small musics

PURPLE SKIES (MAIN ATTRAKIONZ REMIX)

2012-01-25T00:45:00.000-08:00

Remix of "Perfect Skies" by Main Attrakionz

16 drawings in amor fati SAMMM

2011-12-16T18:31:00.000-08:00

Forgot to post this a while back-- Sam Alden did an amazing set of drawings for each of the tracks on amor fati, following rules that are perfectly faithful to the quick and reckless spirit of the music.

CHECK THEM OUT!

game scores

2011-12-16T18:06:00.000-08:00

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

2011-11-04T15:23:00.000-07:00

About:

David Kanaga is a musician living in Oakland, CA; he improvises and writes music (playing, making spaces) for computers, people, instruments, and videogames. (-->me). This is my homepage. This is my music blog. This is my writing-on music-&-play blog. (<--)Follow DK on Twitter & Facebook.

Selected Press:

"Cybernetics [marks] a mega moment in the synthesis of jazz and electronic music. If there's been examples of this sort of fusion before, they don't seem to matter in Kanaga's wake, as his approach feels totally unique"

- on Cybernetics, at Tome to the Weather Machine

"There's something strangely hypnotic about the 'game', like being a psychedelic tourist in a retro digital holiday resort."

- on Proteus, at The Guardian

Interview on "Cybernetics," etc. at Fracture Compound

No Fear of Pop (Flower Walk)

Weird Magic (Cybernetics)

weebn layers / triptych

2011-11-02T12:36:00.000-07:00

load these all into a you3b triptych to play them all synched and simultaneously, the 3 layers of weebn. (or play them all here, a little remix).

urls to copy and paste there:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBuYgx3d8Z0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TeajpM-pCQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxkc6OFEj7I

from amor fati

amor fati - the chase 2, the chase

2011-11-02T12:30:00.000-07:00

get amor fati

amor fati CD-R

2011-11-02T10:22:00.000-07:00

Buy the amor fati silkscreened CD-R here

(listen to it first here)

comes wrapped in a print like one of those scattered in the above image.

each one is different--

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

i//\\//diecade

2011-10-18T17:50:00.000-07:00

Recently got back from Indiecade where Proteus was awarded "Best Sound" -- so honored! thanks to everyone who came out and played :)

Neal and Bill and others from Freaks and Geeks hosted the award ceremony. I made a fool of myself taking footage of Neal while he relaxed outside-- sorry, Neal :(

During the awards ceremony, a game of J.S. Joust was played

miuu (endless cassette 1)

2011-09-26T16:35:00.000-07:00

6-minute closed loop cassette-- it plays endlessly; a "footprint" of the Giant Bear Tracks label, which releases music, computer games, cookbooks, etc. Sleeves and tapes painted by Cooper Otte. Below video by him, too. $10 each, edition of 11.

moormoth

2011-08-25T00:14:00.000-07:00

moormoth1

moormoth2

samples Bob Ostertag throughout

1 2 3

screw/croysoy

2011-08-23T10:37:00.000-07:00

1 2 3

small musics 2 @ fictilis

2011-08-18T19:15:00.000-07:00

As part of the "Byproducts" exhibition at the FICTILIS gallery in Seattle, basically all of the music that I've produced in the last 3 years (since I first got Ableton) which hasn't been released in some other form is available for listening (or taking with a usb stick, burned cd, etc... if they don't mind, I guess) on the laptop that you see in the above photo. There are 689 tracks and they'll be on display there until August 28.

