Category: SectionD

Looking Outwards 10 Ellan Suder

Generative Music by batuhan

Software used: Processing connected to SuperCollider via osc_p5 library and the great p5_sc library, and I used the Atari2600 UGen by Fredrik Olofsson, all custom software.

“Generative Music – Cellular automata and blip blops” (2008) by batuhan is a “somewhat intelligent cellular automata system” developed with some atari2600 style sonification. The music is generated by a cellular life system — the artist does not touch the system once it’s started and it dies by itself, ending the music as well. The thing I really liked about the project was the idea of creating a random, computer generated piece of music tied to the lifespan of a system. The song is the representation of a world from its beginning to its end.

The visuals and the audio (the harsh ‘blip blops’) seem to be inspired by old classic arcade style video games.

Lanna Lang – Looking Outwards – 10

Google Magenta // NSynth and NSynth Super // 2018

The goal Google Magenta had with NSynth and NSynth Super was to build a machine learning tool that gave musicians new ways to express themselves. NSynth (Neural Synthesizer) is a new way to approach audio synthesis using neural networks that creates the sound of the actual instrument that is being played instead of the note that’s being played. Magenta wanted the algorithm to be more accessible to musicians, so they created interfaces such as the Sound Maker and the Ableton Live plugin, and Magenta encourages creative use with the algorithm, from dubstep to scenic atmospherics. NSynth is Google’s neural network, but NSynth Super is the tool/musical instrument that brings NSynth to life.

What I love about this piece are the infinite possibilities this brings to artists and anyone anywhere. In the video, they show how using NSynth and NSynth Super, you can combine a flute and a snare to create a whole new instrument (i.e Fnure). NSynth Super isn’t just layering sounds on top of each other, but instead, it’s synthesizing an entirely new sound based on the acoustics of the individual instruments. This technology isn’t making the work of a musician easier, but it’s enhancing it and providing more possibilities and artistic direction that can manifest from this. Although the NSynth Super isn’t available for purchase, Google has provided instructions to make one from scratch using Raspberry Pi for artists to make themselves and explore.

The background behind creating NSynth and NSynth Super
An example of how someone can make music using NSynth Super

Raymond Pai – Looking Outwards – 10

Midi Fighter 3D

For this Looking Outwards, I wanted to focus on a new computational instrument. The Midi Fighter 64 is a ‘finger drum’ instrument, in which a user can program sounds into each button and play the instrument by pressing the buttons. There’s a wide range of button numbers, from 4 x 4 (16 buttons) to 8 x 8 (64 buttons). Artists who use these instruments are called controlerism artists because the boards are closely related to video game controllers (Midi Fighters are only used for music). Another notable similarity between these instruments are computer games is that the buttons on the Midi Fighter are the same as retro Japanese arcade buttons.

The Midi Fighter sounds are programmed into the board using Ableton Live, a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation). The Midi Fighter was originally created by Ean Golden, who’s been interested in controlerism music since the early 2000s. Golden wrote and published an article on the topic in 2007 called ‘Music Manuevers’: https://archive.moldover.com/press/Moldover_Remix_Oct-2007_w.jpg . The instrument has since been popularized by artists such as Shawn Wasabi, a DJ who has pushed the instrument to its limits and played a role in its development to turn it into a marketable product.

To see the Midi Fighter in action:

Looking Outwards 11 Ellan Suder

Short Biography of Angela Washko: Angela Washko has a BFA in painting/drawing/sculpture and an MFA in Visual Art. She currently works as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Art at Carnegie Mellon. Broadly speaking, her work focuses on feminist issues, “creating new forums for discussions of feminism in spaces frequently hostile toward it.” For example, she has operated The Council on Gender Sensitivity and Behavioral Awareness in World of Warcraft since 2012.

“The Game” by Angela Washko is a dating simulator video game about pick-up artists, where the player is a woman being aggressively pursued by 6 men that attempt to. The dialogue is the strongest part of the game, but the rough graphics, almost horror-like close-ups, and intense music add to the disturbing quality of the experiences.

Gameplay still

The player can choose between several responses that range from positive, where you accept and play into the PUA’s techniques, and negative, where you rebuke the PUA’s advances.

I really like the game as it is now. I think Washko could lean in further to the ‘dating simulator’ aspect. Right now it presents the choices in a fairly equal and straightforward manner, so most may just reflexively choose the options where you refuse the PUA’s, but adding an in-game scoreboard/consequences to each choice (for example, if you act ‘rudely’ and refuse a man you lose ‘social standing’) would add to the suppressive awkwardness of the exchanges and perhaps make the player feel more self-conscious of choosing the options where you don’t play along.

Sammie Kim— Looking Outwards— 10

David Cope is a computational artist who created avant-garde works during the 1970s that blurred music and computer science. Originally a traditional musician and composer, Cope developed great interest in the algorithmic area of commuters, and he began finding ways to apply programming techniques into music. The program he developed is now known as Experiments in Musical Intelligence, also known as EMI, which is an analysis program that uses its output to “compose new examples of music in the style of the music in its database without replicating any of those pieces exactly” (Cope). As such, program would analyze the music that would be inputed into the EMI database, and new works would be created in a similar style. And with this data- driven approach, or EMI’s style, Cope began to create new innovative musical pieces that referenced the style of legendary composers of the past, and he began observing unique patterns that were unknown before. With these generative music pieces, Cope faced many public criticisms, particularly revolving around how creative computers can be. Yet, he still overcame these challenges as he found to interweave his own creative style into the many more albums he produced in later years. 

Tech Closeup: Music Professor David Cope
Cope used actual musicians to play the classical music piece composed by EMI.

