[blips and ifs]

Blips and Ifs: The Typeface

2012-01-31T20:12:00.004-08:00

The Railway Club is a significant venue for all those involved in the creation of Blips and Ifs. Each of the Blips and Ifs producers performed on stage at the long standing Vancouver bar during one of CITR's Shindig festivals. The Railway to this day has a special association in the hearts of the crew, and indeed Vancouver itself. One of the more direct connections is the Blips and Ifs logo.

'The Boats' was studying design one day at school and there the words Blips and Ifs appeared on the side of the projected image on the screen before him. A section of text from a page next to the one his professor was intending on showing the class was peeking out from the corner of the screen. This was the birth of the name of the bloglabel.

Shortly after Blips and Ifs was named and online, and almost ready to begin posting it's 'superflat singles' 'The Boats' was at the Railway Club scribbling ideas and thumbnails of the logo, and quite plainly with a head full of typefaces and type design. A specially sized rectangle, sent italic, with some counters popped through the bottom (almost like a 'b') and finished off with a couple serifs and voila! A logo was born under the heavy influence of type. Not that type hasn't always been important to the group. Garamond was a very specific typeface chosen by 'Stabbington McChopper' for the bloglable due to it's associations with philosophical books.

As seen through the posting dates on the site the label slowed it's releases and eventually stopped production. Mainly due to other projects and the satisfaction of having released over 70 tracks over the 3 first years. The group felt the project had been successful and carried on, 'Stabbington McChopper' continued to work on the ongoing Cruft project and releasing a series of covers songs with images in the tradition of the superflat singles, but added that of posters, zines, and more to fill the mythology of what has become Cruftworld.

A few years later [710W3] was teaching a graphic course at BCIT and happened to mention the font based logo during a typeface lesson, and it sparked an idea in him that soon became evolved into a typeface based on the sites logo. Tbough it can be used by manipulating the letters around in illustrator, this is currently only a typeface and not a font.

Introducing blipsandifs: the typeface.

Cruft keeps coming...

2012-01-12T12:19:00.001-08:00

If you didn't hear, there are new tracks being posted almost daily for the past few weeks...just not here. Either snoop around Boomcity or check back here soon for the full report.

Superflat Single #72 / [710W3]

2010-02-25T09:14:00.003-08:00

A new instrument has been lent to Moil Studios, a beautiful, huge, Hammond Organ. Check out Moil ink for a slightly more detailed description and a photo of the organ. On and off over the last week [710W3] has been sitting down at the keys, flipping switches and occasionally even reading the manual. Although no stranger to the keyboard, this multi-faceted dual keyboard with footpedals, string section and drum machine adds a whole new level to playing (not to mention sound!). This live unedited recording is a lengthy test pilot for a possible series of releases currently entitled: [710W3] vs. the Commodore

Listen to blipsandifs072.mp3 - 6.7 MB

Old Skool Cut & Paste

2010-02-21T19:18:00.002-08:00

A Blips and Ifs 3D logo is now available for download. Allowing you to join in the fun of cutting and pasting a cool project. Print the PDF on light cardstock cut out the solid lines, fold on the dotted ones and glue it all together.

Download the printable PDF and make your own here or find it at the boomcity.biz gallery where you can also find the Boomcity paper craft PDF as well.

banjo_sketch.

2009-05-01T22:22:00.004-07:00

Working on Cruftworld data processing this weekend. Found this little banjo sketch and thought I'd try another upload. Does it work?

www.blipsandifs.com/audio/00BAI_cruft_banjo_sketch.mp3

incinerate files.

2009-04-17T06:57:00.004-07:00

first attempt at uploading track to BAI.

http://www.blipsandifs.com/audio/04_Incinerate_Me.mp3

if you can download a track from that link, then, I have learned something.
The song, if you can hear it, is me on vox and pete on 12 strings.

Glaiven ~

2009-04-17T06:36:00.002-07:00

*** frink noise ***

my bad.
no mp3s ready yet. my inner demons have been monopolizing our time.
our show is tomorrow at about this time.
that's been a monopoly too. But on sunday, the monopoly is over and I can get back to healthy regular activities like clue and risk.

I mean MP3 uploading. Yeah. I will have to have an EP ready by our June gig or it'll be 6 more weeks of self-flagellation and nobody wants that.

There should be a video and various photos of the gig too. Links will materialize. Believe me.

more represents.

2009-04-11T07:58:00.003-07:00

T3R had a rehearsal today, got another tomorrow. going well.
recording for our demo is also progressing nicely, despite today's setbacks.
mp3s will be uploaded as soon as demo is done and approved.

***

thought I'd upload a list of all the songs we know or almost know. including indications for covers, without further etc:

CENTRAL WALK SET.
(learned for our first show, though not all songs were played.)

1. Fuck You
2. Miller Lite
3. The Perfect Letter
4. Long Time No See
5. Canoe (Lyrics by Davey)
6. About You (written by Erics Trip)
7. Incinerate Me
8. Another Lonely Day (by Ben Harper)
9. Her Boyfriend's White
10. Police And Theives (by Junior Marvin / Lee Perry)

RETIRED SONGS.
(learned, but not currently practiced or expected to be played)

11. Monster Mash (by some fifties band)
12. House Theme Song (by Massive Attack)
13 All along the watchtower (by Bob Dylan)
14. Italy
15. Life is Long (by David Byrne)
16. Karma Chameleon (by Culture Club)

NEW MATERIAL.
(not yet played live.)

17. When in doubt, go to China
18. Any Sense of Time (by The Inbreds)
19. Winter vs spring (Lyrics by Scott)
20. Jesus on the radio (by Guster)
21. Dancing in the Dark (by Bruce Springsteen)

The Three Represents: biographical data file.

2009-04-08T22:52:00.002-07:00

[I tried to upload an Mp3 today but i'm at work so it didn't work. Instead, let's recap.]

Who are The Three Represents?

Well, at the beginning of 2008 Frank moved to Shenzhen in south China. On a business trip, he had previously met a Californian named Jeff who played the drums and was about to start working at the same office. They decided to form a band together. In February they located a rehearsal studio and began to play music on the weekends. Jeff would play the drum kit, Frank would play bass and run loops off of his laptop. A few recordings were made with a cassette recorder.

This was fun but it wasn't a band. When Pete - another coworker, and raised in New Hampshire - was transferred from the Beijing office to the Shenzhen office, he was drafted as a guitarist. Jeff remained on the drum throne and Frank became the vocalist as well as the bassist. This lineup rehearsed almost every weekend, beginning in April 2008. The songs were mostly old songs written by Frank, or covers of not-particularly-famous songs. Finally, we got our first show - playing on Halloween at a mall near where we all live, called "Central Walk."

After this show went well, we began to do more recording. Mostly this meant capturing our rehearsal using a macbook or an iPhone. More recently, though, we've started to work on multitrack recordings made on my computer. Also, when Pete returned from his Christmas vacation, he brought his 12-string back with him. Frank got a banjo and a cheap Chinese six-string, and Jeff bought a pair of bongos, and our acoustic lineup was finally established. We still haven't played any shows in this incarnation but our recordings are going more and more in an acoustic direction.

Disappointed with the music scene in Shenzhen, our plan for 2009 is to play 5 shows in Hong Kong, where there are many more bands, scenes, genres, venues, etc. [Plus we all love Hong Kong.] The first gig in HK will be on April 18. We also plan to release a short demo at that time, and I'll post the tracks from that here as I mix them down.

It's just about our one-year anniversary as a band, and we've finally decided on a name, too - The Three Represents.

2009.

2009-04-01T09:52:00.002-07:00

Surprisingly, we're still here.

2009 will contain less blips, i guess. I plan to post MP3s from live recordings of the band I'm part of, The Three Represents.

While I'm still arranging that, I'll start off with just a proposed set list for our second show, which is also our first show in Hong Kong, on April 18.

***^melting p0t set list v1.1***
1. fuck you
2. any sense of time
3. incinerate me
4. miller lite
5. canoe song
6. jesus on the radio
7. winter vs spring
8. when in doubt (or Long time no see.. or perfect letter, or Life is Long).
***set list ends***
[note that only 2 or max. 3 songs are covers.]

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

I still need a bit of time to restring my banjo. But I can tell you that if you do tune in here, you'll hear some new tunes this year.

Cruftworld #7: Cruftworld Theme Song

2008-06-01T22:43:00.004-07:00

Anoraks UK, previously known as Tricot, turn in a crunchy instrumental number that has risen to become the cruftworld theme song. Unlike a lot of tracks in Cruftworld, this one is instrumental. And in a lot of ways, it's not really representative of the project as a whole, since it starts out so electronic.
But by the time the end rolls around, I hope you'll see why this track became the theme. It's about transition, about handing the reins over from a computer to a man. There are washes of distorted Mellotron here blending in with the naturally distorted guitar and bass. Dive in.

