations on such instruments are their monophonic nature and the limited timbres available. I suppose this is what fascinated me about the Yamaha WX7 wind controller when I first learned about it 20 years ago. It opened doors for wind players;  now you had an unlimited palette of sound to play with just like the keyboard and guitar players. And one could still keep that connection to the instrument that channels such wonderful elements of creativity and emotion – breath.

Here is the late Michael Brecker, virtuoso jazz artist,  playing on an Akai EWI. He shows just  how powerful this type of performance can be.

Beatboxing Flute Player Does Mario Brothers Theme

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While the focus of this blog is typically on new technology, if I find something more “organic” that is particularly novel I will share it as well.  Such is the case with this next performance. This sort of hits a nerd trifecta for me:

  1. It features a flute, which I played as a kid
  2. It features beatboxing, which I ‘ve been  fascinated with since I was a kid
  3. It features Super Marios Brothers – ’nuff said.

Mix – Eclectic Shock

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There really is nothing like performing live for a crowd and my years of live gigging are memories I will treasure forever. Having shifted my focus to other priorities, I must say that my passion for mixing has never left and to this day, I try and get in some time on the decks if only for myself and some friends. Every so often, Discogs forum members hold a mixing competition and I have competed in it several times. The mix I am presenting here took second place, as rated by fellow Discogs forum members and contest participants, in the Spring 2006 competition. This mix is down-tempo and is my attempt to be as diverse in genre as possible and I hit everything from jazz, latin, funk, trip-hop and dub. Thanks for listening!

Stream: Eclectic Shock

Download: Eclectic Shock

Mojo Tunes – Buchlasaurus

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As I state in my About page, from a young age I have wanted to be involved in music production, which is why as part of my undergraduate work, I went for a minor in Recording Arts. Over the years, I have written dozens of half-finished pieces and riffs, but for one reason or another was really never able to fully finish a piece. One of the gifts that college has provided me is better discipline and better focus. In my Introduction to Electronic Music class we were tasked with developing an original composition, which forced me to follow my creative efforts through to completion. Earlier this week, I posted about the Buchla, and this piece has elements of the Buchla in it, hence the name. The piece was done primarily in Pro-Tools, and is my attempt at an original drum ‘n bass track. I will be the first to admit that structurally, it is probably not very DJ friendly, and it may not even be very dance floor friendly. But as my first fully developed and completed original piece of work, I would like to present it. Here is Buchlasaurus.

Buchlasaurus

Buchlasaurus © 2008 Mojo’s Dojo

DJ A-Trak composition on the fly

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This is a performance from 2002, but it still blows me away everytime I see it. DJ A-Trak is a world champion DJ, having won the contest in 1997 at the age of 15, making him the youngest DJ to win the honor. In this clip, he is creating songs on the fly by sampling loops, scratches and synth tones from his turntables and mixer. He layers them piece by piece in real time and the results are pretty amazing.