www.x-tet.com » Collaborations

Sound Art at Waveforms

norbert — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 22:00:55 +0000

The gradual accumulation of additional layers or matter (Norbert Herber & Rowland Ricketts, 2011) can be seen & heard as part of Waveforms, “an exhibition of interdisciplinary art works showcasing sound as the principle component. This exhibition explores, through an examination of creative and artistic practices, the interface of sound and new media technologies. The works in the exhibit include a number of trans-disciplinary interactions and collaborations that include sound in the context of visual and spatial artistic practices, including sound sculpture, installations, and performance works.”

Other artists include Carrie Bodle, Jacob C. Hammes, Tesia Kosmalski, Lou Mallozzi, Shannon McMullen/Fabian Winkler, Stephanie Rowden, and Jesse Seay.

Waveforms will open to the public with a reception Friday, October 21, 6:00 – 8:00pm and be on view through Friday, November 18, 2011. An “illustrated conversation” (symposium) will be held Friday, October 21 from 2:00 – 4:00 pm followed by a performance by Chicago sound artist Lou Mallozzi from 4:00 – 6:00pm. For full details, see the Grunwald Gallery of Art.

‘Pac-Man Pop Music’ Chapter Available as PDF

norbert — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 16:21:30 +0000

My chapter ‘The Composition-Instrument: emergence, improvisation and interaction in games and new media’ appeared in the book From Pac-Man to Pop Music: interactive audio in games and new media, edited by Karen Collins in 2007.

This chapter is now available by permission of the Publishers of ‘The Composition-Instrument: emergence, improvisation and interaction in games and new media’, in From Pac-Man to Pop Music: interactive audio in games and new media, ed. K Collins, (Aldershot etc.: Ashgate, 2007), pp. 103-123.Copyright © 2007.

Download the PDF

Citation:
Herber, N 2007, ‘The Composition-Instrument: emergence, improvisation and interaction in games and new media’, in From Pac-Man to Pop Music: interactive audio in games and new media, ed. K Collins, Ashgate, Hampshire; Burlington, VT.

Oxford Handbook of Interactive Audio

norbert — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 15:54:47 +0000

Call for Papers: The Oxford Handbook of Interactive Audio

Deadline for Proposals: 1 April 2011

The Oxford Handbook of Interactive Audio is under contract at Oxford University Press.

Through a collection of chapters on interactivity in music and sound, the book is meant to offer a new set of analytical tools for the growing field of interactive audio. A series of related questions drive the book: What makes interactive audio different from non-interactive audio? Where does interacting with audio fit into our understanding of sound and music in media? Where is interactive audio heading in the future? And how do we begin to approach interactive audio from a theoretical perspective?

It is our belief that interacting with sound is fundamentally different from just listening to sound. The physical agency and control of interactivity adds a level of engagement and involvement with sound that alters the way we experience sound in games, interfaces, products, toys, environments (virtual and real) and art. There are considerable consequences of interactivity when it comes not only to audience, but also to practice, distribution, tools, and copyright law.

We encourage proposals that raise questions and explore new theories about how scholars and practitioners can approach interactive sound. A handbook chapter should make new and original arguments in a new piece composed specifically for the handbook. It may be a survey what you believe to be the essential issues and questions in the field and offer a contemporary critical analysis of these.

Potential topic areas include (but are not limited to):

Composition theory and practice (including improvisation, music-based games, virtual worlds, mobile music)
Sound design theory and practice (including sounds, interface, branding, web, sound art, interactive spaces, virtual worlds, toys, pinball)
Voice interaction
Mixing, implementation of interactive audio
Playback and distribution systems
Interactive audio tools (composition, synthesis, note tracking, etc.)
Distribution, copyright and legal issues

Submission details: Chapter proposals of about 500 words and short bio (name, affiliation) in English to be submitted by April 1, 2011 to the editors at one of the email addresses below. Please address any questions or queries to the editors at one of the email addresses below.

Decisions will be made by June 1, 2011. Upon acceptance, full guidelines will be furnished. Completed chapters of about 6000 words are to be submitted by June 1, 2012.

