music will find a way…

I may not have had the greatest success in the history of music, and while I am very proud of all that Anything Box has achieved in my life… It never changed my life in the ways that people expect. Anything Box as awesome as it is, cannot part the red sea, enlighten my soul and offer me endless happiness in this life… Music, even when it finds its way out of me and into your hearts, is still only an expression of a life…

Now love, pain, and every second that I’ve been alive on this little blue world? That has changed me, formed me. I guess in retrospect, Anything Box is the observer of this, and Claude S. the reporter…

Today it feels dark, the darkest that it has been in a long time, and it comes on the heals of my greatest of joys… So how does one reconcile these things? I don’t know. A good friend of mine lost her husband a few days back, so what I am facing is petty and pales in comparison. But pain is pain. No one is immune from it…

All I can offer up is a quote from a guy I sat next to on a plane last year…

There is no price high enough for one’s love or dignity…

At least I can hold my head up and say I have both.

everafter

I wrote a song that was inspired by a series of strange unrelated events, and it brought back to mind the way I came to write Carmen. I’ve been writing on and off for a while now, but the songs have seemed half inspired, so I get angry and toss them. Others I wrote to commemorate recent events and although I thought they were good, I just did not feel like recording them…

So I ask myself, ‘Self? What is going on?’ and my answer is that I am far away. I want to write, but somehow I have distanced myself from the act itself, or perhaps I have come to that dreaded writer’s curse: I’ve nothing to say. Could it be? No, I don’t think so. But sometimes what we say is not what we mean, and thus this is the feeling I’ve come to regard as the ‘non-me’.

The non-me will write about everything not related to me, for fear that such things might be too close for comfort. And they are! So much has happened in my life in a span of a year and a half that it is staggering to say the least. So after a bit of non-writing writing, i gave myself a break and let it all go….

And then, just as I was thinking about nothing at at all on the freeway on the way home from Minneapolis this weekend… It just came… A real song, something to be recorded. I say recorded because it is the first that makes me feel that there is more, even if it is simple, even if it tells the world something personal. I had forgotten the feeling… So now?

I have to follow it and see where it leads… :)

But for now, it has made me feel all the emotions that have been building up. So after a really good cup of coffee, I will go and work on it…

1984 | What George Orwell didn’t predict.

In Nineteen Eighty-Four, the seminal book by George Orwell, society is oppressed, with Big Brother bearing down on all citizens. News and Politics are delivered as NewSpeak, and the thought police is always on the lookout for those who oppose the New World Order…

In many ways, 1984 was prophetic. Many people feel that this world, this seemingly impossible world of police states and loss of individuality that is represented in the book would never come to pass. Orwell made sure it was painted well. He designed a myriad of ways for the intelligent man or woman to catch this before it could begin. He gave us the clues to the future. But he forgot something. No. Worse, he could not have imagined it in his wildest dreams.

Orwell could never have imagined the ‘marketing’ of such a terrible thing as slavery. He lived in a world that was still proud of its heritage and strengths. His brethren and families close to him had been in a world war, facing yet another. How could they have known that in the future, Big Brother would not rule by force but with the unflinching complicity of its citizens? How could he know that Big Brother did not need to cast a dark look from the TV screen? Just give the people technology that enslaves them and sell it to them as a need. Let them enslave themselves. 

From the simplest of devices, one can find the subtle hints of this. Want to know where your friends are? Look them up on GPS of course! You can see exactly where they are going. Isn’t that just the coolest thing? Or how about this? If grandma or little Billie should get lost, we can use PLD (Personal Locating Device) or Digital Angel (now there’s a name) imbedded in their arm in the form of a tiny RFID chip to find them and bring them home? Isn’t that great? And we can stop terrorism in its tracks by having this little thing in all of us, to make it harder for the terrorists to attack Amerika. Isn’t that just swell? Don’t you want to sleep well, knowing that everything is under control?

No. Orwell could never have predicted that marketing something terrible could still result in sales. The numbers don’t lie. People like these contrivances of technology. They are only fed the things they want to hear: Friends, Flirt, Meet, Engage! But avoided are the words, Tracking, Papers, National Identification, Slavery or Human Rights. These things, these terms, are made to feel passe, old. GPS is cool!

What have we done? Where did this all go wrong? As I sit and write this, the G20 are saying that a global currency is at hand, and that these nations are in fact welcoming such a shift. After all, they argue, the world has become smaller. We need to lose a bit of sovereignty to become a global community. International co-operation to end this crisis will require all citizens to agree and adapt to this New World Order. The good will overshadow the bad.

But will it? I bet old George is wishing he’d been around to release 1984 2.0 right now. Hell, why not revise the book and call it 2009?

