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You may recognise this image from google sky as the constelation Cygus. Within these stars lies the planet Kepler 1649c, which is estimated to be the most similar to earth in terms of size and temperature. Our mission is to survey the planet and report back to inform decisions on future colonisation strategies.
Image above is an artists impression on what it might be like on the planet from www.nasa.gov/image-feature/kepler-1649c-earth-size-habitable-zone-planet-hides-in-plain-sight
The crew of earths finest will travel 300 lightyears in the starship Introspection to make first contact with our sister planet. Introspetion is fitted with the finest in earths technology, including an AI capible of doing a large amount of the work. Thanks to futuristic advances in sciences technology, we will travel there in just 20 minutes.
Performance
The performance offers its audience an emmersive environment where they have permission to loose themself, inspiring introspective thought. Spectrum gallery space will become the vessel in which we travel in, 7.1 surround sound will be set up around the audience and the space will be decorated by various LED light effects and video projection. The performance will be one seamless stream of music, with the intent to create a calm atmosphere with the asthetic of futuristic space travel.
Arduino Light Setups
At the beginning of the year I attended a class on circuit bending. I really enjoyed this class because it gave me the opportunity to build lighting setups that respond to audio voume. To achieve this i send a stream of information to an arduino from my laptop. I wanted to learn more about sending this information over wifi, but i wasnt able to figure it out in time, so I'll be connecting by USB. The audio plays from ableton, and gets sent to max msp, where volume gets converted to an integer.
Please refer to the builds page and research journal for more information about the light builds, including schematics, coding, design and process.
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On the builds page, you can read more about the process behind each one of these arduino builds!
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The Music
“In space no one can hear you scream”
This quote from Alien (1979) is relevant even today, it embodies the fear and dangers of space travel while also addressing the fact that sound doesn’t travel in space. In order for sound to travel, vibrations need to transmit through molecules and since space is a vacuum there aren’t any molecules for it to transmit through. Therefore, we can assume there is no sound in space.
With the knowledge that sound doesn't travel in space, how can we conceptualise music to express it?
Perhaps by understanding how we feel when we think about space, we can make an effort to conceptualise these emotions and express them in our music.
How does space make us feel?
Since the days of early exploration the stars have been used to navigate our planet. Sailors would look up to the sky and use stars as a tool to get their bearings, even our sun can be used in this manner because we know it rises in the east and sets in the west. In this way, space can resemble our desire to explore.
When we embark on a journey of exploration, we can find things that we’ve never seen before. This brings me to the first emotion that we associate with space; Wonder.
The opening to Star Trek: The Next Generation is a great example of this in media, with the famous quote:
“To boldly go where no one has gone before!”
While exploration is filled with wonder, it is never without its dangers. To travel to places we’ve never seen, we expose ourself to the unknown in an effort to expand our knowledge. The unknown can present to us new challenges, which can be fatal if we don’t find solutions to them. This brings me to the next emotion: Fear.
We can’t survive in space without our technology. Space suits and vessels are made air tight so we can create an atmosphere that we can survive in. Our space organisations employ some of the best engineers and scientists to make space travel possible, and even still, the task of travelling through space is incredibly dangerous. If even one system fails astronauts can quickly meet their untimely demise.
To this day, there have been 19 human fatalities related with space travel. One of the most tragic being NASA’a Challenger mission in 1986, where an oring seal failed due to cold conditions and caused the spaceship to explode 73 seconds after lift off killing all 7 of its crew.
Aside from the dangers and wonders that space can offer us, there is one more emotion that commonly gets associated with space. Loneliness.
As astronauts leave our atmosphere, they leave behind the rest of humanity with it. There may come a time when humans will travel to distant star systems and will need to spend months, maybe years with only a small crew for company., leaving behind their friends and family, possibly to never see them again.
CONCEPT:
This performance follows a specific story arc that captures these three emotions. It begins with wonder, continues to loneliness and ends with fear. The audience will be a part of the crew of the starship introspection, and will travel 301 lightyears to Kepler-1649c. The original mission is to survey the planet, establishing whether it is suitable for future human colonisation, but during the mission something goes wrong, which forces the starship to land on Kepler-1649c. The crew will discover that Kepler-1649c is identical to earth, and upon leaving the space will recognise their surroundings.
This quote from Alien (1979) is relevant even today, it embodies the fear and dangers of space travel while also addressing the fact that sound doesn’t travel in space. In order for sound to travel, vibrations need to transmit through molecules and since space is a vacuum there aren’t any molecules for it to transmit through. Therefore, we can assume there is no sound in space.
With the knowledge that sound doesn't travel in space, how can we conceptualise music to express it?
Perhaps by understanding how we feel when we think about space, we can make an effort to conceptualise these emotions and express them in our music.
How does space make us feel?
Since the days of early exploration the stars have been used to navigate our planet. Sailors would look up to the sky and use stars as a tool to get their bearings, even our sun can be used in this manner because we know it rises in the east and sets in the west. In this way, space can resemble our desire to explore.
When we embark on a journey of exploration, we can find things that we’ve never seen before. This brings me to the first emotion that we associate with space; Wonder.
The opening to Star Trek: The Next Generation is a great example of this in media, with the famous quote:
“To boldly go where no one has gone before!”
While exploration is filled with wonder, it is never without its dangers. To travel to places we’ve never seen, we expose ourself to the unknown in an effort to expand our knowledge. The unknown can present to us new challenges, which can be fatal if we don’t find solutions to them. This brings me to the next emotion: Fear.
We can’t survive in space without our technology. Space suits and vessels are made air tight so we can create an atmosphere that we can survive in. Our space organisations employ some of the best engineers and scientists to make space travel possible, and even still, the task of travelling through space is incredibly dangerous. If even one system fails astronauts can quickly meet their untimely demise.
To this day, there have been 19 human fatalities related with space travel. One of the most tragic being NASA’a Challenger mission in 1986, where an oring seal failed due to cold conditions and caused the spaceship to explode 73 seconds after lift off killing all 7 of its crew.
Aside from the dangers and wonders that space can offer us, there is one more emotion that commonly gets associated with space. Loneliness.
As astronauts leave our atmosphere, they leave behind the rest of humanity with it. There may come a time when humans will travel to distant star systems and will need to spend months, maybe years with only a small crew for company., leaving behind their friends and family, possibly to never see them again.
CONCEPT:
This performance follows a specific story arc that captures these three emotions. It begins with wonder, continues to loneliness and ends with fear. The audience will be a part of the crew of the starship introspection, and will travel 301 lightyears to Kepler-1649c. The original mission is to survey the planet, establishing whether it is suitable for future human colonisation, but during the mission something goes wrong, which forces the starship to land on Kepler-1649c. The crew will discover that Kepler-1649c is identical to earth, and upon leaving the space will recognise their surroundings.
Program:
Ω Entry to the Starship Introspection (2021) Ω
0:00 - 1:41
Upon entering the gallery space, the audience will experience the idle sounds of the starship introspection. Once the audience are seated the take off sequence will begin, and the starship will be launched into outer space.
Ω Wonder (2021) Ω
1:41 - 3:45
Filled with optimism and hope the crew have successfully made it outside earths atmosphere.
Ω Distance (2021) Ω
3:45 - 8:43
Introspections computer locks onto the travel coordinates for Kepler 1649c and is hurled through space at high speed.
Ω Introspection (2021) Ω
8:43 - 16:30
The silence of space starts to create unrest in the crew. Phantom noises and hallucinations taunt them. A collision at high speed creates a puncture in one of the fuel tanks making it impossible to return to earth.
Ω Fear (2021) Ω
16:30 - 18:20
Scans reveal that carbon based life exists on Kepler 1649c, and humans can survive on the surface. However, with no means to return to earth the crew are consumed by fear of the unknown and the unexpected result of their journey.
Ω Crash Landing (2021) Ω
18:20 - 20:28
The starship Introspection crash lands on Kepler 1649c. The starship is now beyond repair. The performance has come to an end but atmospheric sounds will continue until the audience leaves the space.
Ω Entry to the Starship Introspection (2021) Ω
0:00 - 1:41
Upon entering the gallery space, the audience will experience the idle sounds of the starship introspection. Once the audience are seated the take off sequence will begin, and the starship will be launched into outer space.
Ω Wonder (2021) Ω
1:41 - 3:45
Filled with optimism and hope the crew have successfully made it outside earths atmosphere.
Ω Distance (2021) Ω
3:45 - 8:43
Introspections computer locks onto the travel coordinates for Kepler 1649c and is hurled through space at high speed.
Ω Introspection (2021) Ω
8:43 - 16:30
The silence of space starts to create unrest in the crew. Phantom noises and hallucinations taunt them. A collision at high speed creates a puncture in one of the fuel tanks making it impossible to return to earth.
Ω Fear (2021) Ω
16:30 - 18:20
Scans reveal that carbon based life exists on Kepler 1649c, and humans can survive on the surface. However, with no means to return to earth the crew are consumed by fear of the unknown and the unexpected result of their journey.
Ω Crash Landing (2021) Ω
18:20 - 20:28
The starship Introspection crash lands on Kepler 1649c. The starship is now beyond repair. The performance has come to an end but atmospheric sounds will continue until the audience leaves the space.
The Score
Set Design - Lighting
I was inspired after watching an episode of "Abstract" to build my own props for the night of the performance. The episode featured Es Devlin, and her approach to setting up an installation or performance peice.
Her approach begins with a piece of paper, as she discusses the concept of the performance with her client, she might draw, cut or fold the paper to create an idea for the stage design. From here she thinks about how she’ll build the set to stay true to the concept. She experiments with materials, and overcomes the hurdles that she faces in the process of the build holistically, taking every small detail into account.
Her approach begins with a piece of paper, as she discusses the concept of the performance with her client, she might draw, cut or fold the paper to create an idea for the stage design. From here she thinks about how she’ll build the set to stay true to the concept. She experiments with materials, and overcomes the hurdles that she faces in the process of the build holistically, taking every small detail into account.
Stage design for U2 - innocence and Experience
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Kanye west - Atlantic city
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Her skill at bringing new ideas to stage design has regarded her as one of the best at what she does. She thinks outside the box and applies her knowlage of materials to create a fresh breath of energy to performance art. In order to accomplish her goals, she often has to custom design and build props, think about space and think aboiut how it's going to be received by her audience. In this way i hope I've taken a leaf out of her book by custom designing the lights that will be displayed at my recital.
CPU load
One of the issues i encountered in the process was my cpu load becoming too great and glitching the music.
Because i was projecting video from two seperate laptops, it was extremely important that i had both files synced, so i couldnt afford to have these glitches in the music during the performance. To avoid this happening i needed to reduce the CPU load as much as possible.
To do this;
Because i was projecting video from two seperate laptops, it was extremely important that i had both files synced, so i couldnt afford to have these glitches in the music during the performance. To avoid this happening i needed to reduce the CPU load as much as possible.
To do this;
- i exported all the audio from the music sessions for each speaker, rather then running the entire session
- rendered the video files for left and right
- created an adjustable refresh rate for the automated lights in case the load became too much
- made light setups that were to be controlled manually rather than running everything off automation in the session.
Makerspace
Getting access to a makerspace can be a useful tool if one is looking at creating fresh and original props for performance or installation art.
In 2019 i had access to the artifactory as an artist in residence. During my time i created the "chimeaphone" and learned a little bit about makerspaces. The artifactory has a leading group of people in different areas, from coding to skills operating the machines, and can offer assistance in every step of the process of bringing an idea into reality. The time i spent at the artifactory helped me to realise how much i enjoy building new projects from the ground up. I later became interested in coding arduinos and electronic builds. I hope to return there again as a member to complete future projects.
In 2019 i had access to the artifactory as an artist in residence. During my time i created the "chimeaphone" and learned a little bit about makerspaces. The artifactory has a leading group of people in different areas, from coding to skills operating the machines, and can offer assistance in every step of the process of bringing an idea into reality. The time i spent at the artifactory helped me to realise how much i enjoy building new projects from the ground up. I later became interested in coding arduinos and electronic builds. I hope to return there again as a member to complete future projects.
Spatial music/Multichannel Performance
My recital featured music designed for a 7.1 surround sound setup. I was inspired when we had visiting artist Lionel Marchetti visit our university and talk about his method behind spatial performance. He talked about many things, but the things that stuck with me most was his experimental attitude towards speaker placements and the idea of positioning himself (as the performer) with the audience.
I think that by positioning himself in the middle of the sound makes the most sense for a spatial performance. From outside the circle that the speakers are facing, one can't get an accurate idea of how the levels are, or whether the sound is moving in the way it's supposed to, only by being inside the space can you get a clear picture of what's happening. It also creates a more intimate performance setting where the audience are in an arms reach from you.
For future performances of this nature, I'd like to introduce more interaction with the audience, to give them more control of the outcomes of the performance.
To consider mixing for a multichannel setup, more avenues become available to the sound engineer. Stereo mixes are often made by cutting undesired frequencies from sound to make room for something else. Considering that if you isolate each sound to a single speaker, no room needs to be made for other sounds that mights interact in a negative way, one can approach a surround sound project in this way. This idea informed a few dicisions that were made, where i would have sounds that were extremely similar in timbre moving around the space at the same speed, but different position than its sibling sound.
When Eric Lyon visited later that year, he spoke about a few techniques he uses with multichannel setups. My favourite among them being what i now call "panning partials."
this sound has become a regular practise in a lot of my works.
You take a number of sinewaves that are close together in pitch and place them all at different positions in the space. As you move them around the space, this effect appears where you can hear different interactions between the sinewaves becoming present in the sound.
I think that by positioning himself in the middle of the sound makes the most sense for a spatial performance. From outside the circle that the speakers are facing, one can't get an accurate idea of how the levels are, or whether the sound is moving in the way it's supposed to, only by being inside the space can you get a clear picture of what's happening. It also creates a more intimate performance setting where the audience are in an arms reach from you.
For future performances of this nature, I'd like to introduce more interaction with the audience, to give them more control of the outcomes of the performance.
To consider mixing for a multichannel setup, more avenues become available to the sound engineer. Stereo mixes are often made by cutting undesired frequencies from sound to make room for something else. Considering that if you isolate each sound to a single speaker, no room needs to be made for other sounds that mights interact in a negative way, one can approach a surround sound project in this way. This idea informed a few dicisions that were made, where i would have sounds that were extremely similar in timbre moving around the space at the same speed, but different position than its sibling sound.
When Eric Lyon visited later that year, he spoke about a few techniques he uses with multichannel setups. My favourite among them being what i now call "panning partials."
this sound has become a regular practise in a lot of my works.
You take a number of sinewaves that are close together in pitch and place them all at different positions in the space. As you move them around the space, this effect appears where you can hear different interactions between the sinewaves becoming present in the sound.
Performance tasks:
My role during the performance will be to check levels, control the lighting effects and ensure everything runs smoothly.
There are four arduino's that are going to be used in the performance, along with two projectors and 7.1 surround sound (a lot for a single laptop)
Tasks during the performance:
I wasnt able to hook up both projectors to my laptop (because i only have one hdmi out) so i exported the second video file out and saved it on a second laptop. at the start of the performance my first task was to sync these video files.
my second task was to take control of rigid blue which would change the colour of the lights to yelllow/orange during the takeoff scene. As we go higher into the atmosphere the lights turn to a deeper shade of orange and remain there during the first song "wonder."
From here i have an opportunity to check levels and double check the the sub isnt too loud.
The lighting will change to white, then to blue as we scan for travel coordinates and then gradually get more purple and darker until the next section "distance".
The next section should gradually change to bright blue and flash at the end of the buildup. I may need to look at the sound files to time it right. The remainder of this time should be spent trying to get the lights to flicker on a low setting in preparation for "introspection". the light should have a solid green and occasionally flash the red and blue filaments.
Check levels at the start of introspection (you probably turned down during distance), then sit back and let the computer do its thing.
at the end of introspection fade gradually to red light on full brightness before "fear."
check levels during fear.
Lights change to orange and red and may become erratic during the crash landing scene, crash land full brightness then nothing. slowly fade up white lights so the audience can manuver the space.
There are four arduino's that are going to be used in the performance, along with two projectors and 7.1 surround sound (a lot for a single laptop)
Tasks during the performance:
I wasnt able to hook up both projectors to my laptop (because i only have one hdmi out) so i exported the second video file out and saved it on a second laptop. at the start of the performance my first task was to sync these video files.
my second task was to take control of rigid blue which would change the colour of the lights to yelllow/orange during the takeoff scene. As we go higher into the atmosphere the lights turn to a deeper shade of orange and remain there during the first song "wonder."
From here i have an opportunity to check levels and double check the the sub isnt too loud.
The lighting will change to white, then to blue as we scan for travel coordinates and then gradually get more purple and darker until the next section "distance".
The next section should gradually change to bright blue and flash at the end of the buildup. I may need to look at the sound files to time it right. The remainder of this time should be spent trying to get the lights to flicker on a low setting in preparation for "introspection". the light should have a solid green and occasionally flash the red and blue filaments.
Check levels at the start of introspection (you probably turned down during distance), then sit back and let the computer do its thing.
at the end of introspection fade gradually to red light on full brightness before "fear."
check levels during fear.
Lights change to orange and red and may become erratic during the crash landing scene, crash land full brightness then nothing. slowly fade up white lights so the audience can manuver the space.
Outcomes/Feedback
It was finally here, the night of the performance! I spent all day setting up and running the session multiple times to make sure it was working correctly and sounded right.
and after a year of building props, writing music, and thinking about space a whole lot;
The performance went well, everything worked in the way it was intended to. There was however a small hiccup at the end where my computer disconnected with its audio outputs for a short moment and then continued, putting the videos out of sync. The crash landing came a moment sooner on the left side than the right.
To avoid this problem happening in the future, maybe i can connect both laptops to ableton link and play the videos from there so that they remain sync'ed the whole time even when hiccups occur.
The hiccup was very small though and only a few people noticed it at the crash landing.
I had prepared a QR code for anyone who would like to look at the program during the performance, but i forgot to bring the printout of it with me to the space. A few people arrived early, none even had a QR scanner app on their phone, so it seems to be a lot less popular than i orginally thought. Perhaps I'll just print the program next time.
I broke a power cable on one of my arduino builds while moving it. I needed to solder it on the day of the performance. Luckily i had anticipated that this would happen and brought my soldering iron with me on the day. Changing the design on my future projects to exist inside a box and secured in place can prevent this from happening again.
All in all, the performance went extremely well, and I'm proud of the work i did on this project!
and after a year of building props, writing music, and thinking about space a whole lot;
The performance went well, everything worked in the way it was intended to. There was however a small hiccup at the end where my computer disconnected with its audio outputs for a short moment and then continued, putting the videos out of sync. The crash landing came a moment sooner on the left side than the right.
To avoid this problem happening in the future, maybe i can connect both laptops to ableton link and play the videos from there so that they remain sync'ed the whole time even when hiccups occur.
The hiccup was very small though and only a few people noticed it at the crash landing.
I had prepared a QR code for anyone who would like to look at the program during the performance, but i forgot to bring the printout of it with me to the space. A few people arrived early, none even had a QR scanner app on their phone, so it seems to be a lot less popular than i orginally thought. Perhaps I'll just print the program next time.
I broke a power cable on one of my arduino builds while moving it. I needed to solder it on the day of the performance. Luckily i had anticipated that this would happen and brought my soldering iron with me on the day. Changing the design on my future projects to exist inside a box and secured in place can prevent this from happening again.
All in all, the performance went extremely well, and I'm proud of the work i did on this project!