Tim Walsh: Home
LaserPolka defines what I like to do. I like to create laser shows all over the country and the world, and I like to play polkas with a polka band I helped to found in 1979, Brave Combo. I design and build my own laser systems, and play clarinet, saxophone, uillean pipes, and button accordion. My goal is to merge the sight of lasers with the sounds of polka and create something new!
The following video is from a show I did lasers at recently; it is a good example of what the polka beat has turned into for the next generation of dancers. The artist is DJ Tiesto from Amsterdam, he is spinning trance music:
Here are the new videos with Brave Combo:
Brave Combo with Tim on lasers - "Down at the Friendly Tavern"!
The William Tell Overture Finale:
Here is a video of my accordion laser music at Voodoo Music Fest 2003; all sounds (except the accordion and some percussion at the start) is generated by the lasers:
THIS SITE:
HISTORY - My history with polka bands and lasers.
JOURNAL - I am keeping a fairly up to date journal of my current activities here; and also....I kept a regular diary when we began Brave Combo in 1979 - 1983; I am posting it here as I get the time to enter it, around once a week or so. I am transcribing it as I wrote it at the time - misspellings, minimal punctuation - I think it captures the mood and excitement of starting a new band!
I include the flyers that Carl Finch made for each gig, and other interesting pictures, when I can.
MUSIC - I am creating music using my special laser computer, the Lasergraph DSP from Berlin, Germany. I split the signal the computer generates and send it to the loudspeakers, as well as the laser scanners.
The result is that the audience can hear exactly what they are seeing! Or see what they are hearing! I call this "laser music" because it is music that is also a laser show.
That is me in the photo above performing "Taps" with the image of the laser sound on the screen behind me.
Listen to "Sidewinder" on the music page of this site - sounds like a polka to me! Actually, I consider a lot of modern dance music as a subset of "polka" - the way techno, trance, and disco all feature the basic "4 on the floor" beat - ...... at its heart, polka is the universal dance music.
PHOTOS - I can't believe that I am able to play traditional polkas on authentic Earth musical instruments, and at the same time take part in modern electronic dance/rave events too, like the Tiesto In Concert pics you can see here. Check them out!
Let me know if any of this strikes a resonant chord in your being -
Tim