Category Archives: News

Announcements of new releases, etc.

Lode Runner updates from Toastline

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Toastline recently sent me some updated information that explains how to decode certain XPK graphics resources in Lode Runner 2 that are in a different format than the majority of XPKs.  He has also updated his LR2 Image Extractor program to read this alternate format and to output PNG image files with transparency. 8-)

Perhaps the most interesting discovery that Toastline made recently is the presence of additional unused graphics resources within LR2 that were previously unknown.  The new graphics can be seen on The Cutting Room Floor under the headings “Smileyface Monk Portrait“ and “World Icon Placeholders“.

You can obtain both the new technical information and Toastline’s LR2 Image Extractor from either my Lode Runner page or Toastline’s Dropbox.

Continuum no. 2

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Here is another previously unreleased composition.  Continuum no. 2 is an ambient piece that, like Continuum one, is algorithmically-generated by a single complex patch on my Kurzweil K2000 keyboard.  The Continuum no. 2 algorithmic patch goes a little further and performs the entire piece when a single key (“C4”) is depressed on the keyboard.  This single gesture spawns 12 note loops, each beginning at a different time and repeating at a different rate and will play itself for an unlimited duration until it is turned off by the performer.  In 2006, I recorded Continuum no. 2 for over 60 minutes to create an album-length version of the piece.  An MP3 of this recording and the original K2000 patch are available below.

Downloads:

Continuum no. 2 [67:44 – 62.1 MB]
Continuum no. 2 K2000 program file

Continuum one (from “A Peace”)

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I am trying to catch up a little this weekend with posting older, unreleased materials.  Continuum one is an ambient piece that is closely related to my electroacoustic composition A Peace.  A Peace is a live performance work with improvised piano accompanied by an algorithmically-generated synthesizer part.  I realized the synthesizer part using a single patch with complex modulation routings on my Kurzweil K2000 keyboard.  This algorithmic patch — which I dubbed “Continuum one” — creates non-repeating music in an ambient style by repeating each note the performer depresses on the keyboard at a different rate and will play itself for an unlimited duration until it is turned off by the performer.  So, in 2006 I recorded just the synthesizer part for over 70 minutes to create the CD-length piece: Continuum one.  Both an MP3 of Continuum one and the original K2000 patch are available below.

Downloads:

Continuum one (from “A Peace”) [71:46 – 65.8 MB]
Collection of algorithmic K2000 programs

New site design

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As you’ve probably noticed, AnthonyKozar.net has a new, spiffy, “modern” design. I created the old site design in 2003 and have been hand-coding the site in HTML and CSS ever since. And I basically spent 10 years wishing that I had a better way to manage certain aspects of the site! :)

Well, the new site is built using the WordPress content management system which brings numerous benefits for both myself and my visitors.  The navigational menu and sidebar links alone are an enormous leap forward!  Having a uniform and beautiful design that I have to do practically nothing to maintain makes it that much better.  I’m still not sure if WordPress will save me a lot of time actually posting new music and software to the site.  Maybe some additional custom coding will help …

HUGE THANKS to the WordPress team along with the many theme and plugin authors for making such a great, easy to use, and free (open-source) web platform!

CMask 0.31 Release 4

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For Mac OS X 10.4 or later

The Macintosh interface in Release 4 of CMask has been largely rewritten to be compatible with the latest Mac OS X systems, but functionally it is nearly identical to Release 3. This version is a “Universal Binary” and should support running on any Macintosh computer with Mac OS X 10.4 or later, including Intel Macs with 10.7 Lion or 10.8 Mountain Lion.

Download:

CMask-0.31r4.dmg (1.6MB)

CMask 0.31 Release 3

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For Mac OS 8 thru Mac OS X 10.6

I developed this update to the Mac interface of CMask back in 2008, but never released it for some reason.  The Macintosh interface in Release 3 includes a few bug fixes and other minor improvements since Release 2.

Release 3 can run on any PowerMac or Intel Mac computer running Mac OS 8, OS 9, or Mac OS X up to 10.6 (Snow Leopard).

Download:

CMask-0.31r3.dmg (1.5MB)

Command-line CMask binaries updated

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A while ago, I corrected a bug in the command-line version of CMask that would cause it to crash if the input filename was longer than 32 characters. (Note that I did not provide a complete fix, but merely expanded the limit to 2048 characters and made the limit easier to change).

The following archives include the modified source code. The first one also includes binaries compiled for Mac OS X 10.5 or later (both PowerPC and Intel). They were compiled with GCC 4.0.1 and should be easy to recompile on many Unix-like operating systems.  I have heard that the C++ code needs a few changes to compile with some more recent versions of GCC though.

For Mac OS X 10.5 or later

Downloads:

CMask source code and OS X binaries (124K)

CMask source code only (32K)

CornBucket 1.03

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With this latest release, CornBucket is a “Universal Binary” and now should (hopefully) work on Mac OS X Lion and Mountain Lion. It will run on versions at least as early as OS X 10.4, possibly earlier. It will not run on Mac OS 8 or 9 any more. I have not changed the user interface since the previous versions, so enjoy the retro feel!

Download:

CornBucket-1.03.dmg (102K)