Animator Simon Cottee has created an 11-minute documentary , called Pixel , about the pixel art phenomenon and posted it on YouTube . In the video, Cottee interviews notable pixel artists like the creator of the brilliant art-house video game Passage and mixes those interviews with glimpses of some gorgeous works in the currently-niche-but-growing movement. The practitioners of pixel art turn the digital art clock back 20 years by electing to use only a palette of colored pixels — the same limitations that technology imposed on early digital artists who made (among other things) 8-bit and 16-bit video games in the ’80s and ’90s. The movement has a cousin in a musical genre called chiptunes, whose musicians employ the same chip boards that are used to synthesize sounds on video game consoles to make music. Both the pixel art and chiptunes movements rely strongly on nostalgia, but while that reliance could be the basis for unfavorable criticism, Pixel points out that childhood nostalgia has played a part in the works of many respected traditional artists. The documentary also shows that artistic movements that favor a medium or aesthetic’s most basic elements have popped up time and time again, so pixel art is not unprecedented. Pixel art and chiptunes music have been popping up all over the place lately. Animator Patrick Jean created a viral video depicting pixelated monsters destroying New York City , two lovebirds made 8-bit wedding invitations , an annual chiptunes music festival called Blipfest draws big crowds and even (comparatively) well-known electronic music artists like Crystal Castles have adopted the chiptunes aural aesthetic. Watch the documentary below, then check out the other examples of pixel art and chiptunes that we’ve included. Pixel — A Pixel Art Documentary Rule by Simon Cottee Passage : Gameplay Walkthrough Crystal Castles – “Crimewave” Blipfest 2007: “Nullsleep” The Incredible Adventure : 8-Bit Wedding Invitation PIXELS by Patrick Jean (New York Gets Destroyed) [via Boing Boing ] For more web video coverage, follow Mashable Web Video on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Tags: art , blipfest , chiptunes , music , pixel , pixel art , pixels , simon cottee , video , video games , youtube
Greetings, music lovers! Thanks for tuning in for this week’s edition of Free Music Monday , where we give you 10 free tracks in honor of the #musicmonday tradition on Twitter. We hope you enjoy this week’s eclectic selection of free tunes we’ve collected. If there’s a genre you’d like to hear more of, drop us a line in the comments. And if you’d like to appear in a future edition of Free Music Monday, please check out the submission guidelines at the end of this post! And as always, thanks for tuning in to Free Music Monday! 1. [FOLK] Sean Hayes: “Garden” — San Francisco-based singer/songwriter Sean Hayes offers Mashable readers a free download of “ Garden ” (right-click to get it) from his album Run Wolves Run . Check out the video for the track below, and listen to more from the artist on his website . 2. [MASHUP] Norwegian Recycling: “Singularity” — Mashup artist Norwegian Recycling wanted to pay tribute to singing as a “fundamental part of our musical identity” in this track, which melds together Travis’s “Sing,” Iyaz’s “Replay,” Kelly Clarkson’s “Already Gone,” Oasis’s “Wonderwall,” Christina Aguilera’s “Genie In A Bottle” and No Doubt’s “Don’t Speak.” Right-click to snag the download . You can also check out the video for the track below and find out more about the artist on his blog . 3. [HIP HOP] Kinetics and One Love: “The Graduation Song (Ft. Wynter Gordon)” — It’s the time of year when colleges and universities say goodbye to the senior class, so for those about to graduate (and those who have recently done so), we salute you. Cornell hip hop duo Kinetics and One Love salute you too with this track (right-click to get it); hear lots more from them on their website . 4. [ROCK] The Foot: “Seeing Red” — Denver’s The Foot count classic rock’s The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and The Who as influences along with a solid streak of modern rock from Muse, Incubus and The Raconteurs. The trio offer Mashable readers a free copy of “ Seeing Red ” (right-click to snag it) from their new album Primary Colors ; order the CD or download the rest of the tracks for a “name your price” bargain at Bandcamp . 