An old gif I found on my drive this morning, from the days when Rebecca and I would drive around and photograph tiny Southern Cemeteries.

I etched a different kind of circuit board on Saturday.

Invent Room Pop 21

I will be improvising alongside others at Invent Room Pop 21 this Friday at Beep Beep gallery, 9pm.

One thing is for certain - I'll have this with me:

121212 0412 edit2

I thought I would begin the New Year with an attempt to begin posting work more regularly, as I once did.

And so I offer short loop, one of the last of four I recorded before disassembling the 100 for shipment. I wish I had been able to spend more time with the reverb experimenting with various signal paths. I'm confident it will come to good use by Benge in the future, though!

Alchemy

I forgot to mention that I have a few small pieces included in Beep Beep's current Alchemy group show. Mark and James supplied triangles for use in the show, and having just shown the series of drawings with them a few months ago, I decided to go an entirely different route with these pieces. I wasn't able to attend the opening, but from what I saw when I dropped off my work, there are some fantastic pieces in the show.

My Favorite Time of the Year

The jittery window view looks much better in HD.

Now, preceding the next Now

I have been way behind on posting anything lately.
I thought that purchasing a portable audio recorder (Tascam DR-40) several months ago would help me to post sounds more frequently. That hasn't been the case. Instead I have been recording more audio than I have time to edit and post. The current thinking is that I'll sit down, and after working out some appropriate hosting facility, will make public this material.

In addition, I've been wondering how to separate time spent testing JRB ModuleModules and the more intentional recordings for the self. Jury still out. Hanging expected.

Until I figure it out I'll toy with posting sounds that I feel are representative of particular ModuleModule Modules, but are not intentionally 'demos' - a concept that continues to elude me.

LOOK HERE

(both EQ tests really fall into the Hypnagogia body)

Upcoming show at Beep Beep

Loops, exercises, etc.

I've posted a few snippets to soundcloud this afternoon. All stem from explorations of a small number of modules - <8 spaces specifically. 2.13 is a sequence, with some uncertain components, that was patched and manipulated throughout the weekend (as pictured). Throatish employed 140/180/291/266/259, and is otherwise pretty self-explanatory. Line 1&2 were experiments integrating the 140 as an erratic clock and modulation source - and also included 281/291/259/266.

Untitled

The death of Mike Kelley is a huge bummer.

New Drawings

Click them for larger (Flickr) views.


Scene 4 (After Casting the Glass Axe).
Second preparatory draft. 12" x 8", Pencil.



Scene 12 (A Break Between Takes)
Second preparatory draft. 12" x 7.5", Pencil.



Scene 15 (How the Left Hand May Control the Right)
Second preparatory draft. 12" x 7.5", Pencil.

Metasomatism

A short piece, the first I've posted in quite some time.
I've added a 140 to my system, and had some fun with it here in conjunction with the 281 and 266. I'm fond of the ping-pong duophony of the 266, and the minor illusion of delay here.

I'll be focusing my attention on a series of drawings over the next few months, but will try to post with more frequency my less frequent studies on the 200.

Vague Terrain 19: Schematic As Score

Moritz Ellerich's Fabelphonetikum schematic

Derek Holzer has put together an impressive essay on artists experimenting with electronics for edition 19 of Vague Terrain entitled Schematic as Score, and kindly included me among them. Framing it as he does with his own work reinterpreting Tudor's Rainforest, the article is an inspired merging of concepts, visuals, and audio results. The article includes work by:

Derek Holzer/ Jason R. Butcher / Jessica Rylan / Lesley Flanigan / Loud Objects / Martin Howse / Moritz Ellerich / Peter Blasser / Synchronator

- Click here to view the issue -

My entry includes remarks on Self-Playing process, and the audio recording of the "For Loud Speakers" patch diagram seen here (partially):





I recommend browsing through previous Vague Terrain journals as well - as they are all quite interesting.

S3 - model 297 experiments

I cannot believe it has been so long since my last post.
Changes in work and living situations (all for the best), have distracted me a bit from this purpose. I present now, a few sketches from the past few months.

