DATE:
04-19-2016 SUBJECT:
WHAT DO DR.
BLANKENSTEIN, POPEYE & ZAPPA HAVE IN COMMON?
What
I am talking about is our relationship with world renowned
multimedia artist
Ed Seeman.
To put it most bluntly, he is my
Grandfather. As our apparent genetic
artistic connection becomes more and more
clear, today… the 4 year anniversary of this
website, I thought it important to bring to
everyone’s attention. The more I find out
about his long and impressive career, the
more I draw
connections
between what he does (although we have
worked with
much different medias) and what
I do. Thinking outside of the box,
and working with what you have runs in the Blanke family it
would seem.
Let me just take a long moment to highlight
SOME of his many well-known projects (this
is not even close to the complete list, for
that you will need to visit his website
www.EdSeeman.com).
Ed Seeman graduated the High School of Music
and Art in 1949, then proceeded to get his
start at Paramount Studios in New York
animating famous cartoon characters such as
Popeye and Casper the Friendly Ghost.
In 1953 he headed to Frankfurt, Germany
during the Korean war where he served in the Army 4th
Division for 2 years as a very
popular cartoonist for the military
till being honorably discharged in 1954 (receiving both a ribbon & medal for his
work). That would have been impressive enough for
most people, but for Ed it’s just the very
beginning of an incredible art career. From
there Seeman formed Gryphon Productions
where he and his partner w/
Ray Favata animated more of
the world’s most recognized cartoon
characters (Rocky and Bullwinkle, My Little
Pony, The Flintstones, Sugar Bear, TRIX
Rabbit to name a few) from 1961-1969. This
is where things get really crazy, the late 60s of course. My
grandfather was working with the legendary
Gershon Kingsley at the time, which is when
and how he met Bob Moog! Bob had been
selling synthesizer modules to Gershon to
use in his commercials, here is a commercial
that Gershon and Ed Seeman
worked on using one of the very first
modular Moog synthesizers called "Hanes
Hell". It was also
around this time he had heard about these
“freaks from the East Village” from my
Mother called
Frank Zappa and the
Mothers of
Invention. Wondering what all the fuss was
about, he went to see Frank
Zappa and later
offered him the chance to do audio for a TV
commercial (A Luden’s Cough Drops commercial
named “The Big Squeeze” that went on
to win a Clio award). More importantly,
Zappa and Seeman
decided to work on a long term film project
that would have my Grandfather touring all around the world
capturing Zappa with his
special breed of psychedelic filming. A lot
of the footage that would later wind up in
the Frank Zappa films “Uncle Meat”
and "Mothers
of Invention"
(which Ed won the Cine Golden Eagle Award
for) were filmed
by my Grandfather Ed Seeman during that time. The rest of the
14 hours of footage is kept
locked away in the Zappa
vault, where no one has seen any
of
it in a LONG TIME. What very rare footage is
remaining in Ed’s hands, can be purchased
here (I highly suggest it if you are a big
Frank Zappa fan).
Do you remember the
show
Billy Jo Jive or
The Great Space
Coaster (well, the hand animated opening
which he won a daytime Emmy for in
1982)? That’s Ed Seeman animation. Along the way he managed
to save thousands and thousands
of Manatees
with the TV campaign he spearheaded
(animated, voiced, and filmed) with the
Florida Oceanographic Society (Mumphrey,
Mindy and Max). Of course we can’t leave out
the ILLUMIRINGER pedal he co-designed with
me for Dr. Blankenstein. As you can see, the
man has been a nonstop art producing machine
since the late 1940’s and that’s the short version (I
am leaving so many things out, I challenge you to
Google him and find them ;) Still at it with
my wonderful Grandmother (I call G-Amy), Ed
and Amy are still selling his
fantastic
fractal art and photo montage tributes on
eBay, in this incredible
e-book and on his
website. I really do feel a lot
of my creativity and ability to work outside
the lines comes from him, I am proud to call
him my Grandfather. Ed Seeman, thank for all
you have given to me (and the world), we
truly appreciate it.
DATE:
03-24-2016 SUBJECT:
DR BLANKENSTEIN WORKSHOPS @ MOOGFEST 2016,
MAY 20 -22!
It’s
that time of the year again (well, that time
of bi-yearly again really)… MOOGFEST 2016! I
could not be more excited, this is going to
be the best year yet. Not only because Moog
Music has put together one of the most
mind-blowing and
extensive line-ups of
musicians and technology visionaries ever,
but also because I will be doing 3 WORKSHOPS
for it this year! That’s right, count em’
with me… not 1, not 2, but 3 WORKSHOPS at
this year’s Moogfest. Well, really 2
synthesizer building workshops, and 1
circuit bending Hack-a-Thon. Let me say from
the beginning, space is limited. So, if you
are the hacking type… or want to build
your first voltage controlled synth with me,
be ready to sign up for the workshops
quickly. I believe it will be a first come,
first serve basis… there are only so many
soldering work-station that can be set up in
an area without it getting just nuts. Ha
That being said, if you enjoy my work and
will be at the festival… PLEASE make every
effort to get signed on early. If you have
no plans to go to Moogfest this year, think
again… really really really think about it.
Done? Okay, good… now go buy your tickets.
It really would be amazing to meet a lot of
you, talk nerd and connect. I assume Moogfest will be putting
up
some kind up sign up for the event on their
site, or at the event itself. Please
subscribe to my Twitter feed to make sure
you get the sign up info as soon as I know.
This much I can tell you right now, it’s
going to be AWESOME!!!
Moogfest has been interwoven in my circuitry
history for many years now, from attendee,
to
contest winner, to
keynote speaker
for MAKE Magazine, and
now my favorite of them all….
Circuit
Bending / Circuitry Instructor. Started by a
man with a vision for the world, continued
by a company that is owned by the very
people who work for it, Moogfest continues
to excel the revolution started by geniuses
like Dr. Robert Moog… and inspires the ones
to come. It’s an absolute pleasure and an
honor to be part of such a fantastic and
important technological linage. Thank you
Moogfest for all you do for circuitry, thank
you Moogfest for all you do for Dr.
Blankenstein… I’ll see you soon Durham!!!
DR BLANKENSTEIN'S MOOGFEST 2016 WORKSHOP
SCHEDULE:
Workshop – Build your own voltage
controlled mini stylus synthesizer! Friday May 20, 2016 2PM-3:30PM (subject to
change, stay tuned) Saturday May 21, 2016
4:30PM-6PM (subject to
change, stay tuned)
Circuit Bending Hack-A-Thon – We Void
Warranties! Sunday May 22, 2016 10AM-1PM
DATE:
12-14-2015 SUBJECT:VICE MAGAZINE
VISITS DR BLANKENSTEIN'S LAB IN QUEENS
What
can be said about
VICE Magazine that they don’t make
abundantly apparent? They are bold, they are
honest, they tackle topics other media
outlets won’t go near, and THEY WERE IN MY
ELECTRONICS LABORATORY! I can also
tell you it was a complete and total
pleasure to have them here. I was contacted
by
Abdullah Saeed (a Vice reporter, who you
might remember from
these Creators Projects pieces on Dr.
Blankenstein) and his right hand man,
film master
Mariano Carranza to come by the Dr. B
lab and see some cool prototypes and one of
a kind pieces. Would
you
know, that’s exactly what they did. We spent
hours recording different awesome pieces,
getting into little circuit bent jams and
whatnot. Only a tiny portion of the
sonically epic journalistic experience was
put into the final piece, but it’s a great 3
MINS!
I showed them my circuit bent Operation game
board, a toy lizard that got on the
receiving end of an illumiringer
modification kit, the modified
Casio Pocket Calculator (the
one from Moogfest 2014) and most
importantly… The Vice Device. The VICE
Device is a custom synthesizer I designed,
built, and gave to Abdullah for all of his
support of Dr. Blankenstein’s work over the
years. To say it is much appreciated would
be an understatement.