5. [EXPERIMENTAL] Charlie McCarron: “The Farmer” — This track (right-click to snag it) is part of an ambitious three-disc “cinematic double album with a twist” dubbed The Mystery of Grey Matters . Composer Charlie McCarron got the idea to create the “supersaturated musical mashup” while listening to a double disc from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Two years and over a hundred musicians and voice actors later, the polyalbum — described by the artist as “audio cinema: a movie for your ears” — was finished; download the entire thing for a “name your price” cost, or use the widgets below to stream or download. Prelude To A Life by Charlie McCarron Seven Days by Charlie McCarron I by Charlie McCarron 6. [INDIE] The Middle East: “Blood” — Melodic and wistful folk rock characterizes this track from Townsville, Australia’s The Middle East ; download it via the widget below. Stream the rest of their five-song EP or pick up a copy on the band’s website , and check out the video for “Blood” beneath the download widget below. 7. [ROCK] Vampire Sex Kittens: “Jane Tricky” — Snag a healthy dose of grungy, lo-fi, electro-infused rock from Los Angeles-based Vampire Sex Kittens with one right-click . Check out more from the artist at The Orchard . 8. [R&B] Dominic Gonnella: “Fight For Love” — Right-click for your free track from singer, songwriter and producer Dominic Gonnella. Check out more from the New Jersey-born and Southern California-based producer on MySpace . 9. [ELECTRONIC/REMIX] Kids of 88: “My House (RAC Mix)” — New Zealand’s Kids of 88 offer a free copy of their single “ My House ” (right-click to download it) given the Remix Artist Collective treatment. The two describe their music as a “whimful combination of dirt spitting kicks and feathering grit. An overdose of nightlife; the lubricated moan of spilt vodka.” Find out more about the group on MySpace and look for their forthcoming full-length album to drop mid-July. 10. [ROCK] The BulletProof Vests: “(Don’t) Throw My Love Away” — Memphis rock and rollers The Bulletproof Vests offer a free download of their driving new single “ (Don’t) Throw My Love Away ” (right-click to get it). Stream the B-side or order a vinyl copy at Bandcamp , and check out their full-length album Attack! and more about the band on MySpace . As ever, huge thanks to all who tuned in to Free Music Monday! If you find something you like in this feature, please feel free to share it with your music-loving friends. You can always check out the latest edition of this feature, plus all the past editions, on the Free Music Monday tag page, so be sure to tune in each week. We’ve also included the list of past Free Music Mondays at the end of this post in case you want to check out the back catalog. Huge thanks to everyone who has submitted tracks. If you sent us something and we haven’t included it yet, stay tuned for a future Free Music Monday. Here is how to submit your music to FMM: Attention artists/labels: there are new submission guidelines for Free Music Monday. Please pick one track you’re willing to give away to Mashable readers as a free download and either a) include it as an attachment in your email to barb+FMM AT mashable DOT com (25 MB file size limit, please) or b) include a link to a location where we can download the song (if you want to use “in exchange for email” or other specific widgets to offer the track to Mashable readers that’s totally fine — just send us or point us to the embed code). Please also include any relevant information about the artist (or link to their bio) plus their Twitter account, if they have one. If you’d like to also point us to more of the submitted artist’s work online where we can stream and/or download it, please feel free — but you must complete either a or b to be considered for Free Music Monday. Due to overwhelming submission volume we are sadly unable to include each and every submission or even reply to every inquiry. If we haven’t posted your track yet, you are welcome to submit another new track at a reasonable and totally not pushy time interval. If we’ve already posted a track from your band or artist, we are unlikely to double up and post something else from you for some time — as much as we love all of you! This makes FMM more diverse and inclusive of new music. Thanks! Free Music Monday Back Catalogue – 10 Completely Free Downloads (April 12, 2010) – 10 Entirely Free Downloads (April 5, 2010) – 10 Free downloads and More (April 26, 2010) – 10 Free Downloads Just for You (March 22, 2010) – 10 Free Tracks (March 8, 2010) – 10 Free Tracks to Download (May 10, 2010) – 10 Totally Free Downloads (March 29, 2010) – Alternative Rock Edition – Covers, Remixes, and Mashups Edition – Free Music Monday: Download 10 Free Tracks (May 3, 2010) – Electronica Edition – Free Downloads for Your Collection (Feb. 8, 2010) – Free Downloads for Your Ears (Feb. 1, 2010) – Fresh and Free Downloads (Jan. 25, 2010) – Get 10 Free Downloads Right Here! (March 1, 2010) – Get Your 10 Free Downloads (May 17, 2010) – Get Your 10 Free Downloads (April 19, 2010) – Hip-hop Edition – Labor Day Edition – Live Edition – Rock and Pop Edition – Singer-Songwriter Edition – This Week’s Free Downloads (Feb. 15, 2010) – Video Edition – Your Submissions Edition – Your Submissions, All Downloads Edition For more entertainment coverage, follow Mashable Entertainment on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Tags: downloads , free music monday , mp3s , music
