screen capture of Tidal Cycles code

New live-coding track uploaded…

Last week, I took my turn at the table during the monthly TOPLAP-bcn session, and we had the opportunity to capture a 3D/ambisonic recording.

I am new to Tidal Cycles, the language I was performing in, but I still feel like these live sessions are valuable as an exploration of algorithmic composition, even if my own composition strategies as an improviser are still evolving. So far I’m finding ample opportunity to experiment with algorithmic transformations of pattern sequences and samples. This piece has up to 7 lines of code running at one time, no more. The transitions you hear are triggered by recompiling individual lines in real time with updated parameters and conditionals.

The recording was made with Zylia ZM-1, a 3rd order ambisonic microphone, and rendered by Sfëar Studio for binaural listening. Disclosure: I am married to the lead developer at Sfëar. 😉

Enjoy! Please feel free to add comments. If you want to hear more, I am on the line-up for the end-of-season Algorave scheduled for July 19 – more info soon!

I Am Sitting... II 4

New sonification strategies -video!

Today I sorted a new method for sonification of OpenBCI EEG data. This process has gone through many forms, but it needed to be cleaned up and clarified. This iteration uses the average amplitudes of each brainwave type to set the parameters of a hybrid AM/additive synth. The synth sounds the max frequencies for the 5 wave types, modulated by the amplitudes for each, and then adds them all together – for each of 8 data channels.

This results in a much more natural sounding representation of the data – the wave types are in fact octaves of one another! This new patcher also makes it incredibly simple to spatialize the data set over 8 speakers to model the 8 electrodes in the EEG instrument. Arrange these speakers around you in the same configuration, and you will hear my brain as if you were inside of it…!

Haha… maybe a bridge too far for some of you! 🙂 Start with your audio low; the sound begins after about 30 seconds of setup.

A note: There is a considerable amount of clicking you can hear when the gain is up, but I believe this is actually a low frequency beating, artifacts caused by the different channels interfering with each other. I can’t wait to test this on a multi-speaker system to find out how that works in real space, instead of cramming 8 layers into a stereo headset.

Stay tuned! I’m in the process of booking a venue for the first 8.1 3D sound performance of “I Am Sitting…” in early May.