I added an Infinite Phase Shifter model 297 to my system recently and these recordings are all experiments intended to familiarize myself with its behavior. Particularly satisfying to me among this batch are Crackling Line and Dry Pine Sap Line, which are both Self-Playing experiments using only the Infinite Phase Shifter, Complex Waveform Generator, and the Source of Uncertainty. I suggest listening to them at relatively high volume through speakers in a nearly empty room after imbibing an entire bottle of artificial smoke flavoring.

Watered Path required most of the system, the 297 included in order to manipulate feedback, and is not a Self-Playing Patch.

Driving Conversation, also served as a test of the extreme times available through external control of the 281's Attack and Decay stages. The actual piece takes a very long time to decay completely to silence.

I hope enjoyment is the result upon listening.

Recent Sketches

s2.1-6 (recent sketches) by Jason R. Butcher

Restless Devices - Samples

As promised, images from the "Restless Devices" show with Joe Tsambiras currently running through Dec 5th at Beep Beep Gallery, for those not proximal enough to visit.

A recording of the patch what was on playing throughout the gallery the night of the opening:



Stills from the animations - with backgrounds based on pages of Cornelius Cardew's Treatise.


Untitled (Treatise Pp. 125-126), 2010


Untitled (Treatise p. 31, An History of Elitism 1965-2010), 2010


Untitled (Treatise p. 188), 2010

And here are the images I used for the fascia of various sound players, featuring recordings and experiments on the Series 200:


4.5.10, 2010


12.20.09.SPP, 2010


Untitled, 2010

And one of the non-sound player noodle images:


Untitled, 2010

SPP / ERR

For your enjoyment (?), a few recent recordings and details of two images for the upcoming show at Beep Beep Gallery (see previous post).



10.17.2010.2.SPP - A short recording of a self-playing patch (noodle) from this past weekend. Intended to be listened to at high level, the end of silence marks the moment I turn the system on:





Erratic Music Box:

Upcoming exhibition - Restless Devices

I will be exhibiting some new work (short animations, sound players, etc.) alongside Joe Elias Tsambiras (excellent drawings, etc.) at Beep-Beep Gallery, November 13 through December 5th.
Some previews to follow this post...

complex.waveform.degenerator.edit.

For your enjoyment, a short edit from a recording this afternoon. I employed the same patch used for a collaborative performance with Don Hassler for the recent Atlanta installment of the International Noise Conference at Eyedrum. One might assume that there are a number of external sound manglers being applied, but everything, with the exception of a slight reverb added in ProTools, is generated on the Buchla Series 200.

Chaotic Synthesis

A few months ago, I created a series of recordings in response to an incredible article highlighting some of the most remarkable properties of the Buchla Oscillators of the 100 and 200 series. The article is Dan Slater's Chaotic Sound Synthesis, published in Computer Music Journal, Summer 1998 Volume 22, Number 2, ISSN 0148-9267. Here is a photograph from the article, of a CBS Performance System 3 featuring a chaotic patch:



This article was also available for a period on the web, at a time when there was very little info of Buchla systems to be found. If only those who now decry what they perceive as "secrecy" on the part of Buchla users knew how hard it was to find out exactly what a Kinesthetic Input Port was ten or more years ago! In any case, I digress.

The article is a wonderful resource filled with several very interesting approaches to creating chaotic sound - and once my 200 was operational, I almost immediately began directed experiments in order to explore some of the territory Slater describes.

Chaotic Synthesis Recording #3 (edit), August 2009:


If you would like a copy of the entire (19:40) recording, I have self-produced a limited CD release of 20, priced at $10 to be sold at some upcoming shows. E-Mail me if you'd like to order one. Here is a photo of the CD and the single sided bristol "cover" - that features an illustration of the patch used for the piece:



For some other demonstrations of Buchla VCO cross-modulation characteristics be sure to check out the following links:
Christian Mirande's 258 Demonstration video
Mono-Poly's 158 Demonstration audio
Mono-Poly's 144 Demonstration audio