Amazing Rolo

Wow, yesterday was an epic day. I just wanted to put a quick post up to mention three projects that all came together yesterday.

1. The iPhone app that I have been working on has been released! Click here to go to the official Mujik website to learn more. The response was absolutely overwhelming and amazing. Extra special thanks the the lovely reviews…Create Digital Music has described it as Interactive Musical Whimsy With Lightning Bugs (couldn’t have said it better myself!) and TUAW said “Every so often something hits the App Store that is interesting but difficult to explain. At the same time, it is enjoyable to use, and you tip your hat to the people who thought it up, even if it has no real practical use.” (who needs practical things anyhow?).

2. I had the final sound check with Gol, my Iranian electronic jazzfunk band, for our show today at the MELA Festival right here in Edinburgh. We’ve prepared a brand new specially commissioned set, full of awesome live audio/visual triggering and sampling and Santurs and percussion and other amazing stuff.

3. I went to the opening of Rough Cut Nation at the National Portrait Gallery. I was lucky enough to be a part of the show, having built some fun little UV LED contraptions that allowed people to interact with the artwork…the opening was absolutely phenomenal, and was a testament to the amazing work by all of the artists. I was extremely proud to be involved, I can’t say enough positive things about the whole experience.

I have tons more to say about all three of these projects (and even a few more coming up next week), so I will expand on them very soon. I’m now off to Pilrig Park for the Gol festivities. Wish me luck!

With so much going on (most of which will hopefully be explained and elaborated on in a flurry of posts in the next few weeks) I nearly forgot to mention on this blog that my track “EarthFireWindWaterHeart” has been featured on a TenTracks album…Check it out on TenTracks.co.uk!

If you’re not familiar with TenTracks, you definitely should be. They are offering a really cool new model for downloading and consuming music, and they are definitely getting some traction. From their website:

1. Tentracks.co.uk is a platform for the marketing and retail of music which responds to online music listening culture in a way that has not been achieved to date by the major music industry.
2. Sets of 10 bands provide a track each per month. All 10 are available to listeners for £1 per month (or £10 per year).
3. The bands involved cross-promote each other via their social networks.
4. The tracks are also advertised each month in free arts and culture publication The Skinny, who are partners in the business. The Skinny distributes 32,500 copies around Scotland every month.
5. Over time, the listener-base will grow, providing significant fees to each band for their work.
6. Musicians give tentracks.co.uk no ownership rights, and have the freedom to remove their track from the site after its release month has ended (though there are incentives to stay on).
7. At as little as 10p a track, the price structure is almost but not quite ‘free’. This is great value for the listener, and means artists are remunerated for their exposure in a way that is not possible from most free downloads, illegal or otherwise.
8. We understand the benefits of radio-play and commercial broadcast, and do not impede other income streams for musicians. Tentracks.co.uk is licensed by MCPS-PRS.
9. The tracks are without the restriction of DRM.
10. Scotland is well placed in terms of geography and creative potential to be host to this new, more economical and honest way of doing music business, but we are looking for partnerships elsewhere in the UK and internationally. If you’d like to work with us, get in touch.

Here’s a short video of the Gelkies in their current home at the Hannah Maclure Gallery in Dundee!

I’ll be heading down to London early next week to play at a very exciting launch party for My-Um.com! The show starts at 8pm on Monday the 15th on June at The Dublin Castle in Camden, and is only £6. Expect Wii remotes, Jam Jars, and other excitement. I’m looking forward to it!

Last week I was sorry to miss the amazing sounding Unique Beats festival of electronic music here in Edinburgh. I was able to make a few short appearances via video, though! Here is the first video I made for them, a tutorial explaining how I made the Wii BeatLooper in MaxMSP:

The Unique Beats podcast also features an Amazing Rolo song in episode 1!

Goodness me, yesterday was amazing. I met tons of interesting people here at the Maker Faire, and I’m sure today will be no different! Thanks to everyone who dropped by and said hello and played with the Jam Jars and the Wii LoopMachine. My favorite moment so far?
Boyfriend: “beep beep boooop” (playing with jars)
Girlfriend: “What’s it for?”
Boyfriend: “What do you mean ‘what’s it for’? It’s awesome!!”

I’ll be posting the schematic and directions for building your own Jam Jars in the days following the Maker Faire, I’m afraid I don’t have time to do it right away! So check back soon for all of that. In the mean time, if the first people to come down to booth number 121 (next to the Tesla coils) today and say “Jam Jars For Life!” get a free Amazing Rolo t-shirt!

Okay! They just made the announcement that the doors are opening for day two in less than five minutes. Let’s power up those Jam Jars!

The Wii BeatLooper, which I showed off a couple of days ago in this video, is now available for download! Click here to download the standalone application for Mac OS X, as well as some free samples, a pdf that explains connecting the Wii remote to your computer, and the Max/MSP patches for anyone who wants to play around!

Today I built a couple of Jam Jars to bring to the Maker Faire! Check it out!

Here’s a demo video of a new mini piece of wii music software, made in preparation for my trip to the Maker Faire next week. The BeatLooper is a fun scratching looping device! I’ll be posting this software very soon, along with the Max Patch, and of course there is much more on the way!

Next week I am going to California for the very first time, where I will have a stand at the Maker Faire, an intimate gathering of 80,000 of my closest friends. Over the next week I will be getting all sorts of stuff together for the trip to San Francisco, and of course I will be documenting it all here and on my Wii LoopMachine site. Check back soon for video and software download treats, and maybe even some special gifts for Faire attendees!

click for a pdf of the Maker Faire poster

I don’t think I’ve mentioned it here yet, but I’m currently on a tour of the music industry in Poland, thanks to the British Council. It’s been an amazing experience, and last night I played a show using the Wii LoopMachine at Jadlodajnia Filozoficzna, a totally awesome independent venue in Warsaw. The crowd was fantastic, thanks so much for being so supportive!

For those of you who were asking about the music, my Music page is in need of a refresh, I’m afraid, but if you poke around my blog you can find the songs I played last night! Here are two of them right away:

EarthFireWindWaterHeart

Rolled and Tumbled

Enjoy!

Here’s a track I made the other day…I took a recording of “Wild Goose Chase” played by the incredible fiddler Clyde Davenport and edited two little sections out.

I then imported those samples into Ableton and layered them all together, using follow actions to randomize the way they were layered and played back. This created a sort of Steve Reich phasing effect, except with the added fun of randomness.

Enjoy!

The Amazing Rolo – Goose Chasing