#Mechnical Difficulties

[assigningyourfavabattlemech]

they should invent a me that doesn’t reblog mainblog reblogs to the sideblog

[lizardsexposed]

so im getting close to finishing ME2 on insanity now

and as consequence of playing in the order of ME3>ME1>ME2 I've had some thoughts

While ME2 is widely regarded as the best in the triology, I'm going to controversially say I'm not sure I agree with this.

If you want difficulty, it is the best. The insanity is actually hard. ME1 and ME3 is piss easy whereas ME2 does give a challenge.

I think a lot of ME2s praise actually comes from the fact the ending was satisfying and ME3 ending was not.

ME2 is mechnically the same? If not worse than ME3. ME3 made imrpovements after some reiterations.

But the world of ME2 is so small. The citadel especially, while ME1 may have made it too large and spaced out the sidequests too much, ME2s is really dull. All the levels of zakera ward are broadly the same and the side quests are uninteresting. While illuium and omega are also good (Tuchanka is really a let down so I'm not including it) the quests themselves feel so short and dull compared to ME1. ME3 at least makes the citadel feel larger, albeit at the cost of other 'cities'.

Another hot take, there's actually not much to ME2, like ME1 it has key story points (horizon, collectorship, reaper IFF, suicide mission) but you spend 90% of the game recruiting your squad and making them loyal. You actually fight the merc groups way more than the collectors (and even the geth more really). You could argue this makes them feel more important, but after killing the 900th merc and then their mech as a boss, it's kinda bland.

The tonal shift from ME1 is present, but I think the stakes are really raised in ME3 and its far more emotional, but manages to have more emotionally touching moments.

I don't know, I still really like ME2 don't get me wrong. Just some thoughts that I think it being the best game of the trilogy is some rose tinted glasses from the ending compared to ME3. I'd argue in terms of playing ME3 is more fun.

[resoundingbell]

Hope

K342 was excited. Yes, was.

The place was bustling, seemingly back to how things were before the event. There were live humans milling about, performing their duties. At first, it would seem normal, a group of humans and robots hard at work together. Peaceful. But if one were to continue surveying the scene, they may start to find something uncanny. As they continued to observer, trying to figure out what was wrong, one may start feeling unsettled, maybe even start viewing the originally peaceful view as eerie.

When the news first broke, K342 was ecstatic. Well, the robotic equivalent of that anyway. After the first new batch had been born, K342 had been looking forward to the day itself. Looking forward to when GAIU would determine them as fit for integration, or as it had been announced, "Re-integration of humans into society". Through the years, K342 had to constantly keep its expectations in check.

There's bound to be a few important bits missing here or there...

Their culture would definitely be lost. Even if GAIU decides to include it in their educational curriculum, its not like they would suddenly integrate it into their lives.

Hm, I'm sure the accents would be lost too. I guess I'll had to heavily rely on movies and audio records now... Well, what's left of it anyway...

Even so, K342 could not help but yearn for the "human intimacy", a concept that he had learnt but not fully understood until after the event. Sure K342 was just parts and machinary put together, and as advance as technology is, it was still difficult for metal and electricity to properly emulate emotions. To the scientists' credit, their best efforts were put in and some degree of success was found, well maybe. At the very least, that topic is debatable. And the fact that it is showed the degree of difficulty it came to even defining a concrete concept for "emotion", but that was besides the point.

The main point is that K342's understanding of these concepts of emotion now went beyond simply knowledge, it now embodied experience. K342 had to admit that the unforunate event was the main reason that allowed him the wonderful experience. The aftermath of the event had left alot to be desired, but GAIU had tried its best to salvage the situation. For example, fully understanding the limitations of Artificial Intelligence's current understanding of emotions, GAIU had accelerated research in that area, even starting up experiements that were previously rejected for reasons of danger, impracticality or unethical.

K342 was among the many, expandable, units that had taken part in these experiments. For him, it had involves modifications to his hardware, replacing components with experimental parts or completely integrating new ones. K342 had been very much uncomfortable with the contents of the experiment, and the contents of his new hardware, although his opinions then had mattered little to GAIU, and is now of no concern to the current K342. So what if a little grey matter were used, it allowed him to get closer to humans, even if its just a little. The useful organic material harvested would remain useful, even after the death of their original owners, and it was to society's advantage that this was so.

However, it was likely that the relatively short duration of this experiment had not yielded sufficient data. The sight that greeted K342 had been a great disappointment. K342 had felt his excitement cool down when the humans had entered. The orderly fashion in which they were arranged, walking in sync to the assembly area, stopping in sync, and just standing there awaiting for their assignments. Their face were dull, eerily devoid of any emotions. To K342, this would had been no different if a new batch of mechnical units had been deployed. The movements were the same, as was the lack of any noticable human traits.

The arrival of the first batch of society-ready humans had only brought about a single change. The place now had organic life-forms within its walls. Everything else remained the same, even the noise produced by those within. Nothing was added to the whirl of machinary and banging of tools. Loud and noisy as these were, K342 could hear the silence. The place was void of words, void of chatter, and void of anything human.

The disappointment grew in K342. With it, K342 realised something else growing within it. K342 could feel a void, and it took awhile for K342 to understand that this feeling was not some warning or a failure in his systems. K342 understood this to be despair, despair at what is potentially lost forever. However, with this understanding, K342 immediately felt hope. K342 had learnt something new, and so GAIU had learnt something new. With this, maybe the next batch of humans will be more... human.

If only

[The setting is futuristic, where AI is advanced and is integrated into humanity's workforce]

---

"If you think about it, this huge hunk of metal chose us to maintain it. It is like we're the nannies for a child, except it’s the child who has the power to choose, and not like, it’s parents, y’know."

K342 remarked as he wiped off the accumulated oil and dirt off the machinery. His job revolved around the maintenance of the supercomputer housing the Governmental Artificial Intelligence Unit, or GAIU. Given the size of the thing, spanning several football fields, he wasn't the only one. There were a few hundred like him at various locations, working like a proverbial cog in a machine to ensure that the actual machine remained well and running.

K342's partner, K901, simply grunted in acknowledgement, continuing on with his work and stoutly refusing to participate in K342's usual philosophical rambles.

“I mean sure, there are lots of us, but it doesn’t mean that we aren’t special. Maybe not that special, but still, somewhat special. There has to be a certain level of trust right? It is quite literally putting its life in our hands. One wrong thing and bam, whole of society comes raining down on us.”

K901 gave another non-committal grunt, wishing he had some way to turn off his ability to hear. But alas, his ears were not made that way.

“Well, there were those guys that did try to do just that, with every intention to tear society apart. Those damn terrorists, some of them were even working here y’know. You had not joined us yet, but boy was it hectic. With those terrorists destroying most of the power supply and damaging the infrastructure, we almost failed to keep poor old GAIU here up and running, but we somehow did! With a little tricky power re-routing thought up by clever ol'me here in fact.”

“When that was settled, boy was the aftermath ugly. I mean, not one of those terrorists were let off, executed on the spot. I don’t disagree with that ruling. But to execute the whole lot of everyone else? Can't say I was too fond of that decision. I guess it ain’t wrong to nip any troubles in the bud, but to destroy the whole flowerbed for a few weeds... Well, it is really a pity, really reduced the work force so much, and now there ain't nothing human to interact with. Last I heard, we’re still struggling to replace all the positions that were left empty. Heh, maybe GAIU will let me be one of those fancy ‘Intelligence Processing Officer’ that was previously out of reach for our kind. I bet I’m smart enough to be that.”

Sighing, K901 finally took the bait and replied.

“Maybe. I cannot process the logic behind you being kept down here. It is obvious that you have been outfitted with a better set of equipment compared to the other standard units here. You were provided with philosophical intelligence, and I bet that augmentation at your head boosts your processing capabilities. So my conclusion is that there is a fairly high chance you will end up somewhere more suitable soon.”

Slightly stunned at K901’s long reply, K342 chuckled.

“Wow, I bet ya almost fried your circuits coming up with that reply. Never heard one of your model speak more than a few words before. But nah, I can kinda guess my actual role here, in a few months, the first new batch will be born and hopefully the same thing won't repeat itself. It’s a pity though, its going to be years before I’ll be able to properly interact with them, if only their mamas and papas didn’t get it into their heads that we had it in for them. I mean, they did built GAIU and us for them, why start thinking otherwise? If only they had used their heads a bit more… Maybe GAIU should design some human compatible augmentations.”

Once again K901 resigned itself to K342’s eternal monologue, continuing on with its assigned tasks.

[ofsunnys]

BASIC INFORMATION.

Full name: Sunshine Reyes Pronunciation: Sun-shyne Rey-ehs Nickname(s): Sunny, Sun Birthdate: 2nd January 1988 Age: 32 Zodiac: Capricorn Sun, Gemini Moon Gender: Female Pronouns: she/her Romantic orientation: Biromantic Sexual orientation: Bisexual Nationality: British Filipino Ethnicity: Filipino Current location: London, UK Living conditions: Sunny lives in a flat above a phone repair shop in Paddington. She moved in about six months ago and it’s the first time she’s lived alone. Her furniture is a mish-mash of various items she’s gathered over the years, including a couple of hand-me-downs from her parents. Yet to buy a bookshelf, her books (non-fiction, for the most part) lay scattered in piles on most surfaces. A tent and a set of instruments including a telescope sit in a crate by the door; every so often she travels out of the city by train to camp in the countryside to better see the night sky.

BACKGROUND.

Birthplace: London, UK Hometown: London, UK  Social Class: Lower middle Educational achievements: BSc Theoretical Physics; MSc Astrophyisics; PhD Astronomy & Astrophysics  Father: Danilo Reyes Mother: Alma Reyes (née Martin) Sibling(s): Luna Reyes (deceased) Birth order: Sunny is the older sibling, Luna was three years younger Pets: None. Her parents own a dog. Previous relationships: Various, sporadic and short-lived Arrests: None Prison time: None

OCCUPATION & INCOME

Current occupation: UK Space Agency Research Scientist in Stellar Cluster Evolution Dream occupation: Head of Research (Science & Exploration department) at the UK Space Agency Past job(s): Multiple Research Assistant and Research Associate roles Spending habits: Good at saving, tends to splash out on technology  In debt?: Student loans Most valuable possession: Celestron NexStar 8SE Computerised Telescope

SKILLS & ABILITIES

Physical strength: Average  Speed: Average Intelligence: Above Average Accuracy: Above Average Agility: Average Stamina: Below Average Teamwork: Adapts well to teamwork given her career has relied on working well with others. She likes hearing other people’s opinions but can become difficult if forced to work with someone she doesn’t get along with. Talents: Stargazing. Keen chess player. Knows the phonetic alphabet off by heart. Can tie a cherry stalk with her tongue.  Shortcomings: Doesn’t always consider how her words may make others feel; can have difficulty coherently expressing how she feels; is more likely to ask questions than answer them; can be judgemental Languages spoken: English, some Ilocano and Tagalog picked up from her parents Drive?: No Jump-start a car?: No Change a flat tyre?: No Ride a bicycle?: Yes Swim?: Yes Play an instrument?: No Play chess?: Yes Braid hair?: Yes Tie a tie?: No Pick a lock?: No Cook?: Yes

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE AND CHARACTERISTICS

Faceclaim: Maja Salvador Eye colour: Brown Hair colour: Dark brown Hair type/style/length: Long, 1A straight hair that reaches her mid-back. Tends to tie it up in a high ponytail when working. Glasses/contacts?: No Dominant hand: Right Height: 5′1″ Weight: 110lbs Build: Petite slim Exercise habits: Occasionally goes jogging and then remembers that she hates jogging and doesn’t do it again for a few weeks Skin tone: Golden fair Tattoos: An intricate inner arm half sleeve on her right arm with various nocturnal creatures including a bat and an owl amongst the phases of the moon (similar to this). She saved up a fair amount to have it done, patient with the mechnical buzz of the artist’s needle gun.  Piercings: Double lobe piercings. Pierced nipples that she got ten years ago while drunk.  Marks/scars: A silvery scar just below her thumb on her left palm from picking up broken glass. Clothing style: Mostly black or dark tones. Typically a jumpsuit or button up shirt and high waisted jeans. Relaxes in a university hoodie and leggings.  Jewellery: Thin and gold. Hoops in her ears and a disc pendant chain around her neck. Allergies: None known Diet: Sporadically vegetarian which she’ll conveniently forget when she’s in the mood for fried fish. Prefers savoury to sweet. Likes anything peanut flavoured. Takes daily vitamin supplements. Physical ailments: None

PSYCHOLOGY

MBTI type: INTJ The Architect (strategic, confident, independent, overly analytical, insensitive) Enneagram type: The Investigator (perceptive, innovative, secretive, isolated) Moral Alignment: Lawful Neutral Temperament: Choleric Element: Earth Emotional stability: Tries not to think about it Introvert or Extrovert?: Introvert Obsession(s): Achieving time travel  Compulsion(s): None known Phobia(s): People who wear Crocs in the lab Addiction(s): Proving people wrong Drug use: Cannabis but rarely. Hates nicotine. Alcohol use: Frequent Prone to violence?: No Prone to crying?: No Believe in love at first sight?: No

MANNERISMS

Accent: Estuary English Speech quirks: None of note Hobbies: Stargazing; beating strangers at chess online; reading gossip columns Habits: Grits her teeth when concentrating; fiddles with her necklace; rests her head in her hand when tired. Nervous ticks: Shutting down emotionally; providing one word answers; avoiding eye contact. Drives/motivations: Save her sister Fears: Failure; letting loss swallow her life Sense of humour?: Often quite dry and sarcastic. Quick to tease people for her own amusement. Do they curse often?: Occasionally when stressed.

FAVOURITES

Animal: Ocelot Beverage: Banana milkshake Book: His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman Colour: Dark green Food: Vegetable kare-kare Flower: Passionflower Gem: Opal Mode of transportation: Train Scent: Vanilla Sport: Rugby Weather: Thunderstorm Vacation destination: Hungary

ATTITUDES

Greatest dream: Travel back in time to save her sister from being killed Greatest fear: Realise that she’s wasted her entire life so far chasing an unreachable dream Most at ease when: Cutting someone’s ego down to size with a witty comment Least as ease when: Talking about her feelings Worst possible thing that could happen: See greatest fear Biggest achievement: Her career thus far Biggest regret: The death of her sister. Having a name that doesn’t match her personality

[rxbelling-hxrald]

Silly idea time

// Just a funny thing that came into my mind recently and I kinda wanna see now, but who among you are aware of Advance Wars? It was recently given a game on the Switch with a reboot.

But what entered my head? Now I’m just trying to picture what Sonic cast members would take the places of certain COs in gameplay/outfits. For example, Andy is a Mechnical Wiz and the youngest of em so I imagine he’d be taken over by Tails, but there is an argument to be made Tails would be Eagle instead who specializes in Air Combat via planes and the like though Eagle is a hot head so I imagine that would be more Jet maybe? Max would be easily replaced by Knuckles in my mind, big tough guy but has a heart of gold.

Sonic is one of the ones I’m having difficulty with, since by his standards he’d probably match with Adder given Adder’s whole gimmick is literally move faster and do it often. But Adder is a self absorbed villain so no way that would happen. Maybe Amy would be Jess? A tomboy tank driver whom also often is seen carrying something heavy, Amy has her hammer, Jess often carries a tank shell with her.

Am I the only one who kinda wanna sees this? If anyone is aware of em and wants to pitch in their own ideas for it I’d wanna know, would be hilarious.

[businesslistinghub-blog]

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[ajavsicas-blog]

This is Hope Enterprises - memories of Pete

Pete's sudden passing has me remembering back not just his own work in photograohy and film that I encountered as a kid and teen but the entire history of photography and film over the last 50 years, during which everything has changed. The fact that we can communicate any audio visual materials we want on a web site, along with all the changes in film and photography per se, is nothing short of revolutionary.

And I am also thinking of that time - the 1960s and 1970s - in my formative years as a young lad and teen, when I thankfully spent the most time with my uncle Pete. In the 60s and 70s I recall as a kid feeling that social and political liberation seemed to be moving forward at some level. Never enough, not without tragedies, but moving forward, despite many many setbacks. This was before Reagan and all that has been wrought since then. Pete and Anne were committed to making the world a better place and had chosen to work and live in ways intended to further the common good and create community. In Pete's case, the choice of documentary and educational form, whether in film or other audivisual media, and the kinds of projects he chose (or which chose him) gave expression to these intentions.

In 1975 Peter directed and produced a documentary called This is Hope Enterprises, featuring the non-profit organization based in Williamsport, PA providing rehabilitation for developmentally challenged children and adults. Anne was production manager on this film, which was released by Peter and Anne's film and visual communications company, Looking Glass Films. This 25 minute film is in 16mm color and can be viewed in its entirety here:

I have just viewed the film for the second time in my life, 42 years after it was created. I am again impressed that it is really well done as a documentary, and as a communications piece for this non-profit. And I am incredibly glad and thankful to see that Hope Enterprises is still going, indeed seems thriving, judging from their web site and Facebook site. I never inquired what role the film played in attracting funding and support to this organization in the immediate years after its release. 

The first time I saw the film was during a long 3 week visit to Peter and Anne's farm in Unityville, PA when Peter was either finishing its editing or had just released it. I think I was 14 or 15. Mom and Dad sent me to hang out at the Farm with Pete and Anne over winter vacation, at a time when I was probably not having a happy time being in school. The screening of the film and discussing it with Pete is just one of several memories from my handful of visits to the Farm in the 1970s.

Pete explained that documentaries communicate at multiple levels. Not just the interviews with people, but everything about how you go about such a project is a composition and a decision. The problem is rarely too little material the problem is too much, and what do you use and how do you put the story together in as short and concise a form as possible. It is the essential problem of storytelling. The art is in the editing as much as directing. So in making and then editing a documentary film there are thousands of decisions. 

When he showed me the film I recall we discussed his decision to use one of the thematic images in the film, which I think was also used in its publicity trailer - the image of a palsied man making his way on crutches slowly down an exterior hallway towards the Hope Enterprises entrance. I remember Peter feeling that this image and sequence was poignant, just for what it communicated, apart from the voice-over narration. The camera held sposition as the man made his way using his abilities. The man is alone, not being helped, when the entire rest of the film showed people being helped by others, 1 on 1 and in groups. Of course the goal of the non-profit is to help people become independently able to help themselves as much as possible. Which is what the man on crutches was doing. Pete decided to hold this scene in just long enough that the viewer actually starts to feel the man's difficulty of movement, sympathetically. For Pete this was just one of hundreds of decisions bearing on editing the opening minutes of the film.

At a mechnical and technical level I recall Pete telling me how it took many hours of film to get the material to edit down into 25 good minutes. In those days, making a 16mm color film was a huge expense and involved the now incredibly intricate-seeming process of editing and splicing physical acetate film together and attempting to render the cuts in audio and film seamless using analog tools. That was what filmmaking was, before everything went first to analog video and then to digital video. 

As I think back to what the costs of color 16mm were at the time I think it is some kind of miracle this documentary film was made. Today, anyone with $2,500 can purchase a digital HD video camera and a Mac and have the ability to produce and edit unlimited hours of high resolution high fidelity documentaries for essentially zero hard-dollar expense out of pocket. The material costs of filmmaking cost essentially zero today, and editing can be nearly perfect, from a technical perspective. In some sense Peter got out of photography and filmmaking just before it became incredibly cheap and easy, before the digital revolution. I think anyone with a filmic eye or photographic sense plus a historical understanding of how difficult it is, whatever the technology, to tell a compelling story and transmit the sense of a complex organization and mission in 25 minutes will appreciate a lot of Pete's achievements as a filmmaker and photographer in this documentary. 

I don't know much about the other projects in film and audio-visual communications that Pete worked on during that period, but I think a main theme in Pete's life as a photographer and filmmaker (and for Anne as his partner) has been the commitment to socially conscious and progressive projects and goals, aimed at improving the world, and the public interest. 

Aaron recently gave me a brief overview of how Pete transitioned from filmmaking and photography to non-profit fundraising and thence to founding PennTrans, to work on transportation planning and solutions to improve liveability and quality of life for Philadelphia and Pennsylvania. And more recently  working to create in-community living solutions for the elderly. 

So I see all of these transitions simply as an evolution in how my Uncle Pete was all along manifesting his essential desire to serve socially progressive programs for the common good of the community, for human liberation and quality of life. Today more than ever we need more people thinking and acting and manifesting this way, with Pete's consistency and tenacity and determination.

--In loving memory from nephew "Little Pete"

[pink-void-blog1]

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[notgeosul]

An introduction

As outlined in my proposal, the goal of my work is to create and perform compositions for instrumentalist and computer system. To achieve this, I propose creating an interactive environment for performance which is informative of both performer and the computational integrity during the work.

I wish to explore interactive methods between the performer and system, and will do this with analysis of both sound and movement. I am aware that when performing with live electronics there is often disorientation caused due to the multiple origins of sound. Using both live acoustic and live electronics, it can create miscommunication between the performer and audience as to what is happening. This problem may be heightened as I plan on using an electric instrument, which in turn may include obscure possibilities in the signal chain. In a paper “Generative Music and Laptop Performance”, Nicolas Collins identifies this issue saying “much of the complexity of these real time systems is lost on a potential audience”1.

There are many ways one could visually manifest the generation of sound. Many live coding or “algorave” artists, Alex McLean for example, project their screen for the audience to see2. Graham Dunning provides visual feedback by showing the source of each sound created during his “Mechanical Techno”3 piece. Owen Pallett performs using Max MSP to create his own looping systems; he used to project his Max patches onto the stage however more recently builds pieces slowly so it is clear how it is working. In interview with The Creators Project he states “the goal with the looping show is that I want the process to be transparent to the fans ... Its important because I really want the audience to feel as if there’s the thrill of creation and that they’re a part of it”4.

In classical violin performance, certain repertoires which lend themselves to traditional form can identify an instrumentalist’s virtuosity due to the nature of performance, however in computer music this can be difficult for the listener to gauge. I want my system to reciprocate the expressivity of the performer. I plan on researching into methods of analysis and implementing them where appropriate within my system in attempt to reinforce the relationship between performer and computer.

To succeed in this, I plan to use Max MSP to: 1) Extract formative features of the input audio. 2) Track the performers movement. 3) Create instruments and effects, generate reactive visuals. 4) Control parameters within the computer system expressively and freely.

1 Collins, Nick. "Generative Music and Laptop Performance". Contemporary Music Review 22.4 (2003): 67-79. Web. 2 "Canute Live In Jubez Karlsruhe Algorave". YouTube. N.p., 2017. Web. 18 Jan. 2017. 3 "Graham Dunning 'Mechnical Techno' Boiler Room London LIVE Set". YouTube. N.p., 2017. Web. 18 Jan. 2017.

4 Sokol, Zach. "Owen Pallett Breaks Down His New Album "In Conflict" | The Creators Project". The Creators Project. N.p., 2014. Web. 12 Jan. 2017. Avaiable At: https://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/owen-pallett-in-conflict

When approaching sound analysis in the past, I have had issues with analysis of the input signal and thus controlling the desired output. Robert Rowe discusses the use of interactive music systems and contrasts the use of MIDI control with newer methods of raw signal processing.

“The issue for composers of interactive media is that adopting the power and flexibility of audio based systems means exchanging a high level symbolic representation for a low level sub symbolic one”5.

He goes on to evaluate certain issues and the techniques one might use to solve them, identifying that processing a raw audio signal is much harder to obtain higher level features. He talks about segmentation, which is something I have personally had problems with when using a violin. Due to the bowing technique of playing the instrument, it can be difficult to register the onset of notes when measuring the changing amplitude of a signal. Rowe explains how he has used high frequency content to provide appropriate results, something I will certainly look into.

Rowe also touches on the timbral variation as a control signal. Timbre analysis can give a rich data stream which reflects the interest and variance of the signal, correlating to human perception. I plan on using this technique throughout my performance as it provides data that makes sense to be used for visualisations. He identifies the importance of measuring the noise of a signal, the RMS amplitude, spectral centroid and spectral flatness. There are many other features we can obtain from audio, including the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), the Mel frequency cestrum coefficients – a redistribution of the spectrum into a nonlinear scale that appropriates human perception, and spectral flux – the change in spectrum relative to previous values from the signal.

I briefly touched on this idea in my proposal and I wish to reflect on this within my work. I believe informing the audience how the system works will add success to the performance, and textural analysis is an important aspect of this. I plan on using textural content to give intuitive data which can be used to control aspects of the visuals which will give coherence to the work.

Feature of the performers movement will also play an important part in my work. As the movement of the performer will inform the audience their expression and technique it is important to be able to identify this within my computer system. There are several ways I plan on doing this: 1) Colour tracking on the bow is a great way to take features from the performer. By simply placing a brightly coloured object on the bow and placing the performer in a neutral background with neutral clothing it is very easy to obtain accurate readings representing bowing techniques. Large gestalt movements can be easily differentiated from smaller movements and lends itself to intuitive mapping of space within the performance, something I can also reflect on within the sound.

5 Rowe, Robert. "Split Levels: Symbolic to Sub-Symbolic Interactive Music Systems". Contemporary Music Review 28.1 (2009): 31-42. Web. 11. Jan. 2017 Available At: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07494460802664015?src=recsys

There are other techniques I plan on looking into, such as frame differencing, which I would like to use as controls for instruments, sounds and visuals. To start with this, I plan on going through the jitter tutorials available with max and try to create my own systems for feature extraction.

Aside from the e-violins output signal I plan on using microphones on the bow to take separate data. Using a contact mic on the frog of the bow, I can get interesting readings that would reflect the style of bowing. Placing a small microphone on the bow could also give me proximity readings from the source of the sound (the strings). However, there may not be enough amplitude from the electric instrument to allow this thus I am considering attaching a small speaker to the body to allow this approach to work.

There is plenty of documentation within Max MSP on creating instruments and audio effects. Also worth noting is the website “Music DSP”6 which hosts the source code for many different audio effects. I’m particularly interested in creating my own software instruments which will be controlled by parameters obtained from the performer as described previously. So far my ideas include; a sample player which is controlled by movement of the bow inspired by Laurie Anderson’s “tape-bow violin”, a granulator type instrument which can create textural drones for accompaniment, delay lines and other effects generated by Euclidian rhythms. Nic Collins “Tobabo Fonio”7 is also a great example of mapping conventional playing techniques to unusual DSP systems.

For the visual side of my project I have been looking at artists such as Craig Reynolds and Matt Pearson who have a large amount of resources available online8 9. I would like to create separate visuals for each piece, and aim to reflect the nature of the work within each one.

Plan:

I have broken my project into 5 topics;

• Audio analysis and feature extraction • Video analysis and feature extraction • Generative visuals • DSP instruments and effects

• Composition Each of these overlap techniques and will in turn impact on one another, but for now I aim

to build on each separately before conglomerating them together.

To begin with I will spend time working on the inputs of my system, audio and video. As previously mentioned, I plan on going through the Max Jitter tutorials. These should give me

6 "Music DSP Source Code Archive". Musicdsp.org. N.p., 2017. Web. 14 Jan. 2017. 7 "Tobabo Fonio (Nicolas Collins)". YouTube. N.p., 2017. Web. 18 Jan. 2017. 8 Reynolds, Craig. "Craig W. Reynolds". Red3d.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 14 Jan. 2017. 9 Pearson, Matt. "Generative Art (Abandonedart.Org)". Abandonedart.org. N.p., 2017. Web. 14 Jan. 2017.

a pretty comprehensive guide to what is possible through Max and allow me to extract many expressive features from the performers movement and sound. Once these methods are implicated I will need to think about calibration methods to ensure that I can set up and use the full range of data every time I set up. This will allow me to practice with the system over time so by May I will have complete control over the interactions I have created.