Editors: Karen Collins (collinsk@uwaterloo.ca), Bill Kapralos (bill.kapralos@uoit.ca) and Holly Tessler (h.tessler@neu.edu)

FOUND

norbert — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:23:46 +0000

Wednesday, September 23, 2009 7PM @ 101E. 6th Street
Bloomington, Indiana
7PM – 1AM / All ages welcome
$5 / Beer and wine cash bar

A globally cool, local evening of art, design and creative industries celebrating sustainable practices.

FOUND is an extravaganza of sights, sounds and interactions with artists, designers, creatives, musicians, DJs, VJs and performers supporting sustainable practices in art, design, culture and commerce. Creative work and performances in FOUND use hand-built, programmed, open source, DIY, hacked/bent, found or recycled elements and consider sustainable practices.

“Practical Lessons in the Use of English”
by Norbert Herber & Eric Rensberger

An improvisation of words as sound; sounds and words as image. “Practical Lessons in the Use of English” was written by Mary F. Hyde in 1896.

Eric Rensberger has lived in Bloomington, Indiana since 1979. He is a local poet whose collected works may be found at www.ericrensbergerpoetry.net.

Norbert Herber is a musician and sound artist whose research and practice explores the relationship between people and sound within mediated environments.

Also featuring:
Analog Zebra and Snebtor, Younsuk Altieri, Andrew Brennan, Sara Brooks, Amy Burrell, The Canary Project, The Collaboration Room, Laurel Cornell, Terry Dame’s Electric Junkyard Gamelan, William Huster, N_DREW, Caleb Levell and Derek Hopf, Robert Lyon, Andrew Maurer, Edward Morris, Jordon Munson, Annie Murdock, Rob Off, Susannah Sayler, Leslie Sharpe, Mariana Tres, Rachel Weaver, Fabian Winkler

Find Found on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=136939366670

A(rt) Life 2.0

norbert — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 05:23:54 +0000

A(rt)Life 2.0 is an installation of music, sound, and projected animation. It uses a flocking behavior to reveal the possibilities of sound in Artificial Life systems. A(rt)Life 2.0 examines the relationship of music and emergence by exploring how self-organizing behavior can extend music endlessly in time.

Launch A(rt)Life 2.0 project site

AUTOMATIC BODY

norbert — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 05:21:54 +0000

Automatic Body, done in collaboration with Yacov Sharir, is an installation driven by swarm dynamics where individual behaviors are translated into sound and dance. The media has not been optimized for the web, so please excuse the sluggish playback.

Launch AUTOMATIC BODY

Molly Z Illustration

norbert — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 04:58:29 +0000

Molly Z is an independent illustrator and graphic designer. For this project I did all of the programming and music. The site has since been changed, but below there is a link to the demo interface that generates music as you navigate from section to section.

Launch MollyZ music interface (click the colored buttons on each finger to navigate)

Umba-Imba Player

norbert — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 05:14:57 +0000

The Umba-Imba Player (1.5 MB) requires Adobe Shockwave Player: get it here.
The Umba Imba player was a collaboration with Michael Caporale. Mike did all of the photography, Photoshop, design, and Umba playing; I did the audio recording, editing, and programming in Director/Lingo.
Instructions: In attempting to offer you a musical experience via the computer and the internet that could fully replicate playing the Umba-imba, we have to concede that it is not really possible.
The instrument is played intuitively and that requires direct audible-visual-tactile feedback. Additionally, stick technique such as multiple mallets, variation of types of mallets, and strength and location of the attack on a key all vary the sounds. So that you may experience it to the fullest in this limited way, we offer you three playing modes, each with distinct benefits: Screen Mode, Pattern Mode, and Keyboard mode. These are represented by the three buttons labeled S, P and K, respectively. In screen mode you can get a good feeling for the sound that each note makes by simply mouse- clicking on any given note. In pattern mode you can get a sense of how phrases or patterns are constructed from sections of the instrument. We have divided the instrument into quadrants. By mouse clicking in the left or right halves of the wooden or metal portions of the keyboard, you can trigger a phrase composed of notes from that section of the instrument. Once you understand the instrument, you are ready for keyboard mode. We have assigned the various notes of the UMBA to keys on your keyboard.