This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2011)

Spirograph
Inventor	Denys Fisher
Company	Hasbro
Country	United Kingdom
Availability	1965–present
Materials	Plastic
Official website

Spirograph is a geometric drawing toy that produces mathematical curves of the variety technically known as hypotrochoids and epitrochoids. It was developed by Denys Fisher a British engineer and first sold in 1965.

The term has also been used to describe a variety of software applications that display similar curves, and applied to the class of curves that can be produced with the drawing equipment (so in this sense it may be regarded as a synonym of hypotrochoid). The name has been a registered trademark of Hasbro, Inc since it bought the Denys Fisher company.

History[link]

Drawing toys based on gears have been around since at least 1908, when The Marvelous Wondergraph was advertised in the Sears catalog.^[1][2] The Boys Mechanic publication of 1913 had an article describing how to make a Wondergraph drawing machine.^[3] An instrument called a spirograph was invented by the mathematician Bruno Abakanowicz between 1881 and 1900 for calculating an area delimited by curves.^[4] The Spirograph itself was developed by the British engineer Denys Fisher, who exhibited it in 1965 at the Nuremberg International Toy Fair. It was subsequently produced by his company. US distribution rights were acquired by Kenner, Inc., which introduced it to the United States market in 1966, promoting it as a creative children's toy.

In 1968, Kenner introduced Spirotot, a less complex version of Spirograph, for preschool-age children, too young for Spirograph.

Operation[link]

Several Spirograph designs drawn with a Spirograph set

A Spirograph consists of a set of plastic gears and other shapes such as rings, triangles, or straight bars. There are several sizes of gears and shapes, and all edges have teeth to engage any other piece. For instance, smaller gears fit inside the larger rings, but also can engage the outside of the rings in such a fashion that they rotate around the inside or along the outside edge of the rings.

To use it, a sheet of paper is placed on a heavy cardboard backing, and one of the plastic pieces—known as a stator—is pinned to the paper and cardboard. Another plastic piece—called the rotor—is placed so that its teeth engage with those of the pinned piece. For example, a ring may be pinned to the paper and a small gear placed inside the ring: the actual number of arrangements possible by combining different gears is very large. The point of a pen is placed in one of the holes of the rotor. As the rotor is moved, the pen traces out a curve. The pen is used both to draw and to provide locomotive force; some practice is required before the Spirograph can be operated without disengaging the stator and rotor. More intricate and unusual-shaped patterns may be made through the use of both hands, one to draw and one to guide the pieces. It is possible to move several pieces in relation to each other (say, the triangle around the ring, with a circle "climbing" from the ring onto the triangle), but this requires concentration or even additional assistance from other artists.

Mathematical basis[link]

Resonance cascade

Consider a fixed circle Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): C_1

of radius Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): R
centered at the origin. A smaller circle Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): C_2
of radius Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): r<R
is rolling inside Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): C_1
and it is tangent to Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): C_1

. The inner circle cannot slip since teeth are present in a real Spirograph. Now assume that a point Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): A

that corresponds to hole in the inner circle of the Spirograph is located at the distance Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \rho<r
from the center of Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): C_2

. Without loss of generality it can be assumed that at the initial moment the point Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): A

was on the Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): X

-axis. In order to find the trajectory created by a Spirograph, follow Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): A

as the inner circle is set in motion.

Now mark two points Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): T

on Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): C_1
and Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): B
on Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): C_2

. The point Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): T

indicates where two circles are tangent all the time. Point Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): B
however will travel on Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): C_2
and its initial location coincides with Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): T

. After setting Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): C_2

in motion counterclockwise, there is a clockwise rotation with respect to its center. The distances that point Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): B
traverses on the small circle is the same as the distance that the tangent point Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): T
travels on the large circle due to absence of any slipping effects.

Now the new (relative) system of coordinates Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): (\hat{X},\hat{Y})

with its origin at the center of Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): C_2
and its axes parallel to Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): X
and Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): Y
is observable. If the parameter Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): t
is defined as the angle by which the tangent point Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): T 
rotates on Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): C_1
and Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \hat{t}
is the angle by which Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): C_2
rotates (i.e. by which Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): B
travels) in the relative system of coordinates, then the distances traveled by Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): B
and Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): T
along their respective circles must be the same (no slipping). Therefore

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): tR=(t-\hat{t})r

or equivalently

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \hat{t}=-\frac{R-r}{r}t.

It is common to assume that a counterclockwise motion results in a positive change of angle and a clockwise one will correspond to a negative change of angle. A minus sign in the above formula. (Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \hat{t}<0 )to accommodate this convention.

Let Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): (x_c,y_c)

be the coordinates of the center of Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): C_2
in the absolute system of coordinates. Then Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): R-r
represents the radius of the trajectory of the center of the inner circle, and

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \begin{array}{rcl} x_c&=&(R-r)\cos t,\\ y_c&=&(R-r)\sin t. \end{array}

The coordinates of Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): A

in the new system are Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): (\hat{x},\hat{y})
and they obey the regular law of circular motion (the angle of rotation in the relative system is Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \hat{t}

):

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \begin{array}{rcl} \hat{x}&=&\rho\cos \hat{t},\\ \hat{y}&=&\rho\sin \hat{t}. \end{array}

In order to obtain the trajectory of Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): A

in the absolute (old) system of coordinates, add these two motions:

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \begin{array}{rcrcl} x&=&\hat{x}+x_c&=&(R-r)\cos t+\rho\cos \hat{t},\\ y&=&\hat{y}+y_c&=&(R-r)\sin t+\rho\sin \hat{t},\\ \end{array}

where Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \rho

is defined above.

Now, use the relation between Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): t

and Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \hat{t}
as discussed above to obtain equations describing the trajectory of point Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): A
in terms of one parameter Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): t

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \begin{array}{rcrcl} x&=&\hat{x}+x_c&=&(R-r)\cos t+\rho\cos \frac{R-r}{r}t,\\[4pt] y&=&\hat{y}+y_c&=&(R-r)\sin t-\rho\sin \frac{R-r}{r}t.\\ \end{array}

(using the fact that function Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): sin

is odd)

It is convenient to represent the equation above in terms the radius Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): R

of the largest circle and dimensionless

parameters describing the structure of the Spirograph. Namely, let

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): l=\frac{\rho}{r}

and

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): k=\frac{r}{R}.

The parameter Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): 0\le l \le 1

represents how far the point Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): A
is located from the center of the inner circle. At the same time, Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): 0\le k \le 1
represents how big the inner circle is with respect to the large one.

It is now observed that

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \frac{\rho}{R}=lk,

and therefore the trajectory equations take form of

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \begin{array}{rcl} x(t)&=&R\left[(1-k)\cos t+lk\cos \frac{1-k}{k}t\right],\\[4pt] y(t)&=&R\left[(1-k)\sin t-lk\sin \frac{1-k}{k}t\right].\\ \end{array}

Parameter Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): R

is a scaling parameter and will not affect the structure of the Spirograph. It is interesting to note that two extreme cases of Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): k=0
and Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): k=1
will result in degenerate trajectories of the Spirograph. Namely when Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): k=0
we will have a simple circle of radius Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): R

. And indeed this case corresponds to the case when the inner circle is shrunk into a point. (Division by Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): k=0

in the formula is not a problem since both Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \sin
and Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \cos
are bounded functions).

The other extreme case Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): k=1

corresponds to the inner circle matching the large circle. In this case the trajectory is a single point since the inner circle is too large to roll without slipping.

If Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): l=1

then it is the case when the point Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): A
is on the circumference of the inner circle. In this case the trajectories are called hypocycloids and the equations will match the one describing a hypocycloid.

See also[link]

• Guilloché
• Harmonograph
• Spirograph Nebula, a planetary nebula that displays delicate, spirograph-like filigree.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Hasbro Spirograph site
• HTML5 Interactive Spirograph Creator
• Free iPhone/iPad 'Spiral Corrector' app

James May
James May in 2006
Born	James Daniel May (1963-01-16) 16 January 1963 (age 49)[1] Bristol, England
Residence	Hammersmith, West London, England
Nationality	British
Other names	Captain Slow
Education	Caerleon Endowed Junior School Oakwood Comprehensive School
Alma mater	Pendle College, Lancaster University
Occupation	Broadcaster, journalist, author, pianist, media personality
Years active	1998 (1998)–present (present)
Employer	BBC, The Daily Telegraph, (prev. Channel 4, ITV & Sky)
Known for	Presenting: Driven, Top Gear, Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure, Oz and James Drink to Britain, James May's Top Toys, James May's Toy Stories, James May's 20th Century, James May's Big Ideas, James May's Man Lab
Home town	Bristol, England
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Partner	Sarah Frater (2000–present)
Website
http://www.topgear.com/uk/james-may

This article may contain too much repetition or redundant language. Please help improve it by merging similar text or removing repeated statements. (May 2011)

James Daniel May (born 16 January 1963) is an English television presenter, journalist and writer. He is best known for his role as co-presenter of the award-winning motoring program Top Gear alongside Jeremy Clarkson , and Richard Hammond.

