Suomalaisissa maisemissa vaelteleva Kaamanen Soundsystem julkaisee ensimmäisen singlensä Pöllöpuu perjantaina 19.8.2022 suoratoistopalveluissa. Ikimetsään sijoittuva biisi kumartaa syvään luonnon rauhalle, lajien väliselle yhteiselolle ja vanhojen metsien pyhyydelle. Musiikillisesti kappale ammentaa voimansa folkista ja progesta.
Kaamanen Soundsystem: Pöllöpuu (kuva, grafiikat: Marko Hämäläinen)
Kaamanen Soundsystemin retki alkoi jyväskyläläisen omakotitalon ullakkohuoneesta helteisenä heinäkuuna kahdeksan vuotta sitten. Tuolloin ystävykset työstivät ambient-maisemia valokuvanäyttelyyn. Sen jälkeen yhtye on käyskennellyt polkujaan eripuolilla Suomea kehitellen omaa soundiaan. Demoja on äänitetty niin kokemäkeläisessä kuusikossa kuin sumialaisessa mummonmökissäkin. Paikan kosketus on tärkeä osa heidän musiikkiaan.
Alun perin kone- ja kitaravetoisena nelikkona aloittanut yhtye on saanut matkan varrelta mukaansa rytmiryhmän muhevoittamaan äänimaailmaansa. Vaikka Kaamanen Soundsystem -nimi viittaa Lappiin, kokoonpanon jäsenet vaikuttavat eteläisessä Suomessa: Jyväskylässä, Fiskarsissa ja Helsingissä.
Kaamanen Soundsystem, Drumforest Studios (kuva: Marko Hämäläinen)
Kaamanen Soundsystem on:
Juha Hämäläinen: laulu, äänet ja kitara Jani Virtanen: syntetisaattorit, koskettimet ja ohjelmointi Arto Hämäläinen: kitarat ja äänet Teemu Aho: rummut ja perkussiot Esa Linna: basso, kielisoittimet ja tinapilli Marko Hämäläinen: tuotanto ja visualisoinnit
Pöllöpuu-singlellä vierailevana muusikkona Arto Ala-Jokimäki (steelkitara).
kuvat: Marko Hämäläinen äänitys: Nikke Niemispelto, Drumforest Studios miksaus: Esa Linna masterointi: Daniel Hagström, Finnvox
Duke Robillard, four times voted the US best blues guitarist, will have his own guitar model, the Katar Bluesmaster, made by Katar Kustom Kuitars in Finland. Katar Kustom Kuitars founder Jukka Kattelus from Seinäjoki, Finland has been a luthier for 30 years.
Duke Robillard & Katar Popmaster
Duke Robillard, who has performed and recorded with Fabulous Thunderbirds, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits and others, recently toured Finland with Finnish group Wentus Blues Band. In his free time, the team visited the musical instrument fair at Veturitallit in Jyväskylä, where various guitar builders presented their instruments. Robillard fell in love with a Katar Popmaster guitar made by Jukka Kattelus.
“I was touring with my friends the Wentus Blues Band in Finland and they told me on the way to a show we would stop at a guitar show with several different guitar builders. I tried a few interesting guitars but when I came upon the Katar Booth I was blown away by how cool Jukka’s guitars were and how beautiful and well built they were”, says Duke Robillard, and continues:
Katar Bluesmaster – Duke Robillard Signature Model
“Of course the look got my attention first. I think as a player you have to be drawn visually to a guitar first. The Katar guitars are visually pleasing and the beautiful orange color and wood grain made my guitar look very special. When I play it people always comment on how beautiful it is and how great it sounds!”
“Over the last 50 years, I have owned over a thousand guitars and my Katar is certainly one of the best I’ve owned”, Robillard praises Kattelus and his craftsmanship.
The Katar Popmaster guitar is also featured in the Duke Robillard Band’s new ”Outta here” music video.
Robillard: Katar is of an amazingly high quality
Duke Robillard describes the Katar Popmaster guitar he owns as an instrument of amazingly high quality. According to the musician, of all the instruments he owns, ”no other guitar sounds the same”. This inspired Robillard to negotiate with Jukka Kattelus for his own Katar model.
