User:Thijshijsijsjss/Notes on SI22
This page reports on my explorations, findings, unfindings and (more) during Special Issue 22. In the spirit of the wiki, I will resist my current urge to write this introduction in detail -- because I can't write it in detail, yet.
Week 1
Tour at WORM
Monday 2023 - 09 - 18 we (XPUB1, Michael and Steve) gathered at Worm for a tour led by Lukas Simonis, Ash Kilmartin and Florian Cramer.
I'm still in the process of collecting imagery from the event. If you, reader, have something to contribute, feel free to reach out
Field Recording task
Monday afternoon, we started to discuss the concept post-digital, with the presence of a physical analogy in the form of a cassette player. We went on to take a look at Radio aporee and where tasked with finding a field recording that triggered a memory. This is to be used in the first radio show. My work on this task can be found here:
My field recording explorations
Show
Maria, Victor and Bernadette are this show's Caretakers. They are present in the Radio WORM studio, while the rest of us are gathered around stereo boxes connected to the (previously tellingly broken) digital screen. Communication between Caretakers and the Caretakers' caretakers goes via an Etherpad. This communication is semi-continuous. I notice I am hesitant to write in it.
(Retroactive) playlist
| Time | Data | Content |
|---|---|---|
| 0-25 | 20.6MB | About Radio Aporee |
| 25-27 | 3MB | Chat from Victor, Bernadette |
| 27-53 | 23MB | Collective Audio Field Recording |
| 53- 57 | ~3MB | Studio Field Recording |
| 57 -65 | ~11.5MB | Cassette Tape Recording |
| 65-68 | 1.5MB | Bells |
| 68-70 | 1MB | Victor: making the mixtape |
| 70-77 | 4MB | Riffusion Jingle |
| 77-86 | 8.5MB | Maria Reads a text (might be called 'Snow', might be by 'Ina Blom') |
| 86-98 | ~11MB? | Aporee Mix / Voices / Westminster |
| 98-105 | 6MB | droning windows movie maker music + voices |
| 105-120 | 15MB? | The remainder |
Shownotes discussion
In the afternoon after the show, we had a discussion with the classroom, this show's caretakers, Michael and Joseph. There are some important takeaways (for me):
- We all like the tension between a preprogrammed playlist and improvisation and the mysterious dynamic it creates for the listerner.
- Personally, I was impressed by the cohesion of the show.
- We liked the overlays between music / sounds / voices. There is some balancing here that is important, it is easy to overwhelm the listener.
- One of the highlight's of the show was when the caretaker's used the etherpad as a script. This back-and-forth between the caretakers and the classroom is something to be fleshed out over the coming week(s).
We have chosen new caretakers already. Actually, my first instinct was not to pick them already. It will be interesting to see how this will change the dynamic between programmed and improvisational radio. Something to reflect on next week.
Prototyping
Tuesday afternoon we had our first prototyping session. In it, we set up a Raspberry Pi and create our own personal user profiles on it. Some useful commands we used today:
- Log in to the pi:
ssh thijsoid@145.24.139.16 - Broadcast a message:
wall [message] - Print to the lineprinter:
echo "[message]" > /dev/usb/lp0
Methods
What is annotating? In it's simplest form: shouting at your TV. We spend some time thinking about the way we currently annotate (examining this Protocol). How do I annotate?
- It depends on the origin of the to-be-annotated work and the purpose of my annotation, but the common denominator tends to be the use of color to structure both the work as well as my notes.
- I tend to prefer physical annotation, because it feels like my annotations are more transformative: my digital notes feel separate from the work, but physical notes feel like a transformation of it.
Some nice quotes from / through Steve:
- Notetaking can be an act of generosity.
- Every text creates a reader.
Together with Victor, Bernadette and Rosa, I read the text On the data set's ruins. We spend quite a big portion of the allocated time on creating, adhering to and reflecting on a reading Protocol (see pad). I noticed I felt more at ease during this discussion. I figure it might have to do with the following aspects:
- Me being more familiar with the article's contents, and hence feeling more confident to speak
- The smaller group size being less intimidating to speak up -- and more easily invited to engage.
