Participated in a conference call about a telematic concert today. Seemed like the performance had already begun.
Author Archives: Holland Hopson
The DIY orchestra of the future – hemi speakers
In this TED Talk Ge Wang of Stanford geeks out about computer music (hooray!). He talks briefly about the hemispherical speakers used by the Stanford Laptop Orchestra. Their design (using an IKEA salad bowl) informed my hemi speaker experiments here.
I recently bought a 6-channel amplifier to upgrade the 3 2-channel amps I originally installed in the speaker. I’ll post about the new amp as soon as I drop it in.
Parkside Radicans Recordings
Here are live recordings from this spring’s Parkside performance with John Wiese, Steve Jansen and Brad Davis. This is from my buzzy, noisy Radicans project which uses small motors and soundbug transducers (audio speakers without cones) to transform ordinary objects in the performance space into speakers.
Designing Sound: Science-Fiction – Max Patches
This is the seventh and last set of example Pd patches ported to Max from Andy Farnell’s Designing Sound book. It includes robot sounds, a transporter sound and an alert.
Download Sound Design Practical Series – Science-Fiction
If you haven’t already, be sure to download the Sound Design Practical Series helper files
Stupid Field Recording Tricks
Aside
Fostex FR2-LE owners: Don’t plug your headphones into the remote jack! I did this by accident during a recent night-time recording session and was convinced my recorder was suddenly bricked. No harm done, once I figured out my mistake.
Designing Sound: Mayhem – Max Patches
This is the sixth set of example Pd patches ported to Max from Andy Farnell’s Designing Sound book. It includes guns, explosions and a rocket launcher simulation.
Download Sound Design Practical Series – Mayhem
If you haven’t already, be sure to download the Sound Design Practical Series helper files
No more clunky JBL EONs
My JBL EON G2 10s have served me well as a small PA or as monitor speakers, until they suddenly developed a nasty rattle. At first I thought I’d blown a woofer, but a quick inspection behind the grill showed everything was in order. Then I noticed that something inside each speaker was loose–it would make a disturbing clunk sound whenever I moved it. So I pulled the back off (so many screws…) and discovered the toroidal transformer was loose. I applied a dab of Loc-tite, tightened the bolt, and reassembled the speakers. Now they’re rattle free!
Making Progress With a Second Language
Aside
How about adding foreign language vocabulary review during all those UI progress bars? Bonjour! Comment allez-vous?
Thug Duo and Holland Hopson on Louisa Street
Free and easy on Louisa Street. This feels like the perfect way to start the summer: playing a house concert with Thug Duo (Simon Lott and Justin Peake) in New Orleans on Saturday. It’s an early show, so come on out and there will still be time to catch some food or music or both afterwards.
Saturday May 31 5:30pm
721 Louisa Street (btw Royal and Dauphine)
New Orleans LA
Thug Duo: Simon Lott & Justin Peake
Holland Hopson
Designing Sound: Lifeforms – Max Patches
This is the fifth set of example Pd patches ported to Max from Andy Farnell’s Designing Sound book. It includes some wonderful insect sounds along with sophisticated footsteps, bird and mammal calls.
Download Sound Design Practical Series – Lifeforms
If you haven’t already, be sure to download the Sound Design Practical Series helper files