The best spam I've received this year.
Posted on 2013-05-20 14:05:53 by KyleFROM AGENT JOHN EDWARD GET BACK TO ME IMMEDIATELY?.
I received an INTEL MEMO from the WHITE HOUSE in my office today and I must advice you as follows:
1: I received an Intel from our wiretap internet protocol office that my communication with you have been breached by impostors which have prompted immediate action from my side to make sure that this transaction is secured. Today, I issue you this code for communication (G11) which must be contained both in the subject and at the end of any of my email letter to you, This is for your own good.
2: With instruction from the White House and the United states Department of Homeland Security, I am informing you that you due consignment box containing your total payment fund of US$10,000,000.00 (Ten Million United States Dollars) is approved for release and delivery to you as soon as you fulfill all “OBLIGATION” and offset the refundable “TAX CLEARANCE LEVY” mandated by the IRS on all consignment that has been in our vault over 3 months.
Note that as i write you now, your funds contained in your consignment box is presently in our maximum storage vault in Atlanta, GA and will only be marked cleared for release once you fulfill all “OBLIGATION" stated on your release questionnaire by Homeland security.
Once I hear from you, I will instruct further.
Regards,
Agent John Edward
Blueprints of Eternity selected for ICMC 2013
Posted on 2013-05-16 11:05:08 by KyleI was informed this morning that Blueprints of Eternity has been accepted for inclusion in 2013's International Computer Music Conference!
Acceptance message follows.
--
Dear Kyle Vanderburg,
On behalf of the International Computer Music Conference 2013, I am pleased to inform you that your submission, titled
Blueprints of Eternity
has been accepted.
Please note that if you submission is an installation submission, this acceptance is dependent on the ICMC's ability to facilitate your work. We will be in touch shortly to discuss installation and equipment requirements.
We have included the reviewers' comments at the end of this message. If you log into our openconf site you should also be able to access these. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Please note that you will need to confirm your intention to present or perform by the 31st of May, 2013.
Authors of all works and papers presented at ICMC 2013 require registration as a delegate. If possible please do this by the 30th of June, 2013. This can be done from our Eventbrite page: http://www.eventbrite.com.au/myevent?eid=5863360469
Visit our website for up to date information and news on ICMC 2013. A full program will be released next month.
http://icmc2013.com.au/
Congratulations,
Program Committee, ICMC2013
conference@tura.com.au
***************************************************************
Strictly limited source material can be hazardous because it demands so much of the composer’s manipulation skill just to keep things interesting. In this case, the composer did achieve interesting transformations of the limited source.
But as a whole, structurally, it was not a strong attention-holder. Seemed to need much more dynamic contrast, and more timbral diversity. Spatially flat as well – needs to be opened up – and I’m not convinced that active diffusion will help much, given the relative lack of interplay between L and R.
***************************************************************
Blueprints of eternity. This work is a study in time using a kitchen timer as the sole source sound. There is a good sense of space after the open monophonic passage and some very neat and precise manipulations which sustain the narrative. The work also has a tight form. The sound recording as it stands does not lend itself easily to transformation and as a consequence some of the transformations are a little harsh. This may be partly mastering but partly the unresponsive nature of a timer click.
***************************************************************
Engaging sound material and journey from recognisable sound source to more abstracted detail. There are some attractive spatial trajectories and placements of materials within the overall structure. The closing section is particularly well handled. Because of the soundworld's timbral uniformity (all appearing to originate from one source), more variation in contour, shaping and depth perspective could be welcomed.
The Ernest Trumble Award for Outstanding Graduate Musicology Paper
Posted on 2013-05-01 02:05:32 by KyleYesterday, I was awarded the Ernest Trumble Award for Outstanding Graduate Musicology Paper (tm), and with it, a box of stuff that Dr. Lee found in his office. Here is the content of the box, in all its glory (in Turabian, of course):
Bukofzer, Manfred F. Music in the Baroque Era: from Monteverdi to Bach. New York: Norton, 1947.
David, Hans T. and Arthur Mendel, eds. The Bach Reader, A Life of Johann Sebastian Bach in Letters and Documents. New York: Norton, 1945.
David, Hans Theodore. J.S.Bach’s Musical Offering: History, Interpretation, and Analysis. New York: G. Schirmer, 1945.
Moser, Hans Joachim. Heinrich Schütz: His life and work. Translated by Carl F. Pfatteicher. Saint Louis: Concordia, 1959.
Terry, Charles Sanford. Bach, a Biography. 2nd ed. London: Oxford, 1950.
