PaperSession1

Friday25thNovember2016,15:00-17:00,BewerungeRoom,MaynoothUniversity.

Dr.RichardBoulanger-ThreeDecadeswithCsound:TheRoots,Birth,andEarlyYears

Lookingbackatmorethan30yearsofworkingside-by-sidewithProfessorBarryVercoeatTheMITMediaLabandonMITCsound,BerkleeCollegeofMusic’sProfessorofElectronicProductionandDesign,Dr.RichardBoulanger,authorandeditorofTheCsoundBook(MITPress-2000),willsharehispersonalstoriesonCsound’sroots(1969-1985);birth(1986);theearlyyears(1986-1991);andhi-lightsomeseminalprojectsandbreakthroughsalongtheway(ADISharCsound,OLPCsound,MIDI,Real-TimeAudioIO,GPLOpenSourceLicensing,andCsound5).Inthistalk,Dr.B.willsharehiswonderfulcollaborativeandmentoringexperienceswithBarryVercoe,datingbacktothepre-dawnoftheprogramthroughtheearlyyearsofthisamazingthreedecadeCsoundsaga.Whatweresomeofthefun,funny,andamazingCsound-basedprojectsuponwhichRichardandBarrycollaborated?WhatledtoCsound?Wherediditcomefrom?Whatweresomeoftheearlyhurdlesandbreakthroughs?Whowerethekeydevelopersalongtheway,andinwhatwaysdidtheyhelptocarrythetorchandblazeanewpath?Forme,musicisamediumthroughwhichtheinnerspiritualessenceofallthingsisrevealedandshared.Compositionally,Iaminterestedinextendingthevoiceofthetraditionalperformerthroughtechnologicalmeanstoproduceamusicthatconnectswiththepast,livesinthepresentandspeakstothefuture.Educationally,Iaminterestedinhelpingstudentsseetechnologyasthemostpowerfulinstrumentfortheexploration,discovery,andrealizationoftheiressentialmusicalnature—theirinnervoice.BrianCarty-Robotune:AniOSApplicationBuiltwithCsound

RobotuneisaniOSvocalprocessingApp(lication)builtwithCsound.TheAppwasenvisagedprimarilyasateachingtooldesignedtoanalysecontemporaryvocalprocessingtechniquessuchastuning,harmonisationandcommontimedomainprocesses.Backgroundandmotivationwillbediscussed,followedbyanoverviewanddemonstrationoftheApp.Reflectionsonthedevelopmentprocesswillbeoffered,fromcriticallisteningandreferencingtoalgorithmemulationanddevelopment,testingandrelease.Theprimarily'trialanderror'approachtakentotheprocesswillbehighlightedthroughout.BrianCartyistheDirectorofEducationattheSoundTrainingCollegeinTempleBar,Dublin.Beforethis,hecompletedhisIrishResearchCouncilfundedPhDonBinaural

AudioatNUIMaynooth.Brian’sbackgroundisprimarilyacademic;hehaspresentedhisresearchworkaroundtheworldandpublishedinanumberofbooksandjournals.Healsoworksprofessionallyasamusician,producerandaudioprogrammer.StevenYi-OnCsoundandBlue

Aswecelebratethe30thanniversaryofCsound,IhavebeenreflectingonBlue'sown15yearhistoryandallthathasdevelopedwithinthetwoprograms.Inthispaper,IwouldliketorevisitthehistoryofCsoundfrommyperspectiveasthedeveloperofBlue.IwilldiscusskeydevelopmentsinCsoundandtheirimpactsuponCsounduseandpractice.IwillalsolookathowthesedevelopmentsinfluencedmyownapproachtodesigningBlueandhowmyviewshaveevolvedovertime.Finally,IwilllookatnewfeaturesplannedforCsound7andwhattheymeanforfutureBluedevelopment.StevenYiisacomposerandprogrammer.HeistheauthoroftheBlueIntegratedMusicEnvironment,authorofPinkandScoremusiclibraries,andcoredeveloperofCsound.HeholdsaPhDinDigitalArtsandHumanitiesfromtheNationalUniversityofIreland,Maynooth.Inhisfreetime,heenjoyspracticingandstudyingT'aiChi.Dr.RichardBoulanger-BoulangerLabs:WritingAppsandBuildingHardwareSynthswithCsoundInside

