Catching up on music technology: Tornado Twins' "How to Make Dubstep in 10 Minutes"

I've been neglecting my musical experiments for too long.  My Yamaha Motif 8 is about 9 years old, and my last copy of MOTU Digital Performer is on a computer that died in 2007 or so.  In the past, I found that immersing myself in wave forms and playing around with sound synthesis was quite relaxing.  I miss it.

Since I'm not a performing musician, I told myself not to trouble with researching electronic keyboard/workstations and fancy software. The practical thing to do is to stick with Garage Band to give life to the musical ideas that pop into my head.  I've played with music-making on my iPhone and iPad, hoping it would dampen my electronic music urge, but wasn't quite right.


What to do?  I still am not sure what I will do.  However, a link from a tweet by the Tornado Twins caught my eye today.  It led me to a short video that put me back into the music-creating groove.  Even if you aren't into music technology or electronic music, you might enjoy the opportunity to view musical creation visualized in the video, and appreciate the enthusiasm of the twin.


HOW TO MAKE DUBSTEP IN 10 MINUTES (Using the Dubstep Master Kit)

RELATED 
Tornado Twins Dubstep Master Kit
MOTU Digital Performer
Tornado Twins (The Tornado Twins are involved in music as well as video game development.)


SOMEWHAT RELATED

Comment: 
I plan to devote periodic posts to music technology in the future a bit more frequently than in the past.  It is a topic that is dear to my heart.
A little "history":
In the early 1990's, I bought an Ensonic KS-32 weighted-action keyboard.  I was exasperated by the 250-page manual that came with my keyboard. It was time to upgrade the computer, so I got a Mac Performa 600 CD, and purchased the very first version of MOTU's FreeStyle software to ease the music creation process.  I have been pleased with all of my MOTU products over the years, as well as the excellent tech support. 

MOTU Freestyle Sequencing Software (review)
Mike Collins, Sound on Sound, 1995

Cute NAO robot performs "Evolution of Dance" and is an active participant in research with young people who have autism spectrum disorders.

I came across a cute video of a NAO robot performing the Evolution of Dance, and as I smiled, I remembered that the robot was used in some research about interventions for young people with autism. 


The technology behind the NAO robot was developed by Aldebaran Robotics, and more details can be found on the company's website, along with the video and links I've provided below. (Aldebaran Robotics is hiring, btw.)


Enjoy the dance performance!

Evolution of Dance by NAO Robot 


DEPCO NAO Robot and Notre Dame Autism Research 



NAO Next: Gen: The New Robot of Aldebaran Robotics



New Robot Helps Autistic Children Interact (UConn) Research with Tim Giffort, CEO of Movia Robotics, and UConn professor Anjana Bhat 


(Above)Bruno Maisonnier of Aldebaran Robots Highlights Therapeutic Uses of the NAO Robot 

RELATED 
Aldebaran Robotics NAO Developer Website Psychologist explores effective treatment options for children with autism disorders 
Susan Guibert, Notre Dame News, 4/16/10 
Robot Speaks the Language of Kids 
Beth Krane, UConn Today, 8/5/10 
Movia Robotics: Systems for Learning, Training, Education and Therapy 
Timothy Gifford and Anjana Bhat on Using Robots to Help Autistic Children 
Rachel Z. Arndt, FastCompany, 4/1/11 
Anjana N. Bhat, University of Connecticut Timothy Gifford 
Social story powerpoint for children with autism who are participate in research at the FUN Lab at Notre Dame (ppt)

Update: Video of My PlayHome App and 19-Month-Old Toddler

This little guy "plays" iPad about once or twice a week. The video shows him with the My PlayHome app. It is interesting to see how much he remembered from the previous week!


In the near future, I plan to write a few posts about the apps that I've used with students with special needs.  I will also touch on a few apps that are great for toddlers and "twos".

iPad: My PlayHome App and 19-Month-Old Toddler

Sorry, the video didn't embed properly on this post, please see the updated version!


http://interactivemultimediatechnology.blogspot.com/2012/07/update-video-of-my-playhome-app-and-19.html

Quick post: Design for Emotion, co-authored by Trevor van Gorp and Edie Adams

I have been waiting for Design for Emotion to come out, and I look forward to reading it soon.  Below is information about the book from the Affective Design website:

"After seven years of research and almost one and a half years of writing, I’m very pleased to announce that the book I’ve co-authored with Microsoft’s Edie Adams on designing for emotion and personality is available on Amazon."

"Drawing on our combined experience of over 30 years in graphic, interactive and industrial design, human factors, and product management, Design for Emotion explores the what, when, where, why and how of designing emotion and personality. We define and model emotion and personality in a way that relates directly to design practice." -Trevor van Gorp

RELATED

About the authors

Design for Emotion Website

Design for Emotion on Amazon

Affective Design  Website

Interview with Edie Adams

CFP for Special Issue of Personal and Ubiquitous Computing on Educational Interfaces, Software, and Technology (EIST)

CFP for Special Issue of Personal and Ubiquitous Computing on Educational Interfaces, Software, and Technology (EIST) 


Overview 
One of the primary goals of teaching is to prepare learners for life in the real world. In this ever-changing world of technologies such as mobile interaction, cloud computing, natural user interfaces, and gestural interfaces like the Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Kinect, people have a greater selection of tools for the task at hand. Given the potential of these new interfaces, software, and technologies as learning tools, as well as the ubiquitous application of interactive technology in formal and informal learning environments, there is a growing need to explore how next-generation technologies will impact education in the future. 


As a community of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and educational researchers, we need to theorize and discuss how new technologies should be integrated into the classrooms and homes of the future. In the last three years, three CHI workshops have provided a forum to discuss key issues of this sort, particularly in the context of next-generation education. The aim of this special issue of Personal and Ubiquitous Computing is to summarize the potential design challenges and perspectives on how the community should handle next-generation technologies in the education domain for both teachers and students. 

We invite authors to present position papers about potential design challenges and perspectives on how the community should handle the next generation of HCI in education. Topics of interest include but are not limited to: 

• Gestural input, multitouch, large displays 
• Mobile devices, response systems (clickers) 
• Tangible, VR, AR & MR, multimodal interfaces 
• Console gaming, 3D input devices 
• Co-located interaction, presentations 
• Educational pedagogy, learner-centric, child computer interaction 
• Empirical methods, case studies 
• Multi-display interaction 
• Wearable educational media

Important Dates

• Full papers due: November 9, 2012
• Initial reviews to authors: January 18, 2013
• Revised papers due: March 15, 2013
• Final reviews to authors: April 26, 2013
• Final papers due: June 14, 2013

Submission Guidelines

Submissions should be prepared according to the Word template located at the bottom of this page. All manuscripts are subject to peer review. Manuscripts must be submitted as a PDF to the easychair submission system. Submissions should be no more than 8000 words in length.

Guest Editors and Contact Information

• Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed, Cornell University
• Quincy Brown, Bowie State University
• Jochen Huber, Technische Universität Darmstadt
• Si Jung “Jun” Kim, University of Central Florida
• Lynn Marentette, Union County Public Schools, Wolfe School
• Max Mühlhäuser, Technische Universität Darmstadt
• Alexander Thayer, University of Washington 
• Edward Tse, SMART Technologies

Contact: eistjournal2012@easychair.org

Information about the Journal of Personal and Ubiquitous Computing

• Editor-in-Chief: Peter Thomas
• Journal web site
• Facebook page