Take the survey here.
iPod and Apple’s ad campaign
1 Reply
Okay, though it’s not the current way Apple does iPod advertising, which mainly focuses on gaming and the newly embedded camera, to me the most iconic advertising Apple did with the iPod was when people danced all over the place in silhouettes against a monochromatic background. Like this:
Let’s be clear about what is being emphasized here. First, catchy music. Music that you might not have known that well but are now thus tantalized to grab it for 99 cents. (For a list of music that’s been on iPod ads, go here.) We all know that Apple, in this context, more or less functions as a both a hardware provider and a record label. And their success with the iPod depended just as much on the musical content as it did with the device.
But lets talk about another point of focus Apple is honing, and it may or may not be meant to fake you out.
The thing is…
I just came across this quote by Matthew Herbert, and since I’m not sure where else to post it, here it is:
The thing is, you can take the sound of a pencil, and find enough noises in a pencil to blow your mind for the next 10 years! And yet you assume a pencil has no noise…. It’s not something you would associate with music, but it has the potential to produce a whole range of amazing and beautiful sounds. (Sherbourne, P. 2001. Mistaken Identity. XLR8 48:65-7.)
SEAMUS 2012, 4Quarters, and Ed Martin’s son
One thing I haven’t really given thought about is the possibility for my project 4Quarters to be tailored for kids. But after watching SEAMUS 2012 Co-Director Ed Martin’s son come in and play with it, I realized this might be something worth developing.
There’s a feature in 4Quarters where one can access the ‘low shelf’ filter, and as it is currently set, one can isolate and amplify a narrow frequency band so that it is much louder than any other sound playing. Check out Ed’s son going to town with it.
As a side note, having just returned from the conference, it was a stellar experience. There’s such a wealth of knowledge and a lot of really great people, all geeking out together. Really fun. I was impressed with how well it all went. Kudos to Asha Srinivasan, Ed Martin, and the rest of the crew that put it together.
SEAMUS 2012 – 4Quarters – TouchOSC layout installation
Hi SEAMUS folks:
Thanks for your interest in my upcoming installation at SEAMUS 2012. If you’re familiar with TouchOSC and know how to transfer files onto iTouch/iPhone, then you can download the custom layout here. If you’re not familiar with the app, I have step-by-step instructions below.
(Unfortunately I have not yet been able to include other apps or mobile platforms reliably, but hope to expand compatibility soon. If you want to participate but do not have an iPhone/iTouch, or if you do not wish to spend $4.99 on this app, there will be a devices on hand at the installation to use.)
2. Download TouchOSC Editor to your desktop or laptop (you can get it here for a Mac, here for PC, and here for Linux).
3. Download this custom layout, which is a zipped .touchosc file.
4. Transfer the file 4Q_SEAMUS_2012.touchosc from your desktop/laptop to the iTouch/iPhone. One does this by opening up the attached file in TouchOSC Editor, then transferring the file to the phone over a WiFi network (or one can use iTunes as well). There’s documentation here explaining the process, and additionally here’s a YouTube video someone made explaining how to do it.
Once you have the file on your device, you’ll be set to go for the installation. The first page of the file looks like this:
I’ll help with connectivity at SEAMUS. Let me know if you have any questions!
My music on iTunes
Check it out by clicking here. This is music I did for a dance piece by MELD Danceworks. It’s also available on Spotify, Amazon, and other fine online music stores.
Mobile Phones + Max Toolkit
This is an update to the patches I presented at Expo ’74 2011. Grab the patches here.
Of all the available OSC apps out there, I mainly use TouchOSC with Max. One of the main features I like about TouchOSC is the ability to create custom layouts and upload them easily to my phone. Unfortunately, this feature is currently only available to Apple devices, and Android users kind of get the shaft. I also like Control, but am still learning Javascript. In my experience Control has been a little bit buggy, but that could also be a result of my ineptitude.
Anyway, let me know if you have any questions. Here is the documentation for uploading TouchOSC patches over WiFi. Here is a video explaining how to do it.
Hello Expo’74 Folk
Grab these patches n things.
And the TouchOSC Editor on this page (scroll down)
If you don’t have the CNMAT Everything package, you can get it here. We’ll make use of [osc-route] today. If you want to just grab this object instead of the library, here the mxo and help files.
Overview of 4Quarters
Screenshots of 4Quarters Mobile Phone Interface
Here’s an updated screenshot of the first ‘page’:
Two big changes occur here. First, there is a ‘poly’ feature that allows a player to select multiple sound files for simultaneous playback. Second, with the additional buttons at the top (vol tilt, pan tilt, and eq tilt), one can conceivably control all parameters at once from one screen.