0:00 - Treaty 3:08 - Uphill Manual (Live PA) 5:42 - Childhood Loop 9:40 - Velvet Tape 11:08 - Smooth/Dead Tape 12:04 - King Mountain 14:50 - Far From It 17:41 - Kmart Tape 19:26 - La Cueva 23:29 - Two Glass Eyes 26:02 - Vanish Tape 27:38 - Blind BeachThe Flashbulb - Algorithmic PianoThe Flashbulb2018-05-07 | I've been writing songs that grow or "bloom" from small algorithms. So far this is the first one to fit on one screen in a visual environment that helps explain what's going on (Nodal).
Technically it's not generative as there's nothing random happening, Each node has a sequential list of operations, but working strategically with other nodes, you can make an incredibly diverse range of harmonies with only a 3 or 4 different sequential operations inside a periodic function. Enjoy.Autumn Generative PatchThe Flashbulb2017-11-07 | ...Modular Patch - Mellow and airy.The Flashbulb2017-09-17 | Just a late night semi-generative eurorack patch using addressed switches and logic gates.The Flashbulb - Piety Of Ashes | Full Album PreviewThe Flashbulb2017-08-31 | Releases September 1st.
The Flashbulb returns with his most ambitious release to date, spanning 3 years and a move across country. The tools include robotic rhythm machines, personally developed hardware and software synthesis, months of field recording, and dozens of orchestral and choir performers seemingly blended Jordan's signature production ethic.
The special edition tangibly accompanies the work that went into the album. It is a custom, handmade, finished wooden box made from recycled wood. Inside is naturally green wood excelsior made from recycled wood from a mill that is 100% powered by a river turbine.
We are proud to say that both the CD and special edition are completely carbon neutral products when they reach your doorstep, and that includes offsetting packaging and shipping.The Flashbulb - Cycles (Official Video)The Flashbulb2017-06-15 | Preview track from upcoming album "Piety Of Ashes", due 9/1/17 on Alphabasic.
My first attempt at a longer 3D animation/simulation/coding piece.Eurorack Robotics (Prototype)The Flashbulb2017-04-09 | Something I'm working on for a few rhythm concepts with pan drums.3/7/17 [Twitch Stream] Can I make generative music thats worth listening to?The Flashbulb2017-03-08 | Archived stream with the goal of making generative music. -- Watch live at twitch.tv/bennjordanSwitches (logic gate jam)The Flashbulb2017-03-03 | A jam creating gates from a couple of Doepfer switches and logic modules. I will have a fiber line installed in my studio this week, and I hope to stream stuff like this starting from scratch!The Flashbulb - Modern Improvised Guitar DemoThe Flashbulb2016-12-24 | Live w/ Five Step Path:
1/21 - Phoenix, AZ 1/24 - Los Angeles, CA 1/26 - San Francisco, CA 1/28 - Seattle, WA 2/2 - Portland, OR 2/10 - Winter Warmer Festival, WI 2/11 - Minneapolis, MN 2/13 - Chicago, IL 2/17 - Grinnell, IA 2/18 - Springfield, MO
Ticket info coming soon: theflashbulb.net More dates TBA later in 2017.100% Generative Wire NestThe Flashbulb2016-08-31 | This is about as close as I can get to making analog circuits write music.The Flashbulb Library BundleThe Flashbulb2016-08-25 | groupees.com/flashbulb 41 Albums, 524 songs, 28 hours, 28 minutes, and 14 seconds of original music. A portion of proceeds (you choose how much) goes to the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation.Planet Nine - Audio Composition SessionThe Flashbulb2016-04-29 | Join me as I brainstorm for some final ideas for the Adler Planetarium's new feature "Planet Nine". This soundtrack has, so far, been done using 100% modular synthesis and homemade software/hardware. I will be engineering it in Chicago for the Adler's massive surround sound system in a few weeks.
Planet Nine debuts May 28th - http://www.adlerplanetarium.org/events/planet-nine-2016-05-18Making the Korg MS-20 Mini and Moog Mother-32 play nice together.The Flashbulb2016-03-12 | A quick vid by request. Pitch tracking is quite a bit more complicated and would require some know how and soldering skill.
