WEBVTT - TechStuff Hacks Into Music 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:02.840 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:08.880 It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology with 0:00:08.960 --> 0:00:17.680 tech Stuff from hotfi dot com. Hello again, everyone, and 0:00:17.720 --> 0:00:20.080 welcome to tech Stuff. My name is Chris Poulettin. I'm 0:00:20.079 --> 0:00:23.360 an editor at how Stuff works dot com. Sitting across 0:00:23.360 --> 0:00:27.480 from me as always, senior writer Jonathan Strickland. Hey there, 0:00:28.960 --> 0:00:31.000 that was very musical. Thank you. We're going to talk 0:00:31.000 --> 0:00:36.240 about musical hecks today. So again we're in our series 0:00:36.280 --> 0:00:41.040 of episodes about using technology to do stuff what it 0:00:41.120 --> 0:00:45.080 was not meant to do, or or to to to 0:00:45.680 --> 0:00:48.600 manipulate it, change it, to tweak it in some way 0:00:48.680 --> 0:00:51.839 so that behaves in a new and exciting way. We 0:00:51.880 --> 0:00:55.319 wanted to talk about that sort of culture, that and 0:00:55.400 --> 0:00:58.920 the music culture and how those two overlap, because it 0:00:58.920 --> 0:01:01.240 turns out that a lot of people who have liked 0:01:01.240 --> 0:01:05.880 to hack physical as well as virtual types of stuff 0:01:05.920 --> 0:01:10.240 are also really into the music. That's true. Um, you 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:12.039 had a lot of the uh. We we've kind of 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:14.680 touched on this in the past, recorded in an episode 0:01:14.680 --> 0:01:17.840 in early two thousand and eleven about chip tunes. Yes, 0:01:17.920 --> 0:01:21.160 chip tunes being music that you generate from those old 0:01:21.200 --> 0:01:26.399 eight bit machines and earlier, but things like like the 0:01:26.400 --> 0:01:29.560 cover War sixty four and stuff. You take the the 0:01:29.640 --> 0:01:33.200 chips that were able to generate tones and you repurpose 0:01:33.319 --> 0:01:35.560 them so that you program news sorts of music that 0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:39.160 those devices were never necessarily meant to produce back in 0:01:39.200 --> 0:01:42.800 the day. But it does produce that very very distinctive 0:01:42.959 --> 0:01:45.759 sound that we associate with the early days of computing 0:01:45.800 --> 0:01:48.240 and video games. Yep, yep, it wasn't that. It wasn't 0:01:48.240 --> 0:01:50.320 that the episode where I embarrassed myself because I had 0:01:50.440 --> 0:01:55.840 prepped by uh, listening to bags of potato chips. You 0:01:55.880 --> 0:01:59.480 can't listen to just one, That's true. I didn't learn 0:01:59.600 --> 0:02:02.760 that much. But no, a lot of the people, UM 0:02:02.800 --> 0:02:05.920 we didn't really get into the technology behind that as much, 0:02:06.000 --> 0:02:08.839 because I mean, we did talk about how they they 0:02:09.000 --> 0:02:13.840 use UM video games in that case as electronic instruments, 0:02:13.880 --> 0:02:17.080 but we we didn't really talk as much about building 0:02:17.240 --> 0:02:20.480 about what you need to do to make that happen. UM. 0:02:20.560 --> 0:02:24.200 One of the people that that Jonathan sort of if 0:02:24.240 --> 0:02:28.280 you'l pardon the pon, tuned me into UM hacked an 0:02:28.320 --> 0:02:33.680 Atari undred. Yes, he made the Guitari tred Trix he's 0:02:33.680 --> 0:02:37.120 an Australian fellow. Yeah, he's a chip tune artist from Australia. 