(ccm)2

Photos from Studio 300 Festival at Transylvannia University

2012-01-03T12:49:00.001-05:00

Here is Tim Northcut playing Mara Helmuth's "Expanding Space."

Mara Helmuth at the computer doing live processing

The student group, CiCLOP, led by Joel Matthys, performs a piece by Matthys with Lindsay Jacob, saxophone

Pictures from the IUPUI Intermedia Festival

2010-04-29T08:00:00.000-04:00

Joseph Hyde- Vanishing Point

2010-04-22T21:09:00.002-04:00

This is a fantastic audio-visual piece that visual-music artist Joseph Hyde made especially for CCRMA. A really great correlation between audio and visual gesture, married as a "tactile plastic entity divorced from its point of origin."
More information is available on Joseph's Website: http://www.josephhyde.co.uk/video/vanishing-point/

vanishing.point from Joseph Hyde on Vimeo.

http://www.josephhyde.co.uk/video/vanishing-point/

Pictures from Sonic X Part I

2010-04-21T22:55:00.000-04:00

Pictures of L2Ork

Mara Helmuth with sensors

An Ecole for DJs and Kitteh haz Theremin

2010-04-14T12:28:00.000-04:00

As mentioned in the WSJ this morning, the French have a school for DJs.

Also, this kitteh plays with a theremin.

Lukas Ligeti at the CAC

2010-04-05T07:00:00.000-04:00

This was one of the best weekends I had in a while. The weather in Cincinnati was fantastic (not overcast), and I was able to see Lukas Ligeti for the first time. (Also, I splurged on a Cincinnati Contemporary Art Museum (CAC) annual pass, but that's for another post.)

I first read about Lukas Ligeti in this New York Times article, which mentioned his background in percussion and composition AND how he was influenced by African music. Translation: he seemed like a pretty cool dude.

On Saturday Lukas Ligeti initially performed at the CAC along with concert:nova. Here I was able to see the marimba lumina.

What is the marimba lumina? This is seriously the coolest instrument I have ever seen. It is an electronic MIDI controller fashioned after a marimba. Or a marimba that doesn't physically have its wooden bars, but instead has a two-dimentional representation of its bars on a board. In this picture you can see that each beater has a different color; you can program the marimba lumina to create a different instrumental response when you use a different color mallet. You can even assign a specific zone to function as an envelope; Lukas was mentioning that he can trace the envelope over a certain section of the keys and create different sounds on the fly. Yes, I want to go to there, but this instrument costs $3500. Don't worry; in a couple of weeks, I will establish my PayPal account online and start accepting donations for my "marimba lumina fund." You will be donating to a good cause, trust me.

Another thing I love about this instrument is that Lukas pre-programmed sounds and triggered them by using foam beaters and striking the keys, which is something I attempted to do with my laptop without the beaters. Unfortunately for me, when I use my laptop as an instrument, it looks like I'm checking my email. (I need to look into some Wiimote applications to fix this.)

Anyway, I was most blown away by his music. He played a few excerpts from his album Afrikan Machinary, which were mesmerizing and hypnotic. Also, if you play the mp3 excerpts available on Amazon.com, you will not experience the volume or the depth on your computer speakers. If you must, buy the CD and crank up your sound system at home. (Actually, please buy his albums. I am very sad I didn't have enough cash on hand to purchase an album at either the CAC or the CS13 performance.)

After the CAC performance, I had to see him perform at the CS13. There he included an improvisation from sounds he used in his piece Labyrinth of Clouds, a commission from the American Composers Orchestra.

I hope he visits Cincinnati again. He will be in Cleveland toward the last week of June, but I will sadly be away. Anyway, check out his website.

The battle rages!

