2018
Jan C. Schacher
Algorithmic Spatialization
In: McLean, Alex / Dean, Roger T. (Hg.): The Oxford Handbook of Algorithmic Music, S. 471-496.
New York: Oxford University Press
Jan C. Schacher
Musical Strokes: Calligraphic Performance as Gesture and Sound.
In: Liang, Huang, editor, Ink Art Week: An International Platform for Contemporary Ink Art Research, Experimentation and Discussion, pages 87โ89.
Culture and Arts Publishing House, Beijing, China.
Jan C. Schacher
Sounding the World: Listening and Sounding as Art and Research.
In: Erkkilรค-Hill, Jaana and Rinne, Jari editors, Arctic Sound and Nature, Perspectives on Vibrating Worlds, pages 33โ44.
University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland.
Jan C. Schacher
What Quality? Performing Research on Movement and Computing.
In: MOCO: 5th International Conference on Movement and Computing, June 28โ30, 2018, Genoa, Italy.
ACM, New York, https://doi.org/10.1145/3212721.3212834 (last checked: 18.7.2023)
2017
Jan C. Schacher
Sound Presence, Performing with Bodies and Technologies
Ph.D.-Thesis, Royal Conservatoire, University of Antwerp, Belgien, 2017.
In the last two decades, the question about the role of the body and perception in our engagement with the world has gained centre stage. However, relatively little research is undertaken to investigate bodily presence and inner states of performing musicians. Although music psychology makes great strides in uncovering basic principles and underlying processes of musical perception from an audience viewpoint, the import and contribution of the corporeal presence and the perceptual capabilities of the performer is receiving little attention. With this project I address these questions and construct a field of reference that enables an understanding of musical performance practices centred around the body. I do so by investigating physical performing through the lenses of the body, the instrument, and the performer's awareness, sensations, and perceptions. In order to frame this perspective, I unfold a number of theoretical positions about the constitutive role of the body, perception, and cognition. The resulting insights constitute a field of relationships, which covers the central issues about body, perception, awareness, and presence, and through my interpretation may facilitate the understanding of the fundamental role of the body in music making and listening.
Jan C. Schacher / Angela Stoecklin
Unequal Twins, Asymmetrically Coupled
In: Kaross, Sabine; Schroedter, Stephanie (Hg.): Klรคnge in Bewegung. Spurensuchen in Choreografie und Performance. Bielefeld: Transcript, S. 143โ152.
Jan Schacher und Angela Stoecklin geben in ihrem Beitrag einen Einblick ihre eigene kรผnstlerisch-experimentelle Forschungspraxis, die der Entwicklung und Analyse von Bewegungs-Klangrelationen unter Einsatz von Sensortechnologien dient. Eine grundsรคtzliche Intention des in diesem Zusammenhang erรถrterten Projekts bestand darin, ein elektronisches Musikstรผck zu kreieren, dessen Form, Energie und Dynamik Tanzbewegungen entspringt, die wiederum choreografischen Verfahren unterliegen. Dennoch kommen in dieser Versuchsanordnung keine prรคskriptiven Anordnungen bzw. Notationen zum Einsatz, stattdessen entwickelt sich das Stรผck aus dem gemeinsamen Erfahrungsaustausch zwischen dem Musik-Komponisten und der Tรคnzer-Choreografin, die als asymmetrische Interdependenz charakterisiert wird (Sabine Karoร & Stephanie Schroedter, Hrsg., S. 14โ15)
Jan C. Schacher
Trans-Form: Sketches, Experiments, and Concepts in Artistic Creation
In: Coessens, Kathleen (Hg.): Experimental Encounters in Music and Beyond. Leuven: Leuven University Press, S. 83โ95.
Is it then the limited flow of information between composer and performer that disables the interpretation of and experimentation with (electroacoustic) materials? Jan Schacher provides a partial answer in the last chapter of this part, โTrans-formโ, regarding these interrelations between different artists in a technological constellation from a positive perspective. Collaborative and interdisciplinary work processes and dialogue are at the heart of this project, emerging from the richness at the junction or boundaries between dance, electronic music, real-time motion-graphics, technologically mediated interaction, and scenography. This project opens new spaces for inter-media collaboration in performing arts and at the same time questions the residues or traces such a process leaves behind in both the experiential and epistemic domain (Kathleen Coussens (Editor), p. 14โ15).