On Top Gear, May has the nickname "Captain Slow" for his careful driving style, a love of small underpowered cars and habit of getting lost and distracted while driving. However, in a July 2010 episode of Top Gear he drove a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, reaching a speed of 417.6 kilometres per hour (259.5 mph).^[2] After his attempt the Bugatti test driver Pierre-Henri Raphanel took the car to 430 kilometers per hour (267.5 mph).

May has presented a variety of other programs on themes including science and technology, toys, cars, wine culture, and the plight of manliness in modern times. In addition he has released a variety of DVDs and books with similar themes, and wrote a weekly column for The Daily Telegraph's motoring section.

Early life[link]

James May was born in Bristol, one of four children; he has two sisters and a brother.^[3] May attended Caerleon Endowed Junior School in Newport, then in Monmouthshire. He spent his teenage years in South Yorkshire where he attended Oakwood Comprehensive School in Rotherham and was a choirboy at Whiston Parish Church.^[4] He was also at school with Life On Mars and Ashes to Ashes star Dean Andrews.^[5] A keen flautist and pianist, he later studied music at Pendle College, Lancaster University. After graduating, May briefly worked at a hospital in Chelsea as a records officer, and had a short stint in Her Majesty's Civil Service.^[6]

Personal life[link]

May lives in Hammersmith, London with dance critic Sarah Frater, whom he has dated since 2000.^[7][8]

May has owned a number of cars: Bentley T2, Rolls-Royce Phantom, Triumph 2000, Rover P6, Alfa Romeo 164, 1971 Rolls-Royce Corniche, Jaguar XJS, Range Rover, Fiat Panda, Datsun 120Y, Vauxhall Cavalier Mk1, Ferrari F430, 1984 Porsche 911,^[9] 2005 Porsche Boxster S (which he claims is the first car he has ever purchased new),^[10] Mini Cooper, Citroën Ami, Mazda MX-5 and several classic motorcycles including a Yamaha XJR1300, Moto Guzzi V11 Sport, a Triumph Daytona 675R and a 1978 Guzzi California. He has a penchant for prestige cars like Rolls-Royces and Bentleys, simple and basic cars such as the Fiat Panda, and motorcycles. He often uses a Brompton folding bicycle for commuting.^[11] He passed his driving test on his second attempt and justified this by saying "All the best people pass the second time".^[12]

May obtained a light aircraft pilot's licence in October 2006 having trained at White Waltham Airfield. He has owned a Luscombe 8A 'Silvaire' and an American Champion 8KCAB Super Decathlon.

May received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Lancaster University on 15 July 2010. ^[13]

Journalism[link]

During the early 1980s, May worked as a sub-editor for The Engineer and later Autocar magazine, from which he was dismissed. He has since written for several publications, including a regular column called England Made Me in Car Magazine, articles for Top Gear magazine, and a weekly column in The Daily Telegraph.

He has written a book titled May On Motors, which is a collection of his published articles, and co-authored Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure, based on the TV series of the same name.

He has also written the afterword to Long Lane with Turnings, published in September 2006, the final book by motoring writer L. J. K. Setright. In the same month he co-presented a tribute to Raymond Baxter. His book, Notes From The Hard Shoulder, was published on 26 April 2007. James May's 20th Century, a book to accompany the television series of the same name, was published on 6 September 2007.

