As the date of my performance at the MCA draws near and my set matures, I thought I’d share a brief preview of some of the new devices I’ll be using during the show.

First, I got some time to circuit-bend a Bliptronic 5000. There’s a pitch bend control courtesy of the Getlofi Precision Oscillator kit, and another bend I found between some points on the IC that creates a nice harmonic drone. A Highlyliquid MD24 translates a MIDI signal from Ableton Live to sync the Bliptronic with the rest of my gear.

Circuit bent Bliptronic 5000 from Michael Una on Vimeo.

Also joining me will be four MIDI-controlled solenoids which strike an african drum, some finger cymbals, and a woodblock in the shape of a frog. Again, the MD24 is providing the MIDI-to-voltage conversion that lets me trigger the solenoids from beats programmed in Ableton Live.

Drumbot jam from Michael Una on Vimeo.

Most Saturdays from noon-3pm you can find me at Lizard’s Liquid Lounge, 3058 W. Irving Park Rd. in Chicago.  That’s the meeting point for an open, informal group of folks who like to tinker with music and electronics, called the eSymposium, which is the brainchild of Patrick McCarthy of Roth Mobot.

Lately, we’ve been setting up the PA every week and letting a loose open mic happen in parallel with the circuit-bending and shop talk that goes on.  This past Saturday, a kind gentleman from Columbia College set up and recorded the jams.  He happened to catch a particularly nice one from Tomer, Jason and myself:

Tomerica, Michael,OtherGuy by The Troglobite

Also, I’ve been working up my performance for the upcoming MCA show and I’ve built some new MIDI-controlled drumbots. Here’s a cameraphone photo of one of them, called “Ting.” It clinks together two tiny finger cymbals when it recieves a MIDI note:

I have been asked by LAMPO to perform at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago later this month, as part of their Magical Musical Showcase series. I’m pretty excited about it, and I hope you can make it- I’ve been creating some new instruments and experimenting with drum-playing robots, so this show should be worthy of the venue. The details:

Date: Tuesday, January 26th
Time: 6-7pm
Location: Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL 60611 (East of the Water Tower on Michigan Ave.)
More Specific location: Enter the museum, then head straight to the back where they have a cafe.

Yes, I know the showtime is early but admission to the MCA is free on Tuesdays, so have a look around the exhibits while you’re there.

Sometimes my day job calls on me to illustrate abstract concepts. Today’s challenge: “A Brief With Gestures.” First is my initial sketch, and second is what it ended up becoming. I need a Wacom tablet.

In 2010, I aim to accomplish the following things:

1. Get smarter about money and finance. Last year I started a small business project to make and sell my Beep-its and other things, and they sold well but I was terrible at keeping track of in/outflow of funds. Thus, I have no metrics to analyze and use to plan my activities this year. So, item number one is to start keeping better track of everything and maintain a tight awareness of what’s happening with my finances.

2. Release two new products: A sequencer synth, and a drum machine. With printed circuit boards and laser-cut enclosures. And to have them maintain a decent profitablility while keeping the price below $100.

3. Build some new non-product art devices. Like an oscillator-controlled Harmonograph:

And other devices that use heartbeats and brainwaves. It seems that in 2009 I swung my art practice heavily towards sound-device making, and I want to make sure I keep things broad and investigate new avenues of thought.

That’s the plan, anyway.

Thanks to everyone who came out to my talk and performance at Transistor last week. Here’s a little bit of video from that show:

Thanks to Steven Buck for the video!

Here’s a video of a new device available at Transistor: The Stepped Siren Box.  If I can keep up with demand, variations of this item will be available online soon as well.

Stepped Siren Box from Michael Una on Vimeo.

I’ve been a busy bee in my studio producing some new and fun devices for your audiovisual enjoyment. This coincides with the opening of a new boutique in Andersenville that is carrying an exclusive line of my handbuilt optical theremins and other unique synthesizers. This fantastic new establishment is called Transistor, and it’s just a little bit South of the Hop Leaf at 5045 N. Clark St. in Chicago. Check out this Time Out article for some great photos and to get a sense of what they’re about.

The pieces I’ve created for them include a deluxe, laser-cut bamboo Beep-it, as well as a few unique handmade synths in handsome wooden cases with shiny knobs. Sophistication is the name of the game with these new bleepy devices, which have been designed to look good enough to reside on your coffee table or desk at work.

AND

I’ll be at Transistor this Friday, December 4th at 8pm to give a talk and brief performance titled “Principles of electronic music performance and multi-format device synchronization.” In this talk I’ll lay out an approach to music creation and performance I’ve been developing that combines musicmaking instruments of all types into a single cohesive and synchronized performance. Anyone interested in analog synthesis, robot drummers, or who is simply sick of watching people onstage with a laptop may enjoy this event,a nd you might learn something. BYOB.

After the show, I will be heading over to sample the delicacies of the Hop Leaf and you are all invited to join me. I hope to see you there!

Paper flowers with memory wire by Jie Qi:

Paper flowers blooming from Jie Qi on Vimeo.

I’ve had this idea every time I pass Mr. Samuel Chambers on the street – his message is so negative and it gets to me every time.  I’m not sure how effective this would be, but it would make a point and I’d be doing something about it.  I try to ignore him, but with that megaphone he gets pretty loud.