Listen to Cruftworld #7: Cruftworld Theme Song. - 4.4 MB

Audio Toy Field Test #10

2008-05-22T22:11:00.003-07:00

Two items for todays agenda.

1) Microsofts really cool dragon thingy. I can only imagine how cool this will be. It seems to be a terrific way to sort through imagery and I love the whole book/magazine concepts. All in all I can't wait to scour through my own data using the same software. Truly ground breaking software.

2) Although this may seem less exciting and new, blipsandifs has successfully connected to it's database. This won't mean much for a while, but it does mean that the PHP book I bought on Valentines day as a gift from my wife was worth it. Being able to write my own data driven websites is very exciting. Many of the coolest websites out there use PHP and databases. I've got some grand ideas and can't wait to start trying them out...but first I'll just keep plodding along, singing my song, doing my job...wishing I could be blippin' 'iffing.

Audio Toy Field Test #9

2008-05-12T22:58:00.002-07:00

Haile is a robot that 'listens' to a live players music in real time and jams it's own beat with them.

Watch the robotic percussionist in concert in this video from Georgia Tech.

A truly monumental moment in virtual instruments; a virtual musician that can improvise. This machine will assess the beat made my a human and create, based on algorithms and whatnot, it's own jam. This is almost as cool as seeing the Lemur at Adam's house and half as cool as Bigdog is scary. That haunting gas powered kind of darpa scary sound, bigdog is an Americal Soldier.
I love color TV, the internet, and many other magnificent things the American Military has brought us, dispite it's bad side, but if I see a bigdog walking round my neighbourhood with a machine gun on it's back I'll think different about how cool killing badguys in video games and watching YouTube videos are.

Unless it's bigdog beta... that's awesome.
Be sure to watch the Bigdog March Release before you watch the beta.

Blips and Ifs is dedicated to the future, and will not stop until it's over! Stay tuned...

Cruftworld Issue #8

2008-05-09T11:01:00.003-07:00

More cut and paste action from Moil helps to produce the second zine in the Cruftworld. You gotta read this. This is what sets all these silly little rock and roll songs apart. It's full of confusing, metaphorical and occasionally funny writing. Hundreds of vancity rock parodies are hidden inside. But hopefully you can enjoy it just for the artwork and the rock value of it. Even better, print it, cut it out and staple and glue it together yourself. Are you dreaming of having a bookshelf full of cruftworld zines, tapes, miniCDs, and promotional collectable items? I sure as hell am.

Cruftworld #6:

2008-03-29T10:59:00.004-07:00

Totally live. Totally raw. Totally cruft.
This track from The King In Yellow is absolute uncut real cruftworld music. Laid down in the new SZ C-world studio, even the drums. Weirder vocals than usual perhaps, but that's the thing with The King In Yellow. They're weird.

I'd rather not talk about this song so much. Let's just agree that it's old school, and leave it at that. You should be thankful that we haven't recorded it to cassette and then back to computer. Just be thankful for that.

Listen to Cruftworld #6: Where is my mind. - 3.5 MB

l33t bl0gg0r

2008-03-18T09:54:00.000-07:00

i have managed to hack into BAI from behind the great firewall. For graet justice.

Cruftworld Poster

2008-02-28T11:06:00.003-08:00

Cruftworld #5:

2008-02-21T22:19:00.003-08:00

The cruftworld continues with this latest single from Futon. This is the first single they recorded at Cruft Studios here in Shenzhen, aka Boomcity. Note the whirling distorted octaves on the lead guitar --- the result of investment in an authentic Leslie cabinet. Futon is easily one of the hottest Cruftbands and has been filling up Cruftclubs and Cruftpubs all over the Cruftplace.

We currently have over 20 Cruftworld tracks backlogged and ready to go, so check back here each week for a new one --- or a Zine, or a Poster ---- we're up to our eyes in Cruft. We've been getting great reviews from those industry insiders who have heard the stuff, so stay tuned and keep on downloading.

Listen to Cruftworld #5: My Chest is Empty- 3.6 MB

Superflat Single #71 / [710W3]

2008-02-14T01:56:00.006-08:00

Between the Cruft we bring you the latest Superflat Single, just another form of cruft really. This is from the remains of Groundhogsday 2008. The thirteenth one by my books. This single was found deep in the rodents hole after the little beast ran scared from it's shadow and burried itself for another few weeks...or months (it's hard to tell in this city). Curse that Groundhog, my shoes are still wet.

Listen to blipsandifs071.mp3 - 3.8 MB

Cruftworld Issue #7

2008-01-31T16:06:00.000-08:00

Available for your downloading and viewing pleasure is The First Cruftworld Zine Release.
(In Medias Res --- we're starting with Issue #7).

This is the result of my musings on a strange topic: what if, instead of trying to create personas to record music under and get reviewed in various music zines, I created my own zine as a fictional construct which contained all my various pseudonyms and recording projects?

Long question, boring answer. Another way of saying this would be: what if we viewed a city's music scene as a single MMORPG server, and all the bands interacted like Warcraft guilds?

Either way, I came up with the cruftworld project. This world is composed entirely of bands that I myself create all the music for, or, in a few cases, includes my friends' bands. All the listings of gigs and everything is fictional. I feel it's necessary to explain this in the beginning because I don't want to defame anyone's reputation.

Lots of the bars, bands and personalities are inspired by or parodies of corresponding places and people in Vancouver's music scene or the Pitchfork-influenced world indie scene in general. Some references will be more obvious than others.

I've invested quite a lot of time into the creation of this world and have recently purchased a metric ton of music gear to realize the tunes. The PDFs will be accompanied by MP3 available for download from this site, beginning shortly. If you followed my remake of Public House's "Remains of the Lost Amphibians" cassette, you should be able to understand the related review in this PDF.

Anyway this is the long intro by the dungeon master at the beginning of the game before the first yellow Cheeto stains have been rubbed on the first Clix model. From now on, everything else will be in character and no more fourth-wall breaking.

Thanks to [710w3] for his entirely analog layout work.
And stay tuned to this location for more Cruft content.

Cruftworld #4: Fifties

2008-01-04T12:44:00.001-08:00

Here's the last installment from the original Public House cassette. This was a total throwaway song that we just recorded because we had extra time left over. It was written by me as a faux-sellout joke song. But in the end it turned out to be the most popular song from the tape, and my friends from the time can even remember the (deep, meaningful) lyrics.

However, it has a certain charm. I was happy to get the chance to play a solo for this one --- as I recall, I played it on a borrowed Japanese Telecaster. And as for my updated version, I've thrown in a harmony line in the chorus that I can't believe never made it into the original.

Anyway, I got no time to go into more detail because I'm moving to China tomorrow. But I will say that this cruftworld series is definitely going to continue in 2008 "if the good lord's willin', and the crick don't rise."

Listen to the original Public House Recording of Fifties - 2 MB

Listen to the 2007 version of Fifties - 2.3 MB

Cruftworld #3: Desert

2007-12-06T22:46:00.000-08:00

This is my favorite remake so far.

The story behind this track is quite easy for me to remember --- at some point, during a very early Public House rehearsal, I went to the bathroom and wrote this song... probably because I was getting the idea for it but couldn't write it all down in the room with the boys jamming.

It's built around a somewhat unusual mode, ultra depressing lyrics (I was 16), and a simplistic song style. But I still like it. The violin seems to fit well and Jay's drumbeat at the end still sounds cool to me. Plus the dynamics are good.

As for my new version, I had no problems departing heavily from the original Public House version. It's got a lot of noodling, a cool keyboard sound from my DX7 (which I had to sell to my buddy Lars), whispered parts, acoustic guitar, weird breakdowns... listen for yourself. I dig it. I'm in the desert.

Listen to the original Public House Recording of Desert - 4.1 MB

Listen to the 2007 version of Desert - 6.9 MB

Cruftworld #2: Far Far Away

2007-11-15T18:44:00.000-08:00

The cruftworld project, my attempt to create an entirely fictional music scene, is well under way. Here's another musical installment for your sampling pleasure.

As with our previous release, there's two versions of the same song: the original one from 1994, and my new version from this year.

I really like the old version. It begins with a weird effect which is Public House's violist, Geoff Deere, playing sliding harmonics on his instrument, which is being processed by a combination of delay and phasing. Eventually the band crashes into the song, which is a simple verse-chorus-wash-rinse-repeat structure. If you listen closely during the chorus, you can actually hear [710w3]'s first recorded appearance: I forced the rest of the guys in the band to let him sing backup on this track, and I think it worked out pretty well. My favorite part of the old version is Chris Bekkers' guitar augmentation which appears around the beginning of the third verse. My least favorite part is the lyrics, which I wrote, which seem to be my tangled recollection of creepy kids' book "Bridge to Terabithia" mixed with a healthy dose of teenaged sexual frustration.

The new version here is quite similar. Of course I'm lacking the viola, so I just started off with the bassline, and put a bit of phaser on my rhythm guitar track. And as usual, I multitracked the vocals heavily, and laid some breaks in the background since I haven't got a drum kit. It's surprising how well our old Public House songs work with a classic break instead of a live drummer --- I don't think the loops sound as 'fake' or 'computery' as they could. And rather than trying to compete with Bekks in the lead guitar department, I just added some noodling for flavor. Enjoy.

Listen to the original Public House Recording of Far Far Away- 5.1 MB

Listen to the 2007 version of Far Far Away - 6.3 MB

Cruftworld #1: People

2007-10-10T16:28:00.001-07:00

A new project is underway here at Blipsandifs. It's my little attempt at building a role-playing game where all the characters are bands...

It's a bit hard to explain in detail, and I'll drop more hints later. But it's starting off with me preparing cover versions of the cassettes my highschool band recorded back in the nineties.

I was in a band called Public House, and our first cassette was called Remains of the Lost Amphibians (a title selected randomly from the cover of a National Geographic).

Our lineup was:

Wayne Taylor: Vocals, rhythm guitar
Chris Bekkers: Lead guitar
Geoff Deere: Viola, mandolin, backup vocals, keyboards
Jay Lewis: Drums, percussion
Frank Henville: Bass, keyboards, backup vocals

(and 710W3 from blipsandifs even sang backup vox on one recorded track)

As an example of what we sounded like, here's the original version of the song "People," written by Wayne Taylor, and recorded in 1994.

Listen to the original Public House Recording of People - 3.5 MB

And here's my updated version, made on a computer, recorded mostly live (except for the drums)

Listen to the 2007 version of People - 5.8 MB

Thanks to 710W3 for production assistance and cover design.

Please stay tuned for more crufty goodness from me.

Superflat Single #70 / Kanade

2007-08-01T10:10:00.000-07:00

Here's a track from us to you ... from our good friend in Japan, KANADE.

Haven't heard from us for a while? Well, I was in CANADA-EH for extensive consultations with d-boats and e-moil. We enjoyed the pleasures of a bachelor's garage, and also had a party when we got copies of the new ikude compilation from shima records in the UK, which has tracks by tachikoma and [710w3] on it ... and it's really a brilliant cd!! you must hear it! or at least download it from iTunes!

But back to the single at hand. This tune is a new version of "ES" from the latest CD by KANADE. He re-constituted material of a Japanese traditional musical instrument of "ES" in PRO TOOLS LE. He added a synthesizer sound and it was completed. "ES" means "Embryonic Stem cell".

Kanade's Equipment:

(The K in Kanade stands for KORG apparently!)

KORG RADIAS

KORG MS2000

KORG MS2000R

KORG microKORG

KORG EA-1

KORG ER-1

KORG MONO/POLY

KORG miniKORG

ROLAND M-VS1

YAMAHA SY-77

AKAI S300XL

CASIO FZ-1

Digidesign PRO TOOLS LE

Steinberg NUENDO

Steinberg CubaseVST5/32

Listen to blipsandifs070.mp3 - 5.5 MB

Superflat Single #69 / The Drunken Boats

2007-07-22T18:58:00.000-07:00

This is a reward for all our longterm fans who've been tuning in to Blips and Ifs for months. The last few months have been tough on all of us. It must be the summer. Our music is too cold and clinical to make when it's hot. We can make it in the winter but now it's 39 degrees C where I am, I just can't whip out an ice cold digital pad and shove it in a song. It melts too quickly.

We haven't given up. It's just that our music comes in waves. And to prove it, another wave is starting now. The D-Boats have been in the lab again, making music on borrowed equipment, grafting organic material and stem cells onto an old 505 to make it sound more lifelike. Last I heard, the 505 achieved sentience, hacked an iPhone and transferred its godlike consciousness into the internet, where it hangs out at sleazy bars trying to pick up underdeveloped audiotoys. This is the music they're playing in those bars.

Listen to blipsandifs069.mp3 - 3.7 MB

Still Buzzed.

2007-07-02T20:57:00.000-07:00

Another review hits the web. I like this one too. I don't remember describing our music as "illbient," but, it's cool.

Growing Buzz.

2007-06-25T21:24:00.000-07:00

Please check out the first review of Signalform + Tachikoma that I could find. Not glowing, but not particularly critical either, and quite a good read!

Superflat Single #68 / Tachikoma

2007-06-21T17:41:00.000-07:00

Tachikoma and I were hanging out at Jona's Cafe the other day and I sort of mentioned a particular example I often refer to in my presentations. The following is an incomplete excerpt from my Introduction to Graphics Presentation.

"There are two types of graphics that computers use: Raster (also known as Bitmaps) and Vector graphics. Digital photos, scans and many web graphics are Raster. Common Raster
formats are JPG, TIFF and GIF. These graphics have a resolution, a grid of pixels (picture elements). Images printed from websites will either not look as good, or as big as they do onscreen. The other kind of graphics are shapes defined by mathematical formulas. Vector graphics can be resized without ever loosing quality of line, unlike Raster graphics. True vectors don't ever get jagged, blocky or pixelated. They output at the best of the ability of the device they are being displayed or printed on. Common Vector viewers include Flash Player and Adobe's Acrobat Reader. A photo-realistic vector graphic is possible, but would take a long time to draw, or are would be so complex making it inifficient compared to a Raster of equivilent detail. So in the end, Raster graphics can only be enlarged a certain amount before pixels or a blurring effect occurs, but vectors images could be shrunk down to the size of a postage stamp and then enlarged and burnt into the surface of the moon, with a laser, without any quality loss."
Tachikoma got me thinking about a re-writable Moon surface, like a re-writable CD that can be erased and then drawn on again. I mentioned it at Jona's and Tachikoma wrote this song that night. It's a new favorite of mine. Like last weeks release it's very Tachikoma sounding, his classic pads massaging the anvil, the subdued clicks and beats keeping the hammer going and the stirup being driven to dreamtown with the tame crazy. There is so much happy in this song. Listen to it and then draw an image to be burnt on the moon and send it to blipsandifs@blipsandifs.com.

Listen to blipsandifs068.mp3 - 3.7 MB

Basement Tapes from Brett

2007-06-20T20:59:00.000-07:00

My good friend, Brett Gaylor, is working on a feature film. I think that we here at Blips and Ifs have a strong siding in this agument his film is based upon. Please check it out, and contribute even! The feature film is collaboration, united creation, remixing and the mashing up. Brett may be fascilitating the creation of a feature film, but the world is making it. Join in...

http://opensourcecinema.org/

Audio Field Test #8

2007-06-03T19:58:00.000-07:00

Super Flat Origami:

This is more of a public note to myself then anything...I just like the thought of it. I was pondering in a day dream what it might be like to have software that could show you how to fold origami. Draw in a form and concept and it would unwrap it and show you how to fold it out of paper. My seach online provided fruitless. Seems this will have to become some form of Audio Toy and I'll have to make one. I can imagine a sort of software like Google's Sketch up, but somehow you wouldn't have to actually draw the object in 3D...just give an impression and the computer would do the rest by guessing or something. I'd imagine the software wouldn't be very good and a randomize or variance button would be good. Click it and it alters the design slightly, plus at anytime the model could be pulled and formed by the user. Again, I'm just thinking out loud here...

The following is an excerpt from "The Mathematics of Paper Folding:
An Interview with Robert Lang" By Margaret Wertheim

"MW: Is there a limit to the complexity of the models you can make with origami?

RL: Mathematically there’s no limit. Theoretically, you can take a finite sheet of paper and you can fold a star shape that has an infinite, arbitrarily large perimeter —10,000 miles, if you like. That shape’s points would have millions of layers in them. So, that’s a problem you can do mathematically but not in practice because, in the real world, paper has a finite thickness and you’re limited in what you can do by the tensile properties of the paper. In the last five to ten years, as people have designed more complex figures, their ability to fold these figures has also been enhanced by improvements in the field of papermaking. So you can now get extremely thin, strong shapes that probably couldn’t have been folded fifteen years ago."

So there you go...Pretty cool thought though eh? You just program in a flaming sword +2 against goblins and VOILA!!! You have your self the foldable blueprints for a flaming sword +2 against goblins. I'm telling you this is gold. You'll see.

Superflat Single #67 / Tachikoma

2007-05-30T18:35:00.000-07:00

[710w3] correctly identified this track upon first listen, hope you will too.

I scrounged up my old sample CD that I made back in Jan. 2003, when I was living in the Banana House in Osaka, just beginning the Tachikoma project and making my first disc, "transients and artifacts." To anyone who heard that CD (or even my first disc on Shima which has some tracks from it), this song will be immediately recognizeable. I just wanted to make a song about being myself, using samples I made myself, and it ended up sounding like me. No surprise.

