I got four (4!!) new pedal kits in the mail the other day. This week i'm set to build a Big Muff clone, a tri-boost, phaser and an overdrive. Ok, it will probably take me more like a month to get it all built, but in any case, i'm pretty excited about it.
I've started writing five songs in bits and pieces. I think it all started out as one song but began to scatter out into more like 3, or 5. We'll see. It will be fun to put together some of the stuff i'm building with some of this stuff i'm writing. Though it would be nice to have a collaborator or two.
Aside from that, I'm still working on putting together the Felted Signal Processing site, with an inaugural email to follow after it comes together and goes live. It's hard to get all this stuff done while working 60-80hrs/week at my current freelance job.
In other news, myself + three other awesome girls signed the lease on a new studio space in the East Village, only a couple blocks from my house. After I'm done with rga, I'll be over there full-time, working on web + other kinds of design projects. We are currently operating under the name Aplural. I like it.
Showing posts with label blather. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blather. Show all posts
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Monday, October 01, 2007
Flow
Happiness and creative flow... While the first does not beget the second, I think it's safe to say that the reverse is definitely true. Being 'in the moment' of intense creativity and therefore productivity is one of the most fulfilling sensations I'm able to feel. It's within these moments that all the dots seem to connect themselves, with little forced effort from my end.
In anycase, I just read a paper detailing the findings of a study of over 800 adolescents and their levels of happiness throughout the day over a one week period. There is an attempt to correlate these moments of happiness to possible moments of activities which might induce such a 'flow'.
The results were not incredibly surprising from the researchers' point of view (the kids were happier hanging out with friends vs studying, happier on a saturday than on monday), except for one point which was taken as counterintuitive: kids from lower socio-economic classes were found to feel better about themselves and feel happier overall, than kids from upper-middle and upper-class segments of society.
Honestly, that doesn't surprise me too much. I feel like higher echelons of society put a lot more pressure on kids to perform to a certain level, while laying restrictions on freedom of choice, specifically pertaining to education, careers and friends. Not only that, but we all know that money is the root of all evil; materialism can be a real drag.
The part of the studying that was most interesting to me was the finding that 'Happiness will increase to the extent that individuals are provided with the means to learn skills that can be deployed to meet reasonable challenges...'. So basically, people like to feel like they are learning, growing, and accomplishing something.
That's why I always go back to school whenever I start to feel a little depressed.
In anycase, I just read a paper detailing the findings of a study of over 800 adolescents and their levels of happiness throughout the day over a one week period. There is an attempt to correlate these moments of happiness to possible moments of activities which might induce such a 'flow'.
The results were not incredibly surprising from the researchers' point of view (the kids were happier hanging out with friends vs studying, happier on a saturday than on monday), except for one point which was taken as counterintuitive: kids from lower socio-economic classes were found to feel better about themselves and feel happier overall, than kids from upper-middle and upper-class segments of society.
Honestly, that doesn't surprise me too much. I feel like higher echelons of society put a lot more pressure on kids to perform to a certain level, while laying restrictions on freedom of choice, specifically pertaining to education, careers and friends. Not only that, but we all know that money is the root of all evil; materialism can be a real drag.
The part of the studying that was most interesting to me was the finding that 'Happiness will increase to the extent that individuals are provided with the means to learn skills that can be deployed to meet reasonable challenges...'. So basically, people like to feel like they are learning, growing, and accomplishing something.
That's why I always go back to school whenever I start to feel a little depressed.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Back To School!
It's so great to be back. This semester is going to be the best one yet! I am currently enrolled in: New Interfaces for Musical Expression, Collaborative Mesh Networking, Computers For The Rest of You, and Expressing Information. I'm particularly interested in focussing on NIME and sound design in general this year. So here we go!
Monday, April 09, 2007
language objects
The Inkas may have used clusters of strings and knots (called khipu) as their way of recording language, while most other cultures of the world have used written records of ink on paper. This suggestion is described in 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann, Appendix B.
Honestly, I have never stopped to think about representing language in terms of objects versus written symbols, but the concept of creating a physical system for recording thoughts is actually quite inspiring. It reminds me of the way genes are encoded in long strands of DNA, although this system sounds like it has many more base elements to it. These elements include the kind of material used, the way the strings were spun, and the direction of the knots attached to all the other strings in the khipu. There were also, apparently, 24 different string colors.
It makes me think that it might be interesting to create a kind of khipu myself. The Inka's khipu sound fairly complex however; each khipu which has been found encoded one of 1,536 possible "distinct information units"!
Honestly, I have never stopped to think about representing language in terms of objects versus written symbols, but the concept of creating a physical system for recording thoughts is actually quite inspiring. It reminds me of the way genes are encoded in long strands of DNA, although this system sounds like it has many more base elements to it. These elements include the kind of material used, the way the strings were spun, and the direction of the knots attached to all the other strings in the khipu. There were also, apparently, 24 different string colors.
It makes me think that it might be interesting to create a kind of khipu myself. The Inka's khipu sound fairly complex however; each khipu which has been found encoded one of 1,536 possible "distinct information units"!
Our clothes have a fingerprint
I read this fascinating article the other week on how a robber was nabbed based on a unique pattern of wrinkles found down the side of his blue jeans, as seen on the bank's surveillance tape. The puckers and creases along the side-seam of his pants were a result of how his body moved within the denim fabric, thus creating a kind of barcode, or fingerprint, which was used as indisputable evidence in a court of law.
This made me think about all the ways in which we leave our own marks on our habitats. I love thinking about how our environments, including of course, our own bodies, act as a record of our lives. The kinds of activities we engage in, the way we move, these are all silently recorded, day by day. Just looking at my office chair, it's evident that i like to sit on my heels while in it; the fabric is stressed and slightly pushed downwards from the center of the seat.
This also made me think about the notion of 'memory'. It's not an original musing perhaps, but i still find memory fascinating. Life may seem to exist right here right NOW in our field of vision, but the past feels very material nonetheless, thanks to not only records of experiences and thoughts stored in our minds, but also to physical records we may have; gifts, letters, scars, the way the soles of our shoes are worn down in the same place on every pair.
hmm.. fascinating indeed...
This made me think about all the ways in which we leave our own marks on our habitats. I love thinking about how our environments, including of course, our own bodies, act as a record of our lives. The kinds of activities we engage in, the way we move, these are all silently recorded, day by day. Just looking at my office chair, it's evident that i like to sit on my heels while in it; the fabric is stressed and slightly pushed downwards from the center of the seat.
This also made me think about the notion of 'memory'. It's not an original musing perhaps, but i still find memory fascinating. Life may seem to exist right here right NOW in our field of vision, but the past feels very material nonetheless, thanks to not only records of experiences and thoughts stored in our minds, but also to physical records we may have; gifts, letters, scars, the way the soles of our shoes are worn down in the same place on every pair.
hmm.. fascinating indeed...
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