Creating the prototype of Sonokinetic gloves was an important step into figuring out all possibilities and limits of wireless wearable MIDI controllers. After further research and obtaining new knowledge about digital technologies, I decided to build new gloves, which would be more stable, faster and accurate within its performance. Crutial elements of improvment are switching to WiFi from Bluetooth and utilising more electronic textiles. Making the whole piece of gloves from the scratch seems now as more logical outcome.
Monthly Archives: May 2024
Test performance of the sonokinetic crown and limb stretch sensor prototypes
Final outcome of the collaboration was going to be the short performance of all assembled pieces (core station assembled to the crop-top, latex based sensors and 3D printed crown) in the octophonic ring executed by the choreographer and kinaesthetic artist Ona Tzar following the composition and sound design by Declan Agrippa.
Unfortunately, Ona Tzar couldn’t join due to travelling and work obligations. Latex based sensors by Ella Powell aren’t at this stage finished yet, therefore we have used prototypes made of orthopedic support sleeves.
Performance was recorded on ambisonic microphone Sennheiser Ambeo VR Mic and MixPre-6 II Audio Recorder. First you can listen to the export of the Declan’s abstract composition made of field recordings and then the ambisonic recording together with the video.
Tilt of the head to the left controls the reverb. Both elbows control the amount of high pass filter on the two main tracks, therefore those sometimes completely go silent. Knees control the Brownian Delay, the ambisonic delay device from ambisonic package of Max For Live plugins called Envelope4Live.
Work-in-progress V: Latex Sensor prototypes and attaching lights to the Crown
Ella has been working on the prototype of a sensor based on similarity to the AI sketch presented earlier. She has made 3D latex tube which probably will be attached to the conductive rubber together with other latex pieces glued to the conductive rubber. The piece is still quite abstract at this stage, however further ideas how sort out right functionality are emerging.
LED strips were attached to the inside support structure of the crown. To attach them I have used resin glue and UV light for curing. There will be the total of four strips, two short on sides and two forks on the top. Each strip or fork will be possible to control and program separately. At the moment strips were tested with the external Arduino only to mainly test the functionality after attachment, but the idea is to connect them to the Core Station on the performers back. The light pattern will react to the data motion from the BNO055 sensor on the Crown.
Field recording of the Sonokinesis performance in Brno
I decided to record the performance with the help of my friend Martin Janda by field recorder as well as binaural recording in Ableton Live using Envelope4Live 4D sound Max For Live plugins. Unfortunately, binaural recording failed during the performance process, therefore I was left with the field recording only.
In both performances, Brno and Ostrava, I have used two rubber sensors, crown with an IMU sensor and one Arduino glove.
During the first performance in Brno, I have encountered technical issues with one of the knee sensors. I found myself needing to engage with the laptop to level up certain effect, which somewhat undermined the initial intent of exclusively using bodily movements to control the sound. Nevertheless, I’ve come to understand that the issue at hand is primarily an engineering challenge. By modifying the assembly method of the conductive rubber, I should be able to prevent malfunctions in the future.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pJnEyY8OSx1JGoNOESh9QmsGVUmJhLTq/view?usp=sharing
Sonokinesis performance and collaboration in Czech Republic
For the composition I would like to create something using the wireless cybernetic MIDI controller, which i have been developing from September 2023. Since then I achieved various advancements and figured out a lot of flaws.
Last week I travelled to Czech Republic and I joined two collaborations. I wanted to experiment with, how it is to play with other musicians. Sonokinesis suit and gloves are at this stage simply MIDI controllers. They don’t generate any sound itself but only wirelessly control parameters within the DAW Ableton Live.
In Brno I have performed on 9th May 2024 at Rello Il Torrefattore, Rybarska 13, Brno. The venue is primarily coffee roasterty but it resides in the same building as Bastl Instruments, worldwide renown developer of Eurorack modules. A lot of experimental musicians and sound artists naturally gravitates towards this quite hidden and not very known venue.
We have built improvised octophonic ring in the garden and two friends of mine, Valentino and Jakub, were playing their modular systems and sending me two stereo signals. Movements of my limbs, head and fingers were effecting and modulating their audio signals and overall we have created improvised noise-ambient spatial soundscape.
During the performance I have realised the importance of spatial setup for the project. It could certainly be used in stereo or in ambisonics, however I believe that since the body exists in 3D space, the whole performance should exist in the space sonically as well. Therefore I will aim for spatial setup as much as it will be in future possible.
Next performance took place in small bar KMart in Ostrava on Friday 10th May. This time I joined with my cybernetic wireless MIDI controller noise and techno musician Jeronym Bartos aka Laboratorium Expiravit and violinist, vocalist Samuela aka Soleom.
The situation was fairly similar. They were sending me their audio signals and I was modulating them with the movement of my body, this time in quadrophonic setup. Due to nature of their musical taste we have created an improvised dark ambient soundscape.
At this stage I have been thinking how different is this approach from what I have been used to up until now. My body is becoming musical instrument in the sphere of electronically produced live music. I have never been a dancer however during both performances I have been acting and then also reacting back on sonic situations which emerged. From the choreographic point of view I have no idea how the performance could be perceived as I feel I am in the stage getting to know my new instrument and also getting to know what my own body can do in the sonic context.