The Xth Sense (XS) is a free and open source based technology; as such, its free distribution is an integral aspect of the research. In this workshop participants build their own XS biosensor and learn how to generate interactive music from the muscle sounds of their bodies.

Xth Sense: biophysical live media performance: Hands-on training in augmentation of the body for audiovisual performance. Creating your own low cost biosensing wearable device for muscle sounds.

The workshop offers an hands-on experience and both theoretical and practical training in gestural control of music and bodily audiovisual performance, deploying the brand-new biosensing technology Xth Sense. Developed by the workshop teacher Marco Donnarumma within a research project at The University of Edinburgh, Xth Sense is a framework for the application of muscle sounds to the biophysical generation and control of music and video. It consists of a low cost, DIY biosensing wearable device and an Open Source based software for capture, analysis and audio processing of biological sounds of the body (Pure Data-based). Muscle sounds are captured in real time and used both as sonic source material and control values for sound and video effects, enabling the performer to control audiovisual media
simply with his body and kinetic energy.

Forget your mice, MIDI controllers, you will not even need to look at your laptop anymore. The Xth Sense biosensor was designed to be easily implemented by anyone, no previous experience in electronics is required. The applications of the Xth Sense technology are manifold: from complex gestural control of audio and video sampling and synthesis, through biophysical generation of music and sounds, to kinetic control of real time digital processing of traditional musical instruments, control of external vjing software and more.

Participants will be introduced to the Xth Sense Technology by its author and led through the assembling of their own biosensing wearable hardware using the materials provided. Next, they will become proficient with the Xth Sense software framework: all the features of the framework will be unleashed through practical exercises. Theoretical background on the state of art of gestural control of music and new performative instruments will be developed by means of an audiovisual review and participatory critical analysis of relevant projects selected by the instructor.

Eventually, participants will combine hardware and software to implement a solo or group project to be performed during the final open jam session. At the end of the workshop, participants will be free to keep the Xth Sense biosensors they built and the related software for their own use.

The workshop is open to anyone passionate about sound and video art. Musical background and education does not matter as long as you are ready to challenge your usual perspective on audiovisual performance. Composers, producers, sound designers, musicians, field recordists are all welcome to join our team for an innovative and highly creative experience.
No previous experience in electronics or programming is required, however participants should be familiar with digital music creation and live visuals.

Participation is limited to 8 candidates. If the number of participants is not enough the workshop will not take place.

Participants need to provide their own headphones, external soundcards and laptops with Pd-extended already installed. Free download is available at http://puredata.info/community/projects/software/pd-extended.

All the necessary material for the sensors will be provided, but participant must bring a solder and tin/lead. We will work either on Linux or Mac OSX (system have to be 10.6 or newer. If you don’t have access to any of them, please download a live distribution of Pure:Dyne at: http://puredyne.org/index.html

Musicians interested in augmenting their favourite musical instrument by means of body gestures are encouraged
to bring their instrument along. More information about the Xth Sense and a video of a live performance can be viewed on-line at http://marcodonnarumma.com/works/xth-sense/ or http://marcodonnarumma.com/works/music-for-flesh-ii/

The Sonorities Festival is the longest-running new music festival in Ireland and is one of the cornerstone Festivals in Europe presenting innovative new music. Run by the School of Creative Arts and the Sonic Arts Research Centre at Queen’s University Belfast, the Festival has always brought to Northern Ireland innovative ideas and sounds from across the world and the 2012 Festival is no exception in this regard. We are hosting a special event which has at its core the theme of The Body’s Music.

As digital technologies permeate and often dominate our daily lives, creative disciplines likewise become influenced, shaped and altered by those technological advances. The body’s relations to musical instruments, its connection and dis-connections with technological devices as well as the ways in which our bodies are being made audible (as well as visual) is a heightened concern for sonic arts practitioners. The grounding of music in / within the body can provide a familiar touchstone for listeners, and represents one of the strategies for engaging a broad spectrum of audience members with contemporary music. Practitioners continue to define and critically examine the threshold conditions between body and instrument and challenge continuities and discontinuities of body, as well as the changing role of the instrument itself.

The international symposia series, Two Thousand +, which has been running alongside the festival since 2006, will be dedicated to theme of The Body’s Music. For the symposium, we seek paper proposals from diverse performance practitioners (from music, dance, theatre and new media) and theorists that put the human body at the centre of their practices.

We are proud to announce dancer, choreographer and philosopher Susan Kozel and Ben Knapp as keynote speakers for the symposium.

Music for Flesh II | solo piece for Xth Sense biosensing wearable device from Marco Donnarumma aka TheSAD on Vimeo.

The workshop offers an hands-on experience and both theoretical and practical training in gestural control of music and bodily musical performance, deploying the brand-new biosensing technology Xth Sense.

Developed by the workshop teacher Marco Donnarumma within a research project at The University of Edinburgh, Xth Sense is a framework for the application of muscle sounds to the biophysical generation and control of music. It consists of a low cost, DIY biosensing wearable device and an Open Source based software for capture, analysis and audio processing of biological sounds of the body (Pure Data-based). Muscle sounds are captured in real time and used both as sonic source material and control values for sound effects, enabling the performer to control music simply with his body and kinetic energy. Forget your mice, MIDI controllers, you will not even need to look at your laptop anymore.

The Xth Sense biosensor was designed to be easily implemented by anyone, no previous experience in electronics is required. The applications of the Xth Sense technology are manifold: from complex gestural control of samples and audio synthesis, through biophysical generation of music and sounds, to kinetic control of real time digital processing of traditional musical instruments, and more.

Participants will be introduced to the Xth Sense Technology by its author and led through the assembling of their own biosensing wearable hardware using the materials provided. Next, they will become proficient with the Xth Sense software framework: all the features of the framework will be unleashed through practical exercises. Theoretical background on the state of art of gestural control of music and new musical instruments will be developed by means of an audiovisual review and participatory critical analysis of relevant projects selected by the instructor.

At the end of the workshop, participants will be free to keep the Xth Sense biosensors they built and the related software for their own use.

The workshop is open to anyone passionate about sound and music. No previous experience in electronics or programming is required, however participants should be familiar with digital music creation. Musical background and education does not matter as long as you are ready to challenge your usual perspective on musical performance. Composers, producers, sound designers, musicians, field recordists are all welcome to join our team for an innovative and highly creative experience.

Requirements and further info: Participants need to provide their own headphones, external soundcards and laptops with Pd-extended already installed. Free download is available at http://puredata.info/community/projects/software/pd-extended

We will work either on Linux or Mac OSX => 10.6 operating systems. If you don’t have access to any of them, please download a live distribution of Pure:Dyne at: http://puredyne.org/index.html

Musicians interested in augmenting their favourite musical instrument by means of body gestures are encouraged to bring their instrument along.

To reserve a place please contact ryan@ryanjordan.org and m@marcodonnarumma.com and you can pay online here:
http://nnnnn.org.uk/doku.p?hp?id=xth_sense&#fee_and_b?ooking

Why does a minor chord sound sad? Is there a formula for the perfect hit? Whistling, dancing, finger-snapping, and toe-tapping — what makes us do it? Find out when music and science join forces in an interactive bazaar of beats, sounds, and rhythm in the exhibition BIORHYTHM, created by the Science Gallery and presented at Eyebeam as part of the World Science Festival. Learn what drives sound manipulation and discover how different types of music evoke different emotions. Trace the power of an impactful pop hook in a song, measuring the way our brains and bodies react, down to the responses in our fingertips.

Included works: Binaural Head; Sonic Bed; Klangkapsel; Something for the Girl Who Has Everything; Optofonica Capsule; Theremin Inspector V2; Music, Emotion, Empathy; Heart ‘N’ Beat; Reactable; Contacts; Hear, Hear; Traffic; Instrumen; Body Snatcher; Chains of Emotion.

Opening Weekend Events:

6–9PM Friday, June 3 - OPENING RECEPTION

Featuring demonstrations by exhibiting artists Kaffe Matthews, Joan Healy, Reality Inspectors, and TeZ, and a live performance by exhibiting artist SARC in cooperation with guest musician Chesney Snow and The Stone Forest Ensemble.
Free with RSVP

Saturday, June 4

PANEL DISCUSSION

2-3PM Rhythms on the Brain: Music, Memory and Emotion

Discussion moderated by Joe Levy, Editor-in-Chief, MAXIM, and featuring neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux (NYU), Dave Katz (Sluggo) of the hit songwriting/producing duo S*A*M & SLUGGO, and John Leventhal, Grammy Award-winning musician, producer, and songwriter.

WORKSHOPS WITH EXHIBITING ARTISTS

3-4:30PM Lego Data Viz with Reality Inspectors

Join the Reality Inspectors at this workshop where following a discussion on their work Theremin Inspector V2, an interactive exhibit in BIORHYTHM which visualises the electromagnetic energy around you as you play a theremin. The Reality Inspectors will take you through a guided design process using legos to create a hands on visualization of real data from the workshop space.
Free with RSVP

4-6PM Create your own Sonic Bed track with Kaffe Matthews

Kaffe Matthews will lead participants in a workshop where they will learn how to create their own track on her Sonic Bed. The workshop will introduce participants to software and tools for composing a unique track using the 12 channel sound system on which the bed is based. They can begin this process in the workshop, and can adapt what they create over time and over the duration of the show. Knowledge of Max/MSP required.

More information on Biorhythm and World Science Festival events: http://worldsciencefestival.com/events/biorhythm

BIORHYTHYM is made possible through the generous support of Imagine Ireland, an initiative of Culture Ireland, and the Cordover Family Foundation. BIORHYTHM is created by Science Gallery and Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.

Opening weekend events have been organized as part of, and in cooperation with, World Science Festival.

“Soundw(e)ave, (Christy Matson’s) piece on show, is a self-referential textile, where the actual sounds of computerized Jacquard looms were used to create woven compositions. Her noisy sound waves were turned into three patterned pieces of fabric, made by hand-operated, computer-assisted and fully automated (Jacquard) looms, respectively – each weave growing progressively denser with the more advanced technologies used in their production. The piece, says Matson, was a huge turning point in her practice; it pointed her towards a kind of digital craftsmanship, where she was better able to place value on the ideas, materials and skillfulness needed to be an artisan across contemporary digital, craft and art domains.

For example, Matson then began weaving copper wire directly into her fabrics, and, using the magnetic waves our interactions generate and alter, engendered new aural compositions. In other words, her sonic sculpture turns cloth into a Theremin, where movement and hand-waving at the gallery are transformed into the kinds of musical gestures often associated with science-fiction films of the seventies. While Matson’s earlier, sound-generated works were generative and performative on some level, here she moves into real-time interaction, invoking our embodied relations to textiles, craft, technology and language, all in one fell swoop.”

As a part of our Non-Bio Boom season we are delighted to host a new work development residency by Marco Donnarumma, with Brendan F Doyle (Production Sound Engineering). The residency will conclude with two concerts over the course of one evening for bio-sensing wearable technologies.

The first concert will include Music for Flesh II, a new solo piece by Marco Donnarumma; the second concert will be the premiere of a multi-channel work specifically created by the artist for Inspace, which will actively involve the audience in an augmented Cagean Musicircus.

Xth Sense is an ongoing research project which investigates experimental applications of Open Source based, bio-sensing technologies for musical performance and responsive milieux. The Xth Sense software framework is implemented in Pure Data.

Marco Donnarumma is a performer, new media and sonic artist currently interested in critical analysis and development of experimental paradigms for embodied interaction in performative environments.

More about Music for Flesh II

Music for Flesh II is a solo sonic piece for augmented muscles sounds, which aims at demonstrating an experimental coupling between theatrical gesture and biological sounds of human body.

Composition was developed as a first milestone of the Xth Sense project, a broader ongoing research which investigates exploratory applications of biophysical sound design for musical performance and responsive milieux. The long-term outcome is the implementation of low cost, open source tools (software and hardware) capable of providing musicians, performers and dancers with a framework for biosensors-aided auditive design in a real time environment; such framework will be re-distributable, customizable and easy to set up.

Presently Xth Sense technology consists of a low-cost, biosensing wearable hardware device and a Pure Data-based framework for capture, analysis and real time processing of biological sounds of the body.

In Music for Flesh II the only musical instrument available to the performer is his own body. Performer’s voluntary muscles contractions produce kinetic energy, an acoustic sound which is captured by the biosensor and deployed as only sonic source. At the same time the biological signal undergoes a feature extraction which provides control parameters for the real time processing of muscles sounds.

Performer uses his body not only as a controller, but, more importantly, also as a truly real musical instrument; he is capable to actually creates music in real time exciting his muscles fibres.

Such paradigm attempts at informing classical gestural control of music and musical performance itself. During the execution both performer and listeners can perceive an authentic auditive and cognitive intimacy; the neat and natural responsiveness of the system prompts a suggestive and unconventional coupling of sound and gestures.

One of the major aims of the design of Music for Flesh II was to avoid a perception of the sound being dissociated from the performer’s gesture. The dissociation I point at does not only refer to the visual feedback of performer’s actions being disjointed from the sonic experience, but it also concerns a metaphorical level affecting the listener’s interpretation of the sounds generated by the performer’s somatic behaviour. Therefore, chosen sound processing techniques were evaluated according to their capability of enhancing the metaphorical interpretation of performer’s physiological behaviour.

Additional Information

The use of open source technologies is an integral aspect of the research. The biosensing wearable device was designed and implemented by Marco Donnarumma, with the support of Edinburgh Hacklab, Andrea Donnarumma and Marianna Cozzolino. The Pure Data-based framework for real time analysis and processing of biological sounds was designed and coded by the author on a Linux machine, with inspiring advice by Martin Parker, Sean Williams, Owen Green and Andy Farnell.

