My penultimate semester at ITP has come to a close, and it was my busiest yet. These pictures show my final products for the Zoraida project: a microphone/vocal processor made out of elephant statues, a machete that maps its movement to sound (via a wireless accelerometer), and two conga drums that control video (xfade, saturation, and awesome color feedback) when played.

These pictures are from the NIME show where the instruments were performed:

And these pics are from the ITP Winter Show where the instruments were subjected to rigorous user testing (and passed with flying colors for the most part).

A speculation about one potential path:

I feel like the future of performance, specifically musical performance, will be increasingly physical, albeit a lightweight physicality that will call for more dexterity and subtlety from the body. From my experience this semester, most artists (particularaly at ITP) exploring the realm of “new interfaces” and most discussions regarding the field focus on creating substantial, legible relationships between user input and sonic output. I imagine that as alternative interfaces and interactivity advance along with technology, there will be greater space and a greater desire for more deliberate and delicate types of interaction.

The urge for one-to-one type relationships will wane, giving way to more free and abstract forms of musical expression via technology. Delicacy does not imply that that these interactions will necessarily not be strenuous or taxing, but delicate in that these interfaces will be so intricate, robust, and accessible that things like skill or virtuosity will once again become an imperative. Interest in alternative device will be less about novelty and more about how well the device is played or sounds.

Technological restraints shackling artists from a purer realization of their alternative musical device (such as cabling or the size of a microcontroller) are diminishing at about the same rate as new artist/tinkerers are becoming involved in the creation of alternative devices (see the rise of circuit bending, for instance, or MAKE! magazine).

Furthermore, performances will hopefully become increasingly multimedia based, as the use of projectors and displays in rock shows has become a standard. The recent interest in 1960’s experiments in synaesthesia testifies to this as well (see last year, with Joshua Lightshow at the Kitchen and the 60’s music thing at the Whitney). The ratio between of Laurie Andersons and dudes playing acoustic guitar at a coffee shops will decrease at the same rate that the ratio of Stelarcs to dudes who’ve hacked their Wii’s will increase.

START
-Nancy: walks on to stage; takes lipstick out of pocket and places in front of herself \
-Sound: silence\
-Visuals: Nothing\
\
-Nancy: removes top off of lipstick, same body position\
-Sound: pre-recorded oscillating synth sound\
-Visuals: nothing\
\
-Nancy: pushes lipstick up\
-Sound: Pause/silence, back into synth
-Visuals: nothing\
\
~ 30secs
\
-Nancy: puts lipstick back in pocket, does not put it on; walks over to open luggage laying on table on stage, contents not visible to audience .\
-Sound: sound clip, ogunwomansound.wav plays (layered over synth sounds)\
-Visuals: nothing\
\
~ 45secs
\
-Nancy: Removes machete from luggage and begins to dance. \
-Sound: movement of machete sonically mapped by max patch.\
-Visuals: Start, Fremez poster, glows/pulsates w/ synth sound or does something where the red spreads slowly over the two people’s faces in the images…\
\
~ 3mins, 15secs
\
-Nancy: Nancy blows whistle, to call in the drums, walks over to podium (in front of stage)\
-Sound: Nick on drums start; backing track starts\
-Visuals: Cuba landscape pics mix with video of La Lupe during first verse (controlled by Nick’s drums w/ jitter patch). [maybe: 4 images (of each female archetype) for 4 sets of "do your hard work" of chorus]\
\
~ 3mins, 45secs
\
-Nancy: Takes lipstick from pocket and puts it on, starts singing lyrics to Campina while at podium, using elephant mic stand.\
-Sound: Backing track continues (prerecorded and timed); Nick continues to play\
-Visuals: same as above\
\
Everything ends at same time, timing based on backing track, nancy’s last words “I’ve been working for the trees;” Nick stops playing when backing track ends.}
~ END 5mins 30secs

Long preview on blip.

