Visual Music: controlling Laser and Vector Monitors with sound - in partnership with DU and LEAF.
To sign up, please email info@denverdigerati.org with your name, contact information, and your zip code. We’ll respond with more information on the event including the room location at DU.
Probably as a consequence of the renewed interest towards analog circuitry and modular synthesizers, in the last few years, analog projections have become increasingly popular in the community of electronic musicians and multimedia artists. An easy frst approach is through vector graphics: one can start experimenting with Oscilloscopes and Lasers in a very intuitive way with just a couple of oscillators. The appeal of vector graphics may derive from the seemingly infnite resolution, the line-based aesthetic, and the intrinsic impermanence of the display. Other motivations lie in repurposing obsolescent hardware, reimplementing historical devices, or simply diverging from mainstream digital approaches to video. This is a multidisciplinary workshop that introduces and merges diferent theoretical felds: media archaeology, analog electronics, graphic design, optics, computer vision, coding and early 3d modeling for '80s gaming.
The technique explained is very intuitive especially for musicians as all visuals will be a direct translation of sound signals. Visualizing sound through light reveals for the eyes several sound properties and geometries that could otherwise remain unnoticed by the ears: frequency ratios, phase shifs, detuning and beatings, etc. I call this process Visual Listening: a deeper way of understanding sound through light. Through digital prototyping, the workshop will show possible hardware confgurations to setup an analog video workstation recycling laser, oscilloscopes and old cathode ray tube monitors. In a critique towards consumerism, the workshop will integrate technologies from diferent ages to create new unexpected aesthetic results, while learning about the history and techniques of video art. We will discuss possible solutions on how to setup an all analog audiovisual live show using laser and vector monitors.
WORKSHOP BREAKDOWN
The workshop will be divided into 5 parts:
- introduction about the instructor (www.jestern.com) and what one can do with the techniques explained in the workshop.
- the hardware: how lasers, oscilloscopes and vector monitors are built and work, possible hacks to expand their control using audio signals.
- the sofware: how to code sound signals to drive lasers and oscilloscopes with real time audio sofware (Ableton, MaxMSP, Pure Data, Processing or Supercollider). We will familiarize with the sofware MaxMSP (https://cycling74.com/downloads) and play with some pre-assembled audio patches.
- let's build something: each participant will work on creating his/her own digital/analog system for a live audiovisual performance. We will start prototyping using a simulation sofware then move to real hardware trying each participant system on a laser projector.
- we will fnally discuss possible approaches for a live gig, issues and solutions.