#electronics course in philadelphia

[pttedu]

Karl Segars, a student from the manufacturing and automation program, shares his review and experience with PTTI. How, from knowing nothing, he learned and became one of the top electricians. And now is making a career in skilled trades. To know his story watch this video and if it makes you want to be the best electrician, enroll today!

[handeaux]

Cincinnati Was Fascinated By Talking Machines Whether Good, Bad Or Bogus

Professor Faber’s amazing “talking machine” arrived in Cincinnati to great fanfare in 1872 when that contraption shared a bill at Wood’s Theater with the famous Bandmanns, Daniel and Millicent. The celebrity thespians presented “The Merchant of Venice” and “The Corsican Brothers.” The talking machine recited whatever the professor told it to.

As early as 1844, the Cincinnati Enquirer carried reports of Austrian Joseph Faber’s progress in developing a mechanical device that could replicate human speech. The original “Professor” Faber, unhappy with progress on his own invention, killed himself in 1850, but the project was taken on by his nephew, also named Joseph Faber, who perfected the device and took it on tour. The Enquirer [25 January 1872] described it in some detail:

“On looking at it you see a table, on one end of which is a key-board with a number of levers similar to the hammers of a piano leading to an upright beam. At the front of this beam you see a mask from which you hear, in tones that remind one of a child’s trumpet, the measured enunciation of words. Back of this beam stands a pair of bellows which is operated by a treadle, and furnishes the air that is required to supply the instrument.”

Faber’s device was a sort of analog speech synthesizer, an ancestor of the Vocoder and similar electronic devices of the Twentieth Century. The operator, by pumping pedals and pressing keys, generated sounds resembling human speech. The Enquirer’s reporter, imagining no “practical utility,” was nevertheless impressed with the machine’s performance.

“During the exhibition the machine was made to speak in English, German, Greek and Hebrew. It beats the Professor speaking English, and but for the example of broken English he sets would speak almost as closely as anyone. It pronounced such words as Mississippi, Cincinnati, Chicago, Philadelphia with ease and clearness. Although it speaks with a decided German accent, one has less difficulty understanding it than the average German who has been three or four years in this country.”

While touring the United States, Professor Faber impressed impresario Phineas Taylor Barnum so much that the great showman renamed the machine as The Euphonium and engaged it and its operator for six months on a contract worth $20,000. Barnum brought the newly christened Euphonium back to Cincinnati in July 1872 as a highlight of his “Great Traveling World’s Fair.” That extravaganza also featured four giraffes, sea lions, herds of trained elephants, Fiji cannibals, American Indians, various dwarves and midgets and three rings of continual circus acts. Barnum’s Fair occupied the Union Baseball Grounds for four summer days at a time when Cincinnati had no professional baseball team. Reports indicate that Barnum got his money’s worth as his show became the hottest ticket in town. Barnum did well enough that he extended Faber’s contract for at least another year. The Euphonium continued to receive star billing when Barnum’s circus returned to Cincinnati in 1873.

Professor Faber continued to exhibit his talking machine well into the 1880s, several years after a very different sort of talking machine made its debut. Thomas Edison, the Genius of Menlo Park, unveiled his phonograph in 1877 and Cincinnati shifted its attentions to the new gadget in town. The Cincinnati Commercial dispatched a reporter to Edison’s laboratory and he filed [3 April 1878] a breathless dispatch:

“I saw the talking-machine, talked to it, and it talked back. You have heard about it, of course, but the story can not be an old one for years to come, and although the phonograph is as simple as a jackknife, it excites the awe of the beholder as a telegraph wire stirs up an Indian’s superstition”

It was another year before an actual phonograph arrived in Cincinnati, almost simultaneously with an early telephone. The Enquirer [5 June 1878] announced the dawn of a new age:

“The phonograph now on exhibition at Greenwood Hall had an increased number of visitors yesterday, our most prominent citizens leading what must become a rush to witness this real wonder, which, with the telephone, marks an era in science. It is impossible to describe the sensation created by this ‘talking’ machine, which gives back to one his own very words and tones in either speaking or singing, and which, many believe, is to revolutionize many things in social and business life.”

Edison’s mind-blowing machine inspired a couple of Cincinnati con artists to offer talking machine service to the great unwashed. At a time when phonographs cost the equivalent of $500 and cylinders the equivalent of $15 per in today’s coin, the opportunity to try out this revolutionary device for one thin dime was irresistible. According to Frank Y. Grayson’s wonderful book, “Pioneers of Night Life on Vine Street,” the flim-flam men set up shop just south of the canal.

“Across the front of the dump, spread a canvas which bore these words: ‘Come In and for a Dime Hear the Most Amazing Invention of the Age – the Talking Machine Extraordinary.’”

The dupes who fell for the pitch surrendered their ten cents and were handed a rubber mouthpiece attached to a long hose. They said their piece while the operator furiously cranked a large wheel, waited a moment and – voila! – their words of wisdom emerged from a rubber bulb sprouting a tin funnel.

“News of the wonderful invention flashed up and down the good old avenue, and the come-ons fell all over themselves getting into the place. The crooks made hay while the sun shone.”

Their demise came when the local beat cop stopped by and tested his elocution. He shouted, “What am I?” into the mouthpiece, the customary pause ensued and “What am I?” emerged faintly from the funnel – followed by a sneeze. “I didn’t sneeze,” said the cop and descended into the basement where he found a fat man in shirtsleeves, managing the other end of a couple of rubber hoses.

