Color Codes

Scientist extracts images directly from brain!

It sounds like science fiction, but it seems japanese researchers have managed to extract letters using a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machine!

Via Pink Tentacle:
"The scientists were able to reconstruct various images viewed by a person by analyzing changes in their cerebral blood flow. Using a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machine, the researchers first mapped the blood flow changes that occurred in the cerebral visual cortex as subjects viewed various images held in front of their eyes. Subjects were shown 400 random 10 x 10 pixel black-and-white images for a period of 12 seconds each. While the fMRI machine monitored the changes in brain activity, a computer crunched the data and learned to associate the various changes in brain activity with the different image designs.

Then, when the test subjects were shown a completely new set of images, such as the letters N-E-U-R-O-N, the system was able to reconstruct and display what the test subjects were viewing based solely on their brain activity.

For now, the system is only able to reproduce simple black-and-white images. But Dr. Kang Cheng, a researcher from the RIKEN Brain Science Institute, suggests that improving the measurement accuracy will make it possible to reproduce images in color.

“These results are a breakthrough in terms of understanding brain activity,” says Dr. Cheng. “In as little as 10 years, advances in this field of research may make it possible to read a person’s thoughts with some degree of accuracy.”"

This opens up some insane possibilites if you ask me!

Doepfer A-106-1 Xtreme filter AR-FM Demo

I just bought a A-106-1 Xtreme Filter, I got it in the mail today!

Audio rate FM using four ADSR's in loop mode, the ADSR's are running in audio-rate.
ADSR1 is doing the syncronization.
ADSR2 is synched to ADSR2 and connected to a real ring mod, X input.
ADSR3 is not synched and goes into real ring mod, Y input.
ADSR4 is synched to ADSR1 and goes to CV3 (adjustable +/-10) on the A-106-1
real ring mod out is going into LP in on the A-106-1 VCF.
Resonance is up quite high, some kind of clipping is always active, either +, - or both.

Doepfer A-106-1 Xtreme filter AR-FM Demo by Veqtor

Live @ Fylkingen 5/12/08

Teknoist, Me and my friends Daniel Araya and Marcus Ihlar, don't miss it!

Tim Exile @ Elevate Live Video

This is what in my opinion electronic music is all about,
it's the man, the machines, Tim Exile! =P

If you don't know Exile from before, he's made a lot of reaktor work, from core-cells to ensembles to his live-setup.

"Sell sell sell sell, spin the carouselle once more, one more brick between the rich and the poor"

Analogue vs Digital

So, for fun I wanted to do something with my currently extremely limited modular: I patched 2 ADSR's from my A-143-2 into self-trigger mode, with their speeds set to high. This creates two oscillators with a waveform which goes from saw-wave, to triangle and into ramp. Then I ran them into my passive ring-mod. The output was recorded while I tweaked away at it.

Then I decided to go crazy, I put the soundfile into a track in Ableton Live and set the sample's playback setting to complex, I recorded tempo-changes to create fft'y time-stretches where needed. Next up was dtblk, binding settings to a midi-controller, made automating it a really good time. The end result was bounced to a new file, as I wanted a fresh start.

Next up was loads of filtering, using PSP Nitro, Oligaric, Arcdev Cyclotron and much more. This was done in parallell, in order to create more movement in the sound.

Veqtor-AnalogVsDigitaltest.mp3

If you're wondering how I get it to integrate well with the modular sound, then I can give you some pointers.

1. Always work in 96 Khz and 24 or more bits, to avoid aliasing at all times, especially when working with recorded modular material! Then when all processing is finished, you can use some nice resampler, like the one by izotope which is available inside Audiofile Engineering's Wave Editor, for mac users, Adobe Audition's resampler isn't too bad either. Doing it this way will create a highly vivid result.

2. Automate

3. Automate

4. Automate, I really can't stress this enough, without movement, even if it's hard to hear it, effects and such which are static is what a lot of people associate with a digital sound.

5. Use your DAW and plugins to do things which aren't possible in the analogue world (why try to make your computer something it's not?), ideally, use a modular software, such as Plogue Bidule as a modular effect to control these plugins. Plogue Bidule can be utilized with multiple inputs and outputs to create extremely complex routings.

6. NEVER, and I mean NEVER, synthesize a waveform on a computer unless it's meant to have digital characteristics, a highly trained ear simply tells it from an analogue one instantly, unless it's a painstakingly accurate emulation, like d16-group's phoscyon, but it is the only example of an analogue emulation that has actually tricked one of my friends ;-)

TipTop Audio's Z3000 pics and Audio Demos

This is from Muff Wiggler's Forum, he also was kind enough to post some audio demos!

"First is a comparason between Blacet VCO sine and Z3000 sine. I just pan back and forth between them with a joystick. It starts with 2 bars of Blacet sine, then 2 bars of Z3000 sine, then back to Blacet, etc.

It ends with 4 bars of Blacet VCO."

Simple Sines

"The second is just a very rough demo of applying FM to the Z3000. I'm not modulating the FM index through a VCA or anything, just one Z3000's triangle wave into the FM input of the other Z3000.

First you hear the Z3000 saw by itself. I have the other Z3000 into the Linear FM input, but the Linear FM control is set to nothing. A few bars, then I turn up the Linear FM control just a bit, then turn it down, then a bit more, then turn it down, then a bit more, then down....you get the idea

Then in unplug the external VCO and plug it into the Exponential FM input. Then I mess around with the tuning of the external VCO.

Then I unplug it and you have the dry saw again.

Now this is just a quick n' dirty because I know people are talking about it on other forums. I only had a few mins for this, I'm supposed to be working and gotta get back at it"

FM Test (this is my favorite -v)

The original forum thread

update:
Here's another pic by REwire



And a nice little sound example by him as well:

256mbps Mp3

Soundlist: Pulse, PWM, Saw, ExpFM, LinFM, Sync, HSM (Hard Sync Modulation)

FM and source was RS95e. During end HSM, I was moving the waveform shape of the RS-95e.

REwire_-_TipTopZ3000_Demo.mp3

Sounds like a really powerful module! For a complete description, check it out at Analogue Haven

and don't miss noisesource's awesome review!