Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Old new media

Gaffney’s down with the latest tech but longs for “older new media,” like the Mac SE. - Image by Chris Woo
Gaffney’s down with the latest tech but longs for “older new media,” like the Mac SE.

“The open-source movement and creative-commons licensing have been central to my ongoing learning and creative practice,” says computer-music grad student, educator, and do-it-yourself instrument designer Brendan Gaffney. Open-source software and creative-commons licenses offer alternative approaches to intellectual property that differ from a traditional capitalistic model in that often no money is exchanged.

“I’m always happy to share code, designs, work, and methods with other enthusiasts and educators, as I owe a great deal of my own work and passion for creation to the sharing of these materials by others,” explains Gaffney on the heels of his UCSD concert entitled 100 years of MIDI. (MIDI stands for musical instrument digital interface.)

Sponsored
Sponsored

One of the instruments he designed is called the Novo Sublimette, which works like a music box, reading the surface of cylindrical sleeves turning the information into musical notes. The sleeves were fabricated using a 3D printer, which can create semicomplex objects one layer at a time. Another interface Gaffney created is called the cusPi, which involves a Raspberry Pi microcontroller, the open-source visual programming language Pure Data, and a custom joystick.

Past Event

San Diego Mini-Maker Faire

  • Saturday, December 7, 2013, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
  • Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Durante Boulevard, Del Mar
  • $8 - $12

“Everything will be set up for people to try and play, and I’ll have all the documentation on how people can do it themselves,” says Gaffney of his inventions, which will be on display at San Diego’s first Mini Maker Faire on December 7 at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.

Gaffney’s connection to the local “Maker” movement is largely based on his involvement with Fab Lab San Diego, where like-minded innovators, engineers, and entrepreneurs meet, design, and share knowledge and equipment every Saturday. When I paid a visit, Gaffney was giving a rundown on how to make printed circuit boards while demonstrations of other equipment, including 3D printers, were also taking place.

Although Gaffney utilizes and instructs others on how to use the latest technologies, he admits that he longs for “older new media.”

“I use a Macintosh SE, built in 1987, as one of my primary computers in performance...the first computer I used growing up. [It] still has my drawings in KidPix from my childhood. It also happens to be very good at creating simple MIDI interfaces, and the serial ports can plug straight into MIDI systems without converters. It has capabilities we ditched with modern computing, and it brings my own and others’ creative history back into the fold.”

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Making Love to Goats, Rachmaninoff, and Elgar

Next Article

Reader Music Issue short takes

Obervatory's mosh pit, frenetic Rafael Payare, Lemonhead chaos, bleedforthescene, Coronado Tasting Room
Gaffney’s down with the latest tech but longs for “older new media,” like the Mac SE. - Image by Chris Woo
Gaffney’s down with the latest tech but longs for “older new media,” like the Mac SE.

“The open-source movement and creative-commons licensing have been central to my ongoing learning and creative practice,” says computer-music grad student, educator, and do-it-yourself instrument designer Brendan Gaffney. Open-source software and creative-commons licenses offer alternative approaches to intellectual property that differ from a traditional capitalistic model in that often no money is exchanged.

“I’m always happy to share code, designs, work, and methods with other enthusiasts and educators, as I owe a great deal of my own work and passion for creation to the sharing of these materials by others,” explains Gaffney on the heels of his UCSD concert entitled 100 years of MIDI. (MIDI stands for musical instrument digital interface.)

Sponsored
Sponsored

One of the instruments he designed is called the Novo Sublimette, which works like a music box, reading the surface of cylindrical sleeves turning the information into musical notes. The sleeves were fabricated using a 3D printer, which can create semicomplex objects one layer at a time. Another interface Gaffney created is called the cusPi, which involves a Raspberry Pi microcontroller, the open-source visual programming language Pure Data, and a custom joystick.

Past Event

San Diego Mini-Maker Faire

  • Saturday, December 7, 2013, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
  • Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Durante Boulevard, Del Mar
  • $8 - $12

“Everything will be set up for people to try and play, and I’ll have all the documentation on how people can do it themselves,” says Gaffney of his inventions, which will be on display at San Diego’s first Mini Maker Faire on December 7 at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.

Gaffney’s connection to the local “Maker” movement is largely based on his involvement with Fab Lab San Diego, where like-minded innovators, engineers, and entrepreneurs meet, design, and share knowledge and equipment every Saturday. When I paid a visit, Gaffney was giving a rundown on how to make printed circuit boards while demonstrations of other equipment, including 3D printers, were also taking place.

Although Gaffney utilizes and instructs others on how to use the latest technologies, he admits that he longs for “older new media.”

“I use a Macintosh SE, built in 1987, as one of my primary computers in performance...the first computer I used growing up. [It] still has my drawings in KidPix from my childhood. It also happens to be very good at creating simple MIDI interfaces, and the serial ports can plug straight into MIDI systems without converters. It has capabilities we ditched with modern computing, and it brings my own and others’ creative history back into the fold.”

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego's Uptown Planners challenged by renters from Vibrant Uptown

Two La Jolla planning groups fight for predominance
Next Article

Reader 1st place writing contest winner gets kudos

2nd place winner not so much
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.