Duke Robillard & Jukka Kattelus
“We talked with Duke about the guitar I had made and he suggested a collaboration, changing the Popmaster name to Bluesmaster. At the same time, I could have used his name for marketing. But I didn’t want to change the already established name.”
“After further discussion, we decided to create a signature model for him, based on the guitar he bought from me, with his additions. Limited Edition of 12 guitars will be available”, says Jukka Kattelus, explaining how the collaboration came about.
The legendary musician looks forward to the new model.
“I am very excited about the new Duke Robillard Bluesmaster model! The wood will be the same as my Popmaster. The neck and fretboard will be made of the same wood as my guitar now and shaped to my specifications. It will be a very special guitar built with the same incredible workmanship that makes these guitars so special! I am proud to have my name associated with such a fine instrument.”
Katar’s sound comes from wood and handmade microphones
Duke Robillard says the woods of Katar guitars contribute to their unique sound. The Bluesmaster uses the same wood as the Katar Popmaster he already owns.
“The fretboard is an African wood that feels great and is unique to Katar. It’s a special wood that feels harder than rosewood and softer than ebony – which is just right in my opinion. The woods used in this guitar make a special sound.”
Finnish birch and alder have also been used in the guitars.
“The top is Finnish birch and the rest of the guitar is made of beautiful Finnish alder. It is a beautiful wood. Birchwood was used in guitar making in the US in the 1920s and 1930s. Alder has always been a great solid-body guitar wood and I believe the birch top must add something special to its tone”, Robillard says.
The sound of the Katar Bluesmaster comes also from Veijo Rautia’s hand-wound microphones, which Rautia made to Robillard’s specifications. The microphone maker, who was recommended by Kattelus, is an old fan of the guitar legend.
“I had a couple of Robillard records in the 80s and he was one of my guitar heroes along with Jimmie Vaughan. It’s great to be involved in this project”, says Veijo Rautia enthusiastically.
30 years of building musical instruments
Jukka Kattelus
Jukka Kattelus of Katar Kustom Kuitars has been working as a luthier and repairer since 1992. Kattelus has also been teaching musical instrument building and maintenance since 2007 at a community college. Jukka has made many different guitar models, researched their characteristics and combined the best of them into the Katar Popmaster guitar, which was introduced in 1995.
Palkittu suomalainen pelistudio Resistance Games ja tuore ranskalais-ruotsalainen pelijulkaisija Firesquid julkistivat virallisesti kunnianhimoisen Great Houses of Calderia -suurstrategiapelin.
Steamin Early Accessissa vuonna 2022 julkaistavassa Great Houses of Calderiassa pelaaja voi johtaa valtasukuaan ja olla vuorovaikutuksessa perheensä kanssa, samalla kun tavoitteena on muodostaa hyvät suhteet naapurisukujen kanssa. Pelaaja voi valita oman pelityylinsä: siinä voidaan johtaa rakastettua dynastiaa diplomatialla tai tehokasta tyranniaa pelolla. Pelissä tehdään toki muutakin kuin pelkästään hallitaan johtajana, sillä suurimpana tarkoituksena on kokonaisen perheen ylläpitäminen.
Great Houses of Calderia tukee erilaisia modeja. Peliyhteisö voi luoda niiden avulla omia tarinoitaan. Resistance Games ja Firesquid rohkaisevat pelaajia myös jakamaan omia tarinoitaan.
Great Houses of Calderia saapuu Steamin Early Accessiin vuoden 2022 alkupuolella. Pelaajat voivat jo nyt liittyä Discord-palvelimelle, jossa kehittäjät keskustelevat muiden käyttäjien kanssa aktiivisesti.
Pelin keskeiset ominaisuudet:
Reaaliaikainen ja taktinen resurssienhallintajärjestelmä lupaa pelaajille strategisen hallinnan sekä taisteluissa että sosiaalisissa konflikteissa
Avainhahmoilla ovat omat persoonallisuutensa. Pelin tapahtumat muokkaavat persoonallisuuksia, vaikuttaen heidän halukkuuteensa ja kykyynsä palvella johtajaansa uskollisesti
Peli sisältää satoja tapahtumia, joissa tehdään tärkeitä päätöksiä kiperien tilanteiden ratkaisemiseksi – aina diplomatiasta sotaan ja perheenjäsenten henkilökohtaisiin kiistoihin
Järjestä kauppasopimuksia ja lähetä delegaatiosi kilpaileviin sukuihin
Ylläpidä perheesi perinteitä sukupolvien ajan
Nimeä perheenjäsenesi keskeisiin tehtäviin delegaatioissa käymään kauppaa, vakoilemaan, neuvottelemaan ja johtamaan armeijaasi. Järjestä avioliittoja ja turvaa perinnöt.