For some odd reason (I think it has
something to do with the Paris attacks :/ )
the video was geo-blocked from one area to
the next (it came out in 3 countries as far
as I know), so you will need to click the
appropriate link (US
/
CANADA/
FRANCE) to see it depending on where
you live. Before the piece was geo-blocked
it was VERY interesting to see the
differences in how the media (even with a
very liberal media outlet such as VICE)
presents the news to different
countries. Without getting political, I will
just state the obvious… they certainly water
it down for us in the United States. The
differences between the segments that mine
was sandwiched between were staggering to
say the least.
Regardless of all that, it was AMAZING to
have VICE over to my lab… and they are
certainly invited back anytime. It would be
fantastic if they one day took the rest of
the great footage we captured that day and
turned it into its own segment (we certainly
captured enough good footage to make one up,
and I think people would enjoy it). Thanks a
million Abdullah, thank you Mariano, thank
you VICE Magazine… stay awesome.
DATE:
07-15-2015 SUBJECT:TIM SWAY'S
ILLUMIRINGER AIRPLANE WING GUITAR ON FYI
NETWORK
Some
of you might remember my good friend and
fellow maker Tim Sway from our mutual
project started by him “The
Geigerringer”. Well, this December I was
contacted by Tim to work on an even more
exciting illumiringer project. This time Tim
had been invited by the
FYI Network to star in their up-cycling
TV show called
“Trashformers”,
and he was now inviting me to take part in
one of the projects. The project was a good
one as well, make a guitar out of an
AIRPLANE WING!
Tim tried to get me an actual cameo in the
show (he tried HARD for me), but in the end
legal paperwork made it too hard to
accomplish in such a tight timeframe. No
matter, we would get my illumiringer
electronics in there anyway! Tim had grabbed
one of the control panels from the plane,
complete with original switches, meter and
all. Perfect for hacking an effects mod into… I added the illumiringer kit, some big
fat LEDS and a kill switch (really cool
feature). In the end I think it really
completed the piece, I think
the judges thought so as well. It
was my pleasure to add my little something
to such an exciting project!
I want to thank Tim Sway and the good folks
at FYI Network (Brooks Atwood) for including
me in some way, and the show credits. It was
amazing to see Tim win (spoiler alert) the
episode with a piece we worked on together.
I look forward to working with Tim again on
future project, stay tuned. In case you
missed the link above, here is the video
clip from the "Trashformers" episode with
the airplane wing guitar.
DATE:
03-08-2015 SUBJECT:KRSD COMMUNICATION
TOOLS, A NEW SPEECH PATHOLOGY COMPANY?!
You
read the title correctly, a
speech language pathology company! How
does that go about happening you ask? Well,
my wife of course. Using my technical
skills, her amazing mind (filled with a
double master’s degree I might add), as well
as a few really amazing partners in the
S.L.P. field we established… K.R.S.D
Communication Tools. Before you ask, let me
just tell you. The “K” stands for
Kaitlin Dondorf, M.S., CCC-SLP. The “R”
is for
Renee Laura Fabus, PhD, CCC-SLP, TSHH.
The “S” is for SUPERWIFE, and also
Selene Gatzonis, M.S. CCC-SLP, TSSLD. I
think it then goes without saying the “D” is
for myself, Drew Blanke.
Okay, enough about the name already DOC! I
hear you, so what have we done so far, and
what do we plan to do in the future? Great
questions, thanks for asking myself them. To
answer scientifically in non specific terms,
a lot of very useful Speech Language
Pathology stuff! Such as our
download / DVD “The
Educational Video for Individuals with
Dysphagia” (nice snappy name,
right?). Dysphagia, put simply is having
trouble swallowing, and it affects more
people worldwide
than you think. Our video is designed to
show a patient, their care giver or an SLP
the industry’s most widely accepted
exercises and maneuvers for people suffering
from
Dysphagia. How do I come into this, I
designed the website, cover graphics, edited
and authored the DVD, as well as published
it on Amazon. As I said, I am the technical
part of this partnership.
Next we have something very exciting to us,
because it is so fresh and hot right now.
That something is called the
Amazon Echo! You might even own one
already, if not… you have probably heard of
it and might own one soon. It’s an amazing
Pringles can speaker you can talk to! No
really, it’s what will probably be
considered the REAL beginning of home
automation, and the integration of
artificial intelligence into our lives.
Although “Alexa” (the personality of the
device is called) can already do a lot (set
timers, get facts, turn on lights etc) all
of her “intelligence” comes from programming
in the cloud. Well, considering this is a
speech oriented device… we wanted in on the
ground floor. So to the
best
of our knowledge, we present to you… the
very first speech language pathology Amazon
Echo “Skill”. Our skill is called
K.R.S.D. Communication Tools “SLP Praxis
Review”(you
will need to own an Echo for this link to
work for you), and it is just that.
In essence, it’s a set of virtual flashcards
a budding speechie can use to study for the
Speech Language Pathology
Praxis exam. Simple enough, but still
really cool.
We plan to keep putting out useful and
innovative SLP tools moving forward, who
knows… we might even develop some new
hardware while we are at it. After all, they
do have Dr. Blankenstein on their team…
right? :)
DATE:
11-03-2014 SUBJECT:A CONVERSATION w/ HERB DEUTSCH
@ THE QUEENS MUSEUM! This
is a 25 minutes chunk of what was a 1
hour and 30 minute interview with Moog
synthesizer's musical genius, life long
educator.... Herbert Deutsch. The
conversation was moderated by myself, Drew Blanke (Dr. Blankenstein).
I
am sorry in advance for the fact that
the video cuts short
so quickly. There
was no one manning the camera and we assumed
it would record a file longer than 30
minutes (THANKS SONY BLOGGIE!!!). We were
sadly wrong. That
being said, the first 1/3
of the interview gave some really new and
exciting incite into the wonderful mind of
Mr. Herbert Deutsch. We cover what got him into music, when he first started making
stuff, and of course.. when he met Dr.
Robert Moog.
It was amazing to have Herb come to the
Queens Museum in Corona, Queens (a place he
had mentioned has some very deep history
with him, the location of the 64' NY
World's Fair) and meet
my circuitry class / see their wonderful
circuitry projects.
Thanks Herb! :)
DATE:
10-19-2014 SUBJECT:
A NIGHT AT THE MOVIES W/ AD-ROCK (BEASTIE
BOY ADAM HOROVITZ)!
I
just had to do it, how many chances does a
man get to see
Cheech & Chong "Up in Smoke" with Ad-Rock
of the Beastie Boys at a CBGB Music and Film
Festival? The answer.... is one chance.
I bought my tickets to the movie, and
immediately started thinking of what I might
give to the King Ad-Rock if I was able to
catch up with him for a few. A ran through a
bunch of ideas, none of which seemed right
for him. I wanted the piece to really be a
custom number, one that not only looked
Beastie, but would be useful to one.
Eventually it hit me, how about a Stereo
R.C.A. version of the illumiringer effect.
This way it could easily be used with
turntables or a sampler (two things Adam
Horovitz is no
stranger to). I like the idea of the effect
being stereo, this will allow Adam to turn
on one channel (left or right) of the effect
or both. That way the end result of a beat /
record would be a combination of both,
giving the final sound some really cool
texture. I finsihed the piece up with
a quickness , immediately tweeted Adam
this Vine, and told him I had made him
an illumiringer.
Well, if
you watch the video you will see.. I
was able to catch up with Adam after the
movie and hand him off the piece. He was
totally stoked, but probably not as much as
I was. ha Sadly the video is only a
walk through of the features and graphics, I
didn't have enough time to put together a
good RCA setup to shoot a good demo.
Hopefully we will see or hear some of it
somewhere in Adam's future work.