- In particular, it might be interesting to reflect on whether the presence of our Protocol had an effect on my at-easeness. It might have, in the sense that I did not have to worry about internally deciding when or where to make a comment: I just had to follow the Protocol.
After this group discussion, we met back with the whole class to discuss our findings (on Protocols and subject matter). In this plenary session, I felt more inclined to speak up that earlier that day. Is this me getting used to the implied Protocols of this class?
Miscellaneous Findings
It is now the weekend. If I'm honest, it has been a lot to take in, and I don't think my brain has caught up with processing the changes yet, let alone the contents of our conversations this week. That said, I'm very excited.
It might be useful -- in a way maybe even necessary -- to fix in time my current thoughts on why I am here. I cannot present an exhaustive list (which to me is wonderful, I hope to find new reasons as time goes on), but it includes:
the collaborative process speaks to me
it seems to allow -- encourage, even -- experimentation with and the use of multiple media
I expect xpub's attitude to help me with some paralyzing struggles of self-curation
I was looking forward to the methods class, and really enjoyed it. In particular, the group's still finding its dynamic, and this was showcase during this class. I'm excited to see this dynamic develop and the undoubtedly interesting conversations we're all going to have.
(AAAHH I'm self-curating again. I'm making this section super small because I'm usure what to do with it but have decided that I should do something to combat this paralysis.)
I have detected the presence of certain social insecurities from which I hoped I had moved on. I'm also terribly self-aware of my English, which is a self-fulfilling prophecy for disaster.
I notice I'm using my desk at home differently than before. Instead of being the 'home base' in my room, it has been a place governed by temporality. I don't think it will remain this way. It is the result of me having to get used to this new routine -- this new Protocol.
Week 2
Another Tour at Worm
This Monday we met at WORM again, this time to tour the radio studio and to talk with Lieuwe Zelle. There, Michael tried to copy the contents of a harddrive with material from radio WORM. This caused the system to fail -- presumably due to moving keyboard messing up the setup: a weird post-digitally rooted scenario.
Lieuwe made an offhand mention of the relationship between radio and podcasts that I think was interesting in the light of Phelan's paper The Ontology of Performance: podcast is to radio what a recording (or otherwise documented work) is to performance. I've been a bit nervous for the radio show, and the Phelan paper and this comment comforted me in the idea that such a show is just that: a performance. The act of doing is what's important, and is in many ways not comparable to the other shows we've done, or, for that matter, to any plans you had for the show beforehand.
Senka brought up a good point on authorship rights and informed consent. Interestingly, Lieuwe felt comfortable using the recordings of other shows by argument of implicit consent. I imagine we'll have to be consiously considerate of these concepts when working with the archive.
The conversation -- and the process of copying the harddrive -- was recorded (see image).
In the afternoon we talked about active archiving, constant, licensing, and more.
Show
For this show, I contributed by being part of the collaborative reading of Barthes's Death of the Author. This show's Caretakers were Anita, Mania and Wang. They decided to surprise us. I was meaning to ask what had prompted this decision, but didn't get to it. If I were to speculate, it was to hide an interactive element. This element was quite well received -- I hope we can expand on the interactive possibilities, maybe even by covering multiple media.
The element of surprise adds a nuanced element to the dynamic between the Caretakers and the Caretakers' caretakers. Michael expressed a worry this might lead to groups trying to 1-up eachother. While I don't think the surprise was necessarily hindering this time, I do agree with this worry. Rosa raised a question on this topic after the show. I expect to continue the group conversation on this next week.
More details can be found in this show's shownotes and the script.
Prototyping
We spend some time naming the server using a new protocol, with names suggested over the weekend in a pad. Ultimately, we chose chopchop (but threadgoat lives on!).
