MTF3A wk11

Philosophy and ethics within the use of technology was a welcome discussion topic this Forum. Focusing on the impact industrialisation and the consumerist society which has resulted. This began as looking into various philosophers on the matter. “Technology eliminates/subordinates the natural world.” - Jacques Ellut.

This then spilled out into an open debate with two teams. 'Why bother' team argued that one persons individual actions is insignificant on the whole. The 'pro active' team were looking at changing social ideals in a larger scale so that industry reacted to make environmentally friendly products which met consumer demand.

Ultimately I feel its about changing the legal and social system to create safe guards against immoral industry ethics. People feel that there individual choice will make no difference, but its because they are one less person trying.

Ideas for 'Greening' Uni

Put the lights in the entire Shultz building on a timing system which turns off the lights during the day when they aren't needed.
Make it a compulsory thing to turn off lights when you are the last person leaving a room – put up signs to remind people of this on the doors of each room/passage.
Having the computers shut off at night is also a good thing. - I think we already have that going in the mac lab and Studio's thanks to Pete.
We have recycling bins outside the level 5 door on the West side. It would be good if this spread through the entire building.

Reference:

Whittington, Steven. “Forum – Week 11 – The Philosophy of Technology.” Workshop presented at EMU space, level 5, Schultz building, University of Adelaide, 29th of May 2008.

Harris, David. “Forum – Week 11 – The Philosophy of Technology.” Workshop presented at EMU space, level 5, Schultz building, University of Adelaide, 29th of May 2008.

CC3a wk10

- Modular Synthesis... back in the day


I have come a long way this week. I have a brand new synth def which loops infinitely till stopped through the use of events and Pbind. It was good to go through and create a synth Def from scratch to cement my understanding. I also reworked my wk9 patch and included it in this week. I have achieved triggering sequences of notes relative to the pitch of a MIDI note played. You can combine the two as well. Basically I feel I am well on the way to my major project. I love it when things start to fall into place.

CC3A wk10 rtf
CC3A wk10 mp3

Reference:

Haines, Christian. “Creative Computing – Week 10 – Streams (3).” Lecture presented at tutorial room 408, level 4, Schultz building, University of Adelaide, 22nd of May 2008.

MTF3A wk10

MTF3A wk10

Today in forum we watched a DVD on the history of scratching within the hip hop culture of America. It evolved from multiple sources, and it was and essential element to a competent DJ. What was primarily presented in the DVD was that it was part of the culture of the time.

I can appreciate how one of the people interviewed said that is was a means to expand the break beats of the time. The drum rhythms material on the records are the source of the improvisational rhythms which then expanded out to all elements of the musical material on the music.

I think Stephen was right in recognising that the approach of turntablist shows as great an understanding of musical knowledge. I find it inspiring how that they really saw the turntable as an instrument and through there dedication gave it recognition as such. I think of the computer in the same vain. At the moment it is still primarily viewed as a recording and compositional tool, but I think it is only a matter of time before it will come through as an instrument in it's own right as more intuitive approaches to its use and software develop.

My favourite part of the DVD would have to have been the DJ Shadow part. It shows the ultimate respect for making music. He recognised that all musicians no matter what there instrument or style could be forgotten, its about making music for the love of it.

I also really liked the marrying of art forms within the hip hop culture. There is a lot for the people I am collaborating with and myself to learn in terms of merging art forms in an all inclusive media.

“All good ideas happen by accident.”

We ended a session with this youtube video. I'm glad someone has made such an informative video claiming what I think a lot of people already knew and believed.

Reference:

Whittington, Stephen. “Forum – Week 10 – Scratch.” Workshop presented at EMU space, level 5, Schultz building, University of Adelaide, 22nd of May 2008.

CC3A wk9

I have struggled a bit with this week. Although I have had fun experimenting, discovered some cool sounds and learnt a bit, I still do not grasp the idea of 'events.' I have attempted to expand the idea of using MIDI to trigger a sequence. I really wanted to create a basic arpeggiation which was relevant to the note played. However all I can see to do is create some interesting effects and note sequences whilst the note played has no bearing to the pitch produced. I hope I can figure out where I'm going wrong in the upcoming weeks.


wk9 rtf file

Reference:

Haines, Christian. "Creative Computing - Week 4 - Streams (2)." Lecture presented at tutorial room 408, level 4, Schultz building, University of Adelaide, Thursday 15th of May 2008.

MTF3A wk 9

As always it was great to hear about what Seb Tomzcak has been up to. Some of the things he presented I was already aware of, but there have been some new things which I found highly fascinating.

The bitwise Rhythm Genrator's use with live in the 'Automaton' pieces was awesome. The way he can do so much with such minute limitations is highly inspirational. I think its really cool for the first and second years to see what is possible through the use of Max/msp.

I hope to one day partake in a milkcrate session. I always seem to have something on when one is happening.

The other concepts and works presented by Seb were also fascinating, as was Darren Curtis's work with beat frequencies and resonance. Although some of what he is saying may say a little 'out there' I think that it was all well founded and just based on observation and exploring ideas.

Reference:

Tomczak, Sebastian. “Masters Student Presentation.” Workshop presented at EMU space, level 5, Schultz building, University of Adelaide, 15th of May 2008.

Curtis, Darren. “Masters Student Presentation.” Workshop presented at EMU space, level 5, Schultz building, University of Adelaide, 15th of May 2008.

AA3A wk 8/9

1)

Live recording is about documenting an event. However a good live recording is more than just being able to hear what happened. its about trying to best represent what it was like to be there. It is just as important to have a good set up for the live recording as for studio, to give the 'hyper real' sense, so someone who was there could almost relive it and those who weren't can feel as though they were.

To achieve this its important to capture the environment sound as much as it is to get a descent instrument sound. A room mic can serve to add an element of air and space to a studio recording. In a live recording it is even more essential. The way the room sounds is half the essence of the performance.

Taking in the room sound is a of course the next element of a live recording. This is where the 'hyper real' element of a recording is evolved. The room could actually have a less than desirable sound. It could be a rather tinny sound. But by placing the mic's in the ideal spot in the room can reduce the high end, and then some clever EQ can accentuate the good elements of the room whilst diminishing the bad. The people at the concert surrounded by thousands of bodies will get a much more flattened sound were the recording can get a much clearer sound via optimal mic placement.

Other than capturing the 'sound' of a live show, there is also the actual elements of a performance which can be documented. If a band gives and exceptional performance, to have that documented is a proof of that bands talent beyond what a studio could ever convey. For people to then be able to relive the experience or get an idea of what it was like to be there portrays the importance of having that live recording.

The disadvantages is the lack of control that is offered in a studio enviroment but a live recording definitely has it's benefits.

2)

Acoustic properties are paramount to getting a good sound. Millions of dollars are spent on acoustics in many different ways. Studio recording is always evolving to shape the sound in a very controlled manner, and it is getting to the point that live recording has become just as focused.

Studios are designed to get the best possible sound. The emu recording space had engineers change the room to allow for a better sound, yet ideally a studio is built purposefully to have incredible acoustics. Venues also take acoustics into account. Where as a studio will have a lot more empty space, venues need to allow for the sound absorption of a mass of bodies. It also has to take into account of audibility of the band from all area's of the venue.

The speakers out to the audience at Immanuel were specifically placed to distribute the sound equally to all areas of the room. There was also a high end EQ used to accent the best possible sound in the room. The studio being built at Immanuel is similar to EMU as it is a room being converted into a studio. At EMU panels have been suspended from the ceiling to absorb, reflect and distribute sound, where David is having the roof come down on and angle to avoid standing waves, he is also angling one of the walls. The sound proofing foam between the hollow walls is also a necessary measure. One major advantage that the Immanuel studio has over the EMU studio, is that the monitoring room is also being designed to have good sound qualities, were at EMU it is square and flat and creates standing waves whilst monitoring.

The ARC and Ergo Systems are expanding the possibility of getting a good sound of a room. They pinpoint which frequencies are enhanced or lacking in a space and attenuate the input to give a flat response, so you can get the best sound to work with.

The possibilities of people with a modest home studio set up such as myself is being expanded beyond trying to manufacture a space in the real world. Convolution reverbs allow the characteristics of a space to be mapped and controlled virtually, which allows for DI recording at home which is then shaped virtually.

References:

Grice, David. “Audio Arts - Week 8/9 – Live Sound and Acoustics.” Lecture presented at Immanuel College Concert Room and Recording Studio, Novar Gardens, SA, 16th of May 2008.

"KRK Systems Releases Ergo, Powerful Room Audio Correction System". 2008.

Multimedia, IK. "Advanced Room Correction System - Chapter 1 - Arc Overview". 2008.