Either way, it was amazing to meet him..
what a totally down to earth cool guy. Not
that I or anyone else would expect anything
less. Adam had mentioned he had even given
some circuit bending a shot in the past, and
has a pile of baby toys left behind from his
son he might want to have me crack open. It
would of course be an honor, I look forward
to it (never happened! lol :) Again, thanks
Adam... you rock!
DATE:
09-23-2014 SUBJECT:
8 WEEK
CIRCUIT BENDING
WORKSHOP W/A VISIT FROM HERB DEUTSCH!
Around
the middle / end of July I was contacted by
the
unstoppable
Jose Rodriquez (Queens Museum / New New
Yorkers) and asked to teach an
8 week
circuit bending workshop at the museum.
This being the 3rd time working with the
museum over the last few years, and the
second since the
major renovation last
year... I of course jumped at the
chance. Again, if you haven't
been over to the Queens Museum (formally the
Queens Museum of Art / or QMA) recently..
you should check it out. Between the
amazing park, park views, fantastic art,
rich New York history, and AMAZING
RENOVATION... you really can't miss.
Museum admission is donation based, keep
that in mind... it's going to come up again
later. ;)
So,
I quickly put together a game plan for the 8
weeks, designed a PCB, etched them, ordered
all the needed components, printed hand outs
and class materials and was ready to BEND! I
would bring my group of multi cultural
Queens adults through the basics of
circuitry, learning different concepts and
principles, identifying components, reading
small schematics, soldering, wiring
preparation, planning out an enclosure,
testing and trouble shooting, circuit
installation and hacking. I took a different
approach to this workshop, considering I
knew we would have multiple weeks to figure
things out. That being said, instead
of just making a simple step by step kit for
everyone to build... I designed the
workshop's circuit board with lots of "hack
points". The idea being, everyone in
the group would wind up with a slightly
different final project from the person next
to them. Everyone was given a handout
with different options they could add or
leave out of the circuit (depending on what
was most important to them). Meaning, some
folks wanted to be able to power the circuit
with USB instead of a 9V battery, we learned
how to do that. Others didn't care for
the screaming synth sound, and really were
only concerned about the LEDS, so we added 3
large ones on a dimmer. There were different
switch options,
power options, touch point options, light
sensors and more. This certainly made things
harder to figure out, it wasn't a paint by
number project (which often, people don't
really learn from) this was actual circuit
bending / hacking. The only difference
was, instead of starting with a completed
circuit... we needed to first build out the main
circuit, then add our custom modifications.
By doing things this way, I believe everyone
received a greater and more realistic
understanding of what we were working on...
and felt truly gratified when it finally
worked
the
way THEY wanted it to. Mission
accomplished!
That bring us to the LAST WEEK of the
workshop, most are finished with the circuit
and have built it into their case or at
least on
their way to. I have had a special surprise
waiting for them up my sleeve this entire
time... I have invited
Mr. Herb Deutsch
(co inventor of the Moog synthesizer) to our
last class Saturday
9/27/2013 where he will talk with
the class and myself, taking everyone through some historical moments between
him and Bob Moog (just miles
from
the Queens Museum back in 1964, and much
more.
This end of workshop celebration is open not
only to the circuit bending class, but to
THE GENERAL PUBLIC as well. Come down and
join us, hear Herb speak, check out
everyone's projects, have some refreshments,
see the museum, enjoy to park. This event is
free with a regular museum donation (told
you it would come up again). To the New New
Yorker Circuit Bending Workshop 2014
graduates, I salute you! You all did a
fantastic job, as it was equally as
fantastic to show you my world! To the
rest of you, hope to see you Saturday!
DATE:
06-25-2014 SUBJECT:A VISIT TO HOFSTRA
UNIVERSITY TO SEE HERB DEUTSCH & THE MOOG
While
speaking to
Herb Deutsch at Moogfest 2014, I
reminded him of our quick stop and chat at
Moogfest 2012 at the
private Primus circuit bent instrument jam
in the Moog Factory. We had a pretty
funny conversation about the age old
dilemma, to were a tie to an event or not.
:) More importantly Herb had mentioned that
he is a music professor at
Hofstra University on
Long Island, and that they have one of the
first complete
modular Moog synthesizer systems from
the middle 60's there! Not only did they
still have it there from the 60's (Herb has
been teaching there for 50 plus years now,
talk about dedication to music), but they
had built it into an amazing glass case to
showcase it for the ages. What else
could a native New York synth geek do but
ask if it would be possible to meet up with
him over there to see the display.
After
returning home from Moogfest, I sent my
follow up emails out to all the incredible
people I met, which of course included Herb.
We set up a date and met up at the
University. As you can see from the
pictures, the display is worth it's weight
in gold. Very impressive, as well as
super cool for the University to acknowledge
what a powerful contribution to the musical
arts those original machines were. As
well as, how lucky they have been to have
such an inspired mind like Herb's to teach
students, perform and organize music events.
Our meeting was everything I had hoped it
would be, filled with stories one could only
hear from someone so deep in the technical
mix at that point in history as Mr. Deutsch
was. I brought along a Moog Ladder filter I
had built (with an
Illumiringer modification of course) for
him to check out, he gave me a tour of the
music building, his office. In short, I
again was honored and moved by the
experience. Herb, thank you for taking the
time, and thank you for all you do.
Sir, you r rock!
DATE:
05-02-2014 SUBJECT:DR. BLANKENSTEIN
SPEAKS FOR MAKE MAGAZINE @ MOOGFEST 2014
A
lot can be said for the feeling a circuitry
nerd gets when he receives an email from
Mark Frauenfelder (Make Magazine /
BoingBoing) inviting him to come to
Asheville N.C. to speak at Moogfest. Well,
that's just what happened, to put it
simply... I was honored & ecstatic.
Just like that
I was booked, and heading down south
again to visit the fine folks at Moog Music.
This time it would be to speak for
MAKE magazine, with fantastic minds such
as Nicolas Collins (author of
Hand Made Electronics Music),
Jay Silver (Inventor of the MakeyMakey)
as well as long time inspiration, RadioShack
author and original creator of the Atari
Punk Console
Forrest Mims III!
The next few months were spent coming up
with my concept for my presentation as well
as some excellent pieces to back it up.
Being that Kraftwerk had been added to the
line up, what better topic to follow than
electronic music, the evolution of the
transistor and how it all sharpened the
music industry to a point in the 70's with
groups like Kraftwerk, Pink Floyd and YES
(to name a few). Those who
know
Kraftwerk's music well, know that the apex
of this movement exploded with the release of
the early 80s album classic "Computer
World". With this, I focused in on
the song "Pocket
Calculator" as both the final statement
about the ever shrinking, continuously
growing more powerful transistor instrument
(think iPhone 30 years later) and as my
creation examples. Rather than tell you
about the entire presentation...why not just
watch it HERE if you are interested ;)
Like most live shows done on the fly, there
were a few technical issues with the sound,
so if you want a better idea of what the
gear I brought was all about (and don't
really care to hear me talk)
this is the link for you (it's video of
a rehearsall
recorded prior to Moogfest).
As for my example pieces, I brought along a
circuit bent
Bee-Gee's Rhythm Machine Keyboard (same
one used on the song), a circuit bent
Casio ML-831 Musical Calculator (similar
to the one used on the song) and a built
from the ground up custom
Stylophone. All the instruments had my
Illumiringer effect modification kit
built in them, to help illustrate how powerful
small circuitry can be when added to out
dated equipment. I of
course managed to squeeze the time in there
to build Forrest Mims an Dr. Blankenstein
Atari Punk Console. There
is
no way I could share a room with the man
without paying tribute with an APC2600.
Just before the presentations started I gave
Mr. Mims my creation, he was more than
thrilled! It was a great moment for everyone
who was there... and not one that I will be
forgetting anytime soon. We took a
bunch of pics together, he signed my copy of
Getting Started in Electronics, and have
been in touch since. He also had mentioned
the experience in the wrap up of the event
he wrote for the
San Antonio Express News.
