Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Algorithms are Thoughts, Chainsaws are Tools from Stephen Ramsay on Vimeo.

Andrew Sorensen’s Live coding with Impromptu is critiqued by Stephen Ramsay

Thorin Kerr demonstrates a reggae groove using jam2jam on OLPC. With this program we are wanting to emphasise the cultural fluidity of the content so that when new communities play with jam2jam the content they can play with will be one that they value and can be expressive with. Thorin’s work with OLPC is showing that we can put very different content on jam2jam for OLPC so that when it goes to communities around the world we can use content from that place that resonates and engages. Jam2jam research began like this when we asked Afro American kids in Ohio what kind of music they liked and then made generative styles based on those preferences. Whilst most of our styles are what we might call ‘Pop or rock’  we can do anything from abstract electronica to Bach or Xenakis or any tuning and rhythmic system. The ethics of musical content is an important consideration and we hope to place these choices in the hands of the users in their own communities to select and make.

The Jam2jam OLPC Crew: Steve Dillon, Thorin Kerr & Andrew Brown

If some one loves a flower, of which just one single blossom grows in all the millions and millions of stars, it is enough to make him happy just to look at the stars. He can say to himself: ‘Somewhere, my flower is there…’

Pioneering Aboriginal singer-songwriter Ruby Hunter has died.

A Ngarrindjeri woman, Hunter was born in 1955 near the banks of the Murray River in South Australia.

She was a member of the Stolen Generations, having been forcibly removed from her family at the age of eight.

Hunter met her lifelong partner and musical soul mate Archie Roach when she was 16. Both were homeless teenagers at the time.

Roach and Hunter have been described as a singing/songwriting team of extraordinary spirit.

Review by Lia Laor Levinsky College of Education, Israel International Journal of Education and the Arts

” Dillon’s attempt to understand the personal meaning of music for young people is particularly
important in view of past attempts to stay close to scientific modes of thinking.”

“In my view, the major innovation in Dillon’s book is his point of departure for developing his
vision of music education through children. He is interested in examining children’s unique
outlook of their musical experiences and the relevance of this experience to their lives, and
factors that enable children to develop self-contained dialogue with music through listening,
performing, and creating. “

Lia provides an insightful and helpful review in the light of strengthening the thesis for a relational pedagogy based upon our relationship to knowledge in ontological sense radiating out towards the epistemological. It is indeed an  honour to receive these thoughts from an expert in the philosophy of relationships such as this. I am humbled by the insight and attention to the ideas. Steve Dillon

Thorin Kerr Demonstrates jam2jam for OLPC using a Country and western style with web cam images. This shows the extended functionality of network jamming with both music and images DJ/VJ. This will enable users to jam collaboratively with OLPC instruments in real time and also capture images.

Whilst the sound on these little machines is only heard through the tiny inbuilt speakers through headphones or a stereo the sounds are lovely samples.

Download report click here

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.