.forum - week eleven.
8 ways to make the Electronic Music Unit more environmentally friendly:
1.
Move to Outer-space.
The amount of CO2s used by cars in Earth’s orbit is little to none.
2.
Rely solely on solar power.
Orbiting Earth allows one to constantly stay on the ‘day-side’ of the planet, hence giving students 24/7 access (See: terms and conditions) to solar power.
3.
Recruit more ‘green’ people.
People like hippies and vegans are very environmentally alert, have strong morals grounded on saving the planet.
4.
Install “Braincaps” on all EMU students. Communication will be made solely through braincaps.
Telephathic Braincap communication is even more energy efficient than sending an E-mail, because they require a computer. Oh yeah, computers are bad!
5.
Recycle.
Recycling plays a crucial part in the survival of both the EMU and the planet Earth. The diet will consist solely of Soylent Green.
6.
“A Soma a day keeps the Jim-Jams away!”
Because life in Outer-space may become a bit like living in a mental asylum, eating nothing but toothpaste, Soma will be provided by the lectures.
7.
Habitat.
Atmosphere Laboratories will allow students to reconnect with their original habitat on Earth. Common multimedia habitats would include the forest, the beach and many other environs.
8.
Collaboration.
Students will be encouraged to bring traditional Classical and Jazz music students into the EMU, with a view to establishing long lasting collaborations. EMU students will truly be the ‘avant-garde’ musicians, bringing music toward a more sustainable world.
.sources.
Whittington, Steven and Harris, David 29.05.08, “The Philosophy of Technology,” Forum of EMU, Adelaide University.
30.5.08
"the power is yours!"
scratch
.forum - week ten.
“Scratch” is a great documentary, which outlines the short history of Turntablism. It interviewed a number of key artists in the field, including Grand Wizard Theodore, Grand Mixer QBert, DJ Shadow, DJ Krush, Mix Master Mike and many others.
Scratching is such an impressive looking skill and certainly an area where technology and improvisation meet in an effective way. The use of ‘sampling’ by these artists, particularly in the highly instrumental music of DJ Shadow, is a significant part of their artform. Some musicians have a difficult time accepting this – the art of ‘digging’ as they describe it, can appear to be stifling on their creativity. Coming from a classically trained background, I must admit that ‘digging’ was idea I that I was slow to grow upon. However, since my naïve childhood days I have done a complete back flip on the idea – to the point where I have even sampled at times in my own music. In the grand scheme of music in this day and age, sampling is a really practical way of making music. Recycling the enormous amount of material that exists out-there is not only a viable way of making art, but a necessity of the twenty-first century world.
.sources.
Whittington, Stephen 22.05.08, "Turntablism," Lecture of EMU, University of Adelaide.
20.5.08
A few words from veterans of the EMU
.forum - week nine.
This week in Music Technology Forum two emerging artists who came through the same degree at the Electronic Music Unit as the one I am doing presented some of their work and approaches to creativity.
Seb Tomczak presented a few projects that he has coordinated. The first of these was an album he wrote this year called Automaton. This album was created using a single 11.6 millisecond sound. Seb has an artistic obsession with small things, as suggested by track three – ‘the emphasis is on small things’. This fixation is ingrained too in his ongoing Milkcrate project, which involves sound artists working within specific restraints – rules – by which they must write music. One of these restraints is that the instruments of the session must fit into a Milkcrate (and hence be small). I have never been involved in a “Milkcrate” session, but have certainly had the opportunity to if I wanted.
Darren Curtis has, for as long as I can remember, been interested in using sound to heal as well as using it to represent patterns in nature and supernature, by which I believe he means Outer-Space. Also, he is interested in “Ancient Sound,” something to do with Pyramids and patterns and maybe religion (?). How all of these things tie together I am still figuring out. I am fairly sceptical of his ideas, however I am sure that there is a large group of people who would not be. Further, to comment harshly on his work would really be inappropriate before I learn more about what he does – needless to say I am not yet sold on his music – where it is going, what it is hoping to achieve for him, and so forth.
.sources.
Tomczak, Sebastian and Curtis, Darren 15.05.08, "Postgraduate Presentations," Forum of EMU, Adelaide University.
19.5.08
Streamworks
.cc - week nine.
This week I have continued using streams in SuperCollider. I've pinched a small motive/idea from Phillip Glass, his minor chord with a flattened 6th found in the peice "Dance 8." This version is fairly different though.
streams(2).rtf
(
s = Server.local;
SynthDef( "Glass", {
arg freq, dur=1.0;
var osc;
osc = SinOsc.ar( [freq,freq+0.05.rand] ) * EnvGen.ar(
Env.perc, doneAction: 2, levelScale: 0.3, timeScale: dur
);
Out.ar(0,osc);
}).send(s);
)
(
var wait,
a,
b,
c = 60; //MouseY.kr(minval: 30, maxval: 80); //THE BASENOTE
a = Pshuf.new(
list: [
Pseq.new([c, c + 3, c + 7], {rrand(1,2)}),
Prand.new([c, c + 3, c + 7], {rrand(1,2)}),
Pshuf.new([c, c + 3, c + 7], {rrand(1,2)}),
Pseq.new([c, c + 3, c + 8], {rrand(1,2)}),
Prand.new([c, c + 3, c + 8], {rrand(1,2)}),
Pshuf.new([c, c + 3, c + 8], {rrand(1,2)})
],
repeats: inf //{rrand(5,10)}
);
b = a.midicps.asStream; //TO STREAM
wait = rrand(0.1,0.9); //0.2; //WAIT DUR
Task({ //TO SYNTH
inf.do({
Synth("Glass", [ \freq, (b.next), ]);
wait.wait;
});
}).play
)
.sources.
Haines, Christian 15.05.08, "Streams (2)," Lecture of EMU, Adelaide University.
13.5.08
Peter Dowdall on Sound Engineering
.forum - week eight.
Engineer and Producer, Peter Dowdall, who has worked on the like of Britney Spears (above) came to the Electronic Music Unit last Thursday.
Dowdall spoke about his life and time spent in the Sound Engineering / Production industry. A lot of his ideas on the topic were not new to me but it is always useful to go over things - like the importance of Autotune – and also to hear that the production techniques are fairly universal (he has worked primarily in the United States).
One thing that really stood out was the fanatical and fastidious organisation which Dowdall puts into his work in the studio. It really was amazing just hearing how Dowdall goes about planning his recording sessions to the finest detail, and his numerous contingency plans should problems arise. This pre-session preparation was almost like he was planning a trip to the moon – this was the main ethic of this field of work that Dowdall impressed upon me.
.sources.
Dowdall, Peter 08.05.08, "Sound Engineering and Production," Forum of EMU, Adelaide University.
Ice Streams
.cc - week eight.
Streams of numbers are commonly used in computer music - this week I have used them make continuos stream of random frequencies and also partials in SuperCollider.
streams.rtf
(
var poly;
poly = Array.newClear(128); //array to hold the synth instances
SynthDef("SoundWallKeys", {
arg freq = 440,
rate = 0.4,
gate = 0.0;
// Variables - declaring
var partials = 20, //number of partials
freqadd = 0,
waveshape,
envStruct,
envGen,
out,
final;
waveshape = {
Mix.fill(
partials, { //each partial's function
SinOsc.ar(
freq: freq + 200.0.rand,
phase: 0,
mul: 1.0 / partials
)
});
};
// Envelope Structure
envStruct = Env(
levels: [0.0,0.99, 0.75, 0.0],
times: [0.1,10.0, 0.1],
curve: 'sine'
); //.plot;
// Envelope Instance
envGen = EnvGen.kr(
envelope: envStruct,
gate: 1.0,
doneAction: 2.0
);
// Output
Out.ar( 0, waveshape * envGen); //add envelope to waveform
Out.ar( 1, waveshape * envGen); //add envelope to waveform
}).send(s);
)
(
var dur, a, b;
dur = 3.7;
a = Routine({ //stream for freq
loop({
750.0.rand.yield;
});
});
b = Routine({ //stream for partials
loop({
25.15.rand.yield;
});
});
Routine({
loop({
Synth( "SoundWallKeys", [ \freq, a.next, \partials, b.next ] );
dur.wait; //make routine wait
});
}).play;
)
.sources.
Haines, Christian 08.05.08, "Streams (1)," Lecture of EMU, Adelaide University.
7.5.08
Tristram Cary (May 1925 - April 2008)
.forum - week seven.
Sadly Tristram Cary died a few weeks ago, so out of respect we spent Music Technology forum mourning the loss. Unfortunately I had very little to do with Tristram, his time at the Elder Conservatorium of Music was before mine. He achieved many great things in his life, some of the things he is best known for are his work in Electronic Music Studios (EMS) who invented the VCS-3 synthesizer. While he was known for his work as an engineer, he was also a valuable composer, who wrote music for both electronic and acoustic instruments. He created the sound for many of the early Dr. Who series. His contribution to the Elder Conservatorium of Music at the Adelaide University is substantial – many of his old ‘toys’, like his Theremin, can still be found around the Electronic Music Unit.