Despite being jetlagged and massive sinus pressure, I got a good bit of work done today. I’ve received only one of the two Fishman Powerjack endpin preamps I’ve ordered, but I got one conga drum to control max/msp/jitter today. I had to solder the 6-inch piezo film to the preamp, attach a 9V battery, and then secure the film and preamp inside the drum. The result is surprisingly good. This configuration makes a very sensitive and high quality microphone:

I then ran the output of the mic/preamp into an m-audio quattro interface, and into max/msp/jitter. Right now the patch is very simple. I’m using the peak frequency of the incoming audio amplitude adjust crossfading between two images, and things like brightness, color, and saturation:

At least things are talking, the actual effects can be modified later.

Also, I got a new aluminum pipe with a secure base flange to replace the pvc pipe on the old mike stand. I’m going to give up the twisting effect of the main pipe in exchange for structural integrity. The elephant will still twist, but the rest of the stand will be stationary. Other effects will have to be controlled via some onboard pots or something.

The major breakhrough today was getting the machete movements mapped to sound. I did this through rewire, with Max as the master and Ableton Live as the slave. Basically, I took the x,y,z data in from the accelerometer, filtered each stream of data using some javascript functions I wrote, and then used that filtered data to control midi notes which were used to control a synth in ableton live. The sound is not really what I want, but for now at least it’s fluid and fairly well-mapped to movements. Whew.

The patch:

Machete in action:

Click To Play

Also, I ordered aluminum pipe and flanges so i can work on elephant mic stand round 2. I also ordered pre-amps for the drums, which are here now. Here’s some footage of the prototype stand in action. The song being sung is still in the works, and Nancy’s still rehearsing the vocals.

Click To Play

Unfortunately I’ve got to go out of town tomorrow till Sunday the 24th, but all necessary parts will be here when I return.

This week I am constructing the elephant microphone stand. It consists of pvc pipe on a wood base, and there is a potentiometer beneath where the pipe is attached which rotates when you twist the pipe. On top of the pipe is the base for the elephant stand, and again there is a potentiometer beneath this base so that when you twist the elephant stand the pot is twisted as well. Thus, the main pipe and the elephant stand can twist independently of each other, and when twisted a pot sends out values into arduino and into max/msp.

Since this is a mic stand, in max/msp I’m using those values to pan incoming vocals (by twisting elephant stand) and augment vocal pitch (by twisting main pipe stand).

I also got a temporary housing unit for the wiTilt. The circuit is constructed and fairly robust, but when I put it on the machete I’ll have to find a more subtle container.

Unfortunately, the congas have yet to arrive. The work the drums require though (placing piezo film beneath their heads, running them through pre-amp) isn’t too high so it won’t take too long to get that working.

Next steps: Once I get everything working and talking to max, I need to work hard on the max patch itself. Since my devices aren’t amazingly technical, the sound and visuals for the performance need to be well planned and of a high quality. Then we need to rehease the performance itself so that all the kinks get worked out.

This week has been pretty good. First off, I got my WiTilt from sparkfun. Following the instructions on the sensor workshop, I had no trouble getting the wiTilt’s data into Terminal. Getting the data into max and parsing it, however, proved not so easy. I could get the data in, but couldn’t get it to send continuously as the messages kept timing out. So then I tried downloading Woon Seung Yeo’s W2O, an app that parses the WiTilt’s data and sends it via OpenSoundControl into Max, but in her example patch she was using a deprecated object for receiving OSC data. I tried using Max’s built-in OSC reciever object, udpreceive, but things wouldn’t talk.

I finally found a patch via the Max/MSP forums that someone had made for the receiving and parsing the WiTilt data. Analyzing it, I realized that I was sending the wrong command (in ascii) to the WiTilt telling it send data. Problem solved. So now I’ve got a patch that takes in the witilt data wonderfully. I attached some oscillators to the incoming x,y,z data from the WiTilt, and the results are below:

Click To Play

Plus, I got the machete I’m going to use with the WiTilt. So one object/instrument is looking very good.

I also received a large elephant I ordered off ebay that is fairly light and i think it’s perfectly drillable for inserting a pot. I also got 20 panasonic WM-61A mics for the elephant after reading about them in “Getting a Bigger Sound” by Bart Hopkin and hearing them used in a live setting on this site.

