Thursday, July 22, 2010

Modern Sound Art (Part 2)

(CHECK PART 1 FIRST!)

CONTROL SURFACES


Control surfaces can't generate sound. They are for defining patches. MIDI controllers are a type of control surface with user-defined controls. Since they communicate between different devices, sometimes 'translators' are necessary. They typically just look like keyboards with different switches and knobs on top, but I'll show some of the cooler ones.

The Monome



JazzMutant Lemurs

Open-source MIDI controllers that interface with hardware synths or software synths (softsynths). This video shows a Lemur running Reaktor 5 (a softsynth which allows users to construct a synth from the circuits up)



This next video shows the Lemur running a physics engine (simulating friction, gravity, etc.)



The JazzMutant Lemur main site:
http://www.jazzmutant.com/lemur_overview.php

Hybridized control surfaces are devices that can function as sound generators or assignable controllers or can be externally controlled by assignable controllers.

The following video shows a hybridized control surface called the Yamaha Tenori-On, which is based off of 16x16 monomes with a programmed internal sound generator:



SOUND MODS

Sound mods provide effects such as
distortion, gates, EQ, compression, and delay. Very intricate textures can be provided by channeling generated sound through many of them.

Jomox Resonator Neuronium



Jomox T-Resonator



Jomox T-Resonator Dual Mono



Oto Biscuit



Here are some other cool videos of sound design experimentalists:

Frank Smith



Frank Smith with Elvire Bastendorf



Wanna get started? Experiment with synths, drum machines, etc.

http://www.audiotool.com/

Click launch audiotool!


None of this or the last post would have been possible without the help of my friend Sam Raymond, who so elegantly explained many varied aspects of sound design to me.

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