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A Night of 8-bit Chiptunes

Posted in GETV Episode by ekai on the February 5th, 2010

For those of you out there who have the theme song from Double Dragon, Excite Bike, Mario Bros, Mega Man, or Final fantasy burned into your brain from back in the day (even if that means yesterday), you’re not alone. 8-bit music, which takes tons of these nostalgic tunes from your favorite NES and GameBoy games and converts them into fast, fun, dance-tastic ensembles, has been revolutionizing the music industry across the world. Also known as chip tune, this wave of timeless new music is bringing back all of our inner geeks one show at a time.

We joined the folks on the forefront of this musical frontier at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco, where artists like Crash Faster, A Rival, and Anamanaguchi dive into the logistics of what it takes to become an 8-bit master and why this genre has become so popular! We know the secret and now you can too; watch and find out!!!

Episode links: Chiptune, Anamanaguchi, crashfaster, A_Rival

Video Guitars are the Future of Music

Posted in GETV Episode by ekai on the June 16th, 2009

Which comes first, the music or the video? The question is moot now that artisan Ben Lewry of Visionary Instruments, has built an LCD video display into his guitar. After several prototypes, his custom video guitars now can run visualizations or movies by simply popping in a USB thumbdrive into a back panel. Visualizations can even be triggered with MIDI signals by playing the guitar. Steven Wilson, of Porcupine Tree, was so taken by Ben’s designs that he’s now rocking a video guitar to sold out shows around the world.

Episode links: Visionary Instruments, Porcupine Tree, Diane Nitschke [photos], Maker Faire

Santa Takes Over San Francisco

Posted in GETV Episode by ekai on the December 22nd, 2008

Santacon aka Santarchy, a jolly rampage of hundreds maybe thousands of Santas, is an annual tradition that occurs in cities all across the globe. Nowhere is it more diverse and well attended than in San Francisco, where the tradition started some 15 years ago when the Cacophony Society decided that Christmas should have a more noble purpose than buying & consuming. With the tradition firmly mature, we take a ride along the “Klassic Kringle” route where Santa runs into bewildered tourists, reindeer dogs and groups of festive bards. Sit back, enjoy the ride and make plans to join the red menace next year.

Episode links: Santarchy & Santacon, SantaCon (wikipedia), Photos (LaughingSquid), Cacophony Society (wikipedia), Jingle Punx