0:02:37.200 --> 0:02:40.520 And he took an Atari twenty hundred. Uh. He took 0:02:40.760 --> 0:02:46.400 some various electronics meant to manipulate the waveform of a 0:02:46.440 --> 0:02:50.040 sound once it's been produced. Uh. And then he creates 0:02:50.040 --> 0:02:54.040 some customized software to be able to create music using 0:02:54.320 --> 0:02:59.840 the Star. And it's not it's not creating music come 0:03:00.000 --> 0:03:06.079 completely improvisationally. There's some stuff that has to be prerecorded 0:03:06.560 --> 0:03:10.360 and uh, you know, predetermined, because he could not actually 0:03:10.400 --> 0:03:13.160 just produce any tone he wanted at any time he 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:18.320 wanted right now. He knows how the these initial machines 0:03:18.360 --> 0:03:20.840 and we've talked about this too on a previous episode 0:03:20.880 --> 0:03:23.959 in which we were talking about the gaming hardware. UM 0:03:24.000 --> 0:03:27.600 those those early machines like the R had a library 0:03:27.600 --> 0:03:30.480 of sounds built in the machine. It was on a chip, 0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:35.440 hardwired hardwired into the chip. So um Ceatrix is familiar 0:03:35.480 --> 0:03:38.840 with the hardware. He knows what sounds are are available 0:03:38.920 --> 0:03:42.520 to him on this machine, the range of tones and volumes, 0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:46.680 and the different wave forms that the square wave UM 0:03:46.920 --> 0:03:49.480 and the different the different sounds that he can make. 0:03:49.720 --> 0:03:52.000 And so what he does is he uses a computer 0:03:52.600 --> 0:03:58.960 to write a background track basically using assembly code UM, 0:03:59.000 --> 0:04:01.880 which is a very low level programming language UM, and 0:04:01.920 --> 0:04:04.200 he's able to use He knows what their sounds are, 0:04:04.320 --> 0:04:06.400 and he writes the software and then he ends up 0:04:06.440 --> 0:04:10.520 burning a a rom to go into the cartridge slot 0:04:10.560 --> 0:04:12.560 on the Atari. So it's just like you were putting 0:04:12.560 --> 0:04:14.480 a video game. So like, let's say you want to 0:04:14.480 --> 0:04:17.440 play Pitfall and you put that into the By the way, 0:04:17.440 --> 0:04:20.520 Pitfall was an awesome game. It was a river Rate, 0:04:20.560 --> 0:04:23.000 another awesome game. But you put that into your you 0:04:23.040 --> 0:04:24.600 turn it on, and then it goes well. In this case, 0:04:24.640 --> 0:04:28.359 he was creating the equivalent of a music cartridge that 0:04:28.440 --> 0:04:30.599 you put in there, and what would happen is it 0:04:30.600 --> 0:04:34.800 would play this predetermined track, which he could then manipulate 0:04:34.880 --> 0:04:37.839 with the other electronics that he had built. And he 0:04:37.880 --> 0:04:42.280 built it on a platform that resembles this huge, clunky guitar. 0:04:42.920 --> 0:04:45.440 Right now, if if you're if you're familiar with something 0:04:45.480 --> 0:04:49.479 like Garage Band or some of these other UM basic 0:04:49.680 --> 0:04:54.640 music editing software programs, you're you're probably familiar with the 0:04:54.680 --> 0:04:59.039 idea of them saying okay, well, we've included a hundred 0:04:59.120 --> 0:05:03.760 clips and it'll be something really simple, basic percussion track 0:05:04.240 --> 0:05:07.039 or maybe a baseline that you can use as a 0:05:07.120 --> 0:05:10.039 baseline to write a piece of music over. And so 0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:13.960 that's what he's including there. He'll write a basic uh 0:05:14.400 --> 0:05:17.039 if you will, something something to build on, and he'll 0:05:17.279 --> 0:05:20.679 turn on the Atari machine and it starts playing that 0:05:21.200 --> 0:05:25.799 bass track on which he can improvise playing additional notes 0:05:26.440 --> 0:05:31.359 UM he uses. There's a UM joystick attached to this. UM. 0:05:31.400 --> 0:05:33.839 It looks very much like the third party joysticks that 0:05:33.960 --> 0:05:36.400 you used. Actually may very well be. I don't recognize 0:05:36.400 --> 0:05:38.320 that particular joystick, but it's got a couple of buttons 0:05:38.360 --> 0:05:41.159 on it and he can use that to switch between 0:05:41.200 --> 0:05:44.160 tracks on the on the cartridge UM. And it's also 0:05:44.200 --> 0:05:48.040 got some effects pedals. He uh, he actually used UM, 0:05:48.240 --> 0:05:50.440 I switched my notes here. Uh. He all he has 0:05:50.480 --> 0:05:53.560 an equalizer pedal built in. And these are the the 0:05:53.680 --> 0:05:56.680 stomp pedals to foot pedals that that a guitarist would use. 0:05:57.240 --> 0:05:59.320 UM that