Diagram of circuit: http://www.doepfer.de/faq/strig_e.gif
Required for my converter box: - 10k resistor - 2N3904 transistor - 40x20x11mm Junction Box (for the enclosure, this one actually has perfect 3.5mm holes http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LGKNG8G)
- 2 3.5mm jacks (stereo or mono as you're only soldering one lead).
Then simply forget the PCB and solder the wires/resistor/transistor inside the box, snap her shut, and label which side is which.Comparison of Detachable Microphones for Zoom Portable RecordersThe Flashbulb2016-02-14 | This is a comparison of the Zoom XYH-6, MSH-6, and SGH-6 capsules. The "3 amigos" of the Zoom field recording family.
More technical info here: zoom-na.com/products/field-video-recording/field-recording/h6-handy-recorder/capsulesBreaking in the new bass charango.The Flashbulb2015-12-01 | After 5 months of the jacaranda wood adjusting to its new home in Georgia, I finally have her strung up. This one (made by Marco Figueroa in Venezuela) sounds much more subtle and Latin. I'm absolutely in love.Andys Candyland (2012)The Flashbulb2015-07-05 | Here's a more detailed explanation to why I didn't make this public in 2012: http://www.bennjordan.com/blog/?p=675Realtime Note Writing (Cherokee, Joe Pass)The Flashbulb2015-07-02 | An expansion on something I had initially failed at developing for Treefield a few years back. It attempts to draw music based on the frequencies it hears, and with mono instruments, such as voice, it can actually show live chromatic presentations. Nothing revolutionary, but fun to watch.
Also, Viva La Joe Pass! EDIT: I should make this clearer. The music is Joe Pass. His virtuoso albums are a huge inspiration to me. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtuoso_(Joe_Pass_album)The Flashbulb - Steady And DownwardThe Flashbulb2015-03-19 | Track from "Compositions For Piano". Released on CD and digitally via alphabasic.com. Video is archival footage from the Dust Bowl crisis of 1934-1940.The Flashbulb - Morning CathedralThe Flashbulb2015-03-12 | Short track from "Compositions For Piano". Released on CD and digitally via alphabasic.com. Video made in After Effects with lots of scripting and network rendering.Solar TankThe Flashbulb2015-02-20 | ...TimePetzThe Flashbulb2015-01-06 | I bought a high speed action camera a year ago and lost it in my cross country move. Well, I found it.The Smartnome?The Flashbulb2014-11-20 | An idea that borrows from a lot of others. An Intel Galilieo² powered USB and MIDI grid controller that has its own brain and does whatever you tell it to do. The rest of the parts are borrowed from a "hella unztrument". Here I have it interacting with Kontakt through KSP, but it works with outboard synths as well.
All in all it ran me about $350 and took 2 days to build and debug after quite a bit of research, demo projects, and code borrowing.My Favorite Instrument: The RonrocoThe Flashbulb2014-11-04 | Just a little stereo mic/webcam tune. I use this guy in the background all the time. It's traditionally supposed to be strummed with a pick, but some models are more contemporary and have an intense dramatic feel to them.
That is all.Tape take #40The Flashbulb2014-10-31 | Performing live for myself.The Flashbulb - Troubled PlainsThe Flashbulb2014-04-23 | Pre-order "Nothing Is Real." and the limited "Solar One" at http://www.alphabasic.com.