Thanks to Isabel Blue for hooking me up with this and taking that great photo!

skeleton vox edits

2011-08-18T18:57:00.000-07:00

skeleton vox edits

Vocal edits of songs off Crystal Boys' recent work-in-progress album, "Skeletons," which you can listen to at their Bandcamp page. One of their members, Cactus, also makes great free WILD computer games, which you should go play-- here.

diggtik

2011-07-10T19:11:00.001-07:00

diggtik 1

diggtik 2

know sun

2011-07-10T19:09:00.000-07:00

know sun

Corona Heights (Improvisations)

2011-07-10T18:32:00.000-07:00

Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks

2011-07-10T18:16:00.000-07:00

go2/seize her/shine light bright (with Meredith Adelaide)

2011-07-10T18:10:00.000-07:00

go2

seize her

shine like bright

made on an afternoon this last January with Meredith Adelaide

deserts

2011-07-10T18:07:00.000-07:00

building uruk

dennis sloo

1979

2011-05-13T11:15:00.000-07:00

1979

1 2

iyahsaves

2011-05-13T11:11:00.000-07:00

iyahsaves

Concert w/Dakim April 27

2011-04-20T15:56:00.000-07:00

EDIT: The first time I posted this the address was wrong. 3166 16th St. is correct.

My first show in San Francisco is a week from today. I'll be opening for Dakim (ddust.net, leaving records), and doing some improvisations with samples and maybe other things, too. It should be a good show- Dakim's music is amazing! check it out at the above links...

7:30 pm, April 27

Adobe Books

3166 16th St., SF

FREE

what others ask/say

2011-04-05T10:51:00.000-07:00

Interview about Cybernetics, &c. (Morgan Ellis, Fracture Compond, March 2011)
Review of Cybernetics (Crawford Philleo, Tome to the Weather Machine, March 2011)
Review of Ada (Crawford Philleo, Foxy Digitalis, March 2011)
Review of Flower Walk EP (Ryan H., Tome to the Weather Machine, November 2010)
Dialogue about Ada (Bryan Sonderman, Z O D I A C R U M, May 2010)

Music for Games 3

2011-04-04T18:03:00.000-07:00

3-1

3-2

3-3 (reactive; 9 rooms)

3-4

3-5 (interactive; 6 objects)

Listen/Download at Bandcamp

art by Iris Alden

bird amazonas

2011-03-22T03:29:00.000-07:00

bird amazonas

1 2

kreme/the highway

2011-03-14T22:47:00.000-07:00

kreme/the highway

recorded in Krispy Kreme, Mountain View, CA

samples "On The Highway (Come To See You)" by The Dogs

Selected Improvisations: March 13 2011 (with Marc Evans)

2011-03-14T21:23:00.000-07:00

(marc: violin, vocals, chuck programming; me: melodica, bells)

(marc: vocals, chuck; me: samples (ableton))

Full improvisation might be posted on Marc's site soon.

Cybernetics / small musics 1

2011-02-24T10:29:00.000-08:00

Silkscreened CD-Rs and fold-out packaging. Listen/download at Bandcamp: Cybernetics, small musics 1.

Edition of 50

1 - 9. Cybernetics
//
10. doorlight
11. see green
12. mr. nowhere
13. garden dress
14. portrait
15. summer pastels 2
16. draco 2

total time - 28:05

(only comes with 1 disc/print; not 20, like in the photo...)

Back-and-forth with Sam Alden

2011-01-29T01:44:00.000-08:00

Sam Alden and I sent some music and images back and forth... he'd draw something and I'd make a little song based on it; I'd make a little song, and he'd draw something based on it it, etc. It started with this:

longerloop1

which became this:

which became this (since I thought the rich textures in the image deserved some music that was more vibrant):

Jungle Night Explorer

The rest are more straightforward 1:1 pairs. Sam drew these, and I responded with the music:

1234567890

evening planet

Then I recorded these, and Sam responded with the drawings:

auulos

ngiit

Graphic score realizations: A Day Diffracted, Shape Play, etc.

