4 cutting edge pieces will be presented, all using network technology as the core for producing sounds and sights. The Loop by Jackson4 (Tom Davis, Jason Geistweidt, Alain Renaud) The Loop explores the possibilities of co-located... more
4 cutting edge pieces will be presented, all using network technology as the core for producing sounds and sights. The Loop by Jackson4 (Tom Davis, Jason Geistweidt, Alain Renaud) The Loop explores the possibilities of co-located performance, decentralised composition, and the acoustics of network. This performance begins with a brief improvisation presenting acoustic sources to excite the network. This material is shared, transformed, and reintroduced into the composition. This process continues through successive generations until a predetermined time or a point at which the composition naturally concludes. The result is an integrated meta-instrument and an emergent composition, with no one artist being the sole performer or composer. Leech (Curtis McKinney) Leech is a multi-media composition that explores the moral and physical dimensions of music piracy. Leech includes components of sonification and music composition, using the actual mechanisms that enable BitTorrent downloads ...
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This paper presents the musical interactions aspects of the design anddevelopment of a web-based interactive music collaboration system called JamOn. Following a design science approach, this system is being built accordingto principles... more
This paper presents the musical interactions aspects of the design anddevelopment of a web-based interactive music collaboration system called JamOn. Following a design science approach, this system is being built accordingto principles taken from usability engineering and human computer interaction(HCI). The goal of the system is to allow people with no to little musicalbackground to play a song collaboratively. The musicians control the musicalcontent and structure of the song thanks to an interface relying on the freeinking metaphor. One contribution of this interface is that it displays musicalpatterns of different lengths in the same space. The design of Jam On is basedon a list of performance criteria aimed at ensuring the musicality of theperformance and the interactivity of the technical system. The paper comparestwo alternative interfaces used for the system and explores the various stagesof the design process aimed at making the system as musical and interactive aspossible.
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The culture of laptop improvisation has grown tremendously in recent years. The development of personalized software instruments presents interesting issues in the context of improvised group performances. This paper examines an approach... more
The culture of laptop improvisation has grown tremendously in recent years. The development of personalized software instruments presents interesting issues in the context of improvised group performances. This paper examines an approach that is aimed at increasing the modes of interactivity between laptop performers and at the same time suggests ways in which audiences can better discern and identify the sonic characteristics of each laptop performer. We refer to software implementation that was developed for the BLISS networked laptop ensemble with view to designing a shared format for the exchange of messages within local and internet based networks.
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Many commercial software applications for timbre creation and manipulation feature an engineering-focused, parametric layout. This paper argues the case for a perceptually motivated approach to interface design in such tools.... more
Many commercial software applications for timbre creation and manipulation feature an engineering-focused, parametric layout. This paper argues the case for a perceptually motivated approach to interface design in such tools. `Perceptually motivated' in this context refers to the use of common semantic timbre descriptors to influence the digital representation of timbre. A review is given of existing research into semantic descriptors of timbre, as well as corresponding acoustic features of timbre. Discussion is also given on existing interface design techniques. The perceptually motivated approach to interface design is demonstrated using an example system, which makes use of perceptually relevant mappings from acoustic timbre features to semantic timbre descriptors and visualises sounds as physical objects.
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This paper provides an overview of a proposed demonstration of 3DinMotion, a system using real time motion capture of one or several subjects, which can be used in interactive audiovisual pieces and network performances. The skeleton of a... more
This paper provides an overview of a proposed demonstration of 3DinMotion, a system using real time motion capture of one or several subjects, which can be used in interactive audiovisual pieces and network performances. The skeleton of a subject is analyzed in real time and displayed as an abstract avatar as well as sonified based on mappings and rules to make the interplay experience lively and rewarding. A series of musical pieces have been composed for the interface following cueing strategies. In addition a second display, “the prompter” guides the users through the piece. 3DinMotion has been developed from scratch and natively, leading to a system with a very low latency, making it suitable for real time music interactions. In addition, 3DinMotion is fully compatible with the OpenSoundControl (OSC) protocol, allowing expansion to commonly used musical and sound design applications.
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In digital art theory, the histories of generative art and interactive art are considered fundamentally interrelated, yet distinctively defined mutually dependent, yet clearly separated by their respective discourse shaping definitions.... more
In digital art theory, the histories of generative art and interactive art are considered fundamentally interrelated, yet distinctively defined mutually dependent, yet clearly separated by their respective discourse shaping definitions. Equally, in art practise, a multitude of hybrid art forms challenge these definitions allowing for questions on the nature of the two currents. Both genres share a longstanding tradition in the practise of digital arts, while their theoretic concepts have been constantly refined by scholars over the last decades. Recently, their discussion has gained further momentum as both art forms received heightened attention in institutional discourse, curatorial display and theoretic reception. This paper focuses on the two neighbouring fields in the digital arts, their respective traditions, their conceptual demarcation lines and theoretic implications. We are singling out examples of hybrid nature, conceptual cross-overs between interactive art and generativ...
