The Chaos pad

The Kaoss Pad

When the Kaoss pad KP1 was launched in 1999 is was a new and exciting way to use effects. It hosts a square touch panel that is sensitive to the figure and can be used to control effects in real time. It also has a built in single sample memory that allows the user to record and manipulate in a number of ways.

The Kaoss pad works as an all in one sampler, effects processor and tangible midi controller for audio and musical instruments. It allows the user audio control in real time over effects, samples and records. The player can control how effect is used and the amount by placing a single fingertip upon the tangible square surface. The parameters of effects are controlled completely using the x and y coordinates on the pad. Ruling both horizontal and vertical directions means that it is possible to control the effect time by stroking right, whilst simultaneously a downwards stroke can have power over the amount of feedback on the effect, these work instead of faders. By tapping lightly on the kaoss pad works like a switch and can control the effects, on and off. The benefit of having a touch screen x-y calibration instead of sliders, faders and knobs means that the koass pad can be small, light, compact and easier to use.
The kaoss pad contains effects such as;

Reverb
Delay
Pitch shifter
Sound processing filters
Modulation effects such as
Flanger
Chorus
Panning
Phaser
Ring modulation

The pad also allows the user control over sampling, and records from a source like CD to the pad for a maximum or five seconds at 48 kHz. The sample can then be used with the koass pad and modified using the effects available. This feature allows the player to intragrate sampled effects into a live set. The Kaoss pad also allows the user to connect a microphone and operates though a Jack. By singing or playing into the microphone allows the user to manipulate and sample the incoming signal in real time.

Since the KP1, Korg have developed and updated their products such as;

KP2 and the KPE2 (Kaoss pad enhancer) a kaoss pad that controls and manipulates both audio and video

KP3

Mini-KP, in the spring of 2008 Korg developed the last in the chain of kaoss pads the Mini-KP a smaller version of its brother the KP3, this kaoss pad hosts 2 memory banks, 100 new effects and holds 4 AA batteries. Making it safe to circuit bend and manipulate internally.

Personally I am not a fan of the chaos pad, and because of its natual ability to easily make alot of noise, it makes it hard to use well and effectivly, given to the wrong person the chaos pad can be a little bit overwelming.

A example of somone using the chaos pad 3 well is Beardy man, he uses his voice to make loops and samples of words aswell as beat boxing, conbineing it with drum samples stored within the memory of the chaos pad. He also using a vocodera and other effects such as chorus, delay and reverb. You can see in the video how he is using his fingure of the touch pad to manipulate diferent aspects of the music he creating.I think this is very effective and I enjoyed watching it. Beardy man makes it look easy and fun to use a chaos pad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39n4wow8fWE

Tangible Musical Interface "Tangible Sequencer"

As my projects unfolds I find myself becoming more and more interested in the way that computers are used to create a new and exciting music. Using technology to make live music gives the performer a much more versatile approach to making that music more remarkable. Other instruments, excluding the reactable, have also been developed and I am now going to share with you a few more of the ones I find most intriguing. 

The Tangible Sequencer 

http://www.tangiblesequencer.com/

I found this attention grabbing instrument whilst researching "tangible musical interface" on google. It's quirky and simple design is what first grabbed my attention, it processes eight different colored blocks, each have a large triangular play button design upon them, that lights up in time with the music that they produce. 

Pressing this button ques the music to play, this then becomes more fascinating when you start to place these blocks next to each other. When more than block is placed in sequence they become aware of each other and the sounds that they produce start to play in sequence with each other hence the name tangible sequencer. 

Composition is made by laying out the blocks on a flat surface in a shape like a line or circle. If the blocks are placed in a circle the music will loop, where as if the blocks are placed in a line the music will stop when the last block in that sequence plays. Yet the music can be changed in real time by moving the blocks from one place in the sequence to another.

So...... how does it works?

Each coloured box sends a signal to the computer via a low powered radio, called a zigbee radio, to play a sound, once the box has finished playing its sound it signals to any objects close to it via infrared and thus a chain of music can be heard.

The software that is uses is known as Open GL, GLUT and STK for the audio, yet I am unfamiliar with these forms of software.

Comparisons 

Like the reacTable the Tangible Sequencer uses tangible blocks, but it has a different approach to making music. 

They use different softwere and hardware,

The ReacTable Experience

I like the word "Collaboration", just as I like the word "sharing".

Collaboration means working together and it is a very important thing that people have been doing since the dawn of time. Bridges do not get built with one pair of hands, just as Rome wasn't build in a day.

The collaborative nature of the ReacTable allows groups of people to play together simultaneously. This opens up the opportunity for each person to explore their own, and each others creativity, whilst creating music and visual delights.

The ReacTable is extremely entertaining not only to watch but to play. From building one I have found that mine is very satisfying to use. Being secure in the knowledge that when you place a object down a sound can be heard, and by twisting that object "you" the user can control the pitch and this can be very pleasing.

The ReacTable experience is a version of the reacTable that has been developed for museums and other places such as schools for demonstration and experiments. Based on the real thing, this version of the ReacTable is robust and designed for the casual user and children. It is suited well for people interested in new music development and especially children who are beginning to explore the many possibilities of creating sound and music.

Children grasp the concept of the ReacTable quickly and can create sound from the moment they start to use it. Inprovisation is naturally easy and children and users soon start to explore the avenues of sound creating more complex composition.

If you fancy having a go, "The ReacTable Experience" can be found at any one of these venues;

Intech Science Center, UK
Discovery World, USA
Museum of Science and Industry, USA
Polymechanon Science Center, Greece
Museo Papalote del Niño, Mexico
Montréal Science Centre, Canada
CosmoCaixa, Spain
ZKM, Germany
Santralistanbul, Turkey
Museum für Kommunikation, Switzerland
Science Centre Singapore

Sub Mix Pro, Italy
experimenta, Germany

The ReacTable experience is also available to rent for your own exibition, you can do this at the reacTable website, if are your interested go to http://www.reactable.com/.

The ReacTable in a Commercial Environment

I think the most well known person to use a Reactable is Bjork. She appeared on Jools Holland in 2007, and gave a truly remarkable performance.

Bjork plays with the ReacTable in her set. She demonstrates an avant-garde nature and shows clearly her pursuit of forever finding new and interesting sound.

The interview, however, was disappointing because Jools holland does not ask her anything about her music, which to me is the most important thing. Instead Jools Holland talks about Bjorks new album cover.

From looking at the comment on this performance on Youtube.com, it is clear to see how interested the public is with this strange new musical instrument. Know one nows much about it, but people are interested in it.

There a couple of questions people ask me when I show them ReacTable video's.

1. Do I think it will catch on?
2. Will DJ's be replacing their CD decks for a ReacTable?

Untill the reacTable team bring out a more easy to construct, works out of the box product, i dont think people will be likely to use them.

The reacTable has been around since 2004 and it's now 2010 and the only well known artist I can find using one in her set is Bjork. They do look pretty intimadating and learning how to play one is just as hard as learing how to build one.

Im sure that this will happen soon though, but at a hefty price.

The reacTable however can be spotted on tour around the world in underground clubs and festivals. If your interested in seeing one live then check out,

http://www.reactable.com/about/events/

If a showing is near you and you get the chance, go! If not hold tight, the reacTable will visit a town near you soon . In the mean time there are lots of demonstrations and performance video's on the youtube.com.

Tangiable Fidicial Blocks

The above picture shows a ReacTable tangiable object, note the fiducial on one side. These are made out of perspex and the fiducuial is inlayed within the plasic. To have tangiable like this will set you back alot of money, because of the material and also because they will have to be custom made for you.

But I was still curious...

So I emailed the reacTable website to find out how much it would cost, and the got back to me straight away with the following email...

"Hi Abigail,

we produce them ourselves, we can sell you a Reactable set if you're interested. The price of a full set is €400,- If you need more information let me know.

All the best,

--Marcos Alonso

Reactable Systems

(+34) 93 1820 777

http://www.reactable.com/"

A little steap and out of my price range but I was happy that I got a responce from one of the men who helped make it.

Deturmined to find a alternitive way I emailed other, more local plasic molding factorys in the UK. I tryed http://luminati.co.uk/.

I emailed them the imformation on how meny I required, which was 20, the fiducial picture i wanted inlayed within the plastic, and the size, and shape.

He most Kindly emailed me back with this:

"Dear Abigail

Thanks for the additional information.

As a one off project, I would suggest that we would need to charge around £350 minimum as there is a lot of fiddling around. For production, prices would drop significantly. If you require a formal quote, please can you supply all of the print ready artwork.

Thanks

John Gall
Director
Luminati Waycon Ltd
john@luminati.co.uk ~ DDI : 01752 897928 ~ T : 01752 698720 ~ F : 01752 698116"

Again far too much but I was supprised to notice that the price of geting them custom made in the UK was about the same size if I was to buy them from spain.

The pro's of buying them from spain is that I would get a set identical to the ones being used on the reactable, It would be alot easyer to buy them from the ReacTable website.
Yet

If I bought my own from Luminati.co.uk I would have more creative licence meaning I could design them how I want have different shapes and colours to the ones they use on the true ReacTable, making mine different, and I like different.

But Alas having tangiables made in this material is to expensive, so I have to think of alternitive ways of making my tangiable blocks.

