Through the wonders of seemingly random internet connections, a wonderful painter found my music, and I found her artwork. After a little introduction and mutual admiration, we decided to blend our talents into an audio-visual feast. OK, perhaps that's a bit of a mouthful, maybe it is best to just cut straight to the movie. Natalya's hand-drawn artwork, and my music:
She works in colors and black-and-white, all painted by hand, and she is rumored to be showing in a gallery soon. The music is an updated version of my older piece "Quixotic Dreams", which you can read more about, by clicking here and reading the description.
Make sure to check out more of Natalya's works on her YouTube channel here.
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Monday, November 21, 2011
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Published! Music Videos "Spring Forth" on DVD!
I am very happy to announce the availability of "Four Worlds", a DVD of four of my computer-animated music videos (over 22 minutes of videos)... and for those of you who have seen prior smaller YouTube versions of some of these, the music has now been updated and re-recorded, and the animations have been embellished and re-rendered in high-quality full-screen DVD format... and there is even a new never-before seen video, "Game the System" making its premiere only on this DVD.
I have personally written all the music, created/textured/animated all the accompanying computer-generated video scenes, and designed the printed jacket for the DVD case. I have also recorded a separate video teaser/trailer, to offer a taste of what is on the video, in case you are interested in purchasing a copy. Note that the video below is reduced-size to fit on this blog page. If you wish to see the trailer full-size, you may wish to CLICK HERE INSTEAD to view it directly on the product page:
Here is the official "text" announcement:
Come journey through four different surreal worlds... some playful, some mysterious, all of them thought-provoking. Each video has its own original music soundtrack composed to go hand-in-hand with the video.
#1 - Game the System - Frolic through a video-game fantasy world of kaleidoscopic excitement. Will you avoid the strange whirling parasols? Can you count all 10 sneaky sheep?
#2 - The Cherry Orchid - Float through a garden of crystal flowers, growing in a serene liquid pool at sunset.
#3 - Nebula Spin - Stroll through the nebula-hood with three chatty molecules as they search for the nearest star.
#4 - Glacially Inevitable - Experience glacial beauty and inevitable entropy... where time and music seem frozen, and icy sharp.
This NTSC region-free DVD contains over 22 minutes of animation. The 4 videos can be played individually, or sequentially in a loop.
You can find more information about this DVD (including on-line ordering) here: - Four Worlds Product Page -
I hope you enjoy this journey with me!
ttfn,
Eduard
I have personally written all the music, created/textured/animated all the accompanying computer-generated video scenes, and designed the printed jacket for the DVD case. I have also recorded a separate video teaser/trailer, to offer a taste of what is on the video, in case you are interested in purchasing a copy. Note that the video below is reduced-size to fit on this blog page. If you wish to see the trailer full-size, you may wish to CLICK HERE INSTEAD to view it directly on the product page:
Here is the official "text" announcement:
Come journey through four different surreal worlds... some playful, some mysterious, all of them thought-provoking. Each video has its own original music soundtrack composed to go hand-in-hand with the video.
#1 - Game the System - Frolic through a video-game fantasy world of kaleidoscopic excitement. Will you avoid the strange whirling parasols? Can you count all 10 sneaky sheep?
#2 - The Cherry Orchid - Float through a garden of crystal flowers, growing in a serene liquid pool at sunset.
#3 - Nebula Spin - Stroll through the nebula-hood with three chatty molecules as they search for the nearest star.
#4 - Glacially Inevitable - Experience glacial beauty and inevitable entropy... where time and music seem frozen, and icy sharp.
This NTSC region-free DVD contains over 22 minutes of animation. The 4 videos can be played individually, or sequentially in a loop.
You can find more information about this DVD (including on-line ordering) here: - Four Worlds Product Page -
I hope you enjoy this journey with me!
ttfn,
Eduard
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Universal Music
There are so many things to learn. As I learn to write music, I am also learning how to present it on the web to share with others. Recently, the very talented composer Keith Edwards contacted me, and warned me that although he had sent a couple friends to listen to some of my music on my web pages, they could not play any of it. It turned out that they were using Windows computers without QuickTime installed, something I didn't test!
So it was time for me to invoke some Google-fu and discover a better way to host my music. Originally I had lazily just let iWeb convert the MP3s into QuickTime movies for me. Later, I had toyed with installing a free Flash player, much as I detest Flash. Now, I am of the geeky "roll-your-own-HTML-in-a-text-editor" school, and a little voice kept telling me "This is the WEB! Let the end-user/browser decide how to play the content!" But how do I do that in a universal way? Search, read, try, search, read, try...
