Aug 18 2007
Niko in action
Niko feeling feisty!
Aug 18 2007
Tree – Image Manipulation
I love photos of bare trees. Here’s one that I modified in photoshop:
Aug 14 2007
Cat-Obsessed
Ok, so I admit it. I may be a bit over-zealous with the camera since Niko’s arrival, but I just can’t help it. He’s so darn cute, and really very rambunctious!
Our cat, Violet, has always been fascinated with our various residential aquatic environments and has been known to drink from fish bowls directly or, when that’s not an option, dipping her paw into the water and licking the yummy fish-flavored water off. Mmm. Well, Niko is an avid student, here learning from the Master:
Aug 08 2007
SoundWalk2007
I am pleased to announce that I will be participating in the 4th Annual SoundWalk. This one-night event presents a variety of conceptual, performance, sculptural, and site-specific installation works on the streets, businesses, galleries, and byways of the East Village, in Long Beach, CA. All works use sound in one way or another.
I have had the good fortune to have participated in the previous three events. In the first two, I presented kenetic sculptures and, last year, sat in on a performance by the Hop Frog Kollectiv.
This year, I’m pushing my own creative boundaries, but won’t be able to tell you more. You’ll just have to come and experience things for yourself.
From the organizers:
Aug 04 2007
Niko: Our New Cat
It has been nearly one year since the passing of our beloved cats, Shogi and Barney. Our remaining cat, Violet, has become very affectionate since then and, although we really enjoy her attention, we felt that it was time to find a comrade for her. To that end, we paid a visit to the LA County Animal Shelter in Downey and found an adorable, young, black cat who we subsequently named Niko Niko, which means “smile†in Japanese.
He’s a snuggle-muffin, head-butts us, plays with the dogs, and is generally a good egg. Violet was fairly peeved at first but, now, she’s taken a liking to the little fellow and was seen frolicking with him. It seems that, so far anyway, we’ve picked a winner.
Here are some early pictures:
Jul 24 2007
New Sandblaster Demo Track: This Eden
As you may know, some years ago I undertook the rather ambitious task of creating a custom guitar. It was an educational experience, fraught with unique challenges but, ultimately, rewarding. A friend pointed out that I’d not recorded an example of its various sounds and whatnot, so I did.
I’m including three links here. The first is
an early attempt
, with a total of 6 tracks. Please be forewarned that the lead is a bit wooly. I hope to improve upon it with some practice. In this early version there are very few effects (some delay and reverb, and gain on the lead).
In
the 2nd version
, I added 6 additional tracks. Three are individual notes in a chord, sustained by a device called an e-bow, and played at double speed. I also added a bass guitar part (the only track not played on the Sandblaster) and two one-note harmony tracks at the end of the solo.
I’m also including a very brief example of the
e-bow tracks
, on their own, so you can get a better sense of them.
UPDATE:
A friend suggested that I add
a spoken word element
to the piece.
After living with this first version for a while, I felt that a different reading of the words would work better. I also added some rather complex effects to the voice.
The result is
This Eden - V2
.
Jul 24 2007
More plants and flowers
Except for the first one, all of these were taken in our back yard.