Tristan Perich's 1-Bit Symphony

I've thought a lot about ways of presenting music, but usually my ideas are based on new or interesting ways of presenting widely-used, existing formats, such as CD, vinyl, or MP3's.

One of the most interesting ideas I've come across (Tyler from my previous entry linked to it from his facebook page) is this:



"A complete electronic circuit - programmed by the artist and assembled by hand - plays the music through a headphone jack mounted into the case itself."

It's not a recording in the traditional sense of the word. I think it's probably more accurate to think of it as an electronic music box, and I'm fascinated by music boxes.

Another interesting way of looking at it is that it is not a stretch to see the mounted circuit itself as minimalist album art when it's in the context of a CD jewel case like that. I love the idea of physical objects being used in album art rather than just images. This is not only a physical object, but it's what plays the music. The album art plays the album.

Of course, I think one downside to a presentation like this is that it's such an interesting idea that it is in danger of becoming a gimmick and overshadowing the music itself. Although that doesn't decrease the validity or quality of the music, people like me are only talking about the album because of the presentation and not because of the music. Maybe that's alright though, because maybe the music isn't the only part of the art as a whole. Maybe the circuit idea isn't there to compliment the music, but the other way around, and the music is there to compliment the idea of the circuit. That doesn't mean that the music is any less important. It's more like a film score complimenting a film. The music is very important and enhances the film, but the film itself, as a whole, is the most important thing.

You can download a free recording (provided by The Rambler) of the first movement in the 1-Bit Symphony by clicking here.

Free music you could check out, if you were so inclined.

A band I really love called Endless Hallway released a new song yesterday. They recorded it a few months ago. It's called "Magneton"

The link to download it is here.

I've been into them since there were only two guys in the band and they had only a 30-second teaser of a song on their myspace site. Since then they've released several demos and a great album.

I went with Patrick and his friend Aaron to see Endless Hallway live last year when they were on tour, opening for Gavin Rossdale. They were amazing. It was the best show I've ever been to, and I've been to a lot of shows.
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My friend Tyler is a musician. His music project is called Clamour. I met him on the internet a while back, and since then I have released nothing, and he has released several EP's, making me feel like I'm lazy. He just released his latest EP, which was planned to be a full album. The EP is called "Tower"

The link to download it is here.

To be honest, his music isn't something I'd regularly listen to, but it's interesting. I get the impression he does it for himself anyway rather than for an audience, much like how I approach my own music, even if our respective approaches also differ in many ways.

A document within the download explains that it is his final Clamour release, and that Clamour is now "asleep". He just has a different path in life to go down.

I don't know Tyler very well, but I'm glad to know him at all, and I hope we continue to talk at least once in a while, and that we'll maybe work together on something in the future.

"That guy will do anything for attention."

I watched one of the new Shark Week shows, and this man let a Remora attach itself to his stomach. I've definitely never seen anything like that before. I thought he should have swam around in the water, to impress all his friends.

"Hey guys, look at me! I'm a shark!"

Everyone's known at least one person who would do just about anything for attention. The least they could do is be creative enough to attach Remoras to their stomach.

Superstition and Astronomy.

I'm not superstitious, but I'm a little stitious.

Early in the morning on Friday, the 13th, a black cat walked in front of our van. I'm just glad it wasn't Jason Vorhees.

After that, we watched the Perseid meteor shower. It was beautiful. I've always been interested in astronomy, but my terrible vision and refusal to get glasses or contact lenses makes it difficult to take on as a hobby. My fellow meteor-gazers and I witnessed some strange things. At one point we saw a flash in the sky that lasted a couple of seconds. We believe it was a meteor heading straight in our direction, but obviously burning up in the atmosphere before it got to us. At another point we saw a very bright flash of light below the treeline. I have no idea what that could have been, and I have no idea if it was related to the meteor shower. It couldn't have been a meteor hitting the Earth, right? At another point I saw what I believe was a satellite moving slowly across the sky. It was a very faint light.

I'm not actually superstitious.