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Circuit bending
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circuit_bending
Circuit bending is the creative, chance-based customization of the circuits within electronic devices such as low voltage, battery-powered guitar effects, children's toys and digital synthesizers to create new musical or visual instruments and sound generators.
Emphasizing spontaneity and randomness, the techniques of circuit bending have been commonly associated with noise music, though many more conventional contemporary musicians and musical groups have been known to experiment with "bent" instruments. Circuit bending usually involves dismantling the machine and adding components such as switches and potentiometers that alter the circuit.
Experimental process
Circuit bending is often practiced by those with no formal training in circuit theory or design, experimenting with second-hand electronics in a DIY fashion. Inexpensive keyboards, drum machines, and electronic children's toys (not necessarily designed for music production) are commonly used. Haphazard modifications can result in short circuits, resulting in the risk of fire, burning, or electrocution.
Aesthetic value, immediate usability and highly randomized results are often factors in the process of successfully bending electronics. Although the history of electronic music is often associated with unconventional sonic results, such innovators as Robert Moog and Léon Theremin were electrical engineers, and more concerned with the consistency and sound design of their instruments. Circuit bending is typified by inconsistencies in instruments built in an unscientific manner. While many pre-fitted circuit bent machines are on offer for sale at auction sites such as eBay, this somewhat contravenes the intention of most practitioners. Machines bent to a repeated configuration are more analogous to the well known practice of "mods", such as the Devilfish mod for the Roland TB-303, the famous Speak and Spell toys or various Analogman or Pedaldoc guitar pedal circuit modifications.
Circuit bending an audio device typically involves removing the rear panel of the device and connecting any two circuit locations with a "jumper" wire, sending current from one part of the circuit into another. Results are monitored through either the device's internal speaker or by connecting an amplifier to the speaker output. If an interesting effect is achieved, this connection would be marked for future reference or kept active by either soldering a new connection or bridging it with crocodile clips. Often other components are inserted at these points such as pushbuttons or switches, to turn the effect on or off; or components such as resistors or capacitors, to change the quality of the audio output. This is repeated on a trial and error basis. Other components added into the circuit can give the performer more expressiveness, such as potentiometers, photoresistors (for reaction to light) and pressure sensors.
The simplest input, and the one most identified with circuit bending, is the body contact, where the performer's touch causes the circuit to change the sound. Often metal knobs, plates, screws or studs are wired to these circuit points to give easier access to these points from the outside the case of the device.
Since creative experimentation is a key element to the practice of circuit bending, there is always a possibility that short circuiting may yield undesirable results, including component failure. In particular, connecting the power supply or a capacitor directly to a computer chip lead can destroy the chip and make the device inoperable. Before beginning to do circuit bending, a person should learn the basic risk factors about working with electrical and electronic products, including how to identify capacitors (which can give a person a serious shock due to the electrical charge that they store), and how to avoid risks with AC power. For safety reasons, a circuit bender should have a few basic electronics tools, such as a multimeter (an electronic testing device which measures voltage, resistance and other factors). It is advised that beginner circuit benders should never "bend" any device that gets its power from mains electricity (household AC power), as this would carry a serious risk of electrocution.
Innovators
Although similar methods were previously used by other musicians and engineers, this method of music creation is believed to have been pioneered by Reed Ghazala in the 1960s. Ghazala's experience with circuit-bending began in 1966 when a toy transistor amplifier, by chance, shorted-out against a metal object in his desk drawer, resulting in a stream of unusual sounds. While Ghazala says that he was not the first circuit bender, he coined the term Circuit Bending and whole-heartedly promoted the proliferation of the concept and practice through his writings and internet site, earning him the title "Father of Circuit Bending".
Serge Tcherepnin, designer of the Serge modular synthesizers, discussed his early experiments in the 1950s with the transistor radio, in which he found sensitive circuit points in those simple electronic devices and brought them out to "body contacts" on the plastic chassis. Prior to Mark's and Reed's experiments other pioneers also explored the body-contact idea, one of the earliest being Thaddeus Cahill (1897) whose telharmonium, it is reported, was also touch-sensitive.
Since 1984, Swiss duo Voice Crack created music by manipulating common electronic devices in a practice they termed "cracked everyday electronics."
See also:
Atari Punk Console
Axesynth (Known as the "Atari", as used by the rock band MuteMath, and Velva (Chicago)
Bent Festival
Casper Electronics
Chiptunes
Electronic art music
Glitch (music)
Kraakdoos (CrackleBox)
MIDIbox
MOS Technology SID
Music Tech Fest
NIME
No-Fi
Noise music
List of music software
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Casper Electronics
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casper_Electronics
Casper Electronics was founded in 2000 by Pete Edwards. The company's main products are musical instruments made from electronic toys using circuit bending. The instruments are made in the same manner as those of Reed Ghazala, among others.
Customers
The following people have used circuit bent instruments from Casper Electronics in their music.
Mike Patton (Faith No More)
Kevin Rutmanis (The Melvins)
Danny Elfman (ex Oingo Boingo, currently composing film scores for Tim Burton)
Mark Hosler (Negativland)
Rahzel (The Roots)
DJJS1 (Rahzel's traveling DJ)
See also[edit]
Circuit bending
Lo-fi
Reverse engineering
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Danny Elfman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Elfman
Daniel Robert "Danny" Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American composer, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known as the lead singer and songwriter for the rock band Oingo Boingo, from 1976 to 1995 and later for scoring music for television and film and creating The Simpsons main title theme as well as the 1989 Batman film theme. He has scored the majority of his long-time friend Tim Burton's films.
Elfman re-entered the film industry in 1976, initially as an actor. He made his film scoring debut in 1982 for the film Forbidden Zone directed by his older brother Richard Elfman. He has since been nominated for four Academy Awards and won a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media for Tim Burton's Batman and an Emmy Award for his Desperate Housewives theme. Elfman was honored with the Richard Kirk Award at the 2002 BMI Film and TV Awards; the award is given annually to a composer who has made significant contributions to film and television music. He was also inducted as a Disney Legend in 2015.
Early life and career
Danny Elfman was born in Los Angeles, California, into a Jewish family. He is the son of Blossom Elfman (née Bernstein), a writer and teacher, and Milton Elfman, a teacher who was in the Air Force. He was raised in a racially mixed community in the Baldwin Hills area of Los Angeles. He spent much of his time in the local movie theatre, adoring the music of such film composers as Bernard Herrmann and Franz Waxman. Stating that he hung out with the "band geeks" in high school, he started a ska band. After dropping out of high school, he followed his brother Richard to France, where he performed with Le Grand Magic Circus, an avant-garde musical theater group. Violin in tow, Elfman next journeyed to Africa where he traveled through Ghana, Mali, and Upper Volta, absorbing new musical styles, including the Ghanaian highlife genre which would eventually influence his own music.
He contracted malaria during his one-year stay and was often sick. Eventually he returned home to the United States, where he began to take Balinese music lessons at CalArts. During this time, he was romantically involved with Kim Gordon, who would later go on to form Sonic Youth. He was never officially a student at the institute; nonetheless, the instructor encouraged him to continue learning. Elfman stated, "He just laughed, and said, 'Sit. Play.' I continued to sit and play for a couple years." At this time, his brother was forming a new musical theater group.
Oingo Boingo
Main article: Oingo Boingo
In 1972 Richard Elfman founded the American new wave band/performance art group, originally called The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo. They played several shows throughout the 1970s until Richard Elfman left the band to become a filmmaker. As a send-off to the band's original concept, Richard Elfman created the film Forbidden Zone based on their stage performances. Danny Elfman composed his first score for the film and played the role of Satan (the other band members played his minions). By the time the movie was completed, they had taken the name Oingo Boingo and begun recording and touring as a rock group. From 1976 and on, it was led by Danny Elfman, until 1995 when they suddenly retired. The semi-theatrical music and comedy troupe had transformed into a ska-influenced new wave band in 1979, and then changed again towards a more guitar-oriented rock sound, in the late 1980s. Oingo Boingo, still led by Danny Elfman, performed as themselves in the 1986 movie Back to School.