you see them switch on the floor right, 0:05:59.360 --> 0:06:01.480 So instead of stomping on it, he's actually built these 0:06:01.520 --> 0:06:05.760 into the neck of the so he's using his hand 0:06:05.960 --> 0:06:08.120 to change the pedals as opposed to his foot. Yeah, 0:06:08.120 --> 0:06:10.480 there are three there's an equalizer pedal or e Q. 0:06:10.920 --> 0:06:14.920 There's a flanger and a digital delay pedal which he 0:06:15.000 --> 0:06:17.960 uses with his hands. Uh, in addition to having the 0:06:18.040 --> 0:06:22.560 joystick and the attar, which is at the where you 0:06:22.560 --> 0:06:26.040 would find the body of the guitar. Right. So, uh, 0:06:26.400 --> 0:06:30.320 I say we listen to a short segment of of 0:06:30.560 --> 0:06:33.640 Sea Tricks playing his guitar twenty This is him playing 0:06:33.640 --> 0:06:36.640 at a live performance in Japan, and we're just gonna 0:06:36.640 --> 0:06:39.200 give you a short little snippet to kind of let 0:06:39.240 --> 0:06:42.560 you understand what it sounds like. Uh, if your ears 0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:47.440 are sensitive, I recommend lowering the volume of your listening device. 0:06:47.600 --> 0:06:51.800 Now I'm vamping a little bit so that you can 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:54.600 do this because it is pretty loud. But here is 0:06:54.640 --> 0:06:56.919 an example of his live performance in front of a 0:06:56.960 --> 0:07:18.800 crowd in Japan. Yeah, that it's definitely some of the 0:07:18.800 --> 0:07:21.240 comments on his YouTube page or a little harsh. I 0:07:21.880 --> 0:07:25.480 agree that that's not necessarily everybody's style of music, but 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:28.800 I do think that it's very very cool what he's 0:07:28.840 --> 0:07:32.960 done there. It's kind of a mix between electronica and industrial, so, 0:07:33.040 --> 0:07:35.880 I mean, it's got it's got a real crunchy kind 0:07:35.880 --> 0:07:39.200 of sound to it. There are other approaches to this 0:07:39.320 --> 0:07:42.880 musical hacking that are similar to that. There's a great 0:07:43.040 --> 0:07:47.480 term called circuit bending, which really seems to be prevalent 0:07:47.520 --> 0:07:49.960 in the UK more than in the United States. But 0:07:50.040 --> 0:07:54.560 it's the idea of using low voltage musical electronics uh 0:07:54.680 --> 0:07:58.600 that you would find in things ranging from basic video 0:07:58.680 --> 0:08:02.240 games to even electronics that you would find like in 0:08:02.280 --> 0:08:05.960 a children's toy like speaking Spell. Yeah and uh, and 0:08:06.000 --> 0:08:09.400 then you bend. Circuit bending means you are actually short 0:08:09.400 --> 0:08:12.560 circuiting the device and you're producing new sounds that the 0:08:12.560 --> 0:08:15.160 device was never meant to create. Yeah. A lot of 0:08:15.200 --> 0:08:19.360 people who do circuit bending will go to um uh 0:08:19.560 --> 0:08:24.200 places that offer like thrift stores where you'll find a 0:08:24.280 --> 0:08:27.640 lot of old toys and they'll go through and find 0:08:27.640 --> 0:08:29.480 and you can get that stuff for cheap at the 0:08:29.520 --> 0:08:33.199 thrift stores. Um Or they'll go to yard sales stuff 0:08:33.240 --> 0:08:36.480 like that, and a lot of cases there will be uh, 0:08:36.559 --> 0:08:40.560 you know, not either either not functioning quite right or 0:08:40.679 --> 0:08:42.920 you know, people will give it to you for a 0:08:42.960 --> 0:08:46.080 couple of bucks and it's easy for them to they'll 0:08:46.120 --> 0:08:48.320 they'll get several of them. In fact, I've seen the 0:08:48.320 --> 0:08:50.280 Speaking Spell is one of the most popular I think, 0:08:50.800 --> 0:08:52.959 or at least the ones I've seen most frequently mentioned, 0:08:53.400 --> 0:08:56.640 and they will either you know, they will short circuits 0:08:56.679 --> 0:08:59.720 something or will short circuit a couple of boards to 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:03.320 get you know, they rewire some So it actually involves 0:09:03.360 --> 0:09:07.120 physically rewiring