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.

So, I’m taking a brief break from hardware development to finish up some music that’s been in production for the past few years.  I’m assembling these finished tracks into an album, which should be released by Psymbolic Sound if all goes according to plan.  As a taste of what’s in store, here’s a track that’s nearing completion:


Tong v1 by michaeluna

I’ve been working on creating a 16-step sequencer using the 4017 decade counter chip.  So far, my efforts have not succeeded and I’ve been limited to 10 steps.  I had been using a flip-flop to try and switch the clock signal from one 4017 to another and it just wasn’t working.

However, I just read this page by Bill Bowden (awesome) which gave me a nice little eureka! moment.  The trick is to only use 9 steps from each sequencer, saving the 10th one to switch the flip-flop.  I had been using the 10th ouptut for dual-duty, to trigger the flip-flop and to control my synth, but I see now that the line needs to be dedicated.

Also disclosed here is how to get the sequence to start on step 1 every time- it involves a capacitor and resistor connected to pin 15.

Thanks, Mr. Bowden.

One of my favorite things in the world:  Moire.