12th Apr 2010
In Tony Gibbs 'The Fundamentals of Sonic Art and Sound Design' he talks of the 'divide' in electroacoustic and electronic music. Indeed, he discusses the cultural differences between 'serious' electroacoustic music and other types. The basic idea being that culturally we appreciate this type of music in academic contexts (eg concert halls) and that much of the 'rest' if left in clubs.
I'd like to bridge this gap and make the installation/performance cross the divide. The pomposity of the sonic art world often does not lend itself to a unifying experience and often excludes those who 'don't get/appreciate it'. Therefore the experience of 31 parameters will be one of playfulness, and it will not be set in a white space arena.
28th Mar 2010
Pierre Schaeffer here uses the same idea I'd like to propose. By using train sounds (seemingly unmusical) he has created an interesting piece. He was a pioneer of recording techniques and is lauded in the field. However, with the technology available to us now I aim to improve on the musical enjoyment side of using a technique like this.
25th Mar 2010
Janek Schaeffer uses his self-designed instrument featuring a three tone arm multi-record, reversible play and vari-speed turntable. Interesting stuff!
18th Mar 2010
Christian Marclay uses turntablism in a very unusual manner...
9th Mar 2010
Edison performs live with a monome and launchpad. He has become a virtuoso at making a midi controller an instrument, and expresses electronic music in a tactile performed manner. He also doesn't use ANY loops, he has 64 one-shot sounds.
The only hardware I will be using is the Novation Launchpad for the performance.
6th Mar 2010
This blog (Logan Williams) explains 'how to hack a synthesizer'. For the project we could have sensors that react with various synths in the software.
3rd Mar 2010
Very interesting article concerning Kevin C. Baird's No Clergy interactive composition where users see the composition on screen.
This performance using "beatbugs" is a very interesting take on how to interact which interfaces between audience members. I'd like to get this amount of activity between the group. Check out this performance between kids to see the potential.
1st Mar 2010This installation uses all the elements that this project would like to use: interactivity, sound, vision. They take it further by using dance elements too. (Fleurs de Ruines, Nishijin Factory Garden, Kyoto, Japan, October 2004)
26th Feb 2010
This video exemplifies our ideas surrounding the use of sensors fitted behind the wall (metallic casing), however Iain McCurdy has placed this instrument on a flat surface.
"A circle of light sensors react when light is blocked from reaching them. In this movie several sound producing programs written for this instrument are demonstrated. The design is intended to allow several people to interact with the device from different angles simultaneously.
www.iainmccurdy.org"
26th Feb 2010
The haptic beach ball here would be a very intimate and playful interaction. It could create a 'festival' atmosphere within the performance space. It would also be good if the resulting audio could be spatially synced around the room.
26th Feb 2010
25th Feb 2010
This page is fantastic for explaining (simply and concisely) the basics of electrical circuitry. (https://ccrma.stanford.edu/wiki/Introduction_to_Electronics)
24th Feb 2010
Stanford University has a wealth of interesting lectures and helpful design tips. In particular, the Interaction Design Sketchbook highlights great advice the simple tool of sketching as a form of planning.
"Interaction Design is design for people – design for human use. When we interact with technology or with others through technology we are increasingly faced with computers. Computers are what make interaction design challenging. (EMBEDDED and UBIQUITOUS)
Sketches are an essential designer’s tool for capturing preliminary
observations and ideas. If they are fluent and flexible they support
creativity. Sketches can be concrete or abstract, representational or
symbolic, loose or tight, improvisational or rehearsed.
IMPORTANTLY, it talks about interaction design in the context of industrial design. Industrial worlds are rich in audio potential. I'd like to explore this idea further.Robert McKim in Experiences in Visual Thinking teaches how to draw by teaching how to see and how to imagine. Seeing feeds drawing, drawing improves seeing. What we see is influenced by what we imagine; what we imagine depends on what we see. McKim’s creative ideal of rapid visualization or idea sketching is the craft of doing all three at the same time. This is similar to the experience of any craftsman in direct engagement with his materials: imagining, shaping, seeing all at the same time."
"Industrial design is a profession that grew up in the 20 century to
shape manufactured products. It was a response to the design freedom provided by modern materials and manufacturing processes – especially plastics. With plastic, a product could take on almost any shape, color and pattern. It could mimic metal or wood, look sleek or substantial, reveal or hide. The most famous industrial designer, Henry Dreyfus, came from theater design. Happily, his contributions went beyond the illusions of stagecraft to include basic design guidelines for communication (Symbol Source Book) and anthropometrics (Human Scale).
Interaction design is a profession that will mature in the 21st century.
The central concern is how to design for people – for their physical and emotional needs and increasingly for their intellect. With computers, we can make products take on almost any behavior. The response to human input can be delayed or repeated (mappings). From moment to moment, products can change how they respond (modes). With networks, the notion of a stand-alone product is obsolete. The effect of my actions may be local or remote.
INTERACTION DESIGNERS answer three questions: How do you do? How do you feel? How do you know?
21st Feb 2010Even the simplest appliance requires doing, feeling and knowing. I can flip a light switch and see (feel?) the light come on; what I need to know is the mapping from switch to light. The greater the distance from input (switch) to output (light) – the more difficult and varied are the possible conceptual models – the longer the delay between doing and feeling, the more dependent I am on having good knowledge."
Luibo here shows some of the possibilities of hooking up the Arduino to Max for Live.
testing m4l interfacing capabilities with arduino through max's [serial] object. a simple 4-sensor controller for an FM synth. analog and digital information is mapped onto midi control messages that can be routed inside live for events or modulation.
m4l.lab.serialin - arduino controller for max 4 live from liubo on Vimeo.
18th Feb 2010
The social sound design website has been useful for discussion about specific technical issues. Specifically there is a question posted here which explains how to connect MaxMSP with Max for Live/Ableton and has a max patch to do it. (Yann has even answered his question)
17th Feb 2010
Connecting the Arduino board with MaxMSP is a relatively simple process. There are two main ways of doing it that I've found.
The first (and preferable for the project) is using the Arduino 2 Max patch created in 2007. It's stable and for the purposes of this project it provides what is needed. (http://www.arduino.cc/playground/Interfacing/MaxMSP)
The second uses firmata protocol in combination with the maxuino max patch. It is slightly more complex to use but can control both input and output therefore being more flexible. The maxuino website explains how to use it very well. This video shows a sonic art piece which uses an algorithmic composition in tandem with light shafts that correspond to the emotional state of the statue (perhaps a realisation of JG Ballard's 'Venus Smiles'?).
16th Feb 2010
After researching what software combination would be useful for the performance element I've been drawn to Max for Live. EJ's website has lots of tricks and tips for using the software. This video explains some of the basics.
15th Feb 2010
Eamir has lots of ideas that are similar to this project. The videos above show dance-mat based interactions, colour tracking with apple remote and lots more. Inspiring stuff.
5th Feb 2010 
After the Arduino workshop last week it provided a few ideas regarding the hardware.We can program these boards with anything we want really. They can also be used stand alone so we don't need a direct connection to a computer. They can work off a wireless or bluetooth network (I'm pretty sure).
One idea is to use pressure sensors on dance-mats that we fashion so the users step or 'dance' on it providing us with samples or whatever it's programmed to do. I imagine it to be a one-hit sample so they have to continuously step on and off to create sound. Also, if there were five or six mats the audience could play together once they have learned what sample their mat corresponds to. These samples would change and morph over time. Once the sample is received it'll be treated in the software system. The mats will receive different samples which will continue the looping process.
8th Feb 2010
If we were to use a looping/max system it might be handy to use Max for live? Kill two birds with one program? Just a thought. Video from Ableton Website.
2nd Feb 2010
I made this quick video to try demonstrate a looping idea with the audience giving us the sample/signal and we fudge around with it on the fly.
It's pretty simple but I thought, it's a start.
Nicol