Talking machines so excited the imagination of Cincinnati’s residents that they infested the hallucinations of our cranks. The Enquirer [21 October 1900] related the case of Mrs. F.C. Lykins of Walnut Hills, who sent letters accusing a young man residing at the Union Bethel of annoying her with his talking machine. A detective determined that there was no such resident at the Union Bethel, and no one by that name living in the area. Mrs. Lykins insisted that voices from a talking machine filled the air around her head. The detective just smiled, closed his notebook, and headed back downtown.

[symbioteburnout]

@guardian-rocket​

Most would be freaking out right now, a bipedal raccoon just walking on down the street in the middle of broad daylight? Anyone would be having an episode looking at that, maybe calling animal control or an exterminator. Andrea Benton was not most people, the unfortunate girl knew better than that. Her mentor, Flash Thompson had done a brief stint with the Guardians on behalf of the Avengers, he’d told her all the stories. The Himbo captain, the angry amazonian woman (though he could have also been talking about Iqa), Drax, and of course the talking Tree and Raccoon. 

In addition to that, Andi met a different Rocket during that Venomverse thing.

So if anything, it might have been more surprising for Rocket that the Terran girl behind the counter of the record store didn’t really make a scene.

Andi’s attention went towards the door, like it always did with the door swung open, followed by the chime of the electronic bell. Not seeing one of Mitch’s regulars, her gaze went downwards to see the space faring Raccoon walking through the door.

“You guys get shipwrecked on Earth again, or are the Guardians taking a vacation?” Andi asked, casually greeting the stranger, there were only so many reasons a Guardian of the Galaxy would be wandering around Philadelphia.

It was either the cheese steaks or they were looking for Flash.

[thejoyofviolentmovement]

If you were frequenting this site over the course of the past few months, you might recall that last month I announced that I was selected as an inaugural member of the Asian Arts Initiative’s Sound Type Music Writers Workshop in Philadelphia.  Sound Type is Asian Arts Initiative’s Music Festival and Writers Residency designed to support and uplift new, experimental and courageous music from the Asian Diaspora and beyond. The Asian Art Initiative will also provide a series of workshops, gatherings and mentorships to primarily BIPOC musicians, journalists and critics to help build a sustainable ecosystem for them.  As a member of the workshop. I’ll be attending and writing about the showcases of the Sound Type Musical Festival, as well as other music-related programs at the festival. The commentary, articles, interviews and reviews will be published after the 2024 season.  The first show of the series will feature Victoria Shen with Qiujiang Levi Lu on March 23, 2024. Shen’s work eschews conventions in harmony and rhythm in favor of extreme and abrasive textures and gestural tones built around analog modular synthesizers, vinyl/resin record and self-built electronics. My understanding is that tickets are still available for the show. So, Philadelphia friends, come on through to check out a night of boundary-pushing music — and hang out with your boy. Maybe we can stop at Bar or Tattooed Mom after. https://asianartsinitiative.org/programs/victoria-shen-live-in-concert Before the show, AAI will be hosting two events: Friday, March 22, 2024: A Conversation with Victoria Shen. Moderated by Joyce Chung, Curator at Asian Arts Initiative, the pair will delve into the creative practice behind Shen’s current exhibition at AAI and how Shen experiments with making instruments and spatial relationship of sound. This event is free but you need to sign up for tickets. Information can be found here: https://asianartsinitiative.org/programs/victoria-shen-artist-talk Saturday, March 23, 2024: Sound Type Seminar with Victoria Shen and writer and designer Mindy Seu, moderated by AAI’s Anne Ishii. The pair will discuss their boundary-pushing work and its relation to Sound Type’s mission: uplifting new, experimental, courageous music from the Asian diaspora and beyond! https://asianartsinitiative.org/programs/sound-type-seminar-victoria-shen-and-mindy-seu Check out the bios and information on me and the rest of the fascinating and extremely talented members of the Music Writers cohort, check out the following link:  https://asianartsinitiative.org/news/meet-our-writers-2024-sound-type-music-writers-workshop

[toto0000000]

Turner, thank you to the fans who gave a standing

Turner, thank you to the fans who gave a standing ovation despite the slump after the mega FA contract

Trey Turner (30, Philadelphia) borrowed a local electronic signboard to thank his home fans for giving him a standing ovation for three days.

Philadelphia is famous for having many big fans among the 30 Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. Some players say, "Philadelphia is a hard place to play baseball because of fans."

Turner, who signed an 11-year $300 million contract with Philadelphia ahead of this season, also had to be booed by home fans as he performed close to "career low" after the opening.

Even Turner's mother, who is famous for sending cold feedback on Turner's game, said she had booed her son's play.

Turner had a batting average of 0.235 and an on-base percentage of 0.290 and a slugging percentage of 0.368 before the game on the 5th.

However, Philadelphia fans decided to give "small kindness" instead of booing for Turner, who showed extreme remorse in every interview after his defeat.

Ahead of the three consecutive home games against Kansas City on the 5th and 7th, opinions quickly spread online to "send Turner a standing ovation for this time."

Turner's first at-bat, all standing spectators

The first of three consecutive games. Philadelphia fans cheered and stood up when Turner entered the batter's box in the bottom of the second inning with Philadelphia leading 2-0.

Turner stepped down with a hit in his first two at-bats, but he hit a timely hit in his third at-bat, breaking his no-hit silence for three consecutive games.

On this day, Turner's mother also let go of her coolness for a while. Turner said, "My mother said she had been crying since her first at-bat."

Turner's three-run home run in response to fans' cheers

However, Turner could not fully enjoy the cheers of his fans as his team lost 5-7 in the first game.

