tom moody

Documentation Updates

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Have been working on my "main site" or portal page. Added the photo from LA's Distributed Gallery of one my bitmap animations on a TV monitor in a restaurant hallway. Added the "press clips" link from my sidebar--a million thanks to anyone who took the time to write about what I'm doing. Fixed broken links--it's always interesting to see what has changed and what has disappeared. And slightly updated my "artwork archive" page, to include links to work I've been posting on this blog since July '07. That page, and my art archiving in general is scattered and slightly incoherent. It led at least one editor to tell a writer he couldn't review "isolated instances of work." The concept of a cumulative mass or virtual image cloud is not a ready sell.

Have been using the same artists' statement--about failed computing--since I wrote it around '00. Although it continues to locate me in the "artists using computers" camp, as distinguished from new media, it's basically a dodge. It's always easy for an artist to talk about media or process issues as a way of not talking about the psycho/sexual/narrative/interior issues of what's going on in your work. My archive includes work made before I started using the computer almost exclusively, around '97 or so. Whatever themes carried over are probably what the work is really "about." It's hard to condense to a paragraph.

"Jam Science (Arpeggios)"

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"Jam Science (Arpeggios)" [mp3 removed]

Kontakt 2 has an arpeggiator script I've avoided using till now. A little of that stuff goes a long way but this is short and I've piled three arpeggiating synths on top of each other for maximum doomy psychedelia. The "Jam Science" beats are running underneath so it can't get too serious. It appears my blog will now consist of posting the songs I'm spending days working on and old pictures. I have felt marvelously free of any compulsion to write about other needy artists' work lately, so, sorry. Except in comments of other blogs.

A friend suggested I put some vocals in these songs. Yeah, and what your paintings need are some friendly farm animals in them to warm them up.

Update: Took about six seconds of arpeggioing out at the beginning. I now have it down the maximum of what I can tolerate.

"Jam Science"

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"Jam Science" [mp3 removed]

Minimal high school techno. Belatedly discovering a Reaktor synth called Rhythmmaker: simple front panel, easy to program, no mystification in the form of hidden effects parameters. The attempt here was to wring content from changes in "air" or room tone, as three basic drum patterns change abruptly from one level of reverb to another. Some basic FM riffs provide bare bones melodic content. Could probably take about a minute out of this but for now it is long (for me) and messy.

Update: Shortened by almost two minutes, some new drum parts substituted for old ones.