Jessica Miller has written for Jewcy.com , The Jew and the Carrot , and is an avid digital music explorer. She holds a B.A. in religion from Barnard College, and blogs regularly on her own site, The Boomerang Blog . Most music enthusiasts will agree that there is a big difference between hearing a band on a CD and seeing them perform live. While it might have been the recording that got you to the show, it’s often the live concert experience that transforms an artist you like into your favorite band. But since many of us don’t always have the time or ticket funds to see as many concerts as we’d like, here are seven sites that will bring all the intimacy of a live show to your desktop. Their combination of rare live recordings, unusual video locations, and behind-the-scenes snapshots are sure to please any music fan. So get ready to fall in love with your favorite bands all over again, and to discover some new ones along the way. 1. La Blogotheque If you’re in the market for charming, offbeat music videos, La Blogotheque is a must-see nexus of musicianship and cinematography. The French website produces weekly podcasts of unconventional music videos called “Take Away Shows.” These to-go cups of music video goodness feature well-known artists playing in unusual surroundings. For instance, Take Away Show director, Vincent Moon, put the band Arcade Fire, instruments and all, into a freight elevator, and had them play their single, “Neon Bible” — no small feat, considering there are about nine people in the group. Other Take Away Show highlights include unsuspecting café goers chanting “Blake’s got a new face!” along with Vampire Weekend, Jason Mraz jamming with an elderly Bulgarian street busker, and Andrew Bird acting as the veritable pied piper of Montmartre. 2. The Black Cab Sessions The Black Cab Sessions takes all the fun and eccentricity of La Blogotheque and puts it on wheels. Similar to the Take Away Shows’ “In a Van Sessions” series, this website transforms the taxicab into a moving recording studio for our audiovisual pleasure. While Jens Lekman’s kalimba rendition of his song “Black Cab” is certainly the most pertinent video on the site, there are loads of musical goodies here, with performances from the likes of Jamie Lidell, Death Cab for Cutie, Badly Drawn Boy, and many more. 3. Daytrotter Daytrotter is a delicious little website run out of a recording studio in Illinois. It aims to capture unreleased songs, alternate versions of tracks, and the little spontaneous moments that occur in the recording process. Thanks to the many working artists who pass through the studio while on tour, Daytrotter has racked up a truly impressive vault of live audio recordings (all available for free download, by the way) with artists ranging from The Swell Season, to Raphael Saadiq, to Grizzly Bear, to Carly Simon — and the list grows longer almost by the day. Each unique post is supplemented with gorgeous written descriptions, and colorful, hand-drawn artist portraits that make you feel like you’re witnessing something precious. Daytrotter is definitely a great site to get lost in. 4. NPR’s All Songs Considered Tiny Desk Concerts With all those musicians traipsing through the NPR offices, you have to imagine what it would be like to be a fly on a wall there. Luckily, All Songs Considered Host/Creator Bob Boilen is now making it possible with his “Tiny Desk Concerts.” These “concerts” are literally songs performed at, on, behind, and in front of Boilen’s tiny office desk. Although the settings are not romantic in the traditional sense, many special moments have been created there by the likes of Moby, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Thao Nguyen, and Jakob Dylan. 5. They Shoot Music – Don’t They Another Blogotheque-inspired website, They Shoot Music – Don’t They is a video blog powered by Viennese cinematographers and music enthusiasts who aim to turn their favorite urban locations into great performance stages. In this way, TSMDT is able to not only create beautiful musical moments, but also bring attention to sites of cultural importance within their city. For instance, the brains behind TSMDT try to bring attention to the Viennese region of Erdberg (one of the oldest settlements in Vienna, but now an underappreciated industrial center) by letting I’m From Barcelona frontman Emanual Lundgren roam about it on film . What ensues is the cutest musician-canine interaction you have ever seen. 6. Live From Daryl’s House Most of us know Daryl Hall as half of the 70s and 80s pop duo Hall & Oates. But what you might not know is that Daryl Hall is also the brains behind a web show sensation called Live From Daryl’s House. Hall first got the idea to post videos online of himself jamming at home with his friends three years ago. Of course, when you’re Daryl Hall, your friends include Toots and the Maytals, Smokey Robinson, KT Tunstall, and The Bacon Brothers. My personal favorite installment is the set he did with Chromeo that ended up going viral. It helps if you’re already a Hall & Oates fan, but it’s not required to enjoy this site. 7. From the Basement From the Basement is the work of producer and Radiohead collaborator Nigel Godrich. This site started as just a mere collection of audience-free music performances, but was soon picked up by television networks both in the U.S. and Great Britain. The original website can still stand alone on the moments and music it helped to foster, by recording artists such as Gnarls Barkley, Beck, Damien Rice, and The Dead Weather. For more technology coverage, follow Mashable Tech on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook More music resources from Mashable: – 5 Great Ways to Find Music That Suits Your Mood – 5 Free Ways to Identify that Song Stuck in Your Head – HOW TO: Create Free Music Playlists Online – HOW TO: Turn Your Android Phone Into a Killer MP3 Player – 10 Amazing Musical Instrument iPhone Apps Image courtesy of iStockphoto , damircudic Reviews: Facebook , Twitter , iStockphoto Tags: List , Lists , music , music video , music videos , musicians , web video
Most music fans have at some point wanted to create music, but most don’t have the theory training or instrument expertise to follow through on that desire. However, a new breed of musical instruments is making it possible for almost anyone, even the very young and the musically untrained, to pick up a touch-sensitive piece of hardware and start jamming. We recently gave you a look at the future of musical instruments . The iPad app in the video below is a stunning example of where the future is headed. Artikulator, as it’s called, allows users to simply slide their fingers across the iPad’s screen to create a new kind of music notation — something completely different from notes on staves, something exponentially more intuitive. While traditional sheet music is cryptographic for the uninitiated, Artikulator is as simple to understand as a child’s toy. A line that curves upward creates a higher-pitched sound. A line that is bigger makes a louder sound. Developers Mike Rotondo and Luke Iannini constructed the app in about 24 hours during a Music Hackday , an event that combines art and technology with fascinating results. They hope to release their creation in the App Store soon, and they won’t be charging for the initial version. We also saw the app running on an iPhone, for those of you who don’t have iPads. And yes, they’re aware this demo sounds like “dying cats,” in their words; more timbres and sounds will be available. We think this interface is a wonderful way to teach and learn about music and to express creative urges without getting mired down in the technicalities of making and producing music. What’s your take on it: Could you see yourself playing with an “instrument” such as this one? Tags: App , apple , ipad , music
Shazam , a multi-platform mobile phone app designed to help you identify, purchase and share songs, has identified its one billionth song. Its creators have also revealed that the app now has 75 million subscribers, up from 50 million just six months ago. It seems that Shazam has reached critical mass thanks to the meteoric rise of smartphones like the iPhone and Android handsets. The one billionth song identified was “Gettin’ Over” by French DJ David Guetta, featuring vocals by Chris Willis. It’s an electro house song that hit the airwaves last month. We’ve embedded a YouTube video below in case you aren’t familiar with it. Shazam has achieved this level of success with a suite of features that make it one of the best apps for identifying songs on the go. It’s easy to use; you just hold your phone out where its mic can hear the music, tap a button and wait a few seconds to learn which song is playing. It works for most popular music; the basic rule of thumb is that if it’s popular enough to be on iTunes, it’s probably something Shazam will recognize. The app also connects you to online stores where you can buy the song and gives you ways to tag and share tracks you’ve discovered. It can also hook you up with the artist’s upcoming concerts. It’s available on the iPhone, Android, BlackBerry , Windows Mobile and Nokia platforms, covering the majority of smartphones. The iPod touch is also supported, and Shazam’s iPad app just recently launched. Those are handy features, and it’s no surprise that Shazam is the most popular app for music identification. There are, however, other worthy alternatives. For example, Midomi will recognize a song that you hum into the microphone. For more options, check out the list of music identification applications we compiled last month. #1 Billion: “Gettin’ Over” by David Guetta feat. Chris Willis For more mobile coverage, follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Image courtesy of iStockphoto , Elerium Tags: android , App , blackberry , ipad , iphone , music , shazam
