Tag: web toys

Lines and colours

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OMG Particles II.

From the Algorithms Are Fun Dept., some of the more colourful examples of script pyrotechnics and coding samples at mbostock’s pages. Many of the routines have data-crunching applications but a few eye-candy pieces may be found among them. What’s most surprising is how many of them work immediately, and also operate at great speed which makes them difficult to capture in screen grabs. Via Coudal.

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Lorenz Toy.

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Transform Transitions.

Previously on { feuilleton }
• Eyecandy
• The Kaleidoplex
• Colorscreen

Eyecandy

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Continuing a rather psychedelic week, Eyecandy is another of those groovy web toys, this time putting you inside a kaleidoscopic sphere of coloured circles whose parameters you can change with sliding controls. Fun to mess with when the right music is playing.

And while we’re on the subject, my new calendar has been selling very well thanks to some generous linkage from Arthur Magazine, Jeff VanderMeer, Boing Boing, Trendhunter, and others. Thanks to everyone who’s bought one, I’ll definitely be following this with something similar, not least a set of illustrations for Through the Looking-Glass. And Jabberwocky, yes, have to do something special for that…

Previously on { feuilleton }
• The Kaleidoplex
• Colorscreen

Gristleism

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In which the Buddha Machine returns as a bespoke instrument/greatest hits package from Industrial music outfit Throbbing Gristle. Having been a TG aficionado for many years, and being the proud owner of a Buddha Machine, this item looks like an essential purchase.

Thirteen original TG loops: a mix of experimental noise, industrial drone, and classic melodies and rhythms.
Built-in 50mm speaker, volume control, pitch-shift control and loop selector switch.
Features more loops and almost twice the frequency range of the original Buddha Machines.
Powered by two AA batteries.
Palm-Sized: W 67mm x H 69mm x D 35mm
Available in three colours: Black, Chrome and Red
UK Retail Price: 19.99 GPB
Designed by: Throbbing Gristle & Christiaan Virant
Concept by: Christiaan Virant
Manufactured by: Industrial Records Ltd
Music by: Throbbing Gristle

While we’re on the subject of music/noise and musical noise, there’s a couple of other recent discoveries worthy of mention. Inudge is another music-making web toy using loops and a grid system. Very easy to use and fun to play with. Less frivolously, the British Library opened its Archival Sound Recordings to the public earlier this month. I grew up by the sea, and still miss being near it, so the lapping wave soundscapes are a pleasant balm.

Previously on { feuilleton }
• A=P=P=A=R=I=T=I=O=N
• Uncopyable
• Buddha Machine Wall
• God in the machines
• Layering Buddha by Robert Henke
• Generative culture

Buddha Machine Wall

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I love my Buddha Machine, the music release by Fm3 which comes as a set of sampled loops in a plastic case looking like a cheap pocket radio. This is one music work which can’t be downloaded since the physicality of the thing is as much a part of its attraction and purpose as the loops themselves. It’s probably the most playfully inventive “album” since Chöre & Soli (1983) by Die Tödliche Doris, 8 miniphone records packaged in a box with a battery-driven player like those found in old talking dolls.

I only own one Buddha Machine so I haven’t had the opportunity to try creating a choir of the things with each playing a different loop. Robert Henke’s marvellous Layering Buddha album does this with considerable sophistication, processing the sounds through his bespoke digital filters. For those without their own Buddha Machine or Henke’s technology there’s now the Buddha Machine Wall which allows you to not only play with one machine but to also play several simultaneously. This is actually a lot more fascinating than I expected, it’s essentially an ambient music machine for the web, following the Brian Eno model of creating ambient patterns by layering loops. It’s great; give it a try.

• Layering Buddha Live | Two free downloads from Robert Henke

Previously on { feuilleton }
• God in the machines
• Layering Buddha by Robert Henke
• Generative culture