Andrew Stella
audio/sound/music:
production
interaction
research
programming
tinkering
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- SummaryAudio specialist with proven leadership skills and experience in a wide range of contexts.
Extensive recent experience in audio programming, audio signal processing and interaction design.
Extensive past audio experience with emphasis in voice content. Strong background in studio production, live audio production, postproduction, sound design, broadcasting, documentary, composition and distance education.
Highly-trained critical listening skills.
Self-directed, with strong organizational and interpersonal skills.
Experienced musician with formal training in performance and theory.
Interests include creative applications for audio and the intersection of music/sound, technology and art.Experience- 2011 - PresentMaster Student in Sound and Music Computing / Universitat Pompeu Fabra
- 2011 - PresentAudio Editor / Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health*Edit, Mix and Master a variety of audio content.
- 2010 - 2011Audio Production Coordinator / Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public HealthThe Multimedia staff of creative professionals offers audio and video recording, webcasting, videoconferencing, teleconferencing and classroom AV support to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health community. As Audio Production Coordinator, I was responsible for supervising and maintaining operation of audio production studios. * In charge of quality control for quality of vocal audio. * Personally oversaw the successful delivery of all audio content during the busiest production period to date. * Trained and directed a staff of audio editors. * Maintained workflow and equipment in a high-volume recording studio environment. • Made design and equipment recommendations for new production facilities at JHSPH * Edited, mastered and applied noise reduction techniques to audio content. * Developed and updated a central project-tracking database. * Assisted on video shoots and live web conferences.
- 2005 - 2010Audio Editor/Audio Producer/Multimedia Production Coordinator / Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public HealthJohns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is the leading school of its kind in the world. Within the school, The Center for Teaching and Learning with Technology designs, develops and produces content for the online Master’s of Public Health degree program. This program, with enrollment of nearly 1000 students, is considered the largest and best of its kind. I was the lead audio editor for CTLT online content, personally trusted with large, complicated and time-sensitive projects. I also acted as Production Coordinator. •Recorded, produced, edited and developed audio content. •Composed and mixed original music for courses and lectures. •Sat in on and supervised voiceover recording sessions. •Acted as vocal coach and worked with voice talent to ensure excellent results. •Worked closely with faculty members and instructional designers to creatively produce audio content for lectures •Developed audio and editing standards for online lectures, and coordinated hardware and software upgrades for editing suites. •Performed training and troubleshooting on audio hardware and software. •Coordinated with CTLT staff regarding course and project completion. •Managed complex workflow and overall production workload. •Maintained a central project-tracking database. •Kept supervisors and staff informed on production workload and advised them on possible production problems. •Supervised and delegated tasks to Audio Production Editors to ensure that deadlines were met.
- 2004 - 2005Assistant Audio Technician / Eighth Day SoundEighth Day Sound is a sound reinforcement company with a strong reputation for state-of-the-art equipment, experienced crew and consistently outstanding service. Provides audio equipment and manpower to a variety of local and international events, including corporate events and concert tours. I provided a variety of audio services at events and for national concert tours. •Set up, operated and tore down audio equipment for various events, in both a local and a national tour scenario. •Clients included John Kerry, Tony Bennett and Good Charlotte. •Functioned as part of a complex production team to stage events.
- 2002 - 2004Production Director / WMTS 88.3 FMWMTS 88.3 FM is a student-run radio station on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University serving the greater Nashville area. A vital student resource and outlet, WMTS provides a strong sense of musical community while offering leadership opportunities and organizational freedom to its staff. I oversaw all audio content produced at WMTS, including promotional spots and creative station ads. •Responsible for all recorded and produced audio content for broadcast. •Coordinated upgrades of studio equipment and maintenance of facilities. •Created and practiced standards for the formatting and scheduling of on-air content. •Along with other student officers, oversaw the day-to-day operations of the radio station. •Produced and hosted up to 4 hours per week of on-air content for five years •Performed training and troubleshooting.
- 2002 - 2002Intern / iv Music Groupiv Musc Group is a full-service production facility in the heart of Nashville’s music industry. They specialize in audio branding, including everything from original music and re-records to sound design and music licensing. Responsible for various production, administrative and clerical tasks. • Setup and tear down equipment for recording sessions • Completed dubbing and transferring tasks • Organized and labeled music and sound effects libraries • Maintained cleanliness and neatness of studio facilities
Education-
2011 - 2012Universitat Pompeu FabraMaster's degree in Sound and Music Computing
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2005 - 2008The Johns Hopkins UniversityM.A. in Recording and Acoustics
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1999 - 2003Middle Tennessee State UniversityB.S. in Recording Industry
Activities: AES, WMTS 88.3 FM, student-run radio
Additional Information-
Websites:
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Posts
- May 16, 12
Here is a cool project from a guy named Thomas Meghe. He has built a synthesizer using Arduino for hardware, and Pure Data and Processing for software. The addition of a touch pad and physical knobs makes for a fun tactile experience. Synthesis is handled by Pure Data, which receives information from the Arduino via Open Sound Control. The visual output, handled within Processing, is affected by the physical controls on the synth as well as the frequency generated at the output.from Thomas Maghe's website
I mention this project for at least two good reasons: firstly, it's a nice combination of open source hardware and software to make an interesting audio and visual output. Secondly, there are several things in this project that apply directly to my master's thesis in Sound and Music Computing at Universitat Pompeu Fabra. I wrote about my topic some months ago, and it is now clear to me that an update on my progress is long overdue. The scope and approach for the thesis has changed significantly, and I have some actual demonstrative progress to share. Like the above project, I'll be synthesizing sounds using Pure Data, and Frequency Modulation synthesis is one of the techniques I will be using. It's a powerful, flexible technique through which some very interesting sounds can be obtained. While I work on compiling some thoughts for an update post, I urge you to check out this video of Thomas Maghe's Glitch synthesizer:
P.S. His website is in French. If you can't read French, Google Chrome can be set up to automatically translate language. If you aren't already using it, download it already, you silly person.
via Arduino Blog - Apr 26, 12
I have unearthed another dusty, poorly-recorded cover song to share with the world in my efforts to be a better, more open person.