CJ Walsh – Project 09

sketch

// CJ Walsh 
// Section D
// cjwalsh@andrew.cmu.edu
// Project 09

var baseI;
// loading the image into my code
function preload() {
    var myImageURL = "https://i.imgur.com/ItvWF6f.jpg";
    baseI = loadImage(myImageURL);
}
function setup() {
	createCanvas(360, 480);
 	background(0);
    baseI.loadPixels();
    frameRate(15); // speed at which the pixels appear
}

function draw() {
	// setting up conditions for pixels to appear
    var px = random(width);
    var py = random(height);
    var ix = constrain(floor(px), 0, width-1);
    var iy = constrain(floor(py), 0, height-1);
    var baseColor = baseI.get(ix, iy);
    // drawing ellipses and rectangles to respresent the pixels of the image 
    noStroke();
    fill(baseColor);
    ellipse(px, py, random(0, 15), random(0, 15));
    rect(px, py, random(0, 15), random(0, 15));

}

While this was a pretty simple and straightforward project, it was fun to experiment with the different ways to present the color of the image through other shapes and forms. Ultimately I decided to go with both rectangles and ellipses because I liked the combination of the curved and angular forms in the images by code created. It was interesting to see the image build itself and lead up to looking closer to the base image. Overall, a fun project!

Jacky Tian’s Project 09

sketch

//Project-09
//Yinjie Tian
//yinjiet@andrew.cmu.edu
//Section D
var protrait;

function preload() {
    protrait = loadImage("https://i.imgur.com/tOfQhhw.jpg");
}

function setup() {
    createCanvas(400, 450);
    background(0);
    protrait.loadPixels();
    frameRate(100);
}

function draw() { 
    var x = random(width);
    var y = random(height);
    var pix = protrait.get(x, y);

    stroke(pix);
    var lengthmap = constrain(map(15, 0, y, 0, 20), 5, 50);
    var weightmap = constrain(map(3, 0, 10, 0, x), 0.1, 3);

    push();
    strokeWeight(weightmap);
    line(x + random(-10, 10), y + random(-10, 10), x + lengthmap, y + lengthmap);   
    pop();

   
}

I played with random stroke length and weight to create this portrait I chose.

Stefanie Suk – Project 09 – Portrait

sketch

//Stefanie Suk
//15-104 D
//ssuk@andrew.cmu.edu
//Project 09 - Portrait

var self;
var size;

function preload() {
  self = loadImage("https://i.imgur.com/oLizrAT.jpg");
} //load image

function setup() {
  createCanvas(400, 600);
  size = 6; //size of heart
  noStroke();
  background(20); //background color before image shows
  imageMode(CENTER);
  self.loadPixels(); //loading pixels
  frameRate(30); //how fast heart covers canvas
  
}

function draw() {
    var x = random(self.width);
    var y = random(self.height);
    var pixie = map(0, 0, width, size, size);
    var p = self.get(x, y); //variables to create heart
    fill(p);
    ellipse(x+5, y-5, pixie, pixie);
    ellipse(x, y, pixie, pixie);
    ellipse(x-5, y-5, pixie, pixie);
    ellipse(x-10, y-10, pixie, pixie);
    ellipse(x+10, y-10, pixie, pixie);
    ellipse(x+2.5, y-2.5, pixie, pixie);
    ellipse(x-2.5, y-2.5, pixie, pixie);
    ellipse(x+7.5, y-7.5, pixie, pixie);
    ellipse(x-7.5, y-7.5, pixie, pixie);
    ellipse(x+7.5, y-12.5, pixie, pixie);
    ellipse(x-7.5, y-12.5, pixie, pixie);
    ellipse(x+5, y-15, pixie, pixie);
    ellipse(x-5, y-15, pixie, pixie);
    ellipse(x+2.5, y-12.5, pixie, pixie);
    ellipse(x-2.5, y-12.5, pixie, pixie);
    ellipse(x, y-10, pixie, pixie); //coordinates to create heart
}

I created hearts to cover up the canvas and show an image of me in Lawrenceville. I tried to show how much fun I had in Lawrenceville by filling up the canvas with hearts, and the bright colors of the image fits well with the hearts as well. 

original photo

Stefanie Suk – Looking Outwards – 09

Video of Digital Grotesque

I looked at Sammie’s assessment on the “Digital Grotesque,” which is a large architectural artwork that was 3D printed out of sandstone. I agree with Sammie that the massive scale of this piece blows my mind because in the past 3D technology was used for small objects/projects, but the “Digital Grotesque” is a huge architectural piece. The extremely complex details and geometry (260 million individual facets) amazes me as well. She mentions how she was admired by the fact that “the base algorithms produce results that are not entirely predictable, though not random,” which I couldn’t agree more with. I feel like Sammie really looked deeply into the project and research a lot about how the artwork was structured. In her Looking Outwards, I can see she deeply understands how the piece was created in detail. I feel like she explained well about how the piece was structure/created, but I feel like it would’ve been more interesting if she also mentioned about the meaning behind the artwork. 

https://courses.ideate.cmu.edu/15-104/f2019/2019/09/09/sammie-kim-looking-outwards-03/

Sammie Kim, Looking Outwards 03, 2019

Jacky Tian’s LookingOutwards-09

I’m also really into Japanese installation art work, just like what’s in Mike Fanjie’s LookingOutwards-04, a type of traditional Japanese sound ornament called “Chijukinkutsu” is a perfect example for both visual string artwork and music instrument. It uses the mechanisms of vibration created by strings and there is a sewing needle hanging onto the the strings above each little cups filled with water. When electricity goes through the strings, needles would gently touch the surface of the water and create subtle sounds. This installation requires so much precision in many different aspects, such as, the position of each cup, the amount of water in the cups, the tention of each strings and etc… Moreover, when I looked at the artwork in a bigger aspect, I was inspired by its dynamic form and there is certain design element that I can integrate into my architectural design.