Web journal for Richard Johnson's project for Mechatronic Art, Fabrication and Design III
Abstract
I intend to build a bass clarinet that is partially controlled mechanically. A performer will have some control over the instrument by opening and covering two air holes. The distance between these holes will be adjusted by motorized slides. These slides can be controlled in a number of ways, but I plan to focus on having the instrument react to what the performer is playing. I will also experiment with giving control directly to the performer; programming the instrument to carry out a set of instructions; and letting a different performer or audience member control the instrument. I know of many experimental and mechanical instruments, as well as computer programs that respond to a performance. This is an exciting project because it combines these elements so that the instrument itself is responding to the music. I hope that this will create interesting new musical opportunities, as well as new experiences for performers and audiences.
Time Plan
4/14 Complete materials testing
4/21 Complete component fabrication
4/29 Build first version of instrument, without mechanical control
5/5 Add mechanical control
5/12 Preliminary programming done
5/19 Refine programming and develop alternate methods of control
5/26 Finish composition State Diagram Research Methodology -how will you know people will response in a particular way? I do not know that people will respond to this project in a particular way. It has been my experience that people react to my instruments in many different ways: curiosity, disinterest, inspiration. All of these reactions are fine with me. -what's new about what you're doing? I have not found any musical instruments that are actively responding to what a performer is doing. (This does not mean that there are none). There are many examples of computers interacting with performers, but this has usually been done externally, through a second instrument or loudspeakers. The performers have always been forced to react to what the computer does, but I think that this reaction will be very different when the instrument itself is changing its behavior. -how do you guarantee a contribution? I am not able to guarantee that a contribution to instrument design or interactive music will be made with this project. There is a definite chance that the instrument will not work well, or that it will create no new interesting musical situations. We could argue that even a failed attempt makes a contribution by learning how or why something doesnÕt work, but this would make the contribution question meaningless. -theory & practice, what's the relationship between your idea & the actual work? I imagine the main difference between my ideas for this instrument and how it will actually work will deal with the interaction of the instrument and the performer. I have a number of ideas about this interaction, but I am sure that some of them will not work very well, and that the completed instrument will suggest many other modes of interaction. -how do you get from one to the other? This is probably a problem, but I am not concerned about making sure that my ideas are fulfilled perfectly. I usually find the surprises that appear when a project is complete to be some of the most enjoyable parts. Historical Background I trace the origins of this project back in two directions: musical instrument exploration and experiments with artificial intelligence in music. For the first of these, I like to imagine the first human who banged two sticks together, liked the sound and tried to think about what could be done with these sticks and how the sound could be improved. This is a very primitive concept for 2008, but it is still the most important ting to me: finding sounds that I like and imagining new possibilities for them. This line of experimenting with instruments continued for thousands of years, through the people who first built early versions of todayÕs instruments, to the master builders (Amadi, Stradiverius, Boehm, etc.) who pushed these instruments to remarkable levels of quality. At a certain point, improving the standard instruments became very difficult (in some cases impossible), but people continued to experiment, questioning what an instrument could be, how a performer can interact with an instrument, and what exactly it means for an instrument to sound well. Adolph Sax combined the clarinet with brass instruments to create the now standard saxophone. Harry Partch experimented with microtonal tunings and sound sources inspired by other cultures. In the past twenty years there has been an explosion of new instruments and sound devices. The other element in this project is much more recent, and something that I am less familiar with. Artificial intelligence in music has been explored extensively, partially because of the interesting challenges that it creates. The examlpe that I am most familiar with is George LewisÕ Voyager. Over the course of this project I am hoping to learn a lot more about this field and find interesting applications for my instrument. My earlier attempts at experimental bass clarinets Bibliography Gilmore, Bob. Harry Partch, a Biography. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998. Hopkins, Bart. Air Columns and Toneholes Hopkins, Bart. Musical Instrument Design Lewis, George. Too Many Notes: Computers, Complexity and Culture in Voyager. Computer Music Journal, Vol. 19, No. 1 (Spring, 1995), pp. 109-110 Miranda, Eduardo Reck, ed. Readings in Music and Artificial Intelligence. Amsterdam: Harwood Academic, 2000. Rowe, Robert. Machine Musicianship. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2001. Schwanauer, Stephan M. and David A. Levitt, eds. Machine Models of Music. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1993. Links
Experimental Musical Instruments League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots Mechanics This instrument has some tricky mechanical issues that were only completely resolved in the past few days. There are three slides that require fast linear movement. I am using high-torque servo motors to move the slides. I had to build some piston-like arms to turn the servos radial motion into linear motion. This is working well, though for a bit it seemed like the arms would pull the slides out of their paths just enough to provide too much friction for the motors to overcome. Fabrication Issues I thought that the biggest fabrication challenge for this project would be to create the slides. This was certainly the biggest unknown. If the slides didn't work, there would be no hope for the instrument. It took many hours to find the right size pipes and lathe them to the proper diameters. In the end it worked fine, however, it was difficult to get the pairs of pipes parallel so that the slides could work on the instrument. Also, mounting the servo motors in the proper place was a big challenge. Without the cnc router this would have been even more difficult. This is a sample of the gcode that produced these pieces. Here are the plans for the pieces that hold the pipes and motors in position. Wiring Code Revisions There were a few things that I changed as I worked on this project, but none of them were major. Most related to minor fabrication issues that didn't effect the overall functioning or appearance of the instrument. I was planning to have the plastic pipe ends hold most of the weight, but they were not strong enough or precise enough to keep the pipes parallel. I then planned to use aluminum for the rest of the structure, but wood turned out to be much easier to use for this. If I was starting over, I might have choosen to use stepper motors instead of servos. This would have provided more power without the noise of the servos, but would have created other challenges for mounting things. Presentation Scenario This is a tricky issue for this project, because the instrument requires a musician. It would be possible to have the instrument set up in a space and have people approach it and play it, but they would need to know how to make a bass clarinet embouchure, as well as be comfortable putting a germ-laden mouthpiece in their mouth. For these reasons, I plan to use this primarily as a traditional instrument during performances. For our class presentation, I will perform a short improvisation to give everyone a sense of the sound of the instrument and the interactions between performer and instrument. Language of Praise I consider this to be a very successful project for two reasons. The first and most important is that I learned a huge amount. Every aspect was something new for me, and I am sure that this new knowledge and these new skills will be tremendously helpful for me while working on future projects. I also learned a great deal about developing and planning a long-term project. The second reason that I am pleased with this project is that the instrument works pretty well. I like the way it sounds and I find it very interesting to play, reacting to what the motors are suggesting that I do. I can imagine myself playing this instrument for many years, trying to learn what it can do and how best to take advantage of its unique characteristics. The big question that remains to be answered is if the project is successful on other levels. If this is just a slightly new bass clarinet, I'll be happy with that, but I'd really like it to be much more. I would like it to create new musical situations, invite audiences to listen in different ways, and provide musicians with new challenges. I am concerned that many people will be intrigued by the robotic element and will not listen and think about the object in a deeper way. I will be interested to see how this is received as I play it for people in the coming months.
