I stayed overnight in Bletchley, so I could get to work early, but I didn’t realise that I would be able to get in this early. I started at  7.41am and got absolutely loads done. I got all of the sounds I need out of the Sord M5, BBC Micro, Amstrad CPC 464, and The Atari 800XL. I had a good hour with the Elliot 803 before the museum opened. Recorded loads of calculators grinding, clinking and crunching.

Just as I was leaving I discovered three “new” computers in an area I hadn’t really looked around before, An MSX-HX10, Texas Instruments TI-99/4A and an Acorn Atom. Sadly the MSX had some crazy plug on it but luckily Tony Fraser was able to rewire it for me. 4pm time to go home but glad as I got absolutely loads done.

Soon I shall start work on the 16-bit machines like the Atari ST and the Amiga 500.

Yet another trip to the museum today, mainly for interviews for BBC 6 Music and BBC News 24.

I got to get the sounds of the Dragon 32 done, it either seems to produce rather unique square waves or it’s attempting to create a very rough triangle wave as shown on the oscilloscope, either way that’s how it’s gonna be for this project, but it does sound rather nice. Will get to work on the Sord M5, BBC Micro & Atari 800XL tomorrow.

Also it’s interesting to note that alot of the machines aren’t in tune with eachother not only that, they are often not in tune with other machines of the same type. So some of the machines will have solo performances which I quite like the idea of anyway.

One of the rules I have made for myself for this project is that I can’t alter the pitch or add any post production to the sounds, I want them to be as the listener would experience them whilst in front of the machine.

My visit today to TNMOC was great all of the other researchers are now aware of what I am doing and why I was so obsessed with the sound side of the machines and I got to talk openly to them about what I was doing. Again I was helped by John Sinclair, he showed me the “double 5 shift” procedure on the Elliot 803 twice so I could memorise how to do it, and I finally did.

The other day I went into the storage area where they keep the museums excess computers, it was like going shopping in the 80′s. I picked up a Atari 800XL, Dragon 32, Oric Atmos, Oric 1, Grundy Newbrain, and ofcourse a BBC Micro and a few others, and assembled them in my workshop area. I also dug out a Sord CGL M5, the x and the l key was jammed down, so I had to open and clean it. It now works perfectly and is ready to be used for some serious chip tune music.

Apart from the Atari 800xl and the BBC Micro, “Obsolete?” will feature mainly computers that I have never used before, so to get the project done I am having to learn my way around about twenty new machines, yes alot of them are z80′s and 6502′s but they all have their unique quirks to them.

So today I mainly spent poking at a Dragon 32, making go beep, quite simple yet enjoyable stuff, I did however notice that the clock sped up and down only by milliseconds but still noticable. I must remember to try out POKE 65495,0 which effectively doubles the BASIC ROM Interpreter speed.

Next week will will be an intensive week of working on these machines and I am quite excited about it.

I am very excited.

Recently I Pixelh8 have had the good fortune, with the help of The National Museum of Computing and the Performing Rights Society Foundation, to have a huge music project of mine funded. The project is to write a piece of music composed from sounds from some of the rarest and earliest computers and computing devices in the world to be performed at the World War II code breaking centre Bletchley Park, Milton Keynes on March 20th and 21st 2009.

The project entitled “Obsolete?” will make use of machines such as Colossus Mark 2 world’s first programmable, digital, electronic, computing device used for code breaking in World War II and probably one of, if not the most significant computer in the world. Another computer to be used is Elliot 803 from 1960, a giant machine that has only 4k!!! I think it’s one of only three left in the world and I love it!

The blogs leading up to it have now also been declassified and can be accessed by clicking here.

On the flipside the piece will also feature several other commonplace computing devices that have either been discarded or branded as “Obsolete?” as time moved on, so yes I will be using the ubiquitous BBC Micro too.

This will be chip tune music but unlike any other you have ever heard.

These machines have been restored to working order and in some cases completely reconstructed by volunteers and researchers at TNMOC, and I am honoured to be associated with these hard working men and women and the unique history of Bletchley Park.

This is to be one of many computer music related projects I am hoping to bring to the museum and I am very, very excited. I strongly recommend you go and visit The National Museum of Computing in the meantime, but you won’t get any more information about “Obsolete?” just yet, as it is classified information.

March 20th, 2009 tickets can be purchased here and March 21st, 2009 tickets can be purchased here. The evening will include the performance, Q&A with myself about the music, a special tour of the museum and a visit to Colossus. Only one hundred tickets per evening so hurry!

Pixelh8

Spent like eight hours traveling on today listening to EPMD “Strictly Business” & “Unfinished Business” , De La Soul “3 Feet High & Rising” & “De La Soul Is Dead” and Eric B & Rakim “Follow The Leader” it’s not a complaint, I have just transefered all my 80′s hip hop I grew up listening to, to my iPOD and have been listening to it on a loop. It’s quite strange revisiting them and thinking about how they inspired me, ooh that reminds me I must break out with the turntables on this album.

Today has been great, spent several hours just working on the new album. Put down new ideas for “In The Red” and “We Are The New Wave” both very dancable. “The Girl From The Future” has been extended now happy with the intro and well into the first chorus, it needs vocals, ideally I would have Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs on it, Karen if your reading this let me know. “Turn Me On” has had a few little tweaks here and there. Already I can see the album divided between fluffy happy songs and alien death ray dance tracks, which I a pleased with. Overall I am extremely pleased with whats taking place, not sure if my neighbours are though, as I have been playing the demos quite loud.

When I am a bit ore into it I will start contacting the people I would like to have as guests, mainly it’s gonna be vocalists, but maybe a few instrumentalists too.

I got up a little late, as I stayed up til about 4am watching cartoons, but it’s not a bad thing. I awoke ready to get to it, found inspiration from the smoke alarms going off as I burnt my sausages for lunch/breakfast “Beep, Beep, Beep” two seperate alarms going off making crazy rhythms. When I write music I always eat terribly, I usually have whats called my “sweet box” it’s a large box which consists on Peanut M&M’s. Malteasers, Haribo and loads of other chocolate. This is so I don’t have to get up and do normal things like cook food, eat food, clean up after food and it’s the only time food is allowed in the studio. MMmmm Sugar.

So yes it has been a very productive day and will probably get back to it in a little while. Tracks “The Girl From The Future” and “Turn Me On” are underway very pleased. “Turn Me On” uses some of the lowest notes possible on the chips I am using and it’s exactly how it is in my head. “The Girl From The Future” is quite an ethereal euphoric spiritual chip tune? Is that too much? “Segue 56 Panic Buttons” is pretty much done, will just need to be mastered and tested.

All my music undergoes quite alot of testing. Theres the ipod test (does it sound good on a ipod), the car test (does it sound good in a car), the cheap headphone test (does it sound good in cheap headphones) it’s just to get the balances all right, and if you can make something sound good in cheap headphones you know you have something.

Things might seem to be moving fast in terms of how I do an album, but it’s the way my mind works. I usually build up songs, beats or just ideas in my head over several months and then I just, pour it out of my brain in one go, it’s like a stew. I had the song for “Turn Me On” in my head for about four or five months, just playing on the jukebox in my head.

So as you may know I am working on my third album “And The Revolution” and I am very excited. I have slowly been piecing together ideas and themes, and tonight I created several different chip drum kits. I usually make 1000′s of sounds, write 100′s of drum beats and then jam over them to create the tracks. Last night was pretty good I created probably one of my best beats yet and it’s really slow and over 16 bars for a track called “I don’t need a friend tonight”.

On this album I will be returning to the use of circuit bending, I will even use some real humans on the album too? It will be interesting to see how the album turns out, a few people have asked to be on it and I have asked a few people to be on it so it will be a little be different. I know I am pleased with the five ideas already in construction so thats a good start.

One of the first tracks “Improvised Electronic Device” is finished or at least I think it is almost finished I have one thing left to try on it and then I can say I am completely happy. I have played it a few times live and it seems to go down pretty well, and Imogen Heap said she liked it so thats definetely a good sign. I tried something different in the bridge shuffling the main rhythm along a teency weency bit at it makes it crazy which is nice. It’s also quite annoying as it’s the first song to be finished it’s set the bar pretty high, and so the other tracks have got to be pretty damn hot.

Inspiration has come from my keys falling out of my pocket when getting into the car, which created a crazy rhythm which I then hummed and recorded into my phone, and recreated on some lovely chip drums.  A keyboard that had fallen behind a bookshelf which occassionally issues notes as it’s dying batteries gasp for their last breath, yesterday it was a descending fifth. I have also returned to listening sci-fi radio programs from the 60′s which inpired the “Holst-esque” bridge in “Improvised Electronic Device” which sounds like some alien laser beam.

And yes I know it’s weird having an album title first, before the album is finished but thats just the way my mind works.

Tomorrow I will be working on it all day, which is bit of a luxury as at the moment it’s all go. But right now 1.27am and it’s time to watch some cartoons.

Damon Albarn from (Gorillaz, Blur, The Good The Bad & The Queen) talked about me and played me on BBC Radio 1, he took over Zane Lowes show last night as a guest and played one of my tracks about an hour and 39 minutes in, you can listen again to the show here for a few more days, the show has loads of other amazing music on it so check it out, it’s really good.

Damon says “He’s an interesting guy” and a bit more about what I do. I think there was a joke that I don’t get out much but thats probably true. I had the pleasure of meeting him a while back and check out some of his amazing equipment you can read that blog here.

(Written January 15th, 2008 Declassified January 23, 2009)

Went to TNMOC today to do press shots, and it was good to see some new machines on display. Had a look around Bletchely Park mansion and in the Ballroom which is going to be where “Obsolete?” is to be held. Have been experimenting with the sounds that I have gathered and quite excited I know what I want to do, it’s sittting there in my head I just need to put it down on paper. It’s going to be in two months on March 20th and 21st so that leaves me two months to write.

Very pleased with the photos.

Wow, things are speeding up big time this year and I am only two weeks into it. So my music will be on Rob Da Bank on Sunday night / Monday morning 00:00 to 02:00,  listen in as there is always amazing music on it to listen to not just me, but yeah I am on there too! yay!

You can also find listen again links on the BBC website here just in case you miss the show.