Elfman and Tim Burton
In 1985, Tim Burton and Paul Reubens invited Elfman to write the score for their first feature film, Pee-wee's Big Adventure. Elfman was apprehensive at first because of his lack of formal training, but with orchestration assistance from Oingo Boingo guitarist and arranger Steve Bartek, he achieved his goal of emulating the mood of such composers as Nino Rota and Bernard Herrmann. In the booklet for the first volume of Music for a Darkened Theatre, Elfman described the first time he heard his music played by a full orchestra as one of the most thrilling experiences of his life. Elfman immediately developed a rapport with Burton and has gone on to score all but two of Burton's major studio releases: Ed Wood which was under production while Elfman and Burton were having a serious disagreement, and Sweeney Todd. Elfman also provided the singing voice for Jack Skellington in Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas and the voices of both Barrel and the "Clown with the Tear-Away Face". Years later he provided the voice for Bonejangles the skeleton in Corpse Bride.
Burton has said of his relationship with Elfman: "We don't even have to talk about the music. We don't even have to intellectualize – which is good for both of us, we're both similar that way. We're very lucky to connect" (Breskin, 1997).
Musical influences
Modern classicist composers, including Béla Bartók, Philip Glass, Lou Harrison, Carl Orff, Harry Partch, Sergei Prokofiev, Maurice Ravel, Erik Satie, Igor Stravinsky, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky have influenced the style of Elfman's music. Elfman cited his first time noticing film music being when he heard Bernard Hermann's score to The Day the Earth Stood Still as an eleven-year-old and being a fan of film music since then. Other influences based in film music include Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Max Steiner, David Tamkin, and Franz Waxman. Also, Nino Rota served as a significant influence and was the main inspiration for Elfman's score to Pee-wee's Big Adventure.
Hearing damage
When asked during a 2007 phone-in interview on XETRA-FM if he ever had any notions of performing in an Oingo Boingo reunion, Elfman immediately rejected the idea and stated that in the last few years with the band he had begun to develop significant and irreversible hearing damage as a result of his continuous exposure to the high noise levels involved in performing in a rock band. He went on to say that he believes his hearing damage is partially due to a genetic predisposition to hearing loss, and that he will never return to the stage for fear of worsening not only his condition but also that of his band mates.
Recent works
Elfman recently composed the music for the Cirque du Soleil Show Iris, which was performed at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. The production began on July 21, 2011, and ended on January 19, 2013. This is Elfman's most significant non-film work since he composed Serenada Schizophrana for the American Composers Orchestra. It was conducted by John Mauceri on its recording and by Steven Sloane at its premiere at Carnegie Hall in New York City on February 23, 2005. After its premiere, it was recorded in studio and released onto SACD on October 3, 2006. The meeting with Mauceri proved fruitful as the composer was encouraged then to write a new concert piece for Mauceri and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Elfman composed an "overture to a non-existent musical" and called the piece "The Overeager Overture". He also continues to compose his film scores in addition to these other projects. In November 2010, it was reported that Danny Elfman is writing the music for a planned musical based on the life of Harry Houdini. But, as of January 2012, he was no longer attached to the project.
In October 2013, Elfman returned to the stage to sing his vocal parts to a handful of Nightmare Before Christmas songs as part of a concert titled Danny Elfman's Music from the Films of Tim Burton. He composed the film score for Oz the Great and Powerful (2013), and composed additional music for Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015).
Personal life
Elfman has three children: Lola (born 1979), Mali (born 1984), and Oliver (born 2005). On November 29, 2003, he married actress Bridget Fonda. In 1997, he scored A Simple Plan, his only score for one of her films to date (although he did compose a cue for the film Army of Darkness, in which Fonda has a cameo). In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he dated Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon.
He is the uncle of actor Bodhi Elfman, who is married to actress Jenna Elfman.
Describing his politics during the 1980s, Elfman said, "I'm not a doomist. My attitude is always to be critical of what's around you, but not ever to forget how lucky we are. I've traveled around the world. I left thinking I was a revolutionary. I came back real right-wing patriotic. Since then, I've kind of mellowed in between." In 2008, he expressed support for Barack Obama and said that Sarah Palin was his "worst nightmare".
Discography
Main article: Danny Elfman discography
Awards and nominations
Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Danny Elfman
Danny Elfman awards and nominations
Award Wins Nominations
Academy Awards
0 4
Annie Awards
1 1
BMI Film & Television Awards
24 24
British Academy Film Awards
0 2
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards
0 2
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
0 4
Emmy Awards
1 2
Golden Globe Awards
0 2
Grammy Awards
1 11
Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards
0 1
Satellite Awards
1 6
Saturn Awards
5 12
Sierra Awards
1 2
World Soundtrack Awards
0 2
Totals
Awards won 33
Nominations 75
American Film Institute
Elfman's scores for Batman and Edward Scissorhands were nominated for AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores.
See also
Trailer music
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Mike Patton
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Patton
Michael Allan "Mike" Patton (born January 27, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, film composer, producer, and actor, best known as the lead singer of the alternative metal band Faith No More.
Patton was also the founder and lead singer of experimental band Mr. Bungle, and has played with Tomahawk, Fantômas, Lovage, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and Peeping Tom.
Known for his eclectic influences and experimental projects, Patton has earned critical praise for his diverse array of vocal techniques. He has many producer or co-producer credits with artists such as John Zorn, Sepultura, Melvins, Melt-Banana, and Kool Keith. He co-founded Ipecac Recordings with Greg Werckman in 1999, and has run the label since.
He is regarded as very hard-working. Faith No More keyboardist Roddy Bottum remarked about Patton "caffeine is the only drug he does", in reference to the Faith No More song "Caffeine" from the album Angel Dust, which Patton wrote while in the middle of a sleep-deprivation experiment.
Early years
Patton was born and raised in Eureka, California, where he formed Mr. Bungle, with Trey Spruance and Trevor Dunn, in 1984. During the late '80s Mr Bungle recorded the cassette-only recordings, The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny, Goddammit I Love America, Bowel of Chiley and OU818, featuring tracks that would later be included on their first Warner Brothers album.
Career
Faith No More: 1988–1998; 2009–present
Patton joined Faith No More in January 1989 replacing Chuck Mosley, who then played with Cement.
Faith No More's The Real Thing was released later that year. The album reached the top ten on the US charts, thanks largely to MTV's heavy rotation of the "Epic" music video, (which featured Patton in a Mr. Bungle T-shirt).
Faith No More released three more studio albums before disbanding in 1998 (Angel Dust, King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime, and Album of the Year).
However, on February 24, 2009 after months of speculation and rumors, Faith No More announced they would be reforming with a line-up identical to the Album of the Year era, embarking on a reunion tour called The Second Coming Tour. To coincide with the band's reunion tour, Rhino released the sixth Faith No More compilation, The Very Best Definitive Ultimate Greatest Hits Collection, a double album that includes their hit singles and b sides & rarities, in the UK on June 8. The same line-up eventually released a new album called Sol Invictus in 2015.
When interviewed about his lyrical content with Faith No More, Patton responded, "I think that too many people think too much about my lyrics. I am more a person who works more with the sound of a word than with its meaning. Often I just choose the words because of the rhythm, not because of the meaning".
Solo work and band projects: 1985–present
During his time in Faith No More, Patton continued to work with Mr. Bungle. His success in mainstream rock and metal ultimately helped secure Mr. Bungle a record deal with Warner Bros. The band released a self-titled album (produced by John Zorn) in 1991, and the experimental Disco Volante in 1995. Their final album, California, was released in 1999.
Patton's other projects included two solo albums on the Composer Series of John Zorn's Tzadik label, (Adult Themes for Voice in 1996 and Pranzo Oltranzista in 1997). He is a member of Hemophiliac, in which he performs vocal effects along with John Zorn on saxophone and Ikue Mori on laptop electronics. This group is billed as "improvisational music from the outer reaches of madness". He has also guested on Painkiller and Naked City recordings. He has also appeared on other Tzadik releases with Zorn and others, notably as part of the "Moonchild Trio" alongside Joey Baron and Trevor Dunn, named after Zorn's album on which the trio first appeared, Moonchild: Songs Without Words.
