From Peter Kirn at createdigitalmusic.com: “8-bit and robots and odd Max and Reaktor patches and custom visual software and visualizations of data packets and sound made from plants and mutant trumpets and gloves for DJing and laptop music – we’ve got quite a lineup here in New York this week.

Friday night, a live audiovisual lineup from the worlds of createdigitalmusic.com / createdigitalmotion.com invades the HOPE conference, aka Hackers on Planet Earth, the three day-long convergence of tech hacking. $10, open to all, 11-2a Friday July 18 at the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York. It’s a live digital, technological variety show in a doomed NYC landmark hotel with an audience of famous and infamous hackers. (Think Kevin Mitnick and MythBusters’ Adam Savage and Steven Levy, all in one place.)

Facebook event page; also on Going.com”

More media and preview videos can be seen at Create Digital Music. 

For three nights, big pogo-ing robots will come to punk gigs in the ICA theatre, and we will question how learning develops through the empathetic responses of the brain. Artist Fiddian Warman has played the punk records he collected as a young man to his robots, ‘programming’ them to become punks just like he was. Each night they will be tested - will the mechanical moshpit react with pleasure to the live music they’ve been brought up to love? How is taste embodied in human neurons and artificial neural networks? Fiddian fronts the band Neurotic and the PVCs with tracks written especially for the robots. Support bands during the three nights include Fumadores, Gertrude, The Red Eyes, Viva Las Vegas, Scrotum Clamp and The Devil’s Hotpants. The scientific and cultural issues related to Neurotic will be explored on a website and open forum before, during and after the performances at www.fiddian.com. Supported by the Wellcome Trust.

Featured bands will be:

July 3: Fumadors, followed by Gertrude, followed by Neurotic and the PVCs.
July 4: The Red Eyes, Viva Las Vegas, Neurotic and the PVCs.
July 5: Scrotum Clamp, The Devil’s Hotpants, Neurotic and the PVCs.

To book, please call ICA Box Office 020 7930 3647 or via the ICA website.

Nearest underground stations are Charing Cross and Piccadilly Circus.

E.X.S.O. (Emergent Proximity Sensing Object)
Team Members: Scott Barton, Jaime De La Ree, Steven Johnson, Steven Kemper, Kezia Ofiesh

E.X.S.O.

E.X.S.O. is designed for human participation in the production of rhythms. As people interact with the moving arms, the arms respond in an immediate one to one fashion, and additionally generate rhythms played on resonant tubes. The tempo of these rhythms is based on proximity to the device. As the arm moves in relation to the human participants, the pitch of the tube changes. At first, participants will notice a one to one relationship between their proximity and the rhythms produced, but as time goes on, the system will begin to react on its own to the humans in the room–working with them, working against them, or ignoring them completely.

The skin that connects one arm to the next is a sub-structural system intended to create lateral structural stability and also to serve as a generative spatial component.  As the arms move independently of one another, the skin takes on several dynamic shapes that conform to the three arm positions.  The structural skin can take on many spatial qualities that result from the proximity sensors input.  While the Infrared sensors serve the scale of a small scale presentation, the input could work of any type of sensor; this could make the space changing quality of the arm become a more functional component or larger scale design.

Arm movement is controlled by a DC motor attached to gears that interface with the part of the arm that enters the tube. This motor simultaneously changes the tube’s pitch and the arm’s position. A solenoid motor is connected to a beater that strikes the tube to produce sound. This sound is captured and amplified by electric microphones at the end of the tubes. LEDs attached to the arm inside the tube will illuminate when the arm moves, providing a visual trace of each arm’s movement and a visual notation of the sound being produced. The entire process is controlled by a computer running Max/MSP which interfaces with an Arduino microcontroller attached to the sensors, motors, and LEDs. Software parses the data received from the sensors and internal algorithmic processes produce emergent behavior as the arm reacts to its human observers.

Instrument Materials: 1/4″ Plexy, 1/8″ Plexy, 1/4″ threaded rod, 3/16″ nuts and bolts, zip ties, birch wood, wool fabric, ¾” Clear tube. Hardware: 3 24VDC reversible gearhead motors, 3 24VDC Ledex Solenoid motors, 6 ultrabrite aqua LEDs, 3 IR sensors (Sharp GP2Y0A21YK), 1 24V power supply, 2 Arduino Diecimila micro-controllers, 6 LED’s. Software: Arduino running Fermata 1.0, Max/MSP 4.6

Medusa
Team Members: Steven Brummond, Taylor Burgess, Yuri Spitsyn, Jonathan Zorn, Susanna Wong

Medusa

In Greek Mythology Medusa was once the most beautiful woman in the world until she angered the goddess Athena who turned into a hideous monster whose hair was made of snakes. She could transform any active man into stone with a single look. The hero Perseus eventually defeated her by cutting her head off; from which Pegasus the winged horse was born.

Medusa is an emergent instrumental environment which reacts to human force. Medusa depends on a field of modules that are individually activated by the touch of a person. When one module is activated it will change the states of its neighbors. State changes are registered by the humming of the module. The individual modules are comprised of a half spherical acrylic structure, a single solenoid in the center, a drum head, LED lights, a rotating motor on one side and a piezo disc connected to piano wire on the other side. The basic module is triggered when a person hits the piano wire. This in turn triggers the solenoid which hits the drum, effectively changing the state of the module. The state of the module refers to the humming. The humming is produced by a gear which rubs against a guitar string creating vibrations into the drum head generating sound. The speed of the motor is a function of the force a person applies to the piano wire. Once a module is triggered the delay time does not allow for the module to be triggered again for another ten seconds. The emergence of MEDUSA develops from the array of people hitting the piano wire with different forces. The different modules will continuously change state and react with different speeds of the motor. The myriad of reactions begin to develop a pattern of emergence through variation and consistency of reactions.

Instrument Materials: acrylic structure, polyester plastic drum head, guitar string, piano wire, threaded rods, bolts, LED lights, piezo disc. Hardware: 3 Arduino microcontrollers, advanced circuits. Software: MAX/MSP.

Panta Rhei
Team Members: Andrew Hamm, Lanier Sammons, Jen Siomacco, Wendy Stober. Peter Traub

Panta Rhei

The concept of Panta Rhei derives from the philosophy of Heraclitus, the pre-Socratic Ionian philosopher. Translated, Panta Rhei means “everything is in a state of flux.” Heraclitus is well noted for his belief that constant change is central to the state of the universe.

Panta Rhei is an audio/visual instrument capable of displaying an emergent system in light, allowing human interaction with that system, and translating the resulting information into both music and robotic choreography. Human interaction happens within the grid as observers insert their hands to block the flow of light between LEDs and corresponding photoresistors. The sonic elements of the piece are realized with Max/MSP. The brightness levels of individual LEDs (or groups of LEDs) may be made musical in several ways. In the current incarnation, LEDs are tied to a bank of oscillators whose envelope and pitch are determined by the level of light. A Mylar skin manipulated by solenoids provides the robotic choreography. The solenoids also respond to changes in the light level of the LED/photosensor grid. Data from the grid is monitored in Max/MSP and relayed to the solenoids through a microcontroller.

Instrument Materials: Acrylic, piano wire, plastic zip-ties, mylar, metal brad connectors. Hardware: 12 Solenoids, 4 Arduino Microcontrollers, 18 LEDs and 18 photosensors. Software: Max/MSP

Dafna Naphtali is a sound-artist and improviser-composer from an eclectic musical background. As singer/guitarist/electronic-musician she performs and composes using custom sound processing of voice and other instruments. Besides her composing and improvised projects, she co-leads the digital chamber punk ensemble What is it Like to be a Bat? with Kitty Brazelton (http://www.whatbat.org) and has collaborated/performed with Lukas Ligeti, David First, Joshua Fried, Ras Moshe, Alexander Waterman, Kathleen Supové and Hans Tammen, among others and done sound design and programming for Jin Hi Kim, Shelley Hirsch, Pamela Z, Phoebe Legere, Fred Frith, Jim Staley, Henry Threadgill, Steve Coleman, Chico Freeman and others. Dafna can be heard with Mechanique(s) on a forthcoming release on In-situ, and was featured vocalist on José Halac’s CD “Dance of 1000 Heads” (Tellus), as well as on her acclaimed release with What is it Like to be a Bat? on Tzadik/Oracles.

Dafna’s residency involved dynamically controlled algorithmic improvisation, using vocal cues, Morse code and Wii controllers to elicit beat frequencies, trigger and manipulate LEMUR percussion robots and shred on Guitar bot.

Andrew Schneider is a multimedia designer and performer whose work investigates human/technological interdependence. He is the co-founder and Associate Artistic Director of the Chicago-based theatre company, BigPictureGroup. His solo performance work has been seen at P.S.122, Monkeytown, The Prelude Festival, and The Tank. His multimedia devices have been featured in Art Review, Wired, TimeOut NY, Maker Faire, SIGGRAPH, Dorkbot, the Telfair Art Museum, and at the Center Pompidou in Paris. His Solar Bikini has been featured internationally and is slated to be featured in the next Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition. His latest projects include Experimental Devices for Performance (.com) and Acting Stranger (.com). Andrew Holds a Masters Degree in Interactive Telecommunications from NYU. He is currently working with The Wooster Group. (http://andrewjs.com)

Doing musical theatre with robots used to be Andrew’s standard joke answer to the question “So what do you want to do with your life?” Finally, a life-long dream comes true. He plans to start with a dance number, interfacing his movements with the robots via custom-built wearable controllers.

Born in New York City, Simon Morris (US/France) is a new media artist exploring urban landscapes, new musical interfaces and skateboarding. Investigating new forms of musical expression, his work examines technology and its role as a socially engaged art practice. He has conducted live performances at Eyebeam, NYC, the Article Biennale 2006 in Stavanger, Norway, the KiasmaMuseum in Helsinki, Finland and the Barker Theatre in Turku, Finland.

Simon is planning an interactive musical performance orchestrated by the movements of three skateboards.

By subway:

Take the F/M/R to 4th Ave. and walk one block down either 9th or 10th St. to 3rd Ave. LEMURplex is on 3rd Ave. between 9th & 10th Sts. Or, take the F/G to Smith & 9th Sts. and walk two blocks up 9th. Cross and then turn right onto 3rd Ave.

TABLACENTRIC is thrilled to present Ajay Kapur, whose work revolves around one queston: “How do you make a computer improvise with a human?” Using the rules set forth by the north Indian classical tradition, Ajay strives to build new interfaces for musical expression by modifying the tabla, dholak and sitar with added microchips and sensor systems, while building robotic musical instruments which can be programmed to perform along with the human performer.

Ajay Kapur is the Music Technology Coordinator at California Institute of the Arts. He received an Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in 2007 from University of Victoria combining Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Music and Psychology with a focus on Intelligence Music and Media Technology. Ajay graduated with a Bachelor in Science and Engineering Computer Science degree from Princeton University in 2002. He has been educated by music technology leaders including Dr. Perry R. Cook, Dr. George Tzanetakis, and Dr. Andrew Schloss, combined with mentorship from robotic musical instrument sculptors Eric Singer and the world famous Trimpin. A musician at heart, trained on Drumset,Tabla, Sitar and other percussion instruments from around the world, Ajay strives to push the technological barrier in order to make new music.

Browsing the Synapse Database — which is searchable by “Individuals”, “Interests”, “Projects / Events / Publications,” “Organizations” and “Gallery” — I came across Nigel Helyer’s Sonic Landscapes R + D project:

From June 1999 until September 2001, Helyer worked as an Artist in Residence at Lake Technology in Sydney, developing the Sonic Landscapes Virtual Audio Reality system … The salient feature of the Sonic Landscapes project is the juxtaposition of a fictive (but very convincing) 3D immersive sound-scape, accurately positioned by cartographic software, upon a physical terrain. The effect is somewhat akin to Murray Schafer’s concept of ‘Schitzophonia’, where, by the simple act of recording, sound is split from its original physical context and projected into another context.

However within a Sonic Landscapes experience we are not simply dealing with the disembodied voices of popular music reproduced and re-contextualised via a stereo-sytem! Here we are engaging with a seemingly live sonic organism that is responsive to our presence, our orientation and the traces of our wanderings, and which appears un-cannily embedded in the site itself.

The prototype Sonic Landscapes Unit is capable of operating with a 2cm positional accuracy when employing differential GPS (Global Satellite Positioning) and with a one degree accuracy for rotational head orientation, which, when combined with Lake’’s headphones delivered virtual speaker array, provides a highly realistic immersive audio environment. Tracking technology for the Sonic Landscapes project has been provided throughout by the SNAP Lab of the University of New South Wales under the guidance of Professor Chris Rizos. Future collaborative projects are currently underway between the Artist and UNSW c.f. “Audio Nomad”.The choice of a prototype test site for the project was St Stephens graveyard in Newtown; one of Sydney’s oldest burial grounds, which provided an ideal pedestrian environment, rich in historical material and interesting physical structures.

Dan Paluska and Jeff Lieberman have created the ABSOLUT QUARTET, a large-scale electromechanical sculpture consisting of three instruments and thousands of parts, working together to create one piece of music.

The main timbre is a marimba played by balls shot from a robotic cannon. Other components include a series of wineglasses played by little robotic fingers and an array of robotic percussive instruments. Online users first provide a melody theme, which is heard over a speaker near the machine. The machine interprets the melody and then comes up with its own version, which it starts playing. It also matches the user-generated melody with a composition from its algorithmic music library. As the machine plays, the user can interact and inspire the machine to play in different ways. The result is a complex robotically generated song, co-produced by man and machine - and performed live by the “Quartet”.

Teenage Engineering has constructed the ABSOLUT CHOIR, an architectural installation with an advanced framework of speech synthesizers and artificial intelligence software at the back end. A multi-channel robotic choir made up by 10 singing characters of various shapes and sizes, each of the men, women, tenors and sopranos has a unique and synthetically produced voice. The mother character holds a master clock - and each character contains a small, embedded Linux device, a DA converter and a speaker, making it possible to distribute sounds and to virtually conduct the members of the choir.

As the Choir starts singing, the user may input words to the machine. As the machine receives the words, it immediately uses them to generate a musical composition and lyrics. The robotic choir follows the lead of its human partner, and with the help of generative algorithms, the machine engenders a melody, tempo, dynamics, timbre and lyrics inspired by the user-generated input. The composition is also infused with the machine’s current mood and from the most recently analyzed words input by previous users. A lot of short words with many consonants may result in a fast arpeggio-like song, while softer words may result in a slower composition. As a result of co-production between man and machine, ABSOLUT CHOIR creates a harmonic, yet surrealistic sound palette.

As there are only a limited number of time slots available, you will need to sign up for a pass to ensure you get a chance to interact with the machines.

At present, BliK can only be heard in real time at LEMURplex. Online users may download each of the sounds and play with them before writing a score. They must then email the score to blik at zdomain dot net. Once uploaded, each score becomes part of the BliK repertoire.

The BliK algorithms are based in Cycling 74’s Max / MSP software, some of the external tools made by Ali Momeni at the University of Minnesota, and a JavaScript parser written by the author.

League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots (LEMUR) is a Brooklyn-based group of artists and technologists who create robotic musical instruments. Founded in 2000 by musician and engineer Eric Singer, LEMUR creates exotic, sculptural musical instruments which integrate robotic technology. LEMUR’s philosophy is to build robots that are new types of musical instruments, as opposed to animatronic robots that play existing instruments.

BliK is a 2007 commission of New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc. for Networked_Music_Review. It was made possible with funding from the New York State Music Fund, established by the New York State Attorney General at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.

BIOGRAPHY

Roberto Osorio-Goenaga is a music technologist and sound artist. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from the University of Puerto Rico (2003) and a Master of Music Technology degree from NYU (2005). His work has traditionally been based around the framework of digital audio, including the development of VST plug-ins, Max/MSP externals, and stand-alone software development in C/C++. He has experience in physical computing and PIC programming, and also plays guitar and bass.

The 1.5-metre-tall (five-foot), all-white, two-legged robot wowed onlookers with what we are told was a faultless rendition of Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance. With 17 joints in its hands and arms, the robot used its mechanical fingers to push the strings correctly and bowed with its other arm, coordinating the movements well. The new robot comes three years after Toyota unveiled a trumpet-playing robot. For more information, see Technology Review or AFP Google.

In January 2008, LEMUR will inaugurate ReSiDeNt, a unique new creator-in-residence program, hosted at LEMUR’s Brooklyn space in Park Slope. Each month, we will award three artists a month-long residency at LEMUR, enabling them to create a work utilizing LEMUR’s resources, including robotic musical instruments, MIDI audio/video controllers, video projection and tracking system and more. Each group of residencies will culminate in a public show at LEMUR at the end of the month.

LEMUR’s staff will provide technical support to residents for learning and utilizing our resources. For early residencies, we will give preference to artists with a reasonable degree of technical skill with computer art. As the year progresses, we will be able to give a higher level of technical support, possibly including programming, electronic design and more.

The deadline to apply for January’s residencies is Monday, December 17th. Announcement of January’s residency awards will be announced the following week.

Subsequent deadlines will be rolling, allowing artists to submit applications to be considered for future residencies throughout the year. The application process is outlined below and will also be posted to LEMUR’s web site shortly.

Applying to ReSiDeNt

The application process is designed to be easy. Mainly, we want to see your qualifications and past work and get a sense of the type of work you would do at a LEMUR residency.

All applications are accepted via email to resident [at] lemurbots.org. Please include the following information in your email.

Part 1: Contact Information

Name
Address
Email
Cell number
Alt number

Part 2: Work Samples

Send URLs of video, audio, photos and text documenting your past projects. Please indicate which works you would like us to view, in which order, and what role you had in creating the work.

We prefer to receive all work samples online. You may also attach files up to 1 MB total. If you need to email larger files which you can not put online, please contact us in advance for ftp information. If you must mail hard copy of work, you can send it to LEMUR, 461 3rd Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, 11215, attn: ReSiDeNt.

Part 3: Artist Resume/CV

Send us your artist resume or CV in plain text, Word or PDF format. Important - please make sure to include a list of your technical skills relevant to the residency.

Part 4: Proposal Sketch

Send us your idea or ideas for what you might do during a LEMUR residency. Include which instruments and resources you envision working with (see below). Your project does not need to be conceived in full at this time, but please instill in us the confidence that you have a reasonable plan in mind and that you can realize a work in a month’s time.

FAQ

What instruments, systems and other resources will be available to me?

GuitarBot, XyloBot, ModBots (percussion bots), HydroBots (water-based bots), Slime-o-trons (slime controllers), Chime-o-tron (MIDI wind chimes), Slink-o-trons (slinky controllers), Sonic Banana (bend controller), Ascension Flock of Birds 6-DOF tracking system with 3 trackers, sensors, MidiTron and MidiTron Wireless sensor interfaces, floor-projected video with video tracking overlay, wall-projected video, PA, PTZ camera, broadband internet, Mac and PC computers, MIDI keyboard, software (Max/MSP/Jitter, Isadora, Digital Performer, etc.). In addition, LEMUR is constantly working on new instruments, which will be made available as they are created.

How much time will I be able to spend at LEMUR working on my project?

You can spend as much time as you want, subject to scheduling with LEMUR staff. Generally, someone is there Monday through Friday from 10 am until 8 pm, and weekend times can be arranged as necessary.

Does my work have to utilize LEMUR’s instruments and equipment?

Yes. A major goal of this residency program is to partner with a variety of artists to create new work for LEMUR instruments.

What length is my work expected to be?

For performances, we would like a minimum of 20 minutes of work. For music, a 40-45 minute set would be highly desirable. Installations would normally be ongoing, though we would hope that any one user would be engaged for 5 minutes or more.

Is there any stipend or other support money?

This is an unfunded residency program, so there is no stipend or support money. The support we provide is in the form of in-kind
donations of our time, space and resources.

Do I have to do a performance, or is an installation ok?

Installations are fine and encouraged. Preference will be given to interactive installations over non-interactive ones.

To realize my work, I want to create new software/Max patches/electronics but I don’t know how. Can someone at LEMUR help me?

Not at this time. We don’t have the resources to develop custom technology outside the scope of our own work. However, if you have a technologist that will commit to partnering with you, you are welcome to propose this.

I have a great idea but I’ve never done computer art before? Should I apply?

At the early stages of this program, we will probably not be able to support artists who do not have reasonable skills in implementing their work.

I live outside of New York City. Can you provide room and board?

We can’t, but you probably already have a friend with a sofa in New York City.

Will there be future opportunities to show the work I create after the end-of-month show?

The best work to come out of ReSiDeNt will likely have future opportunities to be shown. LEMUR stages performances and
installations around the world, and we are always looking to incorporate new work.

What are some examples of projects you will consider?

Compositions for the robots
Interactive performances with the robots and/or controllers
Interactive installations with the robots and/org controllers
Interactive dance with the robots
Theater pieces or performance art with the robots
Interactive video installations incorporating the robots

My discipline doesn’t fall into your listed categories. Can I still apply?

Definitely. These are simply examples, and we will consider work from any discipline if we feel it is possible to realize at our space.

Do I have to come in with a project idea from the beginning?

You do not have to come in with a fully formed project, but you should have an idea of what you want to do and should outline this in your application. You can develop the specifics of your project within the time frame of the residency. Also, feel free to bounce ideas off us before applying.

What if my work will take longer than a month to complete?

We can only devote one month of work time to each artist. If you need more time but can do your preliminary work off-site prior to the residency month, we will consider this.

Please feel free to contact us with any other questions you may have.