2010-04-02T11:37:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was my first day of teaching object-oriented programming to my Intro to Electronic Music class. My approach is pretty open and we are taking very slow steps in what will snowball into some creative programming ideas by the end of the quarter. With the open approach, I'm allowing the students to choose for themselves whether or not they'd prefer to use Pd or Max/MSP. (This is especially nice with cycling74's 30 day trial period and student rates.) I, however, am stuck in my ways and feel I can best approach the subject through my knowledge and experience with Pd. With the maxlib in Pd, I'm also finding that many objects and ideas translate well between the two. Thanks to my friend Greg Surges and a programming class on C, I'm even getting inside the 'Contents' folder into that unknown abyss of code that lurks behind my favorite objects, though we're not quite ready to go there in Intro. (Maybe a summer class? )

Anyhow, I thought this article was an interesting look at the Pd vs. Max/MSP debate that seems to forever hover at the surface of those who are interested in computer music and these programs.

http://createdigitalmusic.com/2008/07/29/pd-vs-maxmsp-results-in-a-battle-of-multimedia-tech-nerds/

Needless to say, ~~I'm delighted that Pd was victorious~~ I realize that this 'battle' was all in fun and the real winners are those who utilize these very powerful tools to create great art. Not to mention the GEM vs. Jitter kittens are just soo damn cute!

Square Waves Take the Stage - Pulsewave (NYC)

2010-03-22T09:27:00.004-04:00

Every month something special happens in the bowels of New York City - an event where hipsters and geeks come together and forget their differences to unite as one under gameboy God.

Pulsewave is a monthly event held at The Tank in NYC which features "lo-bit" music, or chiptunes - music created entirely through the use of a Gameboy, Nintendo, or other device limited in some manner. Most articles that you'll come across about this technique of composition (and mind you, it's not a genre) immediately make a comparison to video game soundtracks, and use the words "bleep," "bloop," and "mario" in some sort of degrading fashion that makes nobody happy.

Being centered in Ohio, I rarely get to attend anything quite like this. The 8-bit scene flourishes primarily in New York City and San Francisco or at conventions where these musicians often meet (MAGFest, being one such example). I was lucky enough to see my friend Zen Albatross perform a live set that absolutely blew me away, and of the three featured artists I found his music most engaging. Also performing was a vivacious musician named Minusbaby, who managed to blow the sound system, and another Active Knowledge, who did some exciting covers that resonated with my internal love for pop music (Lady GaGa, Of Montreal).

I'm no expert on the artform, but seeing what other musicians are doing around the country is extremely exciting, especially when its done in a way that presents my childhood in a burning flame of nostalgic discharge and hurls it at my face. If you're interested in checking out Chiptunes, a good start might be Shael Riley and the Double Ice Backfire, which combines chip and pop, or if you like your hiphop roots go for A_Rival from San Francisco. If you want to jump right in, I can only recommend Zen Albatross. Also, start googling Jake Kaufman (virt), Minusbaby, Nullsleep, Bit-shifter, Inverse Phase, ....... (zzz). The genres expressed are limitless, find your own preferences and begin leveling up. Ico Bukvic will start rolling around with stomach aches.

LEGO Sequencer

2010-03-22T09:00:00.000-04:00

Here's something I found:

The TechEBlog follows it here.

The Linux Laptop Orchestra

2010-03-15T13:12:00.002-04:00

Though I realize the article to which I'm referring:

http://createdigitalmusic.com/2009/12/21/an-orchestra-of-linux-laptops-and-how-to-make-your-own-laptop-instrument/#more-8773

is a bit old, nevertheless it warrants some conversation. In recent years, there has been an absolute boom in laptop performance, with orchestras sprouting out as far as Montana, modeled in many ways after the PLOrk/SLOrk phenomena. Dr. Ivica Ico Bukvic will be returning to CCM for a live performance with his Linux Laptop Orchestra (L2Ork), which has for the most part focused on creating music using the Linux OS and finding new ways to build speakers for less money. Trust me, I just completed my third trip to IKEA for our own salad bowls, building speakers off of Ico's design. (IKEA must be wondering why their salad bowls are becoming so popular with the computer music community. Then again, maybe not.) Soon, CCM will be presenting our own laptop orchestra, name TBD, but we are equipped with speakers and Wii-motes, another necessity.