The potential for Participatory Arts to contribute to Mental Health and Wellbeing has been subject of Parliamentary Debates, All-Party Interparliamentary reports, research by the Arts Council of England as well as academic research.... more
The potential for Participatory Arts to contribute to Mental Health and Wellbeing has been subject of Parliamentary Debates, All-Party Interparliamentary reports, research by the Arts Council of England as well as academic research. Often, these questions stand in the light of accountability of Art, of measurable societal benefit, not at least to justify funding decisions and institutional support. Criticism of this quantitative reading of participatory arts centres around limitations in measuring social connectedness and its benefits, as well as other side-effects of reductionism (Bishop 2012). This paper presents four recent media arts projects aiming to contribute to social cohesion through a multitude of strategies. This paper discusses the potential of media arts to contribute to social connectedness as well as challenges in measuring their success.
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This paper discusses the design, construction, and development of a multi-site collaborative instrument, The Loop, developed by the JacksOn4 collective during 2009-10 and formally presented in Oslo at the arts.on.wires and NIME... more
This paper discusses the design, construction, and development of a multi-site collaborative instrument, The Loop, developed by the JacksOn4 collective during 2009-10 and formally presented in Oslo at the arts.on.wires and NIME conferences in 2011. The development of this instrument is primarily a reaction to historical network performance that either attempts to present traditional acoustic practice in a distributed format or utilises the network as a conduit to shuttle acoustic and performance data amongst participant nodes. In both scenarios the network is an integral and indispensible part of the performance, however, the network is not perceived as an instrument, per se. The Loop is an attempt to create a single, distributed hybrid instrument retaining traditionally acoustic interfaces and resonant bodies that are mediated by the network. The embedding of the network into the body of the instrument raises many practical and theoretical discussions, which are explored in this pa...
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Over the last five years, KIMA, an art and research project on sound and vision, has investigated visual properties of sound. Previous iterations of KIMA focused on digital representations of cymatics—physical sound patterns—as media for... more
Over the last five years, KIMA, an art and research project on sound and vision, has investigated visual properties of sound. Previous iterations of KIMA focused on digital representations of cymatics—physical sound patterns—as media for performance. The most recent development incorporated neural networks and machine learning strategies to explore visual expressions of sound in participatory music creation. The project, displayed on a 360-degree canvas at the London Roundhouse, prompted the audience to explore their own voice as intelligent, real-time visual representation. Machine learning algorithms played a key role in meaningful interpretation of sound as visual form. The resulting immersive performance turned the audience into cocreators of the piece.
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KIMA is a holographic surround-sound installation that visualizes telepresence as both a phonetic and a synaesthetic phenomenon. The performance piece is based on the physical conditions of cymatics-the study of physically visible sound... more
KIMA is a holographic surround-sound installation that visualizes telepresence as both a phonetic and a synaesthetic phenomenon. The performance piece is based on the physical conditions of cymatics-the study of physically visible sound wave patterns. Two environments, a quad surround and a holographic interface, build the framework of a telematic experience that illustrates communication as wave forms while focusing on the relationship between sound and matter.
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This paper describes a recent network music performance (NMP) study that was carried out at the Sonic Arts Research Centre in Belfast in March 2007. We refer to this study as the Apart Project. This study is unique in that a wide... more
This paper describes a recent network music performance (NMP) study that was carried out at the Sonic Arts Research Centre in Belfast in March 2007. We refer to this study as the Apart Project. This study is unique in that a wide variety of novel network scenarios were ...
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Transmission is both a telepresence performance and a research project. As a real-time visualization tool, Transmission creates alternate representations of neural activity through sound and vision, investigating the effect of interaction... more
Transmission is both a telepresence performance and a research project. As a real-time visualization tool, Transmission creates alternate representations of neural activity through sound and vision, investigating the effect of interaction on human consciousness. As a sonification project, it creates an immersive experience for two users: a soundscape created by the human mind and the influence of kinetic interaction. An electroencephalographic (EEG) headset interprets a user’s neural activity. An Open Sound Control (OSC) script then translates this data into a real-time particle stream and sound environment at one end. A second user in a remote location modifies this stream in real time through body movement. Together they become a telematic musical interface-communicating through visual and sonic representation of their interactions.