Music From The Other Room
Multimedia lab experimenting with image and sound. We try to do things as they are not supposed to be done.
Listen and subscribe on RadioPublic or wherever you catch your podcasts: https://play.radiopublic.com/the-white-whale-6rMkNW/ Find entire season, Samples from Anodyne, with transcripts on CyNar Pictures: http://www.cynarpictures.com/the-white-whale/tape-extracts/?category=Samples+From+Anodyne So what is Samples from Anodyne? It's series 3 of The White Whale. It's a podcast. It's a zine. It's a podcast about a zine.
Today's teaser just needed to have some visuals. It started as something simple and then became what is not atypical for this group. Watch, listen, enjoy. Series drops tomorrow (as long as technical glitches do not get in the way).
So what is Samples from Anodyne? It's series 3 of The White Whale. It's a podcast. It's a zine. It's a podcast about a zine. It's a podcast about a zine run by Julie Shapiro that she has rebirthed through a tumblr page and steadfast commitment to continued print distribution as time and life permits; a gift for those generous enough to contribute. It's a podcast about a zine about how one grows up, how one gets old, how one comes to terms with a life so excruciatingly unknowable and uncontrollable despite best efforts put forth everyday to know and understand.
It's a story built on its own finite; where only the briefest of moments could allow its narrative to be true. Originating in an era that now seems unfathomable - pre-internet - where you connected with people in person or through the transference of something physical - even an analog phone or shortwave transmission had a certain weight we're uncertain of today; to now where nothing seems tangible, everything smoke and mirrors wafting away just as soon as you think you've grasped it. A story about the interweave of fact and fiction and the value of that conflation when driven toward positive means of love, community, and connectivity.
It's about living in the abstractions of daily life and finding the poetry that lies beneath.
This series feels very much like a story The White Whale was built to tell and it's an honor to have been provided the opportunity. There will be one more trailer tomorrow and then the entire series will drop later this week.
"Enjoy the centerfold. Enjoy the tape. Enjoy the fact that you have great taste in music."
The last time we posted here was about a new logo for CyNar. Something evolved with its age and increasing abstraction from the typical methods of media production.
Now, The White Whale is following suit. As we are finishing up Series 3, and already looking beyond to other material, a new face seemed appropriate. One that speaks to its continued understanding of itself and the evolution of its presentation in this self reflection. So, with that, here is the new look as well as a new Facebook page devoted to its own malfeasance! Enjoy.
"Theory wrapped me in an entire climate of description. Theory was simply, shoulder-shruggingly, the only thing that helped me to see what I was and where,"
Read MoreThis weekend we are making a go at the KCRW #RadioRace. Stellar event bringing in exceptional producers from all around with some great ears behind the judging table. Besides eventually getting a new piece from us, what exactly does this mean for you?
Well, you get to track our progress. Social media is stressed by KCRW - so much so that an award is given for best use - so we will be representing. You may have noticed some extensive use of the desired hashtag aRound Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.
weird photos
odd assortments of words
usual nonsense
We are going to be very busy and probably overly tired. So, you must give us a pass as we try to entertain while live documenting what is not necessarily a unique experience for us (we have made pieces in shorter time spans), but usually happens quietly in our confines.
Enjoy the ride and have no fear, Sunday will still bring you a new episode of The White Whale. It's already in the bag.
It's been a while since we have updated.
It's been a while since we have updated.
It's been a while since we have updated.
It's been a while since we have updated.
It's been a while since we have updated.
It's been a while since we have updated.
It's been a while since we have updated.
It's been a while since we have updated.
It's been a while since we have updated.
It's been a while since we have updated.
It's been a while since we have updated.
We have not forgotten you.
We have a new album coming out tomorrow - solo release by Garrett called Études.
According to Wikipedia,
An étude (/ ˈeɪtjuːd/; French pronunciation: [eˈtyd], a French word meaning study) is an instrumental musical composition, usually short, of considerable difficulty, and designed to provide practice material for perfecting a particular musical skill. The tradition of writing études emerged in the early 19th century with the rapidly growing popularity of the piano. Of the vast number of études from that era some are still used as teaching material (particularly pieces by Carl Czerny and Muzio Clementi), and a few, by major composers such as Frédéric Chopin, Franz Liszt and Claude Debussy, achieved a place in today's concert repertory. Études written in the 20th century include those related to traditional ones (György Ligeti), those that require wholly unorthodox technique (John Cage), and ones that are unusually easy to play.