electronics. So there's often like a soldering iron 0:09:07.200 --> 0:09:10.079 is one of the basic tools in the toolkit for 0:09:10.240 --> 0:09:12.240 someone who wants to do this. It was kind of 0:09:12.760 --> 0:09:15.840 a trend that was um at least the whole circuit 0:09:15.880 --> 0:09:18.800 bender trend is is attributed to a fellow named Paul 0:09:18.840 --> 0:09:23.920 Norris who who found uh he actually used us speaking 0:09:24.320 --> 0:09:27.920 and spelling apparently according to the information I read from 0:09:28.000 --> 0:09:32.880 circuit benders dot co dot uk, uh it was it 0:09:32.960 --> 0:09:35.880 was quote a chance accident with an old speaking spell 0:09:35.960 --> 0:09:39.840 machine and a soldering iron. Hey you've got a soldering 0:09:39.880 --> 0:09:42.240 iron on my speaking spell you got speaking spell on 0:09:42.280 --> 0:09:46.240 my solder? Say and uh, but yeah, there's there's this 0:09:46.360 --> 0:09:49.920 interesting music that can be created from these electronics. And 0:09:49.920 --> 0:09:53.439 and in fact, the circuit benders website has a few 0:09:53.480 --> 0:09:57.800 different tracks that you can listen to. UM. So again, 0:09:58.000 --> 0:10:01.600 these two different approaches, it's trying to achieve that similar 0:10:01.600 --> 0:10:05.439 outcome using these electronics that were uh they had sound 0:10:05.559 --> 0:10:08.360 incorporated in them from the beginning. But in order to 0:10:08.400 --> 0:10:11.160 make music you are you're actually making it do something 0:10:11.160 --> 0:10:13.640 it wasn't intended to do. And in fact, They Might 0:10:13.679 --> 0:10:20.400 Be Giants did a rerecording of their incredible cover uh 0:10:20.600 --> 0:10:23.520 is Sten Bull, which is in fact a cover. Uh. 0:10:23.520 --> 0:10:26.560 They Might Be Giants made that famous back in their 0:10:26.559 --> 0:10:29.480 Flood album. That was a fantastic cover, one of the 0:10:29.559 --> 0:10:32.320 most popular songs when they play live. I've seen They 0:10:32.440 --> 0:10:35.160 Might Be Giants play live many many times. I'm a 0:10:35.240 --> 0:10:38.920 huge fan. Well, they did are. They covered it again. 0:10:38.960 --> 0:10:40.640 They did a new version of it where it was 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:43.280 more of an electronica version and they use a speaking 0:10:43.360 --> 0:10:46.840 spell in that. In that version, if you listen to it, 0:10:46.920 --> 0:10:51.000 you can hear the different noises um and uh. It's 0:10:51.080 --> 0:10:55.839 really creative, a fantastic version, and I'm sure I'll linked 0:10:55.840 --> 0:10:57.920 to that. I've already linked to the video once on 0:10:57.960 --> 0:11:01.320 the tech Stuff Facebook page, but I won't hesitate to 0:11:01.320 --> 0:11:03.440 do it again because I love the band that much. Well, 0:11:03.559 --> 0:11:05.440 they're They're kind of funny too in a way, because 0:11:05.760 --> 0:11:07.720 if you know anything about the band, they started out 0:11:07.760 --> 0:11:10.120 as you know, just the two of them, John and 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:13.560 John John and John um and then they added some dance. Yes, 0:11:13.600 --> 0:11:15.719 they did a whole band of dance yea. And then 0:11:15.800 --> 0:11:17.920 eventually one of the dance left and Marty came on. 0:11:18.400 --> 0:11:20.720 But yeah, when they when they first started, they were 0:11:20.960 --> 0:11:24.920 they used a lot of electronic instruments and loops and things, um, 0:11:25.040 --> 0:11:27.960 and then they, if you will, sort of went unplugged. 