Special issue X

Session 1

With Denis de Bel. Quick link to wiki

Building a module

We built a synth that can receive samples

My samples

(Israeli prime minister Bibi in his after election speech)

Session 2

Workshop at De Player with Olli Aarni and this is pad

My random notes

Open string phenomenon: Something that seems to have limited options but actually has more (one hand on the string and one hand on the pitch)
When you don't control your instrument, how can you still effect it (like the raindrops falling on tin- you don't control the rain but you can control the material it lands on for example)
Natural generators (example: the lava lamps next to each other, each with different number of bubbles)
A thought- what make a certain sound iconic? like the kindergarden sound- kids screaming+running on the ground+the voice of the teacher= the kindergarden sound. Like a recipe, all these sound together create a complete other sound and they can function on their own as well.
A name- a short sound that you were trained to respond to.
In language- sound that are toward the inside (me) and sounds that are toward the outside (you, he, she)
I want to expand on- structure of languages.

Links

Lenka Clayton-Qaeda, Quality, Question, Quickly, Quickly, Quiet (introduced by Mika)

Session 3

The Arduino environment is pretty limited because every module can do a limit amount of actions. The coding language commands a lot of the time contain a lot of command inside.

Simpler way to upload a sample

In terminal:

go to the folder where the files are
pull from git if needed
use sox with this command: ./<name of sh file> <name of wav file> (this runs this code on the sound file)
this create a sample.h from the sound file
Now you have a new sample.h file

Arduino environment

serial.begin(9600)- the number is number of symbols in a sec.

serial.print- will show the output

void loop(){ everything inside that will loop

delay(1000)- will give a delay of 1 sec

In class

We reviewed some loop commands in the code
We tried to affect each other's modules with a code in this files:

Arduino101

Session 4

Monday+Friday sessions The Friday session really helped with some deeper understanding regarding how to work with the module.

At home

Recommended set for deep thinking by Helene Rickhard

I tried to do some visual stuff connecting my module to processing through the computer (because Processing is a more "visual" coding environment). The main issue was transferring the information we are getting from the Arduino to Processing.

References for visuals using Arduino-Processing connection

These are the links I used

General- connecting between Arduino and Processing

Serial port

In the Processing code you need to be "on" the same serial port that the Arduino is running on

This is an explanation how to find out through Terminal

In the Processing code you need to chose the port number in this line-Serial.list[number-of-port] myPort = new Serial(this, Serial.list()[11], 9600);

Adding this line println(Serial.list()); to the processing code will show the lists of port and than you can find out which one you should be on.

About the command Serial.read

Converting text input to number value (int)

Multiple inputs

The problem that I have right now is that my code doesn't know how to get different inputs from the Arduino (A0, A1, A2). I think this video will help me:

Session 5

Workshop at De Player with Olli.

Concepts

How do we explain modules? There is so much backend output and input that no one is seeing- what if we make it be seen and heard?
Regarding my reading in methods- in Matthew Fuller book there is a critic regarding not giving enough significance to the components of the software and just to general concept and philosophy of it.
Visual ways of representing sound- what can be new? or visual ways to represent the "backend"
Regarding the manual- what if every manual look differently? like the output of the Arduino or something
Giving a sound an image- 1+1+1 (sound+hex+space= shape)

Visuals, video art and other crazy ideas My wish is for my module to be more on the visual side of things. I would like the module users to generate some kind of image with the module input and for the process of input to output to be somehow represented in the visual-

References:

http://vimeo.com/103488483

Artist Christine Sciulli

IMPAKT Festival

My favourite session from the festival was FROM GUI TO NO UI by Nishant Shah.

Key ideas and references from the session:

Artist Kelly Dobson challenges the interface
interacting physically and not through the gui
People are the non gui interfaces
Micro worker
IOT- physical computational networks
We are rebuilding our entire planet with computer- we can consume our planet
Computer used to be women
Rebutting the human species
Hacker privilege
Isanyoneup.com
The cloud is a nice name
The feminist research network
If you can code you have the choice to code differently
The fact that the data is not our is a choice that has been made by the Silicon Valley bro culture
Redesign the sequence
Not taking the scripts that was already made
I don't want to fight the existing i want to invent it
Data is not the same of information- data can be sorted
If we build an economy based on information and not data
Fingerprints in India- the biometric system is not compatible for places with a lot of manual labor work.
This is me even if you cant have my data
Cybernet work loop
Recalibrating what is human not cyber human

Working on the module

We were given a restriction that we can't use a computer with our module. So I can't use processing. Aymeric, Dennis and Michael figured out a way to use the Arduino library TV.out which allows to output video signal.

TV.out tests

So this library is pretty old so not a lot of info about it online but you can find some.

First I try drawing pixels across the screen using two loop that draw pixels across the screen using the X and Y axis.

The knobs control the number of pixels that are drawn at the moment and the speed that the pixels across the screen.

Then I try to use Bitmap. I used a software called LCD Creator to get the hex value of some images I drew in photoshop.

The conversion made the images a bit wired (not exactly as I wanted it to be) but I kind of like this outcome even more (nice bug).

I tried another one the pixels when you can control the X location of the pixels that are drawn.

The knobs control the value of X and the number of pixels.

Then I combined the pixels and BMP and found that some pixels override each other and distort the image.

From my experiments I realised that I would like the user of the module to have more control over the image that is being made and decided to go with an "etch a sketch" approach.

Input/Output

At the night of Dec 12th we gathered in De Player to show the public out modules and the work we done.

Setting up

[File:PCB.JPG|300px|thumbnail|none|Setting up]]

Generator

Generator is a module that translates voltage into video signal. The voltage can come both from the power source of the module and the outputs of other modules that can connect to it. It is both self-controlled and sound-controlled so it can be a stand alone object or part of a bigger constellation. It is an image maker that explores the visual possibilities within the limitations of the hardware and the code. Coding was a substantial part of this process – sometimes pointing me in the right direction, sometime presenting setbacks and frustrations and and at other times creating unexpected outcomes. The goal at first was unknown and mysterious and I came to realised that I will discover it as I go. Once I got the module to work with the LCD screen, it became my canvas. As I progressed, I realised I wanted the user of the module to be able to generate images and examine the possibilities of this medium. I created this version of the “etch a sketch”, in which the user alternates between the sense of control and randomness. On the one hand the rules of the modules are mostly clear – there are 5 brushes, you can determine their size, and you can draw across the X and the Y axis. On the other hand it takes some time to learn how to control it, there are many options to discover and it can be influenced by other modules' outputs that cannot be controlled directly. Finally, the screen clears every 10-12 seconds so you have a limited time to draw your image. The act of refreshing the screen seemed natural because every image we make is unique. It is almost impossible to make exactly the same image, so each one created is one of a kind but also temporary and fleeting, soon to be replaced by another image. All of these combined reference the experience of creative coding. There is a magic in randomness, producing while exploring and getting unexpected outcomes. My wish was to embed a personal perspective– happy “mistakes”, making adjustments while working and viewing the tools that we use as partners of the process and not just a means to an end. I encourage whoever builds this module to explore the coding and try to see where she/he can take it, what can happen while playing with code.

User:AvitalB/special issue

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