...::::MY NIME::::...
My concept for a New Interface For Musical Expression stems from my love of analogue synthesizers, tactile interfaces that provide haptic feedback, and sustainable technology.
One of the biggest problems that I have with typical NIME projects is that they are borne out of a non-musical interest, or an otherwise untraditional approach to interface design. While I firmly agree that the avant-garde-esque attempts to nullify musical traditional and the typical interfaces defined by the industry are important, I also in contrast maintain that sometimes, there are certain designs that work because there is not a simple or elegant way to design it better with much drastic variation. Why design a wearable suit of sensor based piano keys that runs from your head to your feet, when there is no easy way to play it?
Another problem that I have with many NIME projects is their implementations of software. A case can be made that Max/MSP & Jitter are a useful software package for extending the functionality of computer-human interfaces. In other words, one could plug a bunch of physical sensors into a computer, and by manipulating those sensors in the real world, custom soft-synths can be dynamically controlled.
The main problem that I have with this, is that there are many conventions of software synthesis that are modeled derivatives of real electronic synthesis. Not surprisingly, a hand full of projects I was subjected to at the 2007 NIME conference in New York this summer, used very complex sensor based data, interpreted by a microcontroller, interpreted by the computer and then used in Max/MSP to manipulate several sine waves, or trigger an underwhelming number of samples.
Unfortunately, the amount of difficulty surrounding the A/D conversion and interpretation in the software generally has some margin of error in flux, which always makes these kinds of sine wave projects kind of "warbly" sounding, while the sample based projects seem to skip around without notable connection with the interface. In some cases, the advantage of using physical hardware to do the same thing is that you instantaneously become unteathered from the computer, and the reliability of dedicated hardware eliminates the "warble" and the jumpiness or unintentional retrigger of samples.
Furthermore, while I love the sounds such as those found in Native Instruments "FM7" just as much as the next trance happy candy raver, there are fundamental aspects of the software that reflect the nature of the physical electronics that they are designed to model. Without a solid understanding of how the actual thing works as opposed to the soft thing, its difficult to make modifications and understand what's really happening.
To make a bad analogy, I can't expect that a graphic designer could actually understand what LEADING is, unless they have a reasonable understanding of LEAD typesetting. That's not to say that every graphic designer using a typeface in Photoshop should run out and buy a Vandercook printing press any more than someone making techno in Reason should go out and buy a Buchla. The point I'm trying to make is that if you want to use a nail gun to put a nail in a piece of wood, you'd better damn well understand how to use a hammer.
*I should note here, that I love Max/MSP, Photoshop, Live, FM7, and my software usage includes a whole lot more, but I think that as in any expressive or creative arts context, that if the designers are using the tools, they should be held responsible for doing compelling work using said tools and should be pushed to the limits of what is available to them in order to maximize their effects. I think specifically when it comes to NIME, that while Max/MSP is a fantastic and incredibly robust tool, that it is often quickly adopted by people interested in NIME just because its what everybody else in the community is using.
After all that being said, My NIME is a synthesizer. Or a series of synthesizers. Or perhaps a better way to put it is, a modular synthesizer. Or better yet, a series of modules for a modular synthesizer that are not necessarily housed together. The idea I am really talking about is a wireless modular synthesizer. Said synth, is comprised of the typical things you would expect from a modular synth. Oscillators, Gates, FIlters etc. However what sets this synth apart is that its modules can rout to one another via wireless mesh networking. Now, we are not talking purist analogue synthesizer here, we are talking about sending analog values as digital packets over an ID'd Xbee network. On of the greatest advantages of this is the spatial orientation of the modules. In other words, the sound outputs are built into each module, so the physical arrangement plays a specific effect in the sonic soundscape. Also each module can be powered in a variety of ways, including solar.
*I want to say here that there is nothing sustainable about a synthesizer, and in fact it is probably unlikely that one would be using a synthesizer in the sun, however it is my belief that any electric powered device should be designed with alternative options for off-grid supplementation in order to offset coal dependency. It just so happens that the kinds of things that I am interested in building would likely be tools for making sounds, while any designer has a responsibility to make their projects as sustainable as possible. Another way in which I hope to implement sustainable design is through electronic recycling. Any way in which I can recycle parts to make this piece come together I intend to do so.
