User:Ariel

Hello, my name is Ariel. I'm the tall guy with the red headphones, I like listening and making music that sounds like funk, jazz and hip-hop. I recently finished an MSc in Computer Science from UCL, and am working on music-making iPhone apps and on the world's coolest augmented funk band.

Me looking serious.

My Music Software

I love using these:

• Logic Pro

Logic is what I use to record, arrange, and mix my songs. I found it does a very good job of realtime audio processing, so I often use it to radically alter audio input when I want to augment physical objects. I know my way around it, and I'm learning how to use Mainstage for live performances.

• Pure Data

This is what I use when I want more customisable and controllable audio processing. I am building patches that process the input from contact microphones, mapping the amplitude of the signal to synthethisers.

• Thumbjam

Probably the best serious music instrument made for iOS. Comes with great real-world instrument samples, which are mapped to customisable musical scales. It has a very good looper too. And a sampler. No latency. What more could you ask for. Check the Thumbjam group on SoundCloud, or ask me for a demo!

My Music Hardware

• Contact microphones

These mics are a way to record an object's sound before it travels through air, their sound is not extraordinary, but they give an accurate reading of how the object vibrates, which makes them good sensors.

• Apple iPhone

These little bastards have enough computing power to do realtime audio processing. They come with a great arsenal of sensors too: a good touch-screen, three accelerometers, and a great microphone. Huge battery life. Great audio API, especially in iOS 5.

My Programming Languages

• C, C++, Objective-C (for Apple's Core Audio API) (still intermediately fluent with these, but I use them all at the same time to prototype iOS audio apps)
• Processing (beginner. Spielberg did not ask me to do the audio-triggered visual effects for Star Wars)
• Java (confident. My first artificial language, but I never did anything with sound on it)

Music Hackspace Projects I Participate In

• Hack traditional instruments
• Augmented instruments
• Field recordings (I use it in some tracks too)
• Contribute to Music Hack Day
• The template of the Music Hackspacer's Profile
• More soon!

I'd like to Collaborate/Give a hand with...

• Music software workshops (Pure Data, Logic Pro, Core Audio for iOS)
• Audio programming for contact microphone input
• Sharing music production tools and techniques (mainly Logic Pro)
• Making funk/hip-hop/jazz by any means possible
• Helping organising the space and the meetups.

Mah bass.

My Traditional Instruments

I play:

• Bass guitar
• Electric Guitar
• Beatbox

Things that inspire me

• Smule. Their music-making apps reached out to millions of people worldwide. They made very clever efforts in sound processing and user interface design.
• Kutiman He's shown we're all (or can be) beautifully connected.
• www.soundcloud.com
• www.couchsurfing.org
• Critical Mass We take over the streets and cycle around london once a month. Come along!
• Music hack days. I keep missing them but I love the spirit and what comes out of them.

My Websites/Projects

• SoundCloud.com/arielelkin

This is where I post the songs I make!

• GrooveDrops.com

This is a blog about SoundCoud's grooviest tracks and the people behind them. We bring you our weekly selections and reviews of the finest tracks of funk, soul, jazz, and hip-hop to be found on SoundCloud, and interview the musicians behind them. At the moment I'm just getting started and preparing interviews, let me know if you want to get involved.

• AriVibes

This app turns your phone into an audio effects pedal, but also gives you real-time control over the modulation. I'm working on it at the Centre for Creative Collaboration, and collaborating with percussionists to refine it and make a performance with it. Think Stomp 2.

What is audio to me?

--Ariel 19:28, 30 October 2011 (UTC)