This is a blog for the collaborative project 'Augmented Performance/Audio Exertion' at the University of Edinburgh. The participants are: Gareth Griffiths Georgios Aposkitis Matthew Collings Our supervisors are: Lauren Hayes Christos Michalakos Important dates: 25 February 2011 : 1st assessed submission 21-25 March 2011: Presentation week 21 April 2011: 2nd assessed submission Over the coming months we will create a new and exciting project to the following brief: Sensor technology allows us to electronically enhance the sound of instruments and inanimate objects. By capturing and using data from gestures and the sound of the physical performance, we can augment the palette of our instrument in real time using digital signal processing techniques. For example, an accelerometer applied on a guitarist’s wrist can provide information about the hand’s movement, which can be used for the control of a filter parameter. In this project, you are invited to create individual or collaborative electronically augmented instruments, using enhanced traditional instruments or repurposed found objects. As a group, you will explore mapping and networking strategies between your individual responsive systems and will develop architectures for composition and performance as an augmented group. Using sensors, video analysis and sound processing you will be able to find alternative forms of interaction with the electronic sound (rather than using the mouse for parameter changing for example). Note that this project is addressed not only to musicians and sound designers but to visual artists too, which will develop dialogues with the sound (or other data) in real-time, towards a final audiovisual performance. Basic electronics, sensor systems and the programming languages Max/MSP, Jitter, vvvv, Pure Data and SuperCollider are some of the tools that can be used for the realization of the project.
this guy has an exhibition in inspace at the moment, similar to what we are doing in a way, using senors and motors on everyday material's to sonic and visual effect
Next steps with only 3 weeks till presentation week
Now we've got assessment 1 in we have to push on and complete the project in what is actually a very short time. Efficiency is the name of the game. We need to clearly define our roles on what still needs to be done.
For the instrument itself we really need a big spool of wire to get going. We're defiantly going to need more vibrators which should be ordered asap. Seeing as you keep burning your fingers with the solder Gio ;) I guess myself and Matt should work on the the instrument stuff. You could maybe order a few vibrator motors if Matt gives you the info though. We also need some more object too so everyone keep your eyes open.
On the max/msp side of things, Matt, you and me need to sit down and brainstorm some structures and figure how we get something that sounds interesting out of some reasonably simple coding so we can get it made quickly and start testing.
That leaves documentation (probably a website) which you should get started on really soon Gio. Obviously Matt and myself can write some information and getting some media prepared, but this should mainly be your thing.
Cool, we'll get together tomorrow and discuss this a little then we better get to work!
Hi guys, I just bought a tilt sensor and and a pressure sensor that should come in the next few days. Hopefully we can rig these up to the guitar to get some more input data. I thought the pressure sensor would be a nice idea to put near the strumming hand so when you play like you're muting the strings, we can capture this as data. Maybe that could set the software to only triggers the vibrators that are padded or something.
The Max patch is coming on alright. I've set up the structure for having video, images, with text description and also sorted out the interactive diagram so that the vibrators move (in a really cheap looking way) and the arduino and computer flash. Silly stuff.
I was thinking to make the navigation window small like Christos suggested and the each bit can be opened from there, but we can discuss this later.
Important bits to do.
General appearance/ colours/backgrounds
TEXT! a nicely written bit about our project
a simple bit of code for diagram
I know you guys are quite busy right now, but I think we need to have a good few hour session a couple of times this we, 1 to get our corner of g13 set up with all our gear and get making noise and 2 to sit down and write all the stuff for this assessment. We'll need to be done a day early so we can make the application and text it on various computers.
Hope everything is going OK with your other projects, Matt you'll be speaking with a Lisp (excuse the pun). If you guys are free we shout devote lots of Tuesday to this.
I had an Idea about how to present our work for our first assessment. What if we made a max application that can be run in runtime? It won't be a regular patch per say (if that exists) but we could maybe present our manifesto, we could also trigger a video or two of our progress with jitter, we can trigger new windows, probably put images in as background and and also make a nice little flow diagram that actually works in max to show basically what it'll do. It'll come out like a wee website or powerpoint, but it might be a bit different and interesting and a fun use of the technology. I'll explain what I mean better when we meet 2moro. Just an idea though.
Hey boys, I managed to get the other spinning vibrator to work. It was the two points on the back end, I think we just had to be more delicate. If we carefully solder a wire onto them it should be pretty robust.
Hey boys, I stopped by kev's today and picked up an Arduino so now we have two to play with. 1 for the guitar accelerometer and one for the vibration motors etc.
- Our project aims to create an augmented instrument or sound-making object whilst combining our knowledge of the physical world with digital audio
- This is a collaborative project between Matthew Collings, Gareth Griffiths and Giorgios Aposkitis
- Basic Idea -Start with a familiar instrument (e.g Electric Guitar)
-This instrument has a recognisable sound and method of producing sound
-We extend this instrument so that it's sound is fundamentally different to its originally designed sound, although the method of generating sound may be the same (e.g. striking strings produces vibrations which are detected by electro-magnetic pickups
-We will focus on the physical domain, using the physical instrument as a controller for processes occurring via the digital domain
- The instrument will act as a controller for other sound-making objects (such as glasses or resonant metal)
- There will be an expressive understanding of the controller instrument, and this will be sonified in new forms (the instrument will retain it's ability to be an expressive physical object, only now its sound will be very different)
- So - An Electric Guitar will be 'amplified' through sound-making objects
- We will create an 'Acoustic Amplifier' whose method of producing sound will be purely acoustic, even though it's input may come from the digital realm
- Sound-making materials will be used as part of this 'amplifier' e.g. Glasses, resonant metal, other instruments or resonant bodies
-When the guitar is played, the sound which will be heard will be a composite of sounds which the guitar will 'trigger' or affect via sensors
Sound as vibration - We will use vibration motors to produce these sounds
I bought some wires, breadboard etc. over the weekends and Matt bought some phone vibrator which have arrived. We met today, soldered the vibrators to some wire to make them usable then rigged it all to the breadboard and arduino and... we have lift off!
Matt can you post a bit of the video we made?
After having some discussion about the need (or not) of a conceptual angle to the selection of sound making objects that the sensors will be attached to, we thought that it might be a nice idea to use musical instruments (or bits of them). For example the big resonant piece of piano in g13 would be nice, maybe a cymbal, violin or other stringed instrument with a resonant body. I think we need something of this sort to conceptually tie it all together, but we can discuss this more when Georgios is back and we meet our advisers tomorrow.
Next up will be to decide exactly on the hardware we'll need. How many sound making object and how many vibrators etc. And then decide on software routing and process.
Trying to settle on the conceptual/aesthetic we seem to have decided that the physicality of sound and expression in exertion are two of or main themes. This helps us to decide on what type of sensors/motors we'll use.
For our controller instruments - we'll start with piezos and just using the pitched/tonal output of the instrument itself. (so either through a mic or jack lead.)
For the triggers - vibration thingys from mobile phones and solenoids. A possible problem is that these both have similar/limited sound making scope. That provides a challenge on how we can use them to make various sonic textures (is this down to what they are used on or what computer process the sound goes through?) Also simple motor could be explored to see how we might make a different type of trigger yet still of the physical type i.e. a simple bowing device.
Still be settled on - is there going to amplification of the sounds? are the sounds made by the physical mechanics going to go back into the computer for processing? if so how? Piezos, mics?
Is there going to be a computerized visual element/ interaction.
Next step - decide on above. Order some parts! As discussed today we need to get some wire motors, piezos etc and start making!
Anyway, just thought I'd post the key points from our discussion today.
The basic aim of the project (which is still vague at this point) is to create a work which consist of a group of sound making object that are is some way controller by augmented instrument/s, most probably a guitar.
The sound making object can and will probably range from pieces of scrap metal to acoustic instruments.
The controller instruments while being principally used as my also be used as instruments in their own right.
to come...
an organized hacking/sensor session with Lauren and Christos where we'll eplore piezo, arduinos and various other things on Tuesday the 1st of Feb at 2pm.
From here we'll need to decide on how we'll augment the controller instruments and how will trigger or play (physically) the sound making object. We'll also need to discuss the software side of things i.e. how we handle the incoming controlling data and what we output to the sound making object.
We also need to thing about it conceptually, e.g. are the object the amplification or this augmented instruments? etc. what point are we trying to make?
All in good time.
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