My re-searches eventually brought me to a moderately old but well-researched and still-relevant article by David Battino, that gave a chunk of Javascript code for embedding MP3s in your web page in a more foolproof way. Being a software engineer, I couldn't just use it as-is, but tinkered with it a little to suit my purposes (and clean it up a little) before installing it on my web site. Now my music pages are hopefully a little more universally playable, hopefully even on Linux. The formatting is simple... no fancy Flash players and widgets, just the music. Please feel free to wander over to my newly remodeled music page (here) and try playing something from the list of pieces at the bottom of the page, and let me know if it works on your computer. Also, mention if you are on Mac/Windows/Linux/iPhone, and if it is all working OK. Thank you for listening :)
So it was time for me to invoke some Google-fu and discover a better way to host my music. Originally I had lazily just let iWeb convert the MP3s into QuickTime movies for me. Later, I had toyed with installing a free Flash player, much as I detest Flash. Now, I am of the geeky "roll-your-own-HTML-in-a-text-editor" school, and a little voice kept telling me "This is the WEB! Let the end-user/browser decide how to play the content!" But how do I do that in a universal way? Search, read, try, search, read, try...
My re-searches eventually brought me to a moderately old but well-researched and still-relevant article by David Battino, that gave a chunk of Javascript code for embedding MP3s in your web page in a more foolproof way. Being a software engineer, I couldn't just use it as-is, but tinkered with it a little to suit my purposes (and clean it up a little) before installing it on my web site. Now my music pages are hopefully a little more universally playable, hopefully even on Linux. The formatting is simple... no fancy Flash players and widgets, just the music. Please feel free to wander over to my newly remodeled music page (here) and try playing something from the list of pieces at the bottom of the page, and let me know if it works on your computer. Also, mention if you are on Mac/Windows/Linux/iPhone, and if it is all working OK. Thank you for listening :)
Thursday, October 8, 2009
2=1: The end of the Experiment
Background (Music)
I was raised on all sorts of classical music... it often flowed through our home. It was mood music.
I was also raised on electronics, and built my own noise-making circuitry... Walter/Wendy Carlos' "Switched-on Bach" synthesizer music often flowed through my room. It was MOOG music.
So, I guess it is no surprise that my personal musical tastes have always bounced between the rich sonorities of symphonic woodwinds/strings/brass... and the unearthly-but-intriguing tones of synthesized instruments. I've always been interested in the baroque/classical musical forms, as well as experimental algorithmic/computer-generated compositions... two very different ways of creating music.
When I began seriously focusing on composing and publicly posting my music (as "serious" as a hobby can be), I initially confined myself to real-world instrument sounds and conventional compositions. But soon the experimental side of me wanted to explore and share. I had begun finding really interesting web sites, information, and software programs that let me play with computer-generated music and wild-sounding synthesizers, in ways I wished were possible decades before. I had stumbled into a candy shop, and there were many other people interested in these things too. So I thought I would try sharing some of my own experimental creations as well.
But these were strange and untamed pieces. They didn't play well with others. I was worried that, like oil and vinegar, my more polished conventional pieces and my wild experimental pieces would clash, and people interested in one style would not be interested in the other. Or worse, after hearing just one of my pieces, they would assume all my music was that style, and ignore the rest. What to do?
I decided to create a separate online music account, and put all my experimental stuff in there. I also chose initially not to connect the two accounts to each other... this new account would stand on its own for awhile, so I could see what people thought of the experimental music by itself.
What is in a name?
My Schwansongs "label" already had the account name "Drakonis" on my main music website, Macjams.com, as well as other places like MySpace.com and Alonetone.com. It was time to come up with a different name for this new experimental account. Hmmm...
Well, on circuit boards, the main building blocks that make up the electronics are called "integrated circuits", or I.C.s for short. On the circuit board, the spots for these IC's are usually numbered, so that they can be easily identified and assembled... and they are given names like IC1, IC2, IC3, etc. Given my love of electronics and wordplay, I decided to call the new account "IC42", referring to both a position on a circuit card, and a nod to "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", and a hint that I am overseeing two accounts.
Hakucho's Swan-song
I never intended this to remain a secret account, so it is now time to unmask the identity of the "IC42 Experiment". I have added links to cross-connect all my accounts, so people can find my two styles more easily, if they are interested. Don't worry, I will always be writing music in both styles, the experimental ic42 world will live on and produce new music and art and videos. I just will not keep the ic42 identity a secret any more. I also wish to thank the small circle of friends who discovered the IC42 identity early on, and kept it secret with me. I appreciate your help and patience during the experiment.
