Ressources.ircam

Audio setup

Two microphones are required :

• one for sound processing on the violin body (called "Violin Mike")
• the other one, on stand, for simple sound amplification

Loudspeaker setup

Software installation

MaxMSP 6.1 on a MacBookPro under MacOs X 10.6 or above.

Initialization routine

on the Mac :

Set the File Preferences to the folders lib/ and snd/.

Open BogenLied-034_2014 on the Audio Mac.

Audio Patch presentation

The Max/MSP sound patch contains two granular synthesis modules and several effects. The first granulator is used to produce drones (pedal-notes) triggered by the bow strokes.

A separate drone is linked to each bowing styles: G, A, and E for détaché, martelé and spiccato, respectively.

The second granulator is used for real-time processing of the violin sound. The audio signal from the microphone is stored in a 5 second circular buffer~, and 100 to 200 ms grains are played back from this buffer.

The granular synthesis sound is processed through several standard effects: frequency-shifter, harmonizer, filter and vocoder. Different combinations and parameterizations of these effects are used in each section.

In the original version, some parameters were controlled in realtime by the gesture data, using Ircam extended bow ; in this version these parameters are controlled directly by the violin sound, using temporal audio descriptors related to the bowing techniques.

Performance notes

On the Max patch, you can select the current section with the menu or using the left and right arrow keys on the computer keyboard.

The musical form of BogenLied is a simple linear form divided into nine sections, alternatively with and without electronics.

In section II, IV and VI, the musical writing is focused on specific articulations of bow strokes: détaché, martelé, spiccato.

Each of these sections is associated to specific compositional materials, as well as to specific electronic sound processes.

In the two final sections, the choice of the electronic processes is driven by the recognition system.The electronic sound is then built as a combination of the electronic processes performed in section II, IV and VI.

In section VIII, the three bowing styles appear successively, along with their associated compositional material.

In the last section (IX), the performer plays hybrid bow strokes, which sequence appears as a series of “mutations” from one articulation to another one.

The last event in the list should be triggered on the violin last note.