And the next day, he sent a proper 'response' to fans' support with a home run.

Turner hit a come-from-behind three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning, trailing 5-6. It was the 11th gun of the season that exploded about a month after the 9th of last month

As soon as eye contact with Turner, who returned to the dugout after hitting a home run, Philadelphia manager Rob Thompson pointed his head outside the dugout.

It meant to go outside and make a "curtain call" to greet cheering fans once again.

Turner ranks 12th among shortstop in the league with an OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 0.669 this season.

However, during the three consecutive games in which home fans gave unconditional support, he flew with four hits (two doubles), one home run, and five RBIs in 12 at-bats

Turner, who later borrowed 12 local billboards to thank his fans, said, "I wanted to convey a message of appreciation for the support from the stadium. Of course, I said thank you in the interview, but I wanted to repay you more."

"When I was young, I couldn't think much about these things. I feel like I'm dreaming and I'm only trying to play baseball hard. But as we get older, we learn more important things," he added.

Bryce Harper (31), a "big contract senior" who joined Philadelphia with a 13-year $330 million contract in 2019, said, "It must have been a great moment for Turner to feel that fans and we are always behind."

He emphasized, "Not only Turner but also us, as a team, we should not forget that fans support us in any situation."

[pttiedu]

Electrician Job: Learning The Importance Of Tool Maintenance

Electrician job requires electricians to perform several duties. Tool maintenance and repair is one among one of the most important duties. Learn more.

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[thedevilallthetime-novel]

Charlotte + Willard <3

Finding true love is a once in a lifetime experience. Honestly, it is something that most people never come close to finding. Though this scene is from the movie, I always found it particularly beautiful because this is when Williard and his future wife Charlotte first met. He knew instantly when he saw her that they would be married someday. The way he was instantly enamored with her is that old kind of love that you don’t find in my generation anymore. Though their love isn’t always the healthiest due to his trauma, it is genuine. Being discharged from service, Willard was on a bus to his home city of Philadelphia. As normal, the bus had to make a stop so he went to the local diner. After not being served, he began to leave, but then Charlotte appeared behind the counter. After first seeing her, “Willard discovered, when she asked what he wanted to eat, that the spit had dried in his mouth. He could barely speak. That had never happened before, even in the worst battle… As best as Willard could tell, that is when he fell in love.” Pollock, p. 16. Over the course of the next few pages, their love begins to develop. Willard, never catching Charlotte’s name despite his newfound love for her, makes it a mission to travel back to Ohio and find her. Years later, they’re married and have a child together. They settled down for a few years in her hometown before moving to Knockemstiff. Even though they’re a fictional couple, it shows that love has no bounds and that “when you know, you know”. Life was so much different in the 40s-50s timeframe and it's likely that events such as Willard’s and Charlotte’s happened all the time. Not having electronics in the way of human connection, you’re able to build genuine bonds that can change the course of your life. Being a part of this generation, I doubt that people are able to meet their soulmates like they did because of how shy and distracted we all are. You would think that with the numerous methods of communication we have now it’d be easier, but I guess not. 

[burlveneer-music]

Crash Course In Science - Situational Awareness LP / EE018 / PREVIEW

preview of brand new 10-track LP by Crash Course In Science, released on 2 October 2017 / 300 hand-numbered vinyl & digital (digital release 23 October 2017) // clone.nl/item47762.html & electronicemergencies.bandcamp.com/album/s…areness A1. Some Change / A2. Distant Drum / A3. Fake Plastic / A4. So Pantsed / A5. Miscommunication / B1. Drive / B2. I'm Here To Tease / B3. Passage / B4. The Lightning / B5. Chairs

With Situational Awareness, post-punk legends Crash Course In Science deliver a ten track album consisting entirely of brand new material. The songs on Situational Awareness sound crisp and ultra-fresh, while the band from Philadelphia, USA, maintains their distinctive DIY sound created by toys, kitchen appliances and self-built synths. Far beyond new wave, the music is experimental and danceable at the same time - science and art, together hand in hand.

[pttedu]

According to current thinking, technical occupations tend to be the ones that are doing well. In the technological industry, an electrician's career is possible. So, if you're curious about what you may expect to gain from enrolling in an electrical course, keep reading because this article will highlight several advantages.

[chaospanics]

⇢ DECEMBER PLAYLIST ⇠

Also: my best of 2021 playlist (it has a lot of crossover with what’s posted monthly here).

This was a nice project for me to upkeep the past year! I’m not sure if I’ll keep doing this to the same extent in ‘22 (posts will probably look like August’s) but having a little archive of one of the most eventful and fulfilling years of my life (despite the circumstances) through music is really cool. 😊 Thanks for joining me xoxo Faves as usual:

Bearwear - The Incomplete Circle

Bearwear is an indie / alternative rock band formed in 2016 by Kazma and Kou. In 2020, their 1st full album The Incomplete Circle, which was selected for Fuji Rock "ROOKIE A GO-GO 2020", will be released. It is an iconic work that realizes a modern sound production that resonates with the current global indie scene. As a vocalist, "Miraco (fluctuation)" and Singaporean artist "Celine Autumn (Sobs)" also participated in the singing.

