There’s an interesting, 10-minute video interview here with Morton Subotnick, one of the pioneering electronic-music composers. I’m somewhat ashamed to admit that I’ve never heard Silver Apples of the Moon in its entirety; after watching this video I may have to obtain a copy.
Audio Damage Updates Eos
I’ve been remiss in mentioning that we’ve put out an update for Eos, our high-quality algorithmic reverb plug-in. This update gives Eos a visual makeover, fixes a number of problems with the AudioUnit version, and provides a 64-bit version for Windows users. The update is free for registered users.
Origami at MIT
There’s a nice article and short video here on the Boston Globe’s site about the origami club at MIT, along with some general information about recent trends in origami.
Didn’t Wile E. Coyote Do This?
The Joy of Chickens
This Wikipedia entry will almost certainly make you laugh out loud.
Frozen Soap Bubbles
The temperature was -8°F (that’s -22°C for those of you living almost anywhere other than the USA) this morning, so it was time to brave the cold to blow some soap bubbles. In previous winters I found that the critical threshold for getting bubbles to freeze in mid-air seems to be around -3 or -5°F, and it’s cloudy but bright and still today, so the conditions were excellent. Many bubbles froze before hitting the ground, and a few small ones stayed intact for a minute or two after landing. I managed to blow one about the size of a large orange which stayed airborne for maybe 30 seconds, buoyed up by the faint thermal draft coming from a window. I could see it turning from an irridescent film to grey-white ice as the subdued rays of the sun hit it when it rose above the house. Finally it drifted back down to the ground and tumbled a few times as it crumbled on the snow.
A Glowing Review of Phosphor
(Yes, some puns just have to be made.) AudioNewRoom posted a review of Phosphor, describing it as “among the most useful and inspiring virtual instruments on the market today.” The reviewer also described Audio Damage as “a company of truly inspired developers”. Aw, shucks. Thanks, ANR!
The Homeland Security Threat Advisory is Fading to Black
I couldn’t help but chuckle when I learned that the color-coded Homeland Security Advisory System is being scrapped soon. Good riddance to one more useless relic from the Bush years.
Credit Where Credit’s Due
It came to my attention recently that one of my heroes, Roger Linn, is receiving a Grammy Merit Award for Technical Achievement. Quoting directly from the press release:
Roger Linn is a musical instrument designer who revolutionized the world of electronic musical instruments when he invented the LM-1 Drum Computer, the first drum machine to use digital samples of a real drum kit. Linn also went on to help in the design of other drum machines including the LinnDrum, Linn9000, the Akai MPC60 and Akai MPC3000. In 2002, Linn founded Roger Linn Design, which released the AdrenaLinn series of guitar pedals, which contain a digital multi-effects drum machine and amp modeler all in one that specializes in beat-synced effects. In addition to his production career, he is a guitarist and songwriter who has written hits for artists such as Eric Clapton and Mary Chapin Carpenter.
Announcing Phosphor
How about starting the new year with a new instrument from Audio Damage? Now available on our website is Phosphor, our first polyphonic synthesizer plug-in.
Phosphor traces its roots to the alphaSyntauri synthesizer, a ground-breaking synthesizer introduced in 1979. The alphaSyntauri used an Apple ][ computer for its user interface; sound generation was handled by hardware. It offered a glimpse of the power of additive synthesis at a price more or less affordable by someone who found an Apple ][ more or less affordable. I’m old enough to remember poring over an article in BYTE magazine about the alphaSyntauri, but I never actually used one. Our inspiration and reference for constructing Phosphor was a complete alphaSyntauri system that Chris assembled from eBay finds.