All of these implements (IKEA bowls, Wii-motes) are becoming a relative necessity in the laptop orchestra community. I am researching the topic of aesthetics in laptop performance for an independent study next quarter, but I think the article on cdm and the conversations it provoked are very interesting. Coming from Milwaukee, I played for two years in MiLO (Milwaukee Laptop Orchestra), a group founded by Dr. Christopher Burns. We, however, didn't utilize the same spatial elements of PLOrk, etc. (individual speaker pods), nor Wii-mote movement, instead focusing our performances around collective improvisation often utilizing real-time video processing and guest instrumentalists. In short, I'm finding all of these trends to be very interesting to study. I can't help but ask myself: Are we nearing a point of a normative performing aesthetic in the realm of laptop performance? Will the laptop orchestra one day be as prevalent as the symphony orchestra?

RTcmix standalone

2010-03-13T20:12:00.002-05:00

At a recent visit to CCM and the computer music studios, RTcmix contributor Brad Garton provided us with a demonstration of RTcmix programming and new applications for the iPhone. A new piece of information was especially exciting to to hear: The creation of an RTcmix standalone application for Mac and Windows. Users of RTcmix are most likely to interact with the application via the Mac OS terminal or as the [rtcmix~] object in Max/MSP. However, the new standalone allows the user to create RTcmix scores, see working audio in a buffer, edit, save, and record sound output all without the need of any UNIX commands or owning Max. The application can be found at Brad's website: http://music.columbia.edu/~brad/rtcmix-standalone/

Another exciting piece of news for Pure Data users: Miller Puckette will be teaching at Columbia next year, working with Brad on a number of projects, including an [rtcmix~] object for Pd. As a loyal Pd user, I can't wait.

Sounds of CCM^2 past...

2010-03-01T21:32:00.003-05:00

Earlier this year we wrote about a compilation album featuring many of CCM's own composers, including Danny Clay, T.R. Beery, and myself. The album, Songs for the Cure '10 was released today with music from several CCM students, but one of particular interest is the piece by CCM^2 alumnus Inez S. deDeugd-McComas.

Inez's piece, "Chop, Chop (Julie's Story)" is a unique piece in Inez's signature story-telling style that effectively captures the many immersive features of the Amazon jungle using rich soundscapes and captivating narrative.

Also included on the album is composer Danny Clay's "In The Morning," as performed by pianist Dan Sato and soprano Tara Morrow, and T.R. Beery's "7 Breaths". I think both Danny and T.R. would better appreciate their music to speak on their own behalf, so without further ado...

CCM^2 Fights Cancer!

2010-02-04T09:50:00.006-05:00

Three of CCM²'s finest composers are contributing to a fundraiser assembled by yours truly. Over 40 composers and performers are joining forces to create a two-cd album of exclusive music to raise funds for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. Please show your support for composers T.R. Beery, Danny Clay, Josh Whelchel, and CCM² alumnus Inez S. deDeugd-McComas as they provide music for this wonderful compilation. The album will be released on March 1st, 2010 - but you can donate $25 or more before that date to receive the two-disc set for free. Please donate today!

Quick Post - Show Tonight

2010-01-23T14:00:00.000-05:00

Quick post: Mara Helmuth, director of the (ccm)2, has a show at 20 Greene Street Soho tonight at 8:30 PM. Click here for more information. Her multimedia work Lifting the Mask will be performed.

Lo-Fi Adventure #1 - the Gourd speaker array

2010-01-20T19:00:00.000-05:00

CCM2 recently celebrated the completion of a beautiful new speaker array for our Laptop Orchestra project. While I was thrilled by the department's breakthrough and the prospect of my own personal array, the winter break left me low on both the funds and patience for such a venture. As a result, I took an evening and gathered some materials together for my own makeshift speaker array:

-1 dried gourd
-1 1/8" headphone jack w/ a decent length cable
-5 small speakers (I grabbed some from my ever-growing pile of broken tape machines)
-soldering iron
-a pocket knife
-sandpaper
-some sort of glue

With these humble means, a couple of hours, and very little sense of craftsmanship, I ended up with this:

Admittedly, I was a bit underwhelmed with the sound at first -- certainly not something to play a nicely mastered CD on. However, using Max/MSP and playing around with various sound files, I found the crunchy, buzzy lo-fi texture that I was hoping to use it for.

