OctoPat

Singer-Songwriter, Musician, Stiltwalker, Juggler, Lover, Dreamer, Hugger, Octopus

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MD5312 - Final Assessment

My final project in MD5312 Music for Networks is to devise a networks-based performance that is focused on collaborative play and incorporates the internet and/or other creative technologies. I chose to draw inspiration from the LOLA low latency audio and video streaming technology we discussed in class. This technology allows for audiovisual broadcasts over the internet in real-time. Unlike LOLA, collaborative software like Skype or FaceTime can only reduce latency to a point: the broadcast still arrives a moment after the fact. Still, I was intrigued by the possibilities this type of software offers to the world of live music performance, and I wanted my project to exploit this in some way.

Since everyone in the course mostly operates on Macs, I decided to use FaceTime for this project. My first step was to try to think of a way to create music using FaceTime that couldn’t be done any other way. It occurred to me that it would be possible for musicians to be making music together unconsciously from isolated individual locations. With a drummer in one space and a pianist in another, they could each send a live audio-video feed to a central location, and the only ones to hear the amalgamated sound would be the audience in said central location.

When musicians play together in the same space, it is very difficult to play out of sync with one another. They naturally want to fall in step, and when even one musician is playing at a different speed or rhythm, it can throw other instruments off track. Thus, my project will enable the live creation of asynchronous music with live musicians who are completely uninfluenced by what each other is doing.

To make things even more interesting, I added an element of gamification and audience participation. Each musician will mute their respective device so that they only receive video from the audience chamber. This ensures that they truly cannot hear one another. The music will be improvised based on visual prompts from the audience: participants will be invited to step up to the laptops FaceTiming with the musicians and show one of eight cards to the camera. Each card contains a symbol, and each symbol corresponds to a musical directive. Next to each musician’s device will be a cheat sheet with a simple explanation of what each symbol indicates. When a musician sees a symbol, they must then improvise a response based on the prompt. It’s like a combination of Lucky Dragons’ Make A Baby concept with graphic scores.

Initially I had decided to feature three musicians, but decided to limit it to two. To keep the performance as bombproof as possible, I decided that more than one pitched instrument playing at once risked serious dissonance and unpleasant friction in the sound. In the end, I narrowed my musicians down to a drummer and a keyboardist.

When I performed the first draft of my idea in class, I instructed my musicians, Matt and Clodagh, to respond to each symbol by only playing for a few seconds, then stopping. The biggest issue I faced was volume control… it only hit me after we were done that I could have adjusted the volume on the computer communicating with Clodagh to keep the drums from drowning out Matt’s keyboard playing. Still, I think I’m on the right track, and all that’s left is to refine each symbol’s associated response and get my pals set and ready for the final performance. My draft performance was recorded, but I’m having serious trouble uploading the file as it’s massive. I will upload it soon as a separate post once I’ve got it figured out!

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MD5312 - Collaborative Software

Today we were tasked with evaluating a collaborative software and discussing the way it’s used. Me and my buddy Joe picked eBay.

I don’t use eBay myself, but from what I know and my observations, it is the largest online auction site on the planet. eBay is a global community of buyers and sellers who have the ability to rate and review each other on the quality and reliability of their service. Individuals and businesses alike can put items up for sale, either for a fixed price or for auction, then rate the buyer or seller to indicate whether they fulfilled the deal in good faith. These ratings then serve as warnings or recommendations to future buyers/sellers. There are also community forums where people can discuss issues with the site.

Following this little bit of research, we had to come up with a project that would involve using a collaborative software to produce a piece of music in real time. Me and Joe decided to use a survey software called Wufoo to generate random guitar chords based on user input. We tried it out in class, and the result was pretty quirky, with some unexpectedly nice sounding chord progressions.

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MD5312 - Graphic Score 2 As promised, here’s the recording of my interpretation of the graphic score given to us in class, as played on my friend’s acoustic guitar.

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MD5312 - Graphic Score 1

This time, we had to perform an interpretation of a graphic score - a visual representation of sound whose musical rendition is entirely in the eye of the beholder. As the only instrument I have with me is an acoustic guitar lent by a local friend, I chose to use it to attempt to read the score through instinct alone. Here’s the score, and the recording of my performance will have to come in the next post as I can’t seem to attach it here.