Listen to blipsandifs067.mp3 - 4.2 MB

Ikude: The Compilation

2007-05-23T18:40:00.000-07:00

The release of a compilation on Shima Records, which contains tracks by [710W3], Tachikoma, and other Blips contributors, is just around the corner. You can learn more and even check out the album art at Shima's Myspace Blog. The album art is particularly cool... I can't wait to get my hands on this CD!

In other news, the Tachikoma cd is now finally available for ordering. To all my friends who read this blog, if you want to buy a copy, send me an email soon ... I only have 50 ...

Superflat Single #66 / Japanese Pop Songs

2007-05-07T20:18:00.000-07:00

[710W3] used to look at this shoe a lot. It has a meaning. It means Class of '07, or '97, depending on how you look at it. The poignant isolation of this shoe in a barren tree greyscape is a perfect illustration of the Japanese aesthetic concept of mono no aware, or the impermanence of objects.

Japanese Pop Songs Ride Your Bike.

Listen to blipsandifs066.mp3 - 2.5 MB

Superflat Single #65 / Japanese Pop Songs

2007-05-07T20:15:00.000-07:00

Theboats is a member of a collaborative street gang called Japanese Pop Songs. Their strictest rule is that their songs are not over two minutes. If you listen to them for just 3 seconds, you can be an honorary member. They have more myspace friends than you, though, and they already have a cowbell player. And they've been on CBC Radio 3. What more do you want? Geez.

Listen to blipsandifs065.mp3 - 2.5 MB

green and black is all you need.

2007-05-02T01:34:00.000-07:00

Ever checked out selfoscillate's information dissemination page?

http://www.selfoscillate.de/

I just love the way it looks.

Superflat Single #64 / ikude

2007-04-26T18:21:00.000-07:00

My girlfriend and I have a wierd musical project. We're making ambient music together, like, new age music which will relax you and make your qi become more malleable. It's music to give massages by. It's soft and pliable and generally pleasant to the ear, or it's supposed to be I guess. And the project is named "ikude," after a cool compilation CD that is coming out soon.

This song's the first completed one, made in my little kitchen-studio, as you can see from the cover art. This is the ideal song for stressed out people who are, let's say, working on creating someone's video-upload competition website while simultaneously being the head of a family and also running tech support for the world's first bloglabel and additionally shouldering the responisibilty of being the governor of Boomcity.

If you know anyone like that, buy them a beer and make them listen to this song.

Listen to blipsandifs064.mp3 - 6 MB

Google Job Opportunities

2007-04-22T12:21:00.000-07:00

What an opportunity. I'm sending my resume as I type. Google Copernicus Center is hiring! And the best thing is that it's on the moon. I checked it out on Google Moon and if you zoom in really really close you can see the construction underway! Check it out by zooming into the Appollo 16 landing site (there is a link for you) and then 'travel' Northward a little and you'll see it.

http://moon.google.com/

Now that you've seen the moon site, and understand the intricasies of this post, check out this opportunity for us all to get jobs on the moon! So amazing it's almost unreal. Now is the best time to apply since by the time we'd finish training the shuttle ships will be ready for to carry us home, to our new home anyway. Our new job is on the moon. Swell. I just emailed my resume. Crazy!

http://www.google.ca/jobs/lunar_job.html

Superflat Single #63 / nakao::::

2007-04-13T09:59:00.000-07:00

Another new blipsandifs poster has been recruited! His name is nakao:::: and he's from Japan --- his lastest track is posted here. Mostly made with software, this track reminds me a lot of the shimmering, rhythmic arpeggios of N. Takemura and carpark records artists. At first listen some people are gonna call this a "cold, digital" sounding track, but actually I suspect the sample source is something organic. A good way to think of this track is flipping through an animation flipbook at about 1/3rd the regular speed. Each picture stands alone, but the development from frame to frame is revealed.... the eye is no longer fooled.... it's audio photography....

This track is how a CD player sees music.

Listen to blipsandifs063.mp3 - 5.1 MB

I love the chaos.

2007-04-09T20:42:00.000-07:00

The new Tachikoma / Signalform collaboration and remix album seems to be available from Love the Chaos, our Spanish record label, at this time!!

If you surf on over there, you can see the cover art and even take a listen to some of the tunes...

Gotta love the design of Love the Chaos, those kids know splattering.

This is their fourth release, I'm superhappy to be working with them and I know Signalform is too.

Superflat Single #62 / Chez Jonesy

2007-03-28T23:26:00.001-07:00

I'd like to introduce a new track by a new Blips and Ifs artist: Separation Anxiety by Chez Jonesy. Once a member of seminal Vancity smash-rock band The Impossible Machine, Jonesy has since begun his own side project, and apparently his own restaurant too. We hope to get more tracks by Mr. Jonesy up here soon, but if you just can't wait, and you have a hankering for Britney covers, you can check out his homepage. His sound, well, it's a little hard for me to describe, because I'm more used to listening to music that was created by heliotropic plants hooked up to trigger general midi synths. But I guess I could call it a mix of blips-like beats and virtual synths with a healthy, digestible serving of granola political activism. Better you just listen for yourself. Please welcome, all the way from the other side of the internet .... Chez Jonesy!

Listen to blipsandifs062.mp3 - 3.6 MB

Superflat Single #61 / Tachikoma vs. Slogic

2007-03-22T12:29:00.000-07:00

The real collaboration efforts of Blips and Ifs are only really starting to take shape now.

This track, for example, is based on some analog synth loops created and emailed to me by slogic, from the UK. I added some crusty Casio drum samples and other pads and echoes and dubbed it down a bit. I imagine that this track is kinda what it would be like if slogic and I ever met in person ... especially the last minute ... it dissolves in a kind of haze. Heh.

The cover art for this single is another example of extensive collaboration. It's from a comic book, Outnumbered, released by our buddies at Critical Hit Comics. The book features graphical data input from [710W3] and the Boats too.

Little of this is obvious if I don't tell you. I could have made the track and cover by myself, but I didn't. Just wanna peel back the veneer and show all the strange gears and conveyor belts that are behind the blipping, iffing machine.

Listen to blipsandifs061.mp3 - 4.2 MB

Superflat Single #60 / [710W3]

2007-03-13T21:47:00.000-07:00

The central catalysts for this track was the vocal sample from a local choir (from over 30 years ago), the plucked instrument and the glitches. All of these sounds I chose because they were recorded here in Vancouver.

The untimely interruption about a minute into the song is an audio photo of 1000 semi-trucks on strike from a few years back. They backed up Clark Street for hours wailing on their horns driving at 2 km per hour. The original audio sample is quite beautiful. Each of the horns produced different notes and some even had melodic custom horns. The cacophony went on and on while all I wanted to do was record music. Inadvertently, I was.

Listen to blipsandifs060.mp3 - 3.0 MB

Superflat Single #59 / [710W3]

2007-03-10T20:08:00.000-08:00

"I offered you the world, but you only want America."

You understand that, right? 'Granola' is the name of this genre. I don't know if anyone other than [710W3] uses this name for this. But it says a lot. Granola music is hard to chew but great for the digestion, I find. It's also enviromentally friendly. It's the kind of music you'd take with you if you were gonna climb a tree and live there so that the loggers couldn't cut it down. Or, if you were, say, teaching at a film school on Galiano and you spent all your money on smokes and had no food but you were stuck on the island for the weekend recording your album, you'd live offa granola. [710W3] can't offer you America, but all the Galiano he can afford is yours.

Listen to blipsandifs059.mp3 - 1.7 MB

Reactable - Tablesynth

2007-03-10T12:09:00.000-08:00

I'm really amazed by the coolness of this concept. To find that much of the technology is opensource made me even more excited. A table top musical interface! It's more then I can describe. I'm still stunned by the YouTube footage I just watched. This is really neat, something I could easially imagine it being the only thing in Tachikoma's living room.

This is the official website.

You Tube:
Reactable Demo 1
Reactable Demo 2
Improvisation with Reactable
People explaining it in Documentary Form.

Superflat Single #58 / Dub Bear

2007-03-02T20:38:00.000-08:00

There's not much to say about this ultra-long rusty old dub from Dub Bear. The cover goes a long way. And the riddim goes a long way.

This one is a good one for riding on a bus. Or performing a repetitive activity. It's not exactly a video game soundtrack, but it's got some low-grade loops in there.

The game never over. Sometimes you think the game over but actually you incorrect.

Listen to blipsandifs058.mp3 - 10 MB

Keep On Truckin'.

2007-02-26T20:15:00.000-08:00

There hasn't been much from us this year except tracks. But they've all been good tracks, so I'm cool with that.

