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Chaise News: Hands On

04.04.2005 Hijacking and Remixing – A Recipe [Hands On]

posted by Bennett at 12:28AM EST

Bennett the Baker here. Our friends, the computers, make many noises…

Balldroppings and Candy cane are two interactive audio-visual tools that make a variety of delightful treats for the hungry remix chef. We want to make use of these delicious ingredients, so here’s a simple demonstration on how to capture the computer’s sound output, without actually physically having to do it with a mixer. From there, one can take the tasty morsels into the sequencing kitchen (ProTools, Logic, Digital Performer to name a few… even an MPC!!!) and cook up some savory flavors.

BallDroppings x Candy Cane

Download BallDroppings x Candy Cane

This demo uses a brilliant program called Audio Hijack that records the audio from any application on your computer (sadly, for Mac OS X only). The pro version costs $32, but there’s a fully-functional demo available for download that overlays noise on hijackings lasting longer than ten minutes.

  1. Open Audio Hijack – in the top left corner of the window, under Source – click on “Quick Record”.
  2. Under Input – select the Application you want to work with, such as Balldroppings. You can specifiy your recording format and save-location right below.

  3. Click “Hijack” and then “Record” when you are ready to go. This will open up Balldroppings.
  4. Explore the sounds Balldroppings can make. Josh Nimoy, the artist behind Balldroppings, made the pitch of the balls bouncing, release rate, and air friction all variable via keyboard keystrokes (brilliant!). A list of settings to tweak is available on the balldroppings website.


    Take your time and have fun with your sound output, as this is your performance and everything is being recorded for later use.
  5. As soon as you’ve had enough, hit escape to exit Balldroppings. In Audio Hijack, click “Record” to turn off recording. Your sound file will be saved.
  6. When you have all of your material collected, bring it into your sequencer, break out the cutting board, and get chopping. I cut out about 15 of my favorite attacks from Candy Cane, and found a few loops I liked working with Balldroppings, then combined them and did some pitch shifting. With a teeny synth bassline and a kick-snare beat, it’s a great afternoon workout.

Check out Textbook, Sympathizer, Live, and Theleftovers for additional ingredients. Try the exercise for an hour or two and it’ll inspire some fun ideas for other ways to capture the comptuters’ sounds for more remixing mania. Email remix@chaisemagazine.org if you want to share your own recipes.

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