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MD5313 - Assessment Song For our final assignment in Songwriting & Context, we had to write a song in response to one of the prompts from a list. I chose “A Father’s Tale,” as I’d been mulling over some ideas regarding the freemining tradition in the Forest of Dean and how it’s been passed down from father to son for generations. When we went to the Forest, we got a guided tour of one of the old coal mines. We had to wear hard hats with mining lamps attached, which was a good thing, because I must have bashed my head a hundred times down there! In any case, our guide led us through the mine and shared all kinds of little factoids with us about its history and the people who worked it. I was especially interested in his explanation of how freeminers back in the day would cut the rims off bowler hats, leaving only a little piece to stick a candle on, and that this was how they managed to see in the dark before electric lamps came about. So, I freewrote a bunch of ideas and lyrics around mining and caves, and refined them until I ended up with an origin song about freeminers and their heritage. I hope the Forest of Dean community appreciates this little tribute, and my hope is that they’ll make it their own and sing it around coal fires over fine beers! Freeminer by Patrick Dunn Session musician: Abigail Scire You kissed the mouth of the coal mine Must be love drags you down there ‘Cause you can’t see shit in the dark ‘Cept by the light on your head But you’ll find your way if it goes out ‘Cause you’re a freeminer Got swallowed whole by the coal mine Just like your dad and his before Carving out their birthright in the dark Lit by the candles on their heads They found their way when they went out ‘Cause they were freeminers And when they climbed out they were black as the night But when they got home they were filled with delight ‘Cause their fire would burn forever As long as they kept it fed And the children they bore became freeminers

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MD5313 - Location Song

For this assignment, we had to write lyrics (only lyrics) based on a location. I had a very hard time picking one... and I didn’t want to go for the obvious, like a city I’ve lived or grown up in. I struggled to choose something until the other day, when I screwed up trying to take the train from Cheltenham to Swindon the other day. I got to the station only to find out my train had been cancelled. A kind man at the customer service desk gave me an alternative route, and I thought I’d followed his instructions to the letter until I found myself on the wrong train going nowhere fast. At first I was angry, but looking out the window, I couldn’t help but appreciate the view. It was a beautiful day, and there was something about being a lone traveler in a car full of strangers, with no idea where I was or where I was going. That’s when the idea struck me to choose the train as my location. Here’s what I wrote that day: The English Train Travelling with the other strangers I have no names for the lands outside They’ve all got their destinations I’m just along for the ride I’m a reflection in the window A traveler from another world And I’m happy to remain A foreigner on an English train Passed a town made all of chimneys Shining next to fields pristine I can see the horses, can’t hear them whinny This island is draped in browns and greens The voice out of the intercom Announces the next landing Slow to a stop, then off again We walk and then we’re sprinting I’m a reflection in the window A traveler from another world And I’m happy to remain A foreigner on an English train The car rocking gently against the tracks Makes it easy to slip into dreaming But there’s always reminders I’m not alone Somewhere a child is screaming And I’d scream too If I thought that I was trapped But I’ve never felt so free By a stream of sunny sights to see I’m a reflection in the window A traveler from another world And I’m happy to remain A foreigner on an English train

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MD5312 - Thinking Outside the Box: Visual Composition

MD5312 just keeps the curveballs coming. Never know quite what to expect with this class! This time we were given two pieces of paper: on one of the sheets, we were to write out some sort of composition, which we were to perform using the other sheet as our instrument. The top image you see here is my composition, with explanations for the symbols in top left. The bottom image is the result of an exercise in visual composition. We looked at examples of compositions that looked like abstract drawings, and that were put to music using digital software. Gary-Martin, our teacher, had us draw five sections on a sheet of paper. Then he had us close our eyes and attempt to draw a visual representation of five different sound arrangements, which he played live on an acoustic guitar.

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MD5312 Sound Mapping

Sound mapping is the practice of visually communicating aural information for a particular geographical area on a map. Specific sounds or ambient noise levels can be communicated via symbols or patterns. Another practice is to record ambient sound in public spaces and attach the recording files to a digital map. We were tasked with walking around campus and making a sound map of our own. My friend Hannah made the map and, alas, I neglected to get a picture of it before leaving class!

