I’ve ordered a surface conductor transducer, for some experimentation with the installation I’m creating music for. However, I’ve been advised that it actually isn’t in stock, and will take between 10–21 days to arrive.. which may end up cutting it a bit fine in terms of milestone deadlines. So in the meantime, I’ve been researching how to build one myself. It actually doesn’t look difficult at all:
I’m really interested finding out what they sound like on the various surfaces of the installation, and also for my own future projects if it doesn’t work out, so I’ll try to build one in the next week or two.
I’m also spending some time thinking about and researching some techniques for an idea for an installation I had last week. One of these techniques being how to simulate video compression artifacts in live processing of a video, in order to have a realtime parameter connected to the “compression” amount. The following articles are some useful reading on how these work:
Development of Application for Simulation of Video Quality Degradation Artifacts
Of course, all of this means I’ll likely need a pretty decent computer running the installation to not only control the “compression” quality, but also run the lo-fi effect filter on the audio (Lossy, by Goodhertz). It’ll be an interesting project once I get the time to apply more of my attention to it.
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I’ve finally started to watch Curtis’ videos on Max/MSP. It’s a bit of a sidestep from my other recent learning, but I think it’ll be useful for future projects. I have a lot of ideas for things that could be easily made in Max, so the more I absorb, the better.
The in-class demonstration of QLab was fascinating. I’m a big fan of automated/process-based audio, so it was great to see software I hadn’t heard of before, and how it can be set up to create elaborate, realtime audio mixes.
My other learning for the week has been through teaching others. I’ve been helping someone learn synthesis and some other audio related techniques, and it’s interesting how I end up learning things in the process as well. I learned some extended Reaper techniques, such as automation and effect chains for specific clips (rather than what I usually do, which is apply effects and automation to the entire track), and some further synthesis techniques in order to create an electric “zapping” sound. I also discovered a great free softsynth—Vital—which I’ve already started using in my collaborative pieces. It looks likely to replace my previous go-to synth plugin, PG8X, which is great but quite limited.
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Pilgrim animation – Grace Leong
In the continuing search for free piano libraries, I’ve landed on Prism Audio Atmos Piano, which is quite lovely, and a bit less rough than the previous one I’d been using (Wolno). I’ve applied it to the latest iteration of the Pilgrim animatic I’m scoring, which now has a completely different intro:
I think the new piece conveys melancholy a little better than what was there before. Ultimately it’s up to Grace to decide which one she likes best, but I think it works well.
Overwhelming installation – Patricia Summers
I’ve also progressed with the work for the installation piece. On Monday, I visited the area where the installation is being set up, which gave me a good idea of the scale of the piece and what would work for it. It was great to meet Pat finally as well, and show her some of the ambitious ideas I’ve had for the piece.
I tweaked some of the sounds in the piece, and added some sweeps and crashes for Pat to articulate with visuals. There’s a lot of room for more articulations in the first few sections of the piece as well, but I’ll wait to get feedback on what’s in there at the moment before I go adding a lot more stuff. Here’s the current version: