Further ramblings :
You are very lucky and unlucky. Is convenience the devil? Normally the process of DataMoshing is very very time consuming. Sometimes with an art form the tools themselves and the process become the art form itself for some people and a badge of honor. DataMoshing and other esoteric forms of glitch have been underground. Manually DataMoshing works and sometimes it does not. You are lucky because DataMosh Deluxe does does this for you in seconds and also reacts to music which has never been done before. DataMosh Reactive is more hands on and you can manipulate the frames jamming to music with your fingers. In essence we are making your life easier which MAY eventually make DataMoshing commonplace and not counterculture anymore. Just like all those glitch apps out there did. Does this mean the art is going to suck now? Well there is certainly going to be sucky artists whatever the tools are. Jimi Hendrix manipulated feedback on his guitar when it was annoyance to most guitarists. Others copied him and his techniques. Did this make artists suck more? Not really. You just have more artists and therefore more chance of suckage. (Is that even a word?)
You are unlucky because sometimes the magic of unpredictability in the process makes it a lot more special for various reasons. We as humans will gravitate to convenience most of the time. We want presets, we want real time, instant satisfaction and we want to be told it’s going to be alright just follow the map. real glitch does not conform to this thinking. It randomizes, perplexes and even destroys.
Presets and predictability :
Loops for music and presets with almost every app for instant recall so there will be no mistakes, predictability and a lack of searching into the unknown. Perfect replication every time. This is to create order out of chaos. This makes us warm and fuzzy. I think we loose something valuable in the process or non-process.
Another example is the fact that I can fry one of my keyboards Circuit Bending. Its the risk that makes it exciting as well. Part of the reason why I love circuit bending is it is a way to explore without having to know too much about electronics. Poking and prodding at an instrument until it makes something cool. Sometimes though you may fry the keyboard getting too overzealous with more and more bend points rendering that keyboard at best as a really nifty drink coaster. The painful road makes a successful Circuit Bent keyboard very special. The artist also remembers the unique road getting there. It’s risky. It’s unpredictable. It’s chaos which humans always try to avoid. Because of this chaos each keyboard has an adventure associated with it, a personality and a story. It is chaos at its finest. It is the same with Moshing.
We thought long and hard about the philosophy when coming up with the concept of DataMosh Deluxe and I believe the pros outweigh the cons. We left in randomness and the ability for the output to suck sometimes. If the DataMoshing process is more of an interest to you do not use this app. I can respect that.
Another topic for a rainy day is why leaving room for Glitches in the mind, spirit and noticing them in the tangible world can change the world in a positive way and open up creative processes unmanageable. One has to leave room in their lives for the golden Moments to let glitches happen.
As soon as controls leash is taken off, the unintended beauty starts making itself known.
There is beauty in the broken
Over and out
Ory
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