 

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Worm Food | Afterlife (I have to choose)

It’s actually very simple, and it comes down to one thing: YOUR EGO.
If you die and your ego still clings to this life on earth, you stay until you decide it’s time to move on. But it is a lonely existence. You cannot really communicate too well with the living, so it all will seem like a purgatory. Some will try and try and be noticed, but conversations in this state will be quite useless. You always have a choice. God never takes that away. Even in death. And for some, it may be that a few days or months is what they need to experience before they realize they are free.

Now the person who has ‘control’ of their ego but still abides by it will die and instantly want to ‘know’ everything, experience it all… Fly to ends of the universe, go right through a black hole, sit on God’s shoulder while he creates a new planet or life form that is millions of light years away and so different we would need six senses to describe. He or she will ride spaceships (unseen), fly to earth and catch up on how old their surviving friends look. They will see as many movies as they want, and lounge on the beaches of the planet of their choice… Like Mercury or Saturn. They will grow in size and see the earth as a pebble in the abyss, or be a particle and be everywhere at once… Time travel… And then…

Some will become bored.

So the fun part is then to erase all of one’s ego and come back, to experience creation again. Maybe here on earth, maybe elsewhere. If you were a man, you might want to try being a woman. If you were blond and blue-eyed, you might want to come back Asian. And you will do this because you will understand that time is infinite, so you give up nothing more than a hundred years or less of that infinity…

My father was not a creative person. He did not understand the arts, so we could not relate to each other. He was a normal practical man. No religion, no nonsense. We never saw eye to eye on anything. Then he died. A few days later I awoke to see his face hovering a few feet above my bed. I thought I was dreaming.. Just then he said, “This is so strange, but very cool. You will really love this and appreciate it! This is so you…” and he was off. I had never seen him that happy. Maybe it was my imagination. Nah. I saw him all right. Goodnight all!

Or you are just worm food. Even simpler, but not as much fun. Now I have to choose. No worm food.

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PROBLEM-REACTION-SOLUTION

I had this copied and pasted from an old post. I had forgotten all about it. My apologies for not giving proper credit to the original author. However, this is information that you must begin to understand if the future is one of free thought, press, and speech throughout the world. I edited the long article for clarity. It’s simple. Learn to recognize it Here it is…

Problem-Reaction-Solution, also known as Problem? Reaction. Solution., PRS, or P-R-S, is a variation on the classic Machiavellian fabricated external-enemy strategy for manipulation of public opinion and society, usually by the government. The general theory is based on the Hegelian Dialectic method thesis, antithesis, synthesis, but the specific term is usually only used in the context of a conspiracy theory.

Definition:

Problem-Reaction-Solution is defined as the strategy of creating a crisis (the problem), waiting for a call for action to resolve the crisis (the reaction), then taking action (the solution), supposedly in response, which actually furthers a hidden agenda, usually gaining power. This is often cited as:

0. The government wants power the people will not freely give.
1. The government creates or exploits a problem, blaming it on others.
2. The people react by asking the government for help, willing to give up their rights. Think terrorist attacks, Cyber Terrorism, Domestic Terrorism
3. The government offers the solution that was planned long before the crisis.

Learn to spot this. Learn to see it when you’re reading the paper, surfing the new on the web, listening to the radio. It’s time for our world to change.  But it does not have to be the world of Orwell’s 1984. We can end this cycle now. Get smart. Be a bad citizen while being a great neighbor. 

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Real Solutions to Global Problems. Simplified.

U.S. population: 306,051,178
World Population: 6,768,012,488

I want you to keep these numbers in mind. They are right now valid. I’m not going to get into the details. Get out a calculator and do the math. I’m only giving you the solutions. They are simple. We could implement them tomorrow. Everywhere. Add your own!

1. The 20 Dollar Plan. Everyone pays into a Pay Pal account 20 bucks of their hard earned money for the benefit of the country. This is People Money. The Fed cannot touch it. The Congress then has a country wide vote on what the Top 10 Needs of the country are and we all electronically vote (a Real Reality TV show). The bill is paid. Done. Then we can do it again every six months. How fast can we solve things now?

2. Government Operated Fast Food. Government employs the same amount of employees as McDonald’s, but serves up better regulated food, and the profits of the venture goes into the country’s deficit and the needs of her people by vote of the people. Say, better Education? affordable Health Care? Everyone has food, and we contribute to the country’s wealth. The Fed is out! Gary contributed the basis for this idea…

3. Fifteen Percent (The 15% Plan) of ALL manufacturing and educational grants must be given to US companies. You can outsource 85% of your telecommunications staff to Country X if you want, but if you want to be a company earning US dollars in the US, you need to give her people jobs and put money into the country that fills your pockets. Otherwise, get out and follow the rules of whatever country you want your children to grow up in. We the people demand it.

The government serves us. They are the waitress at our table. It is We The People who have to get up off our overwhelming fat asses and order what it is we want. Then tell her to make it great or there won’t be a tip.

