For those who do not work in audio like I do, I am here to tell you that the above image is NOT what music actually looks like.1
I blame car stereos.
And The Grateful Dead.
Please don’t sue me, Lars. ↩
I frequently find myself saying, “Yeah, this track is good, but it would be better if it swung.” What can I say? When it’s in your blood, it’s in you.1 Like many saxophonists I was hooked on jazz at an early age and although I don’t play a lot of it now, I still have that sound in my ear. Like my high school band teacher said, “If it don’t swing, hang it from a rope.”2
Enter: The Swinger. The Swinger is a python script written by Dr. Tristan Jehan from MIT’s Hyperinstruments Group at their Media Laboratory.3 The code magically deduces the beats within any audio file, stretches the first part of each beat, and then shrinks the second.
So what? Let me tell you, dear reader, you have not lived until you listen to Guns ‘n Roses’s Sweet Child O’ Mine with a glorious backbeat.
Sweet Child O’ Mine (Swing Version) by plamere
Another favorite is Metallica’s Enter Sandman.4Enter Sandman- the Swing Version by plamere
I am not going to even try to tell you how to do this with your gear. Go here and here and if any of that makes any sense to you, email me at timothyrosenberg at the gmail with your awesome swinging songs. I’ll post them.
Mohit Muthanna is making some beautiful examples of javascript-only generated musical notation using the canvas attribute. This has the potential to be huge for big publishers and self-publishers a like.
That’s my new office.
Well, not yet.
And it’s not really mine.
But come next August, that’s where I’ll be.
Teaching.
I am honored to accept the position offered to me by my Alma Mater, Ithaca College, to serve as the interim replacement for Dr. Steven Mauk beginning next fall. It is much sooner than I had previously expected. It will be sad to leave East Lansing so suddenly, not because I love East Lansing (I don’t) but because of all of my wonderful, talented mentors, friends, and colleagues without whom I would not have had the opportunities I have been given. I will miss them all dearly.
On the other hand, a new beginning in a familiar place is a dream come true for me. I am looking forward to returning to Ithaca. I am looking forward to seeing my family more often, reconnecting with old friends in the area, and forming new relationships with colleagues and students. For me, this is the opportunity of a lifetime, and I intend to live it. Hard.
To answer the question: So, are you done at MSU? No. I expect to finish the final requirements for the Doctorate in Music Degree in the Fall semester. Sounds crazy, but it’s going to be fine. I need to finish the dissertation, present one solo recital, and one lecture recital before I can finish. With strong headway being made on the writing front, and recital plans already underway, I expect this to be a challenging, but exciting seven months. I say this now wearing the rose-colored glasses of new beginnings. By November, I could be whistling a different tune.
So there’s my personal post. I don’t do them very often here. Oh yeah, that reminds me. I started a different blog for funny pictures, You Tube videos, and other pieces of internet ephemera that do not fit into the style of this place. It’s on the Tumblr network and it’s called Slings and Arrows and it’s more about… me. So if you are the stalker-type (and let’s face it, you are) slap that into your RSS reader, or follow along on Tumblr. While we’re on the subject, if you’re stalking me and you don’t know yet, my twitter handle is, timrosenberg. I’m creative like that.
Well, that’s the news. I might as well conclude this LiveJournalesque screed with a giggle. So here’s kittens in Autotune. Enjoy.
Albéniz vs. The Fly
A fly dive-bombed the hanging pair of microphones during a piano recital. We kept the tape rolling.
Looking for great Pandora seeds? Try this one.
30 minutes of great Funk and counting.
Git ya groove on.