Two tracks by Gift Culture from the album Terraforming were featured and mixed live on MIT campus radio throughout the show.

Broadcasted live on Saturday, June 21st 2008 via DarkBOT radio - WMBR 88.1 FM - MIT campus - Cambridge.

Much Respect to electronic Max

Well, I've made it to Philly - we're packing up the vehicles now to head out to the Gaian Mind Summer Festival - I'm very excited to be attending and playing this year - my set is ready to go and I look forward to playing for a whole new group of folks. Everybody that I've met here so far seem very friendly - it's going to be a good fest, I can feel it!

Also, my new album entitled Terraforming just came out on Psymbolic--sounds - give it a listen and let me know what you think!

Tracklisting for the release of the new album Terraforming
by Gift Culture

01 - Fly Into Outer Space (4:58)
02 - Blissed Out (6:07)
03 - Saturn Return (6:11)
04 - Missing You (7:11)
05 - Kung Fu Hustle (8:28)
06 - Chrysalis (8:30)
07 - Small Wonder (6:39)
08 - New Horizons (8:38)
09 - Akashic (3:01)

.: Listen for Yourself ::

Tune into the sound of the universe and take a journey through the infinite soundscape. Fly from the clouds.. far into outer s p a c e. The Gift Culture project focuses on creating an emotional connection through musical expressions. Within Terraforming, Gift Culture transforms the aural atmosphere positively through a composition of rhythmic loops, emotive melodies, cosmically warm textures and glitchy bits that all interconnect... grow, evolve and transcend.

Audio Mastering by Kri - Audio Valve

Album Cover Art by Ryan Hartsell

Album released via Psymbolic--sounds

Looks like I'm playing the Gaian Mind festival this year! Stay tuned for more details!

Direct Note Access is a technology that makes the impossible possible: for the first time in audio recording history you can identify and edit individual notes within polyphonic audio material. The unique access that Melodyne affords to pitch, timing, note lengths and other parameters of melodic notes will now also be afforded to individual notes within chords. Check out the video here:

Here's a link to an interesting guide for free Mac Music Software:http://arvidtp.net/guidex.php

