Smithy Posted November 2, 2007 Report Share Posted November 2, 2007 http://www.onebitmusic.com/More of a concept than an album, so i put it in the misc section.This guy has released a lofi electronica album, in the form of an electronic ciruit with a synth chip, and headphone output, enclosed in a jewel CD case.Its an extremely cool idea, but the sounds the chip can do are extremely limited!Very bleepy, but if this caught on and the sound was improved it would be a pretty cool way of listening to music.Stick in a Sid chip or Yamaha FM chip with a microcontroller, and youd get much more pleasant sounds.(i dont think you'd want to give away a sid chip with a single though! :P)The first track is absolutely horrible , the same wafeform sequence going on for about 40 seconds before it kicks in.The 3rd is a 1-bit version of a fisherspooner track thats much better.......http://www.onebitmusic.com/music/TristanPerich-OneBitMusicPrereleases-09-JustLetGo(FischerSpooner).mp3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy Posted November 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2007 Heres a full interview with Tristan himself.It appears its a microchip after all, with software programmed onto it:http://www.cantaloupemusic.com/album.php?catno=ca21042What is 1-bit music?1-Bit Music is an album of low-fi electronic music that is generated by electronics packaged in a standard CD jewel case. Plug it in and you'll have 45 minutes of electronica, ranging from drum and bass to minimalism to electronic noise, played through the headphone jack.How does it work?I programmed software that generates music onto a microcomputer, which is packaged with a few other components inside the CD jewel case. It gets its power from a battery - you can switch it on and off; there are stereo volume knobs, a headphone jack and a skip button to change tracks. I write the software on a computer and download the code onto the chip. The music itself is coded as numbers that represent notes.Who would like it?The music bridges the sound worlds of electronica, minimalism and noise. Some tracks are totally danceable and some dive into the deeper parts of your brain. It's totally rhythmic and intense, though. When I perform with it, I jack the music into a big sound system and play a drum kit on top of it. And people dance! But the whole album has a minimal electronic aesthetic that geeks are into, too. It's hard to say, exactly - pretty much everyone responds to it positively.How did you make it?The 1-Bit Music boxes are all hand-assembled here in New York. I work with a few assistants to make them all from piles of raw parts with soldering irons, wire cutters, glue, and more. It's a limited run. I made a bunch to be signed and numbered and sold with a silk-screen print of the source code and schematic too.Why did you do it?I've programmed my entire life. When I was in college at Columbia, I did an independent project with Douglas Repetto, where I learned some simple electronics and how microprocessors work. It's common to generate an audio tone as an early exercise, and I was attracted to this sound aesthetic. It's really raw. It's really minimal. And it's really digital. It's also noisy, and I think that fits the machine-feeling of the whole project - it's a bare-bones circuit, nothing extra, and the sound reflects that. One bit of data is the smallest digital representation of anything: true/false, on/off. It's also the most a chip can produce, usually meant for turning on motors or lights or sending messages to other machinery. It's this über-reductionist framework that I find really expressive. Try not to think about alarm clocks and other beepy electronics when you think about 1-Bit Music. It's inspired by them, but the sound is rich and alive and dense and danceable. It's polyphonic and the interference patterns of the various tones are lush.-Tristan Perich, 12/01/2006 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilba Posted November 3, 2007 Report Share Posted November 3, 2007 Very interesting!Reminds me of the work of Peter Vogel:http://kinetica-museum.org/new_site/index.php?ptitle=artists%20Peter%20Vogel&%20mfile=artist.php?id=79(just thought I'd add that for the people who might find it interesting). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLP Posted November 3, 2007 Report Share Posted November 3, 2007 :'( This guy has stolen my idea!!!!!11einseinself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaicen Posted November 3, 2007 Report Share Posted November 3, 2007 Is this the same guy that used to build the one-bit synth/sequencer things based on AVR chips or something?? Gotta say I really quite like the sounds on this album. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted December 10, 2007 Report Share Posted December 10, 2007 I like the idea very much, but i'm sure the lil chip can produce much better music than this.I'm very curious of listening the whole thing anyway :)... ouch :-X it's 72.18 EUR ...http://store3.esellerate.net/store/catalog.aspx?s=STR6485295759&pc=does anyone here bought it ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAncientOne Posted December 11, 2007 Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 I like the idea very much, but i'm sure the lil chip can produce much better music than this.I'm very curious of listening the whole thing anyway :)... ouch :-X it's 72.18 EUR ...http://store3.esellerate.net/store/catalog.aspx?s=STR6485295759&pc=does anyone here bought it ?Yes, Ibought it direct from 'Bang on a Can' in New York, it cost me $30 for the unsigned version. http://www.bangonacan.org/store/product/99It's definitely on the raw and weird side, but I like it. I may end up sampling it to a CD and playing it from there, to save wearing out the flimsy jack socket.A very nice idea though. It isn't the same thing as the "! bit Groovebox" - you can get details of that one here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadyman Posted December 12, 2007 Report Share Posted December 12, 2007 (i dont think you'd want to give away a sid chip with a single though! :P)No, but I'd sure like to GET a SID chip with a single!!! ;D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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