Luo omia ainutlaatuisia tarinoita natiivin modituen avulla
Tutustu Calderian fantastiseen maahan sekä elä sen legendojen ja myyttien parissa.
Resistance Games on oululainen pelistudio, joka kehittää strategiapelejä PC:lle ja konsoleille. Resistance Games on oululainen PC strategiapelistudio. 13 kokeneen pelinkehittäjän tiimi luo puhuttelevia pelielämyksiä strategiapelifaneille. Resistance Gamesin edellinen peli Company of Crime on taktinen rikollisimperiumin rakennuspeli, joka sijoittuu 1960-luvun Lontooseen.
Ukrainalaislähtöinen ja Suomessa päämajaansa pitävä Pibox on kerännyt 400 000 dollaria Techstarsilta (pääsijoittaja) sekä Adventures Labilta, Globalive Capitalilta, 70 Venturesilta ja Presto Venturesilta. Pibox – jonka päätuote on samanniminen SaaS-alusta mediatiedostojen tiimityöskentelyä varten – on hyväksytty myös Techstars Torontoon.
Techstars on etäohjelma, joka alkoi lokakuussa 2021 ja päättyy demopäivään 11. tammikuuta 2022. Techstars Toronto on mentoripainotteinen ohjelma, jossa on mukana ammattilaisia Googlelta, Amazonilta, Sonylta ja Pelotonilta kuin myös sijoittajia ja potentiaalisia asiakkaita.
”Techstarsin johto on seurannut pitkään edistymistämme; olemme kasvaneet nopeasti ja asiakaskuntaamme kuuluvat Universal, Epidemic Sound, Sony, Red Bull, National Gallery of Art (Washington) ja Michiganin teknillinen yliopisto. Tämän varainkeruun avulla aiomme laajentaa tiimiämme, kehittää markkinointitapojamme (myös useilla luovilla vertikaalisilla aloilla) ja jatkaa tuotteemme kehittämistä. Pibox rakentaa brändipositioitaan video- ja podcast-tuotannoille, bränditoimistoille ja media-alan asiantuntijoille”, kertoo Ivan Talaychuk, Piboxin toinen perustaja.
Pibox korvaa useita ohjelmia
Pibox-alusta tarjoaa yksinkertaisen ja helppokäyttöisen käyttöliittymän, joka mahdollistaa työnkulkujen jäsentämisen sisällön rinnalla. Käyttäjä voi jättää sovelluksessa tiedostoihin kommentteja, piirtää videoon ja valita hetkiä millisekuntien tarkkuudella. Chat-ominaisuus ja kiinteät tallennusrakenteet ovat alustassa myös käytettävissä. Pibox korvaa useita ohjelmia, joita käytetään luovan tiimin, koulun tai projektin viestinnässä, kuten myös asiakkaan ja urakoitsijan välillä (esimerkiksi sähköposti, messenger, tiedostojen hosting-palvelu ja tehtävienhallinta).
”Olemme innoissamme voidessamme sijoittaa Piboxiin ja odotamme innolla yhteistyötä kunnianhimoisen tiimin kanssa auttaaksemme heitä skaalautumaan Pohjois-Amerikan markkinoille”, lisää Sunil Sharma, Techstars Toronton toimitusjohtaja.
Tietoja Piboxista:
Pibox on all-in-one-palvelu mediatiedostojen parissa tapahtuvaan tiimityöskentelyyn. Yrityksen perustivat veljekset Ivan ja Pavel Talaychuk Ukrainassa vuonna 2017. Piboxin nykyisiä asiakkaita ovat muun muassa suuret luovan alan ja musiikkialan yritykset, kuten Universal, Epidemic Sound ja Sony sekä Michiganin teknillinen yliopisto ja taidemuseo National Gallery of Art. Lisätietoja osoitteessa https://pibox.com.