2011-01-29T00:51:00.000-08:00

My friend Marc Evans is a composer, mostly of traditionally (/Western) notated music. Recently he has done a few experiments (and more) with more "open" form scores, which give players freedoms that can't be adequately represented using western notation. I've made "realizations" of two of his graphic scores, which follow:

A Day Diffracted (Jan. 2011)

Rules: the piece was to be constructed out of samples from this zip file (great sounds there!). I had to use the recording of Marc playing the first movement of a Beethoven piano sonata, Op. 109; I also had to consider the piece's title before working; beyond that, I was allowed to do whatever.

page 1

page 2

page 3

**Also, as a kind of footnote to this piece... while I was working on putting it together, my friend Iris Alden (who has done loaaads of wonderful album art for me) posted this watercolor image on her blog, which seemed to me to be somehow a kind of continuation/deconstruction of the visual ideas I was in the process of responding to... so I did a "realization" of it, too (though adhering to its form less strictly)--again using the Beethoven-via-Marc samples that I used throughout A Day Diffracted.

inksplash

Shape Play (Oct. 2010)

Marc sent this to me back in October. It doesn't have any rules (though I do try to follow the shapes). The image below is just the first page--follow along with a pdf of the whole score here.

Shape Play

Homo neanderthalensis

2011-01-28T00:30:00.000-08:00

Just finished a very short, linear game made with Josh Bothun (who I also made the music toy "ada" with) about ancient man... Unfortunately, only for PC right now, and also sorry if it takes a while to load! (do stick it out, though--should work eventually :P).

Download

We worked together on all the art, design and music. Here's a loop from the soundtrack:

dream loop 1

kyletapes

2011-01-25T21:56:00.000-08:00

kyletape 1

kyletape 2

both sample a melodica/mini-marimba jam I had with Kyle Cotler a few weeks ago

portrait

2011-01-25T21:37:00.000-08:00

found the photo hanging on a bush and made this grunge ballad for its subjects:

portrait

also, I installed the Yahoo Media Player (see the little play button to the left of all mp3 links), which I think makes for easier listening/browsing. Downloading is still possible by right-clicking, etc.

see green

2011-01-04T18:17:00.000-08:00

seegreen.mp3

samples "Sea Green and Cyan (v. 2)" by Greg Davis

mr. nowhere

2010-12-29T15:18:00.000-08:00

mr. nowhere

(right/ctrl-click + "save link/target as" to download)

finding the witch's garden

2010-12-27T01:08:00.000-08:00

witchgarden.mp3

O Holy Night (+HYaMLC)

2010-12-24T17:08:00.000-08:00

O Holy Night

and, from two years ago, before this blog existed: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Merry Christmas!

(right/cmd-click + "Save Link/Target As" to download)

Storkesy (with Kyle Cotler)

2010-12-03T23:48:00.000-08:00

Storkesy.mp3

(click to listen; right-click + "Save ... As" to download) // Guitar, bass, most chords: Kyle Cotler // cover source.

Sam's First Night

2010-12-02T23:06:00.000-08:00

David Kanaga - First Night from Sam Alden on Vimeo.

Sam Alden's video for my song "First Night", from Flower Walk EP. Also, be sure to check out these remarkable making-of photos (and download the original taaaalll image, too) over at his blog!

doorlight

2010-11-22T15:18:00.000-08:00

doorlight.mp3

The Crystal World & AHAB

2010-11-22T00:20:00.000-08:00

My friend Sam Alden did this beautiful drawing to my song, The Crystal World. If you want to use it as alternate album art, which I recommend, download and drag it in! (via Gingerland, his blog)

He also recently ordered a trilogy of $5 loops to accompany his own "AHAB" trilogy of drawings (view them at a much better resolution here)... the set is kind of like a very short (~1:30) EP :).

The loops:

AHAB I

AHAB II

AHAB III

A Trip to the Moon (part 2)

2010-11-12T00:22:00.000-08:00

A Trip to the Moon (part 2) from David Kanaga on Vimeo.

Flower Walk EP

2010-11-10T19:51:00.000-08:00

Sort of singer-songwriter-ish, but using Petrushka samples instead of a guitar. The cover image is taken from Hieronymus Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights.