0:11:28.000 --> 0:11:31.920 They started using more guitars and and live drums rather 0:11:31.960 --> 0:11:34.800 than or acoustic drums rather than digital electronic drums, right, 0:11:35.080 --> 0:11:36.560 you know stuff, And that was sort of a shock 0:11:36.600 --> 0:11:38.880 for those of us were you know, fans before they 0:11:38.920 --> 0:11:40.600 used to it when it was just the two guys 0:11:40.679 --> 0:11:42.800 up on stage and then suddenly there were three other 0:11:42.880 --> 0:11:45.319 guys up there. But if you if you follow them, 0:11:45.400 --> 0:11:47.960 you've known uh for the last few years, they've started 0:11:48.000 --> 0:11:51.560 experimenting with little gadgets and gizmos and stuff and throwing 0:11:51.600 --> 0:11:55.319 things in. Uh. It's a lot of fun too. They 0:11:55.320 --> 0:11:58.920 did a cover of Chumba Onemba's tub Thumping. Yes they 0:11:59.080 --> 0:12:01.920 were the A V. Love and that that is phenomenal, 0:12:02.080 --> 0:12:05.400 what a wonderful, wonderful video. But they used they used 0:12:06.080 --> 0:12:08.880 devices like that as well. You know, they create some 0:12:08.920 --> 0:12:13.760 electronic music live in a in a big group of 0:12:13.760 --> 0:12:17.840 people who are all shouting the lyrics along and UH 0:12:18.200 --> 0:12:23.680 a joyous video. Absolutely love it. UM where we uh 0:12:23.679 --> 0:12:26.360 we can move on, moving on. UM actually sort of 0:12:26.360 --> 0:12:30.080 a hybrid instrument sort of came to me UM when 0:12:30.160 --> 0:12:33.120 I was looking at the guitar before even when when 0:12:33.200 --> 0:12:35.560 Jonathan showed me that he actually showed me before we 0:12:35.600 --> 0:12:39.000 had this idea for the podcast, just like, look at 0:12:39.040 --> 0:12:41.680 this thing, and I was and I was sort of 0:12:41.679 --> 0:12:44.360 fooling around with it, and I ran into UM. An 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:50.840 instrument created by a very well reasonably famous hacker, Jerry Ellsworth. UM. 0:12:51.000 --> 0:12:54.520 She's very hacked UH popular and the hacking community, and 0:12:55.320 --> 0:13:00.800 she's also part of Valve Software, which gaming community knows 0:13:00.920 --> 0:13:05.800 very well. Um UH. Satrix has done stuff with other machines, 0:13:06.320 --> 0:13:09.400 not just the Atari. He's used UH, an Amiga, and 0:13:09.760 --> 0:13:12.320 game Boy, but he's also used the Commodore sixty four 0:13:12.400 --> 0:13:16.439 and UH as an interesting tie in UM. Jerry Ellsworth 0:13:16.559 --> 0:13:21.080 used a Commodore sixty four to make a a bass guitar, 0:13:21.720 --> 0:13:25.319 but unlike what Seatrix did, she actually used the neck 0:13:25.679 --> 0:13:30.079 and strings from the bass and uses the Commodore sixty 0:13:30.200 --> 0:13:36.040 four to UM interpret the strings basically used as the 0:13:36.200 --> 0:13:39.760 pickup for the bass. As most of you know, Chris 0:13:39.800 --> 0:13:42.880 and I do our research separately, so this is all 0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:47.000 new to me and my mind has just been blown. Yeah. Now, now, 0:13:47.040 --> 0:13:49.400 if you if you don't know anything about how an 0:13:49.440 --> 0:13:52.240 electric guitar works and a bassis a you know, electric 0:13:52.240 --> 0:13:56.840 bass is a bass guitar. Um. They they use the 0:13:56.880 --> 0:13:59.600 strings of a guitar. But you know, if you've ever 0:13:59.600 --> 0:14:02.240 been around on one that's not plugged in, the sounds 0:14:02.280 --> 0:14:05.400 it makes are pretty quiet. Um. You know, the the 0:14:05.440 --> 0:14:07.640 mechanics of the strings are pretty much the same as 0:14:07.679 --> 0:14:10.120 you'd see in an acoustic guitar. But when an electric 0:14:10.160 --> 0:14:13.000 guitar uses along the body are those those little uh 0:14:13.120 --> 0:14:16.400 Sometimes they're silver, sometimes they're darker. Uh. You'll see those 0:14:16.440 --> 0:14:20.560 little uh things that run exactly or not always exactly, 0:14:20.560 --> 0:14:24.280 but perpendicular to the way the strings move. Um. So 0:14:24.480 --> 0:14:26.800 they are on the body of the guitar. Sometimes they'll 0:14:26.800 --> 0:14:30.280 be one, sometimes they'll be two or three. Um. Sometimes 0:14:30.320 --> 0:14:33.000 I've seen I have friends who are musicians who hack 0:14:33.080 --> 0:14:35.920 their own guitars and will change out These are called pickups, 0:14:36.320 --> 0:14:39.720 And what these do is they basically interpret the sounds 0:14:39.840 --> 0:14:47.520 of they turn the the acoustic vibrations into electronic electric symbols, signals, 0:14:47.560 --> 0:14:55.080 signals differently different, Um, a little