lotusCast - The official blog & podcast from lotuspike

WINTER MUSIC: A music-only podcast, featuring Chad Hoefler, Ben Cox, Jeff Greinke, Darshan Ambient, and a preview of Johan Agebjörn’s upcoming Lotuspike release, Mossebo.

 

 lotusCast - Lotuspike Podcast #14 -January, 2008 - [podcast] [39:38m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (101)

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100.1 KRUU FM – Deep Winter Chill With Pirate Radio: An all-Lotuspike show on the coldest day of winter Saturday, January 19, 9:00 CST (10:00 EST) tune in to KRUU online >

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Welcome to a very special 13th edition of lotusCast. A video tribute to Michael Allison, a.k.a. Darshan Ambient.

Back in April, we received word from Michael’s wife, Nicky, that he had gotten ill very fast…and worse…he was in intensive care fighting a terrible infection due to an abscess in his liver. Over the course of the few weeks that followed, we all listened to updates from Nicky and watched for signs of improvement in Michael’s health. To follow this string of events, you can still read the entire thing courtesy of the folks at Hypnos Forum >

Today, Michael is back in contact with us and already making music again. As if there was any doubt?!

We wanted to take a few minutes and reflect on this, and we thought it only appropriate to share it with you all. We offer this small tribute…a visual vignette against the backdrop of music from Michael himself. The images you see are those captured with my miniDV camera while hiking and driving through an area of Virginia called Narrows, about 45 minutes outside of Blacksburg.

Enjoy!

• lotuspike (Ben, Jeff and Daniel)

 

 lotusCast - Lotuspike Podcast #13 -August, 2007 - [podcast-video podcast] [7:53m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (44)

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Finally, after nearly a year, we are back with episode 12 of lotusCast and an interview feature with Markus Reuter! Our host, Daniel Pipitone, got a chance to ask Markus about his latest release, Trepanation, on lotuspike. Listen to Markus discuss his influences, production techniques and other thoughtful insights from his creative process on Trepanation. Also, be sure to tune in till the end for a special giveaway offer.

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 lotusCast - Lotuspike Podcast #12 -June, 2007 - [podcast] [30:31m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (60)

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Yesterday, Apple rolled out iTunes Plus in the iTunes US Store, which offers higher-quality DRM-free downloads for $1.29 (a $0.30 premium over the “standard” $0.99 download). The “Plus” downloads are DRM-free 256kbps AAC files, playable by any device or software that supports AAC (not just iTunes or iPods).

Lotuspike applauds this move, and agrees with Steve Jobs’ “Thoughts On Music” post in which he indicated Apple’s position that DRM-free music is better for consumers.

We are working with our iTunes affiliate to attempt to get our music into the “iTunes Plus” store; at the moment, it’s not clear how independent labels like ourselves can participate.

Meanwhile, Lotuspike music is available from other sites like eMusic in DRM-free formats, and of course remains available from the iTunes Store in the standard Protected AAC format.

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As those of you in the USA may be aware, US Postal Service postage rates recently changed (at the beginning of May). Unfortunately the rates for lighter First Class packages rose dramatically, and most of our CD orders fall into this category. Domestic postage on a single-CD order rose from $1.35 to $1.81, an increase of 34%.

In case you were wondering: Lotuspike shipping rates in the web shop are calculated to be our exact shipping cost plus 65 cents. The 65 cents covers the cost of the mailer boxes that we use to ship discs; it does not include any handling fee (my time to pack the boxes and ship them out is free!). (So the total shipping charge for a domestic single-CD order is $1.81 + $0.65, or $2.46.)

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trees
Originally uploaded by desertblue kitty.

Just a beautiful image from Jeff’s wife on the road in New Mexico.

Simply worth sharing.

- Daniel

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A funny thing happens when you go into business as a record label: suddenly you get a lot of people sending you email asking where they can send their CD for you to release.

There are a couple of important presumptions there.

The first, and more easily dismissed presumption, is that if they send you a CD, you will be interested in releasing it. By Sturgeon’s Law, that’s sort of a stretch right there. But let’s not dwell on that too much.

The second presumption is much more interesting. Even if we posit that they have recorded the finest music ever heard by the ears of humankind, they are presuming that you will want them to send it.

Hell, why wouldn’t you want to hear it? (more…)

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Here is a bad video of the very bad room as I found it after moving into our house in December. As you can see, the previous owner thought that regular drywall was a good idea in a damp Pittsburgh basement…

I have made a lot of progress since this was taken and all of the walls are now bare, and I am in the process of removing all of the Liquid Nails adhesive left behind from how the wallboard was being held up.

More soon.

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Well, I was thinking today, and I decided to try and become active again in semi-every-so-often blogging on this thing. It is our blog, after all…

I have actually started construction (destruction) in my basement this week on what I hope will quickly become my project studio (equipped for both music and freelance design purposes). I have had to “undo” some nasties that the previous owners left for me. Most notably are moldy sheet rock and literally NO electrical run for the room.

So why not post a preliminary plan on the blog and let some others comment on what my set-up should be? I could actually use the help. Here are my initial thoughts / factors / constraints / plans:

The initial set-up should accommodate the actual project I want to work on, but with flexibility in mind, since I may decide to change up or perhaps explore other directions along the way. What I want to accommodate right off is:

DAW: – 2 G4 Mac Titanium Laptops (already have) – Audio interface / MIDI IO (please help)

*Mixer / Monitoring: – Mixer? (please help) – Phones for monitoring (for now)

MIDI: – M-Audio MK-449C MIDI Controller Keys (already have) – Secondary control (TBD)

Instruments: – ESP LTD MH50 Electric Guitar (already have) – Udu (TBD) – Frame drums (TBD) – Various hand percussion (TBD) – Flute / didge (TBD) – Various VST / AU

*External Effects? (have not yet decided on this - comments welcome): I have tossed this idea around a bit, looking to offload some of the CPU load from effects to external units. Comments welcome on external DSP (powercore) vs. Hardware… – Small Rack (please help) – Reverb (please help) – Multi FX unit (please help)

Mics: (please help)

So I obviously need suggestions for Mics as well as the best way to tie it all together, vis a vis audio/MIDI IO interface. I am aiming to sync the midi clocks on both laptops. The items with * are kind of “what ifs?” In other words, if I go the way of external effects, etc, I would need to more carefully consider these. So I am hoping to generate some discussion here as I move towards an initial set up. Also, keeping in mind that the budget is tight (I have to figure that out yet), and this is a certainly a novice set-up, I want to sensitive to cost where possible without compromising too much those items that are important.

So it may be bare bones at first, but I would like comments on all this stuff.

• dp

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lotusCast - Lotuspike Podcast #11 -July, 2006

Lotuspike features Rudy Adrian and his debut release on Lotuspike Records, MoonWater.

Rudy also discusses his previous releases and the influences on his work.

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Henry Buhl Jr. Planetarium @ Carnegie Science Center. June 9th, 2006 @ 8:00pm. Doors open @ 7:30 $10 general admission/$8 for students (w/ ID) and CSC members

Lotuspike and Carnegie Science Center are pleased to bring back The Ministry of Inside Things, Friday, June 9th at 8:00pm.

The Ministry of Inside Things, consisting of electronic musician Chuck van Zyl and electric guitarist Art Cohen, are considered among the most innovative of US synthesists today. Influenced by the early music of Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze and Ash Ra Tempel, their spacemusic has been described as linear, leading the listener across many sonic terrains. Based on improvisation, The Ministry of Inside Things creates electronic realizations that flow from theme to theme, with the experience often lasting up to two hours. Through use of textures and atmospheres as well as harmony, rhythm and melody, the group transports the audience on an internal sonic excursion.

van Zyl has been recording electronic music and performing live for more than 15 years but is best known for hosting one of the country’s most successful radio shows of electronic music, STAR’S END, for the past 20 years. van Zyl has released two CDs of spacemusic on the Centaur label, Celestial Mechanics and The Relic as well as a collaborative effort with Peter Gulch, Regeneration Mode on Synkronos and The Sound Museum with Gulch and Rath on Groove Ltd. Art Cohen has been pushing the limits of the electric guitar in the studio and in live performance for well over 15 years.

Performance will be accompanied with a laser light show and feature a meet and greet after the show. For more information, email: contact@lotupsike.com.

For more information: http://members.bellatlantic.net/~chuckv/moit.html

For online ticketing: http://www.carnegieonline.org/csc (look for “voices beyond the dome concert series” at the bottom of the page)

Or e-mail us: contact@lotuspike.com

Call: 412-237-3400 for ticket information

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lotusCast - Lotuspike Podcast #10 -April, 2006

On April 23, we were fortunate to be able to host Robert Rich as he stopped in Pittsburgh as part of his 2006 Spring Tour. Along with the Carnegie Science Center we hosted an evening with Robert at the CSC Buhl Planetarium. Robert’s performance was absolutely astounding and nothing could take the place of seeing it first hand, but we thought we would try to bring you a peice of it, along with an interview with Robert.

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Lotuspike and Carnegie Science Center welcomes Robert Rich! Sunday, April 23, 2006 8 p.m. in the Henry Buhl, Jr. Planetarium $16; $8 for members, students, children and seniors

Join internationally-acclaimed electronic music artist Robert Rich under the dome of the Henry Buhl, Jr. Planetarium with live lasers and special effects. In his 20+ year career, Rich’s music has been distributed and broadcast internationally on major radio shows and has been included in feature films, gallery installations and planetariums across the country and abroad. In addition to his accomplishments as a musician, Robert Rich is also gifted innovator who participated in the creation of MIDI, a global computer language that synthesizers use to communicate with one another. Presented by Carnegie Science Center and Lotuspike Records.

Get more info here >

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lotusCast - Lotuspike Podcast #9 -March, 2006

Lotuspike takes a road trip to discover what things are happening with other musicians and labels across the country.

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lotusCast - Lotuspike Podcast for #8 - VALENTINE’S DAY 2006

Special Valentine’s Day edition. A soundtrack for a romantic evening featuring music from many of the Lotuspike releases.

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Episode 7 of our lotusCast features our newest release by new artist, Chad Hoefler! Quiet Glow hits the streets today, so get a great preview and listen to a personal interview with Chad here:

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This is our special holiday edition. 45 minutes of non-stop music for your holiday spirit.

Happy Holidays from Lotuspike!

Download here! >

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Stay tuned for the new and improved lotusBlog.

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