June 27, 2005
Global Mic
help me test by sending me an audio comment. tell me anything other than "testing 1, 2, 3. testing."
I like the idea of effectively having gained the ability to record audio anywhere in the world where there is a computer with internet access. This opens things up even more.
June 14, 2005
BYOV at Yale
I have posted a summary of the BYOV event at my 10th year reunion. As always, there are pictures and audio clips. This time the weather was much nicer than last time.
May 23, 2005
betablog
This is going to make BYOV events even more fun.
Ah, the fun that one can have with 560 multicolor LEDs. The possibilities are virtually endless as to what I can display on this thing. I have ideas for interactivity which could be very cool.
May 16, 2005
more video
I finally got around to playing more with Final Cut Express over the weekend and put this montage together from my stunning debut on FOX news a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, I was only talked about (very briefly) and not talked to, but hey, I'll take whatever I can get and brag about it all.
The first ever aerial views of the Bring Your Own Voice booth are contained herein, which is pretty cool, and I had fun mixing my music in with the video.
May 11, 2005
public
This internet thing is crazy. Look what I happened upon the other day:
There are some very interesting people out there.
May 08, 2005
MayFair updates
I've posted some pictures and audio clips from the MayFair last weekend. There's some pretty good stuff!
April 30, 2005
post-mortem
That's not really a nice name for it, but nonetheless, I have posted some audio clips and pictures etc from the Portland cd release event last weekend. If you were there, go ahead and re-live the glory, and if not, well, see what you missed out on.
April 27, 2005
I suck at Final Cut!
Turns out that video editing with Final Cut Express isn't quite as intuitive for someone who doesn't like reading directions as I had hoped. Nonetheless, I persevered with my brute force introduction, and have something very exciting to share with you from the Portland cd release event last weekend.
Check it out:
Jeff Peterson is my new best friend
The pink shirt and "booth voice" belong to the famous photographer, Tanja Hollander, and yes, they spelled my name wrong despite filming me spelling it.
Please forgive the crappy edits and unprofessional compression scheme. A bit of outside assistance and more practice on my part will yield a better version eventually.
April 17, 2005
follow-up
I updated the BYOV site with some info and initial 'results' from the Boston event last week. There are some audio clips from those who participated. It's kind of fun to play them on their own and simultaneously as well.
Boston CD release event summary
Soon, I'll add some photos.
January 19, 2005
about a booth
I added the About the Bring Your Own Voice Booth page to byov.com.
And, I finally updated the entry for the BYOV event at Bernie Toale's. It's got pictures of the voice owners and a brief event summation.
Bring Your Own Voice at the Bernard Toale Gallery
January 10, 2005
Event #1
The weather was probably as non-conducive as possible for my Bring Your Own Voice event at the Bernard Toale Gallery on Saturday, but I did not let it stop me. The booth got a bit wet during transport, but survived intact and was quite happy set up in the middle of the main gallery space surrounded by some gorgeous photographs by Tanja Alexia Hollander.
I am indebted to S. and C. for all your moral support and help with the setup and breakdown as well as to all my friends who braved the slushiness and rawness to donate their voices to this project.
I am happy to report that I was able to record around 15 people, half of whom were complete strangers. The fact that these individuals were willing and interested in participating is very encouraging in that it suggests to me that perhaps this idea isn't all that strange after all.
I now have a lot of work in front of me in the post-event landscape. I will be posting some audio snippets and pictures of the participants, doing some other website rearrangements, sending thank yous to the participants etc. And then I have to listen to everything I recorded and eventually see whether or not I can turn it into a song. I feel some pressure with this now that I am involving the general public. And I can't start this work until I get the Words and Voices album artwork, mixing, mastering, and manufacturing done.
OK, clearly I need to stop blogging and get to work on all this. Don't bother me, BIG YELLOW.
January 04, 2005
poster
The big day is soon arriving and I am getting slightly nervous. Anyone want to help hang up some of these in your local haunts?
If you can help, here is a link to the pdf of the poster:
Right click to download, print, post and thank you!
December 22, 2004
photo shoot
With my impending BYOV 'gig' at Bernie Toale's place in January, I have started to think about some promotion. There is no better way to promote than to use visuals, I think, so I needed to get some photographs of the booth itself. The booth is, afterall, the centerpiece of this project and I hope it will become a strong visual icon.
I couldn't take photos in my house because the thing is too damn big to not look totally crunched in even the largest of my rooms. So off to the local Unitarian Universalist church I went. Unfortunately, one of the many things I am not, is a photographer, so the results are somewhere in that netherworld between better than nothing and barely adequate.
I was pretty psyched to discover that the booth really is easy to set up and take down (45 minutes for assembly, half that to break down) and it is sturdy enough to sit atop, should one have the urge.
December 19, 2004
it fits
One of my many design requirements for the BYOV booth was that it could collapse to fit on top of my car, and that I could load and unload it easily by myself. I can now safely say that I met that requirement.
I suppose one might argue that this isn't the perfect car for this project, but hey, it gets good mileage.
December 15, 2004
fun with freehand
I take pride in the little cool things...
December 14, 2004
don't forget your voice
I have finally gotten bringyourownvoice.com setup in a very elemental, but hopefully functional way. Please go check it out and let me know what you think!
For now, I just need the site to explain what this project is all about, to act as a way of updating people on upcoming events, and to log past events. In the future, I hope to have more photographs and/or technical specs on the booth itself as well as detailed accounts of each event including the instruction sheets, photos of participants, audio samples etc etc. Eventually, of course, the songs that come out of each event will be posted.
October 26, 2004
this weekend, I...
-almost got high on carpet glue
-installed a mic gooseneck
-did some grommeting
-hung some packing blankets
-divided 16 into 148
-pretended I was an electrician
-did some more stenciling
-blasted TOOL
I'm getting really close now.
October 09, 2004
all work and not enough play
I haven't had much time for work on any of my fun projects lately, including making progress on my portable bring your own voice booth (OK, I gave it away). But I did do some stenciling the other weekend and thought you might like to see the results. My basement does not provide for getting a good shot of it from far enough away to actually be able to see it for what it is, but hopefully this gives you an idea.
September 23, 2004
September 22, 2004
bring your own voice
I am trying to establish my web dominance of the phrase 'bring your own voice', so please forgive me for over-using it now and in the future. Bring Your Own Voice!!
Feel free to google it and click on my site; it will help.
Here's more progress.
September 20, 2004
progress and visual clues
the first few cuts
still life with dehumidifier
dado blades are nasty
first setup
door assembly
door joint detail
someone already guessed correctly.
I will be stenciling 'BRING YOUR OWN VOICE' on the side before you know it.
September 18, 2004
the land below
it feels really good to be back in the shop, though I do have pangs of guilt for not being in the studio. The good thing about the shop, though, is that I get to dress up in really sexy outfits.
It has been so long since I have been in the shop that it took me a while to clean stuff up to the point where I could use it. Unfortunately, during its non-use, my planer suffered a major malfunction, the replacement parts for which will cost more than a fairly decent new planer. Luckily, I don't need the planer for this project, but I hate to see that faithful machine huddling in a broken state in the corner. The majority of the cleaning up I had to do was cobweb removal. I felt like I was in Spiderman's living room it was so bad. And more kept appearing as the dust I generated settled in waves highlighting them.
I've got Saint-Saens piano concertos on the hi-fi and it's drizzling outside. I feel like I am 22 again, covered in sawdust. This is good.
September 16, 2004
shopping list
from Home Depot:
5 4x8 sheets of 1/2" BC pine plywood
8 4" t-hinges
1 chest handle
2 home/garage fire extinguishers (you can never be too safe, right?)
2 9 volt batteries
1 MASTER combination lock
Today, I begin construction. Any guesses?
