Craig Dorety aka komega, maker of many wonderful sonic things, writes with a strange, new creation: an imaginary 1000 year egg inspired by a found object from one of his (real) ancestors. I could try to describe it, but I think the best thing is to hear Craig talk about it in the video.

The sound of the egg is an acquired taste, of course, but what do you expect from 1000-year-old alien music?

This brings up an interesting point, though: packaging can impact how you feel emotionally about an object, even if it’s an object you yourself created or modified. Have you reimagined any musical or sonic items in a way that made you relate to it differently? Let us know.

Craig’s Photostream @Flickr
Craig’s project portfolio, including the awesome livePAD, the custom-built controller that wowed his fellow competitors at the CDM Futuristic Music Design Challenge in San Francisco earlier this year and was first runner-up in the contest.

Create Digital Music Night at ETSY LABS from Etsy on Vimeo.

Handmade marketplace Etsy.com, DIY "mook"/blog Make, and createdigitalmusic.com again team up for another Handmade Music Night at Brooklyn’s Etsy Labs! For an idea of what it’s about (or perhaps inspiration for starting something similar in your corner of the world), see the video above.

On tap:

Chiptune gaming systems for music, strange alternative MIDI controllers and sound-mangling custom software, repurposed vintage synthesizer chips made famous by the Commodore 64, digital visuals, a musical Nintendo Wii balance board, and wireless sensing controllers…

And more.

Where/when:

7/8/08 - 7pm onward (free!)
Etsy Labs
325 Gold St., 3rd floor
Brooklyn, NY (Map)

You can rsvp to rsvp@etsy.com to give us an idea of who’s coming.

Bring your stuff!

As always, we welcome projects in various states of completion! So bring in your DIY software / hardware / circuit bending / chiptune / hacking / patching creations and share them with a friendly, relaxed crowd of fellow geeks!

If you want to give us some advance warning / do a short performance, you can fill out our summer "call for works" form (assuming you haven’t already). (See previous story and scroll down; direct Google Docs link. If you have trouble with the Google Docs form, try our contact form.)

Elsewhere:

Handmade Music Night returns! - 7/8/08 [makezine.com]

Handmade Music Night Featured on Current TV [Etsy's The Storque]

In anticipation of the Circuit-Bending Challenge later this month, I’ve rounded up a few great resources to inspire and inform those of you who’d like to get started in the wonderful world of Circuit Bending.

First: according to Wikipedia:

Circuit bending is the creative short-circuiting of low voltage, battery-powered electronic audio devices such as guitar effects, children’s toys and small synthesizers to create new musical instruments and sound generators.

Second: It’s quite easy and fun, and you’ll be able to produce interesting results very quickly.

Third: To kick things off, I’m going to defer to the esteemed Reed Ghazala, considered by many to be the Father of today’s movement. Y’know, like how James Brown is the Godfather of Soul?

The circuit-bent instrument, often a re-wired audio toy or game, is an alien instrument: alien in electronic design, alien in voice, alien in musician interface. Through this procedure, all around our planet, a new musical vocabulary is being discovered. A new instrumentarium is being born.

So I was having a little chat with the Circuit Master over at www.getlofi.com about how and why we both got into circuit bending.

The number one reason, for me at least: tons of bend-able toys and devices can be found very cheaply at secondhand and thrift stores.

Which brings us to this:

The premise is simple:

1. Wait until October 28th with growing anticipation.

5. Document the process and end result, then upload it to the internet in some fashion- Youtube, Flickr, etc, all with the tag “circuitchallenge.” (and createdigitalmusic, of course)

6. The Circuit Master and myself will gather the results and feature them here and at www.getlofi.com.

The winner will receive, um, a token prize of low value, to be decided later. Something though. And we’ll publish your picture on the internet for the universe to see.

Of course, it’s not about winning, oh no. It’s about getting off your keister and bending some circuits!

Never bent a circuit before but always wanted to? Now’s your chance!

So mark your calendars now, and hit up the forums here at createdigitalmusic.com with any questions.

*EDIT: Rodney from Tiger Claw Records has agreed to donate a few Circuit Bending Compilation CDs as a prize, and I’ve got a stack of CDs from FutureKomp to give away as well. If that isn’t enough incentive to get out there and bend on the 28th, you’re in it for the wrong reasons!

**DOUBLE EDIT: The Squarewave Parade has agreed to donate a parasite for the contest! Totally awesome.

***TRIPLE EDIT: HighlyLiquid has donated one of their MIDI kits for the contest! So cool!

Okay, music fans: reach the very vanguard of geekiness, and you can become an entirely new demographic — the Nerdster. Or so says direct marketing guru Lauren Bell for DMNews, who much to my surprise reviewed the most recent CDM + Etsy + Make “Handmade Music night in Brooklyn”:

Last night, on the not-so-anonymous urging of a PR company that represents Make magazine, I went to “Handmade Music” at Etsy Labs in downtown Brooklyn…

On handmade music night, super-nerds, artists, and the edgy, in-the-know, 20-something crowd converge on the Etsy labs, drawn by promises of newly-invented instruments, techno music, and free pizza…

Although it seemed a bit exclusive (the hipster-to-non ratio was rather high), I thought it was an interesting and entertaining way to spread brand awareness.

Make magazine targets nerds and hipsters..does that make them nerdsters?

Brand awareness — uh, sure! I won’t even touch “in-the-know”, “edgy”, and “hipster” (uh … yeah … that sure describes me, at least), but nerdster is a word I can get behind. Even if we’re probably not actually playing “techno” music. And Lauren, it’s not exclusive; do come back. (I’ll make sure CDM’s own, massive PR department follows up with her.)

In addition to direct marketing mag coverage, the most recent event attracted the attention of a site that largely does video podcasts about football fans. (Hey, you can solder a new MIDI controller during ad breaks.) Bre Pettis, the vodcasting superstar from Make, shows how he turned an electronics kit into a soundmaker, a quite-fun project:

Click To Play

Via realfans.tv — the guy there was really a nice dude, too; hope to see him back.

Next NYC event 9/27: Mark your calendars: we’re doing another Handmade Music event on September 27 in Brooklyn. If you’ve got a project, even a small one, we’d love to see it. Drop me a line.

And we really are working on a way of showing projects off virtually from around the world. If you’d like to chat about ideas for that, drop me a line. Otherwise, stay tuned.