A session for live coding visualists (at any level) lead by Antonio Roberts (aka hellocatfood), to talk about their tools and how they perform, with focus on Algorave visuals.
A core part of the session will be discussion around key questions for live code visualists; how do you pace yourself in a performance? Should we aim to build up slowly or go straight in with loud visuals? How much can you truly respond to the music? Is it important to show the code, and how does it fit with the musician’s projection?
A day of panel talks and performances about VJing, live cinema and audio-visual performance. This symposium will bring together academics, artists and VJs to discuss the role of projection in their work, and the current state of AV performance in the UK. A number of thematically focussed panel talks will take place in Centrala, Birmingham on Saturday 24th February, followed by an evening of AV performances from 7pm – 10pm, and ending with a VJ Jam until late. Running in parallel at Vivid Projects there will be a number of projection-based installations. This event is a collaboration between The Projection Project, an AHRC funded research project based at the University of Warwick, and Lighttouch Festival.
Confirmed speakers/artists include: Toby Harris (*spark), Rebecca Smith (Urbanprojections), Miri Kat, Antonio Roberts, Raquel Meyers, Rod Maclachlan, Guy Edmonds, Blanca Regina, Flatpack Film Festival, Sean Clarke (Test Card Manchester), Richard Wallace.
Come along to Vivid Projects on the evening of Fri Feb 23 for a warm-up party with loud music and VJs.
At AlgoMech 2017 we aim to take Algorave to the next level, bringing together some of the best algorithmic (and mechanical) dance music producers and VJs, playing over Sheffield’s fiendish DangerNoise soundsystem, with immersive projections covering the walls of Millennium Gallery. As with the rest of the festival we’ll be mixing mechanisms with the algorithms, showcasing repetitive dance music made from handmade robots as well as live code.
Bluedot with OVO Energy is an award-winning festival of discovery at the grounds of a deep space observatory. Set against a backdrop of the iconic Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank, bluedot combines a truly stellar line-up of music with a ground-breaking programme of live science experiments, expert talks and immersive artworks.
An Algorave is a party where electronic music is generated live from algorithms. The word was coined around 2012, initially as a kind of joke, but has since taken hold with Algoraves taking place in over 40 cities around the world.
At an Algorave, the creation of algorithms are brought into the experience of the music itself. This process is opened up by projecting the code on screens in the venue, so audience members can see how the music they hear is being made. This is often complimented by algorithmically generated visuals projected alongside the code.
Supersonic Festival in association with the Hare & Hounds 10th Anniversary Series Present
Steve Davis (DJ Set)
with support from
Graham Dunning – Mechanical Techno Set
Plus
Visuals from Hellocatfood
Tickets from https://www.skiddle.com/whats-on/Birmingham/Hare-And-Hounds/Super-Sonic-Festival-Presents-Steve-Davis-(DJ-Set)/12910549/
Steve Davis – the legendary sporting phenomenon from the 80s who took snooker to new heights and as presenter of The Interesting Alternative Show on Pheonix FM brought prog and jazz oddities to his cult audience, now turns his hands to the decks. As a hobby which he claims has spun out of control, his notorious 2016 Glastonbury set at the 500 capacity Stonebridge bar was mobbed by a curious turned shocked and enthralled crowd. With a packed out DJ diary since, Steve has continued to woo party goers from Bluedot to Bloc Festival. Drawing from an eclectic array of influences: Magma, Caravan, Oscar Perry, Soft Machine and Gong to name but a few – Steve spins together a unique set in his quest to deliver the music he loves to lovers of the party.
‘Thinking Out Loud’ is the fifth Data as Culture art exhibition at the Open Data Institute. The exhibition is built around the practice of the 2016 ODI Sound Artist in Residence, Alex McLean, with a group of artists, designers, makers and musicians that he has collaborated with. Openness and processes of making – where any end results are left partly undone – are at the heart of many of the projects on display. The exhibition draws connections between the ways in which humans have captured, encoded and distributed data, and made it meaningful through pattern throughout history. From pre-Columbian Quipu and the ancient art of weaving to computer software environments, it introduces us to creative notions of code, and the ways in which it can carry both language and thought.