I also plan on experimenting with IRCAM’s gesture follower (gf)10 software and their Antescofo score following software. In the past I have struggled using these approaches due to the difficulties recognising note attacks. Unlike previous works I am using an e-violin which should remove some problems I had before, therefore I hope to be able to utilise Antescofo. Thus I will need to spend some time experimenting with analysis methods and equipment fairly soon to establish how possible this approach may be.

For the visuals, I plan on looking into different generative methods and examples for the time being. I plan on trying to create a portfolio of works throughout the term so that when I get to April I can create visuals to reflect the compositions and tailor them further. To explore into this I am currently reading “Generative Art”11 by Matt Pearson, and need to look further into this field to find out what is possible.

I mentioned a few ideas I had for instruments I wish to create in Max earlier. I plan on having these created by the end of February so that I may begin working on the compositions. This also gives me a lot of time to improve them and engineer new ideas as we go through the term.

Currently I have a few ideas I would like to explore within my compositions. Feedback has always interested me and I would like to create a piece or an instrument which uses this technique. I like the idea of being able to play a live performance with just a mic and speaker, this is inspired by pieces such as Steve Reich’s “Pendulum Music”12 and the ensemble piece.

Luke DuBois’ work “Growing Pains”13 is an interesting composition for guitar in which the score and visuals are created with a Lindenmayer system (L-system). When the performer plays the piece the audio signal is checked against the score and, if perfect, creates a fern pattern within the visuals. Any mistakes within the L system cause changes to the visuals and thus create a glitch version of the L-system, reflecting the relationship between performer and computer.

“If a computer were to play the piece, the fern would generate perfectly every time, but by using human performers an element of chaos is introduced into the system”14

10 http://imtr.ircam.fr/imtr/Gesture_Follower 11 Pearson, Matt. Generative Art. 1st ed. Shelter Island, NY: Manning, 2011. Print. 12 Reich, Steve. Pendulum Music. 1968. Composition. 13 DuBois, Luke. Growing Pains. 2003. Composition. 14 Schedel, Margaret and Alison Rootberg. "Generative Techniques in Hypermedia Performance". Contemporary Music Review 28.1 (2009): 57-73. Web.

Projected Week Plan:

January

Week Beginning : 16th Jan

Evaluate equipment

Week Beginning : 23rd Jan

Test Antescofo & GF methods Research generative techniques Test mics in EMS

February

Week Beginning : 30th Jan

Build Max Instruments & audio Processes Start creating generative visual portfolio

Week Beginning : 6th Feb

Max MSP Jitter Tutorials Generative visual portfolio Begin 1st draft of write up

Week Beginning : 13th Feb

Research Audio analysis techniques Begin composition 1 & 2

Week Beginning : 20th Feb

Implement and experiment audio analysis Composition 1 & 2

March

Week Beginning : 27th Feb

Research into new found technologies and ideas Composition 1 & 2 Finish 1st draft

Week Beginning : 6th Mar

Perform 2 compositions & take feedback Continue research into new ideas Reflect on write up draft feedback Begin write up

Week Beginning : 13th Mar

Composition 3 & 4 Reflect on feedback Finish visual portfolio

Week Beginning : 20th Mar

Composition 3 & 4 Add visuals into each composition

Week Beginning :27th Mar

Complete 3 & 4 Complete accompanying visuals

April

Week Beginning : 3rd Apr

Performance Take feedback

Week Beginning : 10th Apr

Apply feedback to write up

Week Beginning : 17th Apr

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Week Beginning : 24th Apr

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May

Week Beginning : 1st May

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Week Beginning : 8th May

Submit work this week