Recall, dedicated reader, that a long time ago (last September), I wrote about my old 4-track tape machine that was my only piece of personal recording technology for a couple of sad and dark pre-laptop years.
I recorded some early versions of songs and a few covers on that old machine, but nothing was very good or worth sharing. I managed to share the one original jam I produced using that machine, which shows that I at least have a good sense of humor.
Anyway, at the end of that post, I mentioned that more tunes from the vault would be shared by and by.
Here now is another 4-track jam!
Wilco, in terms of overall personal history, is a favorite band of mine. I won't go into too much detail about my feelings concerning the band's career trajectory, but suffice it to say that I prefer the albums up to and including Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, rather than what has come after. I think this has a lot to do with the contributions of the late, multi-talented, multi-instrumentalist Jay Bennett, who was a part of Wilco from around the time of its founding until shortly after YHF was released (which was almost exactly 10 years ago!!). Millions of gallons of digital ink have been spilled about this topic over the last decade, so I will not pretend to offer some type of revelatory new perspective on the matter.
The song I have covered comes from 1996's Being There, which is a great record from start to finish. The songs manage to be grounded in some elements of traditional songwriting and instrumentation while also looking forward at the same time.
In my case, I decided to record a quick version of "Forget the Flowers" on the electric organ, an instrument which has been featured on my Tina Turner cover, as well as the previously mentioned original 4-track jam. I stripped out the instrumental breakdowns and slowed the tempo quite a bit to create a more brooding type of feeling, I suppose. This seems possible with any song, really. Just play it slowly and it becomes melancholy. In terms of recording, I used one crappy dynamic microphone on each of the organ's two speakers to create some type of stereo dimensionality. At least, I think I did that. Also, I used a crappy dynamic microphone to record my voice. - Apr 10, 12
Besides having been a major creative force in one of my favorite bands in the universe, David Byrne is also a notable visual artist, writer, blogger and cycling advocate. He could be a case study on how to remain relevant throughout a decades-long career. It is somewhat well-known that he attended two top East Coast art schools before heading to New York and starting a band, which adds weight to my impression that just as many interesting musicians come out of art schools as conservatories.
I wanted to point out two of his sound art pieces, one recent and one past. Byrne recently stayed for a couple of days in the Room for London, a one bedroom boat-shaped installation perched atop Queen Elizabeth hall at the Sounthbank Centre in London. While there, he used some portable recording gear to capture the sounds of the city. The result, which he edited and mixed, is a rhythmic sound collage called "Get it Away". From David Byrne's description of the project:
Here's a video:I brought along some field recording gear to use while I was staying in the lovely pod/room/boat. I went out during the day and recorded sounds that I thought might be useful and evocative. It turned out that most of the sounds—even the church organ in Southwark Cathedral—seemed to converge around a common rhythm. It's a bit too good to be true—that every large city should have its own rhythm, but here it is. I let the sounds dictate the groove, the tempo, and then I simply played along.Here are where the sounds come from:Strawberry seller: Borough Market
Train: Southwark
Woman Evangelist: Spitalfields Market
Organ: Southwark Cathedral
Jackhammer: near Waterloo
Footsteps: mine, embankment
Thames waves: near Surrey water
David Byrne: Get It Away from Artangel on Vimeo.
The second piece is from a few years ago, and it's called "Playing the Building". In 2008, Byrne turned the interior of the Battery Maritime Building in New York City into a musical instrument. Devices were attached to pillars, beams and other elements of the building and when activated by a person playing a modified organ keyboard, these devices would cause the building to produce sound. Considering the size and resonant properties of such a building, the resultant sound is quite dramatic, and giving the role of musician to the user offers a fun degree of interaction and control. I am still sad I didn't get a chance to play the building when this show was open.
Via Boing Boing TV, here's a video: - Apr 08, 12After some consideration, I have decided to drop the anonymous nature of this blog and reveal my human identity. As you may know by now, I am progressing steadily through the Master in Sound and Music Computing program at Universitat Pompeu Fabra. I have written a bit about my thesis topic, on which I am currently devoting all of my free time. The point is that there is life after this enjoyable, challenging program. Life in which it might be a good idea to connect this blog, and the projects and interests it describes, to the rest of my online presence.
The effects of this change will be largely minimal. The same types of posts about the same geeky audio stuff.
That's it. I don't want to make too big a deal out of this.
I'm Andy. Nice to meet you. - Apr 06, 12I have added a to-do item for the next time I am in the Boston area: visiting the gigantic modular synthesizer at the MIT Museum!
Joe Paradiso is a professor at MIT's peerless Media Lab, and during the 70s and 80s he spent roughly 15 years hacking and piecing together what is probably the world's largest synthesizer of this type. He did so without any formal training and without the aid of the Internet. Considering the robust communities of amateur makers and electronics tinkerers online these days, the fact that Paradiso built his synth without the instant-access of online information is really impressive. Or, maybe it explains why the thing took so long.
