Ether Orchestra

In the event I will use a Theremin to give a truly analogue source, this source will then be digitised as continuos control data in MIDI. This data will then be sent to eight receiver machines via the Ethernet network. As these eight machines receive the data they will convert the data back to sound via Absynth, a soft synthesiser. Others in the space will be free to alter the sound on the receiver machines to generate a varied sound scape in the space. To encourage heterodyning, the Ethernet network will be allowed to lag the signal over time so that the performance will be randomly off time building on the soundscape.

What interests me is that at the head of this performance, I will be performing three roles simultaneously: that of the composer, the performer and one of the conductor, gesturing at the aerials of the Theremin in front of my cyber orchestra pit. Roland Barthes in 'Musica Practica' talks of the change in the way we define the musician.
'To find practical music in the West, one has now to look to another public, another repertoire, another instrument (the young generation, vocal music, the guitar). Concurrently, passive, receptive music, sound music, is become the music (that of concert, festival, record, radio): playing has ceased to exist; musical activity is no longer manual, muscular, kneadingly physical'; but merely liquid, effusive, 'lubrificating', to take up a word from Balzac. So too has the performer changed.'
(Barthes, R Image Music Text 1977: 149-150)
Barthes has focused on the change from classically trained musician as being a performer performing written music as the composer probably intended. In contrast he compares this with more modern styles of musical performance. What Barthes does not explain is that the modern musician is more likely to be more than just a musician. A contemporary guitarist for example, would not only play his/her instrument but also might be a composer, creative with the likes of sound, tone and colour. Barthes also has overlooked that the musician may also tack on the roll of a conductor. This takes the traditional view of the 'one man band' to a new medium even if the source of this is an instrument that started its influence in the 1920's.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Theremin
• synth
• soundscape
• experiment
• music
• imac
• network
• absynth

[BibFortuna4President]

Good work. It would be interesting to see the nature of the actual text that the performance generated on the imacs before it was translated into audio signals. There's a few dynamics which would be interesting to explore but personally I would be very interested in studying that particular part of the installation.

[d1ddyd4v3]

Thanks for your comments

to sum up the signal chain on this:

The theremin generates CV (0-5vdc)

optocoplers convert cv to a resistance (ohms)

I-Cube to convert Resistance to MIDI data.

Max MXP to capture MIDI data and assign values to Continuous controllers.

Transmitter code in a host machine captures Continuous controllers and extracts cc number and variable associated with it this is then transmitted as text over an Ethernet network.

[d1ddyd4v3]

Continued from above:

Imacs with reciever programs capture MIDI code in text form and convert back to MIDI data (pitch bend and global volume) and use this to control the soft synth (the transmitter code also sends a note on command to a random key)

Native instruments absynth (v2 i believe) receives note on data and then modifying cc data.

[sargassosea]

crap the audio is out of sync

[d1ddyd4v3]

the Data generated by the theremin is being transmitted as text over an ethernet conection to 8 imacs.

as it says in the writeup that goes with this latency varies as much as 20 seconds depending on network traffic and other issues.

THAT IS HOW IT WAS AT THE TIME!!!

[brianrobison]

Very cool! Would love to hear a longer version.

[babybambambumkin]

Cool Theremin!

[Stejnar]

wow did you used magnet fields?

[dimitris108]

It is great I like it.

[SHUGIBall]

Crap.