Unger, Melvin, ed. Bach: Journal of Riemenschneider Bach Institute 31 nos. 1-2, 35 nos. 1, 36 no. 2, 37 nos. 1-2, 38 nos. 1-2, 39 nos. 1-2, 40 nos. 1-2, 41 nos. 1-2, 42 nos. 1-2, 43 no. 1.
Annotated Program to the 68th annual Baldwin-Wallace College Bach Festival.
Annotated Program to the 69th annual Baldwin-Wallace College Bach Festival
1 seed rattle
1 remote to a Tascam CD RW5000
1 notebook
And the paper that caused all of this? Standardized Contrapuntal Technique and Bach's Riddle Canons from The Musical Offering.
The DMA Recital
Posted on 2013-04-09 13:04:34 by KyleFor those of you who couldn't make it this Sunday for my first DMA Chamber Music Recital, here are the recordings of the works as they were presented.
Stereo Acousmatic
Angel Bradford, flute; Cassie Keogh, clarinet; Elizabeth Serine, piano
Stereo Acousmatic
Malcolm Bocanegra, soprano saxophone; Jimmy Fleener, alto saxophone; Jordan Ford, tenor saxophone; Eric Walschap, baritone saxophone
Stereo Acousmatic
The OU Graduate Woodwind Quintet
Angel Bradford, flute; Caitie Bunch, oboe; Sarah Limper, clarinet; Kristen Beeves, horn; Kevin Jones, bassoon
Prof. Rod Ackmann, Graduate Woodwind Quintet Coach
Jennifer Tripi, piano
I should have a video of the recital in the next week or so, and when I do, I'll be uploading that to the various places on the internet. Until then, though, Woohoo, I'm done!
Goodbye Wordpress, Hello VanderBlog!
Posted on 2013-03-21 09:03:25 by KyleI like WordPress. I really do. I've been using it as a blogging platform for four or five years, ever since I built VanderBlog 1.0, realized that WordPress was superior, and gave up my own coding for something built by real programmers.
But a few things have perpetually bothered me about my WordPress setup. The big one is site integration. Sure, I could make it look like KyleVanderburg.com, if I spent the time to properly theme it (and re-theme it for every redesign). I could move it back to my webserver and install it in the /blog/ directory, where Vanderblog now is. But then, there's the creativity clause in my Mission Statement:
...to have a firm understanding of the creative process in its entirety from conception to production and to continually keep as much of that process in-house as possible except when other ventures provide a better service more efficiently than is capable by internal means;
Thus, enter VanderBlog 2. It runs on the Hammer platform, it lives on my server, it runs code that I wrote myself and (mostly) understand. It involved some modal box changes to KyleVanderburg.com which I'm excited to try out with other features. It also generates RSS, which is something I didn't know how to do until about 2 hours ago.
Is it as feature rich as WordPress? Not even close. At least, not yet. There's still some work to be done here, like redirecting all the old posts to the new blog (which does contain all the old posts and comments), but it's a start.
Spring Performances
Posted on 2013-02-20 14:57:49 by KyleAs I was updating my events page last week, I noticed that there's a lot going on in the next few months. Here's a hopefully comprehensive list of those performances.
2/19/13: Tuesday Noon Concert at OU's Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. I realize this was yesterday, but it happened, so I'm putting it here. I presented Drones as part of the Computer Music Studio's presentation in the Tuesday Noon concert series.
3/3/13: David Ikard's Lecture Recital on Água Eletrônica. Although Dave wrote the piece and it's his lecture recital, it involves a second performances of the only known work for water percussion and electronics, which runs on my code. Sunday, March 3, 8pm, Pitman Recital Hall at Catlett Music Center, OU.
3/8/13: Student Research and Performance Day. I'm presenting a poster on the form and sonic generation of my Creatures from the Black Bassoon. Friday, March 8, 12-4pm, National Weather Center, OU.
3/10/13: Family Day at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. As part of the FJJMA's efforts to buy Ed Ruscha's No Man's Land, the museum has commissioned a new work for piano trio. My Over Every Open Field for piano, flute, and clarinet will be performed at 1:30 and 2:30 pm, in the Sandy Bell Gallery of the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, OU.
It looks like I get the rest of March off. Then it's
4/7/13: DMA Recital. I present a variety of music in my continued attempts to prove that I'm awesome and to convince five people to give me a doctorate. The program will include the following: Drones, Creatures from the Black Bassoon, Blueprints of Eternity, Caffeination, Over Every Open Field, Electronic Variations, and Daydreams of Arcadia. Sunday, April 7, 8pm, Pitman Recital Hall, Catlett Music Center, OU.
