May 10 & 11 5pm-9pm
Spring Show 2005
721 Broadway
at Waverly Place
4th Floor
South Elevators
New York, NY 10003
For additional
information email
itp.inquiries@nyu.edu
or call 212.998.1880
| SpinCycle | ||
|---|---|---|
| Author(s): | Spencer Kiser | |
| Instructor: | D'Arcangelo, Gideon | |
| Class: | New Interfaces for Musical Expression: Tools for the Remix | |
| URL: | http://stage.itp.nyu.edu/~sk1800/mt/archives/cat_new_interfaces_for_musical_expression.html | |
| Keywords: | turntable, DJ, music, sampling, remix | |
| SpinCycle is a visual turntable that allows the DJ to arrange and play back music in real time with small, brightly colored discs. | ||
| SpinCycle uses a camera rather than a needle to play back sounds. Using a software interface, the DJ can record samples from a sound source and assign them a color on the fly. Each sound is then represented by a 2-inch colored plexi disc, which the DJ can rearrange at will as the turntable spins. A camera tracks the colored discs in the same way a needle transduces the grooves on a record. Using a traditional DJ setup (two turntables and a mixer), the user can mix a record with a spontaneous remix of itself. | ||
| Personal Statement: | I performed as a DJ in Europe in the 90s, and I was always looking for ways to extend the capabilities of the traditional DJ gear. | |
| Background: | In the spirit of the original turntablists, SpinCycle is an attempt to find a creative means of making new music out of the sounds that surround us. | |
| Audience: | DJs, music lovers, synesthetes. | |
| User Scenario: | I imagine this being used as a performance tool for DJs using a typical DJ setup. It is also fun to use by itself with preselected samples. | |
| Technical System Description: | I use an Isight to track a scan line along the radius of the turntable. Sample recording, playback and color tracking is done using MAX/MSP/Jitter on a laptop. It was important for me that the color discs correspond directly to the sound being played as it passes through the scan line; samples are not simply triggered by color. I use an algoritm to alter the speed of the sample depending on where the color is seen along the radius (objects move more slowly when they are situated closer to the center), and I use granular synthesis to preserve the pitch of the sample regardless of the speed to facilitate mixing with the source. | |
| Project References, Research and Literature: | I studied the work of my friends in Involving Systems in Germany who created a screen based installation called Heavy Rotation Revisor, where samples are pulled from internet radio and placed on a radar screen for playback. | |
| Conclusions: | Upcoming features include adding scratch capability and a loop function.
I also plan to create an installation piece called SynSpin, which assigns tones to colors and allows the user to draw on record shaped paper and play their drawings. | |