Recent articles:
Generative Music and Instrumentality
KEAMS (Korean Electro-Acoustic Music Society) Conference
Composing with Emergent Instruments in “Habitats”
Chroma (Australasian Computer Music Association)
eContact! (Canadian Electroacoustic Community)
Luka-ChucK - A ChucK-Based Toolkit for Glitch Audio
Emille (Korean Electro-Acoustic Music Society)
PhD Thesis (Cultural Studies)
Doctor of Musical Arts Thesis
https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/etd/r/1501/10?clear=10&p10_accession_num=ucin1491898694102656
Link to Corresponding Artwork for Thesis Doc
Digital Instruments and Performance
(Sonic) Suffocation (2022)
This piece is a demonstration of an ongoing research-creation project about using the mobile phone as an instrument for improvisation that links electroacoustic music with visual media (i.e. artists working in film, new media art, etc.). A particular focus of this work is the manner in which connections between artistic mediums are made by sending OSC and MIDI mappings of mobile phone data to create meaningful sound diffusion while conveying a sense of spatial expression within a film or set of images.
This demo was made using a combination of Max/MSP for OSC and MIDI routing, Reaper for storing audio and FX processing, and Isadora for video. It uses a quadraphonic speaker setup with additional SoundLazer speakers, which are highly directional. It was realized at the Art & Media Lab at The Isabel Bader Center for the Performing Arts in Kingston, Ontario.
I became interested in laptop ensemble music while directing the Cincinnati Integrated Composers Laptop Orchestra Project (aka CiCLOP), while I was a doctoral student at the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music. Since then I have pursued some additional research projects that involve group improvisation with laptops. These particular examples focus on scalability (i.e. accommodating large or small groups) and participation that does not necessitate musical training. They are made with the Max/MSP programming environment. Applications files can be used without a copy of Max and require no installer — just the application file. When file size or performance was an issue, the instruments were built as Max Collective (.mxf) files. These require a copy but not a license of Max/MSP.
NB- even with tweaking, standalone apps in recent versions of Max have become quite heavy so the files can be quite large.
Linear (2021)
This instrument allows users to use their mouse and track pad to draw a series of lines in the rectangular display to create a simple visual representation of a sonic gesture. The audio that stems from the lines is continuously looped until cleared.
Mac Version (tested using Mac OS 10.13 - 12.2.1)
Pulsar (2021)
This instrument uses the QWERTY (lower case) keyboard along with some UI objects in Max. The letter keys are tuned according to the harmonic series of a fundamental (q key) and ascend from left to right so that the m key provides the highest possible frequency. There are a variety of features within the patches that make the use of the QWERTY keyboard more performative. For example, a step sequencer begins to transpose the frequency of a key once it has been held for 5 seconds. Additionally, keys can “stick” as drones if held while a new key is played. The drone can be released by simply hitting the stuck key once more. Pulsar works as a Max Collective (.mxf) and not a standalone application.
Pulsar Instrument Download (Max Collective and Supporting Docs)
Music Technology Pedagogy
In 2021, I received a grant from the Queen’s University Library - Call for Open Educational Resources to create a set of interactive software applications for learning beginner concepts about audio recording, editing and mixing. They were made as standalone desktop apps using the Max/MSP programming environment. In addition to text, audio and video excerpts, the apps use interactive modules made using Max/MSP. This allows users to test ideas out as they view the material. No additional installer needed, and these files have been tested on a wide range of Windows and Mac computers. Any recent OS should be fine!
Here’s an example of the application that deals with basics of digital audio theory:
Chapter 3 - Sonic Explorations Apps - Mac
Chapter 3 - Sonic Explorations Apps - Windows
Software instruments for making Electronic Music
Here are a couple examples of custom instruments that I have made for specific musical works. I’m interested in the ways in which composers and technologists have explored emulation and modelling of common musical instruments throughout the development of electronic and computer music. These examples are built the code for existing approaches but distort and add new features to consider how the “model” can be a jumping off point for interesting explorations into sound synthesis and processing. All .ck files run in the ChucK language https://chuck.cs.princeton.edu.
METASAX
Inherits the Synthesis Toolkit "Saxofony" model and adds some new functions for exagerrated bending, articulation/noise type effects.
It can get pretty wild, but also possible to create a kind of "augmented sax" sound. This “MetaSax-demo” was made using a combination of the instrument, along with some percussive sounds made in Native Instruments FM8.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_nhPAmwx_QQgM1w4PDaRlDGJi90uY09v?usp=sharing
METAMANDO
Inspired by the use of a 20-foot flute model in Paul Lansky's "Things She Carried", I sought out to create my own augmented mandolin using the mandolin physical model import available in ChucK.
My version uses 21 instances of the ChucK UGen and attempts to bind them together into a single instrument by creating some new functionalities that give the impression of an augmented/morphing mandolin.