In 1998, Patton formed the experimental metal supergroup Fantômas with Buzz Osbourne (of The Melvins), Trevor Dunn (of Mr. Bungle), and Dave Lombardo (of Slayer). They have released four studio albums.
In 2004, Patton worked with Björk and the beat boxer Rahzel on her album, Medúlla.
In February 2006, Mike Patton performed an operatic piece, composed by Eyvind Kang, at Teatro di Modena in Italy. Patton sang alongside vocalist Jessika Kinney, and was accompanied by the Modern Brass Ensemble, Bologna Chamber Choir, and Alberto Capelli and Walter Zanetti on electric and acoustic guitars. Patton remarked that it was extremely challenging to project the voice without a microphone.
Patton's Peeping Tom album was released on May 30, 2006 on his own Ipecac label. The set was pieced together by swapping song files through the mail with collaborators like Norah Jones, Kool Keith and Massive Attack, Odd Nosdam, Jel, Doseone, Bebel Gilberto, Kid Koala, and Dub Trio.
In May 2007, he performed with an orchestra a few concerts in Italy, by the name of Mondo Cane, singing Italian oldies from the 50s and the 60s.
In December 2008 along with Melvins, Patton co-curated an edition of the All Tomorrow's Parties Nightmare Before Christmas festival. Patton chose half of the lineup and performed the album The Director's Cut in its entirety with Fantômas. Patton also appeared as Rikki Kixx in the Adult Swim show Metalocalypse in a special 2 part episode on August 24.
On May 4, 2010 Mondo Cane, where Patton worked live with a 30-piece orchestra, was released by Ipecac Recordings. The album was co-produced and arranged by Daniele Luppi. Recorded at a series of European performances including an outdoor concert in a Northern Italian piazza, the CD features traditional Italian pop songs as well as a rendition of Ennio Morricone's 'Deep Down'.
Film work: 2005–present
In 2005, Patton signed on to compose the soundtrack for the independent movie Pinion, marking his debut scoring an American feature-length film. However, this had been held up in production and may be on the shelf permanently. His other film work includes portraying two major characters in the Steve Balderson film Firecracker. He has also expressed his desire to compose for film director David Lynch.
Mike also provided the voices of the monsters in the 2007 film I Am Legend starring Will Smith.
He also worked on the Derrick Scocchera short film "A Perfect Place" for the score/soundtrack, which is longer than the film itself.
In 2009 Patton created the soundtrack to the movie Crank: High Voltage. He also performed vocals on the track "Lost Weekend" by The Qemists.
Video games: 2007–present
Patton is known to be an avid video game player. In 2007, he provided the voice of the eponymous force in the video game The Darkness, working alongside Kirk Acevedo, Lauren Ambrose and Dwight Schultz. Patton reprised the role in The Darkness II in 2012.
He also had a role in Valve Corporation's 2007 release Portal as the voice of the Anger Sphere in the final confrontation with the insane supercomputer, GLaDOS. He has another role in the Valve title Left 4 Dead, voicing the majority of the infected zombies. He also voiced Nathan "Rad" Spencer, the main character in Capcom's 2009 video game Bionic Commando, a sequel to their classic NES title.
Personal life
Patton married Italian artist Cristina Zuccatosta in 1994. They separated in 2001. During an appearance on the radio show, Loveline (Listen), Patton said that it was a case of two people wanting different things and hinted that his excessive work habits may have been a factor. "It's very hard. It's a daily struggle," he commented in regard to the rigors of juggling a busy music career and a marriage. "It had to happen... Even though we knew each other really well when we got married, it doesn't get easier." He later added, "We're trying this. See what happens. There's still hope." Patton used to own a home in Bologna, Italy (which he sold around the time of the break-up), and speaks fluent Italian.
Patton's right hand is permanently numb from an on-stage incident during his third concert with Faith No More, where he accidentally cut himself on a broken bottle and severed tendons and nerves in his hand. He can use his hand, but he has no feeling in it (despite his doctor telling him the opposite would happen).
Patton has garnered critical praise and has been made a heavy metal icon; however, Patton's reaction to this fame has been unconventional. He has acted irreverently towards the music industry, and expressed his distaste for the infamous lifestyles of rock stars. In a 1995 interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, he stated: "It's hard to see as much as you'd like to with our schedule on the road, but it's harder to do coke and fuck whores every night. Now that's a full time job." His contempt for the over-the-top antics of figures in popular music is often cited as the main reason that Patton has always been so guarded about his privacy and personal life.
Style and influences
Patton's vocals touch on crooning, falsetto, screaming, opera, death growls, rapping, mouth music, beatboxing, and scatting, among other techniques. Critic Greg Prato of AllMusic writes, "Patton could very well be one of the most versatile and talented singers in rock music"; colleague Blake Butler called him "a complete and utter musical visionary and a mind-blowing and standard-warping genius."
A list published by the Chicago-based music website Consequence of Sound (CoS), acknowledged Mike Patton as "the greatest singer of all time." The May 2014 article referenced VVN Music's (Vintage Vinyl News) analysis of various rock & pop singers, ranking them in order of their respective octave ranges. The article served as a retraction to a previous article, which originally awarded the number one position to Axl Rose. Both articles praised Patton's impressive 6 octaves, 1/2 note range (Eb1 to E7), versus Axl's admirable 5 octaves, 2-1/2 notes (while mentioning, for transparency, that world record holder Tim Storms has a range of 10 octaves). Others in the top 10 included Diamanda Galás, David Lee Roth, Paul McCartney, Roger Waters, Mariah Carey, Phil Anselmo, German singer Nina Hagen, and Devin Townsend.
Discography
Main articles: Faith No More discography and Mike Patton discography
Selected filmography
1990 – Live at the Brixton Academy, London: You Fat Bastards by Faith No More (VHS)
1993 – Video Macumba – Short film compiled by Mike Patton containing abstract and extreme footage
1993 – Video Croissant by Faith No More (VHS) Released in 1993 it features some of the band's music videos up to that date.
1998 – Who Cares a Lot: Greatest Videos by Faith No More (VHS)
2002 – A Bookshelf on Top of the Sky: 12 Stories About John Zorn
2005 – Firecracker – Frank/David
2007 – Kaada/Patton Live – Live performance DVD
2007 – I Am Legend – Creature Vocals (voice) (credited as Michael A. Patton)[32]
2008 – A Perfect Place – Short film soundtrack by Patton (Released with film as CD/DVD special edition)
2008 – Live from London 2006 – Live DVD release of a performance by the Fantômas/Melvins Big Band in London on May 1, 2006
2008 – Metalocalypse – Patton voices the character of reformed rocker Rikki Kixx on episodes "Snakes n Barrels II" part one and part two. This special 2 part, half-hour presentation aired on Adult Swim August 24, 2008.
2009 – Crank: High Voltage – Film Score
2010 – The Solitude of Prime Numbers – Film Score
2010 – Bunraku – Narrator
2012 – The Place Beyond the Pines – Film Score
Video game voice work[edit]
2007 – The Darkness – Voice of The Darkness (Starbreeze Studios)
2007 – Portal – Voice of the Anger Sphere (Valve Software)
2008 – Left 4 Dead – Infected voices (Valve Software)
2009 – Bionic Commando – Voice of Nathan Spencer – the Bionic Commando (Capcom)
2009 – Left 4 Dead 2 – Infected voices (Valve Software)
2012 – The Darkness 2 – Voice of The Darkness (Digital Extremes)
2013 – The Last of Us – Infected voices (Naughty Dog)
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Kevin Rutmanis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Rutmanis
Kevin Rutmanis (born October 17, 1958) is an American bass guitarist. He is of Latvian descent. Before getting into music he was a student teacher.In late 1985, along with his younger brother Sandris Rutmanis, Thor Eisentrager, and then Jayhawks drummer Norm Rogers, he started the band The Cows. After the dissolution of The Cows, Rutmanis was the bass guitar player for The Melvins from 1998 to 2005. He was also the bass guitarist in the supergroup Tomahawk featuring Mike Patton. Kevin played bass on Tomahawk's first two CDs titled Tomahawk and Mit Gas, and played for two world tours supporting those CDs.