[edit] Dismissal from Autocar

In an interview with Richard Allinson on BBC Radio 2,^[14] May confessed that he was fired in 1992 from Autocar magazine after putting together a hidden message or acrostic in one issue. At the end of the year, the magazine's "Road Test Year Book" supplement was published. Each spread featured four reviews and each review started with a large red letter (known in typography as an initial). May's role was to put the entire supplement together, which "was extremely boring and took several months". He went on to say:

So I had this idea that if I re-edited the beginnings of all the little texts, I could make these red letters spell out a message through the magazine, which I thought was brilliant. I can't remember exactly what it said, but it was to the effect that "You might think this is a really great thing, but if you were sitting here making it up you'd realise it's a real pain in the arse". It took me about two months to do it and on the day that it came out I'd actually forgotten that I'd done it because there's a bit of a gap between it being "put to bed" and coming out on the shelves. When I arrived at work that morning everybody was looking at their shoes and I was summoned to the managing director of the company's office. The thing had come out and nobody at work had spotted what I'd done because I'd made the words work around the pages so you never saw a whole word. But all the readers had seen it and they'd written in thinking they'd won a prize or a car or something.

May's original message, punctuated appropriately, reads: "So you think it's really good, yeah? You should try making the bloody thing up; it's a real pain in the arse."^[15]

This was referenced by Jeremy Clarkson during episode 2 of series 17 (in the course of the "hot hatch"-challenge in Italy) when May was noting Autocar's opinion on the Renault Clio Cup he had chosen for the challenge, to which Clarkson replied "Autocar.... The magazine that sacked you...?"

Radio and television[link]

His past television credits include presenting Driven on Channel 4 in 1998-99, narrating an eight-part BBC One series called Road Rage School,^[16] and co-hosting the ITV1 coverage of the 2006 London Boat Show.^[17] He also wrote and presented a Christmas special called James May's Top Toys (for BBC One) exploring the toys of his childhood.^[18] This list was followed up the next year by a sequel of sorts, broadcast on BBC Two, entitled James May: My Sister's Top Toys, this time attempting to investigate the gender divide of toy appeal.^[19] In series 3, episode 3^[20] of Gordon Ramsay's The F Word, May managed to beat Ramsay in eating animal penises and rotten shark (which Ramsay himself couldn't keep down)^[21] and with his fish pie recipe.^[22][23]

[edit] Top Gear

May first co-presented Top Gear in 1999, before it was axed by the BBC because of poor viewing figures. He rejoined the show in the second series of the present Top Gear format in 2003, where he earned the nickname "Captain Slow" owing to his careful driving style. Despite this sobriquet, he has done some especially high-speed driving, including in Top Gear Series 9, taking a Bugatti Veyron to its top speed of 253 mph (407 km/h) which is nearly one-third of the speed of sound at sea level and later on taking a Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport edition to 260 mph (417 km/h). In an earlier episode he also tested the original version of the Bugatti Veyron against the new Pagani Zonda F. On the show he claimed that it was 'a piece of cake' driving those cars, but seconds later Jeremy Clarkson played a tape showing him spinning wildly over the test track in the Zonda. Originally he did not want to do this test, but Clarkson had hurt his neck in the previous episode while driving a truck through a brick wall and Richard Hammond claimed that he was busy selling fish at Morrisons. He is often mocked for a poor sense of direction, shown getting lost many times throughout the course of the series, including race tracks and even being mocked once by Jeremy and Hammond for mistaking a normal Range Rover as the camera crew. He also flew in a Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon at a speed of around 1320 mph for his television programme, James May's 20th Century. He also became one of the first people – with co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson and an Icelandic support crew – to travel by car to the magnetic North Pole, using a modified Toyota Hilux. He claims to be the first person on the north pole who didn't want to go there. He was also one of the first people to drive across the Makgadikgadi salt plains in Botswana.^[24] He has driven a 1.3 litre Suzuki SJ413 through the Bolivian jungle and along Death Road and over the Andes to the Pacific Ocean in Chile. He also drove a modified Toyota Hilux (also used as a crew car during the North Pole expedition) up the side of the erupting volcano Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland.