With that said, I will be retiring "Hakucho", the mysteriously laconic guy behind ic42. "Hakucho" was my old nickname when I was in Japanese language class decades ago. The bird we call "Swan" in English is called "Hakucho" in Japanese. In German, it is called "Schwan"... so the nickname always fit me nicely.
Coda
To wrap things up, I should mention where you can find my conventional and unconventional pieces of music. The complete set of "SchwanSongs" music, artwork and videos can be found at these web spots:
Traditional (Drakonis):
Macjams (complete set), iCompositions, MySpace, AloneTone, YouTube
Experimental (IC42):
Macjams (complete set), MySpace, AloneTone,
PhotoBucket
So now you know that IC42 is me too, and that I am not going to change anything or go anywhere. I do hope that you will continue to listen to (and hopefully enjoy) all my music (and from here you may now have discovered some new music to listen to.) And if any readers are interested in more information on some of my music creation tools and techniques, drop me a note and I will offer some tips and tidbits here.
ttfn,
Eduard aka Drakonis aka hakucho aka ic42
Postscript
Here are a couple of ic42 examples... click here to read the story and listen to the music for a new take on Halloween.
Below is an algorithmically-generated piece of music, dancing with some hypnotic fractal patterns (seeing it directly from the Photobucket account is a little better than this embedded version.)
I was raised on all sorts of classical music... it often flowed through our home. It was mood music.
I was also raised on electronics, and built my own noise-making circuitry... Walter/Wendy Carlos' "Switched-on Bach" synthesizer music often flowed through my room. It was MOOG music.
So, I guess it is no surprise that my personal musical tastes have always bounced between the rich sonorities of symphonic woodwinds/strings/brass... and the unearthly-but-intriguing tones of synthesized instruments. I've always been interested in the baroque/classical musical forms, as well as experimental algorithmic/computer-generated compositions... two very different ways of creating music.
When I began seriously focusing on composing and publicly posting my music (as "serious" as a hobby can be), I initially confined myself to real-world instrument sounds and conventional compositions. But soon the experimental side of me wanted to explore and share. I had begun finding really interesting web sites, information, and software programs that let me play with computer-generated music and wild-sounding synthesizers, in ways I wished were possible decades before. I had stumbled into a candy shop, and there were many other people interested in these things too. So I thought I would try sharing some of my own experimental creations as well.
But these were strange and untamed pieces. They didn't play well with others. I was worried that, like oil and vinegar, my more polished conventional pieces and my wild experimental pieces would clash, and people interested in one style would not be interested in the other. Or worse, after hearing just one of my pieces, they would assume all my music was that style, and ignore the rest. What to do?
I decided to create a separate online music account, and put all my experimental stuff in there. I also chose initially not to connect the two accounts to each other... this new account would stand on its own for awhile, so I could see what people thought of the experimental music by itself.
What is in a name?
My Schwansongs "label" already had the account name "Drakonis" on my main music website, Macjams.com, as well as other places like MySpace.com and Alonetone.com. It was time to come up with a different name for this new experimental account. Hmmm...
Well, on circuit boards, the main building blocks that make up the electronics are called "integrated circuits", or I.C.s for short. On the circuit board, the spots for these IC's are usually numbered, so that they can be easily identified and assembled... and they are given names like IC1, IC2, IC3, etc. Given my love of electronics and wordplay, I decided to call the new account "IC42", referring to both a position on a circuit card, and a nod to "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", and a hint that I am overseeing two accounts.
Hakucho's Swan-song
I never intended this to remain a secret account, so it is now time to unmask the identity of the "IC42 Experiment". I have added links to cross-connect all my accounts, so people can find my two styles more easily, if they are interested. Don't worry, I will always be writing music in both styles, the experimental ic42 world will live on and produce new music and art and videos. I just will not keep the ic42 identity a secret any more. I also wish to thank the small circle of friends who discovered the IC42 identity early on, and kept it secret with me. I appreciate your help and patience during the experiment.
With that said, I will be retiring "Hakucho", the mysteriously laconic guy behind ic42. "Hakucho" was my old nickname when I was in Japanese language class decades ago. The bird we call "Swan" in English is called "Hakucho" in Japanese. In German, it is called "Schwan"... so the nickname always fit me nicely.
Coda
To wrap things up, I should mention where you can find my conventional and unconventional pieces of music. The complete set of "SchwanSongs" music, artwork and videos can be found at these web spots:
Traditional (Drakonis):
Macjams (complete set), iCompositions, MySpace, AloneTone, YouTube
Experimental (IC42):
Macjams (complete set), MySpace, AloneTone,
PhotoBucket
So now you know that IC42 is me too, and that I am not going to change anything or go anywhere. I do hope that you will continue to listen to (and hopefully enjoy) all my music (and from here you may now have discovered some new music to listen to.) And if any readers are interested in more information on some of my music creation tools and techniques, drop me a note and I will offer some tips and tidbits here.
ttfn,
Eduard aka Drakonis aka hakucho aka ic42
Postscript
Here are a couple of ic42 examples... click here to read the story and listen to the music for a new take on Halloween.
Below is an algorithmically-generated piece of music, dancing with some hypnotic fractal patterns (seeing it directly from the Photobucket account is a little better than this embedded version.)
Saturday, June 16, 2007
I see the runway...
I can feel it... this Technoid DVD project is almost complete! The video shoot for the 12 minute "Behind the Scenes" feature is complete, editing is done, and a final draft of the video is ready for OK'ing... I am very pleased with the results! I show the music-writing software and the 3D computer ray-tracing software I used for this. There's also a very sweet recording of Ian playing a solo piece on his guitar on the DVD... we drove up to his place and set up mics and the video camera, and he gave a very solid performance in the soft light of the living room there.
As always, there are little smirky in-jokes sprinkled through this video... including the meaning of the Japanese sign on the door to the studio.
It took some research and shareware fees to find a good way to capture the Mac screen to show how I write music and create the 3D computer animations... I can heartily recommend iShowU, a very nice Macintosh shareware utility for video-capturing moving screen things.
As always, there are little smirky in-jokes sprinkled through this video... including the meaning of the Japanese sign on the door to the studio.
It took some research and shareware fees to find a good way to capture the Mac screen to show how I write music and create the 3D computer animations... I can heartily recommend iShowU, a very nice Macintosh shareware utility for video-capturing moving screen things.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Swooshing into blog-space
The time has come, the dragon said, to blog...
So, rummaging around for some mouthwatering eye and ear candy, I have chosen to start my first-ever blog with my first-ever music video. Enjoy! It's description is below.
-Link Here-
Bouncy Electropop music with aliens dancing around large lava lamps (suggesting that music is literally "universal".) Reaching into my 1980's musical subconscious, I wrote a catchy "Depeche Mode"-like techno-flamenco tune, and then created a mosh pit of Technoids dancing to the music in a hyper-realistic dance hall called "The Candy Bar". Music written note by note in Harmony Assistant and finished/EQed in GarageBand. Live acoustic Spanish guitar performed by Ian Beardsley. Video rendered with POV-Ray Mac, and assembled in iMovie. For the technically curious, there are over 1,200 lines of POV-Ray code (all written by hand in the text language, no modelers were harmed...) to create this. The 2.5 minute movie (in final anti-aliased form) took about 14 continuous hours to render all the frames on an old dual 1 Ghz G4 Mac. Free MP3s of this music and others of mine are available at SchwanSongs, or Macjams. This is my first foray into music videos, I'd love to hear your thoughts (pro and con) about the music and video. A high-quality DVD (with a 10+ minute behind-the-scenes "making-of" video, and a trailer for another music video of mine) will be available soon for purchase. I have a much larger, rather different, 3D music video project in progress now.
So, rummaging around for some mouthwatering eye and ear candy, I have chosen to start my first-ever blog with my first-ever music video. Enjoy! It's description is below.
-Link Here-
Bouncy Electropop music with aliens dancing around large lava lamps (suggesting that music is literally "universal".) Reaching into my 1980's musical subconscious, I wrote a catchy "Depeche Mode"-like techno-flamenco tune, and then created a mosh pit of Technoids dancing to the music in a hyper-realistic dance hall called "The Candy Bar". Music written note by note in Harmony Assistant and finished/EQed in GarageBand. Live acoustic Spanish guitar performed by Ian Beardsley. Video rendered with POV-Ray Mac, and assembled in iMovie. For the technically curious, there are over 1,200 lines of POV-Ray code (all written by hand in the text language, no modelers were harmed...) to create this. The 2.5 minute movie (in final anti-aliased form) took about 14 continuous hours to render all the frames on an old dual 1 Ghz G4 Mac. Free MP3s of this music and others of mine are available at SchwanSongs, or Macjams. This is my first foray into music videos, I'd love to hear your thoughts (pro and con) about the music and video. A high-quality DVD (with a 10+ minute behind-the-scenes "making-of" video, and a trailer for another music video of mine) will be available soon for purchase. I have a much larger, rather different, 3D music video project in progress now.
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