2008-2009 november-december

list of performers/instruments:

zachary watkins singing; me singing; ava mendoza singing; theresa wong singing; barn owl (evan caminiti & jon porras) singing; luciano/troy/ellen/theresa singing; nathan snider singing; nathan fritz singing; me humming; varun kejriwal singing; fred frith/carla kihlstedt/matthias bossi/zeena parkins/blixa bargeld singing; the atomic bomb audition singing; theresa wong on cello/piano; ava mendoza on electric & acoustic guitars; mike guarino on glockenspiel & melodica; champagne bottle; matthias bossi on piano; kanoko nishi on koto & bass koto; dx21 synth (borrowed from brian gleeson); me on toy piano; theresa wong on tonkori; me on electric & acoustic guitars, chord organ, wine bottle

2008-2009 october-november

list of performers/instruments:

phoebe singing; me singing; sierra nevada wheat beer bottle; erik larson singing; supercollider formant oscillators; marielle jakobsons (toy piano, violin, voice); agnes szelag (psaltery, cello, voice); upright piano and harpsichord from matt jury's house; daniel feese singing (the day before his wedding!); patrick allen and heath thacker singing; toy xylophone from kb toys in jefferson mall in louisville; ky; airplane taking off; shayna dunkelman (marimba); me (electric guitar); me (whistling); barn owl; aba in rehearsal; marques de caceres wine bottle; dial tone from phone; internal feedback (filtered); microphone feedback (filtered); dulcimer (borrowed from phoebe); ukulele (borrowed from phoebe); noah phillips (acoustic/electric guitars, voice); sarah palmer (acoustic/electric guitars, voice); zachary watkins (bass/electric guitars)

2008-2009 september-october

list of performers/instruments:

phoebe singing; mike guarino on prepared guitar and paia analog synth; aba tuning; me singing; agnes szelag on bass/myself on acoustic guitar; shayna dunkelman singing; aba singing in the car on the way to the high mayhem festival; les paul and sitar from alee's friend mark's house in prescott, arizona; guild acoustic guitar from yozo's (from the late severa wires) house; aba singing in the motel 6 in kingman, arizona; 110/220/440/880/1760 sine/square/sawtooth oscillators from the iphone app "oscillator"; ava mendoza singing; cocina wine bottle; theresa wong on cello and voice; wine bottle from phoebe's house; iphone app "crazy harp" with harp/choir sounds; phoebe and myself singing at laney college; wine bottle from jason and adam (469 40th st); me humming; phoebe and myself singing in a cabin in big sur, california

2008-2009 august-september

here's the list of performers/instruments for august through september:

reference pitch from the internet; wine bottle from phoebe's house; aba singing in the van on our northwestern tour; jason hoopes' friend shiloh's melodica; phoebe/me singing; me singing solo; me humming; wine bottle; aba singing/tuning; zachary watkins country western ensemble (shayna dunkelman, aram shelton, dennis somera, emily packard, theresa wong, andy strain, kanoko nishi, noah philips); theresa wong singing; shayna dunkelman singing and playing piano; zachary watkins, leif shackelford, myself singing; iphone kazoo

2008-2009 july-august

here's this past month's A (all 31 days combined into one):



and here's the rundown of performers/instruments:

singing at norman teale's funeral (shayna dunkelman, mikey c, brian gleeson, amir shirani, rachel cast, jason hoopes, agnes szelag); me singing solo (9 times); alee karim tuning during an ABA rehearsal; charvel electric guitar double-tracked; my voice multitracked 3 times; automat, cheeze machine, freealpha, ticky clav softsynths; fender jazz bass from expression with eventide H3500 octave processing; theresa wong and i on piano, toy piano, & 2 pitch pipes; fender strat from expression college with a new A string; jason hoopes and i on 7 pianos at lisser hall (mills college); ABA in rehearsal, jason/alee tuning guitar/bass; phoebe lehr and myself singing; ivan piesh and myself singing; baldwin piano from 1510 studio; ukulele (owned by phoebe lehr); ABA singing; mike guarino on glockenspiel; theresa wong on tonkori and cello; holly caust (alee on guitar, me on paia analog synth); theresa wong cello/vox, me on piano; dulcimer (owned by phoebe lehr); theresa wong on solo piano