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MD5313 - Origin Song - Grew Up In The Backseat I wrote this song with my pals Clodagh, Joseph and Matt. We were tasked with writing an origin song about one of us, something that evoked where we’re from and an important lesson we learned. My fondest memories of my childhood are from the countless road trips my family took from one end of Canada to the other. I have so many memories of sitting in the back seat of the car, looking out the window and seeing everything from lakes and mountains to deep forests and rolling hills. It taught me that the world is an incredibly huge place, and that the relationship between people and the land they live on is different everywhere. We chose to make the beginning of the song very repetitive, to emulate the feeling of being in a car and driving for hours on end. Later, when the lyrics indicate that I’ve finally arrived at home after a long trek, there’s a silent pause followed by a burst of sound, as though we’ve only arrived long enough to take a deep breath before hitting the road again. The end of the song is airy and ethereal and repetitive, once again simulating the feeling of motion and of wheels turning. I used a looping pedal for two sections of the vocals in the track, to reinforce the sensation of dreamy repetition. Grew Up In The Back Seat Left the Atlantic Drove through the forests Drove by the rivers Drove by the lakes Drove through the prairies Drove through the farmlands Drove through the foothills Drove through the mountains Drove to the ocean Drove across the Island Drove to the beaches Drove up the Pacific Drove back to Alberta Drove back down to Lethbridge Drove back to 24th Street Drove up into the driveway Then drove out again Grew up in the back seat Looking out the window My dad taught me freedom My mom taught me laughter

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MD5312 - Social Media

This week in Music For Networks, we performed interactive pieces we devised in groups in last week’s class. My group, composed of myself, Clodagh, Matt, Joe and Joe, came up with a piece that is conducted by the audience. We were tasked with setting rules that would make the piece ‘bombproof’. These are the rules we drew up for our piece: 1) The only instrument that can’t be interfered with is the drum; 2) Musicians can be made to start or stop playing by making eye contact and pointing at them; 3) Musicians can be made to change key by making eye contact and clapping at them; 4) Musicians can be made to play louder or softer by making eye contact and raising or lowering a hand. The issues that were pointed out with this process were: - The musicians tended to look downward and focus on their instrument, and so the audience had a difficult time making eye contact - The key changes didn’t always sound good, even though we’d come up with two specific keys to switch between before starting - "What if an audience member claps repeatedly at a musician, or deliberately tries to game the system to make us fail?” Afterwards, we talked at length about the use of social media and technology to generate musical ideas, and were tasked with devising our own project. For my own, I tried asking friends to send me 5 second clips of themselves laughing, crying or screaming over WhatsApp, with the intent of arranging them into a musical piece using a DAW application. We’ll see how it turns out!

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MD5313 Protest Song - All I’m Trying To Do Is Love My Man (Patrick Dunn - vocals + guitar / Hannah Kane - bass) As a gay man, I am constantly subjected to the infuriatingly hypocritical claims regarding people like me from ignorant pundits, politicians and leaders in positions of authority. I wrote this song from a place of deep frustration, because I am sick and tired of seeing leaders make terrible decisions for society based on nothing more than prejudice. I'm not sick, I'm not dangerous, all I'm trying to do is love my man, and all I'm asking for are the legal and human rights to do so in dignity and peace. For this song, I made a list of horrible hypocritical myths about gay people and wrote verses exposing their blatant fallacies. Here are the lyrics in full:

They keep telling me that I’m sick in the soul Then shriek at me with vicious hate-filled threats They keep telling me on TV what I am Then never bother asking me themselves They say I’m a danger because of my nature But all I’m trying to do is love my man They keep telling me how I’ll hurt their families Then throw out their children like me to the streets They keep telling me how I’ll ruin their marriage While husbands are out there beating up their wives They say I’m a danger because of my nature But all I’m trying to do is love my man They keep telling me I should hide out of sight And never kiss him out in broad daylight They say loving him is like loving a beast Like I’m the one who can’t tell the two apart They say I’m a danger because of my nature But all I’m trying to do is love my man They keep telling me that love is a choice Something you activate at will Then why when see him do I feel so warm inside In a way I cannot possibly describe They say I’m a danger because of my nature But all I’m trying to do is love my man All I’m trying to do is love my man All I wanna do is love my man

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MD5313 - Protest Song Research Joni wrote this song as a plea to the United States to stop warmongering and return to peaceful dealings with other countries. Canada and the US have a deeply intertwined history and relationship, which is why she wrote the song as a message between close friends. In it, she gently chastises ‘Johnny’ (a.k.a. America) for ‘fighting us all’ and reacting indignantly and combatively to efforts to calm him or call him out. Joni performed this piece on The Dick Cavett Show on August 19, 1969. It’s a song that is especially relevant now as the US is still engaged in war across the world, and responds just as indignantly and aggressively to cries for peace. I especially identify with what she says about being able to remember the good things about the US, and wishing it would turn back to those values. Joni was born and raised in Fort McLeod, a small prairie town not half an hour from the city of Lethbridge, Alberta, where I grew up. This song was released on her album Clouds and has been covered by many artists, including A Perfect Circle. It’s a powerful a cappella piece, and I think she chose to write and perform it this way so there could be no distraction from the lyrics and their message. It certainly accentuates the intimacy and personal nature of the song. The form of the song is a repeated A section, as is common among old protest songs. It has a distinctly minor sound, which is fitting given the grave and concerned nature of the lyrics. The last lines are particularly haunting, and still resonate today... “Oh my friend / We have all come / To fear the beating of your drum”