As I may have plugged before, there's a Tachikoma remix CD coming out on a Spanish label in a month or so, and a compilation which features tracks from [710W3] and Tachikoma coming out in England, although it might be a bit later on. Both of these will be available for sale in Canada, among other places. We'll keep you posted.

Superflat Single #57 / Tachikoma

2007-02-23T16:35:00.000-08:00

It's been a long week here, a week off --- because of Chinese New Year. I've spent most of the time cranking out a ton of tracks like this one. This one's weird, even for me... for some reason I became obsessed w/ Casio "orchestral hit" samples but I just couldn't find a song of mine that they worked well in. So I ended up building a whole track around the orchestral hits. When I listen to it now, they don't even sound so prominent but they're there.

This has been a good week for me and this track feels like a kind of celebration, letting me strip back those pretentious 14th and 15th bits and getting down to the real raw sounds in the 6- or 7-bit range. The aw shit, quick draw mcgraw shit.

Listen to blipsandifs057.mp3 - 5.5 MB

Superflat Single #56 / Self Oscillate

2007-02-15T18:51:00.000-08:00

Selfoscillate punches it up a notch this week.

His track here is mostly based on algorithmic sound generation, and the sound sources have been driven by fractal equations. So rather than playing synths by hand himself, he sent equations to trigger oscillators --- and if he'd sent those same equations to trigger random graphic generators, they'd've turned out looking like fractals.

We're extremely glad to have Selfosc trigger another single for us here, and the result, no matter what the math behind it, is intense: sprinkly little arcs of confetti and spectrum analysis flitter across your eardrums in this track. It's kinda like smoking a calculator.

Listen to blipsandifs056.mp3 - 5.1 MB

Superflat Single #55 / Dub Bear

2007-02-09T16:51:00.000-08:00

This one goes on for a while. Most of my Tachikoma singles are short and digitally sweet. Dub Bear, unlike me, seems to enjoy getting his money's worth out of his Alesis Midiverb. I mean, why is he still using that thing?

Only he knows the answer. When I listen to this track, I try to pay attention, i really do. But then the track just keeps on looping over and over and you get lost in it. Dub Bear is obsessed with the filter amplifier and tweaks it incessantly, meaning that every time that analog skank comes back, it always decays differently.

I don't know why this guy can't compress his tracks down to a manageable length. Hell, I don't even know why he named it "crocodiles." Maybe you should just listen to it and figure it out for yourself.

Listen to blipsandifs055.mp3 - 9.2 MB

Audiotoy Field Test #8

2007-02-04T19:20:00.000-08:00

Technology is awesome. It can be also be frustrating and for some, like myself, it's a little tedious to learn. Seems that the reward is greater (if your interested in computers anyway.)

The image to the right I made in the late 90's with a program called 3D Studio Max. It's the same program I created imagery for Gronk with. Back then I never thought that I would be programming computer games and toys. I only imagined myself making graphics and interfaces, not actually coding anything. Today, the Drunken Boats sent me a link to a perfect little road map on how to integrate SQL server databases, html, php, xml and flash and it made sense to me. I immediately logged into the server and made my own SQL database. It doesn't query or echo anything. It just is. It's existence is enough for me right now, a major development for these field tests.

Now I understand this reads as a bunch of useless acronyms and jargon to most of us, just like it would have for me when I created that mechanical robot picture. I think that's what I'm saying, a decade later and I was programming computers. That I never really tried either. Learning how to make websites lead to one thing and the next and then it became enthralling and addictive soon after. The more I learn, the more clarity I have in one arena, the more I want to climb the next useful plateau.

Blips and Ifs and Audiotoys are pushing my skills towards new levels of programming and webdesign I never imaging I'd reach. I am greatful for these learning experiences and hope you enjoy the toys and technologies.

Superflat Single #54 / Tachikoma

2007-02-02T14:41:00.000-08:00

If you compare the earliest Tachikoma tracks (from 2003 --- I consider the first album to be "transients and artifacts") to the ones from now, there's one key difference, that I've noticed, anyway. The drums.

The original drum programming uses many sounds like clicks and errors, which loop in a sort of minimalistic way, and sound quite thin since they're so short. Also, there're a lot of high-pitched microsound-like tones. I was cutting my own clicks at the time and building my own drum libraries. I'd also incorporate samples from old, silly-sounding drum machines like the Korg MiniPops.

But now I've found that my drums sound far more like gameboy tones. For most of them, they don't actually come from my gameboy, but from Casio drum machines or Commodore64 samples, and are bit-reduced by distortion modules to give them an early NES-like flavor. A key element to the Tachikoma sound is a tempo-synched, random LFO modulating the sample rate (or sometimes the bit rate) of that distortion model.

Classic example: this track. Actually, I guess by noticing it and naming it as something I do, I should really change it. And anyway, this track's about more than just sampling a gameboy; it's about living inside a gameboy made of clear amber. And that's where I do live.

Listen to blipsandifs054.mp3 - 5 MB

Tons to come.

2007-01-30T20:28:00.000-08:00

We got so much great music in the can, coming up soon. All brand new, and all amazing. I hate to brag but the next few Blips and Ifs tracks are going to be ones you remember... hang on....

album cover?

2007-01-28T12:31:00.000-08:00

I think fog is just about the coolest thing to take photos in.....

Audio Toy Field Test # 7

2007-01-28T10:08:00.000-08:00

Gronk is released and available at blipsandifs. Use the links on the right of this site to navigate to the Audiotoys section. This brings us to where we are now...discussions amoung the producers are heading in the direction of more. All these cool developments has re-invigorated the team and we plan on making many more releases this year. Not just audiotoys and superflat singless either.

One of the biggest issues I've noticed about the blipsandifs collections is the difficulty of navigation. If you wanted to learn about the singles or look at the covers you would have to navigate our html page at blipsandifs but soon we will release the new XML jukebox created using the same technologies and research we've put into the audio toys. Although the jukebox isn't an audiotoy. It is an MP3 player that will show you the cover of each single, allow you to listen to all the songs, read the blogpost that was released from it, and play all our archives. We are very excited that we've got the knowledge to achieve this and are heading into the user interface and debugging stages.

Tachikoma is also madly at work developing new sounds and concepts for gronk and the second proposed audiotoy: Paper. Stay tuned...

I am in love with the city

2007-01-27T22:42:00.000-08:00

Seriously.... in the love.

Superflat Single #53 / Tachikoma vs. [710W3]

2007-01-24T13:25:00.000-08:00

The cover says it all, on this one.

2007's just begun and Tachikoma is living in a giant glowing white tower in the Fraser Valley. He's dropping dark trip-hop remixes that aren't anything like his usual idyllic glitch love-ins. This is a good example of Tachikoma's patented 'double-wheel break manipulation,' and some prickly synth lines are lurking in the background, too. He's colluding with the Chinese Mafia. He's harder, darker, and less friendly. The dream state is a police state.

Listen to blipsandifs053.mp3 - 2.7 MB

Superflat Single #52 / Dub Bear vs. [710W3]

2007-01-16T10:57:00.000-08:00

Ever since we signed Dub Bear, that guy's been producing up a 7-bit storm.

Here he turns in a rub-a-dub remix of [710W3]'s hit from last year, 'fried egg dream state.' The synth stabs are straight from Germany, and the VCF is pulsating. Dub Bear even runs his whole final mix through a range of low-grade effects boxes boxes boxes boxcfffffff until the echoes are recorded to a floppy disc and mailed to a P.O. box next to a salmon-filled stream in Alaska.

We have another remix of this track coming up soon too, so you might want to buy new subwoofers.

Listen to blipsandifs052.mp3 - 2.5 MB

Audiotoy # 1 / Gronk

2007-01-01T11:24:00.000-08:00

Just over a year ago we posted the first A.T. Field Test and announced our concept of going beyond releasing MP3's by adding Audiotoys to the Blips and Ifs roster. Gronk was a terrific first release for the series as well, as Gronk very simply with it's crooked slider explains that this isn't going to be quite like any ordinary slider. Tachikoma's specifically designed sounds fade nicely and create a classic Blips and Ifs soundscape. This toy is creative commons. We heavily encourage you to use it in live performances, recordings or to even break it open to re-write the code, or substitute new sounds. That's right! Visit our Audiotoy section to read more about how you can be a part of Blips and Ifs Audiotoys phenomenon.

Hardware AudioToys.

2006-12-26T17:28:00.000-08:00

Can't believe I found and bought an audiotoy in a store.

I bought two of Tomy's "SwitchSwitch" series. Each one is a small object with a few LEDs and a switch.

Basically, if you turn the switch position to On, it emits a powering-up mechanical-type sound. This will loop until you turn it to Off. When it reaches Off it will emit a powering-down sound. Then the Standby LED will flash for a few minutes and then turn off to save battery power.

What's really funny about them is that if you leave them On for too long, they will emit an overloaded sound and then automatically shut down. The switch won't move back to the On position, but they will enter Standby mode anyway.