Discography
Cows
Main article: Cows (band)
1987 – Taint Pluribus Taint Unum
1989 – Daddy Has a Tail
1990 – Effete and Impudent Snobs
1991 – Peacetika
1992 – Cunning Stunts
1993 – Sexy Pee Story
1994 – Orphan's Tragedy
1996 – Whorn
1998 – Sorry in Pig Minor
Melvins
Main article: Melvins
1999 – The Maggot
1999 – The Bootlicker
2000 – The Crybaby
2001 – Electroretard
2001 – Colossus of Destiny
2002 – Hostile Ambient Takeover
2004 – Pigs of the Roman Empire (with Lustmord)
2013 - Everybody Loves Sausages
Tomahawk
Main article: Tomahawk (band)
2001 – Tomahawk
2003 – Mit Gas
Hepa/Titus
2012 – Follow Me
2014 - Gettin' It On
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Mark Hosler
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Hosler
Mark Hosler is an American musician who is a founding member of the sound art collective Negativland.
Career
Through his public speaking, lectures and extensive interviews, he serves as the primary spokesperson for the group. Hosler grew up in Concord, California.
In 1979, he produced the first Negativland recordings on cassette, primarily as an attempt to feel that he accomplished something before graduating high school.
Hosler may currently reside in Asheville, North Carolina.
He was the keynote speaker at the 2004 Allied Media Conference, spoke at the Regional Conference to End Corporate Dominance in Portland, Oregon, at the Conference On The Public Domain at Duke University, as part of alternative events during the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, and at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in 2008.
Negativland's 2008 release, Thigmotactic, was a work of more traditional song-writing, primarily written by Hosler.
He has worked on alternative copyright practices with Creative Commons and also lobbied the United States Congress for Digital Freedom.
He has lectured at the universities of Arizona, Chapel Hill, Georgia, Houston, Oregon, Rice University, Tennessee, and Virginia, as well as at MIT, Yale, New York University, Seattle University School of Law, Cranbrook Academy of Art, and in cities including Washington, D.C., New York City, London, Berlin, Barcelona, Toronto, Amsterdam, Los Angeles, Honolulu, and Melbourne, Australia.
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Rahzel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahzel
Rahzel M. Brown, also known as simply Rahzel, is an American musician, beatboxer and rapper, formerly a member of The Roots.
Rahzel is known for an ability to sing or rap while simultaneously beatboxing, as evidenced in his performances of "Iron Man" and his signature song "If Your Mother Only Knew", a hidden track on Make the Music 2000. His talents are showcased in various solo projects as well as on Ben Harper's 2000 single, "Steal My Kisses." He also provided his own voice on video games SSX and SSX Tricky.
Discography
Studio albums
1999: Make the Music 2000
2004: Rahzel's Greatest Knock Outs
Guest appearances
Year Song Artist Album
1993 "Intro" Raw Breed Lune Tunz
1994 "Bicoastal Holdup"
"Vibe Khameleonz" Shä-Key A Head Nadda's Journey to Adidi Skizm
1995 "Lazy Afternoon"
"?. vs. Rahzel"
"The Lesson Part 1"
The Roots Do You Want More?!!!??!
1995 "Locker bleiben" Die Fantastischen Vier Lauschgift
1996 "The Beat Down" Da Bush Babees Gravity
1997 "Show Me Love (QD3 Fat Boy Remix)" Robyn Show Me Love
1997 "The Battle" DJ Skribble Traffic Jams
1997 "Dangereux"
"L'Enfer"
IAM L'École du micro d'argent
1997 "Rob Swift Versus Rahzel" Rob Swift Soulful Fruit
1999 "Jam" Alliance Ethnik Fat Comeback
1999 "Southern Gul" Erykah Badu Southern Gul
1999 "Step into the Realm"
"Adrenaline!"
"The Notic"
The Roots The Roots Come Alive
1999 "First Thing" Choclair Ice Cold
1999 "It's a Must" Rakim The Master
1999 "Steal My Kisses" Ben Harper Burn to Shine
2000 "Used to be Perfect" Lynden David Hall Sleeping with Victor
2000 "In Tune with the Sound" Roni Size Reprazent In the Mode
2000 "Children's Story" Everlast Eat at Whitey's
2000 "Cold Blooded" Common Like Water for Chocolate
2001 "Side to Side" DJ Hasebe Hey World EP
2002 "Top of the Game" Sean Paul Dutty Rock
2003 "Rock the House" The High & Mighty The Highlite Zone
2003 "Deep Cover" Tonedeff Underscore
2004 "Bam Bam" Toots & the Maytals True Love
2004 "Oh My God" Masta Ace A Long Hot Summer
2004 "Pleasure Is All Mine"
"Where is the Line"
"Who Is It"
"Mouth's Cradle"
"Triumph of a Heart" Björk Medúlla
2004 "Confused Rappers" The Beatnuts Milk Me
2004 "Starting Over"
"The American Way"
"Acetone" The Crystal Method Legion of Boom
2004 "Rock and Roll Part 2"
"A Day in the Life"
Handsome Boy Modeling School White People
2004 "Mega Beast Theme Song" Dub-L Day of the Mega Beast
2004 "B-Box Chris K Cycles/B-Box
2005 "Rahzel Skit 1"
"Rahzel Skit 2" Ol' Dirty Bastard Osirus
2006 "Chocolate Chewing Gum"
k-os Atlantis: Hymns for Disco
2006 "Mojo"
Peeping Tom Peeping Tom
2006 "Main Title"
"Bus Is Not for Sissies"
"Barry's Love Theme"
"Kidnapping"
"Rahzel Interlude"
"Funeral is for Sissies"
"Rahzel in the Park"
"King of the Crapper"
"From Behind"
"Fresca"
"The Mole"
Various Artists Let's Go to Prison Soundtrack
2006 "Some MCs"
C-Rayz Walz The Dropping
2007 "Keys 2 Your Ass"
Imani Coppola The Black And White Album
2009 "Intro"
"What's Happening"
"Brainbender"
DJ JS-1 Ground Original 2: No Sell Out
2009 "Blow Up Da Spot"
Sadat X Brand New Bein'
2010 "Bad Self" Rhymefest Dangerous: 5–18
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Axesynth
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axesynth
The AxeSynth is an electronic musical instrument invented by Anthony Amendolare of Long Island, N.Y. in the winter of 2004.
The first AxeSynths that were produced used the vintage Texas Instruments SN76477 Sound Generator integrated circuit. The SN76477 IC was the sound synthesizer used in the Space Invaders video arcade game of the late 1970s and early 80's, this fact prompted the AxeSynth to be nicknamed "the Atari" by some of its noted users.
Shaped like a guitar, with a neck and body, it utilizes two sensors as the user interface to produce synthesized tones. The main sensor, located on the "neck" is a Force Sensitive Resistor (FSR) similar to a ribbon controller.
Linear changes in resistance are produced when the FSR is touched at various positions along its length. This variable electrical resistance is similar to that of a common linear potentiometer and subsequently controls the oscillation of frequencies produced by the main synthesizer IC.
The AxeSynth also utilizes a photoresistor sensor, or CdS cell, whereby varying amounts of light received by the sensor is controlled by the musician's hand, resembling Theremin-like frequency control.
Inspired by the experimental electronic art of circuit bending, and particularly the creations of Reed Ghazala.
External links:
AxeSynth (SpaceAxe Model) on Gizmodo
MusicThing: "Doctor Who Prop"
Chicago Electronic Band Velva Live With Two AxeSynths
Electronic Rock Band Using Circuit Bent Instruments
A variation of the AxeSynth called the SonarAxe used by Bryan Lowe
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Circuit bending
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circuit_bending
Circuit bending is the creative, chance-based customization of the circuits within electronic devices such as low voltage, battery-powered guitar effects, children's toys and digital synthesizers to create new musical or visual instruments and sound generators.
