The So-Called Laws of Nature

A picture of David Lang...he's intense

Even though this is a blog about making free art, I will diverge by exploring another one of my passions, music.  I have wanted to post something about David Lang's piece The So-Called Laws of Nature for a while now because it was very influential on my own musical practice and thinking.  Not only was The So-Called Laws of Nature a joy to play, it also engaged the artist and maker within me because the performers must make or find their own instruments.  I am going to focus on one of the instruments that seems to give people the most trouble; the tuned pipes.  These pipes are not unlike wind chimes, but the hard part is that David gives no instructions in the score on how to build them or the material to make them from.  The group who commissioned the piece, So Percussion, lead my friends and I in the right direction on the basics of pipe construction and I would like to pass this knowledge along to other musicians.

Although I could just give everyone the pipe lengths and dimensions, I will not be doing that.  David Lang gave a lecture at Ohio State this spring and talked about why he did not give instructions on how to build these tuned nightmares.  He believes (and now I do, too) that part of the piece is the exploration of finding the material, making mistakes in the construction, and then making the music.  I have included a link below to a video of So Percussion explaining and playing the piece so that those readers who have not heard the piece can understand the instruments themselves:

So Percussion explaining The So-Called Laws of Nature

Now comes the fun part, cutting and tuning the pipes.  I am going to make a list of the common mistakes and some tips about the pipe diameter:

1. Try to buy pipe from a scrap yard instead of a home improvement store, you could save between 60 and 80 percent on the cost.

2. Galvanized pipe works well for this piece, it is resonant and easy to find.

3. Do not use a hand pipe cutter, it will take too many hours and your arm will be very tired.  Either have a store use their industrial pipe cutter and spend some quality time in Lowe's or use a metal band saw.

4. Be prepared to make mistakes, not all pipes are made equal.  Even if you find one pipe to be in-tune at a certain length, the next pipe will probably be sharp.

5. Always cut the pipe longer than you think, this will make them flat.  Then use a metal grinder to fine tune the pipes.  If a pipe turns out sharp it is unusable unless you can make a higher pitch out of it.

6.  The link below is for a pipe length calculator.  It does a good job at ESTIMATING the correct pipe length.  Make sure to select steel as the material, choose "output all lengths," and try to measure or guesstimate the inside diameter of the pipes that you purchase to achieve that best list of estimated lengths.

Pipe Length Calculator

Now for the best tip I can give you...the bottom three pitches should be made from a 1" diameter pipe and the top four from a 3/4" pipe.  Hopefully this will help those intrepid artists who would like to play this work and please send me questions if you have any.

Although I am your ugly cousin, I still have good genes

I began this morning by downloading the free programming software Pure Data.  If you do not know about Pure Data, it is a derivative of the popular graphical programming software Max/MSP.  I know some are still lost, so I'll try to make an analogy.  Think of your favorite Mac or Windows program like garage band, photoshop, or final cut.  Now imagine opening that same program, but instead of seeing colorful buttons, faders, dials, and panels, that there is just a blank, white window on your screen.  With this blank canvas you could feasibly write a software program that could function the same as garage band, but without the fancy clip art, colors, and apple style.  Most people do not do this with Max/MSP or Pure Data, but instead use these programs for live music performances, video projections, and controlling interactive artworks.

Today, I set out to break my own preconceived notions about Pure Data.  Having used Max/MSP for over five years now, I have become accustomed to its interface, shortcuts, and overall functionality.  I always thought that Pure Data was like the Max's ugly cousin, just a black sheep of the family with the same genes, but with little or no potential compared to the "Ivy League" trained Max environment.  After spending some time looking over Pure Data and going through the tutorials, I can safely say that Pd has all the capabilities of Max and might even be easier to learn.  I was very surprised that the beginning tutorials were very user friendly and that the interface was well explained and laid out.

Of course, I have just scratched the surface of the Pure Data interface, but I would encourage anyone who has been curious to learn Max/MSP to download Pure Data tonight and start perusing the tutorials.  I think that if artists, musicians, and programmers begin developing programs and ideas for Pure Data instead of Max/MSP, then we can have an even more robust and beautiful software that will eventually rival Max in terms of its own beautiful interface and innovative programming objects.  Please share your Pure Data stories and projects in the comment box below this post, I am excited to see what other creative people think about the Pd programming environment.

The beginning of making art for free

An old patent for the Phunifone, now available for free to make and use

For the past five years I have been making interactive sound installations, robotic sculptures, and computer music pieces.  Although I have found my passion in making art and music, sometimes the cost for the technology and materials can be prohibitive.  Whether it is buying a computer, hardware, or updating software, I seem to be spending more money on my artwork than I even make in one month with multiple jobs.  This is a problem.  The only way that I can see to solve this problem is to try to make all of my artwork for free.  Although this may seem impossible or impractical, I think that if I take the right steps that I can at the least reduce my costs and make my art for less or for free.

My plan begins with three steps.  Instead of using software developed for sale, start learning and using free or open source software such as Pure Data (Max/MSP's counterpart) and Processing.  Secondly, use hardware that is supported by a community of users and not a corporation.  Lastly, try to trade, barter, or find free materials to use for my projects.  

I have become increasingly frustrated by corporations who sell you a product that you assume will be up to date for at least a year or two, then six months later a newer, better version is released that you will eventually  have to pay for because your version is now out of date.  Also by supporting open, community based software and hardware, I hope to be able to develop and share ideas and programs with my fellow artists for free.

I want to be creative, but not for an excessive monetary cost.  That is why I am going to be freeative and share my adventures with you.  Share your freeative work as well with me and I'll post it.  Talk to you again soon.