The title track from the forthcoming album, “Mecca,” is now available for preview via MySpace and Facebook. “Mecca” is due for release at the end of September.

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Today I was reminded of all the great fund raising musician friends of mine are involved with. A letter sent to me from the Motor Neurones Disease Association Northern Ireland reminded of me how important it is to give what you can, when you can.

“Beautiful Beginning” was released independently in 2009 to raise money for MNDA. The release is available here (at a price you decide). For more info on MNDANI, please visit: www.mndani.com

PD to Live - Phase 4 from Ricky Graham on Vimeo.

Audio stems have been made available for potential remix. The stems currently feature as part of the studio recording, “Mecca,” due for release later this year. signalsundertests are keen to hear your interpretation.

Download the stems from the following (temporary) mediafire links;

http://www.mediafire.com/?omfxzztjrux (ambisonics)
http://www.mediafire.com/?wlgyn1kctg0 (ambisonicsdrone)
http://www.mediafire.com/?zjzgjgn1mmm (apedal)
http://www.mediafire.com/?wzqnlzii23a (bassguitar)
http://www.mediafire.com/?dhfm21iiyj4 (bstring)
http://www.mediafire.com/?nme0mnydzmz (epedal)
http://www.mediafire.com/?2hj5io0kigj (estring)
http://www.mediafire.com/?znzyglmmcjj (glitchguitar)
http://www.mediafire.com/?mydmonmz0my (gstring)
http://www.mediafire.com/?omxiyqmtnmt (guitar)
http://www.mediafire.com/?yojudy4emjj (guitarnofx)
http://www.mediafire.com/?zirljzyymnj (guitarriff)
http://www.mediafire.com/?3vzynmzytdy (mainkit)
http://www.mediafire.com/?ydlycdoujmt (reverb)
http://www.mediafire.com/?ndfqjiocjot (scratchkit)
http://www.mediafire.com/?ezjgfgnz3dn (subkit)

Please submit your initial remixes in MP3 format to info atnospam  rickygraham dot net. All remixes will be considered for a future net release. The deadline is the 31st of May, 2010.

This next phase of my live performance system project was to implement a series of algorithms to reflect pitch structure in my chosen signal processes. The overall objective is to develop this patch into an interactive live performance system for polyphonic electric guitar, which reflects a balance between salient musical cues, such as pitch, timbre, space, and time, during real-time music performance. A work in progress.

PD to Live - Phase 3 from Ricky Graham on Vimeo.

Pitch tracking is utilised in PD to obtain string class data. The data is converted to MIDI note data (pitch and velocity). MIDI data is then recorded into a [coll]. In direct MIDI mapping mode, the user can simply associate MIDI notes with automation processes in Live. In random MIDI mapping mode, the recorded notes and associated DSP are recalled at random to allow an element of improvisation. The note sequence algorithm allows faster note sequences to cease DSP in Live, foregrounding pitch. The interval algorithm allows certain interval relationships to trigger CC messages. In this example, the CC’s are mapped to a variation of spatial gestures. I will continue to develop the algorithms for live performance.

Polyphonic Audio and MIDI box for Polyphonic Electric Guitar

The premise of this project was to build a hardware unit which provides polyphonic audio (separate audio signal for each string) as well as MIDI data (pitch and velocity) for each note executed which could be utilised for mapping purposes. Such a hardware unit would allow the user to maximize CPU power for signal processing. Following on from a previous “break-out box” project, I purchased the Axon AX-50 board from Terratec (Germany) to allow for MIDI data for each note. The tracking is excellent in combination with Graphtech’s “Hexpander” MIDI interface.

Initially, I wanted to hack the board so it supported polyphonic audio and MIDI concurrently, however, the Axon board is inherently noisy and a series of the DIN pins carry a rather unfortunate mains noise rendering the board unusable for audio. So, I devised a separate power supply (9v battery) acting as a piezo amplifier, powering the Axon unit  separately with an adapter. I devised a DIN splitter cable so that the Axon board is able to receive the audio derived from the guitar, whilst maintaining separate power sources, ergo eliminating the ground noise issue. My thanks to Jun Kwon for his assistance with installing a series of isolator transformer to improve the quality of Audio/MIDI data translation.

