Then let’s start where we left.

The programme of the event was full of contents and activities, panels and workshops, you can get a glimpse here.

Ant Scott - Repetitive Beats (detail) - 2008

I gladly announce the publication of Vague Terrain 15: .microsound, including my piece Sand Horyzon – a composition excerpt of live improvisational computing in Pd using an augmented electric bass guitar.
The whole release brings you two compilations of fine experimental music, text and videos created by the community behind .microsound list (which has just celebrated its ten years) and selected by american composer Kim Cascone.
As Kim states in his article:

“The .microsound community, drawing from areas as discontinuous as Gilles Deleuze, Curtis Roads and the Aphex Twin, is a ‘body without organs’ in Deleuzian parlance; an amorphous object, a fluid changing shape as its poured into different containers…”
“…In order to bracket the various styles of sound art and music I used the Deleuzian concepts of ’smooth space’ and ’striated space.’ Striated space is where I put all the pieces that made use of gesture and beats while ’smooth space’ is where I put pieces that made use of texture and internal movement. But within those two categories what constitutes a .microsound-sounding piece becomes blurred…”

About .microsound: “.microsound is not a “genre” mailing list, since this proliferation has occurred largely without regard for stylistic boundary. instead, .microsound presents itself as a forum for the discussion and exploration of a more general “digital aesthetic” manifesting across a wide variety of styles and disciplines — from academic computer music to post-industrial noise to experimental ambient and post-techno.”

original img by noisybox.net

I’m spending these last days preparing the material for the upcoming workshop in Brescia, Italy on 21-22  / 5-6 November.
Together with the dear friend Husk we conceived a intensive workshop about real-time audiovisual processing in Pure Data to be held during the event Agit Media – organized by Ualuba.org. Agit Media is promoted by Centro A&T (Arte & Tecnologie) with partnership of LABA Academy of Fine Arts, Brescia and curated by Davide Anni.

The second part of the workshop held by Husk on 4-5 November will follow a similar structure focused on the video libraries of Pd and the manipulation of video streams.

• Pd and its Community
• Pd works review
• Pd Language
• Audio objects and idioms
• Sonic Laboratory
• Principles of audio video interaction 1
• Collective briefing
• Collaborative software development

5-6 November (Video – Luca Carrubba)

• Video Libraries introduction
• Video Review
• Video reproduction and basic manipulations
• Video Effects
• Generating visuals and advanced processing
• Principles of audio video interaction 2
• Collective Briefing
• Communication protocols
• Sofware production Laboratory

Looking forward to meet some of you there!

C::NTR::L is the name of the free software for real-time Human-Computer Interaction exploiting physical computing possibilities. Developed in PureData by Marco Donnarumma. It seeks to be a tool for audiovisual live improvisation. The project started in 2007 and it remains a constant work in progress, i’m always interested in new ideas and collaborations. This is the version 1.0BETA. I’m planning to publish the patch, but before i want to work more on the interface, and enhance some features to offer a good usability of the tool, also for who doesn’t work everyday with graphical programming.

So if you’re interested in testing this application please write to info [at] thesaddj.com. Keep on checking this website for future news.
And www.thesaddj.com/icontrolnature for the live show i perform with C::NTR::L.

C::NTR::L is a tool for audiovisual live improvisation exploiting the physical computing technologies.
It transforms your standard musical instrument – electric bass, guitar, violin, piano etc. – in an augmented instrument, an audiovideo controller without exploiting a specific external hardware or MIDI technology.

Once you connected the instrument to the sound card of your computer, C::NTR::L  starts to recognize which notes you play. This is possible trought a complex structure of band pass/low pass/hi pass filters which automatically separate the core frequency of the incoming audio signal.
Then C::NTR::L analyzes the duration and the RMS of each single note and finally translates this data in order to control and trigger a set of audiovideo efx and modules which at this moment features:

VIDEO

• playlist
• scratch and loop points
• white/black fade
• color matrix
• blur
• delay
• strobo
• 3D efx
• saving presets
  

• real-time sound in processing
• support multiple sound input (up to as amany as you want and your machine can stand)
• granulator (original module by Matt Davey)
• bit-crusher (original module by Matt Davey)
• reverb (original module by Matt Davey)
• oscillators
• saving presets
  
  Besides i created a friendly digital tuner, to allow you to tune in your instrument as you would do with a normal tuner.
  

The interface of C::NTR::L is modular (as the other well-known softwares for graphical programming as Isadora, VVVV or the same PureData) and each module has the possibility to receive and send the data flow it is processing. This allow you to connect as you prefer the different modules, giving them a specific order, connecting video values to audio efx or the opposite simply dragging a cable.
This whole data processing happens and reacts in real-time with really low latency – such as 1/2ms depending on the amplification of the incoming audio signal.

click to enlarge

Thanks to this system the freedom of the artist is maximum. You can literally “play” with your audiovideo live acts using exclusively your musical instrument – or multiple instruments too. A single note will cause just one specific action and audiovideo efx, for istance you can create live audiovisual narration based on your musical score without listing any MIDI controls, or synchronizing any softwares.
Plug your chord instrument and “play” your videos. And if you’re a band you can process different sound inputs (drums, guitar, bass, percussion, ecc,..) and assign to each one different audiovisual efx, or videos or whatever you like most.

Technology must return to be an instrument and not anymore a status to be celebrated, this is the fundamental concept behind this tool.
Soulful thanks for sharing, supporting and inspiring goes to: Rep (PD’r and Multimedia Artist), AssoBeam (PD’r and Multimedia Artists), Husk (PD’r and Multimedia Artist), Sero (Sound Artist), Brendan Byrne (PD’r and teacher), Jorg Koch (MAX’r and sound artist), _Ser (PD’r and Multimedia Artist), G-Noma (Multimedia Artist), Matt Davey (PD’r) and the incredible community on the PD Forum (http://puredata.hurleur.com/).

Isolated sounds in a dilated space, motionless, cold, distant, which generate different gradations of density. The heavy intervention of the tubax, the cold voice of the flute, the strikes of the glockenspiel, the dry sounds of a pianoforte which find it hard to end his release. The words of the italian poet Giacomo Leopardi give life to the sounds: “Che fai tu, luna in ciel, dimmi che fai, silenziosa luna…”