Tag: Composition
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AudioVisual Project: Binary Opposition
Created 2014:
The aim of this group project was to create a short (roughly 1-2 min) audio-visual composition, showing:
• Original Content
• Aesthetic Concept
• Coherent Structure
Concept:
- The perceptual unification (or making equivalent) of two dissociated representations of the same reality through a minimalistic audio‐visual composition. (Subverting the advertising efforts of a corporation.)
- A video piece that displays the contrasting narratives put forth by corporations/vested interests and activists.
- This piece displays two depictions of (parallel) realities. One of which consumers
are more exposed to on a daily basis. It serves as a contrast between those two perceptions of reality; “inviting” aesthetics vs. “unpleasant” ones. - Channel A: a lavish high-end production; brand/product image; and corporate power. Displaying the power of seductive aesthetics. The corporate, glamourised advertising methods which mask the barbaric methods used to make certain products.
- Channel B: amateur production hidden costs and victims. Revealing a ‘realistic perception’, which corporations would rather hide from public view.
Technical Approach:
- Raw files were used which were taken from online sources. One Herbal Essence advertisement and footage of animal testing. These video sources were then tactically edited together within Max MSP for absolute accuracy.
- Majority of the experimentation incorporated Max MSP.
My Role in this project:
- Researched the subject matter.
- Experimented with several Max MSP techniques/effects to explore different compositional strategies discussed.
- Found relevant art pieces that were significant to our concept or shared similar subject matter.
Final Product:
Politics and Ethics:
Due to the inaccuracy of events suggested in the video, this is not intended for public attention, until the source material has been updated accordingly. It is only on this portfolio to showcase a previous project.
The online research did not find evidence to support a connection between the product featured in the advertisement (namely Clairol’s Herbal Essences) and cosmetics testing on Macaque monkeys or other non-human primates.
The proposed content of the piece would have clearly suggested to viewers that a direct link existed between the product being shown and the laboratory scenes in which a monkey was being experimented-on. Since hard evidence was not available to support the existence of such a link, the truthfulness of the piece was called into question.
To take liberties with the truth in a piece which itself purported to reveal a more essential form of it was deemed to be socially irresponsible by the artists. Furthermore, as a form of social and political activism, it was reckoned that it could have been ultimately self-defeating to drum-up support for a cause using potentially fictitious evidence. This would have, ironically, also aligned the artists more closely with the propaganda they sought to discredit.
A temptation, however, remained to use the available footage despite those potential consequences. This was due to the following reasons: Procter & Gamble (the parent company of Clairol, owner of the Herbal Essences brand) are still engaged in animal testing of their cosmetic products in China (News, 2013). In 2008, it was revealed that Herbal Essences product ingredients were inhumanely tested on rats (News, 2013). In 2011, P&G falsely claimed that Herbal Essences was not tested on animals and were forced to retract the claim by the Advertising Standards Authority in the UK (Uncaged, 2011). Finally, in 1990 P&G reportedly lobbied against legislation to prevent a ban on the Draize test in California (Wesleyan, 2014). So while P&G/Herbal Essences cannot be directly linked to animal testing activity involving primates, it can be inferred that their activity supports the institutions and culture in which such testing is condoned and practiced.
Nevertheless, it was deemed that using the macaque testing footage was ineffective and the piece would not be released publically until an accurate substitute was found, e.g. footage of Draize tests or cosmetic tests on rats.
Max MSP Algorithmic Processes
Created 2014:
For own final assessment in Digital Media Software and Systems 4 in 2013, we were required to build a music performance system in Max MSP that illustrates the algorithmic processes covered in this course. We had to perform with this system in a live context, in groups of five people. Each one of use would focus on different algorithmic processes within our patch. The video below is just a demonstration of my part. Others focused on drums samples, vocoders, synth etc. and we would then play together simultaneously. The algorithmic processes which we studied for this involved:
• random, drunk, and urn
• weighted distribution
• Markov chain
• fractal or self-similar process
• Logistics Map
• other chaotic process (Hénon, etc.)
The patch demonstrated below features Markov Chain and random, drunk, and urn. Our aim as a group was to manipulate the stochastic behaviour of the algorithms in such a way that is was still pleasing i.e. or notes were random but only within specific scales in order to sound pleasing.
Demonstration:
(I will be rerecording a demo of this with internal recording to omit the noise interference,)
Digital Performance System
Created 2013:
The project sees Arduino/Electronics, CSound & Jitter come together creating an audiovisual system to perform with. It enables live video manipulation and live control of CSound synthesis. We created a simple hand held box that contained two buttons, an accelerometer and an Arduino microcontroller. This gave us control over what was heard and seen i.e. the buttons could toggle through different states while tilting the boxed changed specific values in each selected state. We used referenced video loops to manipulate the visuals in Max MSP, we, however, created all the audio components ourselves within CSound through coding. This included the bass, kick and snare you can hear in the demo. How these sounds are triggered is determined within Max MSP based on the gating system I created to filter signals from the Arduino. The videos below give further explanation and you can click here to read our NIME style paper.
Our end product had the ability to:
- Send sensor data from Arduino into Max MSP.
- Enable the manipulation and control of audio and video using sensors through mapping techniques.
- Run CSound in real-time via the Max MSP csound~ object. Audio material for CSOUND:
- Manipulate video loops within our Jitter patch.
Schematic Route
Explanation and Demonstration:
Screenshots:
Max Patch 1
Max Patch 2
Max Patch 4
Max Patch 3
CSound Segment
Short Animation : Terms of Rhythm
Created 2012:
Short clip which combined the use of Max MSP instruments we created to correspond the actions of animation created using Adobe Illustrator. This was a group project whereby my main responsibility was to create the composition that plays throughout the animation. The composition was created within Max MSP. Further edits were later made to the piece within Logic Pro, just to add an effect or two such as fade ins, volume control, reverb etc. We all shared the workload evenly with others focusing on the animation and sound effects.
Concept:
Terms of Rhythm’ explores the emotional aspects of the human psychological and psychophysical responses to events at different time scales. The word rhythm is taken in both its traditional musical sense of ‘regular recurrence, esp. of stresses’ (Chambers 20th Century Dictionary) and also in the broader sense of patterns occurring on scales which lie outside the span of perceptible rhythm where—ordinarily—’the perception of the rhythm, objective or subjective, disappears if the intervals are either too short or too long’ (Fraisse, 1982). It is a study of the human experience of time exemplified in the special case of an astronaut manning a launching space shuttle. The event of the launch is played at 3 different time scales: normal, 1/20th speed, and x50 speed respectively. It is observed that the experience of tension is diminished on those scales far removed from normal human perception raising the question of whether or not the metaphysical essence of the event (as a whole) is maintained invariantly across different time scales. A musical composition characterised by having both slow, serene sections alternated with contrasting fast, frenetic sections is layered over the 3 time sections such that each rate of time is experienced with both slow and fast dynamics. This challenges the viewer’s assumptions of what the astronaut is experiencing emotionally.
Screenshots:
Storyboard
Edits in Logic
Max MSP Instrument sub patches
Max MSP patch segment
Max MSP patch segment
Mario’s Underworld remix using Logic Pro
Created 2011:
We were given a short MIDI file of Mario’s Underworld theme and were to perform our own remix. It was an opportunity for us to practice tempo change, effects, transposing, pen tools, MIDI keyboards and other various tools affiliated with Logic Pro. We were allowed our own creative input as long as the main theme was not lost on the listener. This was one of my earlier projects using Logic Pro and have since become far more familiar with its operations and my ability in using the software is greater.
This was the outcome of my project:
Logic Pro Screenshot
Stuart Creates 