If Apple has it’s way, programming for the iPod, iPhone, and iPad (iKnow, right? It’s getting pppretty old.) will only be possible using objective-c. This is not necessarily a bad thing for compatibility and stability, but it closes off a lot of developers. Fine, so you focus exclusively on App Store applications. Except the App Store is as closed to outside devices, as Apple’s devices are closed to everything outside the Store. Again, not necessarily bad for the consumer who desires a walled-garden, or so-called “curated computing” model. Android too, as an embedded platform, is pretty much Java or bust (though much easier to bring in native code with Android and Java NDK) For me, this is the opposite of what I want in a computer, and even more it’s what I hate as a programmer. Continue reading…

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Posted: Friday, May 28, 2010 | 2 Comments »

Without a doubt, one of the most beautiful pieces of art I’ve ever seen was at the MFA Boston when I visited in 2008. I was thinking about it this afternoon, and I decided to try my luck at tracking it down. Well, impressively enough, it didn’t take very long. The MFA website includes a great search system. Initially I went through some old exhibitions thinking it was impermanent. Then I saw the advanced search and after a few unsuccessful results pages I found what I was looking for. I love a museum with an online and full-bodied catalog! Continue reading…

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Posted: Monday, April 12, 2010 | No Comments »

I hate to post yet another review of something, but creation is simply not on the plate right now. I promise something original soon.

In the meantime, I recently bought Owen Pallett’s latest album entitled Heartland. If you haven’t heard his music, check it out! He was previously performing under the name “Final Fantasy”, but has since decided to use his own name.

Heartland is a combination of orchestral sounds, synth, and his violin and voice. The result is spectacular. There is a lot of heart in this cd. The music is well mixed, well produced, and builds upon his previous work. I’ve never gotten to hear him live, but I’m told it’s great. The music here reminds me of 1980′s pop rock, with a heightened sense of taste. I get everything I love: the complex timbres of orchestral instruments, voice, and synth sounds to boot. The background sometimes also reminds of the odd tracks created by Mark Mothersbaugh for Wes Anderson’s films, as well as Jon Brion’s film scores.

I don’t have much more to say about it, other than do check out him and his music. (http://www.dominorecordco.com/artists/owen-pallett/) The new album is on iTunes as well (if you’re into that).

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Posted: Saturday, February 20, 2010 | No Comments »

Utilizing a custom instrument called (as one might expect), a ‘Terrafon’, the performers ‘play’ the Earth beneath them. Brought to us by the artistic duo Olle Corneer Martin Lübcke.

A traditional ensemble picks up an enormous tone arm and transducer and, through back-breaking labor, drag it across arable fields. It’s part sound art and performance, part agriculture. But it certainly counts as a gramophone – it’s just a really big one that reads the grooves of the earth.

Video is here: http://vimeo.com/5075042/
4 minutes on a loop.
Performed by the Alunda Church Choir, conducted by Cantor Jan Hällgren.

(I have chosen to not embed it because the player code is not W3C compliant, and if you follow the link to Vimeo you will be able to watch it in HD instead.)


via Create Digital Music

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Posted: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 | No Comments »

Recordings of many pieces, including all of those featured on my senior recital last March, are now posted under Compositions. Enjoy!

-B. Louis

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Posted: Thursday, October 8, 2009 | No Comments »