Emphasizing spontaneity and randomness, the techniques of circuit bending have been commonly associated with noise music, though many more conventional contemporary musicians and musical groups have been known to experiment with "bent" instruments. Circuit bending usually involves dismantling the machine and adding components such as switches and potentiometers that alter the circuit.
Experimental process
Circuit bending is often practiced by those with no formal training in circuit theory or design, experimenting with second-hand electronics in a DIY fashion. Inexpensive keyboards, drum machines, and electronic children's toys (not necessarily designed for music production) are commonly used. Haphazard modifications can result in short circuits, resulting in the risk of fire, burning, or electrocution.
Aesthetic value, immediate usability and highly randomized results are often factors in the process of successfully bending electronics. Although the history of electronic music is often associated with unconventional sonic results, such innovators as Robert Moog and Léon Theremin were electrical engineers, and more concerned with the consistency and sound design of their instruments. Circuit bending is typified by inconsistencies in instruments built in an unscientific manner. While many pre-fitted circuit bent machines are on offer for sale at auction sites such as eBay, this somewhat contravenes the intention of most practitioners. Machines bent to a repeated configuration are more analogous to the well known practice of "mods", such as the Devilfish mod for the Roland TB-303, the famous Speak and Spell toys or various Analogman or Pedaldoc guitar pedal circuit modifications.
Circuit bending an audio device typically involves removing the rear panel of the device and connecting any two circuit locations with a "jumper" wire, sending current from one part of the circuit into another. Results are monitored through either the device's internal speaker or by connecting an amplifier to the speaker output. If an interesting effect is achieved, this connection would be marked for future reference or kept active by either soldering a new connection or bridging it with crocodile clips. Often other components are inserted at these points such as pushbuttons or switches, to turn the effect on or off; or components such as resistors or capacitors, to change the quality of the audio output. This is repeated on a trial and error basis. Other components added into the circuit can give the performer more expressiveness, such as potentiometers, photoresistors (for reaction to light) and pressure sensors.
The simplest input, and the one most identified with circuit bending, is the body contact, where the performer's touch causes the circuit to change the sound. Often metal knobs, plates, screws or studs are wired to these circuit points to give easier access to these points from the outside the case of the device.
Since creative experimentation is a key element to the practice of circuit bending, there is always a possibility that short circuiting may yield undesirable results, including component failure. In particular, connecting the power supply or a capacitor directly to a computer chip lead can destroy the chip and make the device inoperable. Before beginning to do circuit bending, a person should learn the basic risk factors about working with electrical and electronic products, including how to identify capacitors (which can give a person a serious shock due to the electrical charge that they store), and how to avoid risks with AC power. For safety reasons, a circuit bender should have a few basic electronics tools, such as a multimeter (an electronic testing device which measures voltage, resistance and other factors). It is advised that beginner circuit benders should never "bend" any device that gets its power from mains electricity (household AC power), as this would carry a serious risk of electrocution.
Innovators
Although similar methods were previously used by other musicians and engineers, this method of music creation is believed to have been pioneered by Reed Ghazala in the 1960s. Ghazala's experience with circuit-bending began in 1966 when a toy transistor amplifier, by chance, shorted-out against a metal object in his desk drawer, resulting in a stream of unusual sounds. While Ghazala says that he was not the first circuit bender, he coined the term Circuit Bending and whole-heartedly promoted the proliferation of the concept and practice through his writings and internet site, earning him the title "Father of Circuit Bending".
Serge Tcherepnin, designer of the Serge modular synthesizers, discussed his early experiments in the 1950s with the transistor radio, in which he found sensitive circuit points in those simple electronic devices and brought them out to "body contacts" on the plastic chassis. Prior to Mark's and Reed's experiments other pioneers also explored the body-contact idea, one of the earliest being Thaddeus Cahill (1897) whose telharmonium, it is reported, was also touch-sensitive.
Since 1984, Swiss duo Voice Crack created music by manipulating common electronic devices in a practice they termed "cracked everyday electronics."
See also:
Atari Punk Console
Axesynth (Known as the "Atari", as used by the rock band MuteMath, and Velva (Chicago)
Bent Festival
Casper Electronics
Chiptunes
Electronic art music
Glitch (music)
Kraakdoos (CrackleBox)
MIDIbox
MOS Technology SID
Music Tech Fest
NIME
No-Fi
Noise music
List of music software
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Casper Electronics
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casper_Electronics
Casper Electronics was founded in 2000 by Pete Edwards. The company's main products are musical instruments made from electronic toys using circuit bending. The instruments are made in the same manner as those of Reed Ghazala, among others.
Customers
The following people have used circuit bent instruments from Casper Electronics in their music.
Mike Patton (Faith No More)
Kevin Rutmanis (The Melvins)
Danny Elfman (ex Oingo Boingo, currently composing film scores for Tim Burton)
Mark Hosler (Negativland)
Rahzel (The Roots)
DJJS1 (Rahzel's traveling DJ)
See also[edit]
Circuit bending
Lo-fi
Reverse engineering
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Danny Elfman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Elfman
Daniel Robert "Danny" Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American composer, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known as the lead singer and songwriter for the rock band Oingo Boingo, from 1976 to 1995 and later for scoring music for television and film and creating The Simpsons main title theme as well as the 1989 Batman film theme. He has scored the majority of his long-time friend Tim Burton's films.
Elfman re-entered the film industry in 1976, initially as an actor. He made his film scoring debut in 1982 for the film Forbidden Zone directed by his older brother Richard Elfman. He has since been nominated for four Academy Awards and won a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media for Tim Burton's Batman and an Emmy Award for his Desperate Housewives theme. Elfman was honored with the Richard Kirk Award at the 2002 BMI Film and TV Awards; the award is given annually to a composer who has made significant contributions to film and television music. He was also inducted as a Disney Legend in 2015.
Early life and career
Danny Elfman was born in Los Angeles, California, into a Jewish family. He is the son of Blossom Elfman (née Bernstein), a writer and teacher, and Milton Elfman, a teacher who was in the Air Force. He was raised in a racially mixed community in the Baldwin Hills area of Los Angeles. He spent much of his time in the local movie theatre, adoring the music of such film composers as Bernard Herrmann and Franz Waxman. Stating that he hung out with the "band geeks" in high school, he started a ska band. After dropping out of high school, he followed his brother Richard to France, where he performed with Le Grand Magic Circus, an avant-garde musical theater group. Violin in tow, Elfman next journeyed to Africa where he traveled through Ghana, Mali, and Upper Volta, absorbing new musical styles, including the Ghanaian highlife genre which would eventually influence his own music.
He contracted malaria during his one-year stay and was often sick. Eventually he returned home to the United States, where he began to take Balinese music lessons at CalArts. During this time, he was romantically involved with Kim Gordon, who would later go on to form Sonic Youth. He was never officially a student at the institute; nonetheless, the instructor encouraged him to continue learning. Elfman stated, "He just laughed, and said, 'Sit. Play.' I continued to sit and play for a couple years." At this time, his brother was forming a new musical theater group.
Oingo Boingo
Main article: Oingo Boingo
In 1972 Richard Elfman founded the American new wave band/performance art group, originally called The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo. They played several shows throughout the 1970s until Richard Elfman left the band to become a filmmaker. As a send-off to the band's original concept, Richard Elfman created the film Forbidden Zone based on their stage performances. Danny Elfman composed his first score for the film and played the role of Satan (the other band members played his minions). By the time the movie was completed, they had taken the name Oingo Boingo and begun recording and touring as a rock group. From 1976 and on, it was led by Danny Elfman, until 1995 when they suddenly retired. The semi-theatrical music and comedy troupe had transformed into a ska-influenced new wave band in 1979, and then changed again towards a more guitar-oriented rock sound, in the late 1980s. Oingo Boingo, still led by Danny Elfman, performed as themselves in the 1986 movie Back to School.
