Case Study 3.2 (ReconnectingSpaces)

 

Next week we are going to shoot the material that will become our submission for the Music Call (networked performances category) of the SMC21 conference: Reconnecting Spaces.

What we need to prepare for the next session are concrete ideas (~4 per person) of actions we want to use as raw materials for the performance. Specifically:

Actions that are CONNECTED to a second one (first one → then the other). This represents Hanne's idea of the everyday actions (reaching out  an object to another participant, which is then picked up by the 'connected' participant)

Actions that are ENTANGLED. That is, actions that are meant to happen at the same time. They could be identical, but not necessarily. For instance, two participants would get the aural cue "5" through the speakers, and will perform their -identical or not- versions of "action 5" simultaneously.

TUTTI actions, for everybody at the same time to perform.

 

...I have taken the liberty of adding another category:

CASCADING actions are connected actions that propagate to the next participant, one at a time, at regular time intervals (1-2 seconds, for example).

Please, think of some actions, record yourself with your phones doing it (it's easier than describing it!) and share it in our WhatsApp group until Thursday 25th of March. And please add to the video a caption that says which category does it belong to (connected, entangled, tutti, cascade).

Thanks you, and have a nice week!

Adrián

NIME Showcase

 NIME: Call For Work-In-Progress Showcase

SoDA - An application kit for networked dance performance

Adrián Artacho (University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna), Oscar Medina Duarte (Neues Atelier)

Abstract

A component-based distributed system, SoDA enables networked dance practice and computer-assisted choreography for virtual interaction between human and non-human performers (including third-party software such as Wekinator, INScore, MaxMSP, etc). Using SoDA, participants in a networked rehearsal receive aural and visual cues in the form of sounds, verbal cues, and visual displays that correlate to specific actions or movements. Cues regarding relative positioning and movement quality (direction, weight, speed and flow as per Laban movement theory) as well as pre-composed sequences or routines are communicated via webcam, microphone input, or shared video playback. Through such cues, the system fosters co-creation in a networked performance space as developed by the ongoing artistic research project “Social D[ist]ancing: Development of a networked artistic practice out of confinement” at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, which is working to leverage ML and integrate computer capabilities within networked music and dance practices.

The SoDA kit consists of a set of applications that communicate through a custom message broker application (AMEX) in a remote server. SoDA works parallel to video conferencing applications (Jitsy, Zoom, etc) to annotate, document and enhance the performer’s experience. A SoDA Node exchanges and translates messages between SoDA components and third-party applications such as INScore (GRAME) or Wekinator (Rebecca Fiebrink). An optional SoDA Point of View (PoV) component monitors temporal communication parameters –latency, clock offset– relatively to a designated ‘central observer’, adding artificial delays where necessary to fine tune the perceived synchrony of actions at that particular node.

SoDA Nodes exchange messages via TCP protocol across the network, but communication between the Nodes and other SoDA components as well as third-party software —typically running alongside each other in the same machine— uses Open Sound Control (OSC) over UDP.  This network design provides flexibility to the SoDA mesh, while having the advantage of being extremely scalable – the specifically conceived AMEX application running in the server allows for a large number of SoDA nodes to interact seamlessly in real time.

Additional SoDA components include SoD4L, a MaxForLive device that serves as a bridge between Ableton Live and the SoDA mesh, and SoDATA, a standalone application used for sequence recall  and choreography annotation in different human-readable formats.

Using the SoDA kit enables dance practitioners to harness  the immediacy and scalability of computer systems for artistic experimentation, and allows them to tap into the potential of AI in a networked, distributed environment.

2. BIO(S)

Adrián Artacho is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Music and Performing Arts of Vienna, researching the use of technology to enhance performance capabilities. He is also an active performer of live electronics either solo or in different configurations. As a composer, his interest in cross-media projects and dance in particular has led him to regularly collaborate with choreographers and to become founder of the dance companies Tanz.Labor.Labyrinth and SyncLab Tanzkollektiv. (adrian@neuesatelier.org)

Oscar Medina Duarte has many years of experience working on technological projects in the safety-critical domain (aviation, railway, …). His great interest in the performing arts brought him to an active role at NeuesAtelier where he is active as a technologist and software developer. As a technologist, his main interest is on the effects of the pervasive tecnification of society and the role of performing arts in a post-pandemic world. (oscar@neuesatelier.org)

3. LINKS

Here is a link to a video showcasing the use of the SoDA system by a team of artists-researchers in the context of the research project “Social D[ist]ancing: Development of a networked artistic practice out of confinement” at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.

https://vimeo.com/518167768

Here is the project public repository, including instructions for the installation and use of the Soda kit:

https://bitbucket.org/AdrianArtacho/soda-node/

4. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to thank Hanne Pilgrim, Mariama Diagne, Benedikt Berner, Katharina Püschel, Dalma Sarnyai, Magdalena Eidenhammer, Maximilian Resch and Maria Solberger for their participation in the evaluation and testing of the applications. It was their invaluable feedback that ultimately informed the design of the software. This work is supported by the Artistic Research Center and the Research Support department of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.

SoDA node (v1.0)

 

This is the new version of the APP.  You can download it as usual HERE. I hope this will solve most of the problems. See you tonight!

SoDA node

 

In today's session, we are also going to try out the beta Version of the Social Distacing App (SoDA-node).

→ Our goal is only to test that everything works and communicate with the server (and with each other). Next week we will be using it to play audio, synchronise cues and correct latency. Most importantly, we will be able to affect others' movement score with our own gestures and sounds!

What I need you to do is the following:

1. Download the SoDA-node application
2. Install it using the instructions
3. Run it (to test whether it works in your OS)

* If the installation doesn't work or you get errors, please let me know in an email/WhatsApp message with the following info:

• What is your operating system's version (Example: Max OS 10.10.5)
• What error did you get (unknown developer, missing package, missing JVM...

→ THANKS A LOT (this will helps me debug it for the next session)

We will also be using a third party app developed by GRAME, the INScore viewer. Please download it and install it as well :)

Finally, for the audio tests we will be using this numbers.mp3 test file. Please download it to have it ready for the session.

SAR Conference

 

Social d[ist]ancing: Developing a networked artistic practice out of confinement

Out of the struggle of dancers and performers in general to pursue artistic col-laboration amidst social distancing restrictions, a particular kind of network artistic practice seems to be nevertheless flourishing; one that relies on webcamsas windows into a shared collaborative space. As part of the ongoing artistic research project Social d[ist]ancing, participants are encouraged to create choreomusical works that delve into the idiosyncrasy of the webcam language, using only freely available tools for networked collaboration. Beyond exploring the aesthetics of this particular medium, the presented case studies also reveal a transformative process that requires artists to re-examine the fundamental con-ditions for group creativity and artistic collaboration. 

The social distancing measures in place since 2020 has led to a considerable amount of artistic projects being cancelled or postponed. Paradoxically, out of the struggle that results from the restrictions in movement, a particular kind of networked artistic practice is flourishing; one that relies on webcams as windows into a shared virtual collaborative space. An ever-expanding list of online tools are been constantly re-purposed by performers, dancers and musicians to enable quick and productive collaboration over the internet, regardless of their physicallocation.As part of an ongoing artistic research project at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Prof. Hanne Pilgrim and researcher Adrián Artacho work together with study participants to create choreomusical works that delve into the idiosyncrasy of the webcam language. Not only does this approach explore the aesthetics of this particular medium, it is also a transformative process that requires artists to re-examine the fundamental conditions for group creativity and artistic collaboration. Over the course of six small case studies, the participants produced a series of choreomusical works which explore different approaches towards networkedartistic collaboration in the context of music and dance. Transposition acrossmedia is executed in the raster of Laban’s Motion Factors –Time, Space Effort/Weight and Flow–, which also serves as a springboard for cross-media artistic experimentation. Using freely available online tools as an initial restriction, over the course of the project additional tools for technology-mediated performance were also developed, which will be publicly presented for the first time in the SAR 2021 conference. During this brief presentation, the researchers will introduce the strategies and insights yielded by the research project and discuss potential pitfalls and successful strategies that can inform creative collaboration for other artists in akin translocal configurations.

