Nick Hwang

Just Imagine:
The idea for my next piece for the Laptop Orchestra of Louisiana is one based off several ideas: pseudo-improvisation, live sampling and manipulation, sound discovery, and sonic environments; and draws from a few interests of mine outside of ‘music composition’.

My very first thought was simply to create a multi-sampler that would be used in a piece that was an on-the-fly Dance/House piece. Where members of the ensemble would have objects and instruments in front of them, to sample and manipulate. And over the course 5-6 minutes a strongly pulsed live club mix would emerge. [That’s the former DJ speaking]

I thought, ‘simple enough. That would be cool… once or twice.’

The composer-side of me and somewhat emerging improviser thought it would be better to incorporate an air of pseudo-improvisation, where the members (and audience) are shown a word or an image and have a few minutes, as a group, to create a sonic/musical representation of the word/image.
[this somewhat fulfills my urge for demonstrative musical and procedural goals for the laptop ensemble – have a brief projection of the word/image. READ: crowd-pleasing projections].

An instance of the piece may not be limited to a single image. The possibility of more than one sequential image or even juxtaposed images is definitely possible.

The goal of the musicians is not [just] outright mimicry of elements, nor is it a race to the end. The process of creating usable sounds, coordinating with the other musicians, creating an environment, specializing them in time and performance space, and transition from one idea to the other is as much ‘goal’ of the piece as the actually arrival of coordinated effort.

It is more than likely performers will have a different/conflicting sonic ideas associated with a word/image. How the musicians deals with that factor, and the others listed above, is very open-ended
and discovery-based, which can be very exciting.
So what about that club mix? That would definitely be on the list, probably an interesting and more difficult ‘word’ to pull off with time synching issues.
But, Just Imagine: 5-7 performers on stage and this image pops up for 15 seconds.
[image from the SeattleWeekly].

5 minutes later, this image pops up. How would you do it? How would you make them different?
[from inhabitat.com]

“Just Imagine:” would not be technically hard or require too much coding, but whatever ‘instrument’ I decide to use, the performers will definitely need a level of mastery [this also fulfills my want for instruments with a learning-curve]. To be able to perform this piece, the musicians, will have to be extremely familiar with the interface. Like improvised music, the success of this piece rests on the musicians’ mastery of the instrument, their ability to convey their musical thought, and coordinate as a group.

Personal practice time on the ‘instrument’ would be a large requirement and rehearsal time would also be needed. Performances may not be limited to ‘words/images’ previously rehearsed. Well-rehearsed ensembles should not used previously seen words or should incorporating juxtaposed imagery or quicker paced sequences.

Nick Hwang 2010

‘What the Bells’ is a musical piece that involves Wiimote, Laptop, and (recently added) iPhone/iPad.

‘What the Bells’ involves a 4 Bell players, each with Wii-Motes and laptop running a client Max patch. A central laptop sends performer instructions via OSC. Global parameters such as timbre changes and delay, controlled by iPhone or iPad, are sent to the performers’ laptops.

Diagram of What the Bells

Performer Interface

Main Laptop Controller Interface

iPhone interface

The piece was an exercise on many levels.
1. Create a piece for Laptop Ensemble.
2. Use controllers that convey an audience-accessible associative real-world physicality. (Something that an audience could say ‘oh, yeah- she’s swinging the wii-mote like you would a handbell!)
3. Use OSC as a means of communication. Not just the exchange of data, but also performance instruction.
4. Create a robust Max/MSP patch with an elegant user interface.
5. Reduce Setup time.
(6. Visualization of Messages and Control Data is in the works.)

Each component of the piece was borne for this particular piece, but as I was a developing them, I saw the need to make everything modular. Now, each part can be recycled for future use. The messaging system, the wii-control interface for Max/MSP, the iPhone/iPad interface for Max/MSP, – and many components I wrote and did not implement in this piece: Event/Preset Control, Uni/Omni-Directional Control flexibility (the client Laptops can actually control each other), debugging controls, dynamic interface transformations, and a few others.

Each part of my Max code that I saw as modular and relevant for future use, I created as sub-patch/personal maxobjects– reducing the need to re-write or even copy-and-paste basic tasks.

The piece has been performed twice this semester and will be performed 8pm, April 14, at LSU’s Shaver Theatre in the Music and Dramatic Arts building during the Festival of Contemporary Music.