Elfman and Tim Burton
In 1985, Tim Burton and Paul Reubens invited Elfman to write the score for their first feature film, Pee-wee's Big Adventure. Elfman was apprehensive at first because of his lack of formal training, but with orchestration assistance from Oingo Boingo guitarist and arranger Steve Bartek, he achieved his goal of emulating the mood of such composers as Nino Rota and Bernard Herrmann. In the booklet for the first volume of Music for a Darkened Theatre, Elfman described the first time he heard his music played by a full orchestra as one of the most thrilling experiences of his life. Elfman immediately developed a rapport with Burton and has gone on to score all but two of Burton's major studio releases: Ed Wood which was under production while Elfman and Burton were having a serious disagreement, and Sweeney Todd. Elfman also provided the singing voice for Jack Skellington in Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas and the voices of both Barrel and the "Clown with the Tear-Away Face". Years later he provided the voice for Bonejangles the skeleton in Corpse Bride.
Burton has said of his relationship with Elfman: "We don't even have to talk about the music. We don't even have to intellectualize – which is good for both of us, we're both similar that way. We're very lucky to connect" (Breskin, 1997).
Musical influences
Modern classicist composers, including Béla Bartók, Philip Glass, Lou Harrison, Carl Orff, Harry Partch, Sergei Prokofiev, Maurice Ravel, Erik Satie, Igor Stravinsky, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky have influenced the style of Elfman's music. Elfman cited his first time noticing film music being when he heard Bernard Hermann's score to The Day the Earth Stood Still as an eleven-year-old and being a fan of film music since then. Other influences based in film music include Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Max Steiner, David Tamkin, and Franz Waxman. Also, Nino Rota served as a significant influence and was the main inspiration for Elfman's score to Pee-wee's Big Adventure.
Hearing damage
When asked during a 2007 phone-in interview on XETRA-FM if he ever had any notions of performing in an Oingo Boingo reunion, Elfman immediately rejected the idea and stated that in the last few years with the band he had begun to develop significant and irreversible hearing damage as a result of his continuous exposure to the high noise levels involved in performing in a rock band. He went on to say that he believes his hearing damage is partially due to a genetic predisposition to hearing loss, and that he will never return to the stage for fear of worsening not only his condition but also that of his band mates.
Recent works
Elfman recently composed the music for the Cirque du Soleil Show Iris, which was performed at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. The production began on July 21, 2011, and ended on January 19, 2013. This is Elfman's most significant non-film work since he composed Serenada Schizophrana for the American Composers Orchestra. It was conducted by John Mauceri on its recording and by Steven Sloane at its premiere at Carnegie Hall in New York City on February 23, 2005. After its premiere, it was recorded in studio and released onto SACD on October 3, 2006. The meeting with Mauceri proved fruitful as the composer was encouraged then to write a new concert piece for Mauceri and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Elfman composed an "overture to a non-existent musical" and called the piece "The Overeager Overture". He also continues to compose his film scores in addition to these other projects. In November 2010, it was reported that Danny Elfman is writing the music for a planned musical based on the life of Harry Houdini. But, as of January 2012, he was no longer attached to the project.
In October 2013, Elfman returned to the stage to sing his vocal parts to a handful of Nightmare Before Christmas songs as part of a concert titled Danny Elfman's Music from the Films of Tim Burton. He composed the film score for Oz the Great and Powerful (2013), and composed additional music for Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015).
Personal life
Elfman has three children: Lola (born 1979), Mali (born 1984), and Oliver (born 2005). On November 29, 2003, he married actress Bridget Fonda. In 1997, he scored A Simple Plan, his only score for one of her films to date (although he did compose a cue for the film Army of Darkness, in which Fonda has a cameo). In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he dated Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon.
He is the uncle of actor Bodhi Elfman, who is married to actress Jenna Elfman.
Describing his politics during the 1980s, Elfman said, "I'm not a doomist. My attitude is always to be critical of what's around you, but not ever to forget how lucky we are. I've traveled around the world. I left thinking I was a revolutionary. I came back real right-wing patriotic. Since then, I've kind of mellowed in between." In 2008, he expressed support for Barack Obama and said that Sarah Palin was his "worst nightmare".
Discography
Main article: Danny Elfman discography
Awards and nominations
Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Danny Elfman
Danny Elfman awards and nominations
Award Wins Nominations
Academy Awards
0 4
Annie Awards
1 1
BMI Film & Television Awards
24 24
British Academy Film Awards
0 2
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards
0 2
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
0 4
Emmy Awards
1 2
Golden Globe Awards
0 2
Grammy Awards
1 11
Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards
0 1
Satellite Awards
1 6
Saturn Awards
5 12
Sierra Awards
1 2
World Soundtrack Awards
0 2
Totals
Awards won 33
Nominations 75
American Film Institute
Elfman's scores for Batman and Edward Scissorhands were nominated for AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores.
See also
Trailer music
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Mike Patton
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Patton
Michael Allan "Mike" Patton (born January 27, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, film composer, producer, and actor, best known as the lead singer of the alternative metal band Faith No More.
Patton was also the founder and lead singer of experimental band Mr. Bungle, and has played with Tomahawk, Fantômas, Lovage, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and Peeping Tom.
Known for his eclectic influences and experimental projects, Patton has earned critical praise for his diverse array of vocal techniques. He has many producer or co-producer credits with artists such as John Zorn, Sepultura, Melvins, Melt-Banana, and Kool Keith. He co-founded Ipecac Recordings with Greg Werckman in 1999, and has run the label since.
He is regarded as very hard-working. Faith No More keyboardist Roddy Bottum remarked about Patton "caffeine is the only drug he does", in reference to the Faith No More song "Caffeine" from the album Angel Dust, which Patton wrote while in the middle of a sleep-deprivation experiment.
Early years
Patton was born and raised in Eureka, California, where he formed Mr. Bungle, with Trey Spruance and Trevor Dunn, in 1984. During the late '80s Mr Bungle recorded the cassette-only recordings, The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny, Goddammit I Love America, Bowel of Chiley and OU818, featuring tracks that would later be included on their first Warner Brothers album.
Career
Faith No More: 1988–1998; 2009–present
Patton joined Faith No More in January 1989 replacing Chuck Mosley, who then played with Cement.
Faith No More's The Real Thing was released later that year. The album reached the top ten on the US charts, thanks largely to MTV's heavy rotation of the "Epic" music video, (which featured Patton in a Mr. Bungle T-shirt).
Faith No More released three more studio albums before disbanding in 1998 (Angel Dust, King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime, and Album of the Year).
However, on February 24, 2009 after months of speculation and rumors, Faith No More announced they would be reforming with a line-up identical to the Album of the Year era, embarking on a reunion tour called The Second Coming Tour. To coincide with the band's reunion tour, Rhino released the sixth Faith No More compilation, The Very Best Definitive Ultimate Greatest Hits Collection, a double album that includes their hit singles and b sides & rarities, in the UK on June 8. The same line-up eventually released a new album called Sol Invictus in 2015.
When interviewed about his lyrical content with Faith No More, Patton responded, "I think that too many people think too much about my lyrics. I am more a person who works more with the sound of a word than with its meaning. Often I just choose the words because of the rhythm, not because of the meaning".
Solo work and band projects: 1985–present
During his time in Faith No More, Patton continued to work with Mr. Bungle. His success in mainstream rock and metal ultimately helped secure Mr. Bungle a record deal with Warner Bros. The band released a self-titled album (produced by John Zorn) in 1991, and the experimental Disco Volante in 1995. Their final album, California, was released in 1999.
Patton's other projects included two solo albums on the Composer Series of John Zorn's Tzadik label, (Adult Themes for Voice in 1996 and Pranzo Oltranzista in 1997). He is a member of Hemophiliac, in which he performs vocal effects along with John Zorn on saxophone and Ikue Mori on laptop electronics. This group is billed as "improvisational music from the outer reaches of madness". He has also guested on Painkiller and Naked City recordings. He has also appeared on other Tzadik releases with Zorn and others, notably as part of the "Moonchild Trio" alongside Joey Baron and Trevor Dunn, named after Zorn's album on which the trio first appeared, Moonchild: Songs Without Words.
