Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Week 7 Blog Prompt

For each of the other 2 groups:

Now that you've seen evidence of what the group is up to, create a post with 2 aesthetic reference points (audio, video, website) to what the group has presented. It can relate to their work-in-progress from any direction or dimension: a literary relationship, a textural/sonic "vibe", a related form, similar uses of technology, or something more obscure.

For each reference, be sure to identify what group's work it is relevant to, and why.

Consider: "Your work-in-progress made me think of ________ because _______."

You should create at least 2 posts, one for each group. Each post should have at least 2 references.

Due before our next meeting, March 6, at 6:00pm.

Week 5 Blog Post

We have a pretty solid idea of live scoring some video. The variation lies in how we will go about this. We have an idea of the theme being ~utopia~.

The first direction we could go is creating a video of our own footage combined with archival footage. The video would be the same every time, with no sound interaction or the like.

Pros: We could get really comfortable with the video we make, which would make our musical transitions from section to section seamless.

Cons: It would be less interesting to watch and see how the music affects the video. We would also miss an opportunity to explore interactive visuals.

We could also have a series of videos that are triggered in response to what we are playing. We plan on having different "movements" of our piece, so videos could play according to that.

Pros: It would be a unique performance every time, since much of the music involves improvisation. It would be really engaging and a good opportunity for us to explore something that we are unfamiliar with.

Cons: A lot of time would be dedicated to learning how to do this, which may not necessarily be a bad thing, but it also gives us less time to focus on the creative aspects.

Another thing we could do is find a random video and improvise without looking at the screen.

Pros: It could create some really interesting results musically and visually.

Cons: It wouldn't involve much learning and exploration.

Monday, February 19, 2018

Week 5 Blog Post, Balas/Everett/Levin

1.  Our first direction is to stay more acoustic and use contact mics to manipulate the noises of unlikely objects and create a performance with that acoustic material.
Pros:
This is a more intimate performance, and the acoustic sounds give a more organic feel. It would also be easier to fit this to a concept, where we can choose sounds in line with an idea.
Cons:
This is less visual than the others, and isn't a super original idea. The sound also won't be as "pretty" as a more processed approach, because contact mics tend to be very mid-y and harsh.

2. The second direction is to use waveforms found in percussive sounds to create sampled instruments that work with more acoustic rhythmic sounds to create a song.
Pros:
The sounds will be interestingly varied, and has an interesting rhythmic/melodic dichotomy. It's also easier to manipulate the sound digitally, so the noises will be more pleasing. There are also interesting things we can do with the visual, showing how we are using the waveform.
Cons:
This may be less intimate than the purely acoustic sounds. It is also less performance based directly, and may be hard to distinguish from a normal synth performance.

3. The last idea was to use the voltage generated by the contact mics to control the lighting in the room. We can do this directly with LED's, or use a more arduino based approach to control larger light networks.
Pros:
This is visually very interesting, and we can do a lot of cool things with the digital lighting.
Cons:
This is technologically complex, and the amount of time required to set this up well may not be worth the amount of interest it adds to the performance.



Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Group Blog Prompt

As a group (on your group's individual page) describe three possible variations on the direction your group could be headed. Use media, which could include media that you've generated and/or media from other sources, to illustrate these variations/directions. Weigh the pros and cons of each direction. What could be rewarding or disappointing about each? What are the challenges or opportunities for each? What are the risks?

Due Tuesday Feb 20 before class.