Overview:

As an ICAM  music student, I wanted to combine computer-based music making with elements in Calzona. So I decided to sample sounds in Calzona and make music with them. The samples were put into a drum machine I made with Puredata. It is named after Calzona’s first letter and its zip code 92252. Originally, I was thinking about composing a song using C92252, but then I changed my mind. I don’t want the sounds of Calzona to be limited to my creativities. I want to make my patch available to anyone so that other musicians can use sounds of Calzona to create music.

Sampling:

Calzona is the perfect place to sample sounds because there are no cars nor people near it. It was so quiet that I almost felt like I was in a studio. Everything is perfect in Calzona besides the weather. Sampling sounds under 106 degrees was a unique experience for me. I didn’t expect that the heat could be so exhausting that I needed to take a break every thirty minutes. Most of my samples were sampled from the objects at Calzona museum including a table, installations, and a solar panel.

The Build:

C92252 was built with Puredata. It has ten sample slots and a 16 step sequencer. My build started with the sample player which has seven inlets. The four inlets on the left control volume, sample length, start position and pitch. The three inlets on the right are responsible for triggering sample, reloading sample and reading sequencer input.