Maybe the coolest thing is that you can listen to a live stream of the synth online, and actually manipulate some of the controls yourself!
Video below, and much more information about the synth can be found here. - Mar 29, 12I recently worked on another interactive project that I will briefly describe here.
This was for a class called Advanced Interface Design. Here is a description from the course website:
So basically we got to learn about all kinds of software for creating interfaces for various purposes. Included were a lot of applications involving Processing and Arduino. Recall my 'Painting with Timbre' thing, which also used Processing.
For the final project, I worked with a classmate named Varun Jewalikar. He proposed we try to do something with the emotiv EPOC brain-computer interfaces available to us. Considering that my thesis will be along similar lines, I thought it was a swell idea.
What we have done is create a system for visualizing a user's cognitive state. Ideally, this system would be used in conjunction with some kind of musical stimulus. We are interested in whether or not it's possible to learn the self-regulation of cognitive states using this system. In other words, can you train your mind to achieve a certain visual output? And how do different auditory stimuli (or no stimulus at all) affect this process? You can read about basic brain-computer interface stuff here, and biofeedback stuff here. The references therein will allow for more in-depth reading.
Our setup is relatively simple. The signals from the emotiv are read wirelessly into a computer, and the included software allows different levels of access to the data. The software processes the data and outputs values in several areas. The ones of interest to us are: "Engagement", "Excitement", "Frustration" and "Meditation". These values are read from the emotiv by a piece of software called Mind your OSCs, are then sent to Processing as OSC packets. We use the values received by Processing to manipulate the visual output.
The problem, we found, is that we don't really know what these values mean, or how they are calculated. The emotiv website and documentation are not terribly helpful in explaining them. While certain mental states have been associated with specific changes in the EEG signal, we were unable to access the raw data at a level where we could successfully process and analyze it to detect these changes. So, we decided to make a flexible system for which these values can be weighted and changed around in the visual output scheme. This way, through experimentation and better understanding of the EEG signal and the software, real work on answering our initial question could be conducted. We added some functionality so that in one mode the system will play music that might seem opposite to the present displayed state. This is meant to aid in the training process.
We managed to find a great visualization on which to base our project. Josh Giesbrecht at the site openprocessing has created a meditative, herd-behavior-like circle that seems to have a mind of its own. For our project, we totally reprogrammed the circle to change its behavior and appearance based on the values it recieves.
So...
Engagmenet: affects the rotational speed of the circle (more = faster), as well as the diameter (more = less).
Meditation: affects the color (more meditation = a stronger blue) and the diameter (more = less).
Frustration: affects the color (more frustration = a stronger red) and the diameter (more = bigger).
Excitement: affects the randomness of the individuals within the circle (more excitement = less randomness).
Of course, the actual mappings aren't quite so simple. We used weighted combinations for all the calculations, so this should not be described as a 'direct-mapping'. This way, the program can be tweaked or switched around as necessary if better results are found with different combinations. To summarize, a more 'focused' state would result in a more blue, smaller-diameter circle, while a less 'focused' state would cause the circle to be larger in diameter, more random with regards to its individual components, and more red in color.
The video below offers a demo, albiet with a simulator instead of the actual BCI headset so that I could manipulate the values at will and show the range of possible visualizations. - Mar 22, 12
The always excellent Boing Boing has posted a video of something that is relevant to my research into sonification techniques for human EEG signals: it's a video of a technique used to make a coronal mass ejection into sound.
The most agreed upon definition of sonification comes from the Sonification Report: Status of the Field and Research Agenda (1999):Sonification is the use of nonspeech audio to convey information. More specifically, sonification is the transformation of data relations into perceived relations in an acoustic signal for the purposes of facilitating communication or interpretation.
In this example, from space.com and the University of Michigan, the speed and inertia of solar particles are being measured, and these data are turned into sound. Sonifying data can offer additional insight into certain types of data. Multivariate data (such as human EEG signals) are good candidates since the human auditory system is well-equipped to process multiple concurrent 'streams' of data.
I was thrilled to accidentally run across this post, since I am in the midst of reading everything I can about sonification for my master's thesis.
Here comes the science:
original Boing Boing post. - Mar 19, 12As I alluded to in yesterday's post about the first anniversary of audio_maelstrom's founding, I have a party-related jam to share, as part of the occasional, ongoing series of sloppy, partly silly covers that I have recorded over the years. Avid readers of this blog will certainly recall Part I of my Lionel Richie cover two-pack (what avid readers?). Although Part II comes later in the series, it was actually recorded many years before.
In fact, this is one of the first covers I did, way back in 2006 or so. Those of you not acquainted with this classic Richie jam can listen to the original here. My version has a fairly sparse arrangement, featuring just vocals, ukulele and hand claps. The ukulele used on this song was the first one I owned, and it had some trouble staying in tune and sounding non-crappy.
I'm pretty sure I had a lot of fun recording this, since it has spawned a small collection of similarly-executed covers. Listening to it for the first time in a while was good for a laugh.
I shouldn't have to say this by now, but this is not meant to be taken too seriously.
Duh: - Mar 18, 12A bit of site news today.
A belated happy birthday to audio_maelstrom, who turned one back on 8 March!!
Things have been a nuts around here lately, which explains the neglect. Anyway, a blog is not a living thing and has no emotions whatsoever, so I think I am forgiven.
I started this blog a little more than a year ago to document my various sound-related interests: projects, past and recent recordings I have done, links related to new and interesting applications of sound and more. The early life of audio_maelstrom was devoted to documenting a project involving Arduino and a sound collage in an interactive installation on which I collaborated with my wife.
