The purpose of this blog is to document the progress of the Music Tutorial Negotiated Unit project from inception to completion.
The project will essentially be a live performance of prepared compositions (using a controller and Leap Motion device) which when played will create its own dynamic light show. The intention of the project is to firstly create a dynamic live performance using predominantly loop based material. Secondly it is to explore the relationship between live performance and composition; for example in knowing that the compositions will determine how the lights react, how can I write pieces of music that both sound good and will also utilise the lighting system effectively? In addition it is to explore how different implementations of technology can provide an effective, aesthetically pleasing and unique way to perform live.
The title Imagination & Junk is taken from a Thomas Edison quote and is fitting as the project is a coming together of a variety of technology to create something affecting and human (and because of his contribution to it, the light bulb).
The project will consist of five main parts:
- A custom controller built using an Arduino Mega, 4 rotary potentiometers, 18 LED arcade buttons and a container to house all of the components. The controller will be responsible for playing the samples and implementing effects although how this will exactly work may organically change in response to the structure of my compositions.
- A lighting system built using an Arduino Uno. The lamps themselves will be of varying shapes and sizes due to purely aesthetic reasons and the bulbs in each will be of a varying degree of brightness to help reflect the intensity of the composition. Each lamp will be connected to an Arduino relay shield connected to the Arduino itself.
- The Leap Motion device is a piece of infrared technology that can track the not only the position of two hands in 3 dimensions but also the position of all ten fingers, their joints and the rotation of the palms. This piece of equipment will be incredibly useful due to the sheer amount of data that can be generated from one single hand which will be essential if I am to be controlling samples with the other. It will also create a nice juxtaposition to the MIDI controller itself because while that is tactile and physical using the Leap Motion looks like you are simply using thin air. This sentiment is echoed perfectly by Arthur C. Clarke ‘Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.’. Finally the leap motion will help give the audience another form of visual feedback apart from the lights and also create a sense of anticipation and engagement that would be less apparent if the samples were simply played using the MIDI controller.
- The compositions will be recorded, mixed and mastered in pro tools and be split into samples that will then be able to be individually manipulated by the rotary potentiometers and the Leap Motion device. The intention is that the compositions will be arranged in such a way that they complement the technology used, the impact of the lighting and vice versa.
- A Max MSP patch will be constructed to connect all of the previous four parts together. It will receive data from the MIDI controller and the Leap Motion Controller and transmit data internally to play samples, to the lights on the MIDI controller to provide myself visual feedback as to what is playing and finally to the lighting system.
Below are some examples of previous projects of my own that will inform the creative and functional aspects of Imagination & Junk.
Imagination & Junk 