The exhibition features artists and makers who are driven by radical intentions to expose the inner workings of the systemic structures we live with. We are encouraged to engage with these ourselves through art, software, folk songs, glitch aesthetics, chance encounters and knitted jumpers.
Artists: Felicity Ford, David Griffiths and Julian Rohrhuber, Ellen Harlizius-Klück, Dan Hett, David Littler, Alex McLean, Antonio Roberts, Sam Meech, Amy Twigger-Holroyd
Join Vivid Projects on Friday 02 May, 6 – 9pm for a special Black Hole Club Social as part of Digbeth First Friday.
The Black Hole Club is a lively, daring space for all kinds of creative people to share ideas. Join us for a social evening of visuals and sonics from club members. Expect beer, music and conversation, which journeys from David Lynch to Oculus Rift!
Digbeth comes alive on the first Friday of each month with exhibitions, late-night openings, special events, culture in unexpected places, live music, street food and more.
With different things to see and do each month, anything could happen on a first Friday night out. Grab a Disloyalty Card from participating venues and collect stamps to trade for treats as you sample the great independent culture Digbeth has to offer.
Digbeth First Friday launches Friday 02 May, 6pm – late, Digbeth First Friday and continues 06 June, 04 July, 01 August, 05 September and 03 October 2014.
I took part in Algorave in Gateshead on 26th April. Apart from being incredibly awesome it was my first time live coding – or rather live patching – visuals in Pure Data from scratch. I emphasise from scratch because nearly all of my performances involve me modifying patches, but never starting with a completely blank canvas. I also occasionally used the HSS3jb as a texture for objects, but never on its own. It’s also great for when crashes occur, which is/was often ;-). Here’s a few sampels of my visuals. Videos by Mariam Rezaei:
I learnt a few things about Pure Data that night, and my general opinion is that it isn’t that great as a live coding visuals tool.
One of first issues is encapsulation of objects. This can be done quite easily but it’s a manual process which would involve cutting all cords and reconstructuring a patch. That is, you would have to cut the selection of objects, paste them into a sub patch and then reattatch it. By way of comparison, Max/MSP has this as a feature already, whereas this isn’t mentioned at all on the bug tracker Feature request is now on the bug tracker. Not being able to auto encapsulate objects makes reuse a bit more difficult and cumbersome, which resulted in some really messy patches from me on the night.
This also relates to another issue of object insertion. When I was building my patches I would often have to preempt what I would need. I nearly always started with [gemhead]-[translateXYZ]-[rotateXYZ]-[repeat 10]-[rotateXYZ]-[translateXYZ]-[color]-[cube]. Inserting any additional objects required me to cut the cord and therefore the screen output. This would be solved if there were, for example, a method whereby if two objects were selected, the next object was inserted in between them. This is obviously an over-simplified specific use case which would need more thought behind it. Again, no mention of it on the bug tracker. Feature request is now on the bug tracker.
There were other thoughts I had on the night, such as the incosistencies and clumsiness of using the [repeat] object, the lack of a snap-to-grid option for aligning objects, the tiny size of inlets and outlets – even when the ojbects themselves may be huge, which is only exaggerated when using a 13″ 1080p screen, and the lack of a toolbar (yes, I am aware of GUI plugins), but these are the two which I felt would’ve helped me most.
Has much else been written about the use of Pure Data for live coding visuals?
The live-coding future fun has so far shown up in places such as Tokyo, Barcelona, Sydney, Sheffield, Toronto, London, Amsterdam and Porto. Come the end of the month, some of the scene’s main proponents will converge on the Old Police House in Gateshead.
There’ll be other things popping off around the house too.
