Project02 Concept Development

After deciding to go with the idea of making a MIDI controller that works for both Ableton Live and Video, I have had to think of how it will work and what it looks like. My main goal with this was to make something that the audience could see what was happening as most MIDI controllers do not express what a performer is actually doing. This is the result:





The idea is to have around 20 small light boxes (maybe 40mm - 50mm?) that each have an infrared LED inside. These are then placed on a wall anywhere a user wants, being held up by magnets. If placed in the side shelves it acts like an on/off switch (Box in shelf it is on) and if placed in the middle sections it acts like a slider or analog command, an infrared reader is in the base looking up at the lines.

All of these switches etc can be applied to various things such as volume, eq, etc.

Project02 Concepts

Concept01

The concept that I would most like to advance is creating a MIDI controller that is controlled differently from the usual knobs, sliders and buttons. I do not quite know how yet (some kind of sensor?) but I would like to be able to incorporate it into Ableton Live as I use this program often and like the idea of having my own controller for it. I also feel my performance would be far better if I did this as I can incorporate my already existing knowledge of Ableton.
On the visual side of things for this, I would prefer not to have visuals and instead focus on sound, however I realise this is supposed to be a predominantly visual experience. Therefore I would like to make visuals that relate to the music being played and change when the music plays. I am yet to think of what these visuals could be, if I go ahead with this idea I would probably have to sort out what music is being played (I would love to do drum and bass but it probably won't fit in the context of where we are performing so something else will be played, I can play a large variety of styles) before the visuals. Also needing to be considered is whether I play any sounds myself or just trigger samples.

Concept02

A controller that is effected by where you stand, thereby causing a user to move across a room in order to change the sound and visuals.

Concept03

A controller that surrounds a person so they have to move their whole arm. In this way an audience can see what a performer is doing rather than when they are just turning knobs.

Project01 Final Hand In

1943 - Battle of Manners Street


The Battle of Manners Street was a street brawl that occurred between American servicemen stationed in New Zealand, and New Zealand servicemen on April 3rd 1943. The exact reason for the start of the fight is unclear, but the main reason the fight occurred was because of escalating tension between the two allies. The NZ felt that the US were getting paid more, given preferential treatment, and were stealing all their women.

At the time, pubs closed at 6pm and so their was always a great rush to drink as much as possible before closing, which also would have been a great contributer to the fight erupting. It lasted for several hours and was eventually stopped by military police and the need for US to catch the last train home to camp.

There is a great amount of rumour that surrounds the battle, such as there being 2 deaths, yet none of it has been proven to be true. The reason for all this rumor is because of war-time laws stopping any publishing of information in any newspaper or radio or tv, in effect, it didn't exist.



Retelling tales:

To retell this story, I chose to put the user in the context, letting them see both the truth and the rumors and they can decide what they want to believe. To do this I created a balance board, which also represents the tipping of balance between NZ and US, and linked it up to the computer so that when a user was balanced perfectly, the truth would be shown, and when unbalanced, the rumors would be displayed. To help a user to understand that they are rumors I also added a blurring effect when the user was completely tipped to the side (This also represents the drunkenness that was involved in the brawl).

I chose to have a looping movie play instead of images to give the user a story that would keep them interested, the two movies being almost identical except for major changes in what people say and in a few visuals. The cartoon style graphics were chosen as it was a way to draw people in and think about it as more of a game.


Some images of the balance board:




The board is built from MDF wood, along with a layer of foam. It is held together with nuts, bolts, and glue, and rolls on bearings. A mouse button is placed under the top layer of MDF and clicks when you stand on it (left mouse click). This signifies to start the looping movie (When a person is not on the board a simple looping movie plays to get people's attention).


The movies shown:

Startup looping movie (to get people's attention):



Normal events movie (plays when a person is balanced):



Extreme events movie (plays when a person is unbalanced):




A few screenshots of what occurs while people are on the board:

When a person is balanced:



When a person is unbalanced:



When a person is very unbalanced:




Overall I feel the project is done well, a few things need to be fixed a bit better, such as the movies syncing properly, the ability that when a person stands on the board the movie starts at the start rather than randomly. I would also like to incorporate a counter that counts up when a person is unbalanced, and if they are too unbalanced there would be a gameover screen as you were "too drunk" to see reality properly.


Antony Evans