Jan C. Schacher / Daniel Bisig
Haunting Space, Social Interaction in a Large-Scale Media Environment
Human-Computer Interaction โ INTERACT 2017: 16th IFIP TC 13 International Conference, Mumbai, India, 25โ29 September 2017.
In: Bernhaupt, Regina; Josh, Anirudha; Balkrishan Devanuj K. et al. (Hg.): Proceedings, Part I. Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS), Cham: Spinger, p. 242โ262.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
The Immersive Lab is a platform for the development and experience of large-scale audio-visual and interactive media arts. In this article we investigate questions of audience engagement, artistic strategies, and interaction principles, as well as the effects of embodied and social interactions that become evident in this media environment. Using the catalogue of artistic works developed for this platform within the past five years as our material, we carry out qualitative inquiries through interviews and categorisations. The emerging insights generate a clear perspective on the convergence as well as discrepancies between the artistโs intentions and the behaviours of visitors in the media space and allow us to, if not definitively state, then at least speculate about universal aspects that each encounter in the media arts context entails.
2016
Jan C. Schacher / Chikashi Miyama / Gรถtz Dipper / Robert Krรคmer
Zirkonium, SpatDIF, and Mediaartbase.de. an Archiving Strategy for Spatial Music at ZKM
In: Grossmann, Rolf; Hajdu, Georg (Hg.): Proceedings of the 13th Sound and Music Computing Conference (SMC 2016). Hamburg, p. 318โ325.
Jan C. Schacher
Moving Music. Exploring Movement-to-Sound Relationships
In: Proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium on Movement and Computing (MOCO 2016). Thessaloniki, Greece: ACM org.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
Jan C. Schacher
Gestural Performance of Electronic Music โ A ยปNIMEยซ Practice as Research
In: Leonardo, Februar 2016, Vol. 49 / 1, pp. 84โ85.
The practice of gestural electronic music performance provides a valid context for artistic or practice-based investigations in the field of ยซNIMEยป. To this end, the material and conceptual conditions for the development of performance pieces using gestural actions need to be explored. The use of digital musical instruments and concepts for the expressive performance with digital sounds leads to questions of perception โ by the musician and by the audience โ of movements and actions, the body, the instruments, and of their affordances. When considering this performance mode as a topic for investigation, it becomes evident that in order to be based on practice, research in this field needs a definition and differentiation that helps to identify the specific perspectives that are only made possible through application in an actual artistic practice.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
Jan Schacher / Daniel Bisig
Face to Face. Performers and Algorithms in Mutual Dependency
In: Experimental Music Technologies (EMuTe) Lab, University of Sussex (Hg.): Proceedings of the 2016 International Conference on Live Interfaces. Sussex: REFRAME Books.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
Jan C. Schacher / Daniel Bisig
Face to Face. Performers and Algorithms in Mutual Dependency
In: Magnusson, Thor; Kiefer, Chris & Duffy Sam (Hg.): Proceedings of the International Conference on Live-Interfaces ICLI. Brighton: Emute Lab University of Sussex, pp. 80โ88.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
Jan C. Schacher / Daniel Bisig / Patrick Neff
Exploring Gesturality in Music Performance
In: Groรmann, Rolf; Hajdu, Georg (Hg.): Proceedings of the 13th Sound and Music Computing Conference (SMC 2016). Hamburg: S. 407โ414.
Available online (last checked: 08.03.2017)
Jan C. Schacher / Patrick Neff
Moving Through the Double Vortex. Exploring Corporeality In and Through Performance Creation
In: Journal for Artistic Research 12.
Available online (last checked: 08.03.2017)
Jan C. Schacher / Patrick Neff
Skill Development and Stabilisation of Expertise for Electronic Music Performance
In: Kronland-Martinet, Richard; Aramaki Mitsuko; Ystad, Sรธlvi (Hg.): Music, Mind, and Embodiment: 11th International Symposium, CMMR 2015, Plymouth, UK, 16โ19 June 2015, revised Selected Papers. CMMR 2016, LNCS 9617, Cham: Springer, p. 111โ131.
Jan C. Schacher / Nils Peters / Trond Lossius / Chiskashi Miyama
Authoring Spatial Music with SpatDIF Version 0.4
In: Groรmann, Rolf & Hajdu, Georg (publisher): Proceedings of the 13th Sound and Music Computing Conference (SMC 2016). Hamburg, Germany: Zentrum fรผr Mikrotonale Musik und Multimediale Komposition (ZM4) Hochschule fรผr Musik und Theater, p. 415โ421.
