MatyoOo’s Interactive Media

Ive just discovered a video of Etienne de Crecy’s live installation at Transmusicales festival, blown away by it, I had to find out more.

Here’s another video, but taken from one persons point of view.

After a bit of digging around if found the people responsible are a groupe called Exyzt. A team of architects, designers and technicianssomewhat like the AntiVJ gang.

It turns out the Exyzt piece here got ripped off by none other than MTV and The Killers, get the full story HERE.

Today in class, a group of students gave a talk and demonstration of some V-J work they had done over the weekend .

Using a midi controller through Arkaos, they mashed various clips together to accompany the DJ’s set.

This is a basic form of VJing, but it still proves entertaining. An example of advanced VJing would be ColdCut. I saw their ‘Journeys By VJ’ live set in Bestival this summer which combined the samples they played with visuals, then as they scratched them the visuals would behave as the sound would. I’m not sure how intricate the set up was and how much control they had over it, but it still was a great show.

These are the closest videos i can find of their performance, its a shame, because it doesn’t really do it justice. There is something nice about seeing the human element as well, watching how they actually control the sound and visuals.

Coldcut – Revolution

Coldcut – Timber

Digging around on the web again, i found some more interesting takes on music performance.

Firstly, Gil Kuno’s ‘Six String Sonics, The‘.

“Instead of stringing one guitar with 6 strings, we have created 6 single string guitars which will be played by 6 people. Since there will be 6 hands manning the strings, the group is capable of reaching many more chords and melodies.”

The concept is incredible, from what i can tell it has created an extreme closeness between the members of the band and a new outlook to guitar songwriting. The music is actually rather listenable, in-fact enjoyable! It still sounds like the early stages but… well have a listen for yourself.

1. Mars Icon
2. Evidence of Pop
3. Slow Stone Slow
4. Hard Ball

Like a lot of prog/experimental rock, its takes a few listens to get into it, but i do have a fondness for the second track ‘Evidence Of Pop’.

Next up is The Res (Recycling Entertainment System).

“6 NES controllers, midi signals and Max/MSP allow players to jam together.”

Its a great party piece that allows up to 6 friends to blast out some music using a device that just about every human is familiar with. I can imagine its hard to stay in time but the guys in this video seem to make a good job of it. Every now and then it turns a bit chaotic and falls apart but later in the video they make some funky beats.

The link between these pieces is the central point of interest, the way that a group of people come togher and explore strange unconventional ways of making music and rhythm thanks to these strange devices.

Lesson of the day: The experience seems to be more powerful once it is shared with other people.

Upon revisiting the Monome website i discovered a cracking interview with musician ‘Daedelus’. He uses the two fifty six during his live performances(shown in the video). During the interview (at 2.31) he talks about live electronic music and the way it is often hidden from the audience, what he does is tilt the monome forward so the audience can see the process and follow part of the music creation.

You can see from the crowds reaction that there is a closer connection between the artist and the audience just from being able to see what is going on. In animation, a drawing of an explosion will always look more impressive and powerful when accompanied by a sound, from this we can gather that in music, a drop will be more powerful with some visual accompaniment.

Some more monome madness

“tehn with monome prototype”

After all the excitement of the midi music interfaces (that’s about three days of staying up Very very late with very very loud noises) I’ve decided to see if any other interesting examples were to be found on the net.
It seems from my search that just about every traditional instrument has been transformed into some form of midi interface.

Drums, Brass, Keyboards, guitars, turntables, mixers, samplers and so on.

Later on i had the chance to speak to one of our tutors, Phil, about my new musical quest/obsession. He mentioned some new software for me to explore, such as Ableton Live and Logic Pro.
Phil also mentioned touch screen control surfaces. The idea behind these is to create a touch screen mixer that isn’t limited by physical switches and sliders. The concept is good but i cant help but feel like a physical mixer will be more reliable and easier to use. on a touch screen surface your finger can stick or skid where as with a physical crossfader, the movement is much more natural.

Phil then mentioned creating a link between these controlers and the ‘Tangible Table‘, an exciting idea but doesnt quite feel like my calling. (Its up for grabs)

Ive just discovered the power of midi input devices! I’ve connected a keyboard and a sampler/drum machine to the computer and its made the creation process so much easyer. I feel that as though I have much more controll over the sound and the interaction feels much more natural. This experience has taught me the importance of suitable input devices and has inspired me to seek other forms of musical intefaces and devices.

Over the holiday and into the third year I have found myself to have a growing interest in music, musical devices, performances and ..well just about anything musical and interesting.

It amazes me, the power of music, the musical trip, and the energy from watching a live performance and the connection when playing an instrument with someone or in a band.

Over the holiday I spent a lot of time on the drum kit, guitar and turntables and for the first time, I played the drums with other musicians (a guitar and keyboard player) in front of a small audience, to my amazement the power of the music and the unspoken connection between us was so intense that we were making our own songs without any rehearsal, conversations and without stop!

This whole experience has drawn me towards the world of music, I want to investigate interaction with music, instruments, devices, lighting and other elements of this nature, in aim to understand and create some form of original and exciting interaction.

As a staring point i got hold of some music software ‘Reason 4’, in an attempt to understand and create music, atmospheres and ambience. Its all going well and I will perhaps put some tracks online for all to listen.