Below you can view a live recording of the performance at The University of Edinburgh, UK, March 2001.
Music for Flesh II, for solo performer Marco Donnarumma (Xth Sense biosensing technology).

Music for Flesh II - solo piece for Xth Sense biosensing wearable device from Marco Donnarumma aka TheSAD on Vimeo.

Live sound from multiple sound makers is streamed from a set of wireless transmitters placed at opposing sides of an urban space. These transmitters broadcast these audio streams locally on the same radio frequency to a group of participants wearing wireless headphones tuned to this frequency. Because the transmitters broadcast on the same local frequency, a zone of interference is created where multiple audio streams compete for signal dominance.

Participants carry umbrellas made of electromagnetic field (EMF) shielding fabric that enable them to actively shape the surrounding environment of radio waves. By orienting the umbrella in different ways, one is able to filter the interfering radio signals and select a single audio stream to listen to.

The movements of the crowd are sensed by accelerometers attached to the umbrellas and this data is broadcast locally to the sound makers via an ad-hoc wireless network, who in turn use these data streams to modify the sound streams. The resultant feedback loop provides for a form of indirect communication, where the sound producers influence bodily movement of the crowd that in turn influences the sounds the producers make.

Daito Manabe has a history of conducting quirky, painful experiments in which he administers shocks to the human body — usually his own — powerful enough to cause involuntary muscle contractions. He uses electricity, music, computers and video to expand on what were literally the earliest scientific experiments ever to be recorded photographically — the electrical shocks to the face of Parisians administered in the 19th century by Guillaume Duchenne.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh8YYONrLIc

… Manabe has integrated with a touch-sensitive control system his earlier experiments in syncing the movements of his own face to music by administering shocks powerful enough to induce involuntary muscle contractions.

Read more: http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/mimssbits/26183/?nlid=3912

One of the extraordinary features of the mammalian sound detection system is the range over which it works. This extends from 11 KHz in birds to 200 KHz in marine mammals.

This is only possible because the inner ear amplifies sounds by a factor of up to 4000. That’s a huge amount of gain. So much, in fact, that it’s hard to square with conventional thinking about mechanical amplification. So there is much head scratching among biologists over how the ear achieves this amplification.

Part of the puzzle is that the amplification is not entirely passive. The inner ear is essentially a fluid-filled tube, divided along its length by a thin elastic membrane. This membrane is covered in hair cells, which come in two types.

The so-called inner hair cells convert pressure waves within the fluid into electrical signals the brain can interpret. However, the outer hair cells act like mechanical amplifiers. When struck by a pressure wave, the cells themselves begin to vibrate at the same frequency, thereby boosting the wave as it passes.

The trouble is that measurements using outer hair cells indicate that they amplify pressure waves by a factor of about 10, a gain that falls far short of what’s required.

Today, however, Tobias Reichenbach and James Hudspeth at The Rockefeller University in New York city say they’ve worked out what else is going on to boost the signal.

Sound enters the inner ear as a pressure wave which travels through the fluid filled chamber, causing the membrane that divides it along its length to vibrate, like a sheet of rubber. Since the hair cells sit on this membrane they also move.

Reichenbach and Hudspeth calculate that the vibration of the outer hair cells not only amplifies the pressure wave, but also increases the displacement of the membrane, like a child bouncing on a trampoline.

When these effects combine, they result in a positive feedback effect, which creates a huge gain. This easily explains the 4000x amplification. In fact, the team says the gain can be even larger: “The overall cochlear gain, the product of these two components, can exceed 10,000,” say Reichenbach and Hudspeth.

All that remains is for the experimentalists to devise a way of showing that this is actually the process that achieves the gain, admittedly not the easiest of tasks. But one that could soon lead to this conundrum being settled once and for all.

Ref: arxiv.org/abs/1009.2034: Dual Contribution To Amplification In The Mammalian Inner Ear

Thanks to the physics arXiv blog — 13 September, 2010

Halsey Burgund is a musician and sound artist who lives and works in Bedford, MA. Burgund’s projects are collaborative and provide participants with an active role in content creation. Part of generation Wiki and the democratization of knowledge, Burgund uses open source platforms, GPS technology, and interactivity to create musical scores from participants’ spoken words that continuously evolve in real-time. Scapes, Burgund’s project for PLATFORM 3, creates a two-way audio experience for museum visitors influenced significantly by their physical location on deCordova grounds. Participants will use handheld wireless devices and headphones to listen to audio and also to make their own recordings which will be immediately assimilated into the piece for everyone to hear. Organized by former Koch Curatorial Fellow Nina Gara Bozicnik and current Koch Curatorial Fellow Lexi Lee, the exhibition will be accompanied by a full-color brochure.