I set up a Bandcamp page that will handle EP downloads from now on. This should be nice, because you can use it to stream the individual songs, too.

Flower Walk EP

1. Moon Race

2. First Night

3. Halloween

4. Flower Walk

5. Pole Rite

xthtx

2010-10-24T19:08:00.000-07:00

xthtx.mp3

(right-click (ctrl-click on Mac) + "Save Target/Link As" to download)

Leprosie/The Crystal World

2010-10-04T21:57:00.000-07:00

1. Leprosie

2. The Crystal World

(click song title to stream; right click (ctrl click on Mac) + "Save Target/Link As" to download)

I made these, as well as "Zaria Moon Jam/Surf Square" and "The Portable Dragon" using a rapid work process inspired largely by memories of my own creative process in 8th grade. "The Crystal World" is one of my favorite pieces I have made--I hope you like it, and all the others, too :)

Also, if you're interested, I've been updating the $5 Loop page with the loops that you all have bought; there should be some new stuff to hear over there... All the prompts so far have been great!

The Portable Dragon

2010-10-04T21:22:00.000-07:00

1. Leave Home

2. Gold

3. Bones

4. Lair

5. Moat

6. Plan, Silver

7. Sleep

8. More Bones

9. Admire Gold, Return Home

(12:57 total time)

Download "The Portable Dragon"

garden dress

2010-09-19T14:53:00.000-07:00

gardendress.mp3

A folk song. Samples "The Heat Wins" by advrb.

(click song title to stream; right click (ctrl click on Mac) + "Save Target/Link As" to download)

Zaria Moon Jam/Surf Square

2010-09-18T22:51:00.000-07:00

1. Zaria Moon Jam

2. Surf Square

(click song title to stream; right click (ctrl click on Mac) + "Save Target/Link As" to download)

summer pastels 2

2010-09-13T22:41:00.000-07:00

"summer pastels 1" was my Take Care cover, though I actually made this one first and forgot about it...

summerpastels2.mp3

The Crab Nebula

2010-09-13T00:26:00.000-07:00

1. Mingus' Canon
2. Carnival

Track 1 samples Blitzen Trapper's "War Is Placebo" and Charles Mingus' "Self-Portrait in Three Colors." Track 2 samples Battles' "Prismism," The Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" and Dusty Springfield's "The Windmills of Your Mind."

The cover is a cut-up of this.

Take Care (Beach House Cover)

2010-07-21T19:52:00.000-07:00

I made this cover of Beach House's song "Take Care":

takecare.mp3

It has a partner now: summerpastels2.mp3

Also, be sure to listen to the original if you haven't heard it--it's wonderful!

Selected Improvisations: July 16 2010 (with Jonas Pologe)

2010-07-19T21:34:00.000-07:00

Jonas is playing flute in the left channel; I'm playing bass in the right.

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3

Download "Selected Improvisations: July 16, 2010"

Jonas and I have been making music together for a long time (he and Josh Bothun were the friends that introduced me to music software (Fruity Loops), about 10 years ago!). He can be heard playing flute in some other things I've done, for instance "Music for Games", which can be downloaded here (and which I sample here).

2P Rects (interactive music: dancing, shooting)

2010-07-05T16:49:00.000-07:00

2P Rects // (primitive forms) from David Kanaga on Vimeo.

This is a video of me playing a piece of software for 2 hands (1 or 2 players) that I wrote a couple months ago. It's exploring ideas that are similar to those in ada, the "album" of interactive music pieces I made with Josh Bothun (and available for free download at that link).

You can play a stripped-down version online here (unfortunately no sound unless you download SuperCollider, and set a few things up yourself--Let me know if you're interested in doing that, and I'll get you on track :)).

$5 for a Loop

2010-06-26T12:32:00.000-07:00

Finished loops are catalogued at the bottom of this post

How it works: you give me $5 to create a loop (short piece that can repeat indefinitely) for you, in whatever way you'd like me to do it.

For instance, you could ask me to make a loop that "samples 5 different songs," or "is at 220 beats per minute," or "uses a (twelve) tone-row," or "covers part of 'Be My Baby,'" or "sounds like winter," or "works as a B section for the last loop you made for me"--really, anything you can imagine (look/listen below for examples). I'll do my best to follow your rules, but if something seems unreasonable to me, given the $5 price--say, "make a loop with 200 unique vocal tracks"-- I'll ask you for a new prompt, or refund your money (otherwise, even if you don't like your loop, no refunds :P).

I'll still own the rights to the loops I make for you, but will put them online for free under the same Creative Commons license (by-nc-sa) I use for all of my material, which allows you to reuse it pretty freely. The default name will be "Your Name x" (where x is the number of loops that you've bought), but you can change the name in your commission guidelines, if you'd like.

To buy a loop, simply go to the top of this post, fill in your guidelines and click "buy now" (uses PayPal). If the guidelines box doesn't give you enough room, you can send a longer email with all your wants to: dkanagamusic [at] gmail [dot] com.

To listen to a loop as a loop, rather than as a short clip online, right-click (ctrl-click on Mac) on the loop link and select "Save Target/Link As to download. Then open it up in iTunes, and make sure the looping button down in the bottom left corner looks like this (means "loop just this one song"); that should work!

Thanks!

$5 Loops

Iris Alden 1 (guidelines: sample "I Can't Help Myself" both The Four Tops and The Gems versions)
Devi the Doberman (Perry Patterson, guidelines: title)
Misbehaving Machines (Perry Patterson, guidelines: title)
THE WALL-E WALTZ (Perry Patterson, guidlines: title)
The Ericksons' Middle of the Night Remix with Mason Jennings (Ross Kanaga, guidelines: sample the title song + The Light (Part 2) by Mason Jennings)
Bryan Sonderman 1 (guidelines: "contains meaningful original lyrics")
Marc Evans 1 (guidelines: sample these recordings; first pair of piano chords should be prominent)
Cooper Otte 1 (guidelines: use provided recordings (on CD) as samples; do not repeat a sample without altering it in some way (no loops))
Josh Bothun 1 (guidelines: "warm, milky waves of bright orange creamsicle")
Jonas Pologe 1 (guidelines: "puzzle canon")
Peter Richards 1 (guidelines: "40 seconds of rock 'n' roll in my [Peter's] style")
Kyle Cotler 1 (guidelines: "Create a loop that would occur at a recording session where Phil Spector, at his craziest, is producing a song written by Neil Sedaka and J.C. Bach. BUT J.C. Bach is bringing his woes to the session which were brought on by his realization that his Father superior composer and he will never achieve his level of success or fame.")
AHAB I
AHAB II
AHAB III (Sam Alden, guidelines: "create a loop to accompany each frame of my AHAB trilogy." see the trilogy here!: AHAB@Gingerland)
Iris Alden 2 (guidelines: "a theme and variations based on that melody from Philip Glass' La Belle et La Bête opera")
The Dream 1
The Dream 2
The Dream 3
The Dream 4 (Harry Fulop, guidelines: "create a loop for each of these four vignettes"; read them here!)
Nanyonjo Mukungu 1 (guidelines: "disco synth")
Morgan Ellis 1 (guidelines: "sample 1 or more of yr earlier work, fracturecompound-style"; (samples "chant," "the witch party," and "first movement"))
Sam Alden 4
Sam Alden 5 (both prompts: "the exploration of something about 8th grade or middle school")
Jerom 1 (guidelines: "a silly battle theme between a ladybug and a little spider")
Richard Alden 1 (guidelines: "6 loops based on the Bach cello suites")
Richard Alden 2
Richard Alden 3
Richard Alden 4
Richard Alden 5
Richard Alden 6
Bryan Sonderman 2 (guidelines: "snap music w/deep bass and slow tempo")
narF 1 (guidelines: "something about love")
narF 2 (guidelines "something with a wintery vibe")
George Buckenham 1 (guidelines: "something for me to use as a ringtone")
Josh Schonstal 1 (guidelines: "Just Intonation/Mixolydian Dub: 'The King of Psychedelia'")

