The Computer Orchestra

Computer Orchestra is a system that integrates a collection of sounds (a person’s own voice, instrumental sample, or any other audio) submitted through crowd-sourcing and then allows the user to construct his or her own orchestra of computers. A Kinect senses the user’s conducting movements and relays this data to Processing, which then commands a particular computer via WiFi to play a particular sound, collectively creating an orchestra. Each computer’s screens display visual feedback in addition to the sound being played. I find this project interesting since it incorporates a collection of sounds generated by the human voice. There is something humanizing about creating an orchestra using this crowd-sourced method of sound collection rather than an orchestra that plays synthesized music based purely on an algorithm. Just like a conductor with a human orchestra, the computers in this project will play with continued arm motion and will hold a note when the conductor holds her arm out steady. Additionally, another person can benefit from a different experience than the conductor by walking amongst the computers and hearing different sounds depending on where he is positioned in the room.

Audible Color

Music is typically an audio-only experience, although many people visualize it as notes on a staff or as abstract shapes. This project generates sounds based on color using Processing. Using a camera, droplets of red, blue and green hues are mapped to certain musical notes, and mixing these hues creates different notes. The size of the droplets are mapped to volume and the frequency at which a note is played. The color source isn’t limited to water droplets; they can be acrylic paint or solid objects. I like the idea of mapping sound to the color spectrum in this project, but this project doesn’t seem to take into account the location of the colors in the camera’s field of view; I think it would be interesting to have the sound be generated based on the color’s location, similar to how notes are read on a musical score.