Though I did post a track to the FSA Faircamp site for Drone Day, I forgot to post about it here. So if you missed it, here’s this year’s drone, recorded using the TrigPulser Mini + some effects.
Added a zip file containing 36 patches for the Arturia MicroFreak to the Synth Patches page. These were made with firmware version 5.0.0.2084, but none of these particular patches make use of the new sampler/granular features, so they may work with older versions, I’m not sure. The patches were transferred using the freeware Elektroid, which runs on Linux (I couldn’t get the Arturia MIDI Control Center working with Wine, ymmv).
Playing with feedback in VCV Rack again. The patch is available here
Added a pack of mostly percussive samples from a fidget/noisemaker toy, including scrapes, ratchety sounds, handling noise, etc. The pack includes 23 samples, and can be found on the Samples page, or downloaded directly with this link.
This is the first sample pack to be released here under the Anti-Capitalist Soundware License, but I have also re-uploaded the older packs with updated txt files which include the license.
I have posted V1.0 of the ACSndL here, and uploaded the text to the Internet Archive.
I would also like to give it its own website at some point, something not tied to the FSA website, in case this site goes away at some point. I have no reason to think that will happen anytime soon, but just in case.
Some time ago, a user asked about a more specific license for the samples provided here. I’ve always just basically said, “here, these are free,” but I can see why some folks might want more to go on. The easy solution would be to use a Creative Commons license, but I don’t want to require attribution because I know I have a hard time keeping track of where every sample came from, and the only version of CC that doesn’t require attribution is the Public Domain license, which isn’t the way I want to go either. So, I started looking for another license that would fit the bill, but nothing I found really lined up completely with what I was looking for.
However, one thing I did find was The Anti-Capitalist Software License, maintained by Ramsey Nasser & Everest Pipkin. I loved the concept, but felt that the license itself didn’t quite suit the purpose. For one thing, it seemed like a strict interpretation would require anyone who used sounds released under that license to include a copy of the license with the music (or whatever) they made with said sounds. I thought about modifying it at the time, but to be honest, I really don’t feel qualified for that kind of thing. I decided I’d keep looking, while holding this in my mind in case I never found anything. It’s been a year or more, and I never did find anything else, so I decided to just go for it and have a go at modifying the ACSL for soundware purposes. Here’s what I’ve come up with:
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ANTI-CAPITALIST SOUNDWARE LICENSE
Copyright © [year] [copyright holders]
This is anti-capitalist soundware, released for free use by individuals, bands, and organizations that do not operate by capitalist principles.
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person or organization (the "User") obtaining a copy of this soundware and associated documentation files (the "Soundware"), to use, re-use/remix, copy, modify, merge, and/or distribute copies of the Soundware, subject to the following conditions:
1. The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or modified versions of the Soundware which are themselves released as soundware. This is not necessary if the sound or sounds are used
in a finished piece of music, audiovisual/sound art, or other form in which the sounds are not being explicitly redistributed for use by others as soundware. Examples for clarity:
a. If the sound or sounds are posted on a website as part of a larger collection of sounds for use by others, even in modified form, this notice must be included alongside the sound or sounds.
b. If the sound or sounds are included as part of a set of sounds to be released with a piece of software (such as a sampler plugin) as bundled content, even in modified form, this notice must be included alongside the sound or sounds. Note that such use is permissible even if there is a charge to use the software, provided all other requirements of this notice are met.
c. If a sound is used in an ambient soundscape for listening or download, even if it is the only sound used in the piece, and even if it is to be released through something like Bandcamp or a streaming service by the User, where the User might expect to recieve some form of payment, that is acceptable use (as long as the User complies with all other conditions of this notice), and this notice does not need to be included or referenced.
d. If a sound is used alone and unaltered as a sound effect in a video, film, or game, or as part of a "logo" for such a project, this notice does not need to be included or referenced.
These examples are given for illustrative purposes only, this is not an exhaustive list of acceptable uses.
2. The User is one of the following:
a. An individual person laboring for themselves (that is, not working as an employee of, or providing a "work for hire" for an entity which does not comply with the conditions put forth in this notice)
b. A band or other musical group or collective, laboring for themselves (that is, not working as employees of, or providing a "work for hire" for an entity which does not comply with the conditions put forth in this notice)
c. A non-profit organization
d. An educational institution
e. An organization that seeks shared profit for all of its members, and allows non-members to set the cost of their labor
3. If the User is an organization with owners, then all owners are workers and all workers are owners with equal equity and/or equal vote.
4. If the User is an organization, then the User is not law enforcement or military, or working for or under either.
THE SOUNDWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOUNDWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOUNDWARE.
Based on the ANTI-CAPITALIST SOFTWARE LICENSE: https://anticapitalist.software/
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This kind of thing is far outside of my area of expertise, so for now, I’m just putting this out there in the hopes of getting some feedback or suggestions. Please feel free to reach out via the contact form here, or on the Mastodon thread I’ve started about it. Thanks!
The main reason I’m posting about this here is because it means that I can no longer run SynthEdit, which is the framework used for most of my plugins. I’m in the process of learning PlugData, but it will likely be some time before anything comes of that.
I have also updated the article On Switching From Windows to Linux for Music Production, in light of some things that have changed since original publication, and to cover a couple of things I missed (or didn’t think of) in the first version.
My Faircamp site has been updated with some not-truly-new Skin Contact stuff: an outtake from current recording sessions (“happiness machines”), and a collection of tracks which had previously been released on various compilations, which I’m calling Declassified Documents. These will not be uploaded to Bandcamp.
The video for “happiness machines” is here:
Been a while since I did one of these, and will likely be a while before I do another. Anyway, here’s some fun with no-input mixing.
Hardware noise jam with a Roland P-6 plus effects and feedback. This will be the last Noise Therapy for awhile, as I will be taking a break from these to focus on other projects. I do plan to do more eventually, but they will be more sporadic going forward.