Jan C. Schacher / Angela Stoecklin
Sounding Bodies โ Moving Sounds. Encounters in Improvised Play Across Disciplines and Cultures
In: Gaunt, H. (publisher): Arts and Humanities in Higher Education. 15, Special Digital Issue Reflective Conservatoire (3โ4), London, UK: Sage Publications.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
2015
Bojan Milosevic / Jan C. Schacher
The Immersive Lab: An interactive audio-visual space for artistic exploration
In: Proceedings of Korean Electro-Acoustic Music Society's 2015 Annual Conference (KEAMSAC 2015) Seoul, Korea, 2โ3 October 2015.
This article discusses the Immersive Lab, an artistic and technological research project of the Institute of Computer Music and Sound Technology at the Zurich University of the Arts. The installation is a media space that integrates panoramic video, surround audio with full touch interaction on its screens. The main characteristics of this project as well as the way of functioning and organization of installation structure are exposed. Through examples of completed artistic works the possibilities provided by the Immersive Lab environment are highlighted, and the realization of various ideas by a number of artists shows the potential and limitations of this idea.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
Jan C. Schacher
Sonozones Mรผlheim
In: Krusche, Jรผrgen, (Hg.): Labor Mรผlheim. Berlin: Jovis, p. 142โ146.
Jan C. Schacher
Music Means Movement โ Musings on Methods for Movement Analysis in Music
In: Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Movement and Computing MOCO 2015, Intersecting Art, Meaning, Cognition, Technology โ 14โ15 August, 2015, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada.
This article addresses the intersection of technical, analytical and artistic approaches to perceiving and measuring musical movement. The point of view taken is situated between the development and application of technological tools, the de- sign and running of exploratory experiments, and the musical performance moment, where perception of the body and its movements constitutes an integral part of the experience. Through a use-case that is shared with other artists and researchers, a wide range of necessary developments, both conceptually and in software is shown. The tools and the methods generated are juxtaposed with the realisation that movement analysis is merely one possible usage of acquired data. Artistic translations provide alternate ways of generating meaning from movement data, in particular when translating musical actions to pieces that span multiple modalities. With the proposed multi-perspective methodology, ways and means are sketched out that address the inherent multiplicity of domains involved in music performance and perception.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
Jan C. Schacher / Hanna Jรคrvelรคinen / Christian Strinning / Patrick Neff
Movement Perception in Music Performance โ A Mixed Methods Investigation
In: Proceedings of The 12th Sound and Music Computing Conference (SMC 2015), 26 July โ 1 August 2015, Maynooth, Ireland.
What are the effects of a musician's movement on the affective impact of experiencing a music performance? How can perceptual, sub-personal and cognitive aspects of mu- sic be investigated through experimental processes? This article describes the development of a mixed methods approach that tries to tackle such questions by blending quantitative and qualitative methods with observations and interpretations. Basing the core questions on terms and concepts obtained through a wide survey of literature on musical gesture and movement analysis, the iterative, cyclical advance and extension of a series of experiments is shown, and preliminary conclusions drawn from data and information collected in a pilot study. With the choice of particular canonical pieces from contemporary music, a multi- perspective field of questioning is opened up that provides ample materials and challenges for a process of converging, intertwining and cross-discipline methods development. The resulting interpretation points to significant affective impact of movement in music, yet these insights remain subjective and demand that further and deeper investigations are carried out.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
Jan C. Schacher / Chikashi Miyama / Daniel Bisig
Gestural Electronic Music using Machine Learning as Generative Device
In: Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression NIME 2015, 31 May โ 3 June 2015, Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge, LA.
When performing with gestural devices in combination with machine learning techniques, a mode of high-level interaction can be achieved. The methods of machine learning and pattern recognition can be re-appropriated to serve as a generative principle. The goal is not classification but reaction from the system in an interactive and autonomous manner. This investigation looks at how machine learning algorithms fit generative purposes and what independent behaviours they enable. To this end we describe artistic and technical developments made to leverage existing machine learning algorithms as generative devices and discuss their relevance to the field of gestural interaction.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
Jan C. Schacher / Patrick Neff
The Fluid and the Crystalline โ Processes of the Music Performing and Perceiving Body
In: Proceedings of The 11th International Symposium on Computer Music Multidisciplinary Research (CMMR), 16โ19 June 2015, Plymouth UK.