My concept for a New Interface For Musical Expression stems from my love of analogue synthesizers, tactile interfaces that provide haptic feedback, and sustainable technology.
One of the biggest problems that I have with typical NIME projects is that they are borne out of a non-musical interest, or an otherwise untraditional approach to interface design. While I firmly agree that the avant-garde-esque attempts to nullify musical traditional and the typical interfaces defined by the industry are important, I also in contrast maintain that sometimes, there are certain designs that work because there is not a simple or elegant way to design it better with much drastic variation. Why design a wearable suit of sensor based piano keys that runs from your head to your feet, when there is no easy way to play it?
Another problem that I have with many NIME projects is their implementations of software. A case can be made that Max/MSP & Jitter are a useful software package for extending the functionality of computer-human interfaces. In other words, one could plug a bunch of physical sensors into a computer, and by manipulating those sensors in the real world, custom soft-synths can be dynamically controlled.
The main problem that I have with this, is that there are many conventions of software synthesis that are modeled derivatives of real electronic synthesis. Not surprisingly, a hand full of projects I was subjected to at the 2007 NIME conference in New York this summer, used very complex sensor based data, interpreted by a microcontroller, interpreted by the computer and then used in Max/MSP to manipulate several sine waves, or trigger an underwhelming number of samples.
Unfortunately, the amount of difficulty surrounding the A/D conversion and interpretation in the software generally has some margin of error in flux, which always makes these kinds of sine wave projects kind of "warbly" sounding, while the sample based projects seem to skip around without notable connection with the interface. In some cases, the advantage of using physical hardware to do the same thing is that you instantaneously become unteathered from the computer, and the reliability of dedicated hardware eliminates the "warble" and the jumpiness or unintentional retrigger of samples.
Furthermore, while I love the sounds such as those found in Native Instruments "FM7" just as much as the next trance happy candy raver, there are fundamental aspects of the software that reflect the nature of the physical electronics that they are designed to model. Without a solid understanding of how the actual thing works as opposed to the soft thing, its difficult to make modifications and understand what's really happening.
To make a bad analogy, I can't expect that a graphic designer could actually understand what LEADING is, unless they have a reasonable understanding of LEAD typesetting. That's not to say that every graphic designer using a typeface in Photoshop should run out and buy a Vandercook printing press any more than someone making techno in Reason should go out and buy a Buchla. The point I'm trying to make is that if you want to use a nail gun to put a nail in a piece of wood, you'd better damn well understand how to use a hammer.
*I should note here, that I love Max/MSP, Photoshop, Live, FM7, and my software usage includes a whole lot more, but I think that as in any expressive or creative arts context, that if the designers are using the tools, they should be held responsible for doing compelling work using said tools and should be pushed to the limits of what is available to them in order to maximize their effects. I think specifically when it comes to NIME, that while Max/MSP is a fantastic and incredibly robust tool, that it is often quickly adopted by people interested in NIME just because its what everybody else in the community is using.
After all that being said, My NIME is a synthesizer. Or a series of synthesizers. Or perhaps a better way to put it is, a modular synthesizer. Or better yet, a series of modules for a modular synthesizer that are not necessarily housed together. The idea I am really talking about is a wireless modular synthesizer. Said synth, is comprised of the typical things you would expect from a modular synth. Oscillators, Gates, FIlters etc. However what sets this synth apart is that its modules can rout to one another via wireless mesh networking. Now, we are not talking purist analogue synthesizer here, we are talking about sending analog values as digital packets over an ID'd Xbee network. On of the greatest advantages of this is the spatial orientation of the modules. In other words, the sound outputs are built into each module, so the physical arrangement plays a specific effect in the sonic soundscape. Also each module can be powered in a variety of ways, including solar.
*I want to say here that there is nothing sustainable about a synthesizer, and in fact it is probably unlikely that one would be using a synthesizer in the sun, however it is my belief that any electric powered device should be designed with alternative options for off-grid supplementation in order to offset coal dependency. It just so happens that the kinds of things that I am interested in building would likely be tools for making sounds, while any designer has a responsibility to make their projects as sustainable as possible. Another way in which I hope to implement sustainable design is through electronic recycling. Any way in which I can recycle parts to make this piece come together I intend to do so.
posted by eric b at 3:56 PM
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