Aswecelebratethe30thanniversaryofCsound,IhavebeenreflectingonBlue'sown15yearhistoryandallthathasdevelopedwithinthetwoprograms.Inthispaper,IwouldliketorevisitthehistoryofCsoundfrommyperspectiveasthedeveloperofBlue.IwilldiscusskeydevelopmentsinCsoundandtheirimpactsuponCsounduseandpractice.IwillalsolookathowthesedevelopmentsinfluencedmyownapproachtodesigningBlueandhowmyviewshaveevolvedovertime.Finally,IwilllookatnewfeaturesplannedforCsound7andwhattheymeanforfutureBluedevelopment.BornoutofanumberofcoursesintheElectronicProductionandDesignDepartmentatTheBerkleeCollegeofMusic,Dr.RichardBoulanger,PresidentandCEOofBoulangerLabs,willdiscusshowhiscollaborationswithundergraduatestudentsatthecollegehaveledtothedevelopmentofanumberofsuccessfuliPadappswhichhaveleveragedforthemamazingandhi-profilejobsatApple,Vimeo,andIzotope(tonameafew),researchappointmentsatGeorgiaTechandStanford,andtothespin-offofacommercially-successfulEuroRack-based,internationallydistributed,modularsynthesizercompany-Qu-Bit.

PaperSession2Saturday26thNovember2016,10:00-12:00,BewerungeRoom,MaynoothUniversity.

MartinCrowley,JamesKelly-EducationalToolsforLiveSoundEngineeringBuiltUsingCabbageandCsoundLivesoundengineeringisaresource-heavytopictoteach.Practicalexperienceisessential,ideallyinaprofessionalperformancevenue.Thiscanoftenbeunfeasibleduetofactorssuchasexpenseandalackofresourcesortrainingfacilities.Thethreetoolsdevelopedaimtogivethelearneranintroductiontocommonlivesoundengineeringtasksinavirtuallearningenvironment,thusmaximisingtimeavailableinactualvenues.Asignalroutingtool,avirtual“RoomTuner”(usingimpulseresponses)andafeedbackdemonstrationtoolarepresented.MartinCrowleyhasbeenastudentofAudioProductionforseveralyears.Hehasabackgroundinradioproductionanddjing,buthisconsumingpassionisliveelectronicmusicperformance.Heiscurrentlydevisingatechnologyenabledliveperformanceinstallationforan8channelambisonicspeakerarraywiththehelpof'Csound’and‘PureData’.JamesKellyholdsaHNDinAudioProduction&SoundEngineeringandiscurrentlystudyingforaBAinCreativeMusicProductionatIADT/STCTemplebar.HisMajorProjectfocusesondevelopingsoftwaretoolsusingcsoundandCabbage.FedericoRusso-MIDIControlledAudioEffects–Real-TimeReshapingoftheAudioSignalExplanationofthegeneralstructureoftheinstrumentItisaMIDIcontrolledaudioeffect,whichisdividedinto4modules.Eachmoduleprocessestheaudiosignalindifferentways,exceptfortheaudioinput,whichisneededtogetthesourcesignal.Theaudiosignalflowstroughthemodulesthankstoadry/wetsystembasedoninternalbusses.Explanationofeachmoduleoftheinstrument(codeorder)-Module1:audioinput.-Module2:audioshift,warpandfreeze,separatedforspectralamplitudesandfrequencies,controlledviaMIDI.ImplementedwithanLFOcontrolledbinauralmovement.-Module3:audioresynthesis,usingavocoder-likestructure,withselectionofwaveformtoblendtheincomingsignalwith.ExplanationoftheworkflowTheinstrumentwascreatedmodulebymodule,testingthecorrectfunctionalityeachtimealineofcodewaswritten.Creativeuseofreferenceswasapplied,lookingattheusethatotherdevelopershadofopcodesintheirinstruments,tounderstandtheirfunctionsandpossibleapplicationsintheinstrument.