071108

THIS IS THE FINAL DAY OF THIS YEAR'S MANTRA!!!!!! for the next year, i will only blog once a month (that's how the A's are being combined)...

here's the final one of 2007-2008 with shayna dunkelman, preshish moments, & myself on 3 marimbas, 2 vibraphones, & lou harrison's xylophone:

071008

my voice multitracked 3 times & distorted:

070908

two toy keyboards (one from ross department store, one from webb's 99 cent superstore) & my mom's casio celviano keyboard (electric piano patch):

070808

casio lk100 (from target) & upright piano (from encore music) & shelby (my niece) singing & norma acoustic guitar:

070708

"norma" brand acoustic guitar:

070608

toy xylophone from toys 'r us:

070508

dolphin chimes from my parent's patio:

070408

happy 4th of july!

here's my mom and i singing:

070308

toy xylophone (from last chance thrift store in palm harbor, fl) and a teacher's bell (from tjmaxx in tarpon springs, fl):

070208

double bass (thanks jason hoopes!!!):

070108

happy july! blog posting will be interrupted while I travel to the great state of florida!

here's some EQ feedback from various expensive pieces of audio equipment (avalon vt-737sp, daking 52270b, gml 8200, tube tech mec1a):

063008

ukulele multitraked 3 times (thanks fritz!):

062908

a very long and lovely one from aram shelton
(soprano sax), weasel walter
r (rototoms), & josh berman (cornet):

062808

mike guarino (bowed xylophone) & josh allen (saxophone):

062708

upright piano from the lobby of johnny's auto in oakland:

062608

early music room at mills college- sitar, gu zheng, lou harrison kotos, mandolute, autoharpguitar:

062508

koolshades electric guitar multitracked 17 times:

062408

kurzweil k2500r synthesizer:

062308

happy 300 posts!

with a roland super jv1080 synthesizer:

062208

emu orbit 9090 synthesizer:

062108

emu e4xt ultra rackmount synthesizer:

062008

roland em10 & yamaha psr140 keyboards:

061908

instruments from the early music room at mills- western-tuned gamelan, harp, long string instrument, viol de gamba, double bass (jason hoopes):

061808

shayna dunkelman (marimba, voice) & caroline penwarden (voice):

061708

motu bassline, motu modulo, motu polysynth, motu proton, motu nanosampler, novation bassstation softsynths:

061608

sample of a cello drone from the wonderful CD by marcia sloane:

061508

my voice multitracked 5 times & ring modulated:

061408

burton winn's cellphone sruti box sample:

061308

the atomic bomb audition (and special guest shayna dunkelman on the piano!) in rehearsal:

061208

amplified pizzicato violin & electric guitar (thanks again to aggi!!!):

061108

citara (mini harpa) & pizzicato violin (thanks aggi!) & a random fender p-bass lying around the office:

061008

two tuner/metronomes from ex'pression:

060908

my voice (terribly distorted again AND ring modulated):

060808

my voice (terribly distorted):

060708

happy birthday to my dad!

here's a piano from the hillside club in berkeley (played an improv set with carla kihlstedt and fred frith):

060608

me humming:

060508

3 harpsichords & 1 fortepiano from the early music room at mills college:

060408

cosa brava vocal improvisation from the porgy and bess in vienna, austria:

060308

sample stolen from "i don't believe you" by cosa brava live at FIMAV 2008:

060208

shayna dunkelman on the ¿lou harrison steel pipe xylophone?:

053108/060108

missed the blog posting because of the 24 Hour Drone on kfjc 89.7fm!

here's aaron emery and philip ringler in the drone:



and happy june with a single track of my voice:

053008

marimba & roto-tom performed by shayna dunkelman from a recording session for the piece "red carriage" by wu fei:

052908

holly caust (alee karim and myself) in rehearsal:

052808

my voice and a stratocaster guitar (both through my new gibson amp!):

052708

melodica, sruti box, & xylophone (borrow from agnes- thanks!):

052608

sample stolen from Sunn0))))/Boris album "Altar", track "Blood Swamp":

052508

waldorf micro q and yamaha tx81z synthesizers:

052408

ocarina:

052308

my voice (hungover on champagne and i just got to work):

052208

my voice multitracked 21 times:

052108

my voice multitracked 5 times:

052008

a toy xylophone (thanks fay!):

051908

tuned computer microphone feedback:

051808

a wonderful coffee cup saucer (found by carla kihlstedt) from the hotel victorin:

051708

4 small xylophones from the garneau restaurant (citron verte??) in victoriaville:

051608

art bears songbook in rehearsal for FIMAV:

051508

(heavily filtered) wine bottle from the village mykonos restaurant in victoriaville, canada:

051408

an evian water bottle:

051008-051308

damn those frogs and their lack of free internets!

here's the 10th with me singing in the hotel park inn in nancy, france:



and the 11th with a piano frame from the salle des fetes at the musique action festival in vandoeuvre, france:



the 12th with the previous week's A's all time-shrunk to half and pitch-shifted up one octave:



and finally caught up- the 13th with me singing in the arc de triomphe mixed with an empty water bottle from the excelsior restaurant (both in nancy, france):

050908

blog posting may be sporadic over the next week and a half, I'm going to the Musique Action festival with cosa brava and then to the FIMAV (Victoriaville) festival with both cosa brava and Art Bears.

here's a lovely one with Alejandra from lulacruza:

050808

piano and toy piano with theresa wong at ellen fullman's house:

050708

cell phone recording of shayna dunkelman's new marimba!:

050608

a recording from my phone of me singing:

050508

yet again, jason hoopes of the atomic bomb audition singing the word "lay" in the song "we speak through the revelator" [WE FINISHED MIXING TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]:

050408

sample stolen from jason hoopes singing in "revelator" by the atomic bomb audition:

050308

the atomic bomb audition singing:

050208

me humming and whistling at the same time (wasn't easy to be on pitch- YOU TRY IT!!!):

050108

happy may! with me whistling 13 times:

043008

sample of lou harrison's gamelan (from mills college) tracking for "you are the sun & moon" by the atomic bomb audition:

042908

sample of the word "dead" stolen from alee karim's vocal for the song "we speak to the revelator" by the atomic bomb audition:

042808

rusty toy xylophone from my backyard:

042708

cow moo sound toy from the munich airport:

042608

sample stolen from jason hoopes' vocals from "copernicus" by the atomic bomb audition:

042508

castanet from granada, spain:

042408

sample of the word "there" stolen from "we speak to the revelator" by the atomic bomb audition:

042308

one whistle, one humming, one singing, all pitched up one octave:

042208

happy earth day with me humming, whistling, and singing (multitracked 9 times in total):

042008/042108

woops! missed blog posting yesterday (unfree internet at hotel in geneva), so here's 042008 with the elevator bell from the hotel cornavin in geneva, switzerland (heavily filtered):



and 042108 with me humming:

041908

matthias bossi, carla kihlstedt, zeena parkins, and myself on a steinway grand in the dressing room of the lugano svizzera radio station:

041808

toy xylophone from the imaginarium store at the barcelona airport:

041708

oscar kaiser and myself singing in the hotel patio cartuja in sevilla, spain:

041608

the dialtone from a phone at the hotel navas in granada, spain (kinda flat, but whatever...):

041508

wine bottle from amsterdam:

041408

matthias jentsch and i singing in the hotel movenpick:

040908-041208

woops, damned european internet charging by the hour, i got kicked off, so i lost this blog posting:


040908 with the bell from the hotel lev elevator in ljubljana, slovenia:


041008 with a wine bottle at a lovely restaurant in venice, italy:


quentin sirjacq and myself singing in pantin (paris), france:


and happy birthday to me with a wine bottle from carla kihlstedt at a restaurant in pantin (paris), france:

041308

a dirty, nasty, distorted wine bottle from st. quentin (paris):

040708/040808

here's 040708 with Matthias Bossi on a lovely Bosendorfer grand piano in the basement of the Porgy & Bess club in Wien, Austria:



and then 040808 with Zeena Parkins, Fred Frith, and myself singing in the Johann Strauss hotel in Wien, Austria:

040608

cosa brava whistling in the van:

040408/040508

here's 040408 with cosa brava singing in the tour van:



and here's 040508 with me whistling (multitracked 3 times):

040308

my voice 9 times:

040208

220 Hz sawtooth wave reference pitch from my phone:

040108

happy april fools with a sample stolen from blur's "tender" from the AMAZING album "13":



p.s. i'll be on tour in europe with cosa brava for the next three weeks, so blogging will be sporadic at best.

033108

erika pipkin & me singing for the FINAL!!!!!!!! atomic bomb audition tracking (this is really going to happen):

033008

koolshades toy guitar:

032908

piano from the kensington unitarian universalist church:

032808

reversed chime:

032708

me humming:

032608

me whistling:

032508

erik larson and i singing:

032408

atomic bomb audition (plus erika!) with some vocals:

032208/032308

woops! missed blog posting yet again, having way too much fun with life these days...

032208 with cosa brava:



and then 032308 with amir and i singing:

032108

my voice again, but this time heavily filtered:

032008

my voice:

031808/031908

my lack of sleep is interrupting my flow, so i missed blog posting yesterday...

here's 031808 with all of the atomic bomb audition tracks stacked upon each other:



and here's 031908 with cosa brava on vocals, guitar, violin, accordion:

031708

final retracking of atomic bomb audition overdubs, this album is DONE!!! here's our vocal incantation to the fifth wizard:

031608

here's mr. karim with some lovely guitar work during the atomic bomb audition guitar overdubs REtracking:

031508

jason hoopes on the double bass and pipe organ during retracking of atomic bomb audition overdubs:

031408

all 8 of the stylophone recordings stacked together:

031308

agnes's sruti box:

031108/031208

woops! missed yesterday's blog posting...

not surprising, another stylophone from fritz for 031108:



and then the FINAL stylophone for 031208:

030908/031008

weekend catch up- SURPRISE! harpsichord this time from the temporary early music room in the fine arts annex at mills college:



and then 031008 from fritty's stylophone again:

030808

surprise! mr. fritz's's stylophone again:

030708

stylophone again (thanks again and again fritz):

030608

stylophone again (thanks again fritz!):

030508

but! shayna dunkelman on the tympani and the vibraphone (during the final session of atomic bomb audition overdubs!):

030408

stylophone again (thanks fritz!):

030208/030308

woops, standard weekend posting forgetfulness...

here's 030208 with the higher octave of the toy piano from a few day's ago:



and 030308 is a lovely pitch pipe performance from gregg:

030108

Erika Pipkin vocalizing a stupendously gorgeous one (during atomic bomb audition vocal tracking):

022908

happy leap year! here's a break from the stylophones with a toy piano (lower octave) from gregg and marielle:

022808

stylophone (thanks fritz!) voice 1, octave 1 (7 more to come in the next days! i gotta get one of these things):

022708

supercollider square wave at 220Hz:

022608

singing bowls (thanks to scott & brian!) tracking for the atomic bomb audition album on the track "tracing the ecliptic":

[warning- it's a long one, so grab some popcorn]

022408/022508

weekend catchup yet again-

022408 with the atomic bomb audition (except for alee- he was unwell) tracking vocals for "the fifth wizard":



sample from 021808 played back through speakers while singing:

022308

supercollider 110 Hz triangle wave (fuzzed out):

022208

crazy fun multitracking day- 3 voices, 3 hammered dulcimers, & 18 electric guitars:

022108

iAno from the iphone (thanks robert!):

021908/022008

getting the internet at my new house tomorrow, so posting will be more regular on the weekends...

here's 021908 with the organ from the chapel at mills college:



and here's the pocket guitar from the iphone (thanks robert!) for 022008:

021808

SSL 9000 no-input mixer feedback (don't try this at home kids):

021708

lou harrison's gamelan (thanks brian!):

021608

three metronomes:

021508

my voice multitracked 7 times:

021408

happy valumtimes day with a paia stringz & thingz string/piano synthesizer:

021308

jerry smith (mandolin) & caroline penwarden (accordion):

021208

metronome from agnes szelag's house:

021108

sample stolen from 012008 (supercollider sine wave at 14080Hz)- fuzzed & faded:

021008

no internet at my house yet :( therefore posting on the weekends is late...

sample stolen from 011808 (supercollider sine wave at 3,520 Hz)- distorted & faded:

020908

sample stolen from 011308 (supercollider 110 Hz sawtooth wave)- pitch shifted up one octave, formant shifted down one octave, fuzzed, & compressed:

020808

my voice- chopped, rearranged, & reverbed:

020708

my voice- echoed & limited:

020608

noah philips live at the temescal arts center (electric guitar) (thanks noah!):

020508

my voice- fuzzed & reverbed:

020408

my voice (AGAIN! HAHAHAHAHA!!!!)- filtered, distorted, & ring modulated:

020308

The Atomic Bomb Audition in a vocal rehearsal for our new album:

020208

yesterday's sample pitch shifted down an octave, time shrunk to 10%, EQed, distorted:

020108

happy february with my voice (heavily filtered, distorted, & bit crushed):

013108

my voice heavily filtered:

013008

cosa brava (new band of fred frith, zeena parkins, carla kihlstedt, matthias bossi, & me!) doing a scrumptious one:

012908

my voice heavily filtered:

012708/012808

wow, i really did have too much of a good time last night, forgot to post. so here's 012708 with the slow, children (one of the most beautiful ever as well!):



and here's 012808 with an upright piano from gregg and marielle's new place:

012608

hammered dulcimer (thanks travis!):

012508

dobro borrowed from mr. karim:

012408

speaker microphone feedback:

012308

baritone guitar (thanks alee):

012208

1896 steinway grand piano at the SSL9000 studio at expression college:

012108

finally, something different-
a "nashville-tuned" acoustic guitar multitracked 4 times:

012008

this is as high as it gets people (unless you're a dog, but we don't even know for sure the upper limits of canine hearing do we?) with a supercollider sine wave at 14,080 Hz:

011908

(you guessed it!) supercollider sine wave at 7,040 Hz:

011808

supercollider sine wave at 3,520 Hz:

011708

supercollider sine wave at 1,760 Hz (totally exciting I know):

011608

supercollider 880 Hz PWM'd square wave:

011508

supercollider blip wave at 440 Hz:

011408

supercollider sawtooth wave at 220 Hz:

011308

supercollider sawtooth wave at 110Hz:

011208

supercollider triangle wave at 55 Hz:

011108

supercollider triangle wave at 27.5 Hz:

011008

bul bul tarang, upright piano, & hohner organa multitracked:

010908

my voice again!:

010808

my voice again (2nd day of arpeggio):

010708

my voice (first day of an arpeggio experiment):

010607

tiny bell from clarion music center in san francisco:

roadtrip catchup!

after a relaxing and wonderful roadtrip with kim and john, here's the goods:

lawnmower just down the street:


1887 steinway grand from expression college:


kim and norman multitracked:


kim and norman whistling:


kim and norman singing:


kim and norman singing "ohm":


kim and norman singing:


new year's party whistle (questionable tuning i know, but it reflects the crazy fun time mood):


norman singing:


kim, john, and norman multitracked singing (17 tracks):


pitch pipe multitracked 11 times:


and finally caught up with a small brass bell from clarion music center in san francisco: