Report

This Short Term Scientific Mission is over and this will probably be the last post. The site will however stay as documentation on the work. The software made in the mission will also continue to be online and downloadable.

Here is the report and poster for the mission:
ReportSTSM_RWiderberg.pdf
STSM_POSTER_RWiderberg.pdf

Enjoy!

A release!

I am now done with version 1.0 of the IMPROVe sound object player for gamepad. You find it on software on this blog. Now time for some reflection.

I made a simple loop player for the IMPROVe project as an easy way to play with short concrete sounds. The first version was made for a set of mobile phones and a computer. The phones were used as controllers for a Pure Data patch on a computer. Each phone was controlling the playback of one sound. A bunch of people could then improvise together with sounds using a small wireless device with a simple interface. The idea with the interface was to be able to play with sounds right away without any previous knowledge about music or the software used. The interface itself was developed using Python for Symbian S60 which was then sending bluetooth data to the computer where the sounds was processed in Pure Data.

IMPROVe for Symbian S60 screenshot

It was simple and people enjoyed using it but there was often problem with the bluetooth  communication. I had to be there to set it up and control it every time it was used.
My intention was to make a simple concrete sound loop instrument which could be installed on different and used on different platforms without me maintaining it. I wanted to be able to use the software in my workshops and then leave it for those who wanted to continue on their own.

So I stopped with the mobile phone development because of lack of time and funding. A year ago I decided to start to develop the application again but this time with another system, interaction and interface.

Prototype version of IMPROVe for gamepads

I chose to work with personal computers since they are usually restricted to Mac OS or Windows operating systems. And as interaction devices I chose the Logitech dual Action Gamepad since that allows for different types of interaction and is easy to install. You just need to plug the usb cable in your computer. It is also quite cheap and can be found in electronic shops. Using this setup I hope that people that participate in my workshops and also others will download the application and explore and play with sounds themselves.
During the last two weeks I have spent time on mapping the interaction with the Logitech gamepad and making the flow and interaction in the application working smoothly and stable. I have also made the gui more compact. My idea is that you should be able to run several players with several gamepads attached to one computer.

I have been using the MaxMsp environment and in the downloadable source file for the project there is one abstraction for handling the joystick data from the gamepad. This is developed so that it could be reused in other applications.

The player can of-course be developed. I have already ideas on how to work with the visual representation of a sound and how to process the sound in different ways for exploring a sound.

Screenshot of the version released today

Casa da Música & Digitópia

I am right now visiting Casa da Música. Nice building. Been a bit lost with all the corridors and closed doors. The building is like a labyrinth. Maybe a comment on some of the concrete modernistic buildings where the intention was not get you lost but you will for sure be.

I visited Digitópia in Casa da Música where you can make music on a bunch of computers with experimental music software installed and some midi interfaces attached. I am really happy to see something like this installed in an instution for contemporary music. Definitely the way to go and very much in the same spirit as I am running my IMPROVe workshops and the IMPROVe instrument that I am developing here. They are also running monthly “Handmade Music” gatherings which is something I would love to set up back home. I quote from the about section on the Digitópia website since I think it sums up how I also see my work:

Some of the most interesting recent developments in music are related to the fact that ordinary computers and mobile devices acquired capabilities to make, record, store and spread music, while becoming available to a greater number of people. An “active relationship” with music is nowadays within the reach of people that did not go through the process of formal musical education, due to an increasing number of software applications that allow creating and making music in a friendly and intuitive manner. We are thus witnessing a true worldwide revolution in the way we create, perform, spread, listen and learn music.

The project Digitópia – Platform for the Development of Digital Music Communities – aims to explore these surges of development in a facility implemented in Casa da Música´s main entrance hall, which will contribute: 1) to develop music and creativity amongst a range of ages and social conditions, and mostly amongst youth; 2) to foster the development of free music software; 3) to promote social inclusion, and lead to the emergence of multicultural communities of music makers/lovers; 4) to promote free musical content.

Mapping

Thursday today and tomorrow is the last day of my STSM. I am running out of time! Have now spent almost two days mapping the 2 joysticks of the Logitech dual action gamepad to control a sound loop. Many more things to consider than I thought it would be. It is easy to map a midi controller to a slider or something but a joystick is a different thing. Also difficult to make the interaction feel nice. I know that people are using gamepads and joysticks for control in MaxMsp and I have been looking for patches but found nothing. Strange. I will put my patch online for those who want to use the joystick interaction for other purposes than controlling a sound loop.

A lot of the time has been spent on solving logical things in MaxMsp. MaxMsp is a great tool and it is easy and fast to build GUI:s. But when it comes to solve logical problems I think traditional programming languages are superior. I will maybe try to build another version of the loop player in Supercollider in the future. Especially if I am going to make one with granular synthesis since I find it easier to understand granular synthesis in Supercollider.

So back to the big picture. It is easy to get lost when focusing on details. What I will finish this week is a standalone version of the IMPROVe player that is similar to the previous versions but with the aim of having good and stable mapping with a Logitech dual action gamepad. Also it will be with a more compact gui. New gui and interaction design sketches will only be in the form of written down thoughts this week.

Construction

Have now been working a few days on reconstructing the sound object player prototype I made in MaxMsp about year ago. The image to above to the left is how it looked like when I got started and to the right how it looks right now when I have cleaned it up.

Have worked on this application also earlier than a year ago but in other development environments and with other gui:s and interaction. More on that later.

But what I have been noticing is that by spending more time than usual on the construction I get a lot of ideas regarding interaction design, interface design, sound processing, ideas on how to continue etc. So it is obviously good to get dirty with construction and development and also to develop your knowledge on the tools you are working with.

With my usual hectic and fragmented work situation I don’t have a lot of time to spend on programming and developing patches and application. But after this experience I will to try to find more space for that.

Structures

Spent the whole day together with Eduardo Maghalaes the day before yesterday. First we went to Parque de Serralves to listen to and record the soundscape of the park. Reason we went there was because I told Eduardo that I have a collection of city park soundscapes from around the world. City parks are always interesting since they are usually more silent than the city space surrounding them which makes it possible to hear more “natural” sounds as well as sounds from the people visiting the parks. The city outside the park is usually filled with traffic noise that masks the sounds heard in parks. So in a park we can listen to the city with a bit less traffic (most often the traffic is still heard since it is not far away). I noticed that the most common sounds from city parks that I visited is the sounds of birds. Of-course we could hear birds in the park we visited yesterday. And also kids screaming, traffic far away, planes passing, etc. Did a short recording of the park ambience:

I also recorded a room behind a fountain which was nice becauses of the water sound that bounced on the walls. We had a discussion on real vs synthetically produced sounds and soundscapes and techniques to record soundscapes. Eduardo had made some syntethic water sound and have done research into recording technologies for capturing soundscapes. The question is how you want to represent a sonic space and what quality suits your purpose. Sometimes the message comes through with simpler technology but it can also make a big difference using better technology. Eduardo gave me some links to 3d-sound technologies:

http://onemansblog.com/2007/05/13/get-your-virtual-haircut-and-other-auditory-illusions/
http://www.unoriginal.co.uk/holophonics.html
http://www.acousticintegrity.com/acousticintegrity/Holophonics.html

The “fountain-room”:

Later we went to an interesting place: Centro Comercial Stop (C.C. Stop). A former shopping mall turned into 100 rehearsal spaces! Each “shop” hosts one rehearsal space.

Was a nice to walk around and listen to a broad mix of styles:

We ended up having a long discussion about music, work, institutional structures, funding and established vs non-established culture, academia, networks etc. It affects your work a lot depending on where and how you are accepted or not. I think these questions are very important and it is always very refreshing to be able understand a bit of the structures of a new place like where I am right now. For me this is the most important thing when doing a residency.

Planning

Almost a week has been passing by and I have only one week left! I have spent most of the time this week to meet people and understanding the environment. My plan of things I want to get done before I leave is as follows:

• Making the gamepad mapping to my prototype of the sound loop player working well
• Making the prototype into a standalone app
• Collecting, editing and publishing sounds from Porto
• Making new gui and interaction design sketches for the loop player
• Trying out new ways of processing the sounds
• Considering which platform/technology to use for a new version

This list will be iterated

Inspiration

Had a presentation of the STSM yesterday for the kinetic music group at INESC and the Faculty for Engineering at the University of Port. Got into very inspiring discussions with people here and interesting links to look at.

I met Filipe Lopes from the DIGITÓPIA project which seems to relate to my work with soundscapes and digital instruments. Saw a very nice demo of an interactive playable sound map which think relates a bit to my installation Kaupunkiääni.I will visit Casa da musica here i Porto next week to see what they are up to there.

I was told about the Locus Sonus sound map project. About a year ago I put some of the sounds from my workshops online on Freesound where I also geotagged them. Unfortunately that was too time consuming to do for all sounds from my workshops but would be nice to continue with that map at some point.

Some feedback I got on my existing sound loop player was that I should try to do it with granular synthesis. I got a link to the granular synthesis loop player ruipenha.pt/software/ns-light/ which is made by the local Portugese musician Rui Penha.

In the weekend I will go for a field-recording trip in Porto and surroundings with Eduardo Maghalaes. Looking forward to that!

At INESC

I recently arrived to Porto and INESC and have spent most of the time so far getting to know the place and the people. Been inspiring. Lot’s of thoughts in my mind at the moment on how I should redesign the improve player. Need to sketch them down soon.