In 1998, Patton formed the experimental metal supergroup Fantômas with Buzz Osbourne (of The Melvins), Trevor Dunn (of Mr. Bungle), and Dave Lombardo (of Slayer). They have released four studio albums.
In 2004, Patton worked with Björk and the beat boxer Rahzel on her album, Medúlla.
In February 2006, Mike Patton performed an operatic piece, composed by Eyvind Kang, at Teatro di Modena in Italy. Patton sang alongside vocalist Jessika Kinney, and was accompanied by the Modern Brass Ensemble, Bologna Chamber Choir, and Alberto Capelli and Walter Zanetti on electric and acoustic guitars. Patton remarked that it was extremely challenging to project the voice without a microphone.
Patton's Peeping Tom album was released on May 30, 2006 on his own Ipecac label. The set was pieced together by swapping song files through the mail with collaborators like Norah Jones, Kool Keith and Massive Attack, Odd Nosdam, Jel, Doseone, Bebel Gilberto, Kid Koala, and Dub Trio.
In May 2007, he performed with an orchestra a few concerts in Italy, by the name of Mondo Cane, singing Italian oldies from the 50s and the 60s.
In December 2008 along with Melvins, Patton co-curated an edition of the All Tomorrow's Parties Nightmare Before Christmas festival. Patton chose half of the lineup and performed the album The Director's Cut in its entirety with Fantômas. Patton also appeared as Rikki Kixx in the Adult Swim show Metalocalypse in a special 2 part episode on August 24.
On May 4, 2010 Mondo Cane, where Patton worked live with a 30-piece orchestra, was released by Ipecac Recordings. The album was co-produced and arranged by Daniele Luppi. Recorded at a series of European performances including an outdoor concert in a Northern Italian piazza, the CD features traditional Italian pop songs as well as a rendition of Ennio Morricone's 'Deep Down'.
Film work: 2005–present
In 2005, Patton signed on to compose the soundtrack for the independent movie Pinion, marking his debut scoring an American feature-length film. However, this had been held up in production and may be on the shelf permanently. His other film work includes portraying two major characters in the Steve Balderson film Firecracker. He has also expressed his desire to compose for film director David Lynch.
Mike also provided the voices of the monsters in the 2007 film I Am Legend starring Will Smith.
He also worked on the Derrick Scocchera short film "A Perfect Place" for the score/soundtrack, which is longer than the film itself.
In 2009 Patton created the soundtrack to the movie Crank: High Voltage. He also performed vocals on the track "Lost Weekend" by The Qemists.
Video games: 2007–present
Patton is known to be an avid video game player. In 2007, he provided the voice of the eponymous force in the video game The Darkness, working alongside Kirk Acevedo, Lauren Ambrose and Dwight Schultz. Patton reprised the role in The Darkness II in 2012.
He also had a role in Valve Corporation's 2007 release Portal as the voice of the Anger Sphere in the final confrontation with the insane supercomputer, GLaDOS. He has another role in the Valve title Left 4 Dead, voicing the majority of the infected zombies. He also voiced Nathan "Rad" Spencer, the main character in Capcom's 2009 video game Bionic Commando, a sequel to their classic NES title.
Personal life
Patton married Italian artist Cristina Zuccatosta in 1994. They separated in 2001. During an appearance on the radio show, Loveline (Listen), Patton said that it was a case of two people wanting different things and hinted that his excessive work habits may have been a factor. "It's very hard. It's a daily struggle," he commented in regard to the rigors of juggling a busy music career and a marriage. "It had to happen... Even though we knew each other really well when we got married, it doesn't get easier." He later added, "We're trying this. See what happens. There's still hope." Patton used to own a home in Bologna, Italy (which he sold around the time of the break-up), and speaks fluent Italian.
Patton's right hand is permanently numb from an on-stage incident during his third concert with Faith No More, where he accidentally cut himself on a broken bottle and severed tendons and nerves in his hand. He can use his hand, but he has no feeling in it (despite his doctor telling him the opposite would happen).
Patton has garnered critical praise and has been made a heavy metal icon; however, Patton's reaction to this fame has been unconventional. He has acted irreverently towards the music industry, and expressed his distaste for the infamous lifestyles of rock stars. In a 1995 interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, he stated: "It's hard to see as much as you'd like to with our schedule on the road, but it's harder to do coke and fuck whores every night. Now that's a full time job." His contempt for the over-the-top antics of figures in popular music is often cited as the main reason that Patton has always been so guarded about his privacy and personal life.
Style and influences
Patton's vocals touch on crooning, falsetto, screaming, opera, death growls, rapping, mouth music, beatboxing, and scatting, among other techniques. Critic Greg Prato of AllMusic writes, "Patton could very well be one of the most versatile and talented singers in rock music"; colleague Blake Butler called him "a complete and utter musical visionary and a mind-blowing and standard-warping genius."
A list published by the Chicago-based music website Consequence of Sound (CoS), acknowledged Mike Patton as "the greatest singer of all time." The May 2014 article referenced VVN Music's (Vintage Vinyl News) analysis of various rock & pop singers, ranking them in order of their respective octave ranges. The article served as a retraction to a previous article, which originally awarded the number one position to Axl Rose. Both articles praised Patton's impressive 6 octaves, 1/2 note range (Eb1 to E7), versus Axl's admirable 5 octaves, 2-1/2 notes (while mentioning, for transparency, that world record holder Tim Storms has a range of 10 octaves). Others in the top 10 included Diamanda Galás, David Lee Roth, Paul McCartney, Roger Waters, Mariah Carey, Phil Anselmo, German singer Nina Hagen, and Devin Townsend.
Discography
Main articles: Faith No More discography and Mike Patton discography
Selected filmography
1990 – Live at the Brixton Academy, London: You Fat Bastards by Faith No More (VHS)
1993 – Video Macumba – Short film compiled by Mike Patton containing abstract and extreme footage
1993 – Video Croissant by Faith No More (VHS) Released in 1993 it features some of the band's music videos up to that date.
1998 – Who Cares a Lot: Greatest Videos by Faith No More (VHS)
2002 – A Bookshelf on Top of the Sky: 12 Stories About John Zorn
2005 – Firecracker – Frank/David
2007 – Kaada/Patton Live – Live performance DVD
2007 – I Am Legend – Creature Vocals (voice) (credited as Michael A. Patton)[32]
2008 – A Perfect Place – Short film soundtrack by Patton (Released with film as CD/DVD special edition)
2008 – Live from London 2006 – Live DVD release of a performance by the Fantômas/Melvins Big Band in London on May 1, 2006
2008 – Metalocalypse – Patton voices the character of reformed rocker Rikki Kixx on episodes "Snakes n Barrels II" part one and part two. This special 2 part, half-hour presentation aired on Adult Swim August 24, 2008.
2009 – Crank: High Voltage – Film Score
2010 – The Solitude of Prime Numbers – Film Score
2010 – Bunraku – Narrator
2012 – The Place Beyond the Pines – Film Score
Video game voice work[edit]
2007 – The Darkness – Voice of The Darkness (Starbreeze Studios)
2007 – Portal – Voice of the Anger Sphere (Valve Software)
2008 – Left 4 Dead – Infected voices (Valve Software)
2009 – Bionic Commando – Voice of Nathan Spencer – the Bionic Commando (Capcom)
2009 – Left 4 Dead 2 – Infected voices (Valve Software)
2012 – The Darkness 2 – Voice of The Darkness (Digital Extremes)
2013 – The Last of Us – Infected voices (Naughty Dog)
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Kevin Rutmanis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Rutmanis
Kevin Rutmanis (born October 17, 1958) is an American bass guitarist. He is of Latvian descent. Before getting into music he was a student teacher.In late 1985, along with his younger brother Sandris Rutmanis, Thor Eisentrager, and then Jayhawks drummer Norm Rogers, he started the band The Cows. After the dissolution of The Cows, Rutmanis was the bass guitar player for The Melvins from 1998 to 2005. He was also the bass guitarist in the supergroup Tomahawk featuring Mike Patton. Kevin played bass on Tomahawk's first two CDs titled Tomahawk and Mit Gas, and played for two world tours supporting those CDs.