They're awesome. They're also magnetic: I stuck 'em to my DX7. But they won't play in your browser, so we still have a tactical edge.

Wow.

2006-12-26T05:39:00.000-08:00

I totally felt those quakes that they're talkin' about. But I never thought that they'd make it on CNN.

Superflat Single #51 / Tachikoma vs. [710W3]

2006-12-16T18:28:00.000-08:00

Lately I've heard Tachikoma mention two major collaborations between the two of us: The Malchiks and the new up and coming Audiotoy. We have been a part of many cool collaborations including this bloglabel, a number of smaller musical projects, the name of my first born etc... but there has been a new collaboration that Tach may have just realized has happened.
The first official collaboration between two Blips and Ifs producers. Of course there was always that Cheese Richards and Milk Jagger thing. Even thought the Boats and I made that track together, it wasn't officially released as The Boats and [710W3]. So I'm not going to count that one or any of the DAT mining either. Therefore this is the first official collaboration. On December 14th 2006 Tachikoma emailed a Reason music file to me. Making sure we can actually send files between his computer to mine. He was just working the bugs out of operating a Worldwide Blog Label. Little did he know that to his track I added a 'distinctive angst filled [710W3] feeling' to some of the classic glitchy dub sounds of Tachikoma. Maybe not as significant a collaboration as the Malchiks, the creation of this label, the very First Audiotoy or Superflat Single, but an awesome mix of two very different producers none the less.

Listen to blipsandifs051.mp3 - 1.5 MB

Supercrap Single #1 / Tadx7koma

2006-12-14T20:18:00.000-08:00

As soon as I got my new old DX7 home, I plugged it right in and started recording it.

I'll just provide some specific notes about this track:

1. All sounds are made by the DX7, with no processing at all except volume level adjustment and panning, and a touch of reverb at the end. The drums were made by my Nord Micro Modular.

2. All 32 of the original patches in the synth were used, I flipped between them. What's really odd is that by about midnight that same night, some had dissappeared. I think the battery in the synth's internal memory is malfunctioning. For example: preset #14 was a short pitched drum sound, which you can hear me tapping out a rhythm on at the end of the recording. But two hours later, #14 was a 'normal' synth sound. Also, patches 29-32 worked fine while tracking this, but by the end of the night, they were all blank / silent. Wierd.

3. This isn't supposed to really be a song, so much as a document of the good vibes you get when playing a synth you just bought. Take a listen. The sounds are surprisingly good, although undoubtedly cliched.

4. In the japanese language, the number seven is pronounced 'chi.'

Listen to 32Patches.MP3 - 4 MB

Frequency Modulation Heaven.

2006-12-14T06:22:00.000-08:00

Hello, I am now the proud owner of a Yamaha DX7.

The story is simple. I walked by a guitar store here in Taipei and they had a small synth section in the back. For the price tag of 150$CDN, you could buy a beat up old DX7 synth. All the keys, mod wheel, pitchbend wheel, and output in working order. As I played with it a bit, I noticed that the LCD display screen was totally broken.

I pointed this out to the sales guy and used it as leverage to negotiate him down to half price. Then I had it wrapped up and lugged it back to my place. It's really heavy.

Back at my place I found that it's in good working order, except for the screen as I said. The power cord appears to be one with a Hong Kong plug, but there is an adapter taped on permanently. Also, it transmits midi data on channel 12, and I can use it as a controller for my Nord Micro Modular.

All 32 of the preset patches work. I doubt I'll ever edit it anyway. It sounds .... well it sounds like a DX7. I'm extremely happy now, because I got a good deal on a half-dead hunk of synthesizer history. Of course the first thing I did was record myself jamming with it, and I'll post the results very soon.

Kudos, Dr. Chowning! My hat is off to you.

The future is gronk.

2006-12-11T05:46:00.000-08:00

I have done looked into the future and it is pretty.

Prettier than this pic, anyway. This is what came up when I googled gronk.

The future is gronk. It's our first audio toy. I didn't make it, [710W3] did. That guy is Gerhard Behles, I'm just Robert Henke. If you understand that. Google helps too.

I played with the beta of gronk today. It's so.... perfect. It's perfecter than anything I've built in my nord micro modular, that's for sure.

The success of gronk blows away the first 50 superflat singles. It doesn't devalue them. But it's an amazing departure. It shows you what a few guys brainstorming in a rat-infested garage can do. But mostly one guy.

My hat is off to you, moil. Kudos --- and kudos again. You've outdone yourself. Except for your kids, I mean, those two are better than this, but gronk is a close third, and it took longer than 9 months to be born.

Diff'rent Strokes ---> The Facts Of Life.

2006-12-07T23:28:00.000-08:00

Spinoff time!

Tachikoma's personal/boring blog can be found here.

Superflat Single #50 / Tachikoma

2006-12-05T11:05:00.000-08:00

The big five-oh is finally here. I've never been so happy to hit a meaningless benchmark.

I didn't think, when I started this, if I even think at all, that I'd make it to fifty. And I didn't. We made it.

This is the first track I've made since returning to Taiwan. I plan to make a hell of a lot more. With the help of the blips and ifs team, of course.

Thanks to all of our supporters. The feedback is really appreciated.

And if I may say so: this is only really the first of the projects you're going to see cranking out of the blips and ifs factory. It's not over, but it's a good challenge to live up to for other other projects.

It's Cablegami, kids. Superflat single number fifty. Middle age is sweeter than I thought.

Listen to blipsandifs050.mp3 - 2.5 MB

Superflat Single #49 / [710W3]

2006-11-24T21:35:00.000-08:00

I was about to reach down into the archives and do a little DAT mining. I remembered a perfect track from the days just before I became a father. It was a window of time where Tachikoma was in Canada for a few weeks before returning to the other side of the Pacific Rim. I was listening to the track and thinking about a cover when I thought to check if we had already released it as a single. Almost at fifty releases and sure enough we have indeed released 'Are you Dread Cat?' a fantastic track by Tach. As the track had already been released, and I didn't have another one in mind, and I had the time...I made Superflat Single #49. Just for you, just now.
Listen to blipsandifs049.mp3 - 2.1 MB

My Chain.

2006-11-23T05:18:00.000-08:00

I recently got a hip hop makeover, Taiwan-style --- by which I mean, I bought a bunch of Chinese knockoff gear in a night market.

I could try to explain my behavior by saying that the clothes I'm sportin' are more at home in the area where I live than where you live.... but I won't. I yam what I yam. This quote sez more than I ever could;

"I got stoopid money so I bought a stoopid chain." ---- Gucci Mane.

39,999 KHz above the GeoFront.

2006-11-18T01:21:00.000-08:00

Well, this will be a short but elated broadcast.

I just wanted to let you all know that: I got the internet back up and running at my home here in Taipei.

None of that WiFly wireless junk. Just a 100MBps simple ADSL connection, which can barely upload a 4MB mp3. I doubt I can even watch One Piece on YouTube with it.

But one thing I CAN do is broadcast on Blips and Ifs. As I am doing now.

Please keep it real.

Thank you!

Superflat Single #48 / Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow

2006-11-15T15:50:00.000-08:00

Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow are the newest contributors to the Blips and Ifs Superflat Singles collection. I met Tony (the genius behind the Evil Geniuses) during a few parties late October. First time we were carving pumpkin heads and then on Hallowe'en dressed up as Dr.Jacobi from Twin Peaks and I had a pencil in my face. It was good to party with my wife while my kids were subdued by relatives. After the Jello shooters I don't recall that much.

Later that week...
Tony sent me some links to his music, including a Brooklyn style illbient scratch & sample based turntablism track. Superflat Single #48 is that song. The Evil Geniuses were pleased to share their music and we are glad.

Listen to blipsandifs048.mp3 - 2.6 MB

Combattler V.

2006-11-13T05:52:00.000-08:00

Hello, this Are Frank.

I am make benefit glorious non-nation of Taiwan.

No but actually, these things are happening:

1. There is a Shima Records comp. coming out w/ me and Moil on it.

2. The remix album betw. Tachikoma and Signalform will come out on a German label shortly.

3. I don't have access to the internet.

Well the third is not so exciting. But actually I am just trying to get back into the loop of producing tracks instead of franking so much. I really am. The lack of gear here isn't helping --- but I can't really blame that to be honest. Maboroshi ni wa.... it's all becoming an illusion. But I am trying, believe it. Until I get back on the horse, moil is gonna drop some mad green jade on y'all, while simultaneously battling McDonald's and his own superbusy schedule. As for the Boats .... well... I'll say nothing, because I am in no position to cast the first stone. But them is'a by's the by that Etc. you do the math.

Sorry for the lack of coherence. But mad props to all who continue to collaborate with me in my current debauched state.

Peace.

....... FINAL FUSION SHOUNIN DA!!! GGG!!!!

Music Video for Superflat Single #46

2006-11-10T18:28:00.000-08:00

Video now availablefrom Blips and Ifs! We've been hard at work preparing our first self produced music video. After working with Etherworks on the first of a series of collaborations I was inspired to start creating my own music videos. Having all the training and equipment nessisary it was only a matter of time. So this November needs rain jackets, trapped inside we decided to start filming. Along wth my children we visited each window of the house and taped the slow motion rain falling down. Visit the new video archive section of blipsandifs.com.

Watch the Video: blipsandifs046.mov - 6.7 MB

Audio Toy Field Test #6

2006-11-03T23:53:00.000-08:00

There is great excitement from the field. Tachikoma's unique brand of ambient noises have now been fitted into the main housing unit of 'Gronk'. Other recent advances also include a mystery glitch in the programming that was causing only the last sound to play. This situation has been resolved by adding permanent containment unit for each of the sounds. Prior to this addition, as one sound was loaded in, the next sound was taking it's predecessors place. By adding individual containment units all sounds now have a place to go. After a little more code tweaking to smooth out sound transitions the first Audio Toy will be released before the end of 2006. Projected forecast is for later this week.

This is a major achievement as Audio Toys are one of the last remaining goals of blipsandifs for the year 2006. All we have left is the Tachikoma Instrument Collection to begin and we will WIN!

Image was drawn by 'The Boats' in the original Board Room of Blips and Ifs (aka Hotel Hastings). Became the inspiration for Superflat Single #13.

Here is a sample of code from the upcoming Audio Toy:

//Sound Relations
onClipEvent(enterFrame){
//invisible dragon _X+_Y converted to a percentage.(0-100)
percentSlider = int((this.invisibleDragon._x + this.invisibleDragon._y)/2.25);

//set up vol3
if (percentSlider>50){
vol3 = ((percentSlider+50)*2)-200;
}else(vol3 = 0);
_root.sound3.setVolume(vol3);

//set up vol2
if (percentSlider<50){
vol2 = ((percentSlider-33)*3)*2;
}
if(percentSlider>50){
vol2 = ((-(percentSlider-33)*3)*2)+200;
}
if((percentSlider<33)||(percentSlider>66)){
vol2 = 0;
}
_root.sound2.setVolume(vol2);

//set up vol1
if (percentSlider<50){
vol1 = (-percentSlider+50)*2;
}else(vol1 = 0);
_root.sound1.setVolume(vol1);

//trace
trace("A: "+vol1);
trace("B: "+vol2);
trace("C: "+vol3);
}

Superflat Single #47 / [710W3]

2006-11-01T13:15:00.000-08:00

The song was an instantanious joke from the start, but I really loved playing and singing it on my piano, my poor piano. Our old upstairs neighbours gave it to us when we moved out of our that home. Then for a good year and a half at the next house I would play daily. Pounding keys and blarring out at the top of my lungs when no one was home, and often when they were. Then we moved again. We are very fortunate to have this rental, I really like it here. A great view and lots of convienience. Except I lost two things when we moved in. My office, and worst of all the piano. Niether of them are really gone, don't let me mislead you. My office has become a bedroom office and more. The piano only made it to the garage. It's getting cold out and I'm worried it might get lonely, I haven't played it in months. The garage is great for working on my comic book, but it doesn't have the right mood for jamming. One day I'll get that piano inside and I'll play my heart out. I miss my piano.
Listen to blipsandifs047.mp3 - 2.6 MB

Audio Toy Field Test #5

2006-10-29T10:43:00.000-08:00

After hours of consideration, multiple trips to the drawing board, prolonged consecutive bouts of electroplankton and serious meditation we are now sitting on a new plateau of development in the Audio Toy Arena. Our final programming tests are being completed as are the shiny three-dimensional computer generated graphics complete their three hour rendering process. Soon our Beta Phase will be complete and the First Official Audio Toy from Blips and Ifs will be released. The accompanying photo is only a representation of the initial concept of our first Audio Toy: Gronk.

Superflat Single #46 / [710W3]

2006-10-24T13:08:00.000-07:00

It's been too long old friend. Music is such an intrinsic part of my life, without it I would waste away. Not just listening, but making music drives me. I absolutely love writing the soundtrack to my life. Expression through noise. Taking in all that I hear and regurgitating it back as waveforms, cafefully placed and layered around each other. If only life were as easially broken down as this sequence of loops, breaks and samples. Maybe it is, maybe it's a simple song that sounds more complex than it is. Could it be that we create new frequencies and harmonies that were never present in the original? That all this excess sound and noise I hear isn't even supposed to be here? That the chaos of life is created by the echos and delay boxes, delay boxes, that man has created to make life...better?
Listen to blipsandifs046.mp3 - 3.7 MB

Supeflat Single #45 / [710W3]

2006-10-19T12:19:00.000-07:00

I've walked from the skytrain to my house as my very own symphony played in my head. An epic tune with horn lines and strings. I'd tried to record real instruments parts with the synthetic sounding impersonations of my Roland XP30 Keyboard without any realism at all. Years later I've grown to love the sounds of fake keyboards and fake horns. I know others hate this, some artists are adament against the use of presets. My fellow producer Tachikoma recomends to use whatever sounds to write with and then swap them out for something more interesting later. I think that's why I love them. Why should I care if it's a real trumpet or a synth? I can't afford to hire a real orchestra, and Samples often limit what melodies and rythms you can create (which adds it's own reward) while alternatives may steer away from my original intent. I picked a fake trumpet sound because of the historical significance of trumpets. When I want that tune, that melody, or that pop to be similar to the one in my head I'm willing to sacrifice real instrument sounds knowing that your brain will fill in the details for me. Your imagination will add the realism I can't afford. Like an illustration of a man walking home from the skytrain. It's just a bunch of lines and colours on a page, but when you look at it you don't see the lines, you see me lost in a dream about a symphony inside my head.
Listen to blipsandifs045.mp3 - 1.3 MB

Bargain Bin.

2006-10-02T07:36:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I found this in the bargain bin for 99 cents!!! who's been bootlegging us? Is it you, Ingo!!?!?!

Taipei Street Art #7

2006-10-01T02:09:00.000-07:00

In the park across the street from my house, there is this huge important gentleman willing to shake hands with everyone who walks by.

Superflat Single #44 / The Drunken Boats

2006-09-27T22:22:00.000-07:00

There is a scene in Disney's Cinderella when she's singing and washing the floors. So happy to be with the little birds and rats. The bubbles float around here and a tiny image of her washing the floor appears within each one. Her reflections are tinted with various pastel hues.

So old...(before my time_) is what it's like being inside of one of those two dimensionally reflective bubbles all distorted and wobbly, except that there is a film crew just behind Cinderella filming a music video for the Boats.

Seriously. Someone rap over this track and send it to us.

Listen to blipsandifs044.mp3 - 2.5 MB

Taipei Street Art #6

2006-09-24T05:08:00.000-07:00

This squirrel of doom is seen on many walls around my area.....

Taipei Street Art #5

2006-09-24T05:05:00.000-07:00

Hi, I'm a cute skull who wears a bow and also smokes mad fatties.....

the boats went digging

2006-09-21T17:44:00.000-07:00

I dug through the record bins at my local thrift store and came up with some gems.
The first record I picked up was John Phillips SOUSA! I live the cover of this record. It says it’s a dynamic high fidelity full band concert of marches. I have not listened to it yet but I am sure there are going to be some serious sampling from this.

The second record I bought purely for the cover as well. It just blew my mind. It seems like a commercial to sell the big old FX1 organ. Which by the way looks like the future but uses FM synthesis to make all its sounds so it probably sounds pretty crazy and dated.

The third record is pure insanity. Only something you could find at a thrift store in a relatively small town. I think this record may take out my previous favorite of church organ music accompanied by bird calls (with the bird calls being done by world renowned bird caller Henry Stevens.) Anyway... here it is.

I mean Jesus.... canine heart sounds... great great stuff....

Taipei Street Art #4

2006-09-20T00:04:00.000-07:00

This one's even better. It's from Taipei Cinema Park, across the street from my apartment.

Taipei Street Art #3

2006-09-20T00:00:00.000-07:00

I guess this one says "babe." Today I learned the Chinese term for graffiti: "tou yah."

Taipei Street Art #2

2006-09-17T05:21:00.000-07:00

My net connection still refuses to cooperate but I hope this image uploaded ok. The key part to notice here is the graphic on the right - some graffiti artist around here likes making images on tiles, coloring some and leaving others blank, to create a 'low-bit-rate' gameboylike effect. Awesome.

Superflat Single #43 / Tachikoma

2006-09-12T15:46:00.000-07:00

It's as true today as it was then - that is to say, 43.6% true. I specifically asked 710W3 to locate and post this single, as it was recorded by me back when I first went to taiwan, but it never made it onto any of my albums from that period, so I've lost the original master.

It's just a poorly but humorously recorded song about the island of Galiano, where computer music was first invented by 710W3 and his team of super-intelligent bears and beavers. They whittled a Commodore64 and a soundcard out of western red cedars, wrote some killer apps on bark, and shortly thereafter, put out the first issue of Computer Music Magazine (under pseudonyms).

Hope you enjoy it.

Listen to blipsandifs043.mp3 - 3.6 MB

THIS IS A FOUR DAYS OLD NOW but...

2006-09-11T12:44:00.000-07:00

*
Attention Terra-dogs:
GHD 2007: 12 Years
This is a 148 day warning of the 12 Annual Groundhogsday Celebration. The event will occur on FRIDAY FEBRUARY 2.This is the FIRST TIME in 5 Years we will have the opportunity to celebrate on the actual Groundhog Day. This is a rare and auspicious occasion and I personally would be proud to see our unique community gather for the jubilant 12th annual hullabaloo.
This is a 5 month warning. GHD is Friday February 2. Good luck everyone.
*
* 12 YEARS * 12 YEARS * 12 YEARS * 12 YEARS * 12 YEARS * 12 YEARS *

Holy shit... 12 years... that is amazing. I for one am really startig to work on my GHD projects starting today. I just thought you all should know, so that I am making my goals public and setting some standard... So Davey expect some phone calls soon.

Taipei Street Art #1

2006-09-09T23:54:00.000-07:00

Since I'm here in Taipei and I have a better camera, I thought I'd start uploading some of the brilliant visuals I upload through my eyes here. I've already got tons of photos of graffiti and odd advertising, so let the new series, Taipei Street Art, begin!!

(feel free to copy and rework these photos as you see fit!)

Superflat Single #42 / Tachikoma

2006-08-31T14:35:00.000-07:00

Tachikoma is now weighing in with his last post from Canada....... ever? Well, probably not, but most of his posts are gonna be coming from Taipei for a while.

I'm flying out tomorrow and I managed to get an apartment set up today, which I admit is cutting it pretty close.

This piece of song is as unclear as my thoughts right now. It's 'kumo no jutsu,' which the boats' boo might be able to decode as "The Cloud Technique." But the word "cloud" is synonymous with "bear", so it could also be "The Bear Technique."

By placing my hands together and invoking the names of various animals from the Chinese zodiac, I can execute the cloud technique: by which I mean, I get to fly away and live in Taipei for a while, rejecting all hardware analog synths for digital ones, and connecting to the net via my new wireless studio. The city of Taipei is almost completely covered by a huge dub-powered 40,000 hz wireless signal anyway. Abandon your modems and routers.

I'm sitting at 710W3's house now. We hashed out a bunch of ideas over the last few evenings, and there've been many changes to our hometown, Boomcity.biz, as a result. There's a live chat room now that's always on.....

For rejecting your life and attempting a 'transvaluation of all values,' I highly recommend retiring to Taipei's industrial countryside. It's better than living in a Pole album. 14.7% better. And if you feel the need to, you can hit on all the hometown girls you want, especially the ones that you shouldn't hit on, so you can leave with a broken heart and knew you did the right thing. And what's more, you can learn something.

Thanks to technorati I now know that people like SomaFM's Cliqhop and the-unscene are finding their ways to blips and ifs, playing us on their radio stations.... the memes are being distributed gradually. It's our way of imitating unappreciated art. Also, Blipsandifs is the 668,00th most popular blog in the world. Our goal for next year: 665,000th. I know we can do it, guys.

I don't want to get your hopes up too much. But if you ask me, this blog, and Boomcity, and the airwaves, are soon gonna be getting regularly flooded with data after typhoon-class online jam sessions. People are gonna invent new forms of comic books and flash studios. Videoblogs (also known as "vidweblogs" among truant street youth) might even show up. There's a webcam built into my new studio.

I'll be content with more content.

KUMO NO JUTSU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Listen to blipsandifs042.mp3 - 2.1 MB

THAT IS A BIG SPEAKER!

2006-08-29T08:59:00.000-07:00

I just came across this and am blown away by it's size....

HORNMASSIVE (2004) (Matt Hope) is a 2 Ton (4500 Lbs US), 3.5 M by 3.1 M by 4 M mobile 2000 watt steel and aluminuim horn sound system, all powered from a commercial 12” speaker driver. It functions as a mobile audio input station whereby people can plug-in in order to project "content" a distance of 1 km, designed to be the ultimate monophonic sound projector intended to catalyze social activities in multiple settings.

not much else on the website about it..... all you need to know is it's big and
I would imagine loud!

Superflat Single #41 / Dub Bear

2006-08-24T13:55:00.000-07:00

Dub Bear brings back the beat with this bit-reduced dub essay. He feels strongly about delicious salmon and wonders why more salmon are not equipped with midi ports. That would make their echounits easier to sync to the tempo..... don'tcha think?

Seriously, I don't understand this Dub Bear guy.

Listen to blipsandifs041.mp3 - 2.9 MB

Tachikoma Apartment Collection #1

2006-08-22T08:43:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd post some photos of my apartment, which I'll be moving out of at the end of the month.

This one is early in the morning. You can guess what's going on at this time.....

But Why?

2006-08-21T14:33:00.000-07:00

Nobody gets it. Nobody gets why Tachikoma is a ramblin' man and he needs to ramble on, just like Gandalf in that led zep song.

It's hard to explain. But I can say that I am addicted to rejecting all my possessions and rebeginning my life. Last night 710W3 came by my apartment and picked up a bunch of my junk that I am gonna lend him. Ditto for The Boats in a few days.

My dream now is to wander Taipei city, accessing net via wi-fi on my new laptop, mmaking songs and sending myspace messages and blogging..... I'm gonna make it come true .... somehow.....

Tachikoma: Output.

2006-08-11T14:43:00.000-07:00

I'm outta here!!

Ever since this blog first fired up, Tachikoma has been living in Vancouver. But sometime between September and October of this year, I'm taking off to go live in Asia again.

For those who know me, this is a common refrain. Making this statement always reminds me of the Ben Folds Five song "Steven's Last Night In Town."

It will certainly have an affect on my music. Harpoon won't be able to practice anymore, and I will have to leave most of my Tachikoma Instrument Collection with The Boats or 710W3. But the core of my studio is my USB keyboard, USB drum trigger, USB soundcard .... just attach to any computer and voila, instant studio. Plus reason 2.5, of course....

Over there I hope to do more writing, but 710W3 convinced me I need to make at least 2 more tracks a month. I think I can do that. And I hope to make field recordings for Audio Photography as well.

Why do I wanna go back there? It's my home, even though I am a white guy. I always tell people that I hate Western Civilization, which is true. Living in Asia with a self-inflicted language barrier lets me put my cyberbrain in cultural-autism mode.

Anyway, I am psyched up about the move. I am a big lazy procrastinator, but this kinda thing helps me get my shit together.

More info to come as it gets confirmed.....

Superflat Single #40 / Tachikoma

2006-07-31T21:06:00.000-07:00

Relaxing decadently on the leather couch in front of his computer recording studio, Tachikoma accepts another drink with an umbrella in it from his manservant and then begins to compose 'sesame and seaweed', his tribute to california rolls. Outside, in the street below, the drunken teenagers are being arrested and the fireworks are imitating Native Instruments' Spektral Delay. He wonders where The Boats and 710W3 and all the other blipsandifs producers are, and if they are listening to the fireworks on their own delays.... the summer is almost over and he's going to escape again....

Listen to blipsandifs040.mp3 - 2.3 MB

Oh! Canada

2006-07-27T18:47:00.000-07:00

They can verify an incorrect calculation down to a fraction of a penny, but they still don't know about spell check. This is a real page, not a photoshop gag.

Oh, by the way, we got a new Superflat Single coming real soon!

Drawn

2006-07-22T08:27:00.000-07:00

I found this site while researching about blogs. It's a great blog about drawing. Story of Google regarding Logo Copyright, links to the Black Super Hero gallery. Great stuff. Check it out. drawn.ca

Superflat Single #39 / Dub Bear

2006-07-17T17:02:00.000-07:00

Dub Bear: The newest artist to sign a lifetime contract with blipsandifs.

Dub Bear: A gentle bear who roams the wilderness of Northern British Columbia. An antique Roland 505 analog tape echo unit is permanently strapped to his head, catching the sounds of nature and forcing them to repeat forever in clouds of delay.

Dub Bear: Dipping his paw deftly into the river, he removes a copy of the Columbia History Of Chinese Literature and calmly begins to read.

Dub Bear: His fur is so smooth and soft. Let's all pet the Dub Bear.

Listen to blipsandifs039.mp3 - 3.8 MB