The intersection of music and technology is a wild, fascinating frontier. Ever since the first computer-synthesized sounds were created, people have struggled and succeeded — to varying degrees — to reshape how we think about musical instruments. Today, thanks to innovators such as Ray Kurzweil and Robert Moog, we have a wider range of digital music machines than the inventors of keyboard instruments could have ever dreamed. But the innovation didn’t stop there. Drum machines, music-making software and even mobile phones now compose melodies, thanks in a large part to the men in this video. One of the creations included in these demos is the LinnStrument we told you about recently. Check out this showcase of futuristic instruments and the philosophies of those who make them, and let us know what you think about the future of musical instruments in the comments. Footage was shot at the SF MusicTech Summit . Special thanks to the Summit’s Executive Producer, Brian Zisk. For more technology coverage, follow Mashable Tech on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Tags: iphone , music , musical instruments , touch
Inventor Roger Linn is famous for creating the drum machine as we know it today, so there’s good reason to be excited about his latest creation; it has just been revealed. It’s a multi-touch surface not all that dissimilar to an iPad . Take a look at the video here to see for yourself. The instrument — which Linn calls the “ LinnStrument ” — can take input from all of your fingers, so you can form chords in addition to sounding individual notes. Each space is pressure sensitive to allow for maximum range of expression. Sliding your finger vertically adjusts the timbre while horizontal motions change the pitch. The final product would take the best elements from the layouts of the piano (chromatic increments) and the guitar (“parallel rows of semitones offset by fourths”). It will look a little different from the prototype, and it’ll be wearable vertically over your torso. You could also just leave it on the table like this prototype, though. We’ve included the render of what Linn imagines below. The LinnStrument looks like an improvement over those fun-but-limited iPhone instrument apps , and you can be sure that you’ll be able to play Poker Face on the LinnStrument too… if you really want to. Video Demonstration Finished Product Design For more technology coverage, follow Mashable Tech on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Tags: gadgets , Invention , inventor , linnstrument , multi-touch , music , musical instruments , roger linn , touchscreen , video
Looking to snag yourself a ticket to the 64th annual Tony Awards and an opportunity to walk the red carpet and snag your 15 minutes of fame on national television? Macy’s and CBS have teamed up with the Tony Awards for an online contest to make that happen for two lucky and talented fans. To earn the spot, you’ll have to upload a video of yourself singing one of an assortment of pre-cleared Broadway tunes listed below: “96,000” – In the Heights “Gimme, Gimme” – Thoroughly Modern Millie “Good Morning, Baltimore” – Hairspray “I’m Gonna Wash that Man Right Outa My Hair” – South Pacific “The Lonely Goatherd” – The Sound of Music “Maybe” – Annie “One” – A Chorus Line “Stars” – Les Misérables “Ya Got Trouble” – The Music Man Head on over to cbs.com/Tonys to submit your entry up until May 27 at 3:00 p.m. EST, when the public voting phase of the contest begins. Five semi-finalists will be named on June 3 and flown to New York City for a live sing-off competition in Macy’s Herald Square on Friday, June 11. A panel of Broadway stars and experts, along with a second round of public voting, will determine the two finalists who will receive a $1000 Macy’s gift card and the opportunity to walk the red carpet at the Tony Awards on Sunday, June 13 at 8 p.m. EST. Using the Internet as a sort of “casting couch” has become something of a trend recently, with both Glee and If I Can Dream auditions on MySpace and America’s Got Talent utilizing YouTube in its casting process. It’s a trend we see continuing, considering the low cost and the wide reach of social media and video tools that can make surfacing the next great unknown talent a far easier search. You can check out both the official submission requirements and some of the contestant entries already pouring in. What do you think: is the Internet casting call the next big trend in mainstream entertainment? For more entertainment coverage, follow Mashable Entertainment on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Tags: auditions , broadway , Contests , internet casting , theatre , Tony Awards , ugc , video
