Yo Melbournite. Monday 13th of June, 1:30PM @ The Workers Club. Be there!
from me: new visuals and I might bring the guitar hero axe back.  I miss it.

Dig the facebook event.

like these ones:

If you’re heading to this year’s TINA I’m going to part of a panel discussing making music with game controllers smart phones, not so smart phones etc.  I imagine I’ll be talking about AXIS and and MAX/MSP…  The TINA/Sound Summit Program puts it like this:

Saturday, October 2nd:

2.00pm – 4.00pm: Artist Presentation
Instant Expert: Know Your Gadgets
Process Space (401 Hunter St)

Facilitator: Andrew Tuttle (Sound Summit)
Participants: Brett Kinny (Megatroid), Jason Forrest (Cock Rock Disco, DJ Donna Summer, Nightshifters; USA), Pia van Gelder (Dorkbot), Robert Jarvis (Zeal)

The ongoing development of gamer controller technology and continuing innovations in smartphone capabilities have contributed to an increasing number of electronic musicians composing and performing with these tactile devices. Learn some tricks on how to revolutionise your live performance, and have a whole lot of fun doing it.

Should be a lot of interesting ideas in one place!

If you’re in Adelaide Monday the 20th of September (tonight)  come down to the wheatsheaf from around 8 to see Virtual Proximity play with me in my VJ disguise.

More travels imminent to promote my (new and free) album:

My goodness.  There’s alot coming up over the next two months.  One biggie in about a fortnight is HOBART + MUSIC = YEAH! A festivus of wonders…  I just made up that byline… maybe it’ll be picked up next year.  I’m playing with the splederous tiger choir who i’ve played with twice before and there are a stack of other great bands playing.  Also it’s cold and there are devils.  what more could you want?

I’m also working on a new VJ set for a live audio visual project for james annesley in his solo electronic guise.  I’m incorporating live video feeds into this set which is something new for me.  Dr Who style video feedback FTW!  I’m going to trial some of the new material still in it’s learning-to-walk phase this sunday at the workers club. We’ll see how it goes…

but wait there’s more.  I’m playing a show in Sydney September 18th which is way exciting as i’m yet to have carved up that particular town with my plastic axe of doom.  I’ll put a proper post up about that show soon.  There’s still more because there’ll probably be a radelaide show shortly after that.  Ampersand there’s even more because after that i’ll be at this years This is Not Art speaking as part of panel on  alternative controllers in electronic music… spoiler alert: ergonomics, stage presence and the buttler did it.  My new album is still free BTW.

i’ve upped some video from last weeks birmingham gig.  i think this might be an internet debut for this track and one of the first examples of axis out in the wild!  much more coming up soon.

This’ll only work in ableton but there might be ways to do this using comprable vst plugins etc.

The new Zeal set is coming together and the first of many Melbourne gigs is lined up for April.  Oh yeah, and did i mention I have a new album ready for release?  next few posts should be bigguns…

zeal has been appearing in interesting corners of the blogosphere in the last couple of days.  there’s an interview at fiese falle about process and gear.  they’re the sort of things that interest me in interviews so maybe you’ll be into it.

also, there’s a write up about my guitar hero to midi app AXIS on one of my fav blogs – hack a day.

the post has drawn out some entertaining flames like: “Get a haircut and a real job.  Also, learn to play the real guitar. It’s a lot more fun, I promise.”

upon reading that i got a hair cut and a real job and learned to play the “real” guitar.  it’s not as fun.

speaking of fun – fun new things to buy appearing soon and even fun new ways to buy said fun new things.   but for now…

bob out.

My Xbox Guitar Hero to MIDI application AXIS is available now!  The videos below explain all:

Mac users:

• Get AXIS 1.0 HERE.

• You’ll also need the Tattiebogle Xbox drivers from here.

• If you get the dreaded blinking green light there’s now a solution!  Check here.

Windows users:

• Get AXIS 1.0 HERE.

• You’ll also need LoopBe from here.

• Quicktime’s required for the Heads Up Display.  I’d recommend Quicktime Alternative.

• If the Xbox drivers don’t install automatically try here.

AXIS was built in Max/MSP.  If you’d like to adapt it for a different guitar or anything just get in touch and I’ll send you the source.

spent the last two weeks finishing my new album.  i don’t think i’ve mentioned what’s it’s going to be called yet…  i don’t think i will now either.  but i will moon soon.  a few tracks are mastered and i’m being a one man CD duplication factory this very second, pumping out a small pile of cd singles.  feels like we should have been done with these lumbering circular plastic things 5 years ago.  catch up radio! next step, artwork.  it’s quite exciting.  you’ll like the album, i promise.  it makes mention of robots a few times and there’s this three note refrain that’s sprinkled through out the 15 or so tracks which all weave together.  it’s almost a concept album… just with a poorly defined concept…  more of a unproven hypothesis album.

also on the work bench, for all you unfortunate souls, i’m getting AXIS up and running on windows… i say that but really xp’s alright.  the windows versions going to be minus a few small features just because of the way the windows drivers interpret the guitar (or unless someone else can fix it).  this is one big step closer to release meaning it will be out before the years up.

i’ve been making stickers too.  as i promised: robots and swear words.  if you want one you have two options.  the hard way: print out the above robot on sticker paper and cut it out.  or the super easy way: enter my EP + sticker give away! there’s four days left and it’s super easy.

back to the assembly line for me.

upped another vid demoing the Guitar Hero to MIDI app AXIS that i’ll be releasing soon. tilt sensors should be on everything! they make the world so much more fun.