ROCK - ROCK

Twitter, that great big ball of online hate, is bad for many things but the occasional joyous interaction seeps through the rancour. Such as the time hip-hop and electronica whizz MALK sent out a tweet from his Philadelphia lair asking for interested vocalists to make contact. The only reply was from Chris Adams (Hood/Bracken) and it was cryptic. Cue two years later the duo unveil the results of their hook up and it’s pretty damn spectacular. They’ve called themselves ROCK which is of course the best name for a band ever and if it’s not a total cliche snarling opener ‘Shimmering In Freeform’ ROCKS and swings as if the duo had something to get off their chest after all this lockdown nonsense. Over increasingly distorted guitars and a sludgy rhythm, Adams wails near indistinguishable rhymes that never quite reveal themselves. It’s a stunning call to arms which sets the tone for the unique blend of ‘90s lo-fi, hip-hop and electronica that is slung out throughout.

shedfromthebody - To Hold The Ripened Sun

Shedfromthebody is an independent doomgaze / alternative metal artist from Espoo, Finland. Her music paints a distorted, ethereal landscape, through which she carries her songs with hauntingly beautiful vocals and lone, wailing guitars. With primary roots in doom metal, doom folk, and early 2000s alternative, Shedfromthebody's music varies from grim to comforting, from crushingly heavy to light and airy. Suvi Savikko, the brains behind this one-woman project, has been active since 2018 and released her debut album, A Dead and Aimless Hum, in May of 2020. She has roots in visual art, and the same aesthetic sensibilities have greatly influenced her music. She has also produced darkwave music under the name 1X4X44R, and composed music for Perfect Garbage Studios' game Love Shore.

Leftovers:

HOO - We Shall Never Speak

What or HOO do you get if you mix members of Slowdive, Beechwood Sparks with uncompromising folk angel, producer-songwriter and organic gardener with a penchant for wah-wah, Nick Holton? The answer is the wide-screen, heartbreaking glory of HOO’s second album We Shall Never Speak. A more song filled leap forward from debut Centipede Wisdom’s post-rock electro adventures. The detail and texture is extraordinary. A glorious hybrid of an album that over eight songs builds into something unique. Epic and homegrown. Upbeat and melancholic. Questing and questioning. Haunted by loss but future-facing. It’s a genuine marvel. Holton’s roots grew from the now re-eulogised ‘90’s Reading shoegaze scene. In its wake founding DIY 4 trackers Coley Park for three exquisite, prescient albums of country psych. For the ensuing 25 years he’s been a constant collaborator/provocateur to many of the scene’s diaspora. Most recently as one third of Black Hearted Brother with Neil Halstead and Mark Van Hoen. 

Kraus - View No Country

Part noise, part electronic, part gaze, all experimental… but not in any derogatory sense. Too often an artist will tag “experimental” to cover for the idea that ‘what you’re about to hear is inaccessible and offputting.’ The truly great artist will make the experimental accessible, grab your hand, and take you along a journey. That’s the path the one-man project Kraus has been hewing with great results, and earning much adulation along the way... Nobody expects quietness from Kraus, it’s just not in the sonic palette. It’s at this point we celebrate the forthcoming album, View No Country, due 22 October on a Terrible Records sub-imprint of the same name. (DKFM)

(cover image credit)

[symbioteburnout]

@stxrlxrds​

Painted fingernails tapped against the hard counter top of the seemingly deserted music store in West Philadelphia. The world passing Andrea Benton by outside while she languished inside. She’d reorganized the CD racks, dusted the vinyl displays, rearranged all the cassette tapes, and even played on one of the display guitars while her boss was on his break.

Now it was just a few hours left on her shift, hours that felt like literal days. The slow pace of time being on her mind so much that, of course, ‘Time in a Bottle’ began playing over the store’s sound system.

Hope soon arrived though, a relief from the boredom. She was actually looking forward to providing good customer service for once, as the door to the store swung open, followed by the sound of the electronic bell, and a man walking in. “Hey, how’s it going?” She greeted, looking up from the counter and the half empty paper cup of coffee she’d been drinking.

[soundrooms]

Soundrs: William Fields

My name is William Fields. I live in Arden, Delaware, just south of Philadelphia on the East Coast of the USA. I make non-functional, future-oriented electronic music.

My newest album is ➜ Bokuseki  My 24-hour algorithmic music project is ➜ FieldsOS  My website is ➜ https://williamfields.com/  On social media:

    ➜ Twitter

    ➜ Instagram  Why do you make music?  I played the drums for a bit as a kid, but otherwise I am self-taught. I grew up listening to a lot of different music, but hiphop was a big part of it. I discovered electronic music in high school and was hooked for life. For some reason it resonates with my brain. On a fundamental level, I suppose I make music because I enjoy the process and because the results are rewarding. Music provides me with an endless source of learning and exploration and problems to solve. It gives me a sense of accomplishment and pride. And maybe in some small way, it’s given me an opportunity to inspire others and leave the world a little better than I found it. On a practical level, music has given me the opportunity to connect with really great people around the world and to travel occasionally for shows, which adds some adventure and excitement to my life.  What are your inspiration sources?  Rhythm: Photek, Squarepusher, Untold, Rian Treanor, Mark Fell, Kindohm Sonics: Autechre, Drum and bass (Noisia & friends) Groove: J Dilla, Flying Lotus, Aoki Takamasa Improvisation: Jazz, Indian Classical Ideas: Brian Eno, John Cage, Thich Nhat Hanh, Yuval Noah Harari, Austin Kleon, George Saunders, Haruki Murakami, various podcasts, my good friend Qebo.  Tell us something about your workflow.  I am always working on my music system (my “instrument”): adding features, removing features, adjusting algorithms, refining, tweaking, etc. You could think of my system as a huge, complex modular patch with hundreds of modules, that has a nice UI, full generative capabilities, and easy state management, but at a tiny fraction of the cost and it fits in my backpack. I ♥ Computers In the process of working on my system, I will occasionally feel inspired by something, so I will hit record and improvise. Most of these improvisations are crap and get thrown away. But, occasionally something magical happens, and those recordings end up getting released. If I know I have a release coming up, I will sometimes have dedicated recording sessions. Some of my favorite releases (like Shackamaxon) have been recorded in the course of a single day.  How would creative rituals benefit your workflow?  Good question. I don’t practice any creative rituals. But, I’m pretty sure going for a vigorous walk beforehand is a good idea. Gets the blood flowing to the brain.