Pibox is a centralized/all-in-one remote collaboration solution developed for working with creative collaboration. Currently, it is geared towards audio content collaboration, but Pibox has also sparked interest among video content creators.
Pibox is used daily by the head of a production, music producers, managers and sound engineers. Pibox is currently used by several large companies such as Universal Music and Epidemic Sound.
Pibox has now raised € 150,000 in funding, of which € 100,000 comes from the Pitchdrive fund developed by the founders of the Rydoo app. Other members of the financing round are angel investors, including:
1. Kaspar Hanni: angel investor, Ballpark Ventures (member), Estonian Business Angels Network, Ekspress Grupp AS (board member).
2. Roman Nováček: angel Investor, Pesto Ventures (partner)
Pibox transforms/changes creative collaboration with the help of popular communications apps
Pibox was launched in 2018. The solution first raised interest among music producers, sound technicians and recording studios, after which major media technology companies (Universal Music and Epidemic Sound) partnered with Pibox.
Pibox is changing the way of collaboration creatively by combining the most popular communication features with creative technology. The solution is extremely user-friendly, as it combines a professional workflow with the ease of use of everyday and popular applications.
When an audio track is loaded into the Pibox, its visualized waveform can be commented on, highlighted, and marked with problems in mixing, for example. Pibox stores mix version history that can be utilized in projects that require multiple versions. Comments appear in the to-do lists of team members. Pibox also giving rich API and automation scenarios, so companies can create unique workflows.
Pibox has all of this, among other things:
team chat (Slack)
cloud storage (Dropbox, Google Drive)
project management (Trello, To-Do’s)
rich content collaboration, including SoundCloud-like comment possibility
Teams are actually moving from services mentioned in the list to a single solution — Pibox, which contains all the above.
Pibox is a Finnish company with teams located in Helsinki and Ukraine. The founders of the company are brothers Ivan (musician) and Pavlo (designer, creative art director).
CEO Ivan Talaychuk has previously worked as a music producer when he noticed challenges in online collaboration processes. The Talaychuk brothers have visited Nashville recording studios and record companies to map out their customers ’problems.
Pibox is a unique solution for collaborative workflows designed with the help of major music companies and music technology innovators. Pibox is currently used by audio, video and podcast creating companies and teams.
More information about Pibox:
Pibox was involved in the Startup Wise Guys and Accelerace Soundtech acceleration programs, the latter of which have been implemented with Harman and Bang & Olufsen.
Pibox has won a Better Sound 2020 award in the Services and Sound Start-ups category.
Psyon Games, the 2020 Health Start-up Champion, also wants to spread awareness about COVID-19 coronavirus
Psyon Games from Finland plans to use its disease and vaccine information themed mobile game Antidote for coronavirus awareness work. In Antidote, the player defends against attacking bacteria and viruses using the cells of the human immune system. Now they want to add a new enemy: the coronavirus.
Psyon Games has been named the 2020 Health Start-up Champion by Eyeforpharma, a global hub of pharma professionals. The Finnish company was also the first gaming company to ever win the title. Eyeforpharma is a division of Reuters Events. The challenge took place during one of the world’s largest annual event of the pharmaceutical industry, with over 15 000 participants this year.
Antidote teaches and informs the player about vaccination and disease awareness. Psyon Games’ gamified disease and health awareness method is significantly more effective than traditional information methods in digital channels.
– “We have found this is a much more cost-efficient way of attracting people to health information than traditional information-based campaigns”, says Olli Rundgren, CEO of Psyon Games, on reputable Vaccines Today website.
– “It also engages them for more than an hour in a way that we believe is highly interactive compared to traditional health ads”, Rundgren continues.
The gamified disease and health awareness method used by Psyon Games has been studied and its results speak for themselves. In the Antidote campaign, the gamified information method brought over 3 times more clicks with less than half the price of traditional methods. The gamified information method can be up to 8 times more cost-efficient than traditional campaigns.
The time people tend to spend on the landing pages of health information campaigns varies from some tens of seconds to several minutes. On average the Antidote game engages users for over 40 times as long.