Not content with the glorious victory that was Betty White hosting Saturday Night Live , the denizens of Facebook have now turned their eyes to still more lofty goals: the Emmys and the Oscars. As of right now, “Getting Betty White to Host the Academy Awards” is the most popular page, with 53,023 members at the time of posting. Then there’s “Betty White to Host the Oscars,” with 12,600 members. Both pages appear to be fan labors of love, much like “Betty White to Host SNL (please?)!” , and they’re already garnering copious amounts of media attention. And then there’s “Betty White Must Host 2010 Emmys!” , which was launched by blogger Abe Gurko and has a little more than 2,000 fans. Gurko told us his reasoning for nominating the Golden Girls star: “I think that the Emmy awards shows over the years have been horrible. Bad writing, coupled with bad timing by the hosts. As these award shows have decreased in ratings, who better to put on hosting — or even co-hosting duties with Jimmy Fallon — than Betty. To give the show a much needed boost. Betty IS television.” Just a few days ago, the Los Angeles Times covered this trend, pronouncing in the headline: Hipster Culture is Having a Senior Moment . While I would assert that the affinity for elderly stars etc goes far beyond the “hipster” set, I would agree that older folk — and especially White — are, indeed, becoming what amounts to an Internet meme. Fans are enjoying the power they have come to wield, even when striving for goals that initially seem rather lofty (like having an older, less culturally relevant star host a major awards show). See also: Can This Onion Ring Get More Fans Than Justin Bieber? Sure, White does have legit fans who want to see her succeed (Gurko and Co. seem extremely sincere), and, yes, she kicked serious ass on SNL last weekend, but, in the end, getting behind Betty seems like it’s becoming a bit of a trend. It remains to be seen how effective campaigns like this will be as more and more continue to launch. For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Reviews: Facebook , Internet , Twitter Tags: facebook , humor , pop culture , television
If you couldn’t make it out to see The Black Eyed Peas on their sold-out “The E.N.D. World Tour 2010,” there’s another chance to see the band in concert coming up online. Epix , the “ Hulu of Movies ,” will be airing a Peas live performance culled from two nights’ worth of shows at Los Angeles’s Staples Center this coming Saturday night at 10 p.m. EST. Epix , a premium content joint venture between Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM studios, will air the gig in both SD and HD on the Epix television channel, video on demand service, and online, where it will premiere with a special shared viewing event May 15 at 10 p.m. Eastern. The new “social viewing” or “co-watching” initiative, dubbed the Epix Event Theatre, will allow over 1,000 fans to view the concert online as it premieres and interact with other watchers. The Event Theatre is made possible by social TV partner ClipSync, whose launch we wrote about way back in 2006 . It’s interesting to note that social viewing or co-watching experiences online still seem relatively nascent, although recent experiments from Hulu on Facebook , CNN during the Obama inauguration , and Fox Home Entertainment are continuing to explore the possibilities of social TV. Some of the activities planned for those who turn in Saturday night include social tools like live polls, live comments, and “interactables” which “connote laughing, applauding, a lighter, rock horns, hearts, kisses, and more” — sounding sort of like emotes on steroids. The screenshot above gives some idea of what the experience will be like upon logging in May 15 for the live broadcast. If you’re interested in tuning in for the Black Eyed Peas, you can head over to EpixHD.com/invite any time between now and Saturday to snag your access to the show. What do you think of the concept of co-watching for live events? For more entertainment coverage, follow Mashable Entertainment on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Tags: Black Eyed Pea , ClipSync , co-watching , concerts , Epix , Epix Event Theatre , Lionsgate , live events , MGM Studios , music , Paramount , social tv , tv