Discography
Cows
Main article: Cows (band)
1987 – Taint Pluribus Taint Unum
1989 – Daddy Has a Tail
1990 – Effete and Impudent Snobs
1991 – Peacetika
1992 – Cunning Stunts
1993 – Sexy Pee Story
1994 – Orphan's Tragedy
1996 – Whorn
1998 – Sorry in Pig Minor
Melvins
Main article: Melvins
1999 – The Maggot
1999 – The Bootlicker
2000 – The Crybaby
2001 – Electroretard
2001 – Colossus of Destiny
2002 – Hostile Ambient Takeover
2004 – Pigs of the Roman Empire (with Lustmord)
2013 - Everybody Loves Sausages
Tomahawk
Main article: Tomahawk (band)
2001 – Tomahawk
2003 – Mit Gas
Hepa/Titus
2012 – Follow Me
2014 - Gettin' It On
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Mark Hosler
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Hosler
Mark Hosler is an American musician who is a founding member of the sound art collective Negativland.
Career
Through his public speaking, lectures and extensive interviews, he serves as the primary spokesperson for the group. Hosler grew up in Concord, California.
In 1979, he produced the first Negativland recordings on cassette, primarily as an attempt to feel that he accomplished something before graduating high school.
Hosler may currently reside in Asheville, North Carolina.
He was the keynote speaker at the 2004 Allied Media Conference, spoke at the Regional Conference to End Corporate Dominance in Portland, Oregon, at the Conference On The Public Domain at Duke University, as part of alternative events during the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, and at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in 2008.
Negativland's 2008 release, Thigmotactic, was a work of more traditional song-writing, primarily written by Hosler.
He has worked on alternative copyright practices with Creative Commons and also lobbied the United States Congress for Digital Freedom.
He has lectured at the universities of Arizona, Chapel Hill, Georgia, Houston, Oregon, Rice University, Tennessee, and Virginia, as well as at MIT, Yale, New York University, Seattle University School of Law, Cranbrook Academy of Art, and in cities including Washington, D.C., New York City, London, Berlin, Barcelona, Toronto, Amsterdam, Los Angeles, Honolulu, and Melbourne, Australia.
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Rahzel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahzel
Rahzel M. Brown, also known as simply Rahzel, is an American musician, beatboxer and rapper, formerly a member of The Roots.
Rahzel is known for an ability to sing or rap while simultaneously beatboxing, as evidenced in his performances of "Iron Man" and his signature song "If Your Mother Only Knew", a hidden track on Make the Music 2000. His talents are showcased in various solo projects as well as on Ben Harper's 2000 single, "Steal My Kisses." He also provided his own voice on video games SSX and SSX Tricky.
Discography
Studio albums
1999: Make the Music 2000
2004: Rahzel's Greatest Knock Outs
Guest appearances
Year Song Artist Album
1993 "Intro" Raw Breed Lune Tunz
1994 "Bicoastal Holdup"
"Vibe Khameleonz" Shä-Key A Head Nadda's Journey to Adidi Skizm
1995 "Lazy Afternoon"
"?. vs. Rahzel"
"The Lesson Part 1"
The Roots Do You Want More?!!!??!
1995 "Locker bleiben" Die Fantastischen Vier Lauschgift
1996 "The Beat Down" Da Bush Babees Gravity
1997 "Show Me Love (QD3 Fat Boy Remix)" Robyn Show Me Love
1997 "The Battle" DJ Skribble Traffic Jams
1997 "Dangereux"
"L'Enfer"
IAM L'École du micro d'argent
1997 "Rob Swift Versus Rahzel" Rob Swift Soulful Fruit
1999 "Jam" Alliance Ethnik Fat Comeback
1999 "Southern Gul" Erykah Badu Southern Gul
1999 "Step into the Realm"
"Adrenaline!"
"The Notic"
The Roots The Roots Come Alive
1999 "First Thing" Choclair Ice Cold
1999 "It's a Must" Rakim The Master
1999 "Steal My Kisses" Ben Harper Burn to Shine
2000 "Used to be Perfect" Lynden David Hall Sleeping with Victor
2000 "In Tune with the Sound" Roni Size Reprazent In the Mode
2000 "Children's Story" Everlast Eat at Whitey's
2000 "Cold Blooded" Common Like Water for Chocolate
2001 "Side to Side" DJ Hasebe Hey World EP
2002 "Top of the Game" Sean Paul Dutty Rock
2003 "Rock the House" The High & Mighty The Highlite Zone
2003 "Deep Cover" Tonedeff Underscore
2004 "Bam Bam" Toots & the Maytals True Love
2004 "Oh My God" Masta Ace A Long Hot Summer
2004 "Pleasure Is All Mine"
"Where is the Line"
"Who Is It"
"Mouth's Cradle"
"Triumph of a Heart" Björk Medúlla
2004 "Confused Rappers" The Beatnuts Milk Me
2004 "Starting Over"
"The American Way"
"Acetone" The Crystal Method Legion of Boom
2004 "Rock and Roll Part 2"
"A Day in the Life"
Handsome Boy Modeling School White People
2004 "Mega Beast Theme Song" Dub-L Day of the Mega Beast
2004 "B-Box Chris K Cycles/B-Box
2005 "Rahzel Skit 1"
"Rahzel Skit 2" Ol' Dirty Bastard Osirus
2006 "Chocolate Chewing Gum"
k-os Atlantis: Hymns for Disco
2006 "Mojo"
Peeping Tom Peeping Tom
2006 "Main Title"
"Bus Is Not for Sissies"
"Barry's Love Theme"
"Kidnapping"
"Rahzel Interlude"
"Funeral is for Sissies"
"Rahzel in the Park"
"King of the Crapper"
"From Behind"
"Fresca"
"The Mole"
Various Artists Let's Go to Prison Soundtrack
2006 "Some MCs"
C-Rayz Walz The Dropping
2007 "Keys 2 Your Ass"
Imani Coppola The Black And White Album
2009 "Intro"
"What's Happening"
"Brainbender"
DJ JS-1 Ground Original 2: No Sell Out
2009 "Blow Up Da Spot"
Sadat X Brand New Bein'
2010 "Bad Self" Rhymefest Dangerous: 5–18
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Axesynth
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axesynth
The AxeSynth is an electronic musical instrument invented by Anthony Amendolare of Long Island, N.Y. in the winter of 2004.
The first AxeSynths that were produced used the vintage Texas Instruments SN76477 Sound Generator integrated circuit. The SN76477 IC was the sound synthesizer used in the Space Invaders video arcade game of the late 1970s and early 80's, this fact prompted the AxeSynth to be nicknamed "the Atari" by some of its noted users.
Shaped like a guitar, with a neck and body, it utilizes two sensors as the user interface to produce synthesized tones. The main sensor, located on the "neck" is a Force Sensitive Resistor (FSR) similar to a ribbon controller.
Linear changes in resistance are produced when the FSR is touched at various positions along its length. This variable electrical resistance is similar to that of a common linear potentiometer and subsequently controls the oscillation of frequencies produced by the main synthesizer IC.
The AxeSynth also utilizes a photoresistor sensor, or CdS cell, whereby varying amounts of light received by the sensor is controlled by the musician's hand, resembling Theremin-like frequency control.
Inspired by the experimental electronic art of circuit bending, and particularly the creations of Reed Ghazala.
External links:
AxeSynth (SpaceAxe Model) on Gizmodo
MusicThing: "Doctor Who Prop"
Chicago Electronic Band Velva Live With Two AxeSynths
Electronic Rock Band Using Circuit Bent Instruments
A variation of the AxeSynth called the SonarAxe used by Bryan Lowe