Laptop Duo
development of an interactive environment
for live electroacoustic improvisation

Bruno Ruviaro
Juan Pablo Cáceres


Last update: May 30th 2005


ABSTRACT

The goal of this project is to build a collection of Max/MSP patches for the purpose of live-electronics improvisation in a laptop duo. Different kinds of musical material will be available to the performers through a combination of typical computer interface (mouse, keyboard) and other external MIDI controllers. An interaction between patches is also part of the plan in a way that computers can interfere with one another in real time. The final result will be an interconnected environment for electroacoustic live performance, culminating in an improvisation piece developed by the duo.



GUIDELINES

* Develop a personal collection of Max/MSP patches oriented towards live-electronics improvisation.
* Share the patches (and knowledge) accumulated with the improvisation partner.
* Build a larger patch which will be the "improvisation environment" for the duo, with contributions from both members.
* Develop interaction strategies for Player 1's and Player 2's patches: the patches should be able to "see" some acitivity of the other and respond to it in some way.
* Initial steps: parallel programming. Both improvisers depart from a pre-defined musical idea (for example, "to be able to manipulate short bursts of noisy sounds with different envelopes"), and both work separately for one or two weeks to build a patch that realizes the idea. Then, the patches are compared, analyzed, and possibly combined or used simultaneously by both players in the improvisation environment.
* Continue with this process until a number of musical "modules" are built and shared. By the end of the quarter, each improviser should have a collection of improvisational possibilities at hand (categorized according to musical ideas rather than specific implementation techniques).



CURRENT STAGE OF WORK


MAY 2005:
Development of a single patch [The_Patch] containing all the previous ones (the final "environment" itself) - almost done
Implementation of an extra sound generator patch based on William Haslett's "scrubber" - done
Substitution of older MIDI interface by new one and redesign of the MIDI control patch - almost done
Demo: May 31 2005, CCRMA Open House
Concert: May 22 2005, ZeroOne Arts Festival fund-raising party

APRIL 2005:
Development of first sound generator patch [gen-01] - done
Improvement of control interface (MIDI controller and computer keyboard interaction) - done
Development of generic patch for envelope control [adsr-module] - done



Bruno T. Ruviaro
Last update: May 30th 2005.


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