Since then, I have been documenting my progress in the Sound and Music Computing master's degree program at Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain. I'll be sure to keep track of whatever happens next, too.
Blogger allows some pretty detailed stats on pageview and I'm happy to report almost 7,000 pageviews from over a dozen countries in the last year. I have no idea how many of those are legit pageviews, but it's nice to see any number higher than 0. My plans are to increase the visibility of this blog in the next few months as I prepare for life after SMC.
Stay tuned for a special birthday-related post tomorrow! - Feb 29, 12
Here's something cool: there is a Master's Degree in Sound Art Program at the University of Barcelona. This is the program's first year.
From the program's website:
This program is a partnership between the university, Arts Santa Monica (which I wrote about here) and Hangar, which describes itself as "...a centre for art research and production, offering support to artists."The Master’s in Sound Art from the University of Barcelona provides the conditions of creation and research to afford professionals or degree holders in visual arts, architecture or music already working in the field of sound art, or who have a specific interest in it, a complete and well-founded practical methodology, technological understanding and set of theoretical reflection tools.The aim of these studies is, within a well-defined atmosphere of creation and investigation, to gain hands-on creative and analytical theoretical experience in the phenomenon of sound; studies which, until now, have remained scattered, marginally represented within other fields of study, such as fine arts, music and architecture and, along its more theoretical side, philosophy, art history, musicology and education.
Two weeks ago (so much for keeping this blog current) at Hangar, some of the first projects created in the program were presented, along with some live performances and free beer. It was a fascinating event, and I'm thrilled to live in a city that seems serious about this and other type of sonic arts. - Feb 28, 12
Well, I sort of missed it, and I don't really care anyway, but the Oscars took place earlier this week.
I don't have many nice things to say about award shows in general, and while the Oscars may be the classiest of the bunch, that doesn't mean they don't suck.
However, this might be a good opportunity to learn something about film sound.
People who work professionally in sound (live sound, post-production, broadcasting) are used to not being noticed. In fact, I've often said that no one cares the sound guy at a rock show until something goes wrong. A bit of feedback or a faulty microphone will have everyone in the crowd turning around to see what the sound guy is doing about it, since it is certainly his or her fault. I myself used to get annoyed at the seemingly interminable wait for a band to start playing...do they really need to test that microphone again?? Do they really need to tune that guitar twice??
This extends to stupid corporate award shows as well. Some years ago, actor Mike Myers got into a bit of trouble for reading some scripted jabs at movie sound technicians while presenting at the Oscars. Basically, he was asking a question that many people who enjoy movies have probably asked themselves: "what the heck do these sound people do and why should we care?"
Vanity Fair's Hollywood Blog has taken advantage of the silly amount of press generated by the Oscars and posted a detailed explanation (with examples) of exactly what sound editing and sound mixing are and what the process is like for the people that work in a film sound capacity.
So take a read here, and next year you'll be able to explain exactly what these concepts are, to the guaranteed delight of everyone else in the room.
Thanks to Sertan Senturk for the link! - Mar 22, 12I would like to present the topic for my master's thesis at the Music Technology Group at Universitat Pompeu Fabra.I will be contributing to the Teclepatia project, which is concerned with "mechanisms of unconscious communication in collaborative work environments."What does that mean? I don't know, really.Just kidding.Teclepatia falls under the "Musical and Advanced Interaction" area at the MTG. The project aims to develop systems for collaborative interaction combining physiology-based technology, such as Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI) with Tangible User Interfaces (TUI) for the purposes of "collaborative work", which in this case refers to musical performance.My thesis will be working with Electroencephalography (EEG) as a way to monitor the brain's activity during certain tasks. The EEG signals can be "sonified", that is, its features can be extracted and mapped into an audible signal. This is quite a bit different than simple "audification", which is a more direct amplification of a sound. This research will involve surveying past work in this field and determining the best features and sonification techniques for musically collaborative tasks.It is believed that listening to one's sonified EEG signal in a "bio-feedback loop" will contribute to an increased sense of confidence and greater ease in accomplishing collaborative tasks.I would recommend anyone who wants a better-written overview of these topics to read this paper by Sebastián Mealla (also my thesis advisor!), Matieu Bosi and Sergi Jordà from the MTG, and Aleksander Väljamäe from the Graz University of Technology.I'm currently in the midst of the literature-review portion of the thesis, but plans for the development, implementation and testing of a system involving these sonifications are shaping up, and I will certainly have more to say as the project develops.
- Jan 19, 12I'm happy to present a project that I did for a class here at the SMC Program at Pompeu Fabra University.
The class, called "Real Time Interaction", focuses on musical applications of interactive systems. One part of the course is theoretical, dealing with research in this area. The other part of the course is practical, meaning we learn about designing and implementing interactive systems. For this course, we were introduced to Pure Data, a "a real-time graphical programming environment for audio, video, and graphical processing."
The amount of different types of things can be done with Pure Data is staggering, to the point of being almost overwhelming.
For our final project, we were tasked with creating some type of system, using whatever software and hardware we wanted, as long as the system was interactive.
In the SMC program (in pretty much every course), we deal heavily with sinusoids. Sinusoids can be understood fairly quickly, and they touch almost every branch of science in some way. A fundamental, yet surprising property of sinusoids is that every conceivable sound is composed of them. From a simple tone to the most unpredictable signal (noise, etc), all audible signals can be expressed as the sum of a (possibly infinite) number of sinusoids with unique amplitudes and phase. All this comes from the great Joseph Fourier.
