I have a couple of songs here that are just screaming for some rhymes. For starters, I have one by the infamous jdubb. He’s looking for some female voices to go over it:

And have you heard this one yet?

And how about this lovely recording? I’m actually arranging some vocals to go with this one, myself. It was a sound uploaded by dorlyneto that I saved into a song for you:

Let’s hear what you’ve got!

This song is Copyrighted in U.S., under Seal of Copyright # 154085, for a period of 28 years, and anybody caught singin it without our permission, will be mighty good friends of ourn, cause we don’t give a dern. Publish it. Write it. Sing it. Swing to it. Yodel it. We wrote it, that’s all we wanted to do.

- Woodie Guthrie, in a 1920s copyright notice

I get to meet a lot of really interesting people through Splice, and Texas native Gurdonark is no exception. Not only does he send me jewels like the quote above, he makes what he calls “weirdbient” music - an offshoot of ambient music for “people who can’t quite color between the lines in the Eno coloring book.”

Gurdonark has a long history of making music, and I had invited him to us from CCmixter.org, but the first time I really took notice was when he published his song Mourning Pluto here at Splice. Nobody had ever thought to use our sequencer to do THAT before, and we loved the result. (I’m a big fan of drone music, myself.)

His initial 2002 album, Vibrating Electric Fields, which featured the sounds of an electric football field, ball bearings and an electric autoharp run through a wah-wah pedal, was sold via eBay and even got air time on UK’s Flat Four Odd Music station. He followed this up with Gurdonark’s Unfortunate Awfully Kazoo Christmas, which was named Kazoo album of the Year in 2005 by Kazooz Nooz, an online kazoo magazine.

By day, Gurdonark is a commercial litigation attorney, but he is also a registered patent lawyer and a big fan of Creative Commons, which is why he started his new netlabel, www.negativesoundinstitute.com, which offers free Creative Commons music. I asked him how he got into it:

Gurdonark: I learned of CCmixter.org from my on-line friend Lisa DeBenedictis, who records for www.magnatune.com, the most non-evil of the commercial record labels. Lisa had posted some a capella tracks into the Creative Commons for remxing. This ultimately led to a remix contest featuring two of Lisa’s tracks, and to Lisa’s becoming one of the more remixed artists on the web. Lisa’s voice is now featured in a world of places, including, of all things, in Pat Chilla the Beat Gorilla (a music producer for America’s Next Top Model) ccmixter remix called “Brilliant Daze”. “Brilliant Daze”, a wonderful mixter free download, is prominently featured in one of the lonelygirl15 youtube videos.

Thaumata: What other tools have you used besides Splice to make your music?

Gurdonark: I work with lots of freeware and inexpensive shareware and commercialware, including in the early days a lot of use of the open source sampler Slicer from IXI-software.net, a wonderful collective which releases into the internet tools for the non-musician to use to make intriguing music. Most of my early recordings were done with a 5 dollar softstudio from Magix, and a ton of freeware.

I play, after a fashion, the analog instruments called the mountain dulcimer and the autoharp. Most of my recordings, however, have involved various forms of processed sound and software. I rely heavily on wonderful resources in the Creative Commons, such as the Freesound Project, ccmixter.org, mutopiaproject.org, anvilstudio.com, and Fabien Claudel’s wonderful site www.zikweb.org.

I also process a lot of disparate sound to intriguing effect. Several of my pieces feature offbeat analog instruments, such as processed nose flute or the can-jo, a one-stringed dulcimer with a soda can for a reasonator. The problem with a can-jo, of course, is that every time I use one, the listener wants to own one. I buy a fair number of can-jos on eBay.

Thaumata: You have a lot of experience with Creative Commons. What other places have you worked with this kind of licensing and what kind of results did you find you got from sharing your work this way?

Gurdonark: I have had a fair bit of success since I begin posting material in the Creative Commons. My work has been frequently featured in podcasts and in short films. I’ve appeared on ambient compilations on the netlabels www.darkwinter.com and www.intelligentmachinery.net. I collaborated with mixter Anchor Mejans on the song cycle “Cloud”, which is available through his site, www.jaffseijas.com, and which is also a Creative Commons work.

My main recording outlet has been Marco Raaphorst and Cezary Ostrowski’s www.disfish.com, where I have consistently been atop their “top 10″ artists, releasing numerous albums into the Creative Commons. I post an assortment of things, virtually all of which are or are fellow travellers with the weirdbient angle of ambient music.

French artist, Fabien Claudel, who records as No Sushi and as Phoebus and releases at his Creative Commons website www.zikweb.org, has done two tribute albums to my work, as well as remixing me in a number of his other pieces. In turn, I sample his work frequently in my own work. Hungarian artist Hepepe, perhaps the most intriguing artist on ccmixter, named me Artist of the Month in his website www.netandroll.hu, and also released a tribute album to my work. I had to have Hungarian translation help on his kind laudatory essay.

Thaumata: How has your experience with Splice stacked up so far?

Gurdonark: I was thrilled to discover Splice Music and its on-line sequencer. I am a huge believer that a sharing culture will arise which will replace conventional record companies and music distribution. Creative Commons, GNU licenses, the open source movement, and interactive technology such as the Splice sampler will move the art into the hands of the consumer and the artist, to the benefit of each.

I enjoy the thrill of uploading sounds into Splice and getting the little notes that they have been used. My first remix on Splice, “Mourning Pluto”, was kindly rated and reviewed, while my second track, an attempt to put beats to an organ piece to create a faux-gospel backing to “I’ll Fly Away”, failed to capture the imagination. I do have an experience to share, though, that may benefit other Splice folks. The very weird things that, in my earliest days, got me odd and negative ratings on the mixter, also got me contacts from people who liked my weird style and wanted to work with me. Peer respect is a good thing, but it’s not a matter to take too much to heart. In a sharing culture, we find our own peers, and we share.

I am still getting used to the Splice sequencer, but I have every confidence that Splice is surfing the wave music is going to take. I look forward to growing into Splice as it grows. I think it’s great work you’re doing.

Thaumata: It’s great that you are here with us, and that you can contribute so much information about Creative Commons and how it works to help educate other users on Splice. Was there anything else you’d like to tell us?

Gurdonark: I’m excited to grow with Splice, even as I work to master the Splice sequencer. I’d like to talk, though, about the one thing on Splice that discourages me. That is when people upload copyrighted samples.

I am not opposed to copyright per se. I dislike the extensions voted in by Congress, but my vision of a sharing culture does not require civil disobedience or a legal dismantle of the copyright system. I instead believe that we have gotten so much mediocre music from major labels because we have allowed them to buy our musical vote in the same way that campaign dollars buy our political vote. When I hear a Splice artist upload copyrighted material, it offends my sense of that artist’s rights. More importantly, though, it stands as the uploader’s confession that he or she cannot do better than the material on the radio and on CD.

My mp3 player is always filled with legal downloads from netlabels in the Creative Commons. I listen to eclectic, grown-up, catchy, vibrant music. It’s all free–I donate to the artists. It lacks digital rights management, iPod-only tie-ins, and it’s fascinating and innovative. I review albums for www.ambientreview.com. I find that lately the best albums I review are free releases over the internet, such as Peter Koniuto’s “Past Andromeda” on www.stasisfield.com.

I believe in individuals recording in their basements and back rooms. I believe in collaboration through the Creative Commons. I believe in a nation of poets, musicians and artists. The key is not to misappropriate the tired corporate record culture, but to energize a new culture. This is my musical goal. This is my goal as a published poet and a record reviewer.

I am a lawyer, not an outlaw. But my player is full of free music. Why is that? Two words: Creative commons. Donations. Feedback. Sharing. It’ s what I believe in.

My fervent hope is that people will visit www.negativesoundinstitute.com, and download at will. I don’t want their money. I don’t want to hold them hostage to ads. I don’t need to be rock star–good Heavens, I am 47 and I make weirdbient music. I want instead to partcipate in sharing culture. That’s why Splice Music is such a blessing. That’s a role we can all play, in our own ways. That’s the Creative Commons, the GNU, and the public domain.

That’s why I am here. I am so glad, Amiee, that you and Splice are here, too.

Thanks for reading, and for asking.

Thaumata: We’re thrilled to have you. Thanks for your time and kind words!

Anyone who has ever played The Sims is familiar with the catchy music that plays throughout the game. Now, thanks to a collaboration between Splice, EARS and Nettwerk Records, you have a chance to create that music! Remix The Sims by November 31, tag your entries with simscontest and win your spot on their next soundtrack! Come to the blog to learn more!

Election Day is over, and so is our contest! We want to congratulate groovebox for submitting the winning entry, PartyBoy. If you haven’t listened to it yet, DO! It’s genius! You can read about the runners up over here.

Most people are familiar with the Sims, a game released in 2000 featuring the day-to-day activities of virtual people in a suburban household. While your Sims grow from setting their kitchen on fire (again) to finally achieving that coveted promotion at work, you’ve got great music to keep you company, right? Well, here is your chance to be the soundtrack in millions of Sims’ lives!

Splice has teamed up with EARS and Nettwerk Records to bring you a chance for everlasting Sim fame in November. Simply remix the soundtrack and submit your entry by November 31st, 2006. The best song will get a spot on the next Sims soundtrack!

Here is how to enter:

1. Create your remix using the samples we’ve uploaded to Splice here. You can also just search for sounds tagged with thesims. You may use other samples, too. Be creative! You could even sample your Sims!

2. Tag your entry with simscontest.

To get more information about this contest, try The Official Contest Page or The Sims Soundtrack Page at MySpace. And, as always, if you need some help, you can email community@splicemusic.com.

Have fun!

Our Election Day contest is over and I would like to congratulate groovebox for winning by a landslide with PartyBoy. If you haven’t heard it, there is no time like the present. It’s sheer comedic genius:

The entries for this contest were all really great, and the Splice staff had a lot of fun listening to everything that was submitted. Here are some others that were ranked right up at the top:

You can hear and remix all of the contest entries here. A big thanks to everyone who entered and voted!! Stay tuned for our next contest, coming right up!

We always appreciate a great musician here at Splice, and texture has always been one of my personal favorites as well as a very good friend. You should check out this number he posted for us - I’m always partial to piano melodies, but the bass line is really great, too. It’s just itchin’ for a remix:

Have you played with the recording feature yet? ziadbc has! Not only did he share his hilarious version of the Mario song (complete with sound effects), he’s also a fascinating person to discuss just about anything with. Take a listen: Someone should put the star theme in there! (If you don’t do it, I will!)

And last but not least, a history lesson. This next beautiful song is one of the very first songs to ever be mashed-up on Splice. The first track had been submitted to Splice on it’s own a little while earlier and wasn’t doing much until Australian violinist and all around awesome guy retaw came by and added another track - with an electric violin. It was really the first time anyone had done something so creative and beautiful with Splice, and I remember the entire staff listening to it for days and smiling, knowing all the amazing things that were about to come.

If you’ve enjoyed any of these songs, why not pop in and ask those guys to post some more stuff? Or, better yet, remix it with something of your own! There are always people in the forum that are looking for people to collaborate with. You could be the world’s first internet band!

Don’t forget that the Election Day contest is nearly over! Come make your ballot count and vote on the entries! It’s not to late to submit your own, either, or to take your favorites with you and play them over and over outside of your local polling station…