Two days in a row I did a Q&A with two different schools the Academy of St.Francis of Assisi and Holly Lodge Girls College and others at FACT, it was great some good questions coming out of the students, I demonstrated circuit bending, discussed “Obsolete?” and did a short mini-gig where the participants could ask questions in between songs about how and what I was doing to create the music.

Photos courtesy of Anna Kronenburg and Louise Latter @ FACT, Liverpool

Today I did a Computer Graphics Workshop with two different schools the Academy of St.Francis of Assisi and Holly Lodge Girls College at FACT, Liverpool as part of the current Space Invaders exhibition. They were a fantastic group, so good in fact we even had time to make sound effects for the game as well. The space was perfect as we could beam the game on a huge cinema screen as we were making it.

The game will be all edited and back to them in a week for them to play on in school and at home. Next up tonight “An Evening With Pixelh8” all sold out!!!

Firstly many thanks to Anna, Hamish, Ben and the support staff at FACT.  Secondly the adults and children who took part.

Today I ran  a day long workshop, teaching people how to use the new “SUPER CHIP TUNE SAMBA BAND” software, the new software is made to encourage people to perform chip tune music together in groups. The day long session included an introduction to chip tune music, why and how I made the software, the rehearsal and the performance by the participants.  Already the event has attracted international press here and here.

The software is designed to mimic the sounds of a samba band albeit a very chip tune samba band with a Sirdu, Caixa, Rep, Ganza and an Agogo, it’s time to turn those game playing skills in to Samba music.

Despite many technical hitches due to several cables being a bit flaky (grrr just bought them for the event, but I can sort this out with a bit of funding or sponsorship) the feedback was very very positive and some nice stories about families coming together for the event to make music.  Can’t post any pictures tonight left my camera adapter at the lab will update this post later in the week.

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I really enjoyed it and the families did too. Very pleased that they really took to the idea of creating something with the DS instead of just being a passive consumer of it. I also gave them copies of SUPER CHIP TUNE SAMBA BAND and Music Tech Master Stroke so they can go away and make there own music.  You can read my paper on it below on the how, what and why of the workshop, minus the conclusion which I will write up next week.

Cultural perceptions, ownership and interaction with re-purposed musical instruments

Some minor hitches with the software (if one drum is exited before it is finished playing it holds it in memory especially the Agogo) and I think the PC/MAC Player software needs to have several more patterns and more simpler patterns as well apart from that it was great.

When it’s all done and written up all the software and teaching notes will be available for download so you can make your own samba band in your schools and homes.

This event forms part of FACTs “Space Invaders: Art and the Computer Game Environment” season and is delivered in partnership with Netherlands Media Art Institution, Amsterdam.

“Our Lady Of Perpetual Succour Catholic Primary School in Widnes collaborated with artist and FACT education freelancer Ross Dalziel on a piece of music using acclaimed artist and musician Pixelh8’s Tech Master Stroke ‘chiptune’ software for Nintendo DS…

FACT’s engagement and education team invited the DS Orchestra to play at the opening of the exhibition “Space Invaders – Art and the Computer game Envirionment” at FACT in Liverpool which continues to run from 18 December 2009 to 21 February 2010.” FACT.

Many thanks to Ross Dalziel of Sound Network and all the staff at FACT, and of course the fantastic DS Orchestra, look out for “Super Chip Tune Samba Band” software, workshops and videos coming soon.

On January 31st, 2010 I will be running a day long workshop, teaching people how to use the new “SUPER CHIP TUNE SAMBA BAND” software, the new software is made to encourage people to perform chip tune music together in groups. The day long session will include introduction to chip tune music, why and how I made the software, the rehearsal and the performance by the participants. For booking details contact FACT at their website. Already the event has attracted international press here and here so book early to avoid disappointment.

The software is designed to mimic the sounds of a samba band albeit a very chip tune samba band with a Sirdu, Caixa, Rep, Ganza and an Agogo, it’s time to turn those game playing skills in to Samba music.

After the event the software will be released to download for free as well as some play-along videos for you to get started using it.

This event forms part of FACTs “Space Invaders: Art and the Computer Game Environment” season and is delivered in partnership with Netherlands Media Art Institution,  Amsterdam.

Very pleased this article got out there, which talks about Mobile App development in Suffolk, the work I am doing with UCS students to prepare them for the workplace with the most current technology we can offer them. Not only are they developing for the iPhone, but the Nintendo DS and Java based phones.

It also talks about fellow local developper Paul Hutson and the success of his Kingdom Game and Outer Empires projects, all good news for Suffolk and University Campus Suffolk and I am sure I will update you on my students progress.

The video pretty much says it all.

Yup, you can read the article here or here, but in addition to this I’d like to say that I will be making a new version of Music Tech Master Stroke for the event featuring several percussion pages to allow for groups of people to perform together.

The workshop will be based on Samba style music it will just be using a very very modern device to create the sound.  The software again will be made available for free to the general public after the workshop has taken place.

Many thanks to Ross Dalziel at SoundNetwork and those wonderful people at FACT for helping me get this project off the ground. Many thanks to the Chip Tune Marching Band for letting me talking part in their workshop, which helped convince me to take chip tune music to the streets.  Now I need to get back to writing the new version of the software. Cya.

Check out an in-depth interview with me, my upcoming projects and a very good look at chiptune music on the Nerdy Show here. The show was recorded at 2am UK time thats why I sound so sleepy, I had to wake up to do it as I am always in bed by 11:30pm.

I also went on to discuss the decline in programmers at the Suffolk e-learning forum in my talk “A Choice To Compute”.  I am amazed I made it through it especially as I am feeling very coughy and coldy at the moment. Enjoy! I’m off to bed I go with my cold.

Photo courtesy of Eddie Dougan @ UCS

You have found it!!! The AND / Interface Amnesty Pixelh8 Music Tech Master Stroke DS BETA download page. This special pre-release version is a scaled down version and will be optimized and completed shortly. This download will only be available for a week.

Please join the mailing list here to be informed of it’s progress.

and please report all bugs here.

Please see list of bugs below.

DOWNLOAD RULES “READ BEFORE DOWNLOADING”

There is no warranty for this free software and Room 1 Studios, Hidden Youth Records & Matthew C. Applegate accepts no responsibility for it’s use or any damage that may occur during it’s use.

1) Not so much a rule as it is a courtesy, if some asked you what software you are using you say something like “Pixelh8 Music Tech / Drum Tech / Death Ray you can get it from his website“.

2) No, you can not sell or distribute this software, it’s free and it’s mine to distribute. That way I can make updates, if there are any major problems for any specific types of users and makes the process easier.

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Instruction Manual as a PDF here! (Right Click and Save as)