Final Documentation!!! (FiNallY!!)

The final preparation of the final presentation was an extremely slow and long process. It spanned from week 8 of the course all the way till week 13!! Can u belieeevveee it!??! But... still not enough time!!! Turned on the panic mode on the presentation day was a step of no turning back. All the rough moments during the setting up of my mahjong table and also the technical problems that arise minutes before the presentation was disastrous.

Background

As mentioned before, my presentation will be based on the local funeral practice in Singapore. Funerals are meant to be a ceremony to value and pay tribute to the dead, but for the chinese in Singapore, especially when the deceased is an elder in the family, who dies of old age, the mood at the funeral can be slightly different. The atmosphere is relatively lively and light hearted where relatives gather and chat. I will like to capture the atmosphere of a traditional chinese funeral. It gives me the inspiration to compose a piece to re-enact this unique Singaporean approach towards funeral.

For my presentation, in order to have a beginning and a continuation and an end, I have used a few different elements to make it happen.

First, I have chosen to use the Mahjong as my presentation platform. At the start of the mahjong game, we will assign the game to the east wind. It will be represented on the dice at the corner of the mahjong table. As the game progress, it will be changed from east-south-west-north respectively. Each wind will be representing each day of the funeral, which is intended to be 3 days.

Mahjong table set up

 Photo of east wind

Next,  a priest will be assigned to come and go each day, doing a prayer when he or she comes. When the priest comes, he will place a chip on the connecting wires that will trigger a 'gong' sound, that symbolizes the daily prayer. Participants will pause the mahjong game n stay silence till the ringing of the gong stops. Participants may not know what to do during the first time, but with this motif, on the 2nd and 3rd day, participants will automatically pause the game n do the prayer.

Metal chip connected to the connecting wires, triggering the 'gong' sound.

Chip with metal plate attached to it. Metal plate used to connect the connecting wires.

Connecting wires

Lastly, on the third day, the priest will come in again. This time doing the prayer and followed by a funeral march. The priest will guide the participants around the mahjong table while the march is being played and then leave the performance area, indicating the end of the piece. I got the marching idea from the following video. (watch it from 5.45 onwards).

How it is done?

First, it is done by setting up a mahjong table with a complete mahjong set. The mahjong tables will be pre-layed with connecting wires where a gap is left in between them. Once, the set up is done, the mahjong game will begin.

1)When the game begins, a dice with the words, North-South-East-West will be placed at a corner of the table. This dice will trigger the first sound, Prayer.

2)As the game is played, tiles will be thrown out to the pool in the middle of the table. In this pool, the connecting wires that was laid before hand will be connected by the metal plates that are pasted on the base of random mahjong tiles. These connection will trigger different sounds and the sound will stay on till it is disconnected.

3)There will also be a priest that will appear 3 times in total, each time representing one day. The priest will place a chip on the trigger at the side of the mahjong table and that will trigger a gong sound which symbolizes the daily prayers. When the gong sound is triggered, the mahjong game will pause and the prayer will be made. On the third prayer(third day), the gong sound will be followed by a funeral march, called the "Dead march from Saul". The march signifies the end of the funeral where the relatives will guide the dead to his last pathway to after life. 

*The gap between the connecting wires are connected by the metal plate when the mahjong is being played as shown below

Mahjong tile with metal plate attached to it.

*Random tiles will be attached with a piece of metal plate at the base   atmosphere of a funeral using the mahjong set up and triggering various sounds that can be heard at a traditional chinese funeral. Why mahjong? Because, it is a tradition game that will be played during funerals especially if the dead is an elder, who died of old age. This is to symbolize the unity of children and the harmony of relatives by making the environment as lively as possible. Due to the fact that I did not video my actual presentation, I have uploaded my mock-up that was used to test my program before the presentation. The video is presented below.

The software

I am very grateful to zong hao. Without his help i will never figure out the existence of sfplay~. This has been an useful object that stores my audio file. With the guide of Dirk, I use the analogue part of the arduino to deal with something that requires digital. 

Basically, I have 2 connecting wires which have a gap in between. I intend to use metal plates that will be attached to the mahjong tiles, to the connect the wires. The connection will close the circuit and trigger the various sounds stored in the sfplay~. 

The sounds that I included are crying, laughing, talking and praying. Furthermore, I also added the priest part, which is symbolized by the 'gong' sound. Since the funeral is set to be 3 days, on day 1 there will be one gone sound, day 2 will have 2, and so on... However, on the final day, i added a funeral march called "the Dead march from Saul". It is an extremely beautiful funeral march that was used by many important people in their funeral, like Winston Churchill, etc. The march symbolizes the walk towards afterlife, as its part of the chinese funeral tradition to have guidance to afterlife.

General view of the software.

Short video on my working software and the use of Audacity.

Dead march from Saul:

On the presentation day

Actual layout of the mahjong table. This the table top.

Let's look at the real mess!!! under the table.. Oh my... Horror!!!

 Unfortunately, I did not take any video on the actual day of my presentation. But I uploaded the mockup. I hope its sufficient.

Take awaysss!!

With the presentation done on 17 April, it marks the end of course. Lots of emotions... It my last elective in the whole NTU life, my last semester, my last presentation in school. Although it was not the best, I had fun. Lots of gratitude towards Dirk, our mentor, tutor, consultant. I never expect myself who attended class only on week 3 to actually catch up with everyone, and manage to come up with a workable program at the end of the course. It was a dreadful process though. But its because of these treacherous process that we learn the most and most memorable. 

I was actually kind of disappointed that the presentation did not go well!! oh wells, panic attack will kill u. Anyway, I'm starting to gain interest in Sound engineer, intending to read up more on it. Learning it for leisure, entertain myself and maybe some friends who may appreciate my art. LOLS.

I will like to express my gratitude to a few extremely helpful peers in class, Melvin and Zonghao. They will never refuse to provide assistance when we need help. Especially Zonghao who will stay up late with us during non-lesson days to help us!!! Even on the presentation day itself, while I was panicking that my program don't work, he was also there to comfort me. Of course friends are also made in class, Christopher and Azhar, My bros throughout the course. Of course you, Mr Dirk! Fortunately we took a picture tgt, otherwise, who knows when we meet again... lol

 Last view of the classroom.

 Photos: tagged Dirk, Azhar

Tay Guang Liang, signing out from my blog for the last time... 

19 April 2013

Presentation week 27/2

The presentation was definitely a survival week!!

Spending almost everyday the week before the presentation day in the lab just to come up with any possible program that will fulfill my concept of the "Funeral" piece. It was definitely a horrendous journey, hitting the wall many times. However, I was fortunate enough to have a few nice and helpful friends like Anthea, Melvin and Zong Hao. They patiently answered all my doubts and never refuse to help me. I really felt grateful to them! Truthfully.

On the presentation day itself, it was just hectic. Been in the lab since morning just to make sure that the pressure sensors and the photo sensors are working. I even tried copying Anthea's way of connecting the sensors but it just don't work. Frustration and Anxiety to the approaching presentation time was just nerve-wrecking!! Even the magic touch and last minute guidance from our tutor Dirk was futile. It was unfortunate and inevitable that my presentation will fail. Simply presenting my idea alone without any physical success of my program was just cliche! I believed that I screwed it up. At least, till the very last 10 minutes of the class, some miracle happened and the sensors were finally working. That definitely gave me a strong motivation to eventually clear all odds and complete my performance.

Watching the presentation of my fellow peers actually gave me new insights of what I can achieve after the course. Especially fascinated by Melvin project on venting out frustration using sensitive songs. It actually provide people with a channel to vent their emotions. The other one was the Korean girl's presentation. She incorporated her Korean culture into technology and presented in such an entertaining way. All these acted as a form of inspiration for me to utilize my knowledge gained from this course into something useful and meaningful to others.

I wouldn't say the experience of the course was bad. It was just very hectic. For someone who had no prior knowledge of the programs to come up a feasible performance is just endearing. I was unfortunate to have used up my S/U options. Oh well, all I can do now is pull up my socks, wipe off my tears and CHIONG AH!!!

Creating the impossible...

Finally decided on the concept of my project. I have decided to come up with a composition, a piece called "Funeral".

Funeral as it name perceives, means a moment when you pay respect and honor the dead. A ceremony that is solemn and heart drowning for many. However, in the Singapore context, especially to the chinese community, when the elder of the family past away at old age, the atmosphere at a funeral can be slightly different. A funeral can be a time where relatives gathered together, showing kinship and respect. There will cries and chatting sounds filling the area and a buffet dinner will be available. I'm not very sure why, but a curry chicken is always served. 
It actually portrays a form of vibrancy.

Hence in the piece "Funeral", I will like to interpret this contrasting atmosphere using my knowledge of of Max/MSP.

Firstly, a little knowledge on how the performance will be executed.

• A mahjong table will be used for the presentation of the piece.

• Light censors and pressure censors will be used to trigger the 'on' switch for the various sounds
   
• 4 light bulbs will be used to cue the respective day of the funeral and also symbolizes the 4 different winds during a mahjong game.

          - the sounds symbolizes the praying, chatting, crying.
            1st day: only praying
            2nd day: add chatting
            3rd day: add rain
            4th day: add cries
            5th day: fading off of the sounds and silence after that. (Only prayer and cries)
            (This is only taken as a reference for the performers playing the piece. Self interpretation.)

*the harder you press/more light on the pressure censors, louder the sounds.

My inspiration comes from Pauline Oliveros,  who is an American accordionist and composer who developed electronic art music. Her continuity of singing during a funeral actually contracted the ending  of someone's live journey. I also gotten my inspiration from funeral activities that occasionally occur at the void deck of my house. I am also a fan of mahjong and also the enlightenment from out tutor Dirk on the use of mahjong for my performance.

Video of a typical chinese funeral.

An inspiration video. Abit random, but yah..

Executing the performance

1) A mahjong table will be set up with mahjong tiles

2) Since photo sensors are used, I will lay a piece of cardboard on the table and have all the set up     done below the cardboard

3) Holes will be cut to expose the photo sensors

4) 4 photo sensors will be installed in the middle of the table, each representing one sound

5) Lights will be shined on the sensors

6) As the tiles are washed, the light sensors will be occasionally covered and exposed from the light source. This will create the difference in the intensity and changes the volume of the sound. For example prayers.

7) Each player will have a pressure sensor at their respective side. So 4 pressure sensors will be used. This will control one sound each. Namely: Chatting, crying, praying, etc.

8) As the tiles are formed in front of a player, the weight of the tiles will control the pressure exerted on the sensors which will in turn vary the volume of the sound produced.

The layout will probably be like that with the pressure sensors at the side and the photo resistors at the middle. 

9) 4 light bulbs will also be used to indicate each day of the funeral and also symbolizes the 4 different winds of a mahjong game. 

My program

I have created a program that will trigger the light bulbs to switch on after a certain counter number. One bulb will be switched on a time and will stay on till the performance is over. I used 'scale' to scale up the value of the sensors. This is to ensure the fluctuations on the sensors can be amplified to control the volume of the sounds. This fluctuating number will be connected to the audio to play the respective sounds.

Here is a short video clip of my program. The audio is not working. Tsk!!

I really hope that my performance can be engaging and interactive. Working towards the finishing line yo~~

Brainstroming~

Coming back from the CNY holiday, feeling fat and lazy after the long feasting weekend.
At the start of the class, Mr Dirk did a simple performance of a piece called "I am sitting in a room", by Alvin Lucier. This is a very interesting composition because it deals with the idea of making imperfections perfect. Alvin Lucier being a person who stutters, composed a piece that requires one to read out a paragraph in a room. The program will record the voice and play back repeatedly. As this goes on, the voice of the speakers fades off and resonance of the room was heard. The diversion of our attention from the text to the echoes and resonance of the room was amusing.

Mr Dirk brought across a point that art is about creating something simple to something sophisticated. The sounds that were produced varies from room to room. Factors like corners, furnitures and movements also played a role in the sound. He actually made his stuttering speech produce noises that resonate from the room and these noises sounded rather beautifully.

I personally felt that as the recoding is repeatedly played, the noises becomes music. The sounds that the piece produce is kind of soothing and made me felt that time had slowed down. He was very brave to face his weakness. Correcting his disability in an artistic manner, with the aid of technology and science.

In class today, we downloaded the program called Maxuino. It is supposed to aid the use of Arduino.
Pictures of my Maxduino program.

Picture of Mr Dirk's program~

Alot of work to do for me!!

The later part of the class was more like a brainstorming session. We were required to think of an interesting concept for our 1st assignment. the idea should incorporate the knowledge of Arduino and Max. Furthermore, the presentation will be in a performance format and should also encompass the ability to interact with the audience.

It sounded easy, but I had been hitting the wall all the time. Coming up with ideas like creating a tuner, an instrument and even to composing a piece. Many questions had to be asked. What my idea wants to bring out? How is it artistic? What are the technical limitations I have? Not so easy bro.. Sighs~~

Cool idea!! LED table. It can be commercialized and used in pubs or clubs with low lightings. It provides a smoothing ambience and interesting interaction between human voice and the table. The amazing thing is that the table actually detects different human voices. How cool is that. With a color representing each individual, making the design very personal. It also shows who is the passive speaker among friends. LOL.

I don't know how it is done, but i guessed the device detects a certain frequency and lights up the LED. Since the every individual has different frequency when speaking, different colored lights will be triggered.

I found this video while browsing through Korea got talent.

I thought the concept was great. It infuse technology with dance and come up with an entertaining performance.

A random thought i had in mind. How can I change the sound pitch using counter or pressure censors. More thoughts coming as the assignment due date is near~

  

Coming up with a program yo!!

The first week of DM2009 was literally a crash course. In theory its week 4 but this is only my second lesson. Move on buddy!!

This week is the application week. We were introduced to Arduino?!!? According to Mr Dirk, it is the most basic equipment and the most useful equipment one can have as a sound engineer. Woohoo~ it sounded easy.

We were asked to follow the guides from the tutorial and try to light up a light bulb. It can be frustrating to some extent that everyone else had their bulbs lit and mine was to no avail. But when it finally lights up, its as though you found an oasis in the desert.

This is the picture of arduino and the smart board before connection.

After connection~

In the photo, we couldnt really tell that the bulb was lit. But it was...

Evidence...

Furthermore, I was also fascinated by Mr David Bryne with his performing piece "Playing The Building". "Playing the Building" is a sound installation in which the infrastructure, the physical plant of the building, is converted into a giant musical instrument. He connected devices to the metal beams and pillars, the heating pipes, the water pipes. The devices miraculously made the dead objects produce sound. The activations are of three types: wind, vibration, striking. Being a Civil Engineer, I was amazed by the fact that building made of steel and cement can actually become a musical instrument. He also uses the knowledge of physics to produce sounds 

I felt that he was trying to remind us to understand and listen to our surroundings. Do not view the buildings that we live in, the place where we work in merely being a tool for civilization and urbanization. The awareness of the beauty in something that does not have a life itself is just amazing. Appreciate things and people around us, they are all as beautiful as one can be.  

I found this other video in youtube. Mind-blowing!!!!! I think its very clever to infuse art and science. The device will only produce sound when it detects red color. Dance was also incorporated into the performance, making the experiment very interesting. 

Next week is chinese new year!! Many red packets! If I have the device installed in me, the sounds that comes out from me when I see a red packet, probably shows my eagerness and enthusiasm in receiving. LOL. - random thoughts

Performance and Interaction

Finally!!! After been through 3 weeks of class with Mr Dirk Johan Stromberg, I'm starting to have glimpse of what performance and interactive art is about.

Having limited knowledge on this subject, and being entirely new to the topic is overwhelming. To make things worse, I only started my class on the 3rd week of school. Oh wells, only have an assessment due 3 lessons after my start-date.

On my 1st lesson (week3), I was humbly introduced to the alien environment of Mac. Its kind of scary if you don't even know how to switch it on. Fighting!!!


This is the only video that I chanced upon when trying to do some research on the course, after successful application. To be honest, I was a little intimidated by the video as I have almost no idea what the video is trying to portray. Being a Civil Engineering student, my appreciation for art is coming from a different perspective. :/

Attending class for the 1st time was kind of stress as peers around me seem to have settled down pretty well. We were asked to come up with a simple program using the Max program. Crash course!!

Begin on an uncertain journey with art~