by John R. Barner
Yōkai, in Japanese, means “ghost” or “apparition” and the distinction holds a particular pride of place in Japanese folklore and literary culture. The earliest beginnings of this project had to do with ghost stories, or telling stories with ghostly or supernatural elements in them. So the name fits, I suppose, but it is stripped of almost all the rich cultural history and color, reduced to its most literal sense. When I first started this project, I did not even know it would involve music but I remained committed to the idea of conceiving of one or more stories (written, recited, or performed) that had ghosts in them. And not just any ghosts, but particular ghosts that haunt us now. Before even starting, I had thought that the very idea of the ghost story was a tired one, lacking in color, creativity or anything I felt was unique or engaging. Everything seemed to have been done. For five months I mostly railed against what I saw represented in mainstream American and European popular culture around the idea of the ghost or ghost story. I re-read Poe, Hawthorne, James, Blackwood, Machen, Collins, Lovecraft, Doyle, Dickens, Shakespeare, and many other literary and dramatic representations. I watched films like Paranormal Activity and television series like Ghost Hunters—and still nothing felt right. Most often, I was left with versions of the same questions. Why was it, even in today’s modern conception of the ghost story, that the spirit in question either an unseen force of some kind, or some representative of a bygone era—the Victorian “woman in black” or avenging Civil War-era soldier? What would a ghost be like who had just become a ghost yesterday? Someone who surfed the Net, listened to Top 40 radio, and watched YouTube videos. I frequently asked myself if such questions were themselves silly and I more than once felt like The Maitlands, the young couple played by Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis in the 1988 film, Beetlejuice who are repeatedly chagrined to find their quotidian afterlife is never interesting or scary enough, in the traditional sense. Played for laughs in the film, I think it really says something about the Western conception of death and what lies beyond death that we, as a society, don’t really want to explore on some level, but are drawn to just the same. We want to be scared (and entertained by our fear, as it were) but we certainly don’t want to confront death on any level, therefore relegating the more frightening aspects always at some remove. For the Maitlands, it’s found in the more traditionally ghoulish and grotesque title character—for us it’s the invisible monsters, or the vestiges of the ancient, historical or unknown. It’s never us we should be afraid of. I think it was these persistent questions that finally led me to try to tell a series of ghost stories using only contemporary, mostly electronic, music and sounds. I reasoned this would, at least, be an attempt to answer the question. At the end of five months of research, I had three ideas, roughly sketched, and I started to work.
The White Whale is officially on twitter! It will obviously be a bit of a catch all for CyNar and other assorted ideas, but we never really had a project with enough regular output to motivate a twitter reach so it seems like the right voice for the platform. Are you on twitter? Check us out at https://twitter.com/whitewhalepod.
And make sure to listen on Soundcloud and iTunes. We really like the worlds of sound we are creating and you listening will help keep us going!
The White Whale is an audio production of CyNar Pictures and its record label American Residue Records. Built upon the ideas of Residual, the blog of CyNar, each episode is an extension of the blog offering visions behind the curtain of art collaboratives in video and audio. CyNar Pictures is a multimedia lab experimenting with image and sound. It's owned and operated by Garrett D. Tiedemann. http://www.cynarpictures.com
It's been a few weeks since we have written. We've been busy getting new content out in the world and it's limited the time to write a proper update.
The White Whale season 1 is in full swing as of yesterday with the first episode introducing John Barner properly and the ideas that have built his trilogy. Brimming with tales of ghosts and mechanical malfeasance - this should be a pretty great ride.
You'll recognize music from the catalog and certain approaches to sound unique to the games we play. The storytelling will keep evolving as the conversation evolves and grows richer so stay tuned for some impressive arrangements.
Any of the original material we bring into the mix will also get a certain mixtape remix - as we've done in the past, though this obviously being the first with music original introduced in a podcast. So, what you hear will come back around again. New shapes and forms to embrace the ideas we come upon through this journey.
We're always looking for a way to give you new work and new perspectives.
Release of the final album, Funayūrei,is also fast approaching. Album is ready, though release date has yet to be set. We are working tirelessly to finish up the films first so you will have the full experience from get go.
Other adventures are in the mix, but for now listen to The White Whale.
The White Whale is an audio production of CyNar Pictures and its record label American Residue Records. Built upon the ideas of Residual, the blog of CyNar, each episode is an extension of the blog offering visions behind the curtain of art collaboratives in video and audio. CyNar Pictures is a multimedia lab experimenting with image and sound. It's owned and operated by Garrett D. Tiedemann. http://www.cynarpictures.com
The White Whale has been establishing itself for the last couple weeks with a couple audio concoctions. We're in process on what will become a larger aesthetic of the podcast, but we may be teasing for a couple more episodes as these pieces are fine tuned.
From the get-go we've been blessed with the attention of Jonathan Hirsch whose show ARRVLS has become a new favorite around the office. It's a truly brilliant show that you should all be listening to if you are not already.
Jonathan has been really kind in highlighting the first couple episodes of The White Whale. Now he's gone and done one better. He's offered us the opportunity to remix their episode Ricochet.