I immediately put my new creation to work by taking a small processed sample of an old French folk song and playing it through the speaker over and over again, gradually reducing the sound to a dull drone. I used a collage of the process as the basis for a new piece, which can be found in part here (called "Il pleut, il pleut" after the folk song).

For the complete piece (and many, many more pieces), check out the Indie Music Cancer Drive, a great music-related service project organized by Josh Whelchel.

Also, stay tuned for more info about the REAL speaker array completed by engineering student David Friedlander and CCM2.

Sonic X Preview #1: Meet Ico

2010-01-19T07:00:00.003-05:00

Yes, he has a cool name. Ico Bukvic is an Assistant Professor in Composition at Virginia Tech.

According to his website:

I like to think of myself as a composer, interactive new media artist, researcher, and performer. My creations draw upon synergies among aural and visual, acoustic and electronic, interactive works and installations, while my research focuses on scientific exploration of pragmatic and artistic potential of new multimedia technologies in a pursuit of the overall betterment of quality of life. If I had to name one thing that ties all of my ostensibly eclectic creations and research vectors together, it would have to be the ubiquitous interactivity. I am currently working at Virginia Tech as an assistant professor in music composition & technology, founder and director of the new Digital Interactive Sound and Intermedia Studio (DISIS), co-director and faculty in the new Collaborative for Creative Technologies in the Arts and Design (CCTAD) interdisciplinary program, as the first non-CS member of VT's Center for Human-Computer Interaction (CHCI), and as a faculty (by courtesy) in departments of Computer Science and Art & Art History. Unless all this tongue-twisting verbiage has already put you to sleep, please feel free to investigate some of my creations and/or services below.

So, you can go to his website to see his creations or services. In the meantime, I found the L2Ork YouTube Channel, and found this gem.

GulpGulp! Preview

2010-01-17T16:51:00.006-05:00

This Wednesday, January 20th, our Sonic Explorations concert will be premiering exciting new installations and tape pieces by our department, one of which is "GulpGulp!," an interactive installation developed by yours truly.

At it's core, GulpGulp! is a procedural audio generator which 'feeds' on two-dimensional image data. Based on brightness contrasts found in the image and other various programmable methods, GulpGulp! creates an audio signal comprised of various wave forms, not limited to pure sine waves, squares, triangles, saws, and noise. GulpGulp! further varies the process by assigning special waveforms to various colors and contours, making each and every input a completely different aural experience. Of course, all of this assignment is programmable to the end-user so that a single image has an infinite set of possibilities.

At the recital, I will be taking photographs of various patrons and using those images as the input data to create a truly unique experience. To further increase the experience for the guests, GulpGulp! creates a realtime visual experience which maps to the audio data and detected-contours to help the audience identify the source-material, creating a thought-provoking and entertaining listening and viewing experience.

Here I have a short video sampling three different images that were created using an older version of the algorithm. To save time, these images were only set to be twenty seconds in length, but a more dynamic and richer experience is found with longer durations and higher resolution images.

- Josh Whelchel

Sonic Explorations Concert 1/20/10

2010-01-14T20:51:00.000-05:00

please join us for…

Sonic Explorations

with guests from Virginia Tech
Ivica Ico Bukvic, composer, CCM alumnus and Jay Crone, trombone
with works by CCM students, featuring interactive Wii music, video and much more

8:00 p.m. Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Cohen Family Studio Theater
CCM, University of Cincinnati
Free admission

Program

Painting the Pacific Angelique Poteat
FORGETFULNESS Ivica Ico Bukvic (interactive sound and video)
Mr. Ravenscroft's Haunting Nebojsa Macura
Ballet for Still Lights Jerod Sommerfeldt (video)

intermission and GulpGulp, an installation by
Josh Whelchel

ETIC 101 Michael Cortes
Language Joshua Goldman (video)
Shimmering Night Hojin Lee
derelicts of time Ivica Ico Bukvic
for trombone, computer, and 3D visuals (2008)

Details will follow