Intro to Max MSP and Vancouver Laptop Orchestra

May 11th, 14th, 18th & 21st, 7-8:30 pm. The main objective of this workshop is to gain a fundamental knowledge of Max/MSP in order to design and control sonic interactive environments through gesture tracking onto non-traditional (game controllers) and traditional instruments. Students will gain insight into essential audio programming; including techniques in sound synthesis, sample creation and playback, filtering and live processing. This workshop will culminate to a final performance in which students will collaboratively compose a piece. The ensemble will perform using gestures to manipulate sound parameters that they have programmed onto game controllers and acoustic instruments.

This course will lay a foundation upon which students can further explore additional sensor technology within the Max/MSP environment through programming gestural data into musical expression. Musical performers are able to utilize these skills and combine them into their current performance practice. Musicians can add sensors onto their acoustic instruments to control sound and visuals.

This course is for beginners and non-programmers and builds the foundation for a Laptop Orchestra at VIVO.

Included in workshop price: 1 month of Max MSP license

What is a Laptop Orchestra?

A laptop Orchestra is a group of individuals using laptops to collaboratively create original music with unique gestures, controls, and programs including Max MSP or Ableton Live.

Rehearsal Dates:

June 1st, 8th, 15th & 29th @ 7-10pm

Performance:

July 4th at VIVO Media Arts Centre (Tentative).

Artists/Mentors:

Kiran Bhumber

Kiran Bhumber is a multimedia artist based in Vancouver, British Columbia. She completed her BMus (2014) degree majoring in Secondary Music Education (Clarinet Concentration) from the University of British Columbia. She has studied with internationally acclaimed clarinetists Cris Inguanti and Peter Stoll.

As a composer, Kiran Bhumber’s work focuses on the use of technology to create both sonic and visual interactive environments for performers. She frequently consults with UBC professors Dr. Keith Hamel and Dr. Robert Pritchard on interactive works. Her interest in the intersection of artistic disciplines in new media has led her to collaborate with others on multimedia projects.

In 2014, Kiran completed a research residency at the University of Mons (Belgium) with the UBC Interactive Music Performance and Research Training (IMPART) group, where she collaborated with other students on compositions involving acoustic instruments and new interfaces for musical expression (NIME). This resulted in an international premiere of her work ‘Woven Threads’ (2014), which has been shortlisted for the main exhibition at the International Symposium on Electronic Art in 2015. This collaboration has served as a foundation upon which Kiran continues to explore interdisciplinary practices in interactive performance and composition.

Norah Lorway

Norah Lorway is a Canadian live coding laptop performer, composer, software developer and pianist based in UK. She recently completed her Ph.D in Computer Music at University of Birmingham with Scott Wilson. Norah is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of British Columbia where she teaches SuperCollider and laptop orchestra. Her current [Canada Council for the Arts funded] research project deals with writing software to facilitate an accessible system for gesture control and live coding. She is also a Visiting Research Fellow and Lecturer at the University of Birmingham where she is a researcher with BEER (Birmingham Ensemble for Electroacoustic Research) and teaches SuperCollider and interactive programming.