In separating the ground of the piezo amplifier from the Axon AX-50 board, one is presented with a different noise problem, whereby noise generated by MIDI data is present in the audio signals.  A separate MIDI interface was tested, which reduced the noise but it did not eliminate the noise altogether. To eliminate the ground noise completely, a USB isolator may be required. This project is on-going.

Mapping Strategies

The premise of this project was to reflect pitch structure in my chosen DSP during real-time performance. I built the following patch in PD (Pure Data), in an attempt to reflect pitch structure in pre-programmed signal processing during real-time performance, which can be dictated by the chosen pitches executed by the performer while maintaining an element of improvisation. The electric guitar is inherently a multi-parameter mapped instrument. For the most part, it maintains a many to one relationship, concerning many attributes of a physical instrumental technique utilised by the performer to produce a desired sonority. It is important to maintain an approach which is conceptually clear, one that maintains musical meaning versus technical mapping.

The patch collects pitches played by the performer, then generates random index via a counter. The random index is then re-called from the [coll]. In this example MIDI note 60 (C3) is mapped to an automation clip in Ableton Live. The automation clip triggers a series of signal processes specified by the user.  This example is using the built in mic on my laptop.

PD to Live - Phase 2 from Ricky Graham on Vimeo.

“Killing your Darling”

After some discussion, there is further potential to develop the patch into a more modular, versatile, and interactive performance system, which may allow the patch to operate with a greater degree of independence, encouraging the performer to engage with the system via a new performance approach, versus a learned or repetitive performance practice. I intend to develop the patch to further accommodate statistical analysis of pitch class development and additional string information, such as velocity, and note onset and offset. Thus, temporal phrasing will become an interactive part of the mapping and performance process. Other approaches include the utilisation of pick position data to trigger appropriate timbral processing, resizing the [coll] size in real-time to vary the rate at which a signal process is triggered, and the real-time drawing of automation values.

My thanks to Daniel Schorno for his feedback on this project.

Performance in Antwerp

This was a great opportunity to improvise with themes I have been developing for the forthcoming album by signalsundertests. I scored some motives to work with during the performance, but I am still developing an appropriate method of scoring pitch, timbral, and spatial attributes of each theme. I would like to work with a stave per string in future, and it is my hope that the score will also be applicable to acoustic instrumentation. All in all, an excellent experience.

signalsundertests performing at the Live Looping festival at Arenberg, Antwerp.

Thank you to those who provided photography on the night, including Ingrid, Sjugge, and Benjamin. My thanks to Sjaak and Ingrid for their hospitality, and to the amazing musicians which were a part of this wonderful event. And of course, thank you to all the staff at STEIM for their support. It was a very productive and enjoyable residency.

“Beautiful Beginning” was released in August 2009 to help raise money for the Motor Neurones Disease Association Northern Ireland. Thank you to all those who have made a donation. If you have not made a donation yet, you can do so by purchasing the release from Bandcamp or iTunes. Please continue to donate generously.

“Beautiful Beginning” is now available on Spotify and iTunes. More information on the MNDANI can be found at www.mndani.com

New recordings are available following on from a series of recent performances by signalsundertests at the Black Box in Belfast, N.Ireland.

signalsundertests - Live at the Black Box, Belfast - 31.08.09 - Test 1

signalsundertests - Live at the Black Box, Belfast - 31.08.09 - Test 2

New Audio available on MySpace

signalsundertests - “Live at Verbal Arts” - Beat Magazine Review

“Even though the Irish duo, consisting of Ricky Graham & John King, is actually still working behind the scenes on their first studio album with great attention to detail, this live recording sounds already stunningly mature and in no way like a test. Highly minimal sound grounds, with a high affinity for backward loops, are cut by glamorous jazz-specific guitars and extend up to eleven minutes as in dream time. The enigmatic cover by Walter Logeman congenially complements the music.”

Thanks to Uwe Lorenz for the translation

Download “Live at Verbal Arts”

Visit Beat Magazine (www.beat.de)

Download the PDF here