#md5312

My final project in MD5312 Music for Networks is to devise a networks-based performance that is focused on collaborative play and incorporates the internet and/or other creative technologies. I chose to draw inspiration from the LOLA low latency audio and video streaming technology we discussed in class. This technology allows for audiovisual broadcasts over the internet in real-time. Unlike LOLA, collaborative software like Skype or FaceTime can only reduce latency to a point: the broadcast still arrives a moment after the fact. Still, I was intrigued by the possibilities this type of software offers to the world of live music performance, and I wanted my project to exploit this in some way.

Since everyone in the course mostly operates on Macs, I decided to use FaceTime for this project. My first step was to try to think of a way to create music using FaceTime that couldn’t be done any other way. It occurred to me that it would be possible for musicians to be making music together unconsciously from isolated individual locations. With a drummer in one space and a pianist in another, they could each send a live audio-video feed to a central location, and the only ones to hear the amalgamated sound would be the audience in said central location.

When musicians play together in the same space, it is very difficult to play out of sync with one another. They naturally want to fall in step, and when even one musician is playing at a different speed or rhythm, it can throw other instruments off track. Thus, my project will enable the live creation of asynchronous music with live musicians who are completely uninfluenced by what each other is doing.

To make things even more interesting, I added an element of gamification and audience participation. Each musician will mute their respective device so that they only receive video from the audience chamber. This ensures that they truly cannot hear one another. The music will be improvised based on visual prompts from the audience: participants will be invited to step up to the laptops FaceTiming with the musicians and show one of eight cards to the camera. Each card contains a symbol, and each symbol corresponds to a musical directive. Next to each musician’s device will be a cheat sheet with a simple explanation of what each symbol indicates. When a musician sees a symbol, they must then improvise a response based on the prompt. It’s like a combination of Lucky Dragons’ Make A Baby concept with graphic scores.

Initially I had decided to feature three musicians, but decided to limit it to two. To keep the performance as bombproof as possible, I decided that more than one pitched instrument playing at once risked serious dissonance and unpleasant friction in the sound. In the end, I narrowed my musicians down to a drummer and a keyboardist.

Today we were tasked with evaluating a collaborative software and discussing the way it’s used. Me and my buddy Joe picked eBay.

I don’t use eBay myself, but from what I know and my observations, it is the largest online auction site on the planet. eBay is a global community of buyers and sellers who have the ability to rate and review each other on the quality and reliability of their service. Individuals and businesses alike can put items up for sale, either for a fixed price or for auction, then rate the buyer or seller to indicate whether they fulfilled the deal in good faith. These ratings then serve as warnings or recommendations to future buyers/sellers. There are also community forums where people can discuss issues with the site.

Music for Stimulus - Task 4b

I decided to write a piece of music for a visual stimulus! Freaks & Geeks is one of my favourite T.V. shows that undeservingly got cancelled, but it always had amazing music in it. So I chose to rescore my favourite scene from it. I was inspired by BBC Radio 1′s rescore of the film Drive.

Because the series was set in the 80′s, I went for the sort of new wave vibe that was massive back then. I was mainly inspired by The Cure, The Jesus & Mary Chain and Joy Division but I put my own modern stamp on the song and captured the adolescent vibe that comes with the series.

I used Logic X Pro to make the music, and iMovie to edit the video. I’m not very good at video editing but I think I managed to sync the music and video so that the cast are dancing in time with the music. Annoying I had to cut the sound from the original video so there’s no dialogue. I think it works alright though.