Max MSP
Joe Howe - On Conducting (Electronic Music) from Joe Howe on Vimeo.
On Conducting (Electronic Music) - Masters Thesis Project for Mdes Sound for the Moving Image at Digital Design Studio, Glasgow School of Art, 2013. Nominated for the SPIE prize 2013.
This project was inspired by working on 'Switch On', an Opera by Santiago Blaum, in 2010. My role was in arranging Santi's musical score for four Synthesizer voices. As rehearsals progressed, we devoted a lot of time to working out how to succesfully integrate these electronic elements into the operatic environment.
One major concern became finding a seamless system for the playback of these pre-recorded electronic parts that would allow the performers on stage and the operatic choir in the audience to be able to sing along with them in a way that they were used to.
I began thinking about other ways to achieve this end; how could I make a reactive, subtle, stable and easy to use system which would allow the director to conduct both the choir and the electronic elements of the Opera at the same time?
My thesis project is an attempt to answer that question, using a program designed in Max/MSP to capture and interpolate the hand movements of the conductor and use it to dynamically control a piece of pre-composed electronic music, in real time.