The Fiddle & The Drum by Joni Mitchell

And so once again My dear Johnny my dear friend And so once again you are fightin' us all And when I ask you why You raise your sticks and cry, and I fall Oh, my friend How did you come To trade the fiddle for the drum

You say I have turned Like the enemies you've earned But I can remember All the good things you are And so I ask you please Can I help you find the peace and the star Oh, my friend What time is this To trade the handshake for the fist

And so once again Oh, America my friend And so once again You are fighting us all And when we ask you why You raise your sticks and cry and we fall Oh, my friend How did you come To trade the fiddle for the drum

You say we have turned Like the enemies you've earned But we can remember All the good things you are And so we ask you please Can we help you find the peace and the star Oh my friend We have all come To fear the beating of your drum

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MD5313 - Poem Rewritten Into Lyrics

This week in MD5313 we talked about the difference between songwriting as an expression of something within us, and songwriting as a reaction to external stimuli. We were tasked with taking a poem written before 1920 and turning it into song lyrics. I’ve always written songs this way: 1) Improvise on the guitar/piano until I find a riff I like 2) Improvise a melody on said riff until I find one I like 3) Improvise lyrics on said melody until I find some I like So, doing it this way is completely backwards to what I’m used to, which I love! It was really challenging, as I didn’t have a music or a rhythm to set the words to. I worked through the poem and tried to paraphrase each segment into lyrics that had a sense of flow and repetition to them. The poem I chose is The Valley’s Singing Day, by Robert Frost, and it goes like this: The Valley’s Singing Day by Robert Frost December 1920 THE SOUND of the closing outside door was all. You made no sound in the grass with your footfall, As far as you went from the door, which was not far; But you had awakened under the morning star The first song-bird that awakened all the rest. He could have slept but a moment more at best. Already determined dawn began to lay In place across a cloud the slender ray For prying beneath and forcing the lids of sight, And loosing the pent-up music of over-night. But dawn was not to begin their “pearly-pearly” (By which they mean the rain is pearls so early, Before it changes to diamonds in the sun), Neither was song that day to be self-begun. You had begun it, and if there needed proof— I was asleep still under the dripping roof, My window curtain hung over the sill to wet; But I should awake to confirm your story yet; I should be willing to say and help you say That once you had opened the valley’s singing day. …I love the images in this poem. The narrator is asleep, and their partner/lover/friend/who knows has left the house and wandered into the valley where they have effectively woken the world up and started dawn’s natural mechanisms all on their own. Here’s my version: The Valley’s Singing Day by Patrick Dunn Once, at dawn, I turned to hold you My arms stayed empty, and I barely heard you Close the door and walk outside Before the sun could sting my sleeping eyes You woke the songbirds and the morning star Laid its first ray across a cloud, It tried to pry my eyelids open But it couldn’t crack my sleeping eyes The dew was pearls But when you broke the day They turned to diamonds And only you can say That once you opened the valley’s singing day That morning’s song didn’t start itself And there’s no proof it was you that made it rise You got the whole world up and singing While I struggled against my sleeping eyes The dew, it was pearls But when you broke the day They turned to diamonds And only you can say That once you opened the valley’s singing day ...I have to say, I’m not satisfied with what I’ve written. I think I should spend more time fleshing out what I think the emotion of the piece is, and adjust the lyrics accordingly. Right now it’s just a pretty story, and it doesn’t really have any personal significance. I’m working on it!

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MD5312 - Cell-Based Compositions

This week, we learned how to make cell-based compositions. A cell is a small musical phrase that can be repeated or looped within a piece. When different iterations of the same cell are looped over top of each other while starting on different beats, a composition technique known as ‘phasing’ occurs.

In class, we were asked to pair up, create a loop in Logic, then take turns swapping seats and editing each other’s cells on a timer. Here is the result, enjoy!