How do you get in the zone?  It usually takes me around fifteen minutes before things really start flowing. So the first few tracks of a session tend to be stiff and self-conscious. In a stressful live performance situation, I’ve found that a little bit of tequila helps!  How do you start a track?  These days, my tracks tend to start with a snapshot that is algorithmically generated by my music system. It is much better at finding interesting musical spaces than I am. So, I will sit there and hit the randomize button until something inspiring comes out. Then I will hit record and improvise with it. I also keep a collection of interesting snapshots that I can load at random. So sometimes I will flip through those until I find something good and improvise based on that.  Do you have a special template?  Yes! I never start from a blank slate. The template is everything. It is my instrument. It has been burned into my muscle memory. I can control the music without thinking about it. I have been working on it since 2012. The fundamental structure is: LEMUR (controller) ➜ Javascript (for state generation/capture/recall) ➜ REAPER (sequencing, synthesis, fx) REAPER is the core of my music system. It is where the sequences are generated, the synthesis is done, and the FX are applied. 

The visuals are generated in real time, triggered by the music via MIDI. So there is very tight correlation between audio and visual events. I am not using audio analysis. The visuals are done in Javascript, running in Chromium. I use Visual Studio Code for development. 

For the visuals I am mainly using three.js. Thank you Mr. Doob! On the music side, I am hugely indebted to Justin Frankel (REAPER) and the Surge Synth Team. What I do would not be possible without their amazing work. What do you put on the master channel?  I try to put as little as possible on the master channel. I have some metering stuff like a spectrum analyzer, an oscilloscope, a goniometer, and a loudness meter. Other than that, the only thing is a waveshaper. It adds saturation, glues everything together nicely, and tames the peaks without reducing the impact of the transients. I’m not sure of the technical term, but it’s a special kind of waveshaper that folds over the waveform when it hits 0 dbFS instead of flat-topping it.  How do you arrange and finish a track?  I perform and record the music in real time to a single stereo pair. I don’t do any arrangement, layering, or multi-track editing after the fact.  How do you store and organize your projects?  When I record something, it goes onto the desktop and on to my phone. When I listen back to it later, if it has potential for release, I put it in a “Release Candidates” folder. Otherwise I throw it in the archive, probably never to be heard again. When it’s time to compile a release, I go through the “Release Candidates” folder and pick out my favorite stuff.

How do you take care of studio ergonomics?  I work in software, so my physical studio setup is very minimal. I have a motorized standing desk, so I can easily switch between sitting and standing.  Tell us something about your daily routine, how is your day structured, how do you make room for creativity?  I work at a day job four days a week to make a living. I have Fridays off and focus on music. I’ve found that mornings are best for detail-oriented tasks like programming and critical listening related to the mix/mastering of my system. Afternoons seem to be best for improvising and recording. Sometimes I wonder if all this music stuff is just an elaborate excuse for me to play with computers. Having said that, I am always thinking about music, listening back to recordings, taking notes on my phone, and making small adjustments throughout the week. I don’t need a big chunk of time. I am able to work in small bits here and there. Also, sometimes while working my day job I set my system to auto-generate new music every thirty seconds. Occasionally something really good will happen and I’ll run over to my computer and hit “Save” so I can perform with it later.  Share a quick producing tip.  (1) Don’t start from scratch every time! Build your instrument. Practice with it. Develop your muscle memory so it becomes fast and intuitive. This approach helps you to develop your own voice, and it’s much more fun than laboring over a DAW for endless hours until you hate your own music! (2) Always level match when doing A/B comparisons. If a plugin is increasing gain by as little as 0.1 db, it will sound better to your ear, even if it is actually damaging the sound. (3) Process as close to the source as possible. Instead of putting it on the master, put it on a bus. Instead of putting it on a bus, put it directly on the track. Instead of processing the track, fix it directly in the synthesis.  Share a link to an interesting website (doesn’t have to be music related).  I just discovered the Solarpunk movement and I think it’s really inspiring. Here’s the ➜ Solarpunk manifesto.  List ten sounds you are hearing right this moment : )  Cicadas Airplanes Cars in the distance Computer keyboard clacking as I type My own breathing That’s all I got. The cicadas are too loud!

Thank you William! Any other mad sound scientists out there?

[newstfionline]

Friday, September 3, 2021

US faith groups unite to help Afghanistan refugees after war (AP) America’s major religions and denominations, often divided on other big issues, have united behind the effort to help receive an influx of refugees from Afghanistan following the end of the United States’ longest war and one of the largest airlifts in history. Among those gearing up to help are Jewish refugee resettlement agencies and Islamic groups; conservative and liberal Protestant churches; and prominent Catholic relief organizations, providing everything from food and clothes to legal assistance and housing. “It’s incredible. It’s an interfaith effort that involved Catholic, Lutheran, Muslim, Jews, Episcopalians ... Hindus ... as well as nonfaith communities who just believe that maybe it’s not a matter of faith, but it’s just a matter of who we are as a nation,” said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. The U.S. and its coalition partners have evacuated more than 100,000 people from Afghanistan since the airlift began Aug. 14, including more than 5,400 American citizens and many Afghans who helped the U.S. during the 20-year war.