As for the scene in Asheville when we got
there, INCREDIBLE! Pretty much the Disney
World of the synthesizer universe. From
having drinks with
Herb Duetsch at the roof top VIP party (DJ'd
by Flying Lotus) on opening night,
seeing multiple Kraftwerk shows, to eating
gourmet Ramon with synthesizer pioneer
Dave Smith (inventor of MIDI, Dave Smith
Instruments) after my presentation... the
weekend was ACTION PACKED with fantastic
sythy things. They have since announced that
they will do Moogfest every other year from
now on, if you haven't made it to one yet...
I wouldn't miss
the
next one.
As if all that wasn't good enough, as if I
didn't feel truly honored enough already..
I return home to receive an official Moogfest poster, a thank you letter from
Emmy and Mike from Moog, AND a coveted gold
plated Moog filter knob! If that's not
class... I don't know what is. Thank
you Moog Music, thank you Mark / MAKE
Magazine, thank you
Magnum PR, thank you
Glenn
Moses, thank you Selene... lord knows I
could not have pulled it off without you
all! Till next time...
DATE:
03-28-2014 SUBJECT:
GEAR APPEARANCE IN 'THIS IS A TRENT REZNOR
SONG' VIRAL VIDEO
A
lot of you probably caughtthis
parody
video and song produced by
Freddy Scott, but what you didn't know
is... The piece of gear pictured
during the "weird sound, what the hell was
that?" part of the video is a custom Dr.
Blankenstein "Sci-Fi Synth". After
first hearing the song on
Fred's SoundCloud I immediately tweeted
it out to
my feed, where it was retweeted by
Mark Frauenfelder's BoingBoing. It
completely exploded after that. I
contacted
Fred to congratulate him on a totally
successful viral hit, and offered to build
him a piece for his "weird sounds". He
of course was thrilled by the offer (and
everything else going on at once).
I fixed
him up a custom sci-fi synth built into an
upcycled box and laid over some Trent Reznor
graphics... a message of "Weird Sound" over
the front of the synthesizer, and "what the
hell was that?" going around the sides.
I have only built
this synth at workshops I have
taught at the local museums, and one for
Sean Lennon and Mushroomhead (it's not a
synth that has a regular case design, I like
to keep it available for smaller custom
builds like this). After an
extended postal trip out to L.A. (thanks to
our friends at the USPS) Fred FINALLY
received the synth and loved it.
I was told "I have a surprise coming for
you", in which I waited for. Well...
the day the video comes out, I get an email
saying "check out the weird sound" part of
the video. There it was! Soon there
after
it was blogged by the good people at
Bent-Tronics, thanks for that guys.
Talk
about winning at the internet, great job
Freddy and thanks! Can't wait to hear the
next release!
DATE:
01-20-2014 SUBJECT:"SOCIAL
MEDIA, INTERVIEWS AND A MUSHROOMHEAD!"
2014
has most certainly kicked off with a bang
over in Blankenstein land, and we aren’t
even out of January yet. First, we have
EverythingSounds… one of the most well put
together podcast out there.. on.. well..
EVERYTHING SOUND oriented. The PodCast they
did on Blankenstein was not only well put
together, recorded at high quality, and
entertaining… but also told the story better
than we could have told it ourselves. Thank
you
Craig Shank and George Drake Jr. (chief
operators and DJs of the show), great job…
look forward to speaking to you again!
Next we would like to invite you to Follow @Dr_Blankenstein
on Twitter.
Get the latest news, see the newest
creations first, and keep up the date with
cool random science facts… and of course..
say hi.
Last,
but most certainly not least… we must speak
of
MUSHROOMHEAD! We could not be more
excited to mention that we are forging a
really solid relationship with these guys
that we hope will go on throughout the year,
and beyond. They have picked up nearly
everything that’s in the lab at the moment
(an
Endeavour,
a couple
ILLUMIRINGER Pedals, a
SciFi synth for good measure and of course a
demonic
circuit bent alphabet caterpillar!) in
preparation for their 7th studio release and
a MUCH ANTICIPATED 20th Anniversary year.
Which includes the
SoundWave Festival in Australia, and
a gig
with Rob Zombie and KoRn in
Melbourne (we have been told
to expect some video, you should do the
same). Personally, we can’t think of a
better band to represent Blankenstein.. and
we CAN NOT WAIT to see what they do with it
all! Thanks for the support guys, you rule!
DATE:
12-16-2013 SUBJECT:"NOW EVEN
MORE PLACES TO GET DR. BLANKENSTEIN GEAR"
We
are very pleased to announce two new ways to
get your hands on some Dr. Blankenstein
gear. You can now purchase nearly the entire
line of regularly stocked Dr. B pieces at
both
Etsy.com and California based gear
slingers
PerfectCircuitAudio.com . Keep in mind,
PerfectCircuit is 100% an authorized dealer
and equipment purchased from them is
completely covered by our quality guarantee.
As many of you know, due to a rather high
demand… it’s
not always easy to keep things in stock over
here. If for any reason there is something
you were looking to purchase, that you don’t
see available here at the time… Etsy and
PerfectCircuitAudio should be your next
visits. Besides, they are both GREAT
WEBSITES! ;)
DATE:
11-20-2013 SUBJECT:
"QUEENS
MUSEUM ART RE-OPENING CELEBRATION"
The Queens Museum of Art has been through
many changes since its construction for the
1939 World’s Fair. It was even the location
of the United Nations General Assembly for 4
years. This being said, few would argue that
the most recent renovation is BY FAR the
most grandiose one yet (and most expensive
;).
Needless to say, when the email came through
with an invitation to do some circuitry with
the children and
help re-open the museum… we were
THRILLED! And re-open it did! Bigger,
more
impressive and most importantly of all…
FILLED with a massive amount of new exciting
artwork. And we were there to build some
holiday themed circuits. Being that we were
told the age range would be a little bit
younger than usual, we aimed to make the
circuit extra easy to complete. So, we
whipped up a 4 component (battery, clip,
switch, and flickering LED) kit that
EVERYONE was sure to enjoy. In essence we
built flameless candles with a “Happy
Holidays” message on the board. It was a
total HIT! Over 60 kits built, and tested in
under an hour and half (for a 2 hour event).
There was a wait to get over to the
soldering stations 3-4 people deep for the
entire event… the energy was high, and
children were completing their first
circuit boards at ages as young as FIVE
YEARS OLD! Holy moly, were these kids SMART
and ready to have some fun (with some
learning snuck in of course). Everyone
walked away with a working flameless candle
and new found knowledge of circuitry and
electricity. WINNING!
It was an pleasure and an HONOR to be part
of such a monumental moment in the museum’s
and in New York’s history. We are looking
forward to doing more and more work with
them in the very near future… stay tuned!
DATE:
08-26-2013 SUBJECT:
"COLLECTORS WEEKLY MAGAZINE PROFILES
BLANKENSTEIN"
If
you are a fan of anything, and I mean
ANYTHING… you should also be a fan of
Collectors Weekly. If there was ever a
website loaded to the brim with cool stuff, nerd’ness and obsessive collecting… it was
half the website that these guys put
together. Whatever it is you are into…
sports, music, comics, politics, pop
culture.. you will find some of the most
amazing stories, items and collections on
your favorite topic. Check it out, we dare
you… say goodbye to at least an hour of your
daily productivity.
Ben Marks (the Senior Editor of CollectorsWeekly) put together
THIS fantastic piece , which was
later blogged by our friend
Mark Frauenfelder on his totally nerd-tastic
blog
BoingBoing (another incredible
procrastination portal),
RealClearScience and many others. Thank
you Ben for writing such a great piece, and
for all those who spread it around… you guys
ROCK! Besides being a great Drew Blanke
profile, the article also gets into the
ILLUMIRINGER MOD KIT a bit as well..
most certainly worth a read.
DATE:
07-02-2013 SUBJECT:
"MOZILLA
HOSTS THE LEARNING
LABS POP-UP 2 @ NYSCI"
Back, and ready to ward off a mosquito
attack!? That’s right, On June 22nd Dr.
Blankenstein was back at
the
New York Hall of Science to build a large
batch
of
Sonic Repellent kits with the children
and their parents. This time was for round 2
of the Hive Learning Network / Mozilla’s
Learning Labs Pop-Ups. Like last time, nySCI
was packed to the rafters with awesome
educational S.T.E.M. based activities for
the children and their families to get
involved in. Don’t believe us? Check out
this
GREAT PICTURE COLLECTION posted by
nySCI’s very own
Explainers (the brilliant group of
teensters on staff ready to assist in every
way possible, they ROCK!)
If you live in the New York area, have
children, are a child, have been to earth,
have hands… you MUST head over to nySCI and
get your Science on!
Click here to find out more info on the
science center and their many varied (and
FUN!) programs! They have made a very warm
and exciting home for Dr. Blankenstein, and
we appreciate that AND everything they do
for New York. GO SCIENCE! (PS: Keep an eye
out for those Sonic Repellent Kits, coming
soon to a Blankenstein site near you)
DATE:
06-18-2013 SUBJECT:"WHAT
DO GRAHAME LESH & DREW HELLER HAVE IN
COMMON?"
Okay
duhhh, they both play in very popular and
AMAZING jam bands ! (
Grahame Lesh is the son of Grateful Dead
bassist and vocalist
Phil Lesh. Drew Heller plays
guitar for multicultural fusion band
Toubab Krewe ) Understood, but what else
do they have in common? They BOTH
received ILLUMIRINGER INSTRUMENT
MODIFICATIONS KITS this month!
It's been nothing but exciting news after
more exciting news with the ILLUMIRINGER
circuit in past months (as can be seen by
the entries below). Here we add yet
another two incredible chapters to the ever
growing saga that is the now famous
ILLUMIRINGER circuit ;)
First we have Drew Heller's custom built
triple neck cigar box guitar. This
beauty to behold (and hear) was built by
none other than well known luthier Mike Orr
the KING OF CIGAR
BOX GUITARS! Mike Orr wrote the book on
Cigar Box guitars, no really.... the man
actually wrote the book. Pick up a copy
here, or better yet... just buy a guitar
off his
eBay Account!
I digress.. So Mike hits me up, and
tells me he wants to grab a mod kit to
install in
Drew's epic triple neck guitar. I
of course hook him asap with a custom
designed version of the mod for the piece.
Install went smooth, and we handed the now
upgraded guitar to Drew backstage at the
Brooklyn Bowl show (killer show btw! if you
haven't seen these guys... please do).
I spoke to Mike since then, we plan to work
on other projects together really soon..
stay tuned for updates on that. And of
course I got the lowdown on what Drew thinks
of the modification, I have been told he
LOVES IT and plans to bust it out at a few
of their booked
festivals dates this Summer. If
you plan on being at any of those, keep an
eye out for it. Expect a solid video
of it in play very soon ;)
The
Grahame Lesh story is far less detailed and
romantic but equally cool. If you
don't already know.. Phil Lesh has
teamed up with his two sons Grahame and
Brian (as well as a few other very fine
musicians) to form the
TERRAPIN FAMILY BAND. People, let
me tell you... this is KILLER! Of all the
post Jerry Garcia Grateful Dead musical
concoctions I have been to since 1995 (there
have been MANY!) this might be the most
heartfelt and real of them all. If
you like the Grateful Dead, you MUST catch
one of their shows ASAP. So I grabbed
a pair of tickets to one of the 4 shows here
in NYC this month... we grabbed tickets to
the one going down on a city YACHT! Too bad
it rained worse than I have seen in 5 years
here, but no matter... the boat was packed
with smiles.
My plan was to maybe have a nice pedal built
to give to Phil,
but believe it or not nothing was coming to
me. My brain has been filled with a
lot of new circuits and such these days, I
suppose there was just no more room in there
:) So, I figured what the hay.... why not
just hand off one of my kits to Grahame when
I saw him... and that's just what I did.
About 5 minutes after getting on the boat,
by the bar... there he was. I simply
walked over, introduced myself, explained
the mod kit, gave it to him and grabbed a
picture. He was VERY stoked to get
one.. and said he would hit me up if he had
any issues with the install (he won't.. it's
simple folks!) It was a pleasure to
meet him, I look forward to seeing what he
might do with it in the future. These kids
give GREAT hope to a GRATEFUL future.
What's
in the future for the ILLUMIRINGER? A
LOT! There are three new versions
coming out this month. The basic (the
one that's out now) a Guitar Model (has a
volume mix knob, some extra LEDS and more)
and the BLENDER PRO version! The
blender pro is SICK! It features two
independent inputs fed through a transistor
gain preamp, THEN into the Illumiringer
circuit (plus new switch wiring, control
select LEDS, expression pedal input and
MORE!) More on that VERY SOON. There
is also a "Circuit Bent Theremin Ukulele"
and "The Didgeridoo of the future" demo
videos coming at you this month.
Please check back for updates!
DATE:
05-27-2013 SUBJECT:"20
SUPER INVENTIVE CHILDREN, & A BOX OF
ILLUMIRINGER KITS!"
Dr
Blankenstein was back at the New York Hall
of Science on May 16th, this time armed with
20 basic ILLUMIRINGER instrument
modification kits. The class was yet
another amazing S.T.E.M. based learning
series put together by NySci called the
"Make Academy: Experimental Sound Studio".
The idea was this... first the children
designed an acoustic instrument using
various principles of sound they were taught
by their fearless leader and instructor
David Wells. They used bottles,
strings, springs, wood boxes... you name it,
if it made a sound when struck or plucked
these ultra creative padawan MAKERS used it
in their instruments.
I WAS BLOWN AWAY by the ideas they had come
up with, and their well thought out plans
for executing their designs. This is
where the ILLUMIRINGER kits came in...
by installing the kit in their instruments
they were going to be able to BOTH use the
circuit as a preamp for their Piezo Contact
Mics AND add the crazy filtered tones and
control of the ILLUMIRINGER to their
instruments! Man were they excited
when they got their light sensors and jacks
soldered into place, installed their 9V
batteries, plugged them into the amp and
turned them on! Even without having
them installed in their instruments yet they
were able to get some super cool and creepy
Theremin type sounds out of the light
sensors w/ a flashlight. They were all
set to build their instruments, install
their newly created custom mod kits and JAM
OUT!
I returned a few weeks later to see how
everything came out.. can I say WOW? Yup..
just did... I will say it again.. WOW!
These little geniuses went above and beyond
the task at hand, every instrument was just
as creative and exciting sounding as the
next. Take a look at the
ILLUMIRINGER installed into a regular Fender
Strat, now imagine 30 of them rocking
out at the same time, installed into ONE OF
A KIND hand made circuit bent instruments!
COMPLETELY UNBELIEVABLE, I was SO impressed
and proud.
I have to say it again, it's an incredible
thing they have going on at the New York
Hall of Science! If you are a New York
parent and your children are NOT involved in
the BEYOND FUN and CREATIVE learning classes
/ programs / events they have going on
there.. YOU MUST ATTEND SOMETHING. In a ever
more technologically driven future, I can
not think of a better way to expose your
children to the arts and sciences they (and
society) will need for generations to come.
Get more info
HERE.
DATE:
03-07-2013 SUBJECT:
"DR. BLANKENSTEIN LECTURE @ THE QUEENS
MUSEUM OF ART"
Don't
miss Dr Blankenstein's (Drew Blanke)
upcoming lecture on Circuit Bending / Design
at the Queens Museum of Art...
Sunday, March 24th... from 1:30PM - 3:00PM .
The lecture is part of an exciting new
series available to the general public
called the New New Yorkers "ART HACKERS".
I will be on hand with some of my crazy
creations, ready to share some information
and make some noise. If you can make it
down, it would be great to see you!
For more info check out the
NewNewYorkers or
Queen Museum of Art websites. Hope
to see you there!
DATE:
03-02-2013 SUBJECT:
"TREY ANASTASIO, A HARDBODY, AN
ILLUMIRINGER AND ME"
I
don't even know where to start with this
one... I guess the show would be a good
enough place as any (long entry warning).
Okay, here goes...
Hands On A Hard Body! If
you haven't already heard of the show... you
will, it's an adaptation of the
1997
documentary of the same name. 10
strangers somewhere in Texas join a
competition to win a 4 wheel drive truck.
All they need to do if keep their hands on
the truck longer than any of the other
people in the competition. Sounds
simple enough, right?
Well,
Trey Anastasio (composer, guitar
extraordinaire, front man of the rock group
Phish) and
Amanda Green (accomplished
Broadway musical composer) teamed up to do a
Broadway musical version of the same story.
In the end what we are left with is a piece
of Americana that has something for
everyone... a family musical full of
emotion, social / political force and most
of all GREAT MUSIC and PERFORMANCES! In
short... I highly suggest
picking up tickets
to see the show. If you like Trey's
work or Phish... or if you just feel like
seeing a great musical, you will not be
disappointed.
So
as the story continues.. I was lucky
enough to be one of those in attendance with
Mr. Anastasio for it's first preview
performance Saturday, February 13th.
As many of you who follow my work already know,
and many more probably don't... I have been
working on a concept pedal called the
ILLUMIRINGER for almost a year now.
The idea for the pedal came to me while
watching
Trey wave has guitar around in a
Jedi master sort of fashion (something he
does once and a while for special moments).
I thought it would be great if an effect
could be designed the would allow Trey (or
another performer) to actually manipulate
their guitar sound by waving objects over it, or
changing the lighting at the show.
Since crazy lights and wild sounds are no
strangers to the Phish show experience, it
seemed like something worth doing.
Keep in mind, the idea was never to try to
change Trey's amazing and somewhat legendary
guitar tone. This pedal was inspired
by the weirder moments of Phish (the moments
which have always been my personal
favorites. see
this and
this and
this...
NOT THIS! After
months of different versions, additions and
subtractions... I finally finished a
pedal I was happy with... happy enough to
give to the man who inspired it. And
the time to do it had come!
So,
just having finished the first prototype of
the new pedal I decide I am going to build
Trey's pedal. It's the Thursday
evening before the show, and I start etching
the PCB for the board while sketching out
ideas for the graphic. I should also
mention that I decided to add a volume knob and
make changes to the distortion section of
the pedal AFTER etching the circuit board,
my point... this thing was stylized to the
last second of construction. So much
so I didn't even have a chance to record a
demo video of it (as I normally would). I
did however record a demo of it's VERY CLOSE
Star Wars themed relative,
the ILLUMIRINGER V1.4. I wanted
it to be as perfect as possible for Trey,
(as I am with all my pieces and customers
actually) after all it's TREY! Happy
with my final piece, and excited to even
have a minor chance of giving it to him...
we set out to see the BIG SHOW!
As
I already said, the show was amazing. I
never really had the intentions to try to
give him the pedal during the show, after
all this was HIS big night. Seeing the show,
and being there to support Trey were the
first and most important thing here...
giving him the pedal was secondary and could
only happen if the right moment were to
arise. Running up to someone when they are
with family and friends.. enjoying a show
isn't my style at all. With something as big to
me like this pedal, it just wouldn't be the
right mix of vibes. Well, here I was.. show
over.. pedal still in hand and being rushed
out of the theatre by the ushers. I
should mention here that I am not a big
Broadway show guy, seen a few here and
there... but my culture in NYC comes more
from a classical upbringing (coincidentally
the few times I had the pleasure of talking
to Trey in the middle 90's this was the
topic of our conversations, counterpoint,
composition etc). I was not aware of
this "wait for the crew to come out
the backstage door and have them sign your
playbill" phenomenon... I am told it is
customary of sorts. WELL, clearly this
was to be my chance to give Trey his new
pedal!
One by one all of the SERIOUSLY TALENTED
cast and crew filed out of the
Brooks Atkinson Theatre
backstage door. It seemed there were a
lot of people waiting for Trey to come out
at first, but many had walked off, got cold
or fell for the "If you are waiting for
Trey, he was the
first
one out" (lol)... so there really weren't
many people left out there. I showed
the new pedal to the folks waiting outside
the door with me and explained the
situation, because of this (and that they
were super cool people) I was allowed to
take first position for when he came out to
give it to him and couple of private minutes
to explain how it worked. Well, the moment
came and that's exactly what happened.
Trey walked out with Amanda Green and I met
him with a smile and presented him with the
ILLUMIRINGER. Trey's first response
was a cheerful but inquisitive "Oh
wow, what do we have here?" As I explained
what the pedal did, his interest became more
and more intense and his appreciation for
the gift (and the effort the went into
created it for him) was ever so clear, and
quite honestly moving for most who witnessed
it. He continued to ask "How far of a
range can I get from the motion sensor?"
Which I explained is pretty much endless
when used with a downward facing light
source (and also explained how
Chris CK5
could also come into play). Trey
seemed honored and touched by the whole
thing, posed for pictures, signed autographs
and even did some Jedi style pantomime for
Amanda and others who were not familiar with
such antics. A great moment in time, a
PERFECT ENDING to a perfect night (and even
longer guitar pedal mission).
That brings me to my last point in this
MASSIVE rant, what is the future for the
ILLUMIRINGER now that Trey has the pedal?
Well, to be honest this project wasn't designed for any large scale
commercial success, I don't think that was
ever really the intention. That most
certainly WAS NOT the intention of giving
Trey the pedal.. couldn't be further from
the case actually. Truth of the matter
is, it's not a pedal that every guitar
player could really use (like say a
distortion, or reverb etc). I had no
idea folks were taking pictures when it went
down, and only made a very quick mention of
it on a message board before
THIS was
published on the LiveMusicBlog... and things
kinda blew up a bit from there. I
planned on mentioning it right here on my
site, and letting that be the end of it... I
had no intention to turn Trey's gift from me
into a media circus to sell ILLUMIRINGER
pedals. This pedal was designed around
some pretty strange concert moments taken
from my mental
archive of 21 plus years of seeing Phish
and being a fan of Mr. Anastasio...
it's not something I would expect to be
every guitar players cup of tea. That
being said, I have other pedals on the
horizon I think A LOT of guitar players will
be into... probably best to let this one end
here for the most part. Not that I
won't work with the circuit I designed
anymore and build on it as I have... I will.
Just, I wouldn't wait around for the Trey
Anastasio ILLUMIRINGER Pedal to come out...
because its not.
I
guess that leaves only one thing left to
answer... everyone wants to know if I
think Trey will use the pedal ever solo,
with Phish or in the studio. With a
Summer Tour just announced I suppose that's
a fair question, the answer is.... I have no
idea. I will probably only make it to
the Jones Beach show this tour (too busy in
the shop for much else), maybe he will bust
it out there. lol Hey, of course
I would love to see it come out at least for
a 30 second piece of madness, one of the
very pieces of madness that inspired it's
creation. Phish is a very circular
sharing of creative energy, pure energy
itself and turning it back into creative
energy... over and over again. That
being said, I can see it finding a use
eventually. Guess we will have to wait and
see. To conclude, what a dream come
true this has been... just the thought of
Trey plugging in and exploring a piece I
created, which was inspired by him in the
first place THRILLS ME. If it gets
played out live or not, guess it doesn't
really matter...
it doesn't matter... it
doesn't matter. ;)
DATE: 02-20-2013 SUBJECT:
"NEW
YORK HALL OF SCIENCE LEARNING LABS POP-UP"
Back
at nySCI and thrilled about it! I was
invited as a guest artist / instructor for
the first of what might be a continuing
program of events they are calling "LEARNING
LABS POP-UP"s. This is a great idea
people! What we have here is a hangout
in
the New York Hall of Science "Maker Space"
with children 13-18, their friends and
family. They were invited to take part
in any number of totally cool, science
themed projects covering a huge range of the
technical arts.
There
was video game designing, web page building,
Theremin soldering, poetry, music
production, SMILES AND PIZZA!
Dr. Blankenstein was on hand with 40 custom
designed and fabricated "THERE MAN" (kinda
like
this one) optical Theremin synthesizer
kits for all to build, and build we did!
Just about everyone who sat down at one of
the 4 (really nice btw) solder stations
provided by the science center
was a first timer... and would you know,
every single person finished their working
Theremin synth! GREAT JOB EVERYONE, it
was so great to meet (and build) with you
all! Enjoy your new optical
Theremin... that YOU BUILT!!! ;)
I would like thank the New York Hall of
Science and it's Manager of Creative Making
& Learning...
David Wells for having me back again. I
think it's pretty amazing that there is such
creative educational outlets developing
right now... you folks are doing GREAT WORK,
it's an honor to be a little part of it.
I had an AMAZING TIME, looking forward to
next one! In the meantime, check out this
great little recap
posted by explainerTUBE !
DATE: 01-26-2013 SUBJECT:
"A
QUICK NOTE ABOUT MATRIXSYNTH.COM"
There is not much I can say about these guys
that isn't totally apparent by cruising
around
their site. In short... if you are a
synth dork, circuit bending fan, DIY
builder, musician of an kind.... you MUST
keep a watchful eye on
MATRIXSYNTH ! These folks are
the best! Pretty much what they do EACH AND
EVERYDAY is comb the internet for weird,
new, vintage... just plain cool synth /
effects stuff and put it all neatly in one
really easy to surf place. They
feature auctions, videos, articles and
websites from just about every boutique and
major brand gear slinger in the world,
daily, all in one place.... EPIC.
WARNING: Quick visits can
EASILY turn into all out nerdtastic gear
pining sessions, you have been warned ;)
DATE: 01-11-2013 SUBJECT:
"BENT: GOOGLE MINI-DOC (FEATURING DR
BLANKENSTEIN!)"
As
I have already mentioned, I was selected as
one of the finalists in the 2012 Moog
Circuit Bending Challenge. This is
where I hung out with Primus, watched Les
Claypool jam out on circuit bent gear, gave
Squarepusher a custom made effects unit and
won a MOOG SYNTHESIZER. It couldn't
get any better than that right? That's
clearly a circuit bending / designers dream
come true... nothing else could add to
epic'ness like that. Right?
WRONG! Months later I find out the
Google had been filing a documentary on the
contest and circuit bending... and that DR.
BLANKENSTEIN was in IT! To be honest I
didn't believe it myself until I watched it.
Well, here it is... 10 MINUTES of
Google produced coolness on the topics of
Circuit Bending and the Moog doodle.
As
I mention below The Creators Project was
kind enough to write a wonderful little
piece about the "Sonic Crusher" custom
effects processor given to Tom Jenkinson at
MoogFest this past October. After
following up to the article with pictures
and details of the hand off to Squarepusher
I was contacted by the author of the piece (Creator Project writer
Abdullah Saeed).
If you haven't checked Abdullah and The
Creators Project... you should, these
are folks are doing some great work.
The Creators Project is a partnership
between Intel and Vice Magazine highlighting
technological art, innovations and the
people who create them.
Here is the short Q & A style profile
they put together for Dr. Blankenstein ...
it was a pleasure and honor to be included
amongst so many other amazing and innovative
creative minds. Thanks guys!
DATE:
11-14-2012 SUBJECT:
"MOOGFEST 2012 WAS AN EPIC SUCCESS!"
I
seriously can not say enough about how
completely incredible it was to be a guest
of
Moog Music's for this year's MoogFest.
Its taken me this long to make this update
because its actually difficult for me to
figure out how to explain how great of an
experience this was without taking up 3 web
pages with text. lol So I am
just going to run through them really
quickly, but expect to see more pics, video
and stories popping up on this site and my
YouTube Channel.
Ok,
so as some of you know I was a finalist in
this year's Moog Circuit Bending Challenge.
I made an effects processor called the "SONIC
CRUSHER" for
Squarepusher (Tom Jenkinson) and made a
YouTube video demonstrating it. The
video was quickly posted on
MatrixSynth.com and The Creators Project
had
this to say about the piece. This
being said... I still had NO IDEA how
I was going to get the piece to Tom.
I fly into Asheville (not without having to
explain what the hell the
GoogaMooga was to about 25 TSA officers
lol), check into my hotel, and head down to
the
Moog Factory / Store to set up the
GoogaMooga. There I met
Mike Adams (President of Moog Music),
Andy Hughes (resident Moog tech genius) and
all the other great folks that work at Moog.
Myself and the other circuit bending
finalists set up our instruments and we set
off to rage the town... ASHEVILLE IS
AMAZING! If you have never been, GO.... so
much fun.
The
next day I woke up early and headed back to
finish out the circuit bending challenge.
There I met
Joey Hurst (Google Engineer),
Ryan Germick (head Google Doodler) and
Amos Gaynes (Moog Product Development
Specialist) who would be the other 3 judges
in the competition. We gave our
presentation, the judges jammed on our gear
for a bit, deliberated and announced the
winner. I came in 3rd, won a
MiniTaur Synth and was totally stoked
about it. Congratulations Luis and
Lief... great job and great meeting you.
Like I said in my presentation... just being
top 3 and heading to the Moog factory was
winning enough for me... BUT if I could get
the "SONIC CRUSHER" to Squarepusher all the
better.
Next
was a super thrill, we got a personal tour
of the factory and were of course invited to
watch El-P and Primus jam out in the Moog
Sound Lab on
Luis's winning circuit bent piece.
I have some great pictures and video from
the jams, but I'm not too sure if El-P and
Primus were exactly comfortable enough
with the piece to have the video posted all
over the web. I did edit together
this video which features some
behind the scenes footage in the Moog
Factory and Les Claypool on synth drums
playing "Who's got the funk"! No joke...
check it out. After the jam I was able
to get some good convo in with
Jay Lane and
Larry LaLonde of Primus as well as synth
legend
Herb Deutsch. I even was
even able to get a picture with Les enjoying
some of the incredible backstage craft beer
(thanks guys! for everything!)
I
knew this entry was going to be long, there
is just no way to sum it up quickly I
guess... too EPIC. Well, believe it or
not, the day only got better.... remember
the "SONIC CRUSHER" I had built for
Squarepusher? Wellllll... We make our way
into the Civic Center, "Sonic Crusher" in my
woman's bag (no problem getting it in
there.. I was a bit worried). First
stop, Primus... totally cool... 3D Primus? I
AM A FAN!
Sad part was both Primus and Squarepusher
were playing 30 minutes apart from each
other, I had work to do. I
wasn't sure how far my
VIP bracelet from Moog would get me, but
either way I made my way to the front of the
stage were one would assume the backstage
entrance would be. That was EXACTLY
where the backstage entrance was ;) I
show my bracelet to the nice fellow at the
door and explain I am there to give Tom
Jenkinson a piece of gear. After a few
seconds of thought he moves aside and let's
us through. No sooner do I turn the
corner and enter the next room, who do I run
into...