.sources.
Whittington, Stephen 01.05.08, "Tristram Cary," Forum of EMU, Adelaide University.
6.5.08
synthesizer creation in SuperCollider (2)
.cc - week seven.
Today I created a Synthesizer using an Audio File (stored in a Buffer). This is a sample from Nine Inch Nail's new DRM-FREE CD The Slip, taken from the track "Corona Radiata."
//Load File Path/Directory of Audio Fide
(
// File Path
~filePath = (PathName.new(Document.current.path)).pathOnly;
)
(
// Play Sample
SynthDef("CoronaRadiata",{
// Arguments
arg bufnum = 0, pitch, amp;
// Variables
var out = 0, envStruct, envGen, sig, postSig, panLine, panMod, panSig, postPan;
// Envelope Structure
envStruct = Env(
levels: [0.0, 0.7, 0.6, 0.0],
times: [0.5, 6.0, 1.0],
curve: 'sine'
).plot;
// Envelope Instance
envGen = EnvGen.kr(
envelope: envStruct,
gate: 1.0,
doneAction: 2.0
);
// Playback
sig = PlayBuf.ar(
numChannels: 1,
bufnum: bufnum,
rate: BufRateScale.kr(bufnum) * pitch
);
postSig = (sig * amp) * envGen;
// Panner
panLine = Line.kr(
start: 0,
end: 1.0,
dur: 1.0,
doneAction: 0
);
panMod = SinOsc.kr(
freq: 2
);
panSig = Pan2.ar(
in: postSig,
pos: panMod * panLine,
level: 0.3
);
postPan = panSig;
// Output
Out.ar(
bus: out,
channelsArray: sig.dup
);
}).send(s);
)
(
// Load Sound File
b = Buffer.read(s, ~filePath++"CoronaRadiata.aif")
)
(
// Play the Buffer (Check that Sound File is found)
. c = Synth("CoronaRadiata", [\bufnum, b.bufnum, \pitch, 1.0, \amp, 0.75]);
)
//MIDI control
(
// Activate - Note On
MIDIIn.noteOn = {
// Arguments
arg src, chan, num, vel;
// Carrier Frequency
Synth("CoronaRadiata", [\bufnum, b.bufnum, \pitch, (num/127.0), \amp, (vel/127.0)]);
};
MIDIIn.noteOff = {};
)
The .zip file below contains the "CoronaRadiata.aif" file needed to run the synthesizer. It also contains more legible formatting for the code.
synth_def(2).zip (1.6 mB)
synth_def(2).zip also contains a 'IndustrialAmbience' synth, which I made using code borrowed from John Delany.
.sources.
Haines, Christian 01.05.08, "Synthesiser Definitions (2)," Lecture of EMU, Adelaide University.
5.5.08
Hartley space
.aa - week seven.
Today I went into the Hartley Concert room to record Ben Bamford playing the Grand Piano. We recorded using the Marantz ‘Solid State Recorder PMD670’, and used a pair of Rode NT5 (shown below).
To begin with we used a fairly standard spaced pair configuration, with the microphones spaced around 1.5 metres apart in front of the soundboard. It comes across as a fairly typical Grand sound, with a bit of extra hiss from the Marantz recorder that we used. This configuration I might use for a Grand if it were playing among an ensemble, however for a solo recording the stereo field of the recording is a bit too narrow. From here we decided to move the two little microphones into unusual positions around the room.
ex1.mp3
Because there are two Grand Pianos in the room, I decided we should move them so their soundboards were facing one another. Then we played one piano while recording the other piano’s soundboard with the dampener pedal held down. While this worked quite well in the room itself (the Hartley room is quite a reverberant space), the Marantz Recorders hiss tends to cover these resonant excerpts in the recording.
ex2.mp3
We then tried moving the mics up. The Hartley room has a very high ceiling so we placed the mics on top of the piano, so that they were around 3.5 metres high and two meters apart. We made two recordings with the microphones at this height, one with the microphones facing toward the piano, and another recording with one NT5 facing the piano and the other facing the roof. I much prefer ‘roomy’ imprint which the second recording contains.
ex4.mp3
The pianist Ben was a little bit confused as to why we moved the mics into such awkward positions and made a joke along the lines of- why don’t we just move the microphones out of the door??? What a great idea! So this recording has one mic pointing down the hall outside the Hartley room and the other mic pointing into Hartley (still from the outside).
ex5.mp3
.sources.
Grice, David 29.04.08, “Location Recording,” Lecture of Elder Concert Hall, Adelaide University.