Hurricane Ida’s aftermath, recovery uneven across Louisiana (AP) In New Orleans, an ongoing power outage after Hurricane Ida is making the sweltering summer unbearable. But in some areas outside the city, that misery is compounded by a lack of water, flooded neighborhoods and severely damaged homes. Four days after Hurricane Ida struck, the storm’s aftermath—and progress in recovering from it—are being felt unevenly across affected communities in Louisiana. In New Orleans, power was restored Wednesday to a small number of homes and businesses, city crews had some streets almost completely cleared of fallen trees and debris and a few corner stores reopened. Outside New Orleans, neighborhoods remained flooded and residents were still reeling from damage to their homes and property. More than 1,200 people were walking through some of Ida’s hardest-hit communities to look for those needing help, according to the Louisiana Fire Marshal’s office.

More than 45 dead after Ida’s remnants blindside Northeast (AP) A stunned U.S. East Coast faced a rising death toll, surging rivers and tornado damage Thursday after the remnants of Hurricane Ida walloped the region with record-breaking rain, drowning more than 40 people in their homes and cars. In a region that had been warned about potentially deadly flash flooding but hadn’t braced for such a blow from the no-longer-hurricane, the storm killed at least 46 people from Maryland to Connecticut on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. In New York, nearly 500 vehicles were abandoned on flooded highways, garbage bobbed in streaming streets and water cascaded into the city’s subway tunnels, trapping at least 17 trains and disrupting service all day. Videos online showed riders standing on seats in swamped cars. All were safely evacuated, with police aiding 835 riders and scores of people elsewhere. The National Weather Service said the ferocious storm also spawned at least 10 tornadoes from Maryland to Massachusetts, including a 150-mph (241 kph) twister that splintered homes and toppled silos in Mullica Hill, New Jersey, south of Philadelphia.

President’s murder inquiry slow amid Haiti’s multiple crises (AP) In the nearly two months since President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated, Haiti has suffered a devastating earthquake and a drenching tropical storm, the twin natural disasters deflecting attention from the man-made one that preceded them. Add the constant worry over deteriorating security at the hands of gangs that by some estimates control territory that’s home to about a fifth of Haiti’s 11 million citizens, and the investigation into Moïse’s killing is fast fading from the public consciousness. Even those still paying attention, demanding accountability and pressuring for a thorough investigation give no chance to the crime’s masterminds being brought to justice in a country where impunity reigns. It doesn’t help that Moïse was despised by a large portion of the population. “The hope for finding justice for Jovenel is zero,” said Pierre Esperance, executive director of the National Human Rights Defense Network.

Fancy a beer in Britain? In some pubs, supplies are running low. (Washington Post) Fears are brewing among pint-loving Brits amid reports of a national beer shortage. Some pubs say they are running low on pints of Carling and Coors—the latest victims of the United Kingdom’s supply chain crisis, sparked by Brexit and exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, that has led to headline-grabbing scarcities of items including McDonald’s milkshakes, beloved Nando’s chicken and the polarizing breakfast spread Marmite. “We are experiencing some supply problems,” a spokesman for pub chain Wetherspoons said Tuesday, apologizing for any inconvenience caused to customers. The lack of beer has been attributed to the ongoing shortage of truck drivers to transport goods, a problem sparked by Britain’s decision to leave the European Union following a 2016 referendum that divided the country. The driver shortage has not been helped by the country’s “pingdemic,” in which tens of thousands of workers were forced to self-isolate after being contacted by the National Health Service app for coming into contact with someone who tested positive for coronavirus.

Merkel steps down with legacy dominated by tackling crises (AP) Angela Merkel will leave office as one of modern Germany’s longest-serving leaders and a global diplomatic heavyweight, with a legacy defined by her management of a succession of crises that shook a fragile Europe rather than any grand visions for her own country. In 16 years at the helm of Europe’s biggest economy, Merkel did end military conscription, set Germany on course for a future without nuclear and fossil-fueled power, and introduce a national minimum wage and benefits encouraging fathers to look after young children, among other things. But a senior ally recently summed up what many view as her main service: as an anchor of stability in stormy times. He told Merkel: “You protected our country well.”

India locks down Kashmir after top separatist leader’s death (AP) Indian authorities cracked down on public movement and imposed a near-total communications blackout Thursday in disputed Kashmir after the death of Syed Ali Geelani, a top separatist leader who became the emblem of the region’s defiance against New Delhi. Geelani, who died late Wednesday at age 92, was buried in a quiet funeral at a local graveyard organized by authorities under harsh restrictions, his son Naseem Geelani told The Associated Press. “They snatched his body and forcibly buried him. Nobody from the family was present for his burial. We tried to resist but they overpowered us and even scuffled with women,” said Naseem Geelani. As most Kashmiris remained locked inside their homes, armed police and soldiers patrolled the tense region. Government forces placed steel barricades and razor wire across many roads, bridges and intersections and set up additional checkpoints across towns and villages in the Kashmir Valley. Authorities cut most of cellphone networks and mobile internet service in a common tactic employed by India in anticipation of mass protests.