Anyway, I was starting to have dreams and nightmares about sinusoids, so I decided the only way to get them out of my head was to do a project about them.
What I have done is create a simple program that reacts to different sounds. Pure Data is capable of taking input from or sending output to a number of other hardware and software platforms. These include Arduino (which you may remember from the Same River Twice project from last year), and Processing (which I have also mentioned before). I have implemented a simple sine wave generating program in Processing, and linked it to Pure Data using Open Sound Control.
The project consists of 8 different "shakers" or "noise makers".
Each one of these objects will affect a parameter of the visual output:
0. Jar of Beans: Amplitude of Sine Wave
1. Jar of Matches: Period of Sine Wave
2. Plastic Box Containing a Castaña: Velocity/Direction of Sine Wave
3. Can with Wine Cork: Size of Ellipses in Sine Wave
4. Coffee Mug with Bottle Caps: Rotation Amount of each Ellipse
5. Jar of Brown Sugar: Turn Background On/Off in Processing (Basically, Paint/Erase)
6. Jar Hit with Pen: Start/Stop Wave Motion
7. Jar with Glue Stick: Reset
I should add here that the system will reacting to any sound (shakers or not), by randomly changing the color of the wave. This adds a nice visual touch, I think.
The result of shaking these objects into the computer's microphone can be quite unpredictable and fun.
The user can create a visual composition with nothing but sound...this is where the "painting with timbre" thing came from.
I think the system is a good example of sound interaction, since it has the possibility of being immersive and entertaining for a period of time. Kids might like this kind of thing maybe.
I have uploaded a video of the system in action, and you can tell that it can be a bit hard to control (which again suggests a good experience for the user, since a system that is too easy to figure out could get boring very quickly). The system gets a bit confused by some sounds, and in a future version I will attempt to make it more accurate.
The brains of this thing is an object in Pure Data called "timbreID". It was created by a guy named William Brent. Basically, you "train" the system by playing sounds into the computer's microphone. Each unique sound is assigned to an index on a numbered list. Once the training is switched off, the identification function will compare all sounds played into the microphone to the list that was previously generated. The closest match will be output (in the form of an integer) from the timbreID object. These numbers are then grouped together and assigned to control different variables in the Processing program.
Please see the video below for a complete demo of this project. In the video, I am first using each object individually, and resetting the display in between so that you can see what each object does by itself. I then do a quick "composition" by mixing different shakers together. - Jan 19, 12Howdy folks.
After an extended holiday break, audio_maelstrom is back and ready to ninja kick 2012 in the face.
I'll start by sharing this awesome project (via Boing Boing), done by Bruno Zamborlin, a joint PhD in Arts and Computational Technologies between IRCAM/Centre Pompidou in Paris and Goldsmiths, University of London. He is a member of the RealTime Musical Interactions team at IRCAM and the Embodied AudioVisual Interaction team at Goldsmiths Digital Studios.
What he's done is create a system using a contact microphone that can turn any rigid surface into a touch sound interface. Specifically, the system can recognize various gestures, which is quite different than a microphone simply reacting to the presence of a sound stimulus.
Here's a nice technicalish description from Bruno's website:Mogees currently uses two audio synthesis techniques — the first is physical modeling, which consists of generating the sound by simulating the propagation of the sound wave through different physical materials such as strings, membranes, or tubes using a piece of software called Modalys. The second technique is mosaicing, where the user loads a sound folder and then the audio coming from the contact microphone is analysed and the software looks for the closest segment within the sound folder. So if a sound folder of voices is loaded, touching the surface gently would provoke a whispering while scratching it will cause a sound similar to screaming voices.
Of course, nobody has time or the attention span to read a whole paragraph any more. Fortunately, there is a video. - Dec 14, 11
Via a post from the great Boing Boing, I checked out a video from a guy called goLab, that has laboriously recreated the entire Beach Boys' Pet Sounds album by himself, using just his voice, a microphone and an awesomely outdated Yamaha QY-100 portable recording thingie. The device has a built in sequencer and some sweet presets, and that is apparently the only thing he used to record the album. Oh yeah, he did the whole thing by ear as well. Considering the complexity of the arrangements on Pet Sounds, this is impressive.
This kind of thing puts my whole "Fun with Covers"series to shame, I'll admit, and I admire his dedication to an ambitious project. Plus, the results are pretty amazing, as you can see in the video below. Another thing I can relate to is his use of (by 2011 standards) fairly low-tech methods. I enjoy working within specific constraints because I find it helps me focus. If I attempted something on the scale of Pet Zounds with a full studio and tons of instruments at my disposal, it probably would never get off the ground. Setting limitations can be a good way to make something huge seem possible.
Pet Zounds is available on iTunes through the goLab website.
Here's le video: - Mar 18, 12So, I realize that the last three consecutive posts have been about things related to sound art and interaction design here in Barcelona. While those are certainly some of my interests, I do not want to turn this blog into a one-trick pony.
Admittedly, the last few months have been unbelievably busy, and writing about some of the amazing exhibits I've encountered during my free time made for some enjoyable content. There will certainly be more along those lines in the future, but we'll go in a different direction for a minute.
As I am getting closer to deciding on (and revealing on this blog) my thesis topic for the Master in Sound and Music Computing program at Pompeu Fabra University, I think we'll see a bit more variety on the blog for a while. Posts about nerdy things, but also ukulele songs.
Anywho, I think it's time to add another chapter in the "Fun with Covers" anthology.
A few months ago, some very good friends of ours got married in Baltimore. Another good friend (Tim St. Clair, a fellow traveller through the audio wilderness), proposed a brilliant idea to me: why don't we choose some appropriate songs to cover and record for our friends' wedding, as a gift? Simple. Brilliant.
