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20210424

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My review of Helsinki biennial podcast series episode 3. Jokainen taiteilija hurmaantui Vallisaaresta eri tavoin [Each artist got enchanted by Vallisaari in a different way].

Fitted a Amphenol P-MUSB-D511-XX rugged USB B port (with a dust cover) to my Waterlab rack. From now on end I want all my connections to be ruggedised. Learning to use the Sampleslicer. It works great for building transitions between patterns and tempos. The low-fi aesthetic works for sound canvases and the instrument is inviting to techno. Great for crackles and buzzes. Next up FM radio sampling.

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20210412

Still on The Strangeness of Dub series (2019) Edward George. Learning about King Tubby is great but I’m experiencing the bridges George builds between jazz, electonic avantgarde and dub to be wider then necessary (in episode Distance II). It’s pleasant to learn about dub as a mythical story with genius figures, innovations and tragic artist fates but I think this approach is cutting corners. Not everything needs to make sense (fit a narrative) and valorizing charismatic but conflicted artists causes an unnecessary emotional offset.

Inadvertently I’m listening to more John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhauser trough this source then ever before! George has arranged a very clever and rich selection of music. I particularly enjoyed listening to long and noisy bootleg recordings from the 70ties (in Distance I). The tapes make for a media archeological exploration of King Tubby’s Hometown HIFI in Kingston, Jamaica 1975. The system in the recording was build and operated by King Tubby & U Roy and approaching it trough a flat, gritty tape feels fresh (like exploring the alleyways of an ancient city with a flimsy torch).

And I must add that the wide bridge George builds between King Tubby and Stockhauser as media-deconstructivists who are piecing together a future sound, which operates in a different realm them the past mass-media of past dictators, feels great. The artists were working to hear the sublime by using their sound systems/band filters as navigational instruments! I’ve been inspired to work with dub in my studio recently. I also fondly ponder if our Kaosspad work in Masku Movement qualifies as such, or particularly this Hard Boiled track from 2006. Also bought a used Ginko Synthese Sampleslicer MkII to specifically experiment with dub styles and techniques.

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20210324

Upholstered a Håg kneeling chair which I bought for cheep. Might have to replace the gas spring and wheels too but it works for now. Found a good supplier for strong plastic foam (LIMI P80) in Kerava and sourced leftover canvas from an upcycling bin. The foam is sturdy but soft, intended for upholstery of industrial machine seats. Felt weird to buy new plastic foam to this world but SURREAL SALAD (2020) by Heini Aho comforted me. Her video is perfect for coping with toxic-futures. I think I used too much glue. There is a faint intoxicating smell in the room I work but I’m using it for my benefit (working on grant-applications and preparing a teaching gig for Aalto).

Spotted a small clip about the expo2001∞ fanzine/exhibition by Daniel Kupferberg online. We contributed an angry Trans-Horse text to it. The zine-format is inspirational. We will be hopefully produce a zine during the upcomming Horse & Build Environment course too.

Dreaming of a Ginko Synthese Sampleslicer II. Their LFOv2 is a part of nearly every patch I make. Still experiencing inconsistencies with the Norns Orca ! cc outputs.

 

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20190209

Successfully built a Music Thing Modular Turing Machine Mkii and its Volts expander (which indicates faults in the assembly). Only four steps of the expander produce changes is the voltages which indicates bad solder joints, a problem with the 4015 chips, an issue with the clock input (using Ginko Synthese LFOv2), the pcb or something else. Checked all of the solder joints but they look good. I’ll have to get new chips, reheat all the joints and try again. The issue seems common and similar behavior is described on a Muffwiggler thread. Forgot a 10k resistor from Volts, soldered it down and everything works now!