Proteus teaser video

2010-06-26T00:54:00.000-07:00

I've been working on dynamic/procedural-ish music for this game; you can follow it's development here.

More info to come! :)

lazy ginsburg

2010-06-25T16:56:00.000-07:00

lazyginsburg1.mp3

lazyginsburg2.mp3

Both tracks sample Allen Ginsberg's recording of William Blake's "Nurse's Song," available here.

"Snakes" EP

2010-06-06T12:35:00.000-07:00

All tracks sample Max Neuhaus' performance of Morton Feldman's "The King of Denmark."

1. The Head

2. Little Gall

3. Snakes!

4. Snake Dub

5. Rintrah Roars

6. Space Bends

Download "Snakes" EP

epx (longer)

2010-06-05T21:29:00.000-07:00

epx_longer.mp3

april pluckings

2010-06-04T15:29:00.000-07:00

aprilpluckings.mp3

Dialogue w/Bryan Sonderman

2010-05-28T16:09:00.000-07:00

My friend Bryan Sonderman asked me some questions about Josh Bothun and my game, ada (download page). I responded to them, and he posted the dialogue on his blog, here.

His blog also features some really cool loose collage music that he's started making recently--check it out :)

Suite for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet and Piano

2010-05-28T13:27:00.000-07:00

Written Fall 2007, performed Fall 2008

This is the one piece that I had performed during my time in Whitman's composition program.

I'm trying to find the score to put it online: the interactions in the second movement are my first explorations of some of the ideas that I ended up developing further in Activities.

Performers: Michele Aichele, flute; Heidi Brigham, oboe; Amber Nosek, clarinet; Katie Moyer, piano.

(The "(warm-up)" track isn't composed by me in any way (it's by the above players), but it was part of the concert recording, and I thought it was a highlight of the performance, so I didn't want to cut it.)

1. (warm-up)
2. I. q =70
3. II.
4. III. h = 70
5. IV. q = 140

Download "Suite for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet and Piano"

attila the hun

2010-05-18T14:29:00.001-07:00

Image is from the Chronicon Pictum, showing the meeting of Attila and Pope Leo I.

attilathehun.mp3

Sam Alden - "1/Bend" art/video

2010-05-17T01:35:00.000-07:00

My friend Sam Alden made two drawings/paintings/a video for my song "1/Bend," off of Dutch/Africa.

The above image is a screenshot from one of the two drawings/paintings, both of which can be seen in their entirety here

This is the video, made by panning around the images:

Thanks Sam :)

Dutch/Africa

2010-05-13T14:22:00.000-07:00

Contains long-ish samples of Alhaji Yaya Zakori's "Fushien Kububua," and short samples of others...

1. 1/Bend
2. Kounou Game Reserve
3. Zaria
4. ////
5. Kabinda Game Reserve
6. 2/Bend
7. Gombe

Download Dutch/Africa

Activities: video, mp3s, score

2010-05-12T23:56:00.001-07:00

Activities for Orchestra (selections) from David Kanaga on Vimeo.

download mp3s

download score

morning trio

2010-05-10T19:24:00.001-07:00

morningtrio.mp3

winter 2009

Live 5/6/2010

2010-05-08T00:05:00.001-07:00

I played a short (!) set on Thursday night at Boner Mountain. The artwork is an image of the room I played in.