So, we did it. One evening last spring, we set about laying down the tracks for the songs we had chosen.
I chose "Stuck on You" by Lionel Richie, because Mrs. Maelstrom and I had some memorable laughs listening to his records with our friends that were getting married (see the above picture).
Tim chose "Oh Yoko", by John Lennon. Tim has agreed to write a guest post describing his perspective on this fun project. I hope to publish it very soon.
We used a fairly no-frills recording process: a few shitty microphones, my shitty Alesis Multimix 16 USB 2.0 interface, and shitty Cubase. We were able to do most of the basic tracks at Tim's house, and he and I agreed that we would each take our individual song choices and finish them on our own, by adding additional tracks and so on. Tim also has some mastering skills (and access to some nice gear), so he added the finishing touches to both tracks.
Unfortunately, we didn't have a ton of time to finish the songs before the wedding, so I had to rush to lay down the extra tracks. I added more vocals and guitar, in addition to accordion, banjo and organ. On the finished track, the acoustic guitar is played by Tim which acts as a nice anchor to my sloppy overdubs. With a bit more time to rehearse, maybe we could have done something more elaborate, but the results are good, and our friends were thrilled by the gift, so win-win, no?
I have included the non-mastered version here, only because I wanted to fix some things from the original mix.
The title of this posts suggests that I have covered other Lionel Richie songs in the past...this is true. Stay tuned to eventually hear that one. This idea of recording songs for friends/family as wedding gifts has also taken hold, so the future seems pretty bright for the "Fun with Covers" series.
Stuck on You by audio_maelstrom - Jan 08, 12
Last weekend, we visited Arts Santa Monica in Barcelona to view one of its current exhibits, called Invisible Fields: Geographies of Radio Waves.
About the museum:Arts Santa Monica, housed in an exceptional building on the Rambla in Barcelona, is a space of convergence and crossover between the different disciplines of contemporary artistic creation and science, thought and communication.
Basically, this means that Art Santa Monica is filled with awesome, and entry is free.
About the exhibit:
There are a lot of notable and interesting pieces in this show, including some using the now seemingly ubiquitous Arduino. The highlight for me, however, was a piece by artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. His piece, called "Frequency and Volume", is a brilliant use of sound and interactivity to explore some basic concepts of radio waves. Basically, the user's shadow (or shadows, since there can be more than one person at a time), is projected on a large wall. A computerized system can track the shadows and their movements, and the images are translated into sound, with the size of the shadow on the wall controlling volume, and the position left-to-right controlling frequency. The system uses this data to tune into radio stations and play them using a fairly sophisticated automated digital mixing console.Invisible Fields explores how our understanding of our world and our cosmos has been transformed by the study of radio waves. With the invention of telecommunication technology at the end of the 19th century, the radio spectrum became a tool for rethinking the world we live in.Radio collapsed geographical distance, crossed borders and cultures, became a powerful catalyst for commerce and enabled scientists to study the cosmos in entirely new ways. Yet whilst the radio spectrum is the invisible infrastructure that enables the technologies of information and communication, most people are unaware of the way it works, how it is managed, and how it is has shaped our understanding of our lived environment.Invisible Fields aims to shine a light on this enigmatic landscape. The exhibition differs from past explorations of these topics, in that it is conceived as an interdisciplinary blend of social-cultural analysis, science communication, and artistic practice.
Of course, theses things are better seen than explained. Here's a video.In addition, Arts Santa Monica is hosting workshops, teaching how to build radios, antennas, and other cool stuff. I hope to attend one of these workshops, and I'll be sure to report about it here. - Jan 08, 12
Last weekend, we attended an exhibit called, "I/O/I. The senses of machines (Interaction Laboratory)". at the Disseny Hub museum. The exhibit explores some recent innovative examples of interface design and human-computer interaction, at a time when technology has made these topics easily accessible for anyone interested in art, design, music and the countless other fields where there might be some intersection.
From the Disseny Hub website:I/O/I. The senses of machines (Interaction Laboratory) proposes an experimental and educational look into the relationship between man and machine at a time when new generation interfaces include natural interactive features and social behaviors. It is an exploration of new areas where interaction design is developed and generates new needs, disciplines and experiences.
I really enjoyed this exhibit, particularly (for the purposes of this blog), some of the pieces that utilized sound.
Over the last forty years, information technologies have become part of our lives, producing major changes in how we relate to our environment. We live in an era, in which, objects and environments are endowed with more intelligence and more autonomy; machines are more sociable and communicate with humans and each other, and where designers have begun to understand the impact of their designs on humanity.
I/O/I. The senses of machines addresses interactivity on different levels and represented on a scale ranging from very simple devices that demonstrate the transmission of energy and their conversion into gestures, signals and data; to more complex systems where identical machines interact with each other and produce community behavior.
All this is done with the intention of reflecting on the effects that we produce with the use of technology, the different scenarios where interactivity is present and the development of intelligent interfaces and their role in designing the future- in short, the technology, man and his environment.
"Less Than Three" is an installation consisting of two push-button intercoms and a network of seemingly unorganized wires that illuminate in patterns as sound travels from one intercom to the other. This piece supposedly converts the sound into light, and then back into sound after it has completed its convoluted journey. I'd be interested to know how this is done, or if the sound is just delayed and retransmitted after the appropriate amount of time. Either way, this is a visually arresting piece, and fun to play with from a user's point of view.
