very cool development, although i have to make a comment about appropriating an instrument and not referencing its lineage whatsoever thereby severing the relevance of the musical context and otherwise reinforcing the arbitrary nature of your bodily gestures.
your robots can’t perform on the jembe the way a true master of the instrument would (and you know this I am sure)…and further, i don’t believe that you have the musical sophistication technically or have developed the theoretical background (no offense- i know you are a very intelligent musician) to approach that specific repertoire because your rhythms simply seem like a constant stream of 16th notes with the only dynamic variations being which “voice” is playing which 16th notes and at what velocity…point being is the cohesion and subtle telepathic interplay that occurs between a human ensemble is lost- and the complex arrangements that occur in a Manlinke orchestration are clearly not present. Of course you are demo’ing the device and maybe haven’t spent as much time on the composition- and probably aren’t trying to recreate that music anyway…but,
I think you are on the right track mechanically, and the Wii’s seems to give you an expressive control over the computer in a genuinely musical context that tends to be missing in interactive music, but I would appreciate it more if you invented a drum then reference one deeply embedded in such a historically specific socio-cultural context (…that being Bamako…not Boulder, Colorado)…because, even tho you state that the machine gives you potential humans otherwise are incapable of…it also eliminates the relevance of the specific drum you are using by not utilizing its proprietary tones/techniques that otherwise also have been defined by its shape, materials, etc…
…in this case its just a large, clumsy, temperamental drum, when you could design a much more optimal instrument for your own context- which is how the jembe came to be as well- designed for ITs optimal context…
in any case very nice work!
rick
February 25th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
I like the machine, I like the way you built in a lot of playability. Really facsinating. Your explanation video is also fascinating. I love to play drums, the tablas, dumbek. My wife sent me the link. I just think it’s great. My namesake (no relation) Moldover is doing some nice work with this computer/music/interface stuff, that sounds really good, too. Enjoy. I like the creative and joyful, yet cerebral and mathematical milieu mix. Makes me hopeful for the future.
cynthia garza
March 1st, 2010 at 7:40 pm
ignore the haters! great stuff.
antonio garza
March 1st, 2010 at 7:42 pm
hey – do you want to play in my New Orleans parade?
amigosdelosamigos.org
Chad
May 28th, 2010 at 8:43 am
The irony being that Shawn is himself; a robot a reality about which he is completely unaware. Cruel irony… Emit saline formula #39 from your optic sensors for your well-intentioned but ultimately lacking binary duplication of humanity, Mr. Trail… ;-p
Also, Patrick.. I saw you at N&E on monday. I’m the the long haired, bearded fella who isn’t Shon. ha… It was really cool seeing you play. Hope to run into ya soon!
Comments (7)
Anonymous
February 20th, 2010 at 7:35 am
That’s really cool
primape
February 22nd, 2010 at 8:39 pm
That’s crazy stuff! Love it.
shawn trail
February 24th, 2010 at 7:55 am
very cool development, although i have to make a comment about appropriating an instrument and not referencing its lineage whatsoever thereby severing the relevance of the musical context and otherwise reinforcing the arbitrary nature of your bodily gestures.
your robots can’t perform on the jembe the way a true master of the instrument would (and you know this I am sure)…and further, i don’t believe that you have the musical sophistication technically or have developed the theoretical background (no offense- i know you are a very intelligent musician) to approach that specific repertoire because your rhythms simply seem like a constant stream of 16th notes with the only dynamic variations being which “voice” is playing which 16th notes and at what velocity…point being is the cohesion and subtle telepathic interplay that occurs between a human ensemble is lost- and the complex arrangements that occur in a Manlinke orchestration are clearly not present. Of course you are demo’ing the device and maybe haven’t spent as much time on the composition- and probably aren’t trying to recreate that music anyway…but,
I think you are on the right track mechanically, and the Wii’s seems to give you an expressive control over the computer in a genuinely musical context that tends to be missing in interactive music, but I would appreciate it more if you invented a drum then reference one deeply embedded in such a historically specific socio-cultural context (…that being Bamako…not Boulder, Colorado)…because, even tho you state that the machine gives you potential humans otherwise are incapable of…it also eliminates the relevance of the specific drum you are using by not utilizing its proprietary tones/techniques that otherwise also have been defined by its shape, materials, etc…
…in this case its just a large, clumsy, temperamental drum, when you could design a much more optimal instrument for your own context- which is how the jembe came to be as well- designed for ITs optimal context…
in any case very nice work!
rick
February 25th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
I like the machine, I like the way you built in a lot of playability. Really facsinating. Your explanation video is also fascinating. I love to play drums, the tablas, dumbek. My wife sent me the link. I just think it’s great. My namesake (no relation) Moldover is doing some nice work with this computer/music/interface stuff, that sounds really good, too. Enjoy. I like the creative and joyful, yet cerebral and mathematical milieu mix. Makes me hopeful for the future.
cynthia garza
March 1st, 2010 at 7:40 pm
ignore the haters! great stuff.
antonio garza
March 1st, 2010 at 7:42 pm
hey – do you want to play in my New Orleans parade?
amigosdelosamigos.org
Chad
May 28th, 2010 at 8:43 am
The irony being that Shawn is himself; a robot a reality about which he is completely unaware. Cruel irony… Emit saline formula #39 from your optic sensors for your well-intentioned but ultimately lacking binary duplication of humanity, Mr. Trail… ;-p
Also, Patrick.. I saw you at N&E on monday. I’m the the long haired, bearded fella who isn’t Shon. ha… It was really cool seeing you play. Hope to run into ya soon!
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