Women and technology in Japan (NYT) Japan is facing a severe shortage of workers in technology and engineering. And in university programs that produce workers in these fields, Japan has some of the lowest percentages of women in the developed world. Up to age 15, Japanese girls and boys perform equally well in math and science on international standardized tests. But at this critical juncture, when students must choose between the science and humanities tracks in high school, girls appear to lose confidence and interest in math and science. In these fields, the higher the educational level, the fewer the women, a phenomenon many blame on cultural expectations. “The sex-based division of labor is deeply rooted,” one young woman said. To help change the trend, two women with science backgrounds co-founded a nonprofit called Waffle, which runs one-day tech camps for middle and high school girls. Asumi Saito and Sayaka Tanaka offer career lectures and hands-on experiences that emphasize problem solving, community, and entrepreneurship to counter the stereotypically geeky image of technology. “Our vision is to close the gender gap by empowering and educating women in technology,” Saito said.

Taiwan Warns China Can ‘Paralyze’ Island’s Defenses in Conflict (Bloomberg) Taiwan warned that China could “paralyze” its defenses in a conflict, a stark new assessment expected to fuel calls in Washington for more support for the democratically ruled island. China is able to neutralize Taiwan’s air-and-sea defenses and counter-attack systems with “soft and hard electronic attacks,” Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said in an annual report to lawmakers seen by Bloomberg News. The document offered a more alarming assessment than last year’s report, which had said China still lacked the capability to launch an assault. While Beijing isn’t believed to possess the transport and logistical capacity necessary for an invasion of Taiwan’s large and mountainous main island, the ministry recommended monitoring Chinese efforts to expand training and preparations for complex landing operations. China already has the ability to seize Taiwan’s surrounding islands, it said.

Those left in Afghanistan complain of broken US promises (AP) Even in the final days of Washington’s chaotic airlift in Afghanistan, Javed Habibi was getting phone calls from the U.S. government promising that the green card holder from Richmond, Virginia, his wife and their four daughters would not be left behind. He was told to stay home and not worry, that they would be evacuated. Late Monday, however, his heart sank as he heard that the final U.S. flights had left Kabul’s airport, followed by the blistering staccato sound of Taliban gunfire, celebrating what they saw as their victory over America. “They lied to us,” Habibi said of the U.S. government. He is among hundreds of American citizens and green card holders stranded in the Afghan capital. Victoria Nuland, undersecretary of state for political affairs, would not address individual cases but said all U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents who could not get evacuation flights or were otherwise stranded had been contacted individually in the past 24 hours and told to expect further information about routes out once those have been arranged.

[shamandrummer]

Milford Graves, Visionary Drummer, Dead At 79

Drummer, scientist, educator and improviser Milford Graves died in his Queens, N.Y. home around 3 p.m. on Fri., Feb. 12. He was 79. Lois, his wife of sixty-one years, confirmed that the cause was congestive heart failure. Mr. Graves was surrounded by Lois, his five children (four daughters and a son), his beloved granddaughter, Tatiana, and a cross-section of students across generations who had bestowed him with the honorific "Professor," a nod to his guidance in music, botany, martial arts and metaphysics.

Milford Graves was Professor Emeritus of Music at Bennington College in Vermont, where he taught the power and aesthetic of Black Music as a faculty member from 1973-2012. He used his platform there to express his many ideas, most well beyond the confines of the performance stage, operating instead as a kind of shamanic artist and teacher, whose emotional and intellectual connection to traditional music he fused with scientific inquiry and study.

Graves graduated from the Eastern School for Physicians' Aids in the 1960s, and worked in a diagnostic veterinary lab for two years. He purchased an album of stethoscopic heart recordings during a lunch break in 1973, and its content led him to pursue the path of his life's work: He began to record heartbeats and transcribe them into music notation. What started as a rudimentary documentation on reel-to-reel tape increased in sophistication with the adoption of advanced computing technology, culminating in Mr. Graves's use of algorithms to create visualizations and sound data that plotted the human heartbeat and its varied electrical states for the purpose of healing. His discoveries led to a patent for preparing non-embryonic stem cells from a tissue derivative, subjecting those cells to vibrations from a heart sound to control the degree of differentiation into several other types of cells. He once said, "Drumming should be taught in medical school. Know your beats. There are subtleties in the heartbeat that cannot be picked up through electronic imaging," and his scientific rigor on heart rates informed a non-linear approach to playing rhythm.

Graves was a prominent jazz drummer and percussionist from the 1960s New York avant-garde and free-jazz movements. New York City in the 1960s was an artistic cauldron, and the ideas of freedom and struggle coursing through the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements began to manifest in an expansive view of improvisation and music-making. The avant-garde, or New Thing, loosened certain strictures and gave improvisers like Graves an opportunity for wide-open self expression, and even established artists like Coltrane seemed to be drawing from the same creative well. "Milford played how he felt music should sound related to what was around him," says longtime friend and collaborator, drummer and composer Andrew Cyrille. The music felt like a departure from tradition, and some writers derided the striking new music with withering criticism. Meanwhile, Graves was transforming the role of the drums. He viewed his holistic approach to drums as an extension of how he lived with "outside forces having less control of you, allowing you to have more flexibility, more freedom and listening to the vibrations of the earth, that nature gave you."

Graves also began exploring martial arts in the late 1960s. He created a new form called Yara, from the Yoruban word meaning "nimble." He followed a teacher's interest in the praying mantis as a model. He subsequently bought and released these insects into his own garden, followed their movements and developed his own martial arts study based on their natural behavior. This inspired the title of a 2018 documentary on Graves, Full Mantis.

