Archive for January, 2010

UTS Sydney Assoc Prof Bert Bongers

Eva Saether & Per Skold Malmo Sweden

Matt Thibeault from University of Illinois Urbana Champaign USA and Doctoral student Melanie Matchett

Tim Kitchen Strathcona Melbourne Australia

Alex Ruthmann & Tony Beatrice University of Massachusetts Lowell USA

Thorin Kerr development programmer for ACID’s Network Jamming project has developed a unique approach for using the One Laptop Per Child OLPC XO ccomputer as a musical instrument. Jam2jam presents a band or ensemble metaphor for collaborative  music making with computers. Thorin and the  Network Jamming team have developed a suite of software applications that allow  novice users to plays the computer or a controller as an instrument in a live real time ensemble. For the XO Thorin has made good use of the Sugar environment to create a network jamming experience. Players can use bass, guitar, drums and keyboards by simply moving the arrow keys  horizontally and vertically. These gestures affect a pitch and density algorithm and  a musical style and sound samples for each instrument.

Jammers can then play together by joining the jam host and their instruments syncronise over the Mesh network.

What is exciting about this is that each  computer acts as a single instrument and the Jammers can play collaboratively as aband or ensemble in real time. The idea of  the computers as a distributed intelligence rises up in the design whilst it provides an experience design that activates the collaborative energy of music ensemble collaboration and creative improvisation.

We are looking forward to developing some visual features suing the inbuilt camera and engaging  interested musicians in developing some Jam scenes as musical styles with new midi files and instrument samples alongside some recipes for jamming.