4/11/13: Inner sOUndscapes. The Computer Music Studio presents a variety of new music for instrument and electronics, including my Electronic Variations for piano and live interaction. Thursday, April 11, 8pm, Pitman Recital Hall, Catlett Music Center, OU.
4/12/13: SCI Region IV Conference. I will present Creatures from the Black Bassoon at Clarke University in Dubuque, Iowa. Friday, April 12, 2pm, Clarke University.
And then? And then I think I spend the rest of April sitting on the deck looking at trees.
Deskbuilding: Part Two
Posted on 2013-01-07 18:37:33 by KyleI’m back in Norman, after a couple of weeks in Poplar Bluff and another week in Springfield. Although I did a lot of technology-related things (like upgrade the laptop and desktop to Windows 8, buy a MS Surface, prepare the new server, and move all the file-storage functions of Hammer to Amazon S3), little composing was done. Well, little legitimate composing was done. I did show off the XBOX instrument that I’m working on, and received some good feedback (but we’ll talk about that later). But the real purpose of this post is to talk about furniture. In following the tradition started last year, I decided to use the time in Missouri to build furniture with Dad.
I thought about an entertainment center for the living room, or perhaps a bookcase (since we don’t have enough of them around the treehouse), but since I spend most of my time here in the office, I thought an addition to the office furniture might be nice. And since I already had a desk, what about something to add to it? Something like drawers. I haven’t had drawers in my desk since I left Drury. That’s right. All of my graduate career has been achieved without drawers.
The problem with adding drawers to my writing desk is twofold. First of all, it was built to be modular, which means it has to fold. Second, it was built. Past tense. There’s no modifying it now, especially if I’m still wanting it to be modular (which I am). So, the drawer unit (and the accompanying computer tower unit) have to be self-contained, so they can be easily moved. Also, let’s put them on wheels, so they’re also easy to move. And if they’re easy to move, let’s build them so that someday when I have the space, I can move them somewhere else, put a top on them, and have a second desk.
So it started out with the same hard rock maple that the frame for the main desk used. Only, a lot less of it. Here’s the drawer frames.
Unlike the 2011 desk, the drawer/computer units are really just big boxes made of luan mahogany.
The drawers themselves are really kind of the same, just smaller boxes that are attached to drawer guides connected to the larger box.
And then of course comes sanding and staining and sealing. Luckily we found a jar of (hopefully) the stain we used last year on the desk. Something close enough, at least.
And then the drawer fronts and door were pretty easy, just cut to size from a sheet of pine. I decided to leave the edges of the drawers unroutered, to keep with the straight lines of the desk itself.
So then, add 500 miles and a flight of stairs, and here’s what they look like paired with the desk. Woohoo! Drawers!
Introducing NoteForge Hammer 2.4
Posted on 2012-11-13 10:55:56 by KyleIn 2007, I started putting my marginally-useful programming skills to use building a simple Content Management System (CMS) to manage my website, similar to Drury’s CMS (named, originally, DCMS). As my programming skills improved, the CMS grew, adding modules for composition management, event notification, invoicing, and something called “Opportunity Organization” (which is directly responsible for my increased performances in 2012) among others.
The original simple CMS has evolved into Hammer, which is both a Composer Management System and a platform for building similar applications such as Keys (for private studio management), DAVID (Document Management), and a few more starting in 2013.
Today, that system, just shy of its 5th birthday, was upgraded to version 2.4 in what is the largest cosmetic and backend upgrade of the system to date. Here’s a brief look at some of the new features.
Improved Navigation
One of the complaints about Hammer 2.3 was the static left-side navigation. On modules such as opportunity organization, the user was forced to scroll up to access the main menu. This has been completely rewritten in Hammer 2.4 with the change to the Twitter Bootstrap framework with CSS3 Microsoft Modern Buttons styling. The navigation stays at the top of the page, and divides modules by category.
Smart Buttons
Another complaint of 2.3 and previous versions was unstreamlined functions. After creating a new item, the user would have to scroll up to the menu, click the correct module, and then click a link to create a new item. While not annoying for a few items, this becomes tedious when inputting a month’s worth of invoices. This has been fixed with the addition of New and View All buttons when accessing a module that allows new items.