Michelle Moog Koussa (Bob Moog's
daughter). I had looked for her as
well throughout the festival, I wanted to
talk to her about working with the
Bob Moog Foundation in NYC. We had
a great little convo, shared a few ideas and
traded contact info. I have since
reached out to her and am waiting to her
back, stay tuned for more details on this
one.
Well
before parting I explain how I had made this
cool piece of gear for Tom and wanted to
give it to him, she smiles and explains he
is in the next room. I turn towards
the room she spoke of and who walks out...
The Squarepusher.... 6 String Bass
around his neck and all... well... I AM
STOKED! I explain to him how much of
an influence he has been on my art and that
I made him a piece specifically designed to
his style and taste. He was polite,
patient and stoked to receive his new
Blankenstein. I ask him to please
email me with some feedback on the piece, he
happily agreed, kindly posed for this pic,
shook my hand and made his way to the stage.
Can you say success? I am still
thrilled... who wouldn't be.
I suppose I will have to stop there...
yup, almost 3 pages of text as feared... oh
well. And I am still leaving out a ton
of things worth mentioning. For the 25
people who actually got far enough into the
story to be reading this, thanks for sharing
my MoogFest 2012 experience with me.
Stay tuned for more run on updates, pics and
videos :)
~Dr. Blankenstein
DATE:
10-01-2012 SUBJECT:
"THANK YOU... FOR A REAL GOOD TIME! -
WORLD MAKER FAIRE 2012"
What a
GREAT WEEKEND! I just wanted to write
a quick message to all of the FANTASTIC
people I met this weekend at the 2012 NYC
World Maker Faire. From the parents
and kids to the fellow science nuts and
fellow Makers... you were all so exciting to
meet and talk to!
I want
start by thanking you for stopping by my table
and joining me for some good old fashion
electronic experimentation. I still
have the image of thousands of amazed and
excited little faces gazing down on my table
of madness with hands stretched out locked
in my mind.
The look of joy when they learned to "push
the button and turn the knob" (our mantra
for the weekend, maybe my entire life
actually) and knowing not only were they
activating these new and odd sounds, but
CONTROLLING THEM. Then only to amaze
them further by explaining how easily they
could build their own alien devices for very
little money. Smiles all around,
everywhere... AND we were all learning!
Remember to check back soon for the "Potato
Salad Synth" Kit coming to the Dr.
Blankenstein Shop early November, as well as
the
KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN still currently
underway.
This is not to say that there weren't also a
fine number of science mavens, great
educators and professional musicians to
share a word with as well. So many
great minds at once in one place! I have
quite a few business cards and contacts to
respond to in the next few days, I look
forward to speaking to you all again really
soon. If we spoke in detail about
projects, ideas or education please do not
forget to
contact me as well.
Below is a short video featuring just a tiny
sampling of the great time and big noise we
were enjoying at the Dr. Blankenstein table
in section A (bottom floor of the NY Museum
of Science) and well as a interview of
myself given by
Mark Frauenfelder
(Editor-In-Chief of Make Magazine). You
can see this interview as well as hours and
hours of great World Maker Faire 2012
footage on their website
HERE.
Thank you ALL for making Maker Faire weekend
one of the best times a circuit bending mad
scientist professional geek like myself
could ever have, and THANK YOU MAKE MAGAZINE
for MAKING it all possible!
I could
not be any more excited to report to you the
following news! Dr. Blankenstein's
"GoogaMooga" Circuit Bent Sampler has been
chosen by Moog Music and Google as a TOP 3
contender in this year's
Moog Circuit Bending Challenge!
The challenge for 2012 was to build a
sampler from another device that had been
circuit
bent, then to sample sounds from the wildly
popular
Bob Moog 78th birthday (MiniMoog style)
Google Doodle. This process was to
be video taped, uploaded to YouTube and
emailed to Moog for review. My video
entry was rather long... but fun to watch if
you are into this sort of thing, & you are
reading this so I am to assume you are one
of those people. lol The full 38
minute, almost documentary can be seen
below.
As a TOP 3 pick I will be flying to
Asheville, NC to receive free VIP Passes to
this years
MoogFest, as well as continue in the
challenge and have the "GoogaMooga" on
display in the Moog synthesizer factory!
Winner gets a
Minimoog Voyager Performer Edition.
How cool, right?! Maybe I can even
sneak a minute with
Squarepusher and
Les
Claypool to give them custom pieces I will
be working on for them. ;)
If you are going to MoogFest this year, send
me a message... maybe we can meet up and
have a drink. If you aren't going, you
should, this year's lineup is AMAZING!
Take
a look. Anyway, I am SO EXCITED... I already
feel like a winner. THANK YOU MOOG! and
Congratulations to the other two killer
entries... may the best bend win!
Wish me luck!
DATE:
08-19-2012 SUBJECT:
"Illumiringer accepted into the 2012 NYC
WORLD MAKER FAIRE"
Today I
received my official acceptance email for
the 2012 World Maker Faire
(Dr. Blankenstein is
MAKER #8981). I
will be there with the newest prototype of
the
"Illumiringer
- Our World's First Motion Controlled Ring
Modulator" and ALL of my other
creations. There, me and my team of
trusty lab assistants (my friends and
family) will be on hand to
demonstrate, explain and even allow folks to
play with the pieces. Needless to say,
I am very excited to show off my craft, meet
other makers and maker art fans.
If you don't know about the Maker Faire, it
is the grouping of HUNDREDS of D.I.Y.
artists, circuit benders, and mad scientists
hosted at the
original World's Fair location (now the
NY Hall of Science, Queens Museum of Art).
This years event is Saturday, September 29th
and Sunday, September 30th. I simply
couldn't type enough here to cover
everything that this event is... check
it out at their website
www.MakerFaire.com
for more info.
I hope
to have a KickStarter campaign moving by the
event dates to help rally support for the
official
Illumiringer product release. I
will of course post more details here about
this and my involvement with this years
World Maker Faire as the develop.
DATE:
07-09-2012
/ 07-11-2012 SUBJECT:
"Make
Academy - Creative Circuitry Camp @ NY Hall
of Science"
I was
lucky to be the guest artist for the Make
Academy "Creative Circuitry" Camp hosted at
the
New York Hall of Science. What a
great time! The idea of the camp was
to get young children (in the this case 3rd
and 4th graders) from the local area
involved in the exciting world of circuitry.
The one week class consisted of fun lessons
and labs including "Squashy
Circuits" using LED, Batteries, Switches
etc in cool simple circuits. This was
my first experience with "Squishy Circuits"
as well.. what a FUN and MESSY way to get
kids involved in electronics.. everyone
loved it!
On
my second day as a guest artist with the
camp I gave a very interactive demonstration
of my creations, and taught the children the
basics of semiconductors. We later
ripped apart some audio producing greeting
cards to be circuit bent into their own
personal creations. A good time (and a
lot of noise) was had by all!
I would like to thank the NY Hall of
Science, José Rodríguez, David Wells, all of
the Maker assistants and MOST OF ALL... the
wonderful, talented and super intelligent
CHILDREN of the Maker Academy "Creative
Circuitry" Camp for this fun and inspiring
experience. I cant wait to do it
again!
If any other educators would like to arrange
a demonstration, or would like to receive a
copy of my circuit bending lesson plan from the class to
teach to your young MAKERS... please contact me
HERE for more info.
DATE:
04-19-2012
SUBJECT:
"KRAFTWERK receives the MAN MACHINE SYNTH @
NYC's MoMA"
I
completed
THE MAN-MACHINE SYNTH and was able to
get it to Ralf Hutter and
Kraftwerk. along with a framed
thank you note from myself and on behalf
of the Kraftwerk fans in New York City and
around the world who have been touched and
inspired by their music. If you would
like to read the full story about how the
synth developed as well as the exciting
stuff of how I used
this YouTube video to pass my message to
MoMA, Volkswagen and Kraftwerk you can
read it
HERE. Needless to say, this was
EPIC!