This is a pretty exciting opportunity. It's one of their most popular episodes and the story certainly provides a lot of sonic possibilities for us to play.
Our episode should be coming out in the summer, but for now you should listen to the original episode as released a month ago and go listen to the rest. This is a truly terrific podcast.
On christmas day, the propellor on a four-seater cessna died, along with the engine. Robin Holleran and her brother-in-law found themselves floating in the air outside of Atlanta nowhere near a landing strip. Episode 3 of ARRVLS is a story about how a brush with death, can turn into a new lease on life. Featuring music from the Seattle-based Grand Hallway.
We've finally launched our podcast! It's exciting. We were planing to wait a bit on these as we are in production on content right now, but we got the name and did the artwork and just couldn't wait.
First episode may seem light on content, but considering the development of CyNar and the various ideas we tend to embrace it felt like the right way to get things started.
Take a listen and subscribe on Soundcloud. We should be in iTunes soon as well. There is lots more content to follow soon.
You have to start somewhere. Seems a guitar feed was the best way for The White Whale to make an entrance. Stay tuned for more episodes shortly. The White Whale is an audio production of CyNar Pictures and its record label American Residue Records. Built upon the ideas of Residual, the blog of CyNar, each episode is an extension of the blog offering visions behind the curtain of art collaboratives in video and audio. CyNar Pictures is a multimedia lab experimenting with image and sound. It's owned and operated by Garrett D. Tiedemann.
It's been quite a while since we've written. So what's up in the CyNar world?
A lot actually. Looks like we'll be shooting some work for Hanan in the coming weeks. Plans are sounding good and it should prove to provide some beautiful imagery to go along with their amazing music.
Our podcast is starting to gear up. Trying to decide on a title and other details to help frame it, but the project is happening and should prove to be a pretty cool peak behind the curtain.
Work on our label is starting to make the rounds quite a bit in podcast land with the oral history project SisterStory making heavy use. A new episode of Curve Riders by the St. Catherine University student Alexa Harnagel featured the track Parts Hopeful.
And an episode of Set Apart by St. Catherine University student Lily Jacobson was released today featuring two tracks from the American Residue Records Presents: arrangement.
So, yeah. Things are kicking in this world. We also have a few things on the negotiation table that might happen this year and would be really cool so stay tuned. We will keep you informed.
In the meantime share with the world. Help keep us going.
Just a quick note here. The newest episode of Set Apart again features some music from American Residue Records. Go check it out if you have a chance. There are some interesting stories being produced by the oral history project SisterStory.
Find the latest episode in Soundcloud or watch in YouTube below.
Before we can get started with our own podcast, we've found ourselves in the worlds of others. The recently begun Here's My Secret has a theme song by Garrett Tiedemann and a new podcast mini-series called Set Apart also by the oral history project SisterStory has just started and amidst the layers of sound and other music you may hear familiar material if you have listened to our previous releases.
From what we here there will be some other appearances in other productions of some new original work in addition to previously released material so stay tuned.
For now, check out this second episode on Soundcloud or YouTube and see if you can hear us in the mix. Cheers!
There is a new podcast produced by the oral history project SisterStory called Here's My Secret. What is it? To quote the podcast write-up,
“Here’s My Secret is a podcast produced by Alicia Beyer about the oral history project SisterSTory. Through interviews with student oral historians she learns more about their experiences and the valuable relationships forged between them and their Sister during the semester process. By reading the SisterStory blogs (www.sisterstory.org/student-blog) and personally getting to know each student prior to interviewing, we gain insight through Alicia into how this experience has changed individual lives and evolved perspectives on women religious.”
So, you may be asking why we at CyNar are highlighting this production. Well, despite it being a great new podcast offering a unique perspective of a cool project, the theme music was done by Garrett Tiedemann along with a lot of guidance as to its production. So, dear reader, if you so wish, have a listen.
We will decide later if this theme will be released as a single. Cheers!
Brief bits of news.
First off, the Hanan shoot is delayed. Rather than create a video for something already released the band is back in the studio working away on something new. The great thing about this is we can develop the video together as the music comes along for a really unique collaboration and experience.
We're going to be shooting some footage of the band performing to provide you all a taste of what's to come. So, look for that in the coming months.
Secondly, CyNar is going to be venturing into podcast land for the first time. We've been thinking for a while what kind of podcast we might do and the Yokai Trilogy has provided a perfect conduit. We're going to develop a look into the process with John as our guide. Talking about each song in depth and the project as a whole. From initial discussions before putting this on tape it's an incredible process and one that will make for good radio.
So, our first adventure into the art form will be a mini-series of sorts. Test the waters with a 15 to 16 episode run. After that, who knows. We'll see where the wind takes us.
We also may have a film up our sleeves...