“Folk music of the 21st Century” – radio broadcaster, jazz aficionado, and jazz-based Ableton Live instrumentalist / remix artist Nick Francis really sums up what this whole site is about. As he chops up jazz greats in Ableton, his mash-up music chops are as much musical analysis as they are performance. He walks through his controller moves in a pedagogical way, highlighting the meat of the jazz legends he puts into play. It’s a kind of digital transcription, transcribing re-imagined for Ableton’s colored blocks in place of.

Of course, you’ll only be able to reflect on this once you can take your eyes off that stunning wooden controller, which has the look of a decades-old instrument. Kraftwerk in their early days would have chuckled at the polished-wooden nostalgia, but here, it’s about care as much as memory – and Nick is a fan of Kraftwerk, DJ Shadow, and others. None other than Matt Moldover inspired all of this. (I look forward to catching up with Matt in California next month.)

We first saw Nick in May:
A Controller Love Supreme: Beautifully-Crafted Wooden Jazz Controller with Ableton Live [tons more detail there]

Our friends over at Dubspot have an extensive, illustrated video series on interviews. You can tell they didn’t have to edit too much here, that Nick just kept talking and saying great things.

The Choppertone: Custom MIDI Controller for Ableton Live – Nick Francis Video Interview [Dubspot Blog]

But seeing electronic music with Nick’s self-described “vintage fetish” – from the RCA-chic swirled woodgrain to the great old standards – is a joy. And if you can’t get enough of Nick, you can go listen to his radio show, too.

Quiet Music
Nick Francis @ KPLU (Seattle)

Flip that YouTube into 720p to hear the sound properly – yes, even in this modern age, the default setting is a bit lacking in warmth.

There’s also a second part of the video with a performance of “Canto de Wonderwall.” (Not visible in Germany due to licensing issues.)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here’s someone who really, really loves Native Instruments’ B4 (II) software rendition of the Hammond B3 organ. The work of Markus Berger, this dead-ringer for a real B3 is actually a carefully crafted replica with elaborate MIDI control inside. The body is built by hand from cherry wood. Electronics were prototyped with the open source Arduino platform and implemented with electronics from Doepfer, then finished with manuals (that’s “keys” for you non-organists) from Fatar (as seen in Nord’s organs). Authentic-style drawbars finish the project. Correction: I got my wires crossed and originally claimed this had Fatar drawbars, but it’s Fatar manuals. Thanks to comments for spotting that.

The integration of the hardware design with the B4 is extraordinary: the creator notes that every single function is perfectly replicated, so you never have to touch a mouse or look at a screen. Of course, you can then make meticulous models tweaked on the B4 software that wouldn’t have been possible on the original hardware – and this hardware, while substantial, should be dramatically lighter.

More on those custom electronics:

The main controller electronics were actually custom developed and prototyped with Arduino. They were complemented by electronics from Doepfer for the two manuals.

Most of the electronics had to be custom developed as there was and still is nothing available to cover all the functionality of a classic Hammond B3 with the full drawbars set, preset keys and all the switches.

And yes, the bottom line is that this puts every controller for everything I’ve ever seen to shame. Thanks to Germany-based Twitter reader tillephone for sending this my way.

B4 Controller Project Page

I hesitate to even suggest this, but – is a Leslie cabinet next?

More photos after the jump:

Bless K-mart and their $2.50 contact sheets of faux woodgrain. They can turn your average, ordinary plastic M-Audio USB MIDI keyboard into a retro-styled custom job that just screams, erm, class. Melbourne-and-London-based CDM forum reader soloandata did just that. (Talk about bi-coastal — they have K-marts there?) Kudos: it takes a steady hand to line up those contact sheets. The woodgrain looks great on the curved design of the new Axiom keyboards — tres 70s.

Just finished Pimping my axiom-25. check that woodgrain! [Create Digital Noise]
solo andata [Artist Page]
solo andata [@Myspace]

Thanks, Kane. Now the gauntlet has been thrown: who has the pimped keyboard / audio gear that can top this? (And if you don’t have it already, by all means head to the local K-mart. Kane wonders if faux marble might be the logical next step. I’m rooting for something pink and furry.) I know some M-Audio folks read this site, so feel free to play (or introduce faceplates at NAMM).

Russian DJ Artyom has built his own DJ audio hardware out of wood and electronics, complete with dual cassette playback boxes. The cassettes feature pitch control (fine and coarse), pitch bands, a motor off switch, and more, and he’s custom-built mixers, cross-faders, and EQ.

Then, he hooks these boxes up to his PC and relaxes — wait, no he doesn’t. His PC is packed with custom DJ patches built in Max/MSP.

Full hardware and software details at Artyom’s site, including downloadable Max patches, in English (see also Russian content — I’m sure someone out there speaks Russian):

Self-made DJ equipment
Max/MSP DJ Stuff

Via the rich electronic music blog, Filter27: How to DJ with an old cassette tapes

See also: KDE-Head photo on flickr with specs

Updated: Doh! Tom at Music thing beat me to this in 2005. Slight CDM lag there. Nonetheless, maybe somebody will have a look at those Max patches and get some new ideas.

Man, these lazy newbie DJs, embracing a new-fangled playback medium like cassettes and Max/MSP patches. They’re nowhere near as authentic as the oldskool DJs playing … erm … CDs … at weddings.

Another gorgeous shot of his brilliant hardware-building work after the jump (so you don’t have to wait through glacial load times):

Charles Altmann has raised the bar: don’t talk oldskool and turntables unless you’re prepared to build your own turntable out of raw parts and wood.

