"Where does it take you when you make a sound out of a photograph?"
February 27, 2001 2:27 AM Subscribe
"Where does it take you when you make a sound out of a photograph?" To some very interesting places, if you're DJ Scanner and you're taking a break from turntables and samplers to play with something called a Metasynth. What pop star's picture would you want to see "photo-synthesized"?
I'd say Cristina Ricci, Scanner himself and James Turrell--whose own work is inspired by and transforms light into something "physical.">
posted by aflakete at 2:47 AM on February 27, 2001
posted by aflakete at 2:47 AM on February 27, 2001
Interesting. It sounds like an extension of some of the random music generation programs that've been kicking around in the shareware music machine's "Computer Aided Music" category for a while: some use fractals, some allow you to place your own picture in there, and then generate MIDI tunes from them.
And I'd like to hear what Tom Waits' mug would cough up in the scanned music stakes.
posted by captainfez at 4:54 AM on February 27, 2001
And I'd like to hear what Tom Waits' mug would cough up in the scanned music stakes.
posted by captainfez at 4:54 AM on February 27, 2001
Metasynth is a great program, getting you to think about sound-generation from a different angle - I've used it to make a number of MP3s for my site. It's very difficult to get it to create anything aside from screeching noise or ambient drones, but if you want to launch your career as the next Pan Sonic - and who doesn't? - it's definitely the way to go. Relatively cheap, too.
posted by jga at 6:50 AM on February 27, 2001
posted by jga at 6:50 AM on February 27, 2001
Dang, that sound bad. I don't suppose there's anything like it for windows, eh?
I hate using a mac, but that's where all the cool apps are at!
posted by sonofsamiam at 8:03 AM on February 27, 2001
I hate using a mac, but that's where all the cool apps are at!
posted by sonofsamiam at 8:03 AM on February 27, 2001
I'm a huge fan of Scanner - he's done some really dazzling projects, including a lot of film & filmmaker related pieces (notably a Derek Jarman homage called The Garden is Full of Metal). I'm looking forward to seeing what he does with Alphaville on Saturday...
posted by judith at 9:24 AM on February 27, 2001
posted by judith at 9:24 AM on February 27, 2001
Richard James aka Aphex Twin used this on his Windowlicker EP last year.. listen to the end of the track named "[math equation]" ... there is a wacky screeching noise. Well, if you take this noise into Soundforge or CoolEdit and run it through a Spectral Analyzer, what you get is a picture of the infamous Aphex Twin grinning face. Quite freaky.
posted by afx114 at 10:37 AM on February 27, 2001
posted by afx114 at 10:37 AM on February 27, 2001
i am a little more concerned with which pop stars should NEVER be photosynthesized. perhaps this will convince you.
the horror, the horror.....
posted by donkeysuck at 12:02 PM on February 27, 2001
the horror, the horror.....
posted by donkeysuck at 12:02 PM on February 27, 2001
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posted by methylsalicylate at 2:33 AM on February 27, 2001