theory entries

The Creators Project

The Creators Project is a new network dedicated to the celebration of creativity and culture across media, and around the world. At a time in the history of the arts where digital technologies have revolutionized distribution, democratized access, and completely re-imagined the scope and scale with which an artist can create a vision and reach an audience, The Creators Project is a completely new kind of arts and culture channel for a completely new kind of world.

Check out this inspirational videos, from all type of different areas, here.

update_3 | body sound

update_3 | body sound is a art biennale ,organized by the Liedts-Meesen Foundation, which takes place in Ghent.

The sound exhibition ambitions to go beyond the auditory system and uses echoes, vibrations, timbres, resonances, waves to put the body of the visitor to the test. Through a scenography designed by Bureau des Mésarchitectures, 14 installations invite the public to explore different perceptions of sound through their interactions with the materials, their position when listening and the movement of their body within space.

via [wemakemoneynotart]

Why calls of the wild are the secret of a good horror film

Psycho

Nice read on “The Independent” website about non-linear sounds used in soundtracks:

Scientists have found that many of the emotionally-evocative moments in some of the most popular films are enhanced with a sound score that exploits the human brain’s natural aversion to the “non-linear” sounds widely used in the animal kingdom to express fear and distress.

Read the full article here.

MIT gesture control

Think of the possibilities for music, animation, design or even editing…

When looking for a cheap, reliable way to track gestures, Robert Wang and Jovan Popovic of MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory came upon this notion: why not paint the operator’s hands (or better yet, his Lycra gloves) in a manner that will allow the computer to differentiate between different parts of the hand, and differentiate between the hand and the background? Starting with something that Howie Mandel might have worn in the 80s, the researchers are able to use a simple webcam to track the hands’ locations and gestures — with relatively little lag. The glove itself is split into twenty patches made up of ten different colors, and while there’s no telling when this technology will be available for consumers, something tells us that when it does become available it’ll be very hard not to notice.

via [engadget]

ECO ART: Solar-Powered Speakers

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Making a statement through music is far from unfamiliar – some of the most powerful messages of our time have been embodied in the most fetching melodies. Taking the wide human reach held within this medium, designer Craig Colorusso has created “Sun Boxes,” an alien field of independently operating, solar-powered speakers, each remitting its own distinct guitar sample. A true marriage of sound and (natural) light, this array of speakers is able to create a glorious composition that attests to the value of solar power in today’s world.

via [inhabitat]

Personal Thesis now published

My Thesis “Die Simulation des akustischen Klaviers in der Musikproduktion” is now published by VDM-Verlag. You can buy a copy at amazon.de. German language only – but here’s the english abstract:

This paper focuses on the possibilities of piano simulation in the current production of music. It begins with a discussion and analysis of the technical development, functionality, and sound production of the mo- dern day, acoustic piano. Next, it examines the method of multi–sampling for piano sound reproduction. Following a definition and historical recapitulation, it analyses the approach of using multi–sampling on the basis of current software products and takes a closer look at a specific example. The second technique analyzed in this work is the sound production approach of physical modeling synthesis. This simulation technique uses a computer generated mathematical model to simulate the laws of physics of a musical inst- rument – in this case the piano. A summary, historical review and an explanation of the technique provides a basic understanding of this process. An example, using a theoretical model, demonstrates the complexity of problems inherent in this process. The only existing software product currently available on the market is analysed in terms of possible applications. The intention of this work is the following comparison of the pros and cons of the aforementioned piano simulation methods. Finally, the appropriateness of the tech- niques will be discussed in the conclusion.

Acoustic Botany

Acoustic Botany, by David Benqué, extracts Synthetic Biology and Genetic Engineering from the usual context of health care, food and environment and examines instead the role they could play in the sphere of culture and entertainment.

via [we make money not art]

Music Documentaries at BBC Four

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BBC Four spoiled its audience recently with a collection of brilliant music documentaries that underline the impact technology, namely the synthesizer, had on popular and academic music in Britain.

via [silent listening]

TED Talk: How sound affects us

Julian Treasure asks us to pay attention to the sounds that surround us.

via [silent sound]

Burial the Pallbearer vs Burial the Innovator

What is Burial’s music ‘about’? What does it ‘do’? Come to think of it, what is his music? What does it mean? Of course, all of this is up to the listener’s imagination, but for a while now there’s been a certain degree of consensus on the answers to these questions: Burial ‘mourns the death of rave’, his music is (to paraphrase a handful of commentators) a ‘plaintive echo from a bygone era of collective energy’, ‘a melancholy, ghostly memory of the faded promise of rave, drenched in weathering and mired in urban decay’.

Interesting post about Burial and his music at Rouge’s Foam Blog.