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My day job for the past year or so has been writing software for iOS. Not nearly as often as I’d like, but occasionally my interest in making music intersects with my work, and in this particular case I don’t think it’s ever intersected better. (The only time making music for work even came close to being this fun was perhaps when I made sound effects for a CD-ROM game in the mid-90′s, or made music loops for kids’ games in the early 2000′s).

For this app, however, I got to be an active part in the design process from the drawing board to the implementation. My interest in ambient music, generative systems, pseduorandom patterns, etc, all played into both the visual and aural aspects of the Aquarium 2 app. We make no secret of being inspired by devices like the Buddha Machine, apps like Brian Eno and Peter Chivers’ Bloom, or even those 1970′s new age ambient record series called Environments that you could pick up for 99 cents in bargain bins.

What resulted I think is a great app for constructing ideal ambient soundscapes to match your taste and mood. Each color wheel is a set of samples that you swap out with the next one by swiping across the screen; the background plasma colors change as well. You call up samples by pressing a colored wedge; the sample fades in after your touch. Touch it again and it gently fades out. The samples are mellow synthesizer loops constructed by ambient soundsmith Morgan Kuhli, or field recordings of natural sounds of the forest and ocean that you can blend. Whether you are looking for some soothing sounds for baby (c.f., Raymond Scott), something to read, meditate, or fall asleep to,  you can probably build a sound with this app that will work for you.

Read about it more at the Juggleware Developer’s Blog.

Or, check out the app on the App Store.

If you’ve watched any of the current World Cup, you have an opinion about the plastic horns that the fans use to blare on and drone throughout the matches. Surprisingly, all of my friends seem to like the background noise they provide and find it somewhat soothing. Others, or so I’ve heard, find them extremely annoying and liken them to the sound of attacking hornets. Okay, I will admit that they do sound like a swarm of bees, but I actually like the sound of bees. I am not sure, but I am pretty sure that it’s not a coincidence that the word “drone” is used both for male worker bees and the droning sound that bees make.

So whith that in mind, here is a Vuvuzela-heavy remix of the US-England game this past Saturday, or at least the last 14 minutes of the last half. You can hear the US score the “winning” goal at 5:15 (thanks to British goalie Robert Green, who I offer my sincerest condolences to).

Vuvuzela (mp3)

Group Doueh: Treeg Salaam LP SF048

I found out recently that the obscure world music label Sublime Frequencies (both the music and the label are somewhat obscure, but not nearly as obscure as say Backporch Revolution), founded by the guys from the Sun City Girls had a way for me to easily rectify my almost complete lack of possessing the ability to listen to any part of their catalog on demand.

You can get the entire SF catalog through SF 039 here. It’s just a data DVD, so I am sure there’s lots of awesome pictures, art and liner notes that you’ll miss, but almost all of these CDs and LPs are out of print, so for someone like me, this was about the only way to get them.

Included is the relatively well-known (among world music fans) album by Omar Souleyman, Highway to Hassake: Folk and Pop Sounds of Syria. But there is also lots of really great cassette tape field recordings from deep in the jungles of Southeast Asia, radio broadcasts of unknown pop songs and chatter from Africa and the Middle East, religious and tribal music from some forgotten provinces of Asian highlands, and way too much more to even begin to comprehend.

I’ve been playing the collection in iTunes on shuffle for a few days now, and I still haven’t gotten sick of it.

I thought I had posted this link to the blog before, but it appears that I have not. Apparently, it was featured earlier this week on NPR.

http://www.opensoundneworleans.com

My contributions are under “countrymarxist”, presently “Brian hunting for frogs” and “Mid City Ice Cream Truck near Cleveland St & Clark St”

OK, here’s the song from the Mid-City Ice Cream Truck that’s been driving us bonkers.

Name that tune! (please!)

midcity-ice-cream-truck-song

Ice cream trucks all over use different songs, but the one in the areas of New Orleans where I work and live (Mid-city and Carrollton) has a tune I haven’t been able to figure out, nor have any of my friends. It’s not “Turkey In the Straw” or “The Duff Beer Song” (“Duff Beer for me, Duff Beer for you”…) but it’s close. Anyway, I’ve finally got it recorded, at least a block down, so mostly you hear some birds chirping.

New Orleans ice cream truck song (3.1MB mp3; 2:17)

EDIT: this is but one of several ice cream trucks songs I’ve been trying to figure out but NOT the one we were hearing every day at the office, so expect a part two as soon as I get it recorded.