This week’s release is a DJ mix set released at the Sonic Walker netlabel. It features 12 tracks from the netlabel rec72 (which should not be confused with the 12rec. netlabel). The covered genres range from dark ambient stuff to breaky IDM. Tracks by Zoe.LeelA also feature vocals. I would suggest it for a cool evening at the computer.

[See post to listen to audio]

Tracklist

1. Bitbasic – Cdr882
2. Zoe.LeelA – Destroy She Says
3. Kurobear – Powerful Indeed
4. Lukeing Forward – Feel the Motion of the Air
5. Komatsu – Y Arderan Juntos
6. Deef – Ein sonniger Tag Mit Dir
7. Zoe.LeelA – Silence
8. Nisei23 – I Dreamt of Music
9. Pandacetamol – Treasure Map
10. Human Terminal – Parallels
11. Phopha – Macabre City
12. Paco Alvarez – Minimisation

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For my diploma thesis I needed an easy-to-use optimisation algorithm which could minimise a given function. I had access to Matlab, but surprisingly, none of the supplied optimisation functions seemed to satisfy my needs: I wanted to globally minimise a non-linear function within boundaries without using gradients.

So I did a little research and found a Globalized Nelder-Mead method, which is a tuned version of the good old downhill simplex algorithm. Then I implemented it as a Matlab function. By the way: the function also works fine with Octave.

What does it do?

The Nelder-Mead algorithm, sometimes also called downhill simplex method, was originally published in 1965. It is an iterative algorithm for local, unconstrained minimisation of a non-linear function . In contrast to most other iterative algorithms, it does not rely on the derivative of the target function but only evaluates the function itself. This makes it extremely well suited for cases when the target function is not an algebraic term, but a simulation model which cannot be derived directly. It also does not approximate the function’s gradient but is based on geometrical projections of an n+1-point polygon—the simplex—in the n-dimensional parameter space of the target function. A simplex in two dimensions is a triangle, one in three dimensions is a tetrahedron. In general, the simplex can be represented as a matrix of its points.

The basic idea behind the simplex algorithm is that the worst point of is replaced by a better one with a smaller function value and to repeat this operation iteratively until a local optimum has been found. To achieve this, three different transformations are applied to the simplex which let it move in directions of descent and shrink around a local minimum. These transformations are called reflection, expansion and contraction.

In each iteration, first the worst point is reflected at the centroid of the remaining points. Depending on the quality (good or bad) it then replaces the worst point in the simplex. If the reflected point is not better, it is withdrawn and the other fallback operations are executed.

The globalized Nelder-Mead method just generalizes this idea to find a global minimum. Instead of initialising the simplex once, multiple simplices are initialised and each one finds one local minimum. There are some tweaks to make the location of these simplices better than random, but principally they are spread randomly within the allowed boundaries.

How do I use it?

Just copy the file gbnm.m from the download below into a directory where Matlab or Octave can find it. Then just call the function gbnm. A typical usage might look like this:

% Define test function and optimisation boundaries
f = @(x) norm(x).^2 - cos(norm(x));
xmin = [-10;-10];
xmax = -xmin;

xoptim = gbnm(f,xmin,xmax)
% Expected output: xoptim = [0.00.. ; 0.00..]

The function does not only return the found minimum and has an optional argument for tweaking the algorithm parameters:

[x, fval, output, options] = gbnm(fun,xmin,xmax[, options])

Refer to the output of help gbnm and the research paper for further detail. If something remains unclear or you have found a bug, feel free to comment!

Download

• gbnm.zip (v0.1 [2010-07-19] initial release)

A unique performance, made available to everyone. Often wrongly described as the first Swing concert, the The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Concert by Benny Goodman is a milestone in the history of Jazz concerts. Just listen to the final track of the concert and you know what I mean. (The cover image is self-made with an image of Benny Goodman from 1971.)

[See post to listen to audio]
Sing Sing Sing – With A Swing is a legendary Jazz standard. This performance is a 10 minute long frenzy with instrumental soli. The first minute introduces the famous theme, well structured by an excellent drum performance of Gene Krupa. Swing at its best.

Get the whole album at the download link below the long track list.

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But there is another, almost perfectly hidden feature which allows to typeset easy formulas as real text which respects text formatting styles: Equation fields.

Equation fields

Hit Ctrl+F9 and add the following construct: { EQ \f(a;b) }. Then place the cursor on or before this field and hit Shift+F9. You should see a fraction like this: .

The advantage of this technique over Word’s built-in formula editor is that these formulas are styled according to their surround text automatically. The omits much of the hassle involved in placement and handling of the formula objects.

There is just one thing you should not do: Don’t double click on them because they are converted to formula objects this way. If this happens by accident, use Undo (Ctrl+Z) to repair the damage. To edit an equation field, place the cursor on it and hit Shift+F9 again to unveil its code.

Commands

An equation field can contain any sequence of the following commands, mixed with plain text. Nesting is supported. Each command I find useful is presented with a short example of typical use.

	Description	Example
\a	Matrix. Available options: con determines number of columns, hs and vs horizontal and vertical spacing (in pt), the command \al, \ac and \ar allow to determine the horizontal alignment within the cells (\al is default). Example code: \a \co2 \hs3 (a;b;c;d)
\b	Braces. Places automatically sized braces around big expressions like fractions or roots. Example code: \b(\f(•;•))
\d	Positioning. Creates spaces and indentation. I don’t use it.
\f	Fraction. Example code: \f(a;b)
\i	Integral. Example code: \i(a;b;f(x)dx)
\l	List. I don’t use it.
\o	Overwrite. Places text in the second argument over the text in the first argument. Options \al, \ac and \ar determine their alignment. Example code: \o\ac(n;\s\up4(•))
\r	Root. Example code: \r(n;a)
\s	Super- and subscript. Available options are \don and upn. The first one creates subscripts, the second one superscripts. Example code: a\s\up4(n) b\s\do4(i)
\x	Frame. Places a framed box around its argument. Example code: \x(a)

Golden path

If you have to write a longer document, like a thesis, which contains vast amounts of formulas, get LaTeX! (Technical remark: the examples above are rendered using a server-based LaTeX-Renderer.)

Peter van Riet is an incredibly talented musician from Belgium. Fortunately, he built on that talent and studied Classical piano, followed by supplement courses in harmonics and composition. The results of this effort are partially for download on his homepage. He first names Craig Armstrong in his list of artists that influenced him. And that is hearable in his only major release I found so far. It is a piano-dominated masterpiece between cinematic soundtrack and “modern classical” compositions. It is difficult to select only three tracks in the following as a listening example, because the whole album is too good to be free. But don’t believe me unheard! Get dazzled!

It is uploaded unfortunately as a ZIP archive which does not allow streaming of individual tracks. Additionally, it is released under a restrictive license, which does not allow me to re-upload it properly. So I just can recommend you to download it and then just to listen to the tracks with a 4-star rating in the following table. I promise, you will not regret it!

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Alpha point is a music project originating from a Russian electro band. Their style has influences of Depeche Mode, combined with dance floor compatible beats and straight industrial guitar riffs. The result is not a complex composition, but honest, enjoyable techno songs. They have have released several singles and albums on the internet archive. Here, I review their latest single release High Like The Angels which features four different versions of this songs plus the bonus single God’s Anger. Listen to my favourite picks and download the album, if you like it.

[See post to listen to audio]

High Like The Angels (Relaxed Mix) is my favourite version of this song, probably because it sounds more like Trance, lacking the e-guitars. It such sounds a little bit like an early song from Darude or Paul Oakenfold.

[See post to listen to audio]

Rank two goes to the Cuttin Wings Mix by Personal Space. It uses e-guitars, but adds much cinematic atmosphere by adding depth (i.e. echo) and a subtle soundscape. The song would well fit dystopian science fiction film which plays in an abandoned metropole.

[See post to listen to audio]

The other song on this release, God’s Anger sounds very similar in instrumentation and structure. Nothing surprising here, but a very solid (read: high quality) production makes also this song very pleasing to listen to, when you are after energetic trance-industrial-music.

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Free online music is still often linked to eclectic, weird and experimental music. This rock album from 2006, recorded by the band Deadspin is a good counter-example of artists who offer their first release for free. In September 2009, their second album Little Birds Are Like Bullets was published at Split Infinity. In between, several live acts were added to the Internet Archive. As I only review free music here, I stick to Deadspin EP. But have a listen to their new album on the band’s homepage,too! I would compare their sound to a mixture of Coldplay and Sting, but only to give you a rough estimate on how they sound without hearing them, what you can do in the following:

[See post to listen to audio]

October is one of two tracks that is present on both releases. However, the 2009 version was rerecorded and has crisper sound. Nevertheless, October also rocks in this version. Radio-compatible soft rock with extra synth-pads, a great drummer and a relaxed voice in the middle.

[See post to listen to audio]

The Story Never Told has one killer riff that hooked to my brain immediately. I hits you in your face ears right at the beginning (0:10). The bass line glues the 6 minute long song together. Above it, producer Geoff Chase mixes several instrumental solos.

All in all, it is a great album for “general” listening. It doesn’t annoy you but also does not interfere when, say, writing a review. One last remark: the EP does not have an official album cover, so I dared to create one myself. The picture is a photo of an ECQ, taken by user hamma at sxc.hu.

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It’s time for some dry, abstract IDM music. This album by the artist Old Bear reminds me of the style of Pluxus whose song Transient you might know already from a Ford TV commercial. The Cologne based netlabel rec72 serves a delicious meal of self-entitled Abstract Hip Hop. Have a quick listen to my favourite tracks and find out if it is your taste, too.

[See post to listen to audio]

If you can find me is both opener and title track of this album. It does both jobs perfectly: the first 40 seconds consist of a classic song build-up until the dry beet sets in to take subtle control of the following 5 minutes. It features short spoken vocal samples and repetitive, nearly meditative synthesizer pads.

[See post to listen to audio]

I would Another evening, like the others describe as a gloomy upbeat track whose general tone transports melancholy, while the vivid percussion has a much more active atmosphere.

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