Author Archives: matthias

Loudspeaker Sphere Observatory Vilnius University

Posted on by

observatory outsideIn cooperation with composition students of the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre we are installing a 23 speaker loudspeaker sphere in the big tower of The Astronomical Observatory of Vilnius University. (Map: http://goo.gl/maps/4wKD1)

The first concert will be on November 21st 19:00 and November 22nd 19:00 and 21:00.
Entrance is free but please register here: http://doodle.com/6452iic4uuvtuczr

This is a (yet not very big) collection of information regarding this project.
Continue reading →

Music for fountains

Posted on by

music for fountainsSaturday, September 21st the second edition of muzika fontanams will be shown in Druskininkai, Lithuania.

I will present my live performance “spread!”, for 8 channel live electronics, lights and fountain.

For preparation have a look at the last performance: http://vimeo.com/66677493

muzika_fontanamsPieces for 8 channel sound, and a fountain with 141 led lights and 10 water pumps will also be presented by
Marius Čivilis, Tadas Dailyda, Jurgis Jarašius, Ignas Juzokas, Mykolas Natalevičius, Lukrecija Petkutė, Domas Ruškys, Marius Salynas and Dainius Veršulis.

FOF - Front Of Fountain  Pd controlling the Fountain  Protection against the Lithuanian weather

LAC 2013 – Ambisonics plug-in suite for production and performance usage

Posted on by

ambix_encoderToday i held my presentation about the ambix Ambisonics audio plug-ins at the Linux Audio Conference in Graz. This plug-in suite features cross-plattform Ambisonics tools for converting between different channel sequences and normalization schemes, encoding up to 7th order, rotating Ambisonics signals and binaural decoding with various virtual loudspeaker configurations in different venues.

The software has to be polished and will be released hopefully soon.

In the meantime you may have a look at the
[ paper ] or [ slides ].
Continue reading →

Chalva (4 channel tape)

Posted on by

honey farm on the lycian way - TurkeyIs it natural, is it artificial? What is “real”, what is synthetic?
This questions apply for sound as well as sweets.

This piece is based on field recordings taken near Fethiye, in the south of Turkey. From the numerous bee yards a whirling sound surrounds you when tracking the Lycian way along the cost.
Chalva is a sweet made with honey. But depending on the recipe, the natural origin might not be clear.Eikkk - Elektroninių ir kompiuterinių kūrinių konkursas

The composition plays with a transition from natural to super synthetic. From pure noise to white tones.

Listen to my tape piece “Chalva” done for the Eikkk Electronic and Computer Music Competition (Elektroninių ir kompiuterinių kūrinių konkursas) in April 2013 in Vilnius. Quadrophonic piece rendered to Binaural Stereo.

Homage to Luciano Berio (1925–2003)

Posted on by

Lithuanian Ensemble NetworkI was invited to perform with the Lithuanian Ensemble Network (LEN/LAT) at the “Jauna muzika” Festival 2013 in Vilnius and played the live electronics for the pieces:

  • Naturale for viola, percussion and recorded voice (1985)
  • Différences for ensemble and tape (1958-1959)
  • Altra voce for mezzo-soprano, alto flute and live electronics (1999)

Continue reading →

The Kinect distance sensor as human-machine-interface in audio-visual art projects

Posted on by
excerpt of project thesis

excerpt of project thesis

I finished my project thesis including general information about the Microsoft Kinect sensor device as well as a detailed documentation about it’s application in combination with Pure Data and Gem.

This document might be useful for people working with the Kinect in combination with interactive sound and video installations and performances.

Get the PDF document here!

midi2rms – midi volume fader curve sampling

Posted on by

volume-behaviorA very crucial and maybe often underestimated point for working with (volume) faders, especially in live electronics application is their curve/behavior. Which range does it cover? How fast does “it” get “loud”. What is the behavior around the +0 dB mark?

I sampled the midi volume fader behavior from several of the most popular Digital Audio Workstations. The difference is quite obvious as you can see in the graph to the right.

pd-fader-behavior-screenshotI made a Pure Data abstraction as replacement for the frequently used [fadtorms] or [dbtorms]. In connection with the .txt sample files it can be used to scale your midi fader input.
Get the abstraction including sample files and Matlab plots here:

midi2rms_0.11.zip