Live 5/6/2010
(10:35)

> wild birdsynth
> the way i feed
> cooper's bit bits
> lazers do / mahler 3
> 198 12"
> 4.23.10.intro / subotnik

2010-05-05T15:42:00.000-07:00

For those of you in Walla Walla, I'll be conducting my piece "Activities for Orchestra" this upcoming Saturday at the Divertimento Chamber Orchestra concert.

I'll put up a recording and a pdf of the score after that.

cooper's bit fade

2010-05-03T22:07:00.001-07:00

The sax and drums loop was made by my friend Cooper Otte from samples of "Improvisation Structure for Saxophones and Drums," which he played drums on. This + samples of "Solitude" by Duke Ellington, etc.

coopersbitfade.mp3

ornette trio (imagined interactions)

2010-04-25T23:27:00.001-07:00

A few samples layered 3x. An imagined trio. Source: "The Man Who Live in the White House," by Ornette Coleman

ornette_trio.mp3

orange cut

2010-04-25T22:52:00.001-07:00

Linear rearrangement of Beethoven's Symphony No. 6, 2nd movement

orange_cut.mp3

Live 4/23/2010

2010-04-24T15:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I performed live at an event put on by Whitman's radio station, KWCW. I forgot to record my set at the time, but performed it again today in my room (it's mostly the same--a bit shorter, perhaps...) to post here:

Live 4/23/2010
(16:40)

> intro
> wombflash jungle
> hanenbow
> 1-1.1 / waterfall
> oil
> dutch africa bit
> fela / walrus
> sonny bono / 1-1.2
> pulcitune

Thanks to Alex Cassidy for the artwork, which was drawn while listening to the performance :)

Fun House

2010-04-14T14:30:00.000-07:00

1. ***wild synth***
2. ***toy store***

Download Fun House

Fall 2008/2009

minimalddddd2

2010-04-13T21:57:00.000-07:00

minimalddddd2.mp3

Spring 2009

small vox pitch

2010-04-13T21:25:00.000-07:00

small vox pitch.mp3

Fall 2008

Spring Gulch

2010-04-10T18:50:00.000-07:00

Spring Gulch from David Kanaga on Vimeo.

Filmed February 22, 2010 in Walla Walla, WA, and in North-Eastern Oregon, at the South Fork of the Walla Walla river.

Music: Friedrich Nietzsche's "Da Geht Ein Bach"

Response: The Knife - Tomorrow, In A Year

2010-03-02T19:22:00.000-08:00

A while back, I listened to The Knife's new album "Tomorrow, In A Year." I thought there were a lot of things in it that worked really well, and also a lot of things that didn't.

I made this short edit/remix/dub as a response to my listening, and incidentally, it functions as a kind of non-verbal criticism by selection, a four minute tour of what I would consider some of the album's finer moments:

Download The Knife - Tomorrow, In A Year (David Kanaga Edit)

The album was released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License , which is the same license that I use.

***

A little over a week ago, I posted this, but didn't know about the CC license--so I wrote "sampled content: copyright 2010 The Knife," confident that my collage-response should be protected by fair use. Then, on the morning of 2/27, I received a DMCA takedown notification from Blogger (someone else having complained to them), and the post was removed from my page.

Blogger, if you see this: the sampled material was released under a Creative Commons license--I can use it!

Playing Electroplankton

2010-02-22T00:29:00.001-08:00

These are layered (and non-layered) recordings of me playing Electroplankton, an interactive/generative music game for the Nintendo DS by Toshio Iwai. The track titles list the levels being played; "-n" after a given level name means the recording was pitch-shifted down n semitones.

1. Sun-20/Tracy-8/Menu
2. Volvoice/(Rec-Rec)
3. Menu/Snow-8
4. Hanenbow

Download Playing Electroplankton

Don't know where copyright belongs here; the game is both composition and instrument.

Scenes from Arcturus

2010-02-16T20:16:00.001-08:00

Inspired by David Lindsay's amazing novel A Voyage to Arcturus.