Science[link]

May has also presented a documentary for Sky about sharks called Inside Killer Sharks and a series looking at inventions and discoveries during the twentieth century, entitled James May's 20th Century.^[25] In late 2008, the BBC broadcast James May's Big Ideas, a three-part series in which May travelled around the globe in search of implementations for concepts widely considered science fiction.^[26]

[edit] James May on the Moon

In June 2009 May presented a documentary on BBC Two called James May on the Moon commemorating 40 years since man first landed on the moon.^[27] This was followed by another documentary on BBC Four called James May at the Edge of Space, where May was flown to the edge of space (70,000 ft) in a U.S. Air Force Lockheed U-2 spy plane. Highlights of the footage from the training for the flight, and the flight itself was used in James May on the Moon, but was shown fully in this programme.^[28] This made him one of the highest flying persons, along with the pilot, at that time, after the crew of the International Space Station.^[28]

[edit] James May's Toy Stories

Beginning in October 2009, May presented a 6-part TV series showing favourite toys of the past era and whether they can be applied in the modern day. The toys featured were Airfix, Plasticine, Meccano, Scalextric, Lego and Hornby. In each show, May attempts to take each toy to its limits, also fulfilling several of his boyhood dreams in the process. For example, in August 2009, May built a full-sized house out of Lego at Denbies Wine Estate in Surrey.^[29] Plans for Legoland to move it to their theme park fell through in September 2009 because costs to deconstruct, move and then rebuild were too high^[30] and despite a final Facebook appeal for someone to take it, it was demolished on 22 September, with the plastic bricks planned to be donated to charity.^[31] Also for the series, he recreated the banked track at Brooklands using Scalextric track,^[32] and an attempt at the world's longest working model railway along the Tarka Trail between Barnstaple and Bideford in North Devon, although the attempt was foiled due to stolen batteries and vandals placing coins on the track, causing a short circuit.^[33]

Drink[link]

In late 2006, the BBC broadcast Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure, a series in which May, a committed bitter drinker, travelled around France with wine expert Oz Clarke.^[34] A second series was broadcast in late 2007, this time with May and Clarke in the Californian wine country,^[35] and was followed by a third series in 2009 called Oz and James Drink to Britain.

Career[link]

Television[link]

DVD[link]

Books[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Telegraph Motoring - James May's weekly column
• James May at the Internet Movie Database
• James May on Top Gear
• Daily Mail article on May

Andrew Bird
Andrew Bird with violin, 2009
Background information
Born	(1973-07-11) July 11, 1973 (age 38) Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genres	Indie rock, indie folk, folk rock, baroque pop
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Voice, whistling, violin, guitar, glockenspiel
Years active	1996–present
Labels	Rykodisc, Righteous Babe, Fat Possum, RCRD LBL, Bella Union, Earwig Music, Waterbug, Carrot Top, Delmark, Mom+Pop
Associated acts	Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Kevin O'Donnells Quality Six, Dosh
Website	andrewbird.net

Andrew Wegman Bird (born July 11, 1973) is an American musician, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist.

History[link]

Early life and the Bowl of Fire (1973–2002)[link]

Trained in the Suzuki method from the age of four,^[1] Bird graduated from Lake Forest High School in 1991 and Northwestern University with a bachelor's degree in violin performance in 1996. That same year he self-released his first solo album, Music of Hair. Vastly different from his later work, this album showcased his violin skills and paid tribute to his fascination with both American and European folk traditions, as well as jazz and blues. Following this, his initial commercial exposure came through collaborative work with the band Squirrel Nut Zippers, appearing on three of their albums (Hot, Sold Out, and Perennial Favorites) between 1996 and 1998.

Taking on the role of bandleader, Bird released Thrills on Rykodisc in 1997 with his group Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire, shortly followed by second album Oh! The Grandeur in 1998. Both albums were heavily influenced by traditional folk, pre-war jazz, and swing, with Bird relying on the violin as his primary musical instrument, as well as providing vocals along with his trademark verbose lyrics. The Bowl of Fire featured musicians from Bird's home town of Chicago, including Kevin O'Donnell, Joshua Hirsch, Nora O'Connor, Andy Hopkins, Jimmy Sutton, Colin Bunn, and Ryan Hembrey. During this period, Andrew Bird was a member of the jazz group Kevin O'Donnells Quality Six, for which he was the lead singer and violinist and contributed to arrangements and songwriting for the albums Heretic Blues (Delmark 1999) and Control Freak (Delmark 2000) (both Delmark albums were produced by Raymond Salvatore Harmon).

In 2001, the Bowl of Fire released their third album, The Swimming Hour, a dramatic departure from their previous recordings. It featured a mixture of styles, from the zydeco-influenced "Core and Rind" to more straightforward rock songs such as "11:11". Due to this eclectic nature, Bird has often referred to it as his "jukebox album". Although gaining critical praise (The Swimming Hour received a 9.0 from indie music website Pitchfork^[2]), the band failed to attain commercial success or recognition, playing to audiences as small as 40 people.^[3] In 2002, Bird was asked to open for a band in his hometown of Chicago, but fellow Bowl of Fire members were unavailable for the date. The reluctant Bird performed the gig alone, and the surprising success of this solo show suggested potential new directions for his music.^[3]

Early solo career (2003–2005)[link]

Andrew Bird in concert 2005

The Bowl of Fire unofficially disbanded in 2003, and Bird went on to radically re-invent himself as a solo artist. His two subsequent albums were released on Ani Difranco's Righteous Babe Records label. 2003's Weather Systems (originally released on Grimsey Records) was a sparse record with a dramatic change in musical direction. It featured the tracks "Skin" and "I", proto-versions of songs that would later become "Skin Is, My" (The Mysterious Production of Eggs) and "Imitosis" (Armchair Apocrypha).

The Mysterious Production of Eggs (2005) continued a progression towards an eclectic indie–folk sound, and both records formed a stark stylistic break with Bird's earlier work, swapping the lush backing of a full band for carefully layered samples of sound constructed using multitrack recorders and loop pedals. As his sound changed, Bird made increasing use of guitar, glockenspiel, and whistling in his songwriting, in addition to his traditional violin and vocals.

Bird is noted for improvising and reworking his songs during live performance, as can be seen in his series of self-released live compilations entitled Fingerlings, Fingerlings 2, and Fingerlings 3, the first of which was released in 2002. Each Fingerlings EP was released prior to a studio album, and presented a mixture of live performances from different shows, including old tracks, covers, and previously unreleased songs, some of which have since appeared on studio albums. Fingerlings 3, released in October 2006, also featured studio outtakes. Fingerlings 2 provided Bird with an unexpected boost in recognition in 2004 when it was named album of the month by Mojo.^[1]

In 2005, co-collaborator Martin Dosh joined Bird's line-up, adding percussion and keyboards to his sound.^[1] Jeremy Ylvisaker was later added to the group on bass and backup vocals.

Signed to Fat Possum Records (2006–2011)[link]

Bird performing at the 2007 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival

In September 2006, Bird signed to Fat Possum Records, and in March 2007 he released his third post-Bowl of Fire album, Armchair Apocrypha.^[4] The album was recorded in collaboration with electronic musician Martin Dosh, and includes a track composed by Dosh (with lyrics by Bird) entitled "Simple X". This song first appeared without Bird's lyrics as "Simple Exercises" on Dosh's 2004 release Pure Trash. The album was produced by Ben Durrant (who had worked on Dosh's The Lost Take), and also featured Haley Bonar and Chris Morrissey.^[5] In advance of the March release date, Armchair Apocrypha was leaked to the Internet in January 2007. The album went on to sell over 100,000 copies.^[1]

As publicity for Armchair Apocrypha, Bird made his network television debut on April 10, 2007, performing "Plasticities" (from the new album) on the Late Show with David Letterman. He also appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on June 14, 2007, performing "Imitosis" from the same album. In April 2007, he did a Take-Away Show acoustic video session shot by Vincent Moon. These appearances were accompanied by an extensive tour, which ended with sell-out performances at the Beacon Theater, New York and the Orpheum Theater, Los Angeles.^[1]

In January 2007, Andrew Bird made an appearance on the Noggin television network's Jack's Big Music Show, playing the part of Dr. Stringz and appearing in order to mend a character's broken dulcimer. Bird sang a brief song called "Dr. Stringz", written specially for the show. He now often plays it live as an introduction to the song "Fake Palindromes".^[6][7]

On May 20, 2007, National Public Radio aired a live concert by Bird from Washington, D.C.'s 9:30 Club^[8] He also worked with Reverb, a non-profit environmental organization, for his 2007 spring tour.^[9]

Five of his songs – "Banking on a Myth" from "The Mysterious Production of Eggs," a medley of "I" from Weather Systems and "Imitosis" from "Armchair Apocrypha," and "Skin" and "Weather Systems" from Weather Systems – have been licensed for use by Marriott Residence Inn.^[10]

