So excited to announce the premiere of Dances' new single "Rat" on NOISEY!! Check it out:
Our cassette release show is also today at Emet, and we've got a show at the Knitting Factory on the 25th and Silent Barn on March 4th. Come through for a great great time!
Thought I'd share some stuff I've been working on: 4TR4K is an extension of the 3TR4K system I built for Different Ages. It's still very work-in-progress, but a couple of days ago I did a short overdubbed improvisation combining the new 4TR4K performance interface with my drum set playing.
Drum Set/Google Chrome Improvisation #0 (based on "Pictures at an Exhibition" by Modest Mussorgsky)
I also added some tweaks to metro gnome, an app that creates a Spotify playlist based on a given tempo range and artist/genre. Useful both in the practice room and on the running course!
(screenshot of the app in action)
Finally, Sun Looks Down is proud to present its first single "Moonshine" on Flat Box Recordings! Check it out:
Lots of exciting updates in the next couple months; stay tuned!
A lot has happened in the time since the last post, so perhaps I'll just share a few snippets.
The Banff International Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music was incredible and life-changing; thanks to all the faculty and students who made it such a beautiful experience! I highly encourage any interested musicians to apply next year, it's truly an amazing program.
(a Vine video of me at a jam session, courtesy of Vijay Iyer)
The UNPLAY Festival was a tremendous success, featuring a NYTimes review and some love from Young Arts. Here's a video of our group, SRIRACHA, performing Phil Kline's "Exquisite Corpses":
I've also been working on some computer music projects of my own. The latest cat out of the bag was developed this weekend as part of Spotify and iZone's Music Ed Hack NYC. It was a great experience and I ended up winning "Best use of the Peachnote API", which was a real treat!
The app, parrot lunaire, has you sing or play into your computer microphone and pitch-detects the melodic sequence performed. It then sends that melody to Peachnote, which returns a list of where the melody appears in the classical music corpus. I also added a nifty little feature that generates a Spotify playlist based on the pieces Peachnote selects. The idea is that you can develop your own musical creativity while learning about established works of the past. Give it a whirl here and let me know of any suggestions you might have!
(screenshot of the app)
Well, that's it for now; catch y'all next time!
(Carl Majeau working on his KNATTBOT 3000 as I work on the parrot)
Finally, a long overdue re-vamp of the site, just in time for the summer sun!
I'm coming fresh off the heels of the 119th Annual Varsity Show, for which I played drums in the pit orchestra. It was a great run and a blast to play all those newly composed tunes with such a talented group of musicians (also the largest pit band I've played in thus far).
Lots of exciting things just around the corner: from May 19th to June 9th I will be attending the 2013 Banff International Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music! I'm more than a little nervous as this'll be the first music workshop-type thing I've done since high school, but mostly I'm just thrilled for the opportunity to be with all these crazy musical peers and learn from so many artists who I deeply admire.
Following my Canadian excursion I will be performing in the UNPLAY Festival, held on June 11th, 12th, and 13th. I'll be playing in a sextet that includes Conrad Tao (the creator and curator of the festival) on piano and Nathan Chan on cello. It's gonna be awesome so be sure to get your festival passes here!
Just the beginning of all the wonderful things in store for this summer; more updates to come soon!
