Further Sonification

Here are two attempts at sonifying the Cell Phone Tango environment that resembles fireworks, called PHOTO TOSS. The difference between the two is the upper components frequency range. When the image bursts on to the screen there is an initial attack with both upper and lower frequency. When the picture leaves there is a shorter more attack of just the upper frequency. These departures are very clear at the end of the sound file.

PTvvv1 - Here the range is 18000-19000


PTvvv2 - Here the range is 8000-12000

More Sonification

I refined the sound for two of the sound environments of Cell Phone Tango tonight.

First, the PACKING environment. With this I added sustained low sounds that are for the words. I have also refined the sounds that are associated with the photos. There will be a less abrupt stop at the end when the envelope is finalized. Here are two takes.
PACKING 1


PACKING 2


Next, I made significant modifications to the PHOTO_TOSS sound world. The addition of a sustained tone helps to emphasize the trajectory of movement associated with each individual photo. The short bursts of this bell like sound seem to blend well with the granular sound and also serve to draw attention to the beginning of each photo's duration.

PHOTO_TOSS 1


Here the granular sound is increased slightly in order to achieve a better balance.

PHOTO_TOSS 2

Elegance

I have often thought about the importance of elegance. I just came across this article and found some good points and quotes on the topic.

The goal of elegance is to maximize effect with minimum means. It’s an elusive target.

As Jim Collins wrote in 2003, “A great piece of art is composed not just of what is in the final piece, but equally what is not. It is the discipline to discard what does not fit—to cut out what might have already cost days or even years of effort—that distinguishes the truly exceptional artist and marks the ideal piece of work, be it a symphony, a novel, a painting, a company, or most important of all, a life.”

Symmetry: Simple rules create effective order.

Seduction: limiting information creates intrigue The power of suggestion is often stronger than that of full disclosure. Leaving something to the imagination, open to interpretation, creates an irresistible aura of mystery, and we are compelled to find answers. The seduction is in what we don’t know. What we don’t know far outweighs what we do, and we are naturally curious. What isn’t there drives us to resolve our curiosity, and we will fill in the information we deem missing in order to do so.

Subtraction: restraint and removal creates value When neuroscientists examine brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), they notice that activities involving subtracting numbers light up an entirely different part of the brain than those involving addition. Subtraction is indeed a different way of thinking.

Pancake Sunday (not that it's Sunday)

Quite a nice set of reasons to visit IHOP. If I wanted to sum up my ideal day, it would likely begin with a scene like this, soundtrack included.

More Sonificiation Studies

These are mock ups of the Four environments. Unfortunately it was not possible to capture the audio and video with the same software so the video and audio were captured separately and then placed together. This means that the synchronicity is not true to life. These are meant to provide an example so that critical discussion can occur.



PHOTO_TOSS Environment
- like PACKING in architecture. The streams associated with each photo is constant. I feel that the ability to localize a sound (in connection with the image) is undermined by the multiplicity of images/streams. To counteract this I am contemplating putting a more noticeable spike in amplitude at the beginning of the photo/streams existence. This high density may also be causing modulation (although I can not say for certain yet, it may also be to much weight on the DSP chain). So I am considering means of thinning the amount of sound (one plan is to decrease the amount based on presence of the image).

PHOTO_TOSS VIDEO



PACKING Environment
- like PHOTO_TOSS in architecture. I have entirely ignored the words as the are radically different than images, but I may simply address them as I address sonifying images. The stream of grains are presented with a high degree of asynchronicity, therefore the individual stream of grains associated with each photo is interrupted more frequently.

PACKING VIDEO


SURROUND_PHOTO Environment
- like FIREWORKS in architecture. This is not as stable as I would like in terms of the program, so I have been concerning myself with that.

SURROUND_PHOTO VIDEO



FIREWORKS Environment
- like SURROUND_PHOTO in architecture. here there is greater unpredictability in the system for grain creation (which means greater pitch, dynamic and timbral range) and the base sound is different.
FIREWORKS VIDEO

facebook tells me...

I was flipping around the www and saw this


and this


It seems like one of those emails that I receive as a forward where the x-president looks like a chimp, well ok, that is a bad comparison, but.... similar?

in vitro oink video

in vitro oink from christopher jette on Vimeo.

in vitro oink is a composition by Christopher Jette for piano, electronics (both precomposed and generative) and wii controller. Keith Kirchoff is the performer in this video and the person who commissioned this piece.



The performers movements are tracked by the wii controller and this data is used as a basis for generative material. The piano part is derived from an analysis of the small granular sounds that are the building blocks for this piece. The title is a reference to the event in November 2009, where scientists from the Netherlands created meat in the lab, from living cells. This composition is roughly 13 minutes in length (12:42 in this performance) and varies from performance to performance.



www.cj.lovelyweather.com :: www.keithkirchoff.com

in vitro meat : the wiki entry