These mics are really, really small. And there is a hack for the mics that prevents distortion under high sound levels that requires some really intricate soldering. I got one to work, but probably ruined 3 in the process. I’m not sure what to do with these things now. Wiring many of these seems like too much a time consuming task. I’ll probably give it another go though. I really need to put at least two or so on the elephant’s trunk.

I also got 5 or so OPA134 op-amps that I was going to run the mics into max with. They are typically used in DIY headphone amp circuits, but I figured they’d be plenty powerful for my needs. First tests weren’t successful, but I need to sit down and put more time into it.

Next week: Get mics/amps to work and then use them in max. Get hand drum to use with contact mic in max. Be optimistic.

So there’s been some changes to the overall project, once again, but these are pretty much final and many of the performance’s conceptual gaps have been filled. The performance in general can be understood as a kind of spiritual cleansing or reclaiming of the land (Cuba) after the exodus of the entertainment firms. Framing the performance like this gives support for narrative functions of the objects themselves, as detailed below.

First, the nature of Zoraida’s objects have changed. Nancy and I were having trouble deciding how to integrate/translate the break-beam sensors into movement and sound. We decided to re-think about the objects, and focused on the idea that these things are going to serve as Zoraida’s “backing band” as well devices used for movement and performance.

So, we decided to give each object its own functionality, like a member of a band, so each object will be different from one another. We’ve decided on three objects:

1) An object for voice that will be built using a large elephant statue I purchased. I’ve ordered 20 Panasonic WM61A condensor mics that I will wrap around this elephant. The elephant will be Zoraida’s vocal microphone, will be placed upon a podium like structure (alluding to political speech), and connected to a potentiometer so that rotating the elephant will send data into max (probably for panning/spatializing the voice).

2) An object for rhythm, composed of a conga drum and piezo pickups. The piezo will be attached beneath the drum head, and, as I play the drum, the piezo signal will be (pre)-amp’d and sent into a jitter patch. I’m not so much concerned with the quality of the sound as much as I’m concerned with just getting data into max/jitter to use for controlling visuals. Once in, I think things can be scaled and worked out with a little programming.

The objects are conceptually channeling Santeria practices and the belief in orishas. Ana (Anya, Ayan) is the orisha of drums and rhythm, as well as an entity which is supposed to live inside sacred drums (particularly the bata). I plan for the drum playing in the piece to work with this idea, so that playing the drum will “conjure” images of Cuba which we’ve accumulated in the past few months signifying the spiritual rebirth of the land. Also, this address one of the piece’s main ideas, the which is exploring technology via spirituality and ritual. In a sense, the electronics embedded in these objects can be understood as the physical manifestation of orishas.

3) An object for movement, which will consist of a wireless accelerometer attached to a machete. This is inspired by Afro-Cuban, and these dances (watch, watch) usually invoke Ogun, the orisha of technology and war (“he is the force inside your computer” according to this site). His main symbol is the machete which he uses for clearing roads, woods, and forging “the path of life”.

Ogun is always portrayed as a man, and only men are allowed to do his dance. In Zoraida’s world, however, these rules no longer apply and she must take on this role. I’ve ordered a wireless accelerometer from sparkfun (sensor wiki info) that will be attached to our machete so Zoraida can dance with the object while controlling the sound of the performance.

Big Issues

Lots have been solved now. I just have to get these parts and start testing. Seriously. Big time. Right now.

Positive things

I’m much happier with the relationship between the narrative, the objects and the performance. I was freaked out for a while because I felt that not everything was adding up and the outcome was going to be fractured and weak in general. Now I have a lot more confidence about what’s happening aesthetically. So even if the objects aren’t exactly wonders of technology, they’ll makes sense in a larger scheme, which is way more important for me.

Negative things
Well, I’d like to be farther along in building these things, that’s for sure.

Much, much work ahead.