User Menu
Building different applications on the same platform (or at least, this same platform) means that all applications share a codebase and a user database, allowing one Hammer account to access all of the applications. The new user menu allows for fast switching between Hammer applications.
Account Management
The addition of multiple applications to Hammer necessitated a rewrite of the user and configuration modules, and the creation of a permissions database. These are all controlled via the new Account application in Hammer.
Improved Search
I finally rewrote all the code to make searching possible (and useful)
UI Improvements
Like these buttons:
And these forms:
Hammer now has a consistent look across all applications, and the CSS probably sucks less.
Completely Rewritten Code
Every module in Hammer has been recoded. All of them. Every single line. While developing DAVID (Digital Access to Vanderburg Internal Documents. Yeah, I know. It’s a fantastic name) I discovered a better way of coding the modules that use 25% of the code I was using before. As in, a module with 800 lines of code can be done in just 200 lines. It’s far more streamlined, and easier to add fields.
Proprietary Hashing Algorithms
Passwords and other hashed information (such as invoice access numbers) are calculated via a new proprietary hashing algorithm.
New Lemon Scent
This might be false.
So yeah. That’s what I’ve been doing with all my time when I’m not writing music. And now, off to build more things.
Slovenia (finally)
Posted on 2012-11-09 00:42:00 by KyleI said I'd do this a couple of months ago, and I finally am. This is my account of the trip to Slovenia (finally).
So, I hadn't flown since like May of 2001. And I'd never left the country. Not to mention that I don't speak any foreign languages with any accuracy, so I was a bit, shall we say, apprehensive about the entire idea of getting on a plane (and then another plane, and then another) and going to a country that speaks a language that I don't. But nothing worth doing is ever easy (or, if this experience serves as an example, cheap), so fellow composer Dexter Ford (who was also presenting a work in Ljubljana) and I booked our flights, and left the country.
I am not convinced the plane that took us from Oklahoma City to Chicago was actually a plane at all, but rather a large bus with wings taped on. For starters, it took so long to taxi that I was convinced that the plane was going to attempt to drive to Chicago. But eventually we made it there, changed some money to Euros and Francs, and before long we were on a significantly larger plane, bound for Zurich. Eventually. As in, 14 hours eventually. I didn't get much sleep personally, thanks to the excitement of it all and the in-flight entertainment system. We finally Landed in Zurich around 10 am for a five hour layover before finally getting on a plane for Ljubljana, which was by far the best flight of the trip. Probably due to the fact we were flying over the Alps. Which are much larger close up.
We landed in Ljubljana Sunday night, found a shuttle to take us to our hostel, and had our first experience with Slovenian drivers. I think I had a more accurate experience than Dexter, since I was riding shotgun and OMG DID WE ALMOST HIT A CYCLIST!?
(We didn't actually hit a cyclist. Though I'm not sure how). We made it to the hostel with no problems, other than we had to pay in cash for the entire stay ("Where's an ATM? And how much is that in real money?") And then we tried to make it to the opening concert of the International Computer Music Conference 2012. I should probably mention at this point that the ICMC was all over Ljubljana. There were 3-4 venues all over town. None were particularly close to each other. So after roughly 30 hours of travel, we dropped our bags off at our hostel and armed only with a roadmap (in Slovene) we attempted to walk to Kino Šiška. I shouldn't say attempted, we found it...eventually.
This is the same venue that would host my international debut the next day. But before that, we had to make our way back to our hostel. In the dark. Have I mentioned that the only map we had was in Slovene? "What street are we looking for?" "I wish I could tell you. I really do. It has a lot of consonants."
MONDAY
The next morning we made our way to the Stara Elektrarna (the old power plant) which had been turned into a gallery/performance space, for registration and picking up the program/nametags and the opening paper talks. Luckily this place was far closer than Kino Šiška was.
I'd have to check, but I think the fact that they listed my publishing company makes me totally legit now. Sweet. Anyway, after that collection of paper talks, we went to a Live Coding session at DDT, a seasonal hostel a few blocks from Starna Elektrarna. And after that, Dexter, Andrew (Lambert, whom we had met at the previous session), and I went for lunch at a place that I can only describe as part diner and part coffee shop that didn't sell food. I hope that is as complicated for you as it was for us. After that I headed to Kino Šiška to check out my piece, only to find out they didn't have a complete version somehow. So we postponed that for Wednesday, and I walked to Španski Borci in time for the keynote by Seth Kim-Cohen, who spoke on non-cochlear sound art. Dinner happened after (where I discovered what a kebab is), and then back to Kino Šiška for the evening concert. There were late-night concerts that happened later, but I went back to the hostel to work on Pipe Dreams and, you know, sleep.
TUESDAY
Tuesday was the day that we discovered Ljubljana's bus system. I'm from the midwest, okay, I didn't realize that public transportation was a useful thing. Tuesday was a lot like Monday, only with less travel time since we were no longer walking. The morning started with a paper session on Analysis/Synthesis, which was pretty great and included a presentation by Richard Dudas (who is kind of a big name in the MaxMSP world). I roamed around part of the old town for a while and had lunch at--where else--McDonalds. Just to see if it was the same as back home (it was). That afternoon I attended an improvisation paper session at DDT again, and headed to Španski Borci for the evening's afternoon concert/lecture. Dinner that night was at an open-air traditional Serbian restaurant, Gostilna Dubočica. The evening concerts were once again at Kino Šiška, and once again I skipped the late-night concerts in order to work on homework.
WEDNESDAY
Wednesday morning started with a session on computer interaction, where Andrew had his paper, "A Stigmergic Model for Oscillator Synchronization and its Application in Music Systems." Then I hopped on a bus and went over to Kino Šiška for the performance of Creatures from the Black Bassoon in one of the listening rooms. The listening rooms are set up to where people can come and go as they please, but my piece was well-received I wish that I could say that I went to the afternoon's paper sessions, but instead I spent a good chunk of the afternoon exploring the old city. Ljubljana is an eclectic mix of traditional, old European buildings, and Cold-war era eastern-bloc style buildings. I mean, you'd be walking around and find squares like this:
and then you'd cross the street and find all of these buildings from the 1960s (which I didn't take a picture of).
Oooh, also, there were dragons. Our hostel was just down the street from the Dragon Bridge.
After exploring, I went to the afternoon concert at Kino Šiška, but left early so that I could make the 6pm tour of the Ljubljana castle. Which was pretty epic. It's built on top of a hill in the southern portion of the old city, so the views were spectacular.
This is my desktop background at work. Note the big pink church in the left center of the picture. That's the same church which is on the left side of the picture above the dragon. Also, I'd happened to pick the castle tour that serves champagne at the top of the tower. Yeah. I drank champagne on top of a castle. And then I went back to the hostel and finished writing Pipe Dreams. Overall, a good day.
THURSDAY
Thursday was a very long day. Dexter was to perform his piece for voice and live electronics, Wall, and so we went over to Španski Borci for a rehearsal. Which went on. And on. And on. Mostly due to there being some miscommunication about what equipment we had, or didn't have, or something. After working on a number of solutions for Dexter's piece, we found one that worked, and somehow in the process I convinced the soundguy that I knew how to do things. So whenever there were problems during the concert (and there are always technical problems during computer music concerts) he would come up to me and ask for help. I'm pretty sure he only woke me up once. (um, jet lag? Or boredom? You be the judge).
This concert was probably my favorite from the entire conference. It was just full of good stuff. Also, lunch that day was at a place named Dok 19, which had a selection of burritos, pizzas, pasta, steaks and a full English breakfast. I had a Slovenian Quesadilla. This was by far the strangest thing I ate while in Slovenia. I vaguely remember going to the evening concert.
FRIDAY
Friday was mostly travel. Get up early (or rather, don't go to sleep), catch the shuttle at 6am, arrive at the airport at 7, depart at 8, and then hit Zurich (again) and Washington DC before finally arriving in Oklahoma City at 8pm.
So overall, it was a blast. The conference was alright, but the travel and the getting to see new places was fantastic. The language barrier wasn't nearly the problem I feared it might be (the majority of people are bilingual, and Coca-cola is a word in any language). Perhaps the most interesting part was how...not abnormal it felt. I didn't feel out of place. (well, unless I was wearing my OU sweatshirt). It was a great time, and I look forward to going back someday.
Creatures from the Black Bassoon selected for performance at EMUFest
Posted on 2012-09-24 14:27:29 by KyleThough I should probably write a post about my recent trip to Slovenia (it's coming, I promise), that post is preempted by the following announcement:
Creatures from the Black Bassoon (for fixed media) has been accepted for performance at the International Electroacoustic Music Festival of the Conservatorio S. Cecilia 2012 (EMUfest). The festival takes place from October 7th to 17th in Rome, Italy.
As much as I'd like to go, it's coming up pretty soon, and I did just get BACK from Europe after all. And I have to go to Ohio, which is not quite as old as Rome.