When his grandmother died, in 1970, Graves moved into her modest 20th-century home at the corner of Brinkerhoff  Avenue and 156th Street in Queens, just blocks from the South Jamaica Houses he once called home. He personalized the lot and dwelling with a distinctive flair, adding stone and ceramic architectural elements to the exterior structure in a playful style akin to Antonio Gaudi. He created an organic garden to promote healing arts and added a dojo to teach Yara. Inside there's murals, sculptures and drums from around the world; a downstairs laboratory includes dried herbs and botany research, elixirs, Eastern medicine texts and acupuncture practice juxtaposed with electrocardiogram machines and computer monitors. And books. Lots of books. Graves was a generous polymath who openly shared his knowledge.

Mark Christman, artistic director of Ars Nova Workshop, has been measuring and curating aspects of Graves' immense contribution to music, science, botany and martial arts over the last several years. The collection spent four months at Philadelphia's Institute for Contemporary Art, with a five-week pause due to pandemic restrictions. The exhibit, A Mind-Body Deal, drew more than 2,000 attendees and over 5,000 participants to its many virtual events, including a solo performance from Moran. "Milford Graves offers a perspective that isn't limited by the way we've been forced to learn," says Christman. "That linear way of study doesn't allow a mixture or mash-up of thoughts and decision-making. That's why he's adored, and people looked to him for answers."

To learn more about Milford Graves, read “Taking Rhythm to Heart.”

[milliethekitty27-writing]

Home Is Where the Heart Is

Alfred has a house in Washington D.C. Obviously. It’s his capital city. He listened to eons of fighting over where they’d put the capital after Philadelphia and New York weren’t enough anymore, and D.C. got a White House and a Capital and all other fun things. Don’t get him wrong, D.C. was fun! But it was exhausting. Meetings and expensive lunches and expensive parking lots. He could break away sometimes, go to the Mall and look at the museums, photobomb tourists, or hop onto the metro and go look at the zoo.

Sometimes, though, D.C. was too much and he wanted to get away.

Every nation lives in their capital, it’s true. Alfred has a townhouse, with one room dedicated to his nerd stuff and an office dedicated to being a nation. His bedroom is clean and tidy and almost always lit by the glow of some electronic. His kitchen is small and cramped and he likes it that way, because whether he’s making Thanksgiving dinner or watching popcorn in the microwave his house can get lonely. He’s been to Arthur’s London apartment, he’s sat in Matthew’s flat in Ottawa to watch hockey games, he was there to help move a dining table in to Ludwig’s Berlin condo.

Every nation, though, has places they love. 

Matthew has a house in the middle of nowhere up in the very north of Yukon. He goes up for a month in the winter or in the summer, whenever he can get away, and lives off the land, or he goes to his house in Quebec to sink back into his Francophone side. He’ll go to Toronto and stay in his apartment for a bit to catch a hockey game or off to Vancouver to enjoy life on the west coast. Arthur lives mostly in London, but he’ll go to his modest cottage in Kent or off to Northumberland for a bit. Francis might live in Paris for most of the year, but he’ll go south to the beaches in the summer or into the very north to visit Belgium. 

Alfred? Oh, his country is wide and beautiful and full of anything he could want. He has a cabin in Alaska for when his itch for adventure pulls him to the great outdoors, for fishing and hiking and bears and dumb brothers who throw snowballs. He’s got an apartment in Louisiana right in the prime location for Mardi Gras but not too close to the Quarter. He’s got a home in New York (state, not the city) to go stay in the middle of nowhere in the woods when Alaska is just a bit too far. 

That’s not to say that Alfred doesn’t go anywhere else! He loves the Delaware beaches, the fresh peaches in Georgia. He loves the Grand Canyon and all it has to offer him. He goes to Hawaii every year even if only for a little, because it is beautiful there for all its problems, just to swim with sharks and admire the fish. He loves visiting things. He may not love his politic but he loves what his country (what he?) has to offer.

He has had other houses too, old ones. He grew up in Virginia, where Arthur would come to visit smelling of salt and tea and spices, and that had been sold after the revolution because he didn’t own it. He had a home in Philadelphia, small and cramped but very cozy, but that had mostly been empty when he’d been at George’s side and he’d sold it when the capital was settled. His house in Kansas had been flattened by a tornado and the Depression had struck before he could rebuild it. He’d gotten tired of the heat of Florida, especially after being bitten by an alligator. (how do you explain why you didn’t lose a limb to your neighbors even though they saw it almost ripped off?) California was always on fire and he was tired of rebuilding. He’d gotten frostbite living in Michigan in the 1800s and he’d had enough of that. (plus Matthew had come over on a boat, kicked his ass for something, then disappeared into the night. That had been hard to explain to his neighbors too. Matt causes a lot of his problems, but that’s what brothers do.)

So yes, Alfred lives in Washington D.C. Of course he does. That’s where he works, that’s where he fulfills his duty as Nation. It’s just... that’s not only place he lives. Alfred loves to walk through small Texas towns and find the best barbecue, he loves to sit on his porch in Alaska and hear an eagle somewhere in the sky. He loves to sink into the crowd during Mardi Gras and only head up to his apartment to pee. He lives in his capital because he works there, but he is more than just Washington D.C.

Home is where the heart is, and his heart is all over the nation. 

----

Thank you for reading!

I thought about where Alfred would live and I picked a few places that I liked or that I thought would be good getaways. I loved Louisiana but it’s too hot for me. Too many bugs. Either way, there’s no way a nation doesn’t just disappear into their wilds for at least a little between trips and meetings. I imagine that as long as they can be reached, it’s not a big deal. Unless their boss is a big bitchy baby. But that’s a different thing…

[digitalmarketingphila]

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