1. Lusion Plain 1
2. Lusion Plain 2
3. Wombflash Forest 1
4. Wombflash Forest 2

Download Scenes from Arcturus

Art by Iris Alden.

The Nymph

2010-01-17T20:35:00.000-08:00

"A nymph in Greek mythology is a female spirit typically associated with a particular location [...] They live in mountains and groves, by springs and rivers, also in trees and in valleys and cool grottoes. They are frequently associated with the superior divinities: the huntress Artemis; the prophetic Apollo; the reveler and god of wine, Dionysus [...]" (source)

1. Waterfall
2. Pool

Download The Nymph
________

The cover samples Henry Meynell Rheam's "Sleeping Beauty." The music samples: "Candide", "Pas D'Action: Adagio", and "Valse: Allegro" from Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty Suite; also "Gentle Sea On Flat Beach.wav", served by the freesound project, and produced by www.digifishmusic.com.

Three Songs

2009-12-06T20:50:00.000-08:00

Three songs from the summer:

1. Island
2. Boulders
3. The Bear

Download Three Songs

"Reflex": Instrument no. 1

2009-12-06T20:38:00.000-08:00

1. Take 1
2. Take 2

Download "Reflex": Instrument no. 1

Improvisation Structure for Saxophones and Drums

2009-12-06T20:29:00.000-08:00

This is a piece for three saxophonists and three drummers. It consists of a simple form that is played through three times, each time under the leadership of a different saxophonist. The three repetitions are structurally identical except for a collective improvisation section which has the players follow a different rule each time. During each of the collective improvisations, the drums have the control to aurally signal players to move back to the top of the form; otherwise, they accompany intuitively.

Iris Alden – Tenor Sax; Zane Hager – Alto Sax; Taylor Kaplan – Tenor Sax;
Kyle Gistelli – drums; Cooper Otte – drums; me – drums.

1. Take 3
2. Take 4

Download Improvisation Structure for Saxophones and Drums

The Form:

Note: both saxophonists and drummers should actively avoid falling into consistent time. If time is kept, it is only so that it can later be freed.

[0] Before beginning, the saxophonists must agree on a “base note” that they can all play. This note will provide the only tonal consistency in the piece.

[1] All saxophones begin by playing the base note. There should be no regard for rhythmic consistency; however, each player may pulse in time if they wish, though their time keeping should never last longer than a full breath. Try to pulse irregularly, or else hold long notes.

[2] The lead saxophone may begin to play at an octave above the base note at any time. When they hear this change, the other saxophones should also play up an octave. The lead saxophone may move back to the base note at any time; again, the other players follow suit. This game of follow-the-leader happens until the lead player is ready to move on.

[3] The lead saxophone trills on any two notes and the other saxophones follow suit, though not necessarily on the same notes. This happens until the lead player is ready to move on.

[4] The lead saxophone solos. The other saxophones must stop playing. Drummers should continue, but change something in their playing to call attention to the structure.

[5] When either of the non-lead saxophones are ready, they may enter the solo, to begin the collective improvisation. The rules for the improvisation are different each of the three times through the form. The three rules are: (1) everyone must play short bursts of sound, the goal as an individual being to produce more silence than sound; (2) everyone must imitate the lead player, by playing similar textures and melodic/rhythmic shapes; (3) free improvisation–listen!

[6a] (for 1st and 2nd playthrough) During a collective improvisation, when a drummer is ready to move to the top of the form, s/he must play a consistent, mechanical, evenly spaced rhythm on a single drum. The other drummers must respond similarly, though at different tempos. The saxophones respond by trilling on any two notes. When then next lead player is ready to restart the form, s/he returns to [1], now the leader.

[6b] (for the final playthrough) During the free improvisation, when any saxophonist is ready to end the piece, s/he must return to the base note of the piece, and the others must follow suit. This note can be played for as long as the players wish. The players should come to an end intuitively.