Les said, the better II

“Lock Up Your Children” was composed in 2005 in response to the controversy surrounding Buster the Bunny. In one episode of this children’s show, the cartoon rabbit goes to visit a Vermont family headed by two moms. He says hi to the moms once in an extremely brief scene. This caused a controversy as the United States government withdrew funding for the show.
This piece uses clips of the controversy being discussed on Frontline, of Bill O’Reilly and other pundits discussing the controversy, and of Fred Phelps, a radically homophobic preacher. I wrote a SuperCollider library to analyze buffers of spoken text and look for pauses. The program for this piece cut the buffers at pauses and analyzed the later ones to find the dominant frequency, which is played underneath as a gong sound.

This piece has been performed at my thesis concert and at the Hemlock Tavern in San Francisco.

“In 5ths” was composed in 2004 and performed that year by the Flux Quartet at a concert at Wesleyan University. The performance notes and score are included here. Terry Riley’s In C largely inspires this composition. I navigate the circle of fifths because of the tension in stacking three fifths on top of each other. The listener wants the 2 to go to a 3, but instead, another fifth is added. Also, fifths in equal temperament are very close to 3/2. Since the Flux Quartet only allocated minimal rehearsal time, I wanted to write something they could play easily that was within a margin of error of just intonation.

“Morpheus’ Snare” was created in 2005. In this piece, I have detuned the left and the right channels. As the piece starts, the detuning falls randomly in between 2 Hz and 20Hz. As it progresses, the range narrows until the left and the right always differ by 10Hz. Alpha brain waves are generally around 10Hz. There are rumors that listening to pitches detuned between the left and right ear at 10Hz will make the listener sleepy and cause them to enter an alpha state. All of the tones in this piece are based on the undertone series 19/17, 19/19, 19/21, and 19/23.

This piece was performed at my thesis concert and at the Hemlock Tavern in San Francisco.

“Rush to Excuse” was composed in 2004. This piece applies granular synthesis to a 47″ sample of Rush Limbaugh’s radio oratory. There are two processes involved. The first cuts Mr. Limbaugh’s voice into hundreds of samples of equal length. These samples, or grains, are then analyzed to determine the average pitch for each. The second process cuts the same clip into unequal pieces based on silences, or pauses in speech. I mix the output of these processes together, repeating the first process several times with longer and longer grains. Content and pitch material are then juxtaposed.
In the sample used, Mr. Limbaugh excuses torture at American-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and mocks the Geneva Convention. He describes a photograph of a naked prisoner being threatened with a dog, and justifies it by claiming there’s no actual assault, the prisoner is merely being frightened. As it happens, a subsequent photograph shows the actual attack. On being apprised of this later in the program, Mr. Limbaugh offered a correction and a weak apology.

This piece was performed at my thesis concert and at the Hemlock Tavern in San Francisco.

“No No Nonette” was created in 2002 for an installation of nine MIDI controlled player toy pianos, created by Trimpin. The installation, Klavier Nonette was in place at Jack Straw Productions’ Media Gallery in Seattle in the early part of 2003.

“Breaking Waves”, created in 2001, uses a destructive loop. The original sound is ocean-like noise. I encoded this as an mp3, and then I decoded it back to aiff. Then I re-encoded that aiff to and mp3 and repeated this process several times. Mp3s are supposed to have transparent compression, so the user never hears the lost information. However, after repeated processing, the wave sounds break down.
This piece was released on Ibol Records Random Spheres of Influence compilation in 2001.

“Bell Tolls”, composed in 2004, plays triads with a sound that resembles wind chimes. It uses a spatialization algorithm so that each “chime” sounds like it is coming from a different location. It is especially evident if the speakers are places three meters apart. The pitch of each new set of chimes is based on the pitch of the chimes that precede it. The pitches come from a 21-limit tuning table.

This piece was performed at 21 Grand in Oakland and at my thesis concert.