Finnish game studio Jestercraft releases its first publishing title Balancelot by AnvilBird Interactive. Monty Python -inspired Balancelot will be available for full release in May 23rd for PC (Steam). In Balancelot player controls ambitious squire through handcrafted medieval continents on his unicycle.
“Balancelot is the Medieval Unicycle Adventure You Didn’t Know You Needed” Dualshockers
“This is stressful, frustrating and awesome” SpicyWaffle (YouTube)
Poor squire dreams to attend and conquer kingdom jousting tournament. By being poor, he can’t afford a horse. Unicycle happens to be close enough, so the epic journey may begin!
Player gets to use controller or keyboard to balance the clumsy but fully functional unicycle. Thrust with your sharpened lance when encountering threats from local mythical monsters.
Climbing over the dead enemies with your unicycle may be the last climb you take. Crush your enemies, drive before them and hear the lamentation of your one-wheeler!
Features:
– 20 challenging levels – Changing medieval environments – from fairy grasslands to the darkest dungeons – Twisted story with beautiful in-game cutscenes – Several mythical monsters
On May 23rd, Balancelot will be available for purchase at $7.99 in Steam for PC. A 25% discount on the price will be given during the launch week.
AnvilBird Interactive is a seven-person game development team whose first game, Balancelot, is based on the idea of Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences students in the gaming industry. Jestercraft is a Jyväskylä-based game publishing company that also helps young game developers with their first commercial releases.
Antidote, a mobile game developed in Jyväskylä, Finland by Psyon Games has been integrated to the content of Rokote.fi – the pharmaceutical company GSK’s vaccine awareness website. In Antidote, the player defends against attacking bacteria and viruses using the cells of the human immune system.
According to Olli Rundgren, CEO of Psyon Games, Antidote’s easy-to-understand game mechanics describe how adaptive immunity and vaccines work and may so prevent prejudices about vaccines. The game, which has been published for Android and iOS, has already received the approval of the World Health Organization WHO and the vaccine board of the Finnish parliament.
– If easily understandable information reached people, it would help to raise awareness among wider and more difficult target groups, such as young men, Rundgren says.
Vaccine awareness is necessary for public health
The unique co-operation between the small Finnish startup and the international pharmaceutical company to improve vaccine awareness is now more topical than ever. According to the World Health Organization WHO, this year over 41,000 European children and adults have been infected with measles.
– In Psyon Games we are concerned about the belittlement of science in society. Even the craziest unscientific ideas have received unprecedented support, Rundgren says.
The results are measured with data
During and with the co-operation, GSK and Psyon Games explore how to use the mobile game in raising vaccine awareness. At the same time, the companies have agreed on the goals set for the pilot project. The success can be objectively evaluated through the data collected during the project.
One of the investors of Psyon Games is the former Rovio (Angry Birds) marketing chief Peter Vesterbacka. Psyon Games’ game Trump Vs. Science was noted in Washington Post and Forbes. The company was selected this year on the list of the ten most interesting marketing technology startups in the Finnish marketing and communications magazine MarMai.
GSK is one of the world’s leading science-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies.
The Finnish Game Developer of the Year 2017 award winning studio announces new game: King of Peasants.
Platonic Partnership announces new adventure game – King of Peasants
The Finnish Game Developer of the Year 2017 award winning studio announces new game: King of Peasants.
King of Peasants is a modern, story-driven adventure game, set in the dark ages during inquisition. It´s fast-paced, snappy and features streamlined interaction with mobile first approach.
Based on Platonic Partnership´s GFX artist Henri Tervapuro’s internationally published comics, King of Peasants is a satirical adventure game about prejudice and stupidity. The graphics are entirely handmade with a mix of watercolors and pencils. The visual style can be defined as a ”living painting”.
King of Peasants will be available in 2019 on Steam (PC, Mac) and mobile (Android, iOS). It’s designed for mature audiences who have only limited spare time to play games.
Platonic Partnership is a game studio from Ostrobothnia, Finland. Their first game Lydia received positive response from gamers and media, including Washington Post. Platonic Partnership was awarded as the Finnish Game Developer of the Year 2017.