ReconnectingSpaces (collaborative score)

Last week we developed a collective performance based upon the sync points, words and silences from a given score.  Our 'synchronised improvisation' proved to fun to experiment with, and by now everybody understands the mechanics of our —very simple yet— visual cue system.  

This week we take it in our own hands to create the piece for our next session from the ground up: ReconnectingSpaces*. The purpose for the piece is to explore the fragile nature of our virtual connections, always dependent on technology to function, often frustrating, perhaps less authentic as compared to a real life encounter in the physical world. 

In order to make collaboration as intuitive as possible, we will be the musiclab online tool to put together an event score (similar to the one we have used in ShareDareCare). Once finished, the project will be used to generate 'visual cues' that will help us perform together next week.

This shared project is set to 10 bars, with 5 beats per bar at tempo 60 bpm. That means, every beat is 1 second long and every bar just 5 seconds long. The first bar should be empty (except for the starting clap at the beginning). Each of the tracks (notes) is assigned to one of us alphabetically, using a similar color scheme as we did in the first Case Study:

The second bar is where the piece really starts. I suggest a collaborative approach in that anybody can edit anything, but still have each of us curate one bar each; Adrián will be responsible for bar number 2, Benedikt shall do the same for number 3, and so on...

• Bar #2   → Adrián
• Bar #3   → Benedikt
• Bar #4   → Dalma
• Bar #5   → Hanne
• Bar #6   → Katharina
• Bar #7   → Magdalena
• Bar #8   → Maria
• Bar #9   → Mariama
• Bar #10 → Max

The blocks in the score can only represent when an action (talking, for example) takes place. As we did in ShareDareCare, the starting point of an action is represented by the beginning of a rectangle, and the action lasts as long as the block. When there is no block in the track of a given participant, it is interpreted as <TACET>, meaning that the perfoFootnotesrmer is free to do anything he/she pleases, as long as it doesn't produce hearable speech.

IMPORTANT: Making / Saving changes

Every time you edit / save the musiclab project, it becomes a different project (with a different online link). In order for us to collaborate, save regularly and share the link in our WhatsApp group everytime! Do not worry if you share multiple links as you are editing the project; it will ensure that everybody sees the newest version (and that we don't delete somebody else's work).

Footnotes

For more specific descriptions of the actions, we shall use footnotes (see the picture above). Here is an example:

 7.4:         /where/        Performers say the word /where/ (or a phonetic equivalent)  

The reference of the footnote [7.4] describes the position of the note in the score measured in beats (which in our case are equivalent to seconds) and semiquavers (four for each beat).

The description of the action is completely up to you. It makes sense, however, to build upon what others have already suggested. For the footnote descriptions we shall use this online document. Feel free to type, edit and comment as much as you need.

*) 'Reconnecting Spaces' is also the motto of the SMC 2021 conference (which hosts a call for networked performances like this 😉)

Chrome Music Lab (Link)

Here is the final version of the shared musiclab project.

And here is the progress over multiple iterations:

Iteration #1    (Adrian)

Iteration #2    (Maria)

Iteration #3    (Ben)

Iteration #4    (Dalma)

Iteration #5    (Kathi)

Iteration #6    (Magdalena)

Iteration #7    (Mariama)

Iteration #8    (Max)

Iteration #9    (housekeeping)

Iteration #10    (StillePost#1: Ben, Dalma, Kathi, Maria)

Iteration #11    (StillePost#2: Max, mariama)

Iteration #12    (StillePost#3: Hanne, Magdalena)