ApplicationsTheinstrumentfindsitsusefulnessincinematicsoundeffectsforvoicesandnontonalbasedmusic,duetoitsrandombehaviourfromthepvsfreezeopcode(thefreezeofthefrequenciesistriggeredbythekeyboard).FedericoRussobegantostudytheelectricbasswhenhewas13underAndreaGrossi,enrollinginthecoursesoftheAccademiaNovaofRome.Healsostudiedcello,withtheconcertperformerandprofessoroftheIstitutoSuperiorediStudiMusicaliGaetanoBragaofTeramoMatteoScarpelli.Duringhisstudies,healsoplayed,composedandarrangedmusicwithhisband,Libra:thebandplayedinsomeofthemoreimportantstagesoftheRomanscene,butalsoinothercitiesthankstothepromotionaltourforthealbumSottopelle(Volcanrecords),thislandedthebandonMTVnewgeneration.AfterthathestartedtostudysoundengineeringattheSaintLouiscollegeofmusicinRome,wherehefoundedwithtwocolleaguestheOneGotFatCollectiveforexperimentalelectronicmusicandvideos.Inadditiontothat,duringthesoundengineeringstudieshemettheexperimentalmusiccomposerLucaSpagnoletti,whointroducedhimtoaudioprogramming,speciallytheobjectprogrammingofMaxmsp.ShaneByrne-CsoundasaToolforEnablingMusiciansThispaperexplorestheuseofCsoundasameansfordevelopingcompositionalandperformancetoolsformusicianswithcomplexdisabilities.ItdiscusseshowCsoundcanbeusedtodevelopinstrumentsthataredesignedspecificallyaroundtheindividualmusician’sneedsandtastes.Thisincludesnotonlythedesignofsoftwareinstrumentsbutalsothehardwareinterfacesthatareusedtointeractwiththesoftware.ThisarticlewillalsoaddressthemethodologiesemployedwhenrunningCsoundonembeddedcomputingdevicessuchastheIntelGalileoandprovideacasestudyofarecentbuildthatwascompletedonbehalfofTheDrakeMusicProject.ShaneByrneisacomposerofacousticandelectronicmusicandiscurrentlyaPhDresearcheratMaynoothUniversityfocusingoninteractivityandparticipationwithinelectronicmusiccomposition.In2013hecompletedhisBAinMusicTechnologywithfirstclasshonoursandin2014completedanMAincreativemusictechnologiesalsoreceivingfirstclasshonours.Hiscurrentworkisfocusedonphysicalcomputingandthepotentialforhumaninteractiontoaddtoanoverallimmersivemusicalexperienceforboththeperformerandtheaudience.Hisworkhasmorerecentlyledhimtoinvestigatethepotentialforsuchinteractiontofacilitateandencouragelearningamongstthelearningimpairedandtheautisticcommunity.Healsoworksasasounddesigner,foleyartistandmixingengineer.HisfirstloveisperformanceandregularlytakespartinimprovisationnightsandoccasionallyplaysgigswithseveralnoiseandprogressiverockbandsinDublin.

ThomMcDonnell-DevelopmentoftheCsoundHRTFOpcodestoAllowuseofAnyDataset,utilisingtheSOFAstandardBinauralhearingallowshumansdeterminethedirectionofsound,bydetectingsmalldifferencesbetweenthesignalshittingtheears.ThedifferencesateachearareInter-auralTimeDifferences(ITD)andInter-auralIntensityDifferences(IID),togetherformingtheHeadRelatedTransferFunction(HRTF).Botharefrequencydependent,whichislargelyduetophysiology;thisimpliesadifferentfrequencyandphaseprofileforeachdirectionin360degreesspacearoundthehead.Aseachlistener'sphysiologydiffers,theHRTFvariesbetweenlisteners.TheCsoundHRTFopcodesusetheMITdatasettocreateawellworkinggeneralisedHRTFasasolutiontothedifficultyinacquiringfullypersonalisedHRTFs.Severalstudiesarriveattheconclusionthatthereisadegradationoflocalisationabilitywhennon-individualisedHRTFsareused,with“confusions”andreversalsoccurringmoreoften.Theabilitytoutiliseanydataset(potentiallya“hacked”individualiseddataset)isdesirableasitoffersamorerobustsolution,allowinguserstofindamorecloselymatcheddatasettoimproveimmersionandlocalisation.TheAudioEngineeringSociety(AES)hasrecentlyputforwardasolutionindefiningastandardisedspatialaudiodatafileformat(SOFA).Thisallowsfurtherdevelopmentofthecurrentopcodes,retainingbackwardscompatibility,andallowinguserstoauditionanduseanydataset.Thecurrentopcodeshaveprovenrobust;thealgorithmsforinterpolationofHRTFsworkwellandarethusmaintainedinthisdevelopment.TheHRTFreverbopcodescouldbenefitfromsometonalimprovementsbasedonananalysisofnon-binauralindustrystandardproducts;thiswillalsobeaddressed.ThomMcDonnellisaDublin-basedProducerandLecturer.HespecialisesinteachingMusicTechnology,Synthesis,StudioEngineering,AudioProductionandElectronics.