The nature of the show was to show off and present the experiments and projects that the class had come up with using programs such as Max MSP and Pure Data.
Video Footage By Ivor Blair
The fundamental idea of the show was based upon and original drum composition composed by Tam Dickson, composed using Logic Pro. Once this composition was made, it was decided that the piece would be played by numerous people around both an acoustic drum kit as well as electric drum kit pads. The acoustic drum kit was positioned in the center of the room with the drum pads connected around the kit. Each pad was connected to Max Msp to sound a sample when hit. Each pad had a different sample allocated to it with the samples making up the sounds used in Tams original composition so that the composition could be played across the pads. In the final performance 5 people needed to play around the drums and pads to meet the requirements of the composition. Throughout the piece members changed pads and live drumming was used throughout to highlight areas of the composition both on its own and with the sampled sounds.
Ivor had created a a sound manipulation device using the RJDJ software on his iphone that uses the Pure Data program.. Through the software, he created four separate four bar scenes that did different things, for example he had one scene that manipulated the live audio coming into the iphone to sound as if you were talking in bubbles. In the final performance, RJDJ openend the show, manipulating the live input that it was hearing from Seans Wii mote and Mikes Theremin.
Sean created a Max Msp patch that worked with a Nintendo Wii remote. The Wii remote uses bluetooth to connect wirelessly to Seans Max patch. The remote was then placed inside a hamster ball. The remote then sent signals for Max to process how the ball moved, depending on the balls movement, it would trigger samples from Tams composition and alter the pitch of the samples. The ball was thrown, spun, rolled and moved in different positions to create different variations on Tams composition.
Fearn had created two devices. The first was a keyboard that played back notes depending on where your hand was positioned inside a box. All notes made up a major scale and served as keyboard that did not need to be touched to play. Her second device was a musical pencil. A circuit was created on a piece of paper using a drawn a line. Once a finger was placed on one end of the line and the pencil on the other, the circuit became active. Drawing along that line then created notes that varied in pitch as you drew closer or further away from your finger.
Mike had manipulated a moog theremin. Again the theremin is an instrument that does not need to be touched to manipulate pitch and volume. Mike had created a Max Msp patch that was based upon a sample of Tams drum composition. Using your hands changed where in the sample that you were looping and the length.
Everything on show was a huge success. The final performance saw Mike, Sean and Ivor manipulating the sounds and samples of Tams composition. As these were all DI'd through the PA system, they were then faded out to the full composition being played out with the acoustic and electric drums.
I thoroughly enjoyed the event but with that I could have used my own project in the show. As written in the previous post, I wanted to integrate Tams drum composition into my pong game. I feel this would have been another great addition in user interaction that could have fit in along with Ivor, Mike and Seans piece. On the day I helped set up the venue, moving drums around and gathering anything that anyone needed to help present their projects.
*All photos by Lisa Wickstead
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