Digital Instrument Playing :) Intense!!!!

w00t: a collage of computer game sound and image

Bob Ostertag, sound artist and professor of technocultural studies at UC Davis, just released "w00t" on his website.

w00t consists of a 50-minute sound collage, a 4.5 minute sound “trailer,” and associated “cover art.” There is, however, no cover. w00t is a free, internet-only release. w00t was composed entirely from fragments of music from these computer games:

Balloon Fight • Congo Bongo • Contra • Earthbound • Halo: Combat Evolved • Ico • Katamari Damacy • Killer Instinct • The Legend of Zelda • Massive Assault • Myst
• Star Fox • Super Metroid • Super Smash Bros.: Melee • Viewtiful Joe • WarioWare, Inc: Mega Party Game$ • World of Warcraft

Images from these same games were included in the w00t art work. The w00t music began as the sound for Special Forces, a live cinematic performance by Living Cinema (Pierre Hébert and Bob Ostertag), which addressed the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 2006.

Download "wOOt".

Space and Human Destiny (FREE!)

The final installment of our "Beyond Earth: Ethical and Political Choices in Space" Series
In this ongoing discussion moderated by David Grinspoon, PhD, the Museum invites you to consider with scientists, astronauts, ethicists, and policy makers the ethical and political implications of human space activities. Co-sponsored by the Secure World Foundation and the Center for Space Exploration Policy Research at Southwest Research Institute.

What are the long term consequences and implications of space exploration for the future of the human race? Does space hold the key to the future of life and intelligence? Can the move into space help humanity to survive? Come hear the thoughts of some of today's most visionary thinkers about space exploration, and participate in a discussion about the human future.

Tuesday's Panel will include:

Jill Tarter, PhD, director, Center for SETI Research at the SETI Institute, Mountain View, California. (Named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world; many people are now familiar with her work as portrayed by Jodie Foster in the movie Contact.)
Christopher McKay, PhD, Research Scientist at NASA Ames Research Center, astrobiologist, and influential writer/speaker on interplanetary bioethics.
Robert Zubrin, PhD, President, The Mars Society
Moderated by Dr. David Grinspoon, Curator of Astrobiology, DMNS
Tuesday, October 16
7:00 p.m.
Phipps IMAX Theater; use IMAX Evening Entrance
Free
Reservations: 303.322.7009 or 1.800.925.2250



--
Dr. David Grinspoon
Curator of Astrobiology
Department of Space Sciences
Denver Museum of Nature & Science
2001 Colorado Blvd.
Denver, CO 80205
direct line: 303-370-6469
fax: 303-370-6005
dgrinspoon@dmns.org


President and Rhythm Guitar
Funky Science, Inc.
david@funkyscience.net

http://www.funkyscience.net/

In the Shadow of the Moon

In the Shadow of the Moon opened last month, and I thought of it today because I remembered someone in class wondering if there had been any efforts to archive the stories of astronauts. This looks like an attempt at that, focusing on the Apollo missions to the Moon.

Also, on the movie's website, there's a really nice writing by the film's composer, Phillip Sheppard and how he approached scoring the film (Under "About the Film"):

My initial impulse when thinking about the project was 'Space! America! Let's go big and bombastic adn write music that's going to punch them out of their seats.' But of course that's not what the film's about; its much more of a human story. Funnily enough it's more in the way of a chamber piece; it's more intimate...

So for the launch, where you may expect a full symphony orchestra to be playing right from the off, we're starting really small with just the tiniest instrument, the little marimba, and then building to something that's absolutely enormous We've gone the opposite way to what you might expect...

We recognized that this film is about the frontier mentality; the idea of discovering not the new West but the new world, and I wanted that pioneering spirit to be manifest in the score. I love the old West and this traditional American string music is among my favorites.

Sounds familiar but with a new approach. Its showing at the Landmark Chez Artiste on Colorado. Also, check out that computer! It looks like a giant wall of synthesizers!

The Posthuman DJ - in the 70's at TX/LA radio

Wow, I am floored by this amazing broadcast from The Black Pope:

"I'm a human radio station, I'm the transmitter, I'm the tower, I'm the turntables, I'm the building, I'm every doggone thing."

More jive DJ's here.

RIAA -- "Sounds For The Space-Set!!"

Check out this great, album-sized "mashup tribute to the pioneers of electronic music......A glamorous excursion thru the solar system..." from the RIAA -- that is, the Robotic Intergalactic Astro-Artists. The playlist is like a who's-who of artists relevant to our class. Tracks 3-5 are particularly out-of-control -- out of mission-control, that is -- mashups.

http://www.m-1.us/spaceset.html

The Amen Break

Here's a great video/installation by Nate Harrison on the Amen Break sampled from The Winstons' "Color Him Father". It's easily the most used breakbeat ever and I would assume followed up in popularity by "Funky Drummer" by James Brown/Clyde Subblefield (who has a myspace page!) and "Apache" by the Incredible Bongo Band. I think its an interesting meme in electronic music. I don't really have a background in memetics, or fully understand the concepts surrounding them but I would argue that the Amen Break, as a staple of hip hop, house, drum and bass and other genres of electronic music is really successful at survival. I really would like to spend some time looking at its mutations and also how it could be detrimental to its host (perhaps it's seen as too derivative?).

Also interestingly, Harrison argues that markets and capital will benefit from a more open and flexible culture and public domain.

EDIT: I'm sorry, as my fiance pointed out in the comments, the SONG the sample is from is "Amen, Brother" which is on the B-side. Color Him Father is on the A-side.