"Speaker Wire" sculpts sound out of wire based on the sound input it receives. The sculpture is a simplified approximation of the waveform of the input sound. This one didn't seem to be working properly when we were there, but I love the concept.
"Score Light" is a tabletop instrument that uses lasers and physical objects to create sound. A laser traces the outline of prefabricated cut-outs of objects, or real objects (like the user's hand), and the sound output is varied by these different shape inputs. This seems to have some relation to the infamous Reactable, developed right here at the UPF. This was another fun piece to interact with.
This exhibit ties into some of my interests, both with regards to this blog and to possible topics for my master's thesis in the Sound and Music Computing program. There will be more to write about soon on these topics, but for now, I am enjoying finding relevant events and exhibits to share (when I can find the time).
The exhibit is free on Sundays, and we got there using Barcelona's amazing bike-share program, Bicing. If it wasn't for the requisite stop at nearby Pim-Pam Burger, this would have been a totally free(ish) way to spend a rainy afternoon. Too bad this isn't a food blog, because Pim-Pam is awesone. - Nov 05, 11
This past weekend in Barcelona, there was something called 48H OPENHOUSE BCN. This was basically a chance for people to view some of the amazing buildings in this city that aren't usually open to the public. Although there were long lines for almost everything, we had a chance to view some interesting buildings, including the University of Barcelona, and L'Ateneu Barcelones. The latter is some kind of historic cultural center, with its own extensive library and some beautiful architectural touches inside and out. It seems that there is a hidden ancient building on every corner around here.
What the heck does this have to do with sound, you ask? Well, a guy named Javier Maculet has devised a sort of "sound map" for the festival.
From the website (translated from the Catalan):We have built an Internet map sound to identify which parts of the city through its sounds. The technology we can record and send sounds, sensations and images, geo-location to place them. We invite you to participate by placing value on the recordings made as a result of your experiences in architectural spaces that are part of the Barcelona Open House Festival 48h.
So was asking for submissions from visitors to the festival, and then he and Mario Bellonzi used the sounds (or images, words, etc) to create a multimedia "OpenRemix" at a private concert held for volunteers of the festival. Pretty neat.
I tried to remember to find an interesting sound to submit, but it wasn't until the end that a little pond in the courtyard of L'Ateneu Barcelones provided the right inspiration. Barcelona can be a noisy place, especially in the areas surrounding the famous (and mostly horrible) La Rambla. However, just a few steps off of that busy street sits L'Ateneu, and sitting in the garden thingy (which was maybe private but we didn't care), it was difficult to tell how close we were to throngs of tourists and those that prey on tourists. So that peaceful little garden won us over, and I recorded a 30-second clip of it (with my crappy phone), and submitted it to the OpenRemix. I have no idea if they used it, but I applaud the idea and I enjoyed participating. Here is my awe-inspiring sound:
Audio Maelstrom-Ateneu Barcelones by audio_maelstrom - Oct 04, 11
In the process of moving out of Baltimore, I had the opportunity to finish a long-delayed little project.
You see, before I had a fancy computer with digital recording software with automatic everything, I was the proud owner of a Tascam 424 MK III 4 Track Analog Cassette Recorder. I bought this beast in 2004 or so, and used it to record some very early and naive sound experiments.
I dug up the old machine in order to get rid of it, and decided to finally mixdown something that now stands as my most fully-produced original composition. One might notice that in the course of this blog, I have posted cover songs and soundscapes, but no original songs, and I suppose there are reasons for this. I have made various attempts over the years to record my own music, but it's been difficult to be happy with the results. I have recently become a little less hard on myself (perhaps thanks in part to this blog), and I am now ready to post some of my own stuff.
This song doesn't have a name, and it is admittedly kind of a beast. It's long, slow and self-indulgent, but it stands as a good document of what I was trying to do at the time (late 2005). There are lots of vocals, some organ, feedback created by two walkie-talkies, and lastly, a recording I made of an ice cream truck in Baltimore. My Lowrey organ has some delightful problems, causing static and scratchiness when some of the controls are adjusted. I liked this feature, since it contributed to what I thought sounded like the song getting ready to fall apart. The scratchiness can be heard prominently during the intro of the song.
I have one other finished song made using the Tascam, and I'll post it later. Considering the limitations of a cassette tape-based recording system, I am happy with this song. Limitations can be inspiring in a world where almost any information is available within seconds. That can be overwhelming for me, so working in a confined system is a way to deal with it.
Here you go.
Ahhh by audio_maelstrom - Nov 10, 11
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Internet,
Audio Maelstrom has been dark these last few weeks, as the lack of updates might suggest.
It is always my intention to update this blog frequently, but sometimes life punches you in the face, and you can't make little bloggies as often as desired.
The last few weeks have been insanely stressful, busy and eventful. After many years in Baltimore, Mrs Maelstrom and I have uprooted ourselves (not without considerable effort) from that gritty (but great) old town and relocated to Barcelona, Spain. As I mentioned before, I have enrolled in a program called Sound and Music Computing at Pompeu Fabra University. We have been here a bit less than two weeks, and things are finally settling down. The process of moving and trying to find an apartment could easily be the subject of a completely separate blog (but it won't). The purpose of this post is to announce that this blog machine still breathes, and a new direction is approaching. This program is intense in a research and scientific kind of way, and I intend to build in a fair amount of that type of content mixed in with the usual funny cover songs and links to interesting videos and articles.
For now, until things really get going on the academic front, I have some good stuff saved up. I'll spend the next few posts sharing some newly-recorded things and some relics from ancient past (2005).