We then set up the server, getting a crashcourse in terminal gymnastics in the meantime -- a nice refresher. I can now create publicly accessible webpages by using placing them in /home/thijsoid/public_html/! After getting set up, the group split in half. The subgroup I was in tried to set up a collaborative emacs session (to little avail) to start tinkering on a soundboard.
Start from the middle
Miscellaneous findings
I had a meeting with Manetta and Michael to dicuss some anxiety I am experiencing. This was a comforting meeting.
This week, we created quite a few new protocols. In particular I had in depth involvement with the Collaborative Emacs and A case for chopchop protocols. In making these, and while having some conversations with my classmates about the start of the program and each other's involvement in the group dynamic, I wonder if we should be more rigorous in the creation of 'social protocols', too. We did introduce (at least) one such protocol: voting by show of hands.
I had the opportunity to spend some time in the studio this week: to work with Riviera, Victor and Alessia on a case for chopchop, to document my findings for the week, but also as a place to process my thoughts and socialize. This final element, in particular, has been nice!
Week 3
Zinecampprepcamp
Monday morning we talked about zinecamp, the possibilities for a live radio show, tie ins to the Special Issue, and everyone's interests. I feel like there is special opportunuity for (live) interaction during such a show -- something I'm eager to explore.
The Caretakers of this week's show gave a demonstration of Tidal Cycles and we discussed how they explored the Worm Radio archive to select samples: semi randomly.
Show
How do we look at something that is both fish and water? Both means and meaning?
This show was more 'being made' than 'made'. I felt like it invited reflection on what we consider protocols, and how we might apply them (see pad). In particular, some of the Personal Protocols were intimate.
As per protocol, we scheduled an hour of reflection on the show Tuesday afternoon. Maria suggested the 'natural extension' of a radio play -- a thing I like. Maybe the physicality of being in the studio can be part of that, as well as new ways of engaging with the show.
This conversation led to one about protocols, and how we feel about incorporating some in our group. This is a difficult question: at times it might come natural (e.g. when voting), while at other times it doesn't. Maybe the question isn't whether we want protocols, but rather how specific we would want them to be, and to what extend we would want to adher to them. We can think of these protocols not as a current list of rules, but as an archive of experiments. We can start to think about protocols as a verb, rather than a noun.
Raspberry Radio
We are going to broadcast radio with a Raspberry Pi. First, clone a Git repository:
sudo apt install git git clone https://github.com/markondej/fm_transmitter
Now, compile the transmitter using make
cd fm_transmitter/ sudo apt install make sudo apt install build-essential cat makefile make
Test an example:
./fm_transmitter acoustic_guitar_duet.wav
Wow.
Put a USB soundcard into your Pi and get your mixtable ready:
- Connect a microphone.
- Connect one of the mixtable's audio outputs to the soundcard's input.
- (you might want to look at alsamixer)
We will need an antenna to transmit the signal:
- Inspect your Pi and find its model number.
- Search online for the functions of the pins.
- Connect your antenna to the pin associated with GPIO 4.
Start broadcasting:
arecord -D hw:1,0 -c 1 -d 0 -r 22050 -f S16_LE | sudo ./fm_transmitter -f 100.6 -
(This is a utopian guide. It's ambiguous if we got it to work...However, today I did find out that I have trouble making loud noises.)
Methods
We (Victor, Bernadette, Rosa and I) continued our readings of On the Dataset's Ruins, joined by Riviera. This was good, though I didn't feel as comfortable as I did last Methods class. I think this had to do with my general state of mind of the day. This continued in the afternoon session, where we started a visual map. In retrospect, I didn't feel comfortable during this activity either*. My hypothesis is this: a normal group conversation is almost ethereal. Now, there was a physical aspect. Not only the tanglible writings, but more so the physical act of conveying your words: physically moving in the group, on the paper, and writing. I deem this worth mentioning here, as I did not expect these feelings to trouble me, and is might prove insightful in looking at my position within the group.
(*Lídia did a great job keeping an eye out throughout the day though. Thank you Lídia :))
Oh, and I tried out the free printing today by printing the text! Amazing!