Pyrates business model still a mystery

Last summer I managed to interview Jo Gedrych about the business model for the Pyrates.



The summer is about to arrive so I will ask the question again. The Pyrates are still putting up much stuff on YouTube. I think this is the time of year for it, ahead of some new performances. but have they led us all astray? Is there any way this free stuff on the web can continue?

audio boo test

Social Media is everywhere. Well, you just have to look for it. Phoenix Digital have a course coming up. This will include Audioboo, something I had never heard of. The site seems to assume you have an iPhone. But a bit of checking out the blog reveals a test of just uploading a file through a browser. So here is a short extract from the New Exeter Radio Show from last Friday. In theory there could be less delay. The New Exeter Radio Show will probably carry on with Traydio. This is getting quite complicated. I have to keep subscribing to something new.

The Employees - Kate Russo-copyright issues

The Analogue2Digital event took up most of the Phoenix. One gallery closed but the others in use. As well as one glass case for The Employees,by Kate Russo. this looks pixelated but is actually painted. A series of related designs as business cards. I am not sure what to do with the photos. Usually the Phoenix is not keen on artwork being photographed. I did a circle shot round most of the bar etc. One version includes the Employees.

It would be good to include some visual art in a record of a music trade event. I thought the visual music aspects of animation could lead into Vibraphonic graphics. But the galleries just seem to have backed off a bit. The pixels however fit really well with the look of the Tenori-On. I will check out what can be done. Meanwhile there is one picture in the current Phoenix brochure and several on the website.

Analogue to Digital - #a2d10

So far the tag - #a2d10 - is only working for me. Can't find much else. But I think it is suitable and can't find another. Suggest #vgcs10 for the Vintage Guitars and Classic Synths coming up in a couple of months. Twitter reveals there is nothing on this at the moment.



The Tenori-On is the link for music technology and animation.





Kat Marsh tried out four mikes in the Sound Gallery basement. There are more clips to come later. Also the sound recording exists so there may be better sound.




From the Phoenix bar.

Also photos on Flickr.

There were issues raised about including people in the photos so some may vanish, then again some may be added.

I missed the Bladerunner sessions. Any links welcome.

Carl Munson and the Pocket Calculator

I thought he might play something from Talking Book but it turns out that the selected tune ahead of Analog2digital is Pocket Calculator by Kraftwerk



The New Exeter Radio show closed with this. Wheely Saying Something went with Talking Book but I'm not sure which track.

Kraftwerk is a good choice for the video approach. In this case nothing gets in the way of the stage and the cameras are each working ok. However in the Phoenix bar with the sort of kit I use there could be duff bits of tape or the staff walking about with plates of food. Now, don't get me wrong. Food in a bar is a good thing and a few glitches in a video is not a disaster. But if you happen to have the background video as well as the performance it may be easier to cover up the gaps. From previous discussions about this it has been suggested that layered video is a more positive description. So some editors could do this. I'm still looking at ways to cover up bodges.

More later on the New Exeter Radio Show. Conversation continues.

Talking Book on Wheely Saying Something

They played something from Talking Book on Phonic FM this morning but I am not sure which track. Story so far is that i am trying to make some connections with digital music ahead of Analog2digital on Saturday. You can't hear the actual broadcast in the studio and I think there is something wrong with the track listing somehow.

From a prpared list the Dr Who theme came up when the intended track was I love your Smile by Shanice





So maybe blogs with links could be more reliable than live radio. Not as interesting though.

Forunately Carl Munson visited and has taken the Talking Book CD. Probably he will have sorted the issues by tomorrow morning and will know which track he is playing.

If you are not near Exeter start with http://www.phonic.fm/

a2d10 as a case study in social communication

I am still in a disconnect from last week and Like Minds. Is Exeter really connected with all this networking stuff. It seems like a bit like a circus that has now moved on to some other place. Still on Twitter of course. #likeminds

Tried out #a2d10 on #twitter but so far it is just me - @will789gb
there is Sound Gallery or SoundGalleryCIC but no tag yet for Analog2digital. other than #a2d10 so this post is to suggest that something else shows up. There is a pretty good mailing list for the event but the first one also attracted people all over the UK who may not have known about it from posters in Exeter. Also some aspects could be covered online. How is the kit being used already?

I still hope to get some digital influenced music played on the Wheely Saying Something show and the New Exeter Radio show tomorrow. Not sure how the links will work. Listen to Phonic to find out.

Broadsided needs an edit please

Reaching the limits of what can be done without a budget. I can just about edit clips together but this needs someone who understands layers and maybe can fix the lighting. My imaginary friend is in Scotland at the moment. So maybe loading up clips to Vimeo is a possibility. This is intended as Creative Commons so please feel free to download. For about a week it will be a Windows file but will then turn to mp4 I think. could be better for Mac people.









The original tape is at Phoenix Digital so if you are near Exeter you could ask for a copy or capture.

Classics also relate to Pictures

Maynard School Concerts

Saturday 6 March 2010, 7pm
Anna Markland, Pianist
Masterclass with Anna – 3pm; Concert – 7pm
Anna will present a programme entitled ‘Pictures’, including Debussy’s beautiful first book of Impressionistic preludes and Mussorgsky’s stunning Romantic Pictures at an exhibition



hello warner music group, what to think?

Don't You Wonder Sometimes About Sound And Vision?

Probably this is repeating from previous blogs but this is how things seem to be. Last week went fairly well for getting my points across on Phonic. Since the chat show effort during Beer At The Castle I have found that the New Exeter Radio show is a focus for clarifying ideas. So far this year I have not been around on a Friday but the Wheely Saying Something hour has been fairly open to my suggestions. They used some soundclips for Creature Discomfort video as a connection with Animated Exeter. Also they repeated my news that Raphael Saadiq will be at Mama Stones this summer. They were a bit qualified about this, maybe it will be next summer. But in general they like Mama Stones as the wheelchair access is excellent. From the pavement to front of the stage, about 50 feet on one level. Also my interest is that they have recording kit so any mess of video would be salvaged by decent sound. At the Phoenix in theory there is a recording studio in the basement and video editing out the back somewhere but how to get cable from either to a performance space is a conundrum never resolved.

Maybe we could forget about cable if mobile devices get better. However as far as I can tell there is not a lot about video at the Analog2Digital event at the Phoenix next Saturday. This blog is mostly about animation but it turned out that the Broadsided event at Exeter Castle depended on VJ software for both the sound and the vision. Resolume offers a trial version that has some sort of watermark or inteference but is enough to try out.

So my question is, will VJ software be part of Analog2Digital and if not, why not? there must be digital ways to generate visuals that relate to music.

Still interested in the demoscene and visual music. One problem is how to explain this on radio. Last week they would have played a track from Talking Book by Stevie Wonder - You've Got It Bad Girl. Follow this with a chip tune, then what?

Meanwhile, linking to somewhere else