I’ve waited a while to write because I am currently traveling and collaborating with different artists around Europe. I have recognized recent changes in my practice that I attribute to my time at Steim.I will try to describe these changes and their relationship to Steim.

I went to Steim for orientation with the intention of  assessing  the facilities and resources and how they may apply to my practice.I was primarily thinking about a project called “Breathscape”, which uses audio and video elements to accentuate and elaborate on the breathing of movement artists.

What I found at Steim was a small group of very technically sound people, that not only design and apply software and hardware but also have a certain instinct for finding out what you are trying to do and proposing practical applications.I found the Lisa and JunXion workshops very informative, but I found the conversations invaluable. (more…)

for faux dutch voice use a real dutch person

getting metallic forest sounds was easy

Snacks had a fine time scoring and sound designing our film at Steim.  We’ve been working consistently on this project for about 6 months, and expect to continue to an estimated time of arrival – summer 2010.  The film is tentatively titled “GASA: Memory Overload”, playing on the acronym NASA and referring to solid state memory, not nostalgia.  The film is experimental in execution and form, but is very referential to “genres” such as silent movie slapstick, b-grade sci-fi, sexploitation, vintage kung fu, psychedelic children’s TV, and pretentious art-house eye candy such as “The Holy Mountain” or “Satyricon”. (more…)

head transplant experiment is a very noisy piece for solo computer, largely composed during 2 residencies at STEIM in 2007 and 2008. After the first performances of the piece (February, March and October 2008), I returned to STEIM to make some improvements to the instrument. The residency periods were 18-24 November 2008, 20-25 January 2009.

The instrument uses Midi faders, knobs and buttons (originally Behringer BCF2000, Lexicon MRC) and the computer keyboard to control a Max/MSP patch that performs various types of (extreme) distortion on 2 soundfiles.

The main problem with the instrument in its original version was the use of the group function on the Behringer: the same knob could control up to 4 parameters, depending on which group was active. This setup necessitated complex group-changing manipulations during performance which often led to errors. Another major difficulty with the interface was the use of continuous rotary knobs to control non-continuous parameters with only a small number of options (5-7).

After much reflection, I decided to purchase a second Behringer Midi controller, this time choosing the BCR2000. This addition made it possible for me to map each physical knob to a single parameter and  to use push-buttons to control all non-continuous parameters – one to step forward through the options and another to step backwards. It also allowed me to arrange the control interface in a generally more intuitive and ergonomic way.

In addition to this revamping of the gestural control input, I also made various improvements to the signal processing aspects of the patch itself. Notably, I implemented a floating-point (continuous) bit reduction; added a reverse playback option to soundfile source and added 3-band EQ filters to the output.

These developments correct the most important problems and limitations that I encountered when composing and performing head transplant experiment. The new interface makes it possible for me to play the instrument much more easily, reliably  and intuitively, while the signal processing improvements allow for a greater fluidity and musicality of the sound.

Since my STEIM residencies I have been involved in numerous other projects, and am only now returning to head transplant experiment after a 10-month pause. The new version of the instrument will have its concert debut on 13 December 2009 at Mains d’Oeuvres (Saint-Ouen, France) as a part of the event Blownup! (http://www.mainsdoeuvres.org/article701.html). During 2010, I hope to schedule further performances of head transplant experiment and to find the time to compose other companion pieces for the instrument.

1) Problems regarding unwanted distortion with my existing setup, which consists of 2 Wii-Remotes, LiSa, junXion, Mackie mixer 1202VLZ, Digidesign Interface, wireless headset system Shure ULXP4 and a DPA microphone, have been examined and solved. Also the balancing of levels between original and resampled material have been adjusted applying a different way of routing between mixer, interface and settings within LiSa. The new routing is less complex and, at the same time gives more control and flexibility on input levels. (Mentoring: Daniel Schorno, Robert van Heumen)

2) The existing LiSa patch has been extended while adding an extra sample buffer. There are now two of them available which gives me the possibility to go back and forth between both. This way and for the purpose of resampling new material it isn’t necessary anymore to delete the content of the sample buffer. (Mentoring and programming: Daniel Schorno).

