Pete's Sonic Art Research

Lumino Blocks

2012-03-09T10:09:00.002+00:00

Just found out about the Lumino tangible blocks project. Really good use of fibre optics to allow stacked blocks to be 'seen' by the table.
More info on the project page.

Piccolo drawing robot

2012-02-25T15:12:00.001+00:00

I just bought a Piccolo drawing robot, which was winner of the TEI '12 design competition. Looking forward to having a play around and seeing if it will work as a way to print directly onto chronotape... Video below:

Fan + Walkman = Turntable

2011-11-23T12:24:00.001+00:00

Nice idea using a few simple and cheap components. More info on the project homepage.

music box card

2011-11-09T11:49:00.000+00:00

Nice idea for a business card.

Project homepage: http://richard.ritornell.at/index.php?show=musicbox_cards&w=1

Paper Speakers

2011-11-09T10:57:00.003+00:00

Paper speakers from the MIT High-Low Tech lab. Great idea!
Project page: http://hlt.media.mit.edu/?p=1372

Video link: http://youtu.be/y1F5Gg4bG3o

Tangible Mario

2011-09-13T14:19:00.001+01:00

This is a great idea. I've been considering using the ChronoTape as a scrolling shooter and this provides some inspiration of what can be done with a tangible scrolling platform game...

BeatBearing remake (in case!)

2011-09-12T11:53:00.000+01:00

A video of a really good BeatBearing remake by Levi Czika and Brandon Henderson. They've managed to even fit the whole thing in a portable case!
[on YouTube]

pocopoco tangible sequencer

2011-08-18T13:41:00.000+01:00

Interesting tangible sequencer.

Old Sequencer

2011-08-18T12:50:00.000+01:00

An early computer sequencer. Starts with a bit of Bach, but gets quite chip-tune towards the end.

Culture Lab Visit + Waves VJ

2011-06-16T12:01:00.001+01:00

I visited the Newcastle Culture Lab in Newcastle last week to work on a set of Cultural probes with Madeline Balaam as part of the PATINA project (more info about the probes on the PATINA blog!).
While I was there I was given a demo of the Waves VJ multitouch system by Jon Hook. It's a synthesis based VJ system where multiple generative elements are added and combined to create complex 3D images. I was impressed by the 'jog-roller' on the left of the screen that lets you cue and play the synthesised patterns in time with the music. More info here and on Jon's homepage.

video link: YouTube - Waves - Multi-Touch VJ Interface

Daito Manabe Sculpture

2011-05-26T10:10:00.001+01:00

Interesting lit-up ball sculpture/sound work by Daito Manabe. Full info here:
http://daito.ws/dl/particles_0406.pdf

video link:
YouTube - particles at YCAM

codebending

2011-05-14T12:59:00.001+01:00

CodeBending looks like a lot of fun, especially with the patching and arcade buttons...
[illucia project homepage]

1.5 million hits!

2011-05-09T23:00:00.001+01:00

Yikes - at some point over the weekend the original BeatBearing video hit one and a half million views on YouTube. I'd like to thank the YouTube user "iwouldlikemuffin1" for being 1500000th and pointing this out as I probably wouldn't have spotted otherwise!

Video below!

[BeatBearing on YouTube]

SimCity style music sequencer

2011-04-27T17:38:00.001+01:00

Have a go here: http://isleoftune.com/

[spotted on CreateDigitalMusic]

ball bearing music robot

2011-04-24T09:45:00.001+01:00

Another instrument with ball bearings - this time robotic. Would be great trying to use this as a sequencer. Would make a great actuated BeatBearing!
More info on the project homepage.

[video link: YouTube - NRW2011: RobOrchestra Vibratron]
[spotted on the MAKE blog]

Robin's Euclidean Sequencer

2011-03-04T12:52:00.001+00:00

Roll up, roll up, get your Euclidean Sequencers over here.

This is Robin's new version of his Euclidean MIDI Sequencer...

(note, Max4Live is required!)

Esper Domino

2011-03-04T12:44:00.001+00:00

Really nice project with a lot of possibilities. As usual, I'm now pondering how this could be used as a music sequencer...

Project page: http://works.jarashi.tv/

[spotted on CreativeApplications]
[video link: エスパードミノ on Vimeo]

Tape-Synth!

2011-02-19T19:39:00.001+00:00

I hope these guys win the 555 contest for making this punch-tape synthesiser. I've always though about making something like this during my PhD as it's a great example of the tangible manipulation of music.

A music player like this definitely wouldn't be out of place in A Clockwork Orange burbling away like a portable Wendy Carlos Moog rig.

[spotted on the Make Blog]
[video: YouTube - 555 Contest Entry - Synthanola]

Don Norman Affordances Video

2011-02-16T15:58:00.001+00:00

A video made in 1994 by Don Norman about affordances. It's interesting to see it explained by in a nice simple way.

[spotted on the Interaction-Design.org FaceBook page]

[video: YouTube - Affordances]

Sifteo Pong

2011-02-15T09:23:00.001+00:00

Nice 'Pong'-style demo on the Sifteo. Can't wait to see how the Sifteo gets used for music.

[spotted on the Sifteo Blog]

[video: YouTube - Sifteo Pong Experiments]

Book of Stamps

2011-02-10T18:00:00.001+00:00

The "Book of Stamps" is a travel guide between sonic landscapes fromcities to urban cultures. The sheets of the book provide a recordingsurface and the ink stamps provide the ability to place sounds in the book.Together they act as an interactive tangible interface for a variety of time based musical tasks that form a collaborative composition by its users. When the user turns the pages to other already stamped pages, it lends him or her the impression that they are actually traveling between different places.

Quote from YouTube: BookOfStamps PageTurning

Printable Instruments

2011-01-12T23:10:00.001+00:00

I really like the idea of 3D printing an instrument...
Spotted here:
A Flute Made on a 3D Printer, and the Possibilities to Come

PhD Thesis!

2011-01-03T11:41:00.001+00:00

Here's a late christmas present for you all... I've finally got around to
putting the PhD thesis up on my website! If you're interested, or just need a quick and surefire method of sending yourself to sleep, then you can either visit my website here:
www.peteinfo.com/phd

or you can download it directly from here:
Pete's PhD Thesis

...the title is "The Control and Representation of Time in Tangible User Interfaces"

Enjoy!

(photo credits go to Gus Sutherland for the pic above)

shocking video

2010-12-30T11:50:00.001+00:00

Seems like a fairly painful way to make a music video (well at least for Daito Manabe's friends!).

video link:YouTube - electric stimulus to face -test4 ( Daito Manabe 's friends )

more balls and beats!

2010-11-30T18:11:00.001+00:00

Just spotted this tangible step sequencer on Synthtopia, I like the way that the webcam is underneath so that it avoids occlusion problems. Nicely done - shame that the webcam isn't also used to track different colours in the same way as the bubblegum or skittle sequencers though. The project was built using SensoMusic Usine.

YouTube - "UTS-1" - Tangible Step Sequencer powered by Sensomusic Usine