percussive memory there, right, 0:14:55.840 --> 0:15:00.840 Uh so yeah, they turned them into electric signals which 0:15:00.920 --> 0:15:05.320 travel along the cable and into really now, they could 0:15:05.320 --> 0:15:08.720 be plugged directly into a computer, but traditionally they're plugged 0:15:08.760 --> 0:15:13.200 into an amplifier and that's how you can manipulate the signals. Well. 0:15:13.840 --> 0:15:17.560 Jerry Ellsworth has employed the use of a Commodore sixty 0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:20.680 four has done some hacking on the device itself to 0:15:20.880 --> 0:15:23.720 allow her to to use the Commodore sixty four as 0:15:23.760 --> 0:15:28.240 a effectively as the pickup for this electric bass and um, 0:15:28.320 --> 0:15:31.880 she that means she can use this to play you know. Basically, 0:15:31.960 --> 0:15:34.960 any bass guitarist could pick this device up and play 0:15:35.480 --> 0:15:38.640 a song on it, you know, in the traditional fashion 0:15:38.960 --> 0:15:41.800 and have it turn out as uh an eight bit sound. 0:15:41.880 --> 0:15:44.800 She can use um the device to play eight bit 0:15:44.920 --> 0:15:47.680 sounds or or something a little bit closer to the 0:15:47.720 --> 0:15:52.360 traditional electric bassed sound. Um. Some of the keys function 0:15:53.000 --> 0:15:57.240 um as a key tar. Um you know which is that? Uh, 0:15:57.280 --> 0:15:59.280 depending on how you look at it, really cool or 0:15:59.320 --> 0:16:04.280 really cheese e ugly cool, That's how I see it, Uh, 0:16:04.360 --> 0:16:07.680 where it was the body of the device was a keyboard, 0:16:07.880 --> 0:16:11.000 but there is a neck where you can manipulate the sounds. 0:16:11.000 --> 0:16:13.320 And this is what we're talking about. There is a 0:16:13.440 --> 0:16:17.520 professionally engineered, manufactured device where it is supposed to do 0:16:17.560 --> 0:16:19.960 all those things. Um, she sort of made her own 0:16:20.480 --> 0:16:26.520 uh bass guitar, um hacked keytar device and it's just 0:16:26.640 --> 0:16:30.440 very very cool. There are videos online you actually, uh, 0:16:30.480 --> 0:16:33.120 it's probably too much to do a clip of, but 0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:36.840 I would certainly encourage you to check out the videos 0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:40.400 of her playing this instrument, because, um, there's really a 0:16:40.400 --> 0:16:42.960 lot that that she did to make this work. Course, 0:16:43.000 --> 0:16:47.040 then again, she's known for building race car chassis when 0:16:47.080 --> 0:16:49.840 she was in her teens and twenties, so you figure 0:16:49.880 --> 0:16:51.760 she's probably pretty good at this. So I kind of 0:16:51.800 --> 0:16:56.000 hate her. Actually it's more envy than hate. Yes, I 0:16:56.000 --> 0:17:00.000 I envy her her ingenuity and skill. Oh absolutely, uh. 0:17:00.040 --> 0:17:01.880 And I wanted to talk a bit about there's actually 0:17:01.960 --> 0:17:05.680 a contest that I or a competition that I did 0:17:05.680 --> 0:17:08.520 not even know about until we started recording this. And 0:17:08.760 --> 0:17:13.800 my ignorance is something I'm kicking myself over because ignorance 0:17:13.880 --> 0:17:17.920 not so much bliss. In two thousand nine, Uh, there 0:17:18.000 --> 0:17:22.439 was the first Gunman Musical Instrument Competition, all right, So 0:17:22.480 --> 0:17:27.400 this was a competition for designers to create musical instruments 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:31.439 using technology and interesting ways, and they would, uh, they 0:17:31.480 --> 0:17:34.639 would submit them to this competition and the winner of 0:17:34.680 --> 0:17:37.320 the competition would win a certain amount of money. That 0:17:37.400 --> 0:17:40.800 first year, it was a ten thousand dollar ten thousand 0:17:40.840 --> 0:17:43.280 dollars for all of the different prizes. In first place 0:17:43.280 --> 0:17:48.919 would take five thousand of that. So so two thousand 0:17:49.040 --> 0:17:51.720 nine was when they first had it. And you know 0:17:51.720 --> 0:17:56.440 where it's located down the street, down the freaking street 0:17:57.000 --> 0:18:01.120 over and Georgia Tech. So Georgia Tech. We're in Atlanta. 