3) New ideas towards a new electronic instrument have been exchanged and discussed with the staff of STEIM. The idea of incorporating the concept of playing the instrument in a ‚conventional way’, meaning playing accurate pitches on a basis of  chromatic and/or quarter tone scales (pianistic approach), into the existing setup has been discussed. The limitation regarding the playability of the Wii-Remotes, like fast and fluent scales, trills and tremolos in a virtuosic way is obvious. Therefore the idea of creating a new instrument from the scratch have been discussed as well as the possibility of integrating parts of the Wii-Remote. Different sessions of brainstorming with the whole staff of STEIM including Florian Göttke, a visual artist and violin maker from Germany living in Amsterdam took place. The first mock-up will be finished in mid November 2009.
Here are some examples of the first sketches I made based on the collected ideas:

4) Apart from all this I was rehearsing my solo-program STUDIES FOR A SELF-PORTRAIT for voice and live electronics of about a half an hour length. I presented it at the Warsaw Autumn on September 19th, 2009.

5) And finally I had the chance to record an exciting trio session with Cleo Palacio-Quintin from Montreal (flute and live-electronics) and Daniel Schorno (live-electronics).

Jazzperiments JAM (STEIM residency project in 2007) is an applet you use while playing an instrument. Doing so, it isn’t hard to notice that a standard user interface of a laptop with a mouse or touchpad is not ideal in that situation (neither on pc nor on Apple). This is even more obvious during a performance. To avoid the delays and distractions caused by looking on the screen and moving the mouse, a graphical user interface with the following extras was developed:
1. Every control on the screen has a number between 01 and 99, preferably in logical groups. All numbers are shown on the controls when you hit the [/]-key.
2. All lists are numbered, all sliders and switches have a numeric value.
3. If you type the number of the control, it is selected.
4. If you double click a control, it is selected.
5. You can change the setting of a selected control with the [+] or [-] keys.
6. You can change the setting of a selected control with the scroll wheel regardless where the mouse cursor is.
7. All numbers and values as presented on screen can also be used in macro’s.
8. You can set a control by typing the number, a value and [Enter].
For example: you type: 2050[Enter]; on the screen appears 20=50 (the =-sign is added automatically); in Jazzperiments Jam control 20 is set to 50, which means the velocity of voice 2 is set to 50%.
9. You can even play notes with the numeric keys ([0] = C … [9] = Bb, [*] = B; [+] and [-] set the octaves). Especially vocalists appreciate this feature.

These additions allow a player to control a complex program (with upto 99 controls) using only a (wireless) numeric keypad. A normal keyboard is only needed for text input and a mouse isn’t needed at all, but of course using a mouse or touchpad is still possible as always.
The system proves to be especially handy to change fixed setting (like changing an instrument or switching on an effect) without even looking at the screen, while continuous or interactive settings are changed with more intuitive controllers (like a microphone in the case of Jazzperiments JAM).
For Jazzperiments JAM this live music user interface is programmed in Java, but the principles can be applied in almost any development tool and for many musical applications.
The system can be tested on http://www.jazzperiments.com, click JAM to start the Java applet. All suggestions for improvements of this experimental application are certainly appreciated and questions sent to info@jazzperiments.com will be answered with pleasure.

Teun de Lange, Antwerp

Microphone and numeric keypad setup

We are thrilled to be working at STEIM in Amsterdam at this moment creating sounds for the Salton Sea Project. STEIM has provided us with a wonderful large studio and a number of great vintage synthesizers. The Crackle Synthesizer is the most exciting instrument we could possibly hope to have as an addition to this. Its unpredictable nature always surprises in an almost organic way. In a few weeks we hope to have a couple of sound clips up on our website ( www.saltonsink.com ). On November 4th at 8:30 (eve) we will have a short Live presentation at STEIM if anyone is around in Amsterdam please drop by. It has an element of nostalgia for Truus since she worked extensively with the Crackle 30 years ago while in several bands both here and the US. Since Michel Waisvisz passed suddenly away she wanted to do something as an homage, a memory or just an expression of joy of having known and collaborated with the Crackle master himself. It is uncanny how perfectly it fits into our Salton Sea concept.