Stavrou, Michael Paul. "Stav's Word: Recording a Live Gig." Audio Technology.45: 64 - 66.

CC3A wk8

I have made even further efforts to really delve into the SC language this week and I am feeling more and more confident. I approached this week a little differently then was asked, but I hope thats ok. I embedded a pattern within the MIDI triggering section of the code, which triggers sequential notes based on the note you play on the synth. My base UG sound is a bit average, but all the delay type effects I have placed over it prove that you can polish a turd, even if you can still see (or hear in this case) the turd through the polish.

Folder with rtf file and mp3

Reference:

Haines, Christian. "Creative Computing - Week 8 - Streams(1)." Lecture presented at tutorial room 408, level 4, Schultz building, University of Adelaide, 8th of May 2008.

Forum wk8

Once more I was not at Forum as I was attending a Stelarc session.

What has occurred over these sessions is an interesting focus look on technology, the human body, and the body of various other creatures, particularly insects. From looking at a diverse range of art. One man coats dead bodies in a type of plastic and then dissects them into sections to create 'art'. We also looked at various types of robotics, ranging from android type devices, to insects which were forced to fly via electrodes placed on there bodies.

We also discussed ethics in relation to all of these concepts and even delved into philosophy. I really appreciated taking a different and broader perspective on art and creativity and I have gained a lot from this experience.

Reference

Stelarc. "Stelarc Sessions." Flinders University. 5th- 9th of May 2008.

AA3A wk 7

Thanks to the Piano playing skills of Ben Bamford, we were able to record a piano outside of the context of the studio where we were familiar. Sadly the DAT introduced a lot of undesired hiss to the recording, but that ignored the recording turned out fairly well.

The Traditional spaced pair produced a nice stereo effect. It doesn't actually differ to greatly from a studio produced sound.

Traditional Spaced pair

Moving the mics up high worked really well. The full sound was incredible and unnexpected in the heartly space. I would of of expected it to be more dead in that space. There isn't a heap of reverb, but the sound carried quite amazingly.

For some annoying reason this file refuses to upload so please refer to Jake or Matt's blog for an example.

Pointing the mic up at the ceiling whilst up high captured too thin a sound in my opinion. But it was at an interesting experiment.

Spaced pair at ceiling

Then came a series of interesting experiments mostly implemented by Jake. We attempted to use the other piano's resonant frequencies. Although not brilliant, it did come up pretty well.

resonant frequencies

I thought Jake was being a bit extreme when he decided to point a mic outside the door and then only leave one on the piano. It does create a nice effect though. It could be used in the right context. Although I would be more inclined to layer a recording of ambient noise over a descent piano sound than to record them together in this fashion.

One Mic in One Out

Reference:

Grice, David. “Location Recording.” Lecture presented at Elder Hall, University of Adelaide, 29th of April 2008.

Forum wk 7

I was given permission from Stephen to blog my experience of Stelarc this week as I was attending his workshop instead of attending forum this week.

Stelarc is a installation artist highly interested in the human body and mechanics. His pieces have ranged from being suspended naked via hooks through his skin as he was lifted over New York city with a crane, to writing the word evolution simultaneously with his two natural arms and a third prosthetic mechanical arm.

The session I attended on Thursday was a 'meet and greet.' after getting lost trying to find my way around Flinders Uni and subsequently being 20 minutes late, I discovered that everyone was asked to introduce themselves, but not just give a general description, but actually relate more personal elements of themselves to the group. Basically I arrived to hear 1 person talk about the alchoholic past and then had to reveal my past to all these people I had never met.

After which Stelarc explained that we will be putting on a 1 minute performance on Friday at Napier. He set guidlines that it must include technology and should be focused around the body. Although 1 minute, it is still quite a challenging thought and I hope I can come up with something entertaining.


Reference

Stelarc. "Stelarc meet and greet." Flinders University. 1st of May 2008.

CC3A wk7

I have spent a lot of time going over things this week and I'm feeling more competent with my understanding of the SuperCollider language now. This isn't the most amazing sound, but I'm more impressed that I'm really getting a grasp of what I'm doing, because I feel I can now do better things.

Wk7 zip folder of rtf files and mp3 recording

Reference:

Haines, Christian. “Creative Computing – Week 7 – Synthesiser Definitions (2).” Lecture presented at tutorial room 408, level 4, Schultz building, University of Adelaide, 1st of May 2008.