Author: ashleyelsdon

Storyteller - Poet - Explorer

The Edinburgh Festival

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Once again I visited the Edinburgh Fringe this year. It was, as always, great fun, with some truly excellent shows, and of course, some really quite terrible ones too. But overall it was great.

There were a few shows that stuck out, but only a few. But that’s kind of what matters at the fringe. You find a few things that make you sit up and think, and the rest, whilst fun, is just a part of the trip.

One thing that stood out was a production about Delia Derbyshire, which I quite enjoyed, but I actually knew a lot of the content was before I went to it. It was good to see a show about her anyway, and it was good to see people talking about her work.

A bit more about using Kastle synths live

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I thought I’d post a little more about the set up for the gig I played at Cafe Oto earlier in the week. I thought it might be useful or interesting to see the devices I used.

Originally, when Robyn asked me to do this, I thought I would use these plus an Olegtron 4060 (MK I). In the end the Olegtron was too complex and difficult to change patches with any speed.

So ended up with the 2 Kastle synths, a 1.0 and a 1.5. Actually the mix of the two is really good and works very well. Patching across the two devices makes for some very interesting possibilities.

What I’ve realised is that I really need a simpler way to load patches. Not physically of course, but a way to record patches. I thought that taking pictures would help, and it did, but it wasn’t the easiest way to recreate a patch. My next thoughts were to write down the patched information. That was my solution for the Cafe Oto gig, and it worked ok. But only ok.

So now I think I’m going to have to create my own patch sheets for the Kastle 1.0/1.5, and, when I do, I will post some templates here.

Robyn’s Rocket at Cafe Oto

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On Wednesday I had the rare privilege of playing live at Cafe Oto with the amazingly talented Robyn. She is a gifted trumpet player and had a whole night of acts at Cafe Oto. I’ve been there many times and seen some amazing artists, so to play there myself was incredible.

It was a really great night too. Robyn was, of course, amazing. My small part was to bring some improvised electronics in the form of a couple of Bastl Instruments Kastle synths. To be precise a 1.0 and a new 1.5 Kastle. These little synths are amazing and incredibly versatile. There’s so much you can do with them.

Hopefully I’ll be able to get some of the footage and sound from the gig. When I do, I’ll be sharing that.

Museum of Human Rights, Winnipeg

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I didn’t have much time on my visit to this amazing building. But it was worth every minute I was there. I really enjoyed it a great deal. The architecture is amazing and very beautiful, as are the exhibits and everything about this place.

I’d love to go back, but my guess is that’s probably not very likely.

Spending some time at the Art Gallery of Ontario

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This is a beautiful place. I was only in Toronto for a few days but this was on the top of my list of my places to go. My visit was back in July and it was really hot and humid, which was another great reason to go to the gallery as it has great air con!

I wasn’t really interested in the European art there, and much keener to see that First Nation art on show. I wasn’t disappointed. There are some stunning pieces there, and the volunteer guide who showed a group of us around was very good and had a lot of information on hand.

The Rebecca Belmore exhibition was stunning, and at times, disturbing. Whilst I can’t say that I enjoyed all of her work, I can say that it gave me more insight into First Nation issues.

A few days on a canal boat

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It’s been a long time since I was last on a canal boat, but, as this year was a somewhat significant birthday it seemed like a good idea to celebrate with a few days away on a narrowboat with some good friends.

The boat was May, the pace was slow, and the beer was flowing! Basically, it was a good choice and I’m pretty sure that everyone had a grand time. Perhaps I’ll do it again for another ‘significant’ birthday.

Not getting to Beyond the Border this year

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  • Flag at Beyond the Border

Which is a massive shame really. I’m going to miss it. Last time it was an amazing experience and a huge amount of fun too. I’m a big fan of storytelling. It’s important. It is just so fundamental and core to how we understand things.

I’ve always found the storytelling at Beyond the Border to be incredible. The range of stories and tellers is so rich that I don’t think I’ve ever been disappointed in all of the years that I’ve been there.

Maybe disappointed with the weather, but even then, not that often.

I hope it’s as amazing as ever this year. I’m just so sorry not to be there.

The start of a modular thing

Posted by on in Music, TechLeave a comment

This is something that I’ve been putting off for a long time now. Mainly as just about everyone I’ve spoken to about modular synths just tells me it sucks every last penny from you and you’re never really finished in any meaningful way. Which is a shame. So you can understand why I might decide not to go down this route. However, after a series of events and triggers I have finally given in with what can only be called a modest initial set up, and one that is in keeping with my largely mobile aspirations.

The set up is inside a lunchbox. So it’s pretty small, and almost all of the modules are from Music Thing Modular, so it is a fairly esoteric modular set up.

I hope to have some kind of output to show for it in the not too distant future, but for now I thought I’d at least post some pictures.