Nice to feel better.

New Year | Studio for 2009 | Album Notes

 

If you have ever wanted to know why albums are so hard to do, and why they take so long, I’ve got a bit of insight. For me, it has always been the pre-production phase that takes the longest. In so far as Anything Box is concerned, this always begins with months of making new sounds and cataloging them. After this comes the task of figuring out how they will be used. I usually make ‘house rules’ for myself to keep me from straying too far from the path I set out. Of course, as the work progresses, the album’s artistic direction will take over and grow its own consciousness. For the new stuff I’ve been working on, I have decided to revisit many paths of the electronic genres with a twist. The new rule is to make stuff on the fly. I want to record as much as possible the sonic ideas that result from simply playing with technology and organically manipulated sounds around the studio. Live singing in the control room is a must. Live sampling is a must. The Laptop will become an instrument, and the main Studio computer the 24 track tape machine. I’ve designed the new setup to be as easy as can be to make things (art) on the fly. However, this is not easy! I’ve got so many toys, you know? I warn you, the next part gets a bit technical… I’m writing this down to make it easier for me… I have to wire this all together this week!

The 2009 Challenges:

The First task is the ability to have all LIVE SOURCES be processed through the Korg KP3 (Laptop Studio, Kaosillator, Drum Machine, Nintendo, Omnichord, Microphones, Radio, CD players) and be recorded back to main Studio Computer. The second task is to monitor incoming signal from my Raven microphone latency-free with playback from Studio Computer. The third is to provide enough input sources for Listen Show. The last one is the easiest and will be solved by the first hurdle. Here we go…

So, all sources will go to the console. That’s easy. The second part of the equation is sending the signals to the KP3. That part is easy, too. They would go out via Aux 1+2 (stereo). In this way, anything coming into the mixer can be processed by the KP3 in varying degrees and then recorded. This solves part of the first task. Now the issue of monitoring and recording this signal… In my case, I would like the KP3 signal to be sent directly to the line inputs of my Tube Preamp, a TL Audio EQ1. This way, I can actually ‘color’ and tone-shape the signal before being recorded. By then sending this signal onto the TC electronic Konnect24D’s (K24D from now on) inputs 1+2, the signal is passed unchanged to a channel on the board. It looks like:

All Sources –> Aux 1+2 –> KP3 –> Monitor* –> EQ1 –> K24D 1+2 –> Console (playback)*

* By not sending this ‘playback’ channel out of Aux 1+2 we avoid a feedback loop. Why? Although the signal is being sent to the KP3 first and the computer second, the ‘playback’ or ‘monitoring’ of the signal is not. It just goes out of the main outs of the console. Just don’t turn up the aux sends on that channel! So, to recap… I hear or play something live that sounds good? Made a great loop between the radio and the Omnichord? I can now process it and record the signal. Cool. That’s the first task completed. Onwards I go…

The second task is to hear ‘playback’ from the Studio Computer and monitor it on the console, and to also monitor the Raven through the EQ1 without latency off the TK24D. Well, anything going to inputs 3+4 on the TK24D goes straight out, so by taking the signal and routing it back to a channel on the console would allow me the luxury of monitoring the Raven (latency-free) onto a channel, while playback tracks are monitored off of outputs 1+2 of the TK24D. This would look like this:

Raven –> EQ1 –> TK24D 3+4 –> Console (‘playback’ from TK24D is present from outputs 1+2) **

** Since playback is coming from outputs 1+2 of the TK24D, this leaves 3+4 free to pass the signal onto a channel on the console. I now have two signals, playback and microphone. So I can set playback levels as I like without compromising the signal that the computer is recording, and I can sing live! All that I need to remember about this setup is that we are recording “Input 3” in Nuendo. This setup of course works perfectly in Ableton Live since I plan to use it as a ‘sampler’ as well as a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation).

So that’s all for now, insofar wiring is concerned. The console, an Allen & Heath Zed14, arrives next week, as does my Kaosillator. As far as The Listen Show goes, everything is treated as sources just as they were before, with the added ease of playing the music from my Laptop instead of having to burn and CDs. More room for guests, too.

– Claude

 

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New Studio for new album..?

Because of the season, it has been a bit difficult to finish the studio, but it is almost ready. I began a rig, tore it down, and started again in an effort to make the studio a good place to work.

I hate the fact that everything seems to take longer than it needs to, and all I can say is… ARRRRRRRRRR.

Today I worked on the microphone I will be recording my vocals with. Oh, I didn’t tell you? I’m going to sing the next album live in the studio. The idea is to avoid the vocal booth and sing as though it were live, with the speakers blaring. This is also part of my new methods of recording.

