Composer turned sample developer Wilbert Roget, II has just released a new ‘indie’ sample library called Impact:Steel. We spoke with him to find out more about how and why he created the library and how creating his own sample libraries plays into his composition.

CDM: First, can you tell us a bit about your background, and how you got into composing and music?

Wilbert Roget, II:Well to keep things short, I’m basically a lifer with music and composition, studying piano early on and doing improvisations almost immediately (if not before). I decided on film and video game composition as a career sometime in high school, and went on to study composition, orchestration, and conducting at Yale University. I’ve been scoring films, games, ads, and various other projects ever since.

Fish-shaped glass armonicas? Electronic snapping instruments? An entire line of nonsensical products that’s fish themed? Via comments on yesterday’s glass armonica piece, bodhi points us to various fish-based “performance-art-manufacturing” creations by the Japanese maywa denki group. Examples:

Koi-beat: Manual rhythm-making machine in the shape of a carp. Inputted-rhythm by the switch is output at 100V.
Glass-Carp: Compact,easy-to-play carp-shaped glass harp. Turn the handle to move the glasses round.
Pachi-Moku: A unique back-pack-type”winged”musical device operated by electronic finger snappers. Two tones: high and low.

Pictured are the fish-shaped glass armonica (Franklin would be proud), and of course, the electronic finger-snapping device. (West Side Story will never be the same.)

Catalog of fish-themed products

The unusual fish-themed gear doesn’t stop at music, either. There’s a “fish swatter and container”, for instance. (What do you mean, “what for?” For swatting fish, silly.) Then there’s a custom painting kit so you can “Create your own one-of-a-kind ink rubbing of a fish for its memento”, and a fish bladder in a glass jar with air pressure controls. (Don’t ask.)

I like the fish bone extension cord, myself:

The CDM sea creatures leitmotif continues for reasons even I can’t explain. Now I half expect someone to come and slap me with a herring.

I’ve had Electroplankton for a while now, and I feel the need to document my experience. Reviews of Electroplankton in general are redundant: people either get it or they don’t. If you’re a music nerd and enjoy experimental music, you’ll love it. Enough said.

Hence, this exposition, or perhaps exposé - you choose. For anyone who came in late, Electroplankton is a title for Nintendo DS that basically has a set of 10 “minigames” that revolve around music creation.

Here’s a twist on interactive aquatic music: how about letting the fish be the music-makers? BBC News reports that digital artist Julie Freeman has created an installation out of a fish tank, installed in a silo at the Tingrith Fishery in Bedfordshire, southern England. Surgically-implanted radio tags track the movement of the fish, which generates music and animation. (via Gino Robair at Electronic Musician)

I think this is even better than the MIDI hamsters.

What, Nintendo, a video game company? Naw, CDM continues to gather more and more evidence that what Nintendo really wants to be is interactive performance artists. IGN reports last month Nintendo even staged a live interactive exhibit and music performance in Japan to launch the upcoming Nintendo DS

game ElectroPlankton. (Articles, photos, and videos at IGN, though some videos require a paid subscription.) Think cheery post-modern minimalism, with duets between the DS (video art and hypnotic patterns) and live violinist (more hypnotic patterns).

Meanwhile, Nanoloop 2.0 is running just swell on my DS, thanks to its new life as a GBA-style cartridge. (More on that soon.) Sure, it lacks ALL the credibility of real oldskool chip music . . . but how else will I switch from music to Nintendogs?

Of course, I won’t be performing with Electroplankton — this begs for a new generation of custom visual/audio interactive instruments. My tool of choice would be a computer or PDA and Flash (and, like the DS, the PDA has stylus input after all).

This week's understatement of note: "Sometimes I am self-driven to do some weird stuff. I have no idea why."

Indeed, Troy Errthum. Like turning an old upright piano into a 20-gallon pianoquarium, complete with live fish. (via
hackaday) The piano itself is no longer playable (guess that's what
happens when you replace the soundboard with fish), but there's room
for an electric piano.

CDM challenges its readers to start building fish storage into digital instruments. Maybe there's a market here.

The Nintendo DS is already a model for thinking creatively about handheld interaction, but a game slated for Japanese release called Electroplankton
looks to be the most creative yet. It's hard to say exactly what it is
– maybe just as confusing even if you do read Japanese — but it
appears to be an underwater musical game that finally expands beyond
the old 'Simon' model employed by games like Dance Dance Revolution.
Against an ever-present calm backdrop of rising bubbles drifts an
imagined landscape of imagined, smiling single-celled organisms and
protozoa, generating cheery, modal aleatoric music, as bouncing objects
on leaves produce notes and mic input (look at that spectral input in
one of the shots) and stylus perform simple, organic tasks.

And, of course, something involving the classic Mario theme.

What, you think I'm making this up? Go take a look.

Ah . . . soothing bubbles . . . like staring into a fish tank . . . (via joystiq)