Alvaro Barbosa - CCRMA Colloquium - Public Sound Objects: From the Web to the Real World

 ABSTRACT: The Public Sound Objects (PSOs) project consists of the development of a networked musical system, which is an experimental framework to implement and test new concepts for on-line music communication. The new project of a Public interactive installation based the PSOs system was commissioned in 2007 by Casa da Musica, the main concert hall space in Porto and it was installed permanently in 2009.

It resulted in a distributed musical structure with up to ten interactive performance terminals distributed along the Casa da Musica’s hallways, collectively controlling a shared acoustic piano. The installation allows the visitors to collaborate remotely with each other, within the building, using a software interface custom developed to facilitate collaborative music practices and with no requirements in terms previous knowledge of musical performance.

BIO
Álvaro Barbosa (Angola 1970) is an Associate Professor at the School of Arts from Oporto’s Portuguese Catholic University (UCP), the Portuguese leading research and educational institution in the field of Science and Technology applied to the Arts. He holds a PhD degree in Computer Science and Digital Communication from Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain and a Graduate Degree in Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering from the Aveiro University in Portugal. His activity is mainly on the field of Music Technology, in which he worked for five years as a resident researcher at the Barcelona Music Technology Group (MTG). His recent research has mostly been developed at the UCP’s Research Center for Science and Technology of the Arts (CITAR) and is focused on the study and development of experimental Network Music Systems, as well as in Interactive Sound-Design. He has also developed several artistic projects with special emphasis in Music Composition, Interactive Installations Design and Computer Animation. His work as a researcher and an Artist has been extensively published internationally. Presently He is undertaking a Visiting Scholar Position at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) from Stanford University.