I tried about 25 different mics for this approach, and so far the one that won my heart was the ElectroVoice 767A. I have gutted it and will be wiring the capsule within the body of a steel 1950′s EV radio microphone that I’ll be using. This way, it will look pretty in videos… Silly I know. But it is fun and the vibe is good for me…

I finished a new theremin, and I am on the hunt for a few tidbits, then I will reveal the next laboratory in pictures and video. Speaking of pictures and video, we are taking some new bands shots this Sunday. It looks like it will be lots of fun.

Circuit bending a shortwave radio is next…

 

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New Album? | New Toys

 

So I have almost wrapped up my new rig, which is a hybrid synthesizer set-up that I intend to use on the new album. My old friends, namely the ESQ are back as I wrote in a previous post, and since then I’ve found a few worthy additions to my software instrument setup. But recently, I also acquired another VSS-30, which is my favorite sampler in the world. Additionally, I have been using my Nintendo DS more and more. Add to the mix my Kaos Pad (KP3), and you have the makings of a cool rig.

But of course, I didn’t stop there. I recently bought the Omnichord, which is really warm, and an MFB Synth II (100% analog synth). My Gakken and optical theremin (self-made) of course rounds it all out.

Last night I made some videos to show how I turned these things into a working writing rig. And it is pretty cool. Lots of flashing lights and video synthesis. I will post these. The new studio looks like a crazy lab, so I think I’m going rename it… Something but I don’t know what just yet.

With this, I am hoping to finish up two things which stand in the way of progress. The first is Volume One, which we hope to wrap up soon, and the other is Sharewear, which will have most of the material from the first two and some surprises for all.

The artwork will feature a sketch by Werner Von Braun that has not been seen in public since 1952. But that’s another story for another day as this unfolds…

– Claude

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A New Arsenal | Analog vs Digital… Again…

During the California show on Saturday, some people noticed parts of my new rig, which was totally intentional of course. Some people asked me questions outside, and some were simply perplexed, so I thought I would shed a light on a few things…

A few days before the show, I got an Omnichord, which I won in an auction on EBay.

I was not planning on using it just days before a show, but when Paul and I worked out Lady In Waiting using it, the Kaos Pad 3 as a drum machine, and his guitar… Well. It was magic. And so we sprung it on the audience on Saturday with only one rehearsal between us. I loved it. But! Just because I strapped it on… don’t fucking call it a Keytar. It’s not a fucking Keytar. I don’t like keytars. I even despise the word Keytar. It is an analog device, not a controller. IHFK <— guess what that stands for? :0

Also in the mix was my Nintendo DS, which saw lots of use that night as both an atmospheric sound affecter and for some pads during I Felt the Pain and Soul On Fire. Somebody’s voice came through the crowd, asking… “Oh my God… Is that a Nintendo DS up there?” Yep. It was. Mine is the red and black, but here’s a pic of the black one…

The idea of having this little thing do what it does through my Kaos Pad was like getting my first analog synthesizer. I LOVE this THING. I plan on using more than one in the future. I’m almost certain of it.

The device I did not get to use was my Gakken, which is a little analog synthesizer that I got with a magazine out of Japan. That little guy is sick, and I planned on using it during Jubilation, but somehow it went on being muted (or I did not hear it in my monitors), which was rather bunk, but it happens. I had it hooked up to the Kaos Pad and it was going to do a theremin solo thing. :( 

 

Yeah, that’s the one. I love it, but it’s not really what I should have on stage with me. So I got this little monster instead for next time… Just out, too! Dave Smith’s Mopho kiddies! 100% Analog!

Now I’m going to make some additional noise… Ooh. Ah… But seriously. I am. This is a dream come true. It’s small, it’s phat, it’s small. Four Oscillators… “All you need is Love…”

If my other instrument would only work, I would be in heaven, but I haven’t given up on it. I don’t accept failure. It’s simply too cool. I made a FLASH BASED sampler, and it is amazing in every way… Except I hate controlling it from a mouse. I tried to do it with a wireless tablet, and it worked, but the response was too slow for my taste. I need to send MIDI to FLASH, and guess what… It is not part of FLASH! Which is a shame. I won’t give up on this though. The computer is part of what I do, so this seems like a logical step. Oh, BTW, I did play some graphic synth stuff via MIDI on Saturday, and that worked amazingly well. If I incorporate the visuals with Mopho I might have something really too cool for words. But I digress. I will put it up on our site soon so that anyone can play it. This was my dream… Sigh.

The other question I was asked was my preference… Surprise… Analog vs Digital. I don’t like that question, because in answering it I appear to give one more props than the other. But I guess this is inevitable, isn’t it? So here’s my view, the final and definitive manifest of what is what…

I love analog. I love digital. They are similar, they are different. They are like twins, only different. I love both. Each has a weakness the other exploits. Each has a strength the other employs. OK?

So don’t make me decide. I won’t. I love both. Forever.

– Claude

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