Beware,
Audio Maelstrom. - Dec 11, 11
Via Gizmodo, I ran across this very well-done and interesting video about the science of sound.
The animation (while sometimes a little too precious), helps illustrate some of the more complex points. It turns out the human ear, and the physics of sound is a pretty rich subject, with all kinds of interesting physical and biological phenomena. This is a great introduction to this topic, or a great refresher if you've ever studied this kind of stuff (to be honest, I didn't necessarily follow all of it myself).
Educate thyself! - Jan 19, 12
In case I haven't gotten enough mileage on this blog out of the Same River Twice show to which Mrs. Maelstrom and collaborated on an interactive installation, I'd like to briefly revisit the project, but with a distinctive twist.
Recall the bit of press the show received from the locally-based website, "What Weekly". At the time, I wrote a quick blurb about it on these very interwebs.
I was (and still am) amused by the author's description of our project:Once again the idea of industriousness of the river and it’s people is conjured by Laura Shults Stella and Andy Stella’s interactive “…that once was a clear stream.” Here the gallery goer can ride a bicycle surrounded by found objects, the cycle in turn, powers projected antiquarian images of the industry and people on the river.
Now, based on his review of the show, it was clear that the author attended the opening, although I don't know if he was present while our piece was producing sound. Still, a simple look at our artist statement would have provided all the details one might need to describe the piece. I'll admit that I'm no journalist (I'm not even a blogger, really), but the author's lack of attention to detail was troubling.
It later occurred to me to run with his description, both as a way to make fun of his error, and because it sounded cool. And so, I set myself to mash the two of the elements from our project together. Instead of a bike and running pad that produced sound while images are projected, I have removed the sound element and created, as described, a bicycle that controls the projected slides!
This required some hasty and sloppy coding in Arduino (I didn't want to drive myself totally nuts with this one, so I did not end up with any kind of perfect result). I was hoping to copy and paste bits of my two Arduino sketches for the project into a new hybrid that would work perfectly from the start. Sadly, this was not to be, and I retreated once again to the mighty Arduino forum. There I found what I was looking for: a way to calculate the rpm of the bicycle wheel in the background, using something called an interrupt. That way, I could use my slide projector program and fuss with the delay times between slide changes based on the calculated rpm.
The final result, as can be seen in the video below, is not very pretty. But, the overall functionality is there, and I think I've made my point. The rpm calculation is a bit wonky, and the correlation between the speed of the bike and the projector is not too well matched. I was nonetheless happy to dust off the old Arduino and try something sort of new. - Jul 31, 11
I ran across this cool video on Gizmodo, via Hack a Day and TechCrunch.
A guy named Maayan Migdal has created air drums using MIDI and some clever Arudino applications.
He's embedded sensors into a pair of flip flops to act as the kick drum and high hat pedals, and more sensors into modified garden rake handles to act as the snare and high hat sticks. I don't have much to add to the above articles, but this is a great project. It's slightly similar to my Same River Twice setup, in that external sensors (some involving feet) are used to trigger sounds. This is the kind of thing I might aspire to if I had a bit more electronics know-how and a couple of rakes.
Here's the video: - Jul 26, 11
As I've mentioned in earlier posts, I occasionally get to have a little fun at my day job. I enjoy the opportunity to use whatever audio engineering skills I have acquired over the years when I can.
Case in point: "Public Health on the Inside", which is a series of podcasts produced here at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
From the website:There is more to do in public health besides teaching and research, but what should students expect when they graduate? Public Health: On the Inside is your inside look at the world of public health practice. Each month, host Tom Burke, Associate Dean for Public Health Practice and Training at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, takes listeners to the front lines of public health to meet interesting people working in the field.
As part of my job, I get to engineer, edit and mix these sessions. Not only is the content interesting, but it's a chance to do something a little different with the audio we record here. Plus, host Dr. Tom Burke, is one of the coolest people I've worked with at JHSPH. Sure, podcasts aren't exactly cutting edge in 2011, but I like what they can offer as way to listen to a given piece of audio whenever and wherever a listener might choose. I like to make use of podcasts on long drives, and the variety of content and the "on-demand" nature of it suits the way that more and more people are consuming media these days.
The first of the "Public Health on the Inside" podcasts was just a simple, two-person interview in our studio. The second one was quite different. Recall from the last "Day Jobs" post when I mentioned how we lack the technology to record high quality phone calls here. The workaround we have developed involves the interviewer and interviewee having their conversation like normal, and we record the conversation through a phone patch. We also record the interviewer's side of the conversation on one of our Neumann mics. That way, we can get high quality on one side, and do the best we can using noise reduction and a little EQ to make the interviewee's side of the conversation sound clear.
The tricky part comes in the editing, because the interviewer's voice must be removed from the recorded phone conversation, while leaving in the higher quality track of his voice. Maintaining the pacing and timing of the conversation can be challenging, and requires a good ear for this kind of stuff. Also, background noise can be an issue since we are cutting little bits out of both sides of the conversation, the resultying podcast could easily sound choppy as each side cuts in and out. The solution for this is to record lots of room noise on each channel, and blend this into the overall recording. This smooths out the bumpiness caused by editing the conversation and makes it sound as if the podcast was recorded exactly as the listener is hearing it, even though we know this is not the case.
To listen, go to the Public Health on the Inside website and click on the "Listen" link under each episode. This series will be ongoing, so anyone interested in this kind of production, or in possible career paths in public health should stay tuned.
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Sets
- 1 tracks (32:23)A sampling of the audio production projects I have done, ranging from silly to serious.
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Résumé/CV
