Republic of Fragments

"When Beethoven wrote the Quartet in C sharp minor he recorded an event of still greater complication..."

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 13:01:00 -0500

“When Beethoven wrote the Quartet in C sharp minor he recorded an event of still greater complication that was precipitated as the result of a series of experiences of the simple kind that are the subject of the plastic arts and those of the not so simple kind that are the subject of literature: in fact, he recorded what happens after a thing has happened, what life amounts to after it has been lived. It seems to be true that all the arts are on a pet equality regarding this necessity to collect information of one sort or another about the universe.”

- Rebecca West

immutableinscrutable: Inspiring “Studio Bill of Rights” written...

Mon, 22 Oct 2012 20:06:26 -0400

immutableinscrutable:

Inspiring “Studio Bill of Rights” written by Tom Bolger (@ahappyleaf) to rouse himself: (Taken with Instagram)

&amp;amp;lt;a...

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 15:50:00 -0500

&amp;amp;lt;a href=”http://republicoffragments.bandcamp.com/album/null-set” _mce_href=”http://republicoffragments.bandcamp.com/album/null-set”&amp;amp;gt;Null Set by Republic of Fragments&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;

As predicted, I had nearly no time to work on the album and considerably less than that to blog about it. But in the end I was able to eke it out: I present you the album Null Set. It is, by its very nature, pretty spare, but I tried to construct a thing that I’d be able to do in less time but still have it sound like I wanted it to. So that’s what you get here; I think I did a total of six days’ work on it, and considering that, I’m pretty proud of the result.

I envisioned it as a suite, in which there are four movements (the ones with capital letters on the tracklist) and the rest are interludes. That difference is pretty esoteric, the more important point being that the whole thing is intended as a single piece.

Enjoy. I can’t wait to see what some other people came up with for RPM, this is one of my favorite parts of the year.

"Ourchestra So you haven’t got a drum, just beat your belly. So I haven’t got a horn..."

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:06:05 -0500

“

Ourchestra

So you haven’t got a drum, just beat your belly.
So I haven’t got a horn — I’ll play my nose.
So we haven’t any cymbals—
We’ll just slap our hands together,
And though there may be orchestras
That sound a little better
With their fancy shiny instruments
That cost an awful lot—
Hey, we’re making music twice as good
By playing what we’ve got!

”

- Shel Silverstein, Where the Sidewalk Ends

Photo

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:39:38 -0500

Day -1

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 20:49:24 -0500

I am on the eve of my second solo RPM Challenge. I’m pretty proud of the result of my effort from last year, and I’ve been feeling the pressure to live up to it pretty much since March 1.

The major difference this year is, of course, that my son was born six months ago, which has seriously altered the amount of free time I have in general. I haven’t really done much music-making since he was born, and I wanted to take this opportunity to force myself to do something.

Last year I heard a little bit about a subset of RPMers who, on February 1, roll tape and record 35 minutes of whatever. This ensures that, no matter what happens for the rest of the month, you have already completed the Challenge. This sounded compelling, and doable.

Tomorrow night, I’m going to hit record and just make some droney nonsense for a while. My aim is to sort of add bits and layers to it throughout the month as I get the chance, but even if I don’t, we’ll all have a nice long stretch of droney nonsense to listen to at the end of the month.

To all my fellow RPMers, good luck.

Oh man, how I wish I could play around with this thing....

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 21:18:24 -0400

Oh man, how I wish I could play around with this thing. I’m going to download the iPhone app, but it’s nowhere near the same.

(via Engadget)

"‘I don’t really know how to play keys…’ she explains, ‘so I just smack..."

Sat, 02 Apr 2011 00:18:30 -0400

“‘I don’t really know how to play keys…’ she explains, ‘so I just smack them until something nice comes out. But I want my melodies to speak. They’re simple, polite, and to the point… I guess they’re from my attraction to pop and R&B hooks. I love things that are catchy and memorable. They do turn out a little sour and deranged but that’s what I love about messing around with synths. To me, that’s the whole point: Making these machines express their emotions, just like WALL-E.’”

- Ikonika (via Pitchfork)

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Sat, 26 Mar 2011 23:37:52 -0400

Photo

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 21:30:54 -0400

Surprise! They’ve staged a 35 minute improvisation,...

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 19:30:28 -0400

Surprise! They’ve staged a 35 minute improvisation, comprised of RPM participants, that they’re recording as a “late entrant” into the Challenge. This is why I love RPM.

Photo

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 19:15:23 -0400

The traditional CD viewing at the Listening Party

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 19:14:11 -0400

The traditional CD viewing at the Listening Party

In Portsmouth for the RPM listening party! Updates to follow.

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 15:22:02 -0400

In Portsmouth for the RPM listening party! Updates to follow.

Here's a roundup of this year's local RPMers courtesy of B3nson

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 13:11:25 -0500

Here's a roundup of this year's local RPMers courtesy of B3nson

Well, it worked: I finished the RPM Challenge, and here is the...

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 01:00:04 -0500

Well, it worked: I finished the RPM Challenge, and here is the record to prove it. I hope you like ambient droning.

The special edition RPM package, by my incredible wife.

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 22:30:07 -0500

The special edition RPM package, by my incredible wife.

MAILED

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 22:02:00 -0500

MAILED

Um

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0500

…I think it’s done.

Day 23

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 01:17:17 -0500

I just did the first full mixdown of the album.

How can what I just said be true?

Republic of Fragments

"When Beethoven wrote the Quartet in C sharp minor he recorded an event of still greater complication..."

immutableinscrutable: Inspiring “Studio Bill of Rights” written...

&amp;amp;amp;lt;a...

"Ourchestra So you haven’t got a drum, just beat your belly. So I haven’t got a horn..."

Photo

Day -1

Oh man, how I wish I could play around with this thing....

"‘I don’t really know how to play keys…’ she explains, ‘so I just smack..."

Photo

Photo

Surprise! They’ve staged a 35 minute improvisation,...

Photo

The traditional CD viewing at the Listening Party

In Portsmouth for the RPM listening party! Updates to follow.

Here's a roundup of this year's local RPMers courtesy of B3nson

Well, it worked: I finished the RPM Challenge, and here is the...

The special edition RPM package, by my incredible wife.

MAILED

Um

Day 23

&amp;lt;a...