Nick Hwang

Oosphere

I have been collaborating with two sculptors at LSU, Tom Lapann and Meghan Scuderi. I approached them on creating an interactive environment where visitor explore the interior of an enclosed seed-like structure with glowing orbs. These glowing orbs would light the way within the interior and also react to the objects inside. Larger than life plant-like objects will be imbedded with color, light, touch sensors and cameras that will react with sound and music within the structure.

Oosphere is a interactive environment. The self-contained sound-art installation has an outward shape of seed where the inward sights and sounds partially penetrate the semi-opaque shell. Visitors travel within the seed and navigate a dark, craggy interior with colored bulbs that light their way. These bulbs are the main interactive element, whereby moving/exposing the bulbs to the interior, the light and distance sensors, video cameras, and touch sensors react musically, sonically, and luminously. The act of visual discovery evolves into musical construction as visitors encounter more and more of the unique interactions from different areas of the interior.

Oosphere is a collaborative work between LSU graduate students Nick Hwang, Tom Lapann, and Meghan Scuderi. Nick Hwang is a doctoral student in Music Composition and Experimental. Tom Lapann is earning his masters degree in sculpture. Meghan Scuderi is earning her masters degree in digital art.

I hope to include our sketches and short videos as the project progresses.

At the moment, we are slated to show at LSU’s Foster Gallery Sept. 5-8, 2012.

225 Magazine’s 2012 “People to Watch”

I’ve been included in  225 Magazine’s 2012 People to Watch.

I’m humbled to be in included with all the others recognized. I hope this brings further opportunities for my music.

[Link to the Article]

New Year – 2012

What a year – 2011.

So many things happened. Lots of a good things. Some sad things.

Last year I had performances over 20- some performances in 7 different states. My sister had the first child from our generation – I became an uncle. My grandfather died.

“This is the one I esteem: He who is humble and contrite in spiritand trembles at My Word.” Isaiah 66:2

Resolutions:
I go between thinking resolutions being a waste of time or effective. I constantly write myself notes that sit on my computer laptop (the thing I look at the most lately) desktop that say “FINISH EVERY PROJECT” and “MAKE OR CONSUME”. So I guess reminders of what I want to do or how I want to be is already important.

(Maybe the internet will keep me accountable?)

1. Stay humble and continue to work, never settling.

2. Finish my dissertation.

3. Write more acoustic/mixed music.

4. Make and sell a CD.

Wii-motes as musical controllers

[this post is still in progress]

I’ve been working on my piece What the Pluck for solo cello and laptop ensemble, whereby the wii-mote performers borrow a cello-performance posture and playing motion. The goal physical goal is to have gestural similarities performed on by the wii-performers with similar sonic outcomes (at first).

I’m going to break down a couple perspectives I am using when creating this work.

Performer Perspective: Bill Verplank believes (this is a summary) that there are three questions to ask when developing interactions– and they’re all based around the user: What does the user know, do, and feel?

There are several different contexts and questions in Verplank’s method, but they all reviled around these topics. For example, for conceptual modeling for the user, what is an analog for the thing your design? — does he/she understand a similar action-result paradigm?

Link: [Interaction Design Sketchbook by Bill Verplank]

Compositional Rambling: A lot of mixed acoustic and electroacoustic music, where a new instrument (digital or not) is involved seems to fill the beginning of piece with introduction to the new instrument. ‘This is what the instrument can do…”, “and it has similarities to this regular acoustic instrument”, “now let me diverse from the similarities”.

Instead of grundgestalt, pieces begin with ‘digital instrument tuning notes’ — a basic flexing of the instrument’s boundaries instead of musical/compositional material.

Electric LaTex

I am riding home from Electric LaTex in Austin, Texas where I performed with Michael Straus, Dana Jessen, and Corey Knoll. I also had a fixed media piece performed.

This was the last (hopefully) of several trips this semester. Being able to travel to Rhode Island, New York, Virginia, and Texas in 2 month and show off my work has been amazing, but I need some time in my own bed.