Since March 2008, Bird has contributed to "Measure for Measure,"^[11] a New York Times blog in which musicians write about their songwriting process. In it, he has charted the development of the song "Oh No," previewing samples at various stages of development through to the finished album recording. He also discussed the conception of the song "Natural Disaster," the recording of instrumental piece "Hot Math," and previewed "Master Sigh." The first two songs were later released on Bird's 2009 album "Noble Beast," whilst the latter two appeared on its bonus disc "Useless Creatures."^[12]

In December 2008, Bird appeared in the second series of Nigel Godrich's From the Basement alongside Radiohead and Fleet Foxes. His performance included a preview of new song "Section 8 City," a ten minute re-imagining of "Sectionate City," which originally appeared on the "Soldier On EP."^[13]

Bird's fifth solo album, "Noble Beast," was released on January 20, 2009, and contained fourteen new songs, with bonus tracks available for download from iTunes and eMusic. "The Privateers" is a re-imagining of a very early song entitled "The Confession" from 1999's "Oh! The Grandeur."^[1] A limited deluxe edition of the album included alternate packaging and artwork, as well as an all-instrumental companion disc entitled "Useless Creatures." The entirety of "Useless Creatures" was made available via Bird's website during the run-up to the release. "Noble Beast" has been met with generally favourable reviews, receiving a score of 79 out of 100 from review collation site Metacritic.^[14]

In 2009, Bird contributed a cover of the song "The Giant of Illinois" to the HIV and AIDS benefit album "Dark Was the Night" produced by the Red Hot Organization. On May 11, 2009, Bird released the EP "Fitz and the Dizzy Spells." It contains "Fitz and the Dizzyspells" from "Noble Beast," as well as other songs from that album's recording sessions. Some of the songs on the EP were previously available for download from iTunes and eMusic as bonus tracks to "Noble Beast."

In 2010, Bird recorded with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, contributing vocals and violin on a cover of "Shake It and Break It" on "Preservation: An Album to Benefit Preservation Hall & The Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program."

Andrew Bird currently uses custom-made Schroeder amplifiers.^[15]

Break It Yourself (2011–present)[link]

In late 2011 Bird signed to the record label Mom+Pop. Andrew Bird's first release for the label was the soundtrack to the film Norman, which included his original score as well as songs by other artists.^[16] Bird sequenced the soundtrack to flow as a stand-alone album rather than a compilation of music from the film.^[16] Its music supervisor, Peymon Maskan, told HitQuarters: "The best compliment I've heard is that without having seen the film, you can imagine it by listening to the soundtrack. The sequence is a big part of that effect."^[16]

On December 6 Bird announced a new album Break it Yourself, the follow up to 2009's Noble Beast.^[17]

Influences[link]

Growing up, Bird was surrounded by classical music. As a child, he was interested in Irish tunes and bluegrass. He also cites English and Scottish folk music as an early influence.^[18] His early jazz influences were Johnny Hodges, Lester Young, and Fats Waller.^[19][20] He has also had a number of classical influences such as Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, and Bela Bartok.^[21] Other influences included jazz, swing, calypso, and folk. Bird has stated that, at 22, he found a lot of indie rock and pop music repetitive and boring, but now understands it better.^[22]

Discography[link]

Bowl of Fire albums[link]

• Thrills (1998)
• Oh! The Grandeur (1999)
• The Swimming Hour (2001)

Solo albums[link]

• Music of Hair (1996)
• Weather Systems (2003)
• & the Mysterious Production of Eggs (2005)
• Armchair Apocrypha (2007, Fat Possum) #76 US
• Noble Beast (2009, Fat Possum) #12 US
• Break it Yourself (2012, Bella Union [UK]; Mom+Pop [US]) #10 US, #46 CAN

Companion album[link]

• Useless Creatures (2010) (bonus disc to Noble Beast)

Live albums[link]

• Fingerlings (2002, Grimsey Records)
• Fingerlings 2 (2004, Grimsey)
• Fingerlings 3 (2006, Grimsey)
• Live at Austin City Limits Music Festival 2007: Andrew Bird (2007, Austin City Limits Music Festival)
• Live In Montreal (2008, Bella Union)
• Fingerlings 4 (2010, Wegawam Music Co.)

EPs and singles[link]

• The Ballad of the Red Shoes (2002)
• Sovay (2005, Fargo Records) – single
• Live at Bonnaroo Music Festival (2006, Live at Bonnaroo Music Festival) – Live EP
• Soldier On (2007) – European tour EP
• Fitz and the Dizzy Spells (2009)
• Anonanimal (2009) – Download only single
• Fake Conversations (2012) – 2011 Tour Live EP

Other album appearances[link]

• Kiltartan Road – Joy to the Morning (1995)
• Kat Eggleston – Outside Eden (1996, Waterbug Records)
• Lil Ed and Dave Weld with The Imperial Flames – Keep On Walkin' (1996, Earwig Music)
• Andrew Calhoun – Phoenix Envy (1996, Earwig Music)
• Charlie Nobody – Soup (1996)
• Squirrel Nut Zippers – Hot (1996, Mammoth Records)
• Squirrel Nut Zippers – Perennial Favorites (1998, Mammoth)
• Rose Polenzani – Dragersville (1998, The Orchard)
• Pinetop Seven – Rigging the Toplights (1998)
• Extra Virgin – Twelve Stories High (1999)
• Kevin O'Donnell – Heretic Blues (1999, Delmark Records)
• Andrew Calhoun – Where Blue Meets Blue (1999, Waterbug)
• Sally Timms – Cowboy Sally's Twilight Laments for Lost Buckaroos (1999, Bloodshot Records)
• Squirrel Nut Zippers – Bedlam Ballroom (2000, Hollywood Records)
• The Blacks – Just Like Home (2000, Bloodshot)
• The Handsome Family – In the Air (2000, Carrot Top Records)
• Devil in a Woodpile – Division Street (2000, Bloodshot)
• Kevin O'Donnell – Control Freak (2000 · Delmark Records)
• Neko Case – Canadian Amp (2001)
• The Verve Pipe – Underneath (2001, RCA Records)
• Jenny Toomey – Antidote (2001, Misra Records)
• Kelly Hogan – Because It Feel Good (2001, Bloodshot)
• Sinister Luck Ensemble – Anniversary (2002, Perishable Records)
• Abandon Jalopy – Mercy (2002)
• WYEP Live and Direct: Volume 4 – On Air Performances – "Core and Rind" (2002)
• Kristin Hersh – The Grotto (2003)
• The Autumn Defense – Circles (2003, Arena Rock Recording Co.)
• Bonnie 'Prince' Billy – Sings Greatest Palace Music (2004, Drag City)
• Bobby Bare, Jr. – From the End of Your Leash (2004, Bloodshot)
• Nora O'Connor – Til the Dawn (2004, Bloodshot)
• Ani DiFranco – Knuckle Down (2005, Righteous Babe Records)
• My Morning Jacket – Z (2005, ATO Records)
• Bobby Bare – The Moon Was Blue (2005, Dualtone Music Group)
• Emily Loizeau – London Town (in French and English) (2006)
• Dosh – The Lost Take (2006, anticon.)
• Candi Staton – His Hands (2006, Astralwerks)
• Magnolia Electric Co. – The Black Ram (2007, Secretly Canadian)
• KFOG Live From the Archives Volume 14 – (2007)
• Song of America – "How You Gonna Keep 'Em Down On the Farm" (2007, Split Rock Records/Thirty One Tigers)
• Charlie Louvin – "Sings Murder Ballads and Disaster Songs" (2008, Tompkins Square)
• Todd Sickafoose – "Tiny Resistors" (2008, Cryptogramophone)
• Dosh – Wolves and Wishes (2008, anticon.)
• Final Fantasy – Plays to Please (2008, Blocks Recording Club)
• Dianogah – Qhnnnl (2008, Southern Records)
• Loney, Dear – Dear John^[23] (2009)
• Dark Was the Night – "The Giant of Illinois" (Red Hot Organization, 2009)
• Live at KEXP Vol.5 – Oh No (2009)[5]
• Thao with the Get Down Stay Down – Know Better Learn Faster (2009, Kill Rock Stars)
• Dosh – Tommy
• Twistable Turnable Man: A Musical Tribute to Shel Silverstein – The Twistable, Turnable Man Returns (2010, Sugar Hill Records)
• Muppets: The Green Album – "Bein' Green" (2011, Walt Disney Records)
• Norman (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2011, Mom + Pop Music)
• The Muppets: Original Soundtrack – "The Whistling Caruso" (2011, Walt Disney Records)