Saturday, 17 April 2004

Xkeys controller You could spend over $5,000 on a DigiDesign ProControl, and I don't mind telling you they are very nice - or you could spend under $100 and at least have clearly labeled instant access to the most important keyboard shortcuts.... Keyboard Macros and Hot Keys offer the shortest path to action, and the X-keys provides a clearly labeled, physical location for these complex or redundant functions so you don't have to think about them. The X-keys lets you focus on the project instead of the process. 3:00:03 PM    comment []; Eau de Cologne I explained to someone recently that the term "Eau de Cologne" (which means literally Water from Cologne in French) stems from the city of Köln, where I was born. But since I did not know the history I did a little search and came up with this: Because the word, cologne, is actually the French name given to the German city, Köln, it may seem surprising, then, that the origins of eau de cologne are actually rooted in Italy. These are the little tidbits that make history so interesting! It all started with Gian Paolo Feminis, a barber from Val Vigezzo, who left his Italian homeland to seek fortune in Germany. While in Germany, he created a perfume water which he called Aqua Admirabilis. This Aqua was made from grape spirits, oil of neroli, bergamot, lavender and rosemary. When it was released in 1709, customers swept it off the apothecary shelves of Cologne with such speed that Gian Paolo recruited his nephew, Giovanni Maria Farina, to help with the demand. In 1732, nephew Giovanni took over the business and marketed the product as a consumable cure-all for a variety of ailments, ranging from stomach aches to bleeding gums. Today, the traditional fragrance known as Eau de Cologne is sold under the name 4711, the world's oldest and most continuously produced fragrance. Legend tells that on his deathbed my grandfather noticed that my grandmother was getting ready to put some 4711 on his forehead to cool his head, as it was hot summer day. He said: "Keep that shit away from me." - and those might have been his last words he ever uttered.... Here is a link to a recipe for making your own Eau de Cologne (in German) and here is more interesting historical information (also in German). I did not know that Cologne was the biggest European metropolis during the middle ages and was called "Rome of the North". 1:29:32 PM    comment []; Custom Music Design A while ago Jon Gagan and I were talking about music and Jon mentioned that he would like to see someone treating music more like art. He suggested somebody should make a song and sell it to one collector for a lot of money, rather than mass-producing it and selling it to thousands or even millions of people for very little money. The collector would either receive a signed CD as well as the files used to create the music - these would all fit on several additional CDs or on a DVD - or would choose to let the artist or an independent party take care of the original files in case the CD goes bad and another should be made. Imagine going to a gallery and picking out a unique piece of music to buy, for your enjoyment or maybe even as an investment. The point of longevity could be argued either way. After all, I have heard that a certain artist used cheap paint from discount stores and the people who bought his paintings ($100,000 plus) discovered 10 or 20 years later that the paint was literally falling off the canvas....meaning that the process of the CD failing 10-20 years down the road could be considered part of the art. We discussed which musician might be able to pull this off, and nobody in the charts right now came to mind, although I could imagine Bjork doing something like this. Jon mentioned Prince in his hay-day. (Where does that saying come from? Making hay as in making dough as in making money?) In any case, this is an interesting concept and worth considering. I see the need to separate between mass-marketed music and truly special, and more personal music/art-packages. To some extend this is something I am moving towards by making an inexpensive $12 package with all of the music (except for one song!) and a signed limited edition package that features an interesting design. Personally I would prefer to design small limited editions for my music and otherwise sell music only in the form of downloadable files, but obviously it is a little too early to do that. Another interesting option would be to offer to write and record music for a specific purpose - similar to writing music for a film. Let's say somebody wanted a special song for a lover's birthday, or for a housewarming party. They would get in touch with the artist and ask him to write/record a unique piece... - it would cost more than $15 of course, but the music could be re-sold after the event much the same way paintings are sold and re-sold....and instead of gathering their friends around the new painting they acquired, they would gather around the music system and listen to "their song". 1:10:43 PM    comment []; Saturday Morning Music: La Semana (help, I can't stop!) Mood: festive (just tried a different brand of Sake. They are all pretty good hot, the real test is trying them cold) When I am working on a new album I don't get out much. In fact I barely leave home. Afterwards I feel like a turtle slowly sticking my head out of the shell.... This morning I visited a gallery I like, James Kelly Contemporary on Paseo de Peralta. He had a couple of great photographs by an artist named Michael Wesely. I did a little search for him and found his web site, which I think is horrible and a nightmare to navigate. But the photos are amazing, especially the abstract long-time exposures. Check out the American Landscape abstractions! I also found some other people who wrote about Michael Wesely here and here. 12:24:40 PM    comment []; Heliodisplay The inventor must have been startled when he saw the movie "Minority Report", because his invention, the Heliodisplay, is very similar to the transparent gesture screen Tom Cruise uses in it. More photos of the display here. It seems that I will be "conducting" my music sooner than later!! The New York Times had an article on the heliodisplay in December, but they want $2.95 for reading the article and photos cost extra, too...now why can't they serve up that article with photos for free and throw some advertising at me in return...how hard would that be. They get their money and I get to ignore their ads... 7:45:02 AM    comment [];

© Copyright 2004 Ottmar Liebert. Last update: 01.05.04; 20:14:00.