Tuesday, August 23, 2011

A Very Tall Tree...

A great time today hiking in the Redwoods at some "secret groves" with my friend Eric Tillinghast...Please click the image to see the Tall version of this tree...More pics to come.
Tall Tree

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Softstep and Max/MSP...

[EDIT: July 20, 2014. This software is now available at http://jeffkaiser.com/max/ AND the LEDs work fine now.]

I'm absolutely loving my Softstep...a very versatile footcontroller...smaller, lighter and does way more than any other foot controller out there at this time that I am aware of. However, in the past it required all users to use a standalone piece of software. Being a Max/MSP user, I like to do everything natively within Max itself...I think this is common with many of us Max users... Thankfully, Keith McMillen Instruments has recently come out with a Max/MSP developers kit that pointed me and several other users in a direction that allowed us to create software that runs on standard objects within Max.

In short, you drop the jk.softstep abstraction in your max patch and give it a number that corresponds to the button you want it to be associated with. Then choose the outlet you want: bangs, toggles, lists, xy data, pressure data, pressure with latching, dials, and with more options on the way. That's it, really *very* simple...even though the example patch has everything going at once...

As a warning, though, it uses common sysex that was sniffed out with a midi monitor. If used incorrectly, sysex can really scramble things. I've even heard stories of sysex permanently "bricking" hardware, although I've never personally experienced it. I've used this software daily since Thursday without any problems, but there are no guarantees.

SO,

Please, until KMI releases this information officially and with more specifics,

***No guarantees, use at your own risk***

Also: I've chosen functionality that pertains to my own use, so, not a lot of LED action. There is information inside of the jk.stepcore abstraction if you want to add this functionality.

A big thanks to my friend Chris Lavender for helping with the output stage.

[EDIT: July 20, 2014. This software is now available at http://jeffkaiser.com/max/ AND the LEDs work fine now.]

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Garbanzo Grill in Eugene, OR!

Delicious vegan fare, from Garbanzo Grill in the Whiteaker neighborhood of Eugene, Oregon....
(Click any pic to enlarge)

Garbanzo Grill
Garbanzo Grill

Vegan Gyro and Mac
Vegan Gyro and Mac

Garbanzo Grill
Garbanzo Grill

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Vacation, August 2011...

Currently I'm in Cottage Grove, Oregon trying to write some new music for my Ockodektet concert in November and working on some Max/MSP/Jitter projects. On the way out of town, I participated in a concert at Alex Cline and Will Salmon's wonderful Open Gate Theater at the Eagle Rock Center for the Arts. The first group was the (acoustic!) trio of myself, Michael Vlatkovich and Tom McNalley, second up was Andrew Pask's rocking quartet with Wayne Peet, Steuart Liebig and Alex Cline. That night I began my drive up to Oregon, accompanied by a thermos of pu-erh and three of my dear friends: Arturo Fuente Hemingway, Oliva Serie V and La Gloria Cubana. (I also had a San Lotano, awful.)

Upon arriving, I received some good news: the score for my Alchemical Mass was accepted into an art show on experimental music notation at the Royal Nonesuch Gallery in Oakland, CA and I received the newest addition to my electro-acoustic rig: the Softstep, from Keth McMillan Instruments. More on both of these in posts to come.

After a few days here, I was treated to a lovely show at the Jazz Station in Eugene, featuring the duos of Jeff Young and Paul Pinto, and Lucio Menegon and Sabrina Siegel. Ted Killian then joined me here for a few days and while discussing Max/Msp and Jitter we feasted on many of the vegan offerings in Eugene at Morning Glory Cafe, Pizza Research Institute, the Cornbread Cafe, while remaining caffeinated by The Wandering Goat, and also attended a noise concert at the New Zone Art Gallery featuring many of my friends here in town....

Following are some pics, CLICK on any of them to see large versions.

Wayne Peet
Wayne Peet

Andrew Pask
Andrew Pask

Michael Vlatkovich and Wayne
Michael Vlatkovich and Wayne

Tom McNalley
Tom McNalley

Alex Cline
Alex Cline

Andrew, Wayne, Steuart Liebib, Alex Cline
Andrew, Wayne, Steuart Liebib, Alex Cline

My favorite tea drinking spot.
My favorite tea drinking spot.

Wild animals abound...
Wild animals abound...

...
...

Ted Killian and I eating vegan pizza at Pizza Research Institute
Ted Killian and I at the Pizza Research Institute before the show
Seriously amazing pizza.

Paul Pinto
Paul Pinto

Paul and Jeff Young
Paul and Jeff Young

Paul and Jeff
Paul and Jeff

Lucio Menegon and Sabrina Siegel


Lucio
Lucio

I Died (Chris Grieg)
I Died (Chris Gierig)

Che F. Kirk (Roger Smith)
Che F. Kirk (Roger Smith)

Chris and Robert
Chris and Roger

INRI
INRI

INRI and Radiant Thaw
INRI and Radiant Thaw

Radiant Thaw
Radiant Thaw

Curtis Rochambeau with John 7 in the background
Curtis Rochambeau with John 7 in the background

View of Curtis from the audience
View of Curtis from the audience

Marlo Eggplant and Hobby Knife (Marilyn Kent)
Marlo Eggplant and Hobby Knife (Marilyn Kent)

Hobby Knife
Hobby Knife

Cornbread Cafe, vegan
Cornbread Cafe, vegan "comfort food:

Cornbread Cafe
Cornbread Cafe