Here's a nice set of EQ references:Eq SettingsGeneral:20 Hz and below - impossible to detect, remove as it only adds unnecessary energy to the total sound, thereby most probably holding down the overall volume of the track60 Hz and below - sub bass (feel only)80(-100) Hz - feel AND hear bass100-120 Hz - the "club sound system punch" resides here200 Hz and below - bottom250 Hz - notch filter here can add thump to a kick drum150-400 Hz - boxiness200 Hz-1.5 KHz - punch, fatness, impact800 Hz-4 KHz - edge, clarity, harshness, defines timbre4500 Hz - exteremly tiring to the ears, add a slight notch here5-7 KHz - de-essing is done here4-9 KHz - brightness, presence, definition, sibilance, high frequency distortion6-15 KHz - air and presence9-15 KHz - adding will give sparkle, shimmer, bring out details - cutting will smooth out harshness and darken the mixKicks:60Hz with a Q of 1.4 -- Add fullness to kicks.5Khz with a Q of 2.8 -- Adds attack to Kicksbottom (60 - 80 Hz),slap (4 kHz)EQ>Cut below 80Hz to remove rumbleBoost between 80 -125 Hz for bassBoost between 3 - 5kHz to get the slapPROCESSING> Compression 4:1/6:1 slow attack med release.Reverb: Tight room reverb (0.1-0.2ms)General:Apply a little cut at 300Hz and some boost between 40Hz and 80Hz.Control The Attack:Apply boost or cut around 4KHz to 6KHz.Treat Muddiness:Apply cut somewhere in the 100Hz to 500Hz range.kick>> bottom depth at 60 - 80 Hz, slap attack at 2.5HzSnares:100Hz with a Q of 1.0 -- Add fullness to snare200Hz - 250Hz with a Q of 1.4 -- Adds wood to snares3Khz with a Q of 1.4 -- Adds atack to snare.7Khz with a Q of 2.8 -- Adds Sharpness to snares and percussionfatness at 120-240Hzboing at 400Hzcrispness at 5kHzsnap at 10kHzfatness (240 Hz), crispness (5 kHz)EQ> Boost above 2kHz for that crisp edgeCut at 1kHz to get rid of the sharp peakBoost at 125Hz for a full snare soundCut at 80Hz to remove rumblePROCESSING> Compression 4:1 slow attack med release.Reverb: Tight room reverb (0.1-0.2ms)snare>> fatness at 240HZ, crispness at 5 KHzVocalsGeneral:Roll off below 60Hz using a High Pass Filter. This range is unlikely to contain anything useful, so you may as well reduce the noise the track contributes to the mix.Treat Harsh Vocals:To soften vocals apply cut in a narrow bandwidth somewhere in the 2.5KHz to 4KHz range.Get An Open Sound:Apply a gentle boost above 6KHz using a shelving filter.Get Brightness, Not Harshness:Apply a gentle boost using a wide-band Bandpass Filter above 6KHz. Use the Sweep control to sweep the frequencies to get it right.Get Smoothness:Apply some cut in a narrow band in the 1KHz to 2KHz range.Bring Out The Bass:Apply some boost in a reasonably narrow band somewhere in the 200Hz to 600Hz range.Radio Vocal Effect:Apply some cut at the High Frequencies, lots of boost about 1.5KHz and lots of cut below 700Hz.Telephone Effect:Apply lots of compression pre EQ, and a little analogue distortion by turning up the input gain. Apply some cut at the High Frequencies, lots of boost about 1.5KHz and lots of cut below 700Hz.vocals>> fullness at 120 Hz, boominess at 200 - 240 Hz, presence at 5 kHz, sibilance at 7.5 - 10 kHzHats:10Khz with a Q of 1.0 -- Adds brightness to hats and cymbalsHi Hat & Cymbals: sizzle (7.5 - 10 kHz), clank (200 Hz)EQ> Boost above 5kHz for sharp sparkleCut at 1kHz to remove janglingPROCESSING> Compression use high ratio for high energy feelReverb: Looser than Bass n Snare allow the hats and especially the Rides to ring a littleGet Definition:Roll off everything below 600Hz using a High Pass Filter.Get Sizzle:Apply boost at 10KHz using a Band Pass Filter. Adjust the bandwidth to get the sound right.Treat Clangy Hats:Apply some cut between 1KHz and 4KHz.hi hats/cymbals>> clank or gong sound at 200 Hz, shimmer at 7.5 kHz - 12 kHzGuitar:Treat Unclear Vocals:Apply some cut to the guitar between 1KHz and 5KHz to bring the vocals to the front of the mix.General:Apply a little boost between 100Hz and 250Hz and again between 10KHz and 12KHz.Acoustic GuitarAdd Sparkle:Try some gentle boost at 10KHz using a Band Pass Filter with a medium bandwidth.General:Try applying some mid-range cut to the rhythm section to make vocals and other instruments more clearly heard.Other:Voice: presence (5 kHz), sibilance (7.5 - 10 kHz), boominess (200 - 240 kHz), fullness (120 Hz)Electric Guitar: fullness (240 Hz), bite (2.5 kHz), air / sizzle (8 kHz)Bass Guitar: bottom (60 - 80 Hz), attack (700 - 1000 Hz), string noise (2.5 kHz)Toms: attack (5 kHz), fullness (120 - 240 Hz)Acoustic Guitar: harshness / bite (2 kHz), boominess (120 - 200 Hz), cut (7 - 10 kHz)Bass - Compressed, EQ'd with a full bottom end and some midsrack toms>> fullness at 240 Hz, attack at 5 kHzfloor toms>> fullness at 80 - 120 Hz, attack at 5 kHzhorns>> fullness at 120 - 240 Hz, shrill at 5 - 7.5 kHzstrings>> fullness at 240 Hz, scratchiness at 7.5 - 10 kHzconga/bongo>> resonance at 200 - 240 Hz, slap at 5 kHzGeneral Frequencies:EQ Reference: Frequencies50HzBoost: To thicken up bass drums and sub-bass parts.Cut: Below this frequency on all vocal tracks. This should reduce the effect of any microphone 'pops'.70-100HzBoost: For bass lines and bass drums.Cut: For vocals.General: Be wary of boosting the bass of too many tracks. Low frequency sounds are particularly vulnerable to phase cancellation between sounds of similar frequency. This can result in a net 'cut of the bass frequencies.200-400HzBoost: To add warmth to vocals or to thicken a guitar sound.Cut: To bring more clarity to vocals or to thin cymbals and higher frequency percussion.Boost or Cut: to control the 'woody' sound of a snare.400-800HzBoost: To add warmth to toms.Boost or Cut: To control bass clarity, or to thicken or thin guitar sounds.General: In can be worthwhile applying cut to some of the instruments in the mix to bring more clarity to the bass within the overall mix.800Hz-1KHzBoost: To thicken vocal tracks. At 1 KHz apply boost to add a knock to a bass drum.1-3KHzBoost: To make a piano more aggressive. Applying boost between 1KHz and 5KHz will also make guitars and basslines more cutting.Cut: Apply cut between 2 KHz and 3KHz to smooth a harsh sounding vocal part.General: This frequency range is often used to make instruments stand out in a mix.3-6KHzBoost: For a more 'plucked' sounding bass part. Apply boost at around 6KHz to add some definition to vocal parts and distorted guitars.Cut: Apply cut at about 3KHz to remove the hard edge of piercing vocals. Apply cut between 5KHZ and 6KHz to dull down some parts in a mix.6-10KHzBoost: To sweeten vocals. The higher the frequency you boost the more 'airy/breathy' the result will be. Also boost to add definition to the sound of acoustic guitars or to add edge to synth sounds or strings or to enhance the sound of a variety of percussion sounds. For example boost this range to:Bring out cymbals.Add ring to a snare.Add edge to a bass drum.10-16KHzBoost: To make vocals more 'airy' or for crisp cymbals and percussion. Also boost this frequency to add sparkle to pads, but only if the frequency is present in the original sound, otherwise you will just be adding hiss to the recording.

Today, I signed up for RPM challenge 2008, which is to create an album's worth of content (10 songs and/or 35 min of material), starting February 1st until the end of the month. My goal is to only use found sounds (processed or raw) - cutting up and re-sequencing is ok. Everybody wish me luck, this sounds like fun and a good way to get some use out of my PCM-D50 field recorder and to make some interesting instruments / effects on my kyma and max/msp :^)

Gift Culture to perform live at The Motion Graphics Festival.

The Motion Graphics Festival presents an Unparalleled
Installation & Realtime Art Showcase in Wickerpark

Saturday Jan 19th, 9pm - 2am
at Society for the Arts, 1112 N. Milwaukee Ave. Chicago, IL
+
Sunday Jan 20th, 9pm - 2am
Realtime Showcase Concert at Darkroom
2210 West Chicago Ave. Chicago, IL (between Damen and Western)

A transforming synaesthesia of sound | visuals | interactive | social integrated into an unparalleled media+art event in Chicago's Wicker Park. MGFest08 begins a tradition of full-scale environmental design, bringing together a massive range of creative talents to inspire, awe, and activate your mind. From 360-degree VR pods to an underground cavern of sound, come see this diverse assembly of media+art visions. The night includes electronic music created live using realtime audio equipment (Live PAs) and visual cutups created live using realtime video equipment (VJs).

Featured artists include: Respondr/M1 Interactive, Eric Medine (Los Angles), Sean Capone (New York), VRmage, MF Chicago, Michael Una, Video Janitors, Galina, Shudder, Tesia Kosmalski, Kim Alpert, Sharon Lomasney, Chris Collins and more...

Saturday Featured Musical Artists include:
Gift Culture / The Great Mundane / Dominic Johnson / Luke Stokes

Sunday Features Fifteen minute rotating performances by Gift Culture, Waveplant, Merkaba, Creative Chaos, Eric Medine, Protman, Lokua, Garo, Slava, the Machinist, Glenn Eric Gennings, and more.

+ a featured performance by: Stoptime 341

Check out www.mgFest.com for the most current festival information.

A full week of buzzing digital media creation will be showcased starting Tuesday, January 15th through Monday, January 21st 2008, at several venues downtown Chicago.

MGFest 08 features two world-premier theater screenings, multiple post-production studio tours, audio/visual art exhibits, a/v performances, six days of motion design / sound design / and motion programming classes.

( Design | Sound | Code ) .: in motion

Really good Gift Culture news coming soon!

For the time being take a listen to Temple at Dawn

The perfect morning and night slips through this articulate alloy for the soul. Gift Culture resonates a titillating mixture of worldly and astral sounds. Both iterate within each other, producing centered dreams of reality.