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Jake Birch |
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Posts
- Iron Solomon's "Killer" Drops!
The latest release from New York’s legendary rapper, Iron Solomon. I mixed most of these songs on a rather insane schedule to make this release happen for Halloween. Amazing record and I’m really happy with my contributions. Check it out!
Check out this great article about Anna Ash’s new video from her new album, “ the immaculately produced These Holy Days,” which I co-produced/arranged/mixed!
Check out this newest video from Iron Solomon featuring Talib Kweli. Mixed by yours truly.
- Darklark Is Risen!Darklark’s first single just went to the pressing plant. I am so excited and humbled to have been involved in this project. Please check this out - this one is ultra-cool. Think Candian/Indy/Pop/Rap/Electro/Funk. Follow the links below for downloads/streaming/twitter/facebook.
Listen / Download / Share - http://snd.sc/Pm0VSg
Follow DARKLARK on Twitter - @iamdarklark
Join the Facebook Group - www.facebook.com/iamdarklark
I wanted to take a minute and share a couple of (relatively) recent reviews of Anna Ash’s most recent record These Holy Days, which I co-produced and arranged. This record has been out for a while, but I missed the boat on announcing it. Apparently, I also missed the boat on these two reviews which have also been kicking around the web for a minute. Check them out - they’re good reading!
- Thoroughly Humbled
I’ve been meaning to update my news feed for a while, but with business in my personal (getting married) and professional (working a lot) life, it’s been hard to find the time. Specifically, I’ve been meaning to alert those of you that read this to a recent collaboration I’ve taken part in called Dark Lark. This incredibly flattering and humbling blog by the frontwoman of Dark Lark tells the whole story. Music to follow in the coming months…
Interfam, the debut full-length record by Iron Solomon, “Monster,” is now available for download on iTunes. I highly recommend you check out this beastly banger. Click the link above to get to it at apple’s store. Mixes by yours truly.
I just joined Kayla Adams’ band as their new drummer. I love her voice and the music is really a lot of fun. After only two rehearsals we sound really tight and I’m gearing up for a marathon week of practice to prepare for our first show this Friday. I was pleasantly surprised by Kayla’s stage charisma this past Saturday when we played the Texaco Country Showdown. I was even more pleasantly surprised when we were on the news! Follow the link above for NBC Montana’s article about the competition.
Check out this review of Iron Solomon’s Monster. Mixing and slight production by yours truly! Cannot wait for this to debut in a few days. Follow the link above for the full article…
A bit of old news, but Vulfpeck’s first EP, “Mit Peck” dropped late last year. Follow the link above to download it on iTunes. The rest of this month is going to be an exciting one for me, as there are two other projects I’ve worked on being released. Keep an eye out for Anna Ash’s “These Holy Days” (~March 18th) and Iron Solomon’s debut full-length, “Monster” (March 27th).
- Caveman Studio
I started my own home studio out here in Whitefish, MT. Here are some pics of early construction of acoustic treatments for the space. Already produced/mixed 2 records here!
Anna Ash’s “These Holy Days” is slated to be released at the end of this month. This was one of the most ambitious projects I’ve had the pleasure of working on in a central way. Just over a year in the making, we approved final masters last week. Here is the first single to be released. I produced, recorded, mixed, played guitar & keys, and arranged the strings on this one. Check it out!
First Iron Solomon video from his album! I’m so excited to hear the mastered version. Mixed by yours truly with a production cameo at the beginning ;-)
Second track from the reel-to-reel project. Here’s Vulfpeck’s “Prom” live in studio! Credits roll at the end.
Here is an animation I made as a music video for “Over and Over” - the opening song from my record, EPI.
- Photos From My Thesis Presentation
The thesis is complete! Mixed and mastered with final media to be published online in the coming weeks. The presentation was a great success and was received well. Thanks to everyone who helped put this together.
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CATCH
- an interactive multimedia installation
CATCH is a project I put together after a series of disappointing interactions with art. I felt very alienated from high art and was upset by the impression that it was something that was designed to exclude viewers instead of inviting participation. I wanted to make something that was simple, fun, and interactive; that disguised its artistic aspects by striving to make its elements more immersive and physical, rather than intellectual.
What I came up with was a game of catch with a ball that housed a wiimote. I harnessed the accelerometer data from the wiimote via bluetooth and wrote a program using Max/MSP and Logic to generate and manipulate 5.1 surround sound and images. It took a couple hundred hours of programming and two days to install. I was fortunate that the space available to me had a professional light board that could take MIDI information and I was able to work with a lighting designer to implement lighting control from Max via a MIDI interface. The installation also featured three redundant projected images generated in jitter.
A participant might walk into the dimly lit room and hear a subtle murmur of sound. A sign would prompt them to pick up the ball and the motion would bring up sound and lights as well as brighten the projected images. Any rotation of the ball would generate note information, manipulate filters and effect parameters, pan the sound in 5.1, and send a MIDI trigger that would start a lighting sequence designed to interact with the sonic feel of CATCH. Additional filters, velocity information, and video processors would be controlled in real-time by the overall acceleration of the ball. An algorithm designed (by my friend Chris Conover) to detect shaking of the ball would trigger a flash of light, randomly select and playback one sample from a pre-loaded set, play a low frequency sine sweep, and would switch the harmonic content and effects of the sound in conjunction with the visual processing of the generated image. The idea behind this was that the change would be triggered when a person caught the ball, indicating a change in turn in the game of catch. Finally, some algorithms would automate certain parameters when the ball is at rest, and slowly change global effect parameters over a two-hour cycle.
The accompanying video exhibits much of what CATCH can do. The footage is taken from the first day of the open installation. Unfortunately, there is no substitute for actual interaction with the ball & wiimote. As such, I would like to make it clear that this video in no way attempts to simulate the experience of CATCH.
From Catch
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Albums
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Tracks