The spatialization code is included here and is online at http://www.celesteh.com/music/wesleyan/Locator.sc [note to blog readers: I finally published my SC libraries to: http://www.celesteh.com/music/wesleyan/]

“Airwaves #2”, composed in 2002, was the second piece in a three part series. At that time, I did most of my compositions using a MOTM analog modular synthesizer running a direct line to Protools. The direct line sometimes created a sound that seemed too large. This series was an attempt to create synthesizer tape pieces with more “air” in them.

This piece was played at Woodstockhausen 2002.

“Pro Manko de Edzino”, was composed in 2003 for a concert of five-minute piano works at Wesleyan University. Neely Bruce was the performer. Unfortunately, I do not have a good recording of that concert, so only the score is included in the portfolio. [Note I said “good” recording.]

All of the pieces on the CD can also be found online at http://www.berkeleynoise.com/celesteh/podcast/

[Not included but almost: “Phase“]
Tags: UC, Celesteh

I want to finish my UC Application by Wednesday. So what should go in the portfolio and in what order? I think I should include stuff from Wesleyan and later and not earlier things.

definitely included

• The string quartet

other candidates

• The bill o’reilly / fred phelps piece
• detuned left and right piece
• tuning piece with bells
• Rush Limbaugh

gah I can’t take this piece anymore

• Ann Coulter does have a performance history

maybe a UPIC piece?

• I dunno about this

Errr, so everything that I could send it on my podcast. I dunno. Bah. I also have pieces with the softwear I’m writing, but I dunno about them.
Tags: UC, Celesteh

I feel I should share this as I know that at least a couple of people who read this occasionally might want this information. I, for example, am not hungover right now, but there are children in [third world country] who are. Anyway.

If you drink alcohol, you then feel buzzed. This goes away eventually as your body converts booze into something else. This is a good thing or else those few beers would leave you messed up for the rest of your life. Yikes. Anyway, this conversion process uses vitamin B and water. A lot of the converted alcohol ends up excreted to your skin. When you feel crappy the next day, it usually because you’re short of water or vitamin B or because your skin feels like it’s wrapped in bar-flavored saran-wrap.
Therefore, in order to avoid feeling bad, pre-stock what you’ll need. Drink some water before you go to bed and ingest some b-vitamins. One excellent source of vitamin B is yeast (the solution is within the problem!). This is why homebrew drinkers, in addition to being smug and making snarky comments about pabst blue ribbon (a cheap, terrible american beer), almost never get hangovers. Because of the yeast in the bottom of their bottles. However, rather than coming home and having a homebrew nightcap, it may be a good idea to mix nutritional yeast with fruit juice and drink that. Nutritional yeast is also tasty on popcorn. Dont’ worry about drinking too much water, since it’s going to end up on your skin rather than getting you up during the night
In the morning, you’ll want a shower. A hot one. Sweating is good. And you’ll want to drink some water or other fluids. Coffee or tea are good because they contain caffeine, which is good for headaches.
don’t take vitamins when you feel sick, or you’ll be sorry.
also, certain alcohols are worse. Corn liquor is terrible and cheap as hell, which is why off-brand hard lemonade can leave you feeling like hell even if you only drank in moderation.
However, there is no cure for feeling regret the next morning because, say, you were at Seymour’s and fell over a sofa and onto some exchange students. . . . I miss wesleyan.
Tags: Hangover, Celesteh

Please describe your aptitude and motivation for graduate study in your area of specialization, including your preparation for this field of
study, your academic plans or research interests in your chosen area of study, and your future career goals. Please be specific about why UC
Berkeley would be a good intellectual fit for you.

As an undergraduate at Mills College, I studied electronic music with Maggi Payne, who taught synthesis techniques on a large Moog Modular Synthesizer. Its sound and musical possibilities captivated me, and I decided to double-major in music and computer science.
After graduation, I did not compose for a couple of years, but began creating tape music again in 2000. After writing many such, I branched out into acoustic instruments and focused on rhythm. In 2002, I organized a percussion quintet, for whom I wrote music.
That same year, I began volunteering for Other Minds, a New Music nonprofit in San Francisco. I was a driver for their festival and then I helped them catalog their tape archive and worked for them as a volunteer sound engineer. In 2003, I joined the board of directors.
Also in 2003, I composed a piece for a mechanized coin-operated toy piano nonette designed by Trimpin. The odd intonation of toy pianos got me interested in pitch and tuning. I studied Just Intonation techniques with composer Ellen Fullman and took on the Java Just Intonation Calculator project, for which I am now the lead programmer (see http://jjicalc.sf.net). My interest in tuning also led me to the fretless bass guitar, which I played in an improv art rock quartet. We had a few gigs in the spring and summer of 2003.
When I arrived at Wesleyan in the fall of 2003, I decided to focus on things that are not possible with my main instrument, the analog modular synthesizer. Taking advantage of being surrounded by performers, I created several compositions for acoustic instruments; I also played tuba in Anthony Braxton’s Ensemble. I worked with him: studying free improvisation and also helping him debug his SuperCollider patches.
My main focus, however, was studying SuperCollider with Ron Kuivila. I concentrated on tuning and on working with audio files using granular synthesis techniques. For source material, I generally used recordings of the voices of recognizable public political figures such as George Bush and various right wing pundits. Most of the pundits sound very angry, so I also include more meditative just intoned works interspersed with the politics. I’ve applied my homebrewed granular algorithms to process live audio input, as well.
At Wesleyan my music became more rigorously organized and algorithmic, and less intuitive. To some extent, this was because of the tools I was using, but I also began to feel that a purely intuitive approach had its shortcomings. I’ve continued to work on form and computer music techniques since receiving my degree. I thought a year abroad would contribute to my education in many ways: I was accepted into the program at CCMIX in Alfortville, France, in fall of 2005. I’m studying timbre, both how to manipulate it electronically, and how to make use of it within a form. I believe this will complement my interest in tuning.
At UC Berkeley, I hope to work at CNMAT to learn more real-time techniques. Berkeley is my first choice for schools because of its excellent reputation and because it is a leader in developing computer music technologies, such as OSC. With my background as a computer programmer, I hope to be able to help develop the next pieces of audio software and to use them to create art. Berkeley is ideally situated for me both in terms of educational philosophy and physical location. While there, I would be able to continue all of my interests: composing, performing, improvising and programming, and I would be returning to the Bay Area: my home and a place where I have many musical contacts.
After graduation, I hope to teach or even become a professor. There is no better path to that goal than a PhD from UC.

Jean helped me edit that, because Jean is cool. She asked, though, does it answer the question.
so, um, does it?
Tags: UC, Celesteh

Repeated here for your pleasure, the kind of sketchy conversations one has with ferral composers at 2:30 am at Place de Republique:

Sttranger: (french) do you have rolling papers?
Me: (english) he says he wants rolling papers
another drunk composer [adc]: (english) what does he want them for? (hands over papers)
me: porqoui vous demander le papier?
stranger: (french) to roll a joint
me: for a joint
adc: for a cigarette? cigarette?
stranger: (pulls out a pack of cigaretttes offers one to adc who takes it)
adc: why does he want the papers?
me: for marijuana
stranger: oui! marijuana!
adc: i want to smoke mariojuana! does he want to share with us?
me: il voudrais fumer le marijuana avec toi. oh my god, i’m arranging a drug deal.
The stranger is not happy with this idea. I take a short walk away so he and adc can work it out. After some discussion in frenglish, adc stumbles over to where i am waiting.
adc: well, ok, i’m going to see whats up with all this and if he’s for real cuz we’re going to smoke pot.
meanwhile, the stranger has taken advantage of adc turning away and is running down the block away from us.
yet another drunk composer: I don’t think you’re going to get any pot tonight
and now, at 3:30 after being up since 6:30 and having an all-around exciting day which i may tell you about in teh future, i am going to bed.
Tags: Paris, Celesteh

And that’s why I got up before 7:00 am, in the dark. To wait.

When I lived in Berkeley, I used to have ants. There are a lot of ants in Berkeley and you can only get rid of them for a little while. So I got used to keep ant food, like honey, in the fridge where the ants couldn’t get it. Fridges are bug proof and they keep things from spoiling. So why not refrigerated garbage cans? You don’t want to keep your trash in your regular fridge because sometimes, it’s already spoiled. But if you had a fridge trashcan, it would prevent bugs and also . . . zzzzzzzzzzzz
Tags: Paris, Celesteh

Here’s what I’m telling UC Berkeley about being diverse: (Thank you to Jean for helping me edit this)

In an essay, discuss how your personal background informs your decision to pursue a graduate degree. Please include any educational, familial,
cultural, economic, or social experiences, challenges, or opportunities relevant to your academic journey; how you might contribute to social
or cultural diversity within your chosen field; and/or how you might serve educationally underrepresented segments of society with your degree.
When I graduated from college with a dual music/computer science degree, the dot-com boom was in full swing. I worked at a startup, and startups expect 60-80 hour work weeks. I did not write any music at all while I worked there, because the schedule took over all of my time.
A job was offered at Netscape, with more free time and more money, I accepted. I purchased a MOTM Modular synthesizer and started recording tape music. It became clear to me that my music was more important to me than my stock options. I wanted to be an engineer and a composer simultaneously. In 2001, I was laid off.
During the job search, I continued recording tape music and posting it to Mp3.com. I joined a group of noise music composers on the service. We hoped that by working together, we could raise the profile of noise music in general while also advancing our music careers. Despite having made virtually no money from music, when it became clear that the dot com bust really was the end of the party, I decided to switch my focus towards a composition career.
My father, my brother, my uncle, my grandfather and my great grandfather have all been engineers, but no one opposed this decision. For my own part, I felt a bit guilty at first. Instead of helping to solve the problem of the scarcity of women in computer science,, I was jumping ship. Ironically, I think I may have switched to a field even more male-dominated. (As it happens, almost all of my interests are in traditionally male-dominated fields.) I’m frequently the only woman or the only queer person present at lectures and events, or, for example, in the yearlong program at CCMIX this year.
In 2003, in an effort to learn how one might actually make a living as a composer, I attended the Composing a Career Conference sponsored by the Women’s Philharmonic. Almost everyone else there had a masters degree and the presenters all assumed they were speaking to a masters-level audience. Clearly, I needed a degree. I enrolled and completed the master’s program at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. While there, I discovered a fondness for teaching, which will require a doctorate. So here I am.
I think it’s useful and encouraging for women, queers, and other under-represented groups to see people like them teaching college. I hope to be that kind of positive reinforcement when I’m a professor.

Annnnd, I’m not sure this essay answers the question posed at all. Hm. Man, I hate this crap.
Tags: UC, Celesteh

I get to celebrate on Saturday. But today, I’ve got to go to the store and the post office and class and I can because everything is open. Maybe the patisserie wil have tarte de potiron. It’s the only thing I’m missing. Well, that may not be entirely true, but it would be better for me not to reflect on this.

Tags: Paris, Celesteh

From the Washington Post:

But Vatican officials say those rules have been loosely enforced, and some have blamed homosexuality for a worldwide scandal over sexual abuse of minors by priests. Other Catholics say there is no connection between homosexuality and pedophilia.

Indeed. Some catholics say there’s no connection between pedophilia and homosexuality. As does the DSM and every major professional organization of psychiatrists and psychologists in the united sates. Some shrinks point out that 98% of child abusers are not gay or bisexual. Some victims rights groups point out that the majority of victims of sexual abuse by the clergy are girls and oppose this plan. Some newspapers occasionally do a bit of research rather than presenting things that are verifiable as a difference of opinion. Or, you know, maybe they could “teach the controversy.” Oh, no, that’s another debate over a verifiable phenomenon.
If American culture is going to be relentlessly dedicated to positivism, could we please actually make an effort at doing even a smidgen of research. We have google. We have the internet. Reporters have Lexis Nexis. Heck, they could just call up an “expert” and ask for some information. They could open a book. There are so many ways to get information now. It boggles the mind to have to think about it. I remember the old days when libraries had card catalogs. Now you can find out about almost anything without having to leave your desk. It’s so much easier now to do research, yet it seems fewer and fewer news organizations ever bother.
Some catholics believe that the world is round. Some people actually earn their paychecks by doing their jobs.
Tags: Catholic, Gay, Celesteh