In music performance the perceptions of musician and audience are fluid and depend on shared embodiment and cognitive processes. This article explores skill development and the stabilisation of expertise through practise, and the corporeal as well as the neural mechanisms at work in music performance and perception. Key questions centre around the affective, embodied but also neurological aspects of this domain. The types of awareness on a corporeal level and the neural processes that occur within the musician and the listener-viewer are investigated. The aim is to show that ยปenactiveยซ, embodied concepts merely provide a different perspective of the same complex matter than what the cognitive neurosciences propose. The insights arising from blending the two fields can be productive both for artistic practice as well as systematic research in music. A concrete musical piece that exposes an improvising gestural practice using sensor-based instruments and digital sound processing serves as an example to show the problematic relationship between musician, instrument, technology and the audience.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
Jan C. Schacher
Konzertieren
In: Badura, Jens, Dubach, Selma, Haarmann, Anke, Mersch Dieter, Rey, Anton, Schenker, Christoph und Toro Pรฉrez, Germรกn (Hg.): Kรผnstlerische Forschung. Ein Handbuch. Zรผrich-Berlin: Diaphanes, p. 177โ180.
2014
Jan C. Schacher / Philippe Kocher / Daniel Bisig
The Map and the Flock โ Emergence in Mapping with Swarm Algorithms
โโโโIn: Computer Music Journal, 38 / 3.
In mapping for computer music and interactive media, flocking algorithms represent a special case, offering dynamic, self-organized domain translations. In this article we attempt a classification of fundamental mapping relationships that can be established with the help of swarm simulations. By regarding flocks as systems of abstract entities, a number of models arise that deal with the reassignment of perceptual and semantic qualities to the simulated entities. These models represent basic mapping processes, but become domain-specific when used for music and interactive art. To illustrate these concepts, we outline a number of strategies that relate to musical practice, fostering an understanding of the role of swarm simulations in mapping. We show two artistic use cases where these concepts are applied in an exemplary manner. In the first artwork, swarms play a central role in the compositions presented in an audiovisual installation, and serve as an intermediate translation space between audience and artwork. In the second realization, swarms interact with dancers and together they control the visual and musical aspects of the piece. Both examples show how the emergent behavior of flocks can be mapped conceptually and can evoke natural phenomena, thus making the mapping relationships less predictable and more organic.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
Jan C. Schacher / Chikashi Miyama / Trond Lossius
The SpatDIF library โ Concepts and Practical Applications in Audio Software
In: Proceedings of the Joint International Computer Music and Sound and Music Computing Conference, Athens, Greece.
The development of SpatDIF, the Spatial Sound Description Interchange Format, continues with the implementation of concrete software tools. In order to make SpatDIF usable in audio workflows, two types of code implementations are developed. The first is the C/C++ software library โlibspatdifโ, whose purpose is to provide a reference implementation of SpatDIF. The class structure of this library and its main components embodies the principles de- rived from the concepts and specification of SpatDIF. The second type of tool are specific implementations in audio programming environments, which demonstrate the methods and best-use practices for working with SpatDIF. Two practical scenarios demonstrates the use of an external in MaxMSP and Pure Data as well as the implementation of the same example in a C++ environment. A short-term goal is the complete implementation of the existing specification within the library. A long-term perspective is to develop additional extensions that will further increase the utility of the SpatDIF format.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
Jan C. Schacher
Corporeality, Actions and Perceptions in Gestural Performance of Digital Music
In: Proceedings of the Joint International Computer Music and Sound and Music Computing Conference, Athens, Greece, 2014
What is the relationship between the performerโs body, the instrument, the musical actions and their perception by an audience? And how do they relate when the music is generated by abstract digital processes controlled through actions on technical control surfaces, or gestural, tangible interfaces? This article investigates these questions by examining elements and concepts from physiology, the cognitive sciences with an โenactiveโ and phenomenological perspective and from the point of view of an artistic performance practice, which brings these elements together on stage. In a broad arc the investigation covers instrumental and perceptual affordances, the physical senses of the body, different levels of awareness, corporeal states and modes of awareness, the senses of agency and intentionality, and the sense of movement inherent to music. Based on these insights, the contradiction between the corporeal space of performance and the abstract, codified domain of the digital sound processes is revealed. By looking at the prevalent metaphors, but also the interaction concepts and models of control and their shortcomings, it becomes evident that they need to be refined, possibly based on the perceptual and corporeal criteria developed here.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
Jan C. Schacher
Investigating Gestