PLOrk fall2007
From CSWiki
Contents
- 1 General Information
- 2 Important Dates
- 3 Basic Resources
- 4 Tentative Schedule
- 4.1 Week 1: 9/20 -- lotso laptops, no electronics
- 4.2 Week 2: 9/27 -- lotso electronics, no laptops
- 4.3 Week 3: 10/4 -- lotso electronics AND laptops
- 4.4 Week 4: 10/11 -- more AND: programming
- 4.5 Week 5: 10/18 -- let's play
- 4.6 Week 6: 10/25 -- DC prep and project development session
- 4.7 MIDTERM BREAK
- 4.8 Week 7: 11/8: performance in DC
- 4.9 Weeks 8-: project development, playing sessions, etc...
- 5 Class Notes
- 6 Other Stuff
General Information
this is not *just* a " PLOrk seminar"; we're calling it "Tech Band" and addressing more general issues facing composers and performers integrating technology into performance, and also how technology can create new performance paradigms. PLOrk will, however, remain a resource and constant point of reference. Hands-on with both:
- hardware (basic electronics, speakers and so on, inspired by Nic Collins' workshop last year; also sensor and microcontroller stuff, etc...)
- coding (ChucK and Max/MSP).
projects from members of the seminar will likely drive things as we proceed, and we will undoubtedly form a band ourselves, do some improvising and composing together, and, if there is interest, put on a performance and/or "house 'o sound" after the semester.
- primary meeting time: Th 1:30-4:20, McAlpin and/or Studio B; assistance setting up may be requested for many of these meetings
Important Dates
- November 7 (tentative) and 8 (definite); performances in DC area.
- Not everyone will be involved, and this is a PLOrk-specific performance.
- November 9 we may do a short performance in Richardson as part of the Arts Initiative fund raising
- November 16 (also tentative); possible telematic performance with Stanford, UCSD, RPI, others...
Basic Resources
books and other readings
- get Nic Collins' book on hardware hacking
- Reed Ghazala's book on circuit-bending is also a blast
- Bart Hopkins' book on instrument building has lots of great info about building musical things out of metal, wood, glass, and so on...
- Dan O'Sullivan's book on Physical Computing
- check out the proceedings from past NIME conferences (New Interfaces for Musical Expression) for ideas and general wackiness
- PLOrk Reader; lots and lots of reading relevant to PLOrk and this seminar in general. please add as you see fit, and ask me for the password for protected papers if you can't guess it.
- Here is a link to some links I (Cameron) have accumulated over the past year or so. Mostly DIY audio and arduino stuff. Some may be useful, some not so much. There are a bunch of 'em though.
campus stuff
- if you haven't visited Perry's soundlab do so!
- Perry's Human-Computer Interfacing course is also relevant.
- there is a machine shop class offered in the Engineering Quad; useful primarily for metal-working, though wood and plastic is also possible. contact Larry McIntyre about taking this 5-week course to get access to the shop and learn your way around.
microcontroller stuff
- Arduino microncontroller resources
- tutorials
- useful introductory notes from a different course (check out the "class notes" pdfs)
- assembly tutorial for the ProtoShield; a useful way to get comfortable with some basic electronics assembly and end up with something useful (we have the parts for a few of these on hand if you'd like to build one).
- another super easy protoshield; $10 at Radio Shack
- see perry's HCI course page; lots of great info there!
places to get stuff
- don't forget Radio Shack
- All Electronics is great!
- DigiKey
- Jameco
- Acroname
- Goldmine Electronics
- great resource for speaker components (thanks seth!)
- amazing miniature amplifier boards. these are all T-amp boards, like the $30 Sonic Impact amps. more on the T-amp here and here.
- the industrial erector set; super useful for building structures of various sizes -- i've been using it to build a portable, mobile stand for the eToobs.
- sensors: interlink, infusion systems, hvw, others...
software
- ChucK
- SMELT (use built-in laptop control creatively with ChucK)
- Rebecca's upChucK examples from 10/8/07
- See also ChucK Analysis page and all its links
- max/msp/jitter
- Processing
- PRC's Basic Stamp Hacks
- MacBS2 - Basic Stamp software for Mac
- RCtime notes that i put together to help clarify some things about how that works and how the stamp works in general. try 'em out!
- DarwiinRemote_OSC Andreas Schlegel's OSC version of the Wii-sensing DarwiinRemote software (OSX). Comes with ChucK code!
Tentative Schedule
Week 1: 9/20 -- lotso laptops, no electronics
- PLOrkino (6-8 players) Pieces
- Network Sequencer (dan)
- SMS Droner (dan)
- others? prc, rebecca, seth, ??
Week 2: 9/27 -- lotso electronics, no laptops
- electronics in ensembles
- piezos
- embedding and powering cheap-ass mics (eToobs, others); circuit diagrams
- dan will talk about some of these things in the context of Five (and-a-half) Gardens
- basic electronics as needed
- speakers and amplifiers
- basic design issues
- aesthetic issues
Week 3: 10/4 -- lotso electronics AND laptops
- custom controllers
- using the Arduino and maybe the Basic Stamp microcontrollers
- BoSSA and various PRC creations as examples
- mapping issues
- prefab (more-or-less) options
- wii
- teabox
- graphics tablets
- trigger finger, keyboards, etc...
Week 4: 10/11 -- more AND: programming
- comparative coding in ChucK and Max/MSP
- various synthesis and signal processing approaches
- networking:
- technical issues and "conductor" strategies
- (no PRC this week)
Week 5: 10/18 -- let's play
- everyone bring something they've made/modified to play with
- software and/or hardware.
- could be as simple as something you've attached a pickup to, to a ChucK or Max/MSP patch, to something super ambitious
- step outside of your comfort zone; should not be your normal instrument, or it should be somehow different than what you usually do
- group improvisations, from duos to the whole band
- project development brainstorming session (if time, otherwise postpone to next week)
- everyone bring in proposals/ideas for something(s) they'd like to build/create/compose over the rest of the semester
Week 6: 10/25 -- DC prep and project development session
- prepare for DC performance(s)?
- project development brainstorming session continued
MIDTERM BREAK
Week 7: 11/8: performance in DC
- PLOrk has been invited to perform at the National Academy of Sciences Museum.
- will bring small ensemble (6-8).
- there won't be a regular meeting
- pieces from week 1, and others as they develop
Weeks 8-: project development, playing sessions, etc...
- will work this out as it comes. can use sessions to:
- work on particular problems motivated by seminar projects
- more electronics, interfacing as needed
- more programming as needed
- be good to dig into spectral stuff (upchucking), live sampling (LiSa), etc...
- improvise in various combinations
- compose together, work on pieces by individuals for the group
- etc....
- NOTE: on friday 11/16 we may do a "telematic performance" over the network with folks from Stanford, UCSD, RPI, and elsewhere
Class Notes
we'll put up notes from each weekly meeting as needed
Who
Other Stuff
- go ahead, put stuff here that might be useful/interesting/hilarious/just stupid
- check out this for gutting an inexpensive Sonic Impact T-amp. great if you want to embed it and/or battery power it somewhere small.
- an example of Wii'ing with Max
- Parallel code examples in SuperCollider and ChucK
- For Jascha's SC user folks: get Cottle book Good explanation of mul and add pp.85-88
- Blendie. Kitchen appliance modification from MIT...