Altmaan DIY Turntable

By using simple pieces of plywood and raiding his mother’s sewing box, Altmann says he kept his total parts cost under US$50. He even sources intake valves and valve-guides for the bearing from Harley-Davison. (Yes, the motorcycle manufacturer.) He has separate plans for building a DIY tonearm from more wood and a knitting needle. (Don’t worry — the knitting needle is part of the mechanism, not digging giant grooves into your records.)

Via the excellent Spanish-language media blog mediateletipos.

Sounds like this is begging to be made into a media installation. Previously:

David Ellis’ Turntable Trunks and Other Digital Deck Art

I’m back from a week at the Anderson Arts Ranch doing interactive Flash work, so I figured I’d get into the CDM posting groove gradually — a little analog before getting back to digital.

Tim’s back with another tip. Baltimore bender Peter Blasser has created oddities like the much-blogged worm-powered synth (using worms as connections for a circuit-bend patch bay; via Music thing) and bent wooden synth kits (also via MT).

But that’s not all. Blasser, aka Ciato-Lonbarseee, has plenty of other strange creations:

Many odd synths, many odd names: Blasser catalog

I love the eerie sounds of the percussive analog jacket. There’s another whole page of wooden and electronic oddities, like the “bass in a picnic basket.”

Some things can be explained. Some cannot, like these pages of instruments. Go explore and enjoy.

Designer Reynold Rodriguez writes CDM with details of his 00, a luxury turntable stand that’s “really about people who dig vinyl, own hundred of records and have their turntables setup on top of cinder blocks.” More after the jump.

Reynold has created this beautiful custom DJ stand among other works of art. If you think you know how sexy a chair can be, prepare to be humbled browsing through his site. (PS, Reynold, I want that martini glass.) Scroll down for a photo.

He writes:

The DJ table is produced by custom order.
Price is $2,970.00 USD.

It is made of composite wood and plastic components and Hand-Veneered in Teak.
It is designed to fit two turntables battle style
and a standard 10″ / 2 channel mixer.
We also incluide two flat panel inserts for substituting the turntable(s) for CD players.

DJ Table ships UPS 2nd day for @ 250.00 in two separate boxes for the
top/base. Top bolts onto base via 4 supplied machine screws.
There is also a provision for weighing the base unit with sand media via an opening in the base as well as a drain “porthole” in the bottom (for heavy turntablism or club level resonance).

Currently, we would be able to ship a table within two to three
weeks, lead times vary depending on production overages. I can process a MC/Visa
card or await check clearance.

00 DJ table has been Featured in Editorials in Flaunt Magazine, BPM Magazine, Exhibited at the Milan Salone Satellite, New York ICFF, LA -CABOOM design festival and the ESQUIRE Design House. Ed: And now CDM.

At the moment the client list incluides well known Dj / producers, and Music Industry profesionals.
For the time being I think we will keep their names private, I dont want to piss them off.
I design furniture in general , but for some reason this personal experiment has become a very big draw, so we are riding the wave.

I’m still jonesing for the ultimate computer workstation design statement — not that I’d be able to afford it, just because I’d like to see one. For his part, Reynold says fuggedaboutit: computers have a long way to go in their “aesthetic evolution.” Okay, I get it: the turntables make a better design statement. And this certainly counts among the best furniture for turntables I’ve seen.

Previously:

Dream DJ Furniture, Pt. I

Pt. II

Pt. III

Show us your workplace

(Less sexy) computer music furniture

Building your own cabinet for a home-built theremin or other music device? Some woodworking may be in order. Scott Sims contributes a great wooden knob tutorial for the all-audio DIY site AudioTweaks. (via thereminworld) The bad news (for some of you) is, you’ll probably want a drill press.

Check out this gorgeous tube project Scott worked on: there’s nothing like wood and tubes.

Straight from the files of "Looks-like-an-April-Fool's-but-it's-real":

From owlProject: The Log1k and iLog are instruments built from logs. (via near near future) The Log1k
is a log with a gearbox motor that spins wooden disks to produce
rhythmic noises, complete with "touch-sensitive switches" — wait, as
opposed to non touch-sensitive switches? Don't forget the flat panel
display. (It's a blank opaque flat panel that lights up, in other
words. But it is flat.) The iLog
is a new portable version with the same wooden toggle switches. The
iLog records samples, but much of the sounds have to do with "the bare
sound of electricity." And how does it sound? Completely terrible. But you know, in a good way, if you're into woodland noise art. (Is that a baby crying in the second video? Nothing like log instruments for terrorizing children.)

And, as if that weren't strange enough, the same team of Simon Blackmore and Antony Hall has created an instrument out of a lathe (scroll down to see it), with sensors to pick up the sounds of woodworking. Quoth Hall and Blackmore: "From a practical point of view, the lathe can easily produce truly round objects." Something that cannot be said of the latest USB keyboards from Edirol.

We've been saying for ages Apple needs to develop a music player for DJs. Jason O'Grady has been saying it for two years. Well, Apple, HP is likely to beat you to the punch:

The owners of the Playlist club
in London (which features a night for iPod DJs just like APT here in
NYC) alerted CDM to an exclusive interview with the team at HP
developing the DJammer handheld DJ device. Here's why it's going to
replace the iPod in clubs:

• Mic input
• Hold/scratch tracks, via sophisticated motion sensors
• More than a DJ device: sounds like a motion-sensitive portable
  sampler; HP says it will be "the new electric guitar" — we'll see, but
  it does look like a real instrument
• Streaming to other devices for collaboration
• HP team wants an open interface

This sounds huge — if the device makes it to market. Let's hope the honchos at HP see the value of this research.

Read Playlist's full interview with HP.
HP DJammer research page