The good thing and most important reason why the tangiables inleyed in a perspex object is because the fiducial must be clear at all times when in contact with the video camera. Having the fiducial inlayed in plasic makes the tangiable more duriable and easyer to clean if dirty.

If a printed out paper fiducial is just idily stuck on the bottom of an object, that that fiducial picture will soon get grubby, and the paper will start to peel away after time. So I begain to think about a few factors of making my tangiable blocks, I wanted a material that is,

1. light, so if droped on the glass surface the interface will not smash,
   
2. strong,


3. cheap


4. easy to find

I also needed to make my fiducial pictures stronger and more durable than a simple sheet of paper.

I thought of lots of materials such as wood, but in the end I decided on using blocks of duplo.

The good thing I think with using Duplo instead of wood is that it would be lighter because its plastic, and easer to get hold of, as most toy shops stock duplo, but it would probily proove more expensive than wood. Also they are a good size.

Another thing I liked about using duplo is the fact that it is in its pure form a childs building block, and from one of my early posts I said that, building blocks are implortant to a childs learning, and creative thinking, and also it links to the idea of collaberation, I like this idea.

I found a large box of duplo for cheaper than I expected, it cost me £6.99 from the Entertainer shop in Cardiff Queens Arcade, which I thought was quite resonable. Below are some pictures of me making the tangiable blocks.

I selected two peices of duplo that were the same size and stuck them together useing glue, I then filled in the square holes with tishue paper and succured this with celetape. I did this so that the fiducial picture will have a more sturdy base to lie on. I then carefully cut out the fiducial marker and it's number, laminated the paper fiducial and finaly stuck the fiducial to the bottom of the new tangiable object using super glue.

I made 14 of these bocks and they are light, easy to move around the table, but the down side it that they are hard to tell apart from each other. I will have to mark them with a pen to know which one does what. This of course will not look as fancy as the ones designed by the reactable people but it's a nice, cheap and fun do it your self way of creating tangiables.

Translucent Tabletop!!

I had a go at taking out the IR filter from the PS3 eye toy, and it didn't work. I ended up just completely destroying my eye toy. This is a massive blow to my visual project status, and I cannot afford a camera with the price tag of  £1000 which will mean that I cant go ahead with succesfully projecting a visual aid onto the tabletop! This obviously is a great pity as I have been making progress with animation.  

I must admit that I will be unable to accomplish such a light show in the time that I have, and leave this part of the ReacTable for now.

However this does not mean, that I will not get visual feedback working at some point. As my dead line looms closer, I concentrate on making music with it. I will keep you all posted on any progress I make with the visual feedback.

I now need to buy another camera and start making some sound.

I would also like to add, for thoes who it may concern  that I made some progress with making my glass translucent.

I orded a sample from windowfilm.com and this is a picture of it....

I will continue with the visual feedback research after the hand in date for my final year project. 

I will get this working at some point, so watch this space.

Projector Research

This part of my research is prooving to be the most challenging so far. There seems to be very little information on this feature.

The Projector 

The Phillips LCD projector belongs to my collage, I will use this for testing.

I need to find out if this projector will be suitable for projecting the visual aid onto the surface. 

I have one problem with testing this tho, my table top is not yet translucent. Therefore it the beam of light will just shine straight though the glass.For the time being I made a paper circle of the same diameter of my glass tabletop and stuck it on the wall. By doing this I can work out the distance between the projector and the top of the table.

Calerbration 

Open ReacTivision and by pressing (h) on the keyboard you can access its proputys.

(note:The below picture is displayed in "sorce mode", which comes up if you press (s) on 

your keypad.)

I project the following image onto the white piece of paper that represents my tabletop. To get to this display press (c) on your keyboard. 

(c) means "Toggle Calibration" and can be found under the "CalibrationEngin" heading.

You can change the calibration to fit your personal needs by using (a), (d), (w) and (x) allows you to move though the cross points in this picture. The direction keys on your keypad allows you to modify the graph.

I projected this image onto the white sheet of paper, stood back till it fitted, and took a measument of the beam. To my horror I discovered that the distance of the beam was 9 foot.

I ask myself these question...

1. Where is the projector possitioned in the true ReacTable
2. How is it set up?

I found this picture on the internet

From looking at this picture it tells me a few things..

1. The projector is fixed to the top of the cabinet,
   
2. A mirror is used to extend the distance,
3. IR LED's are used to illuminate the cabinet,
4. the glass table top is not transparent.

I suspect that the mirror could be concave, I will think about this when I start experimenting with mirrors.

Another interesting thing about this picture is the glass tabletop, if I want the visual feed back I need something to project on to which means that I need to figure out a way of changing my transparent glass surface into a frosted translucent interface like the one in the picture.