For my first post of 2010 I’ve got a new video release: It’s part of the “Touchable Dreams” performance which I did with Jeremy Harmer in December 2009 in Cambridge. This clip is just me doing a looped version of the famous “Canon in D” by Pachelbel. I worked out the programming needed in order to perform it properly in it’s original form – bass line and three canonical violin lines – a while ago: It involves a straight loop for the bass line and then lots of careful loop/replace functions for the canon. I was delighted it proved possible to do; and it proves popular in live performances.
This particular concert was the first outing for my new Bridge 5-string electric violin: More about the superb Bridge instruments soon…..
As some of you will know I’m involved at present in a couple of research projects at the Open University.
Me in the motion capture suit!
One of these has been looking at bowing technique using motion capture technology. A couple of times now I’ve worn a motion capture suit, with a variety of sensors on it, in order for a computer software program to track and record a variety of bow movements. This research is being conducted by Janet van der Linden of the OU computing department, along with various colleagues including Erwin Schoonderwaldt, who has recently finished a Doctoral Thesis on the mechanics and acoustics of violin bowing!
At one recent session we were able to record my bowing movements in a variety of short musical excerpts. The data gained can then be analysed in a variety of ways, but certainly the most immediately striking is to view it in video form, with a stick figure representing the player (me in this case!) and drawn lines to show the movements made at the hand and at the elbow. Here’s a sample video. You have to imagine that you’re viewing me from above! I may at some stage try to synchronise the music clip I was playing with it, but in the meantime you can try to guess from the shapes what it is: There’s a free copy of my “Ascension” CD waiting for the first person who can work out what the piece is!
I’m fascinated by the shapes it reveals. If you’d like to see some other similar videos and visualisations done by Erwin with other players, and using a somewhat different motion capture setup, please click here.
Tuesday saw me playing at a reception at the Open University in Milton Keynes, where they were welcoming Lord David Puttnam as Chancellor.
Steve at the Open University - twice!
Held in the new Computing Department building, this was my second visit this year as I also played there as part of a conference on computing and music back in the summer. I had a definite sense of deja vu when I arrived as a large screen was playing a recording of my previous visit on a loop: Unusual, but also apt since my performance involved a variety of looped violin pieces! There were also some fascinating presentations about a variety of music and computer related research which is currently being carried out at the OU. If you’d like to discover more about music research at the OU then have a look at this page.