Special Thanks: Tomas Borosko (http://www.fivesteppath.com)The Flashbulb - Nothing Is RealThe Flashbulb2014-04-23 | http://theflashbulb.net/nothingisrealThe Flashbulb and The Abominable Twitch Play Goat SimulatorThe Flashbulb2014-04-02 | As requested via social media, here's our first impression of this timeless classic.The Flashbulb - High Tech / Lo-fiThe Flashbulb2013-12-12 | When you write something human hands can't play, pour a glass of mead and send it to 81 robots.Patriotic StainsThe Flashbulb2013-07-06 | An hour of fireworks from Bridgeport.The Flashbulb - Treefield | Live 2013The Flashbulb2013-03-03 | Treefield is a unique audio/visual performance system designed and developed by Benn Jordan. It might be in your city this year. March 22nd - Texas | Come:Unity Festival April 4th - Portland, OR April 5th - Seattle, WA
For more live info/dates: http://www.theflashbulb.net Contact mark@alphabasic.com for booking information.Early TestingThe Flashbulb2013-02-04 | ...of performing inside a mobile 3D ecosystem. Different FFT bands effect light/wind/rain/etc.MineAcidThe Flashbulb2013-01-29 | Don't ask.The Spiral PianoThe Flashbulb2012-11-19 | A big box arrived in my studio today.The Flashbulb w/ Bartel | 7000 Miles | HighlightsThe Flashbulb2012-09-02 | A couple hundred minicam videos mashed together sequentially from Chicago to NYC to Kansas City to San Francisco to Olympia to Seattle to Vancouver to South Dakota and back to Chicago. This video does not endorse any product, and may not be used to do so.The Flashbulb - I Saw The Sky [Official Video]The Flashbulb2012-08-24 | Track will be featured on "Hardscrabble", due for release in late 2012 on Alphabasic Records.
Directed, photographed, produced, and edited by: Benn Jordan Actress: Kara Czaplicki Makeup: Mandy Henner Special thanks: Ebit Breazile, The Lakota NationHow to play: If Trees Could SpeakThe Flashbulb2012-04-26 | Old man finds computer and teaches guitar on Youtube. Original song: http://theflashbulb.bandcamp.com/track/if-trees-could-speakRooftop CarousalThe Flashbulb2012-04-13 | Testing out a timelapse panning system I built for smaller cameras (Gopro/etc) on a building's rooftop. While storing on the SD card, I have it also setting up a wireless AP that streams the pictures to my Android tablet in case something needs modification.
Credits:
Producer: Benn Jordan
Directors: Benn Jordan and Ebit Breazile
Lead Actress: Carina Flesch
Cinematography: Benn Jordan and Ebit Breazile
Cinematography Assistants: Tom Chlebowski and Cherizar Winke
Grips: Maggie Mui and Nissa Sampson
Editing, Sound Design, and Music: Benn Jordan
Foley Assistant: Cherizar Winke
Shooting Locations: Chicago and rural South Dakota.The Flashbulb - Undiscovered Colors (LIVE)The Flashbulb2011-02-23 | The Flashbulb with The New Millennium Orchestra performing Undiscovered Colors live at The Sonar Festival in 2010.
Cinematography and camera work by: Dave McCann and Cherizar Winke.
The original version available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgoAgYR4584BARTEL - Radio Interview - ChicagoThe Flashbulb2010-12-31 | ...BARTEL: Phantom Island Album cover time lapseThe Flashbulb2010-09-12 | www.alphabasic.com/bartel This is a limited run CD release, wand each case is a part of the larger painting. It is available through digital download as well.The Flashbulb - Undiscovered Colors (Official Video)The Flashbulb2010-05-22 | *Buy "The Flashbulb - Arboreal" now at Alphabasic.com*
Video shot primarily in the badlands/Pine Ridge regions of South Dakota.
Photographers:
Benn Jordan
Ebit Breazile
Rodger Ruzanka
Director: Ebit Breazile
Executive Producer: Benn Jordan / Alphabasic
Motion Prototypes: Rodger Ruzanka, Joe Hahn, Benn Jordan
Travel Assistant: Lauren Caldwell
Music by: Benn Jordan (The Flashbulb) featuring the New Millennium Orchestra of Chicago.Bartel - Subrupt - 2010The Flashbulb2010-02-25 | New EP by Bartel coming March 16th, 2010 on Alphabasic Records.Benn Jordan plays DeeThe Flashbulb2009-12-17 | A clip of Benn's classical style playing from the Jazz Institute Of Chicago showcase DVD.The Flashbulb - Improvised MIDI GuitarThe Flashbulb2009-10-31 | Music: http://www.theflashbulb.net Booking: mark@alphabasic.com While attempting to write up an accurate description of my live performances to various promoters, my booking agency and myself thought it'd be fun to simply make a demonstration video. After converting my rehearsal room into a poor-man's film studio, I decided that I might as well use some sleek cameras and make a psuedo-music video for a song that hasn't been recorded yet. I hope you enjoy the results! **Note: I do not endorse the gear, brands, or products used in this video. Some of them even suck. :) **