This week I bought some necessary parts for the project, namely a few Radio Shack phototransistors and infrared emitters, as well as a few condenser mics. I think built an preamp/opamp circuit using an 4049 IC and an LM386 chip to test out the mics (we might use these on our elephant objects) and see what kind of sound values they put out.

I then built a basic audio-in max patch to play with the sound:

The 4049 got the signal nice and crunchy, but the overall output left much to be desired. We are still deliberating as to whether or not we will use this circuit.

We also ordered a statue of three elephants on a wooden board, which might serve as the main object/instrument with each elephant trunk housing a sensor (mic, beam-break emitter, ultrasonic?).

We plan to set it up on a podium-like board, so that interacting with the object evokes giving a formal speech, and hopefully we will be able to rotate it 360 degrees so that we can choose with which sensor to interact. This is better said than done.

Also last week, we recorded footage of Nancy dancing and experimenting movement that will be worked into the piece’s choreography.

This week I need to order some robust 360/infinte/endless pots, figure out a way (prism?) to focus the beam-break emitter (whether IR or superbright LED), and get other elephant statues to modify. Then I need to test, test, test so we can start putting these things together.

Tomorrow, Nancy and I are playing a show at West Nile in Brooklyn under the alias Zoraida. It’s gonna be mostly improv, but it will our first experiment in public with some material related to the project we’ve been working on.

My biggest block right now is finding a prism to focus a superbright LED or IR emitter onto my phototransistors. If this can’t be done quickly, I may buy some laser pointers and crack them open instead (as suggested on the pcomp wiki). Jamie also suggested getting a rotary coupler for each elephant so that they can rotate without getting any wires tangled. So I need to find one of these that is cheap and easy-to-use.

Nime Proposal

My NIME “instrument”/ LIPP performance will consist of a set of electronically augmented objects to be included in a dance/sound/performance project I’m working on with Nancy Garcia. We’ve come up with a narrative about a performer who lives in a post-Castro Cuba 10-20 or so years in the future. A large number of multinational entertainment firms have just evacuated Cuba after a failed attempt at turning the island into a entertainment playground for wealthy tourists, leaving the island with few inhabitants and in a state of technological decay. Our performer, Zoraida, is a one-woman performance act who roams the post-abandonment countryside performing with a set of custom “instrument objects”. These objects are modified heirlooms and trinkets that have been passed down through her family for generations, like these below:

Growing up she learned that the way the objects were arranged and placed inside her house brought about different sorts of fortune and charm to the family and their living space. Now, she incorporates the objects into her performance and music through augmenting them electronically. These objects are, in a sense, her backing band now that Cuba is virtually uninhabited.

I plan to turn these objects into instruments by attaching xbees to them and having their location values sent into Max to control/manipulate an MSP/Jitter patch. Moving an object around will affect the qualities of the sound ascribed to it in the patch (frequency shifting, filtering, scrubbing, etc), as well as affecting a visual backdrop programmed in Jitter. Thus, these “object instruments” will be played by being moved around and relocated. Thus, for each song or section of movement, the objects will be placed a unique location determining the sound enveloping the performer and the space around her.

These objects will be kept inside a briefcase-style container, which will also house the main zigbee receiver circuit as well.

First, I have to figure out how to work/program a zigbee (which won’t be hard since everyone at ITP uses them all the time) and figure out what kind of data the devices send so I can determine how the MSP/Jitter portion of the patch words.

Second, I need to know if Zigbees themselves can transmit locational data so that the objects can let each other know where they are. Then as the objects are moved around, their position can be tracked and fed into max so that data can be used to do something in MSP/Jitter.

If not, I’ll have to hook up some sort of distance sensor that tells the distance of an object in front of one of the zigbee augmented “object instruments,” then send that data to the main zigbee receiver. That would turn these instruments into motion detector type object that are affected by the performer’s movement.

*****UPDATE*********
We won’t be using xbees, as hardwiring these things seems the better option. Right now, we plan to have a stand for each elephant (3 altogether), and each stand will be connected to a potentiometer and a beam-break sensor. These sensors will divide the stage up into 3 spaces, in which we will assign each movements and sounds. There is still much to be worked out.