CYGN-B

[Greg]

Here's a brown laser. Video shows an excerpt from rock and roll. This time, the spiral ramp signal is brought in to the emulator, and all the other spiral generator circuitry involving sweep, inverse, direction, and am is bypassed. These functions are now handled in software, and the output looks exactly the same as what I previously got from the build of the spiral generator except for no distortion and improved range of sweep.

Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk-kImQLKwo

[Greg]

I went to the Pink Floyd exhibition primarily hoping to see the greatest variety of non centering xy analog joysticks in one place I'm ever likely to see. Here's the results.

The oldest Azimuth Coordinator looks like it was built with the expectation that an elephant would be the operator. I'm guessing the buttons are source select so there could be two sound groups independently flying around.

[Greg]

A bit of R & R trivia:
Britannia Row was Floyd's sound company, located in SE London, who did their tours, way back when. Their director, named Mick (?), was a friend of my Laser Studio Ltd. co-director. Mick welded the aluminum (aka, aluminium) chassis of my 1st Krypton/Argon projector during the early '80's.
I'm pretty sure that those custom joysticks in the mixing desk were among the first to ever be used for panning surround sound audio around the auditoriums/stadiums during Floyd's concerts.
Does anyone remember discrete quad home audio systems that became popular during the '70s? This was state of the art, before (pseudo) quad matrix, 5.1, 7.2, etc.
Thanks for sharing, Greg.
😎

The laser player system is complete. I'm layering up the second half of the Rush show, which is really good.

Roj, I'm remembering summers stuck in the woods in the '70s with the Radio Shack catalog as my only connection to technology.

Brian, no other replies were received.

After a couple of friendly, lengthy, and interesting talks with the stakeholders involved in the remains of the company, communication seems to have been disappointingly discontinued. I'm left wondering should I sit on my work out of respect to I'm not exactly sure who, because the really interesting part isn't really mine, or should I just say It's this thing I made, it's mine, nothing to do with anything from the past, don't ask how it works, Sit back, relax, look up into the sky, and enjoy Greg's Laser Classics?

[laserist]

Hi Greg,

It's been fun watching while you've reinvented hardware and techniques from 40 to 50 years ago. I believe you have every right to use that hardware and software any way you like. I'm pretty sure that there was never a file drawer with neatly labeled folders containing paperwork confirming Laser Images, Inc. had been granted synchronization rights to the music in the Laserium shows. You have a fair use case for doing excerpts to make scholarly points about laserium shows, but getting sync rights for the music today might be effectively impossible. I'd recommend abandoning that route. After all is said and done, I don't think you'll find the future of laser artistry in the past...

All my best, Brian

[laserist]

I'm sorry I must have been unclear. The point I was trying to make was simply that you probably can't do the old shows. Not that the old technology wasn't stunning. Going forward will almost certainly involve music that isn't totally clenched by corporations with the only interest of monetizing said music. I don't have a problem with people who want to do cartoon shows with lasers. At the same time I don't want to watch them.

[Greg]

Shucks, I missed Inspector Gadget's exploding peeve. My understanding benefited too though, from the clarification: can't do the old shows. Going forward will almost certainly involve (new) music... and hence new choreography. And hence a tool for the choreography. Perhaps one that abandons the established data frame and takes a modern approach, such as the system Roj has developed.

I haven't actually built the danube board, but I patched a similar effect, all analog, using the colormod2 ramp, a CYGN-A circle and 4 quadrant multipliers. There is a Rush number that makes this effect look so, so appropriate. As an archeological point, it seems probable the Rush show was composed at a time later than some of the other shows I have inspected recently. I suggest this because almost every number in the Rush show is showcasing complex almost early video-game like use of the data frame to multiplex images, spin images around each other in implied 3D, and perform complex visual shuffles. It's just so clever all the different highly satisfying things that can be done with such a minimal control scheme. The interpretation of music as a four part color orchestra is of such a rare quality in these old shows that I'm not sure that given or taken upon myself to build all the choreography tool in the world, would any artists but a rare few produce such quality work.

[Greg]

Might be fun to hold a cycloid derby for those of us here who have developed or use software based cycloid generators. Perhaps each contender could take a turn starting with something simple and seeing how many steps of complexity could be followed by the other participants. I'd be surprised if liquid math didn't come out on top for functionality, bottom for ease of entry.

[laserist]

I once read a reminiscence by someone who knew Ivan and Charlie before the premiere at Griffith Park in 1973. He saw a film one night of the stuff Ivan and Charlie were screwing around with. Everybody that night thought it was pretty, but nobody could figure out a way that Ivan and Charlie could make money with it. The problem with Art is you still need to eat. Somewhere to live would be nice. A gallery… A glass of wine with your friends, occasionally…
So there’s the problem with Art. Your vision either finds its audience, or you adapt your “vision” to somehow find an audience. Those are the boundary solutions. There’s a solution spectrum. Good luck everyone.
This is required reading for anyone who wants to do their Art their own way:
https://elissamilne.com/2012/12/10/a...usic-concerts/

[Greg]

Here are some excerpts to make scholarly points about laser shows. Enjoy the Rush. Notice the brief appearance of a dogloid at 2:06.

video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFl0zFDFYds

[lasermaster1977]

By jove I think he's got it!