0:18:01.280 --> 0:18:03.960 We we are in Buckhead in Atlanta, which is so 0:18:04.000 --> 0:18:05.760 when we say down the street, it's actually a little 0:18:05.760 --> 0:18:07.440 further than just down the street. It's not like a 0:18:07.440 --> 0:18:11.959 block or two away, but it's easily Yeah, it's like 0:18:12.160 --> 0:18:15.399 it's like two train stops and we are next to 0:18:15.440 --> 0:18:19.800 a train station. So anyway, it's really really accessible from 0:18:19.840 --> 0:18:22.600 where we are and we have never been. We didn't 0:18:22.640 --> 0:18:26.119 even know it existed until today. And uh, the fact 0:18:26.119 --> 0:18:29.320 that this exists is now something that tells me I 0:18:29.359 --> 0:18:32.400 have to attend next year if I can uh if 0:18:32.440 --> 0:18:35.919 I if I've got that that day free So I 0:18:35.920 --> 0:18:37.720 wanted to talk a little bit about some of the 0:18:37.760 --> 0:18:40.800 devices that were submitted that first year. Yeah. Absolutely, And 0:18:40.840 --> 0:18:42.600 the nice thing is is that we can actually play 0:18:42.600 --> 0:18:45.920 a little bit of the music that these devices generated. 0:18:45.920 --> 0:18:49.000 Will have some clips as well. So the first one, 0:18:49.080 --> 0:18:52.240 the one that actually won the prize in two thousand nine, 0:18:52.880 --> 0:18:57.200 was the Silent Drum, which was from a an inventor 0:18:57.280 --> 0:19:01.840 named Jamie Oliver, but not the Naked Chef, not that 0:19:01.960 --> 0:19:05.040 Jamie Oliver. Jamie Oliver. I have to say though, that 0:19:05.119 --> 0:19:06.800 the name of the instrument sort of reminds me of 0:19:06.800 --> 0:19:09.760 the title of a Mystery Science Theater three thousand video. Yeah, 0:19:10.000 --> 0:19:14.080 silent drum. Silent. It makes me think of what all 0:19:14.600 --> 0:19:17.320 people who live with a drummer wishes the drummer would 0:19:17.359 --> 0:19:23.640 own as a drummer. Yes, okay, so silent drum is. Well, 0:19:23.680 --> 0:19:25.720 they in the on the site they actually talk about 0:19:25.760 --> 0:19:29.199 it being a kind of like using shadow puppetry to 0:19:29.240 --> 0:19:32.400 create music. This really cool thing. Alright, So you've got 0:19:32.400 --> 0:19:37.800 this this device where you've got uh uh light that 0:19:37.960 --> 0:19:40.040 is projected from the bottom of the device up to 0:19:40.040 --> 0:19:43.360 the top. The top has a membrane across it that 0:19:43.480 --> 0:19:46.600 acts as that what would be the drumhead, but you're 0:19:46.640 --> 0:19:49.720 not striking it like a drum. Instead, you're pressing down 0:19:49.720 --> 0:19:52.880 on the membrane. You're creating a shadow. There's also a 0:19:52.920 --> 0:19:56.960 camera that detects where that shadow is. The cameras and 0:19:57.080 --> 0:20:00.560 signals to this processor that has specialized offtware on it, 0:20:00.600 --> 0:20:04.480 built by Oliver that interprets the shadow as a command 0:20:04.560 --> 0:20:07.439 to create a certain kind of sound. So depending on 0:20:07.640 --> 0:20:11.560 where in the membrane you touch, that's going to determine 0:20:11.600 --> 0:20:14.760 the sound that comes out, and how deep you go 0:20:15.040 --> 0:20:18.720 changes the quality of the sound, whether or not it's 0:20:18.760 --> 0:20:21.080 going to be allowed one versus a quiet one. And 0:20:21.160 --> 0:20:25.040 you can create this weird, weird soundscape this way. And 0:20:25.359 --> 0:20:27.119 we can actually play a little bit of that. So 0:20:27.240 --> 0:20:32.440 here is a short clip of Oliver demonstrating the silent drum, 0:20:32.480 --> 0:20:34.199 and if you get a chance to look at the 0:20:34.200 --> 0:20:36.960 YouTube video, I highly recommend it because he adds a 0:20:36.960 --> 0:21:00.479 lot of theatricality to his performance. So here we go. Now, 0:21:00.720 --> 0:21:03.840 that was what took home first prize that year, and 0:21:04.000 --> 0:21:08.680 there were many other uh uh submissions that you can 0:21:08.720 --> 0:21:10.800 look at, and I picked out a couple of others 0:21:10.880 --> 0:21:13.399 to talk about. Uh, some that we can listen to, 0:21:13.880 --> 0:21:16.359 not all of them. We don't have video our audio 0:21:16.359 --> 0:21:17.879 clips of all of them, but I can play some 0:21:17.920 --> 0:21:20.440 of the stuff. One of them is called the Guitar Bot, 0:21:21.400 --> 0:21:24.359 which took second place that year. I was developed by 0:21:24.520 --> 0:21:29.120 Eric Singer and UH. It proms guitar parts for the 0:21:29.200 --> 0:21:33.919 League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots. It's a robotic guitarist 0:21:34.800 --> 0:21:39.760 and uh he actually used four separate robots that each 0:21:39.840 --> 0:21:46.560 had a single string. Alright, so imagine think about like 0:21:46.640 --> 0:21:51.679 the four guitar next side by side, but there's no 0:21:51.880 --> 0:21:55.760 there's only one string on each one. And then instead 0:21:55.760 --> 0:21:57.960 of there being frets all the way down the neck 0:21:58.000 --> 0:22:00.600 of the guitar, there's only one frent. But the fret 0:22:00.680 --> 0:22:03.119 can move up and down the length of the string, 0:22:04.040 --> 0:22:06.000 so it changes the pitch of the note that that 0:22:06.119 --> 0:22:10.720 string produces because the fret itself relocates to make the 0:22:10.720 --> 0:22:13.160 string the right length to create the pitch you want. 0:22:13.720 --> 0:22:16.240 And then at the base of each string, there's a 0:22:16.280 --> 0:22:21.160 little circular drum that has on it four picks mounted 0:22:21.200 --> 0:22:23.920 to the drum. So when the drum turns, the pick 0:22:24.320 --> 0:22:29.080 picks the the string and you can turn the wheel 0:22:29.119 --> 0:22:32.639 a very specific number of times to to do the 0:22:32.720 --> 0:22:36.159 equivalent of finger picking really or you could turn it 0:22:36.200 --> 0:22:38.840 really quickly so that it's just playing faster than any 0:22:38.920 --> 0:22:42.399 human being, with the possible exception of certain members of 0:22:42.440 --> 0:22:46.920 Van Halen, could ever accomplish. And so, uh, it's it's 0:22:46.920 --> 0:22:49.720 really interesting to watch this work as well, because you 0:22:49.760 --> 0:22:52.920 actually see the frets going up and down those strings 0:22:53.040 --> 0:22:56.800 to generate the tunes that that you hear from it. 0:22:56.880 --> 0:23:00.920 And here is a short sample of the guitar bot 0:23:26.480 --> 0:23:29.640 that actually sort of reminds me if you've looked at it. Um. 0:23:29.760 --> 0:23:34.200 Uh the video company named Anna Music. Have you ever 0:23:34.240 --> 0:23:37.800 seen those um They used to be advertised on on 0:23:37.840 --> 0:23:41.400 TV a lot. Basically they do UM three D videos 0:23:42.320 --> 0:23:44.919 of music and it's it's all MIDI type, you know, 0:23:44.920 --> 0:23:48.720 it's all C G I. But the UM the music 0:23:49.000 --> 0:23:51.560 is when you look at the video, it's created by 0:23:51.560 --> 0:23:57.600 these fantastic instruments, things that are are essentially robotic in character, 0:23:58.040 --> 0:24:00.920 and uh, you know they're playing these all sorts of 0:24:00.920 --> 0:24:05.639 otherworldly you know, they're playing themselves basically, And watching that 0:24:05.760 --> 0:24:08.119 just reminded me of one of the instruments. Uh. In 0:24:08.200 --> 0:24:11.760 there are actually probably several of the instruments, so which 0:24:11.800 --> 0:24:15.159 is kind of cool. Yeah, there, there's so many that 0:24:15.240 --> 0:24:18.080 were submitted that year that I thought were really interesting 0:24:18.119 --> 0:24:22.520 to the submitted to the competition. Another one was well. 0:24:22.600 --> 0:24:26.720 Third place went to David Wessel, who was a Berkeley 0:24:26.840 --> 0:24:30.280 University professor, so a guy who knows what he's doing. 0:24:30.560 --> 0:24:33.160 And he had an instrument that he introduced called the slabs. 0:24:34.160 --> 0:24:39.240 So you know a lot of laptops have those have 0:24:39.359 --> 0:24:42.840 touch pads. He did what he did was he took 0:24:43.320 --> 0:24:46.879