State of the Union

Here's something I found on Sequenza 21: Music for Multiple Basses and The President of the United States.

Music for Multiple Basses, and the President of the United States from Bang on a Can on Vimeo.

The Hemp-Mote

Since I posted this on the (ccm)2 blog, I have been asked about these wiimotes covered in yarn. Well, while I was searching for a silly picture to post along with the Sonic X promotion, I found these guys. Upon further research, I discovered this blog post by DHRECK, someone who wanted to design a wiimote that contrasted the standard controller.

Made with 3 kinds of 100% natural hemp string on the outside (while remaining 100% functional on the inside).


In stark contrast to the original Wii-mote set; what was once sleek, white and hard plastic has now become a slightly fuzzy, natural and textured concoction. No more bland, branded and boring but mottled, flawfull, rough and just a tad sweat absorbing.


The Hemp-Mote is absolutely playable, all buttons, accelerometers and the infrared camera accounted for. Unfortunately its exterior is also quite fragile and prone to degeneration (As far as game controllers go), and being in this raw state makes it more of a show-case piece than a daily replacement.

So, here is something that is art, in a sense, which is turned into something functional (video game controller communicates to your gaming system; that's functional, right?), only to perform...video games? No, ART:





I need to figure out how to do this. In the meantime, hat tip to Ben Downs for the
deep thoughts.

Combining Chocolate and LPs

How do you combine two of my favorite things? This German man makes records out of chocolate. You must see this to believe it.

Fun with Interactive Music

Sonic X Preview #1: Meet Ico
ccmsquared, January 19, 2010.

Why Printers Were Sent from Hell

This is something that a composition student of mine's dad sent me.

Why I Believe Printers Were Sent from Hell to Make Us Miserable

Genius. Fortunately, I only use B&W laser printers.

Launch of (ccm)2

The Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music Center for Computer Music (ccm)2 now has a blog, so if you ever feel like geeking-out (geekasm?), go here.

On this note, their first Sonic Explorations concert of the year is this Wednesday, 8 PM, Cohen Studio Family Theater. More details here.

Also, you can follow (ccm)2 on Twitter - @ccmsquared

Meanwhile

Chamber Music Cincinnati presented eighth blackbird in concert, featuring the works of Missy Mazzoli, George Perle, Thomas Adès, Stephen Hartke, and Steve Reich. For a complete play-by-play of the concert, read Mary Ellyn Hutton's review online.

Honestly, I've been waiting for this concert for MONTHS. I wanted to hear a performance of Hartke's Meanwhile when it was performed in Chicago last year. Alas, my master's recital was the day before, and my parents actually made the trek out to Cincinnati in February, which is probably the worst time of year to visit. Unfortunately, I had to let this concert go and hope for something to pop up online. (Funny, I think I remember performing on this stage when I used to play piano.)

Masterclass with eighth blackbird

Tomorrow (or hopefully tomorrow) I'll post about the eighth blackbird concert from Tuesday night, which was fantastic and included an acoustic version of Reich's Double Sextet performed by eighth blackbird and the CCM's Chamber Players. For now, I'll talk about the masterclass.

The (Newport) Aquarium

My original plan was to go to the Newport Aquarium on my birthday. It was the perfect time to go to the aquarium because I didn't have much to do, no one would be there, I could be researching my next piece, and *it was my birthday.* I've also had this silly idea that aquariums cure writer's block and jumpstarts creativity. I blame this on Albert Brooks's The Muse.

29 is under 30

[Mmmm...Take the Cake cupcakes..]

Today's my birthday. I'm 29. Big deal? Eh, not really, but I have one year until I'm 30.

Surprisingly, I'm not freaking out about getting older (really). I already found my first gray hair (it doesn't blend well, unfortunately) and I keep finding new sets of wrinkles. Also, I've also noticed that I have to start eating more greens and exercising. My student health insurance is so cheap that I really doubt my premium will go up when I hit my 4th decade, so I'm okay there, too. Sadly, this is the last year that I am labeled as a "young composer."

The Joys of Imposition (Part 2)

Cheap Imposter works pretty well. It's also shareware, which means you can download a trial version first and see if you like it, then you can purchase the full version ($35) if you're satisfied. The only disadvantage was, well, I wanted to print two 8.5 x 11 onto 11 x 17, and it didn't quite show me the results in the trial version.

For some reason, you have to "zoom in" so the letter-sized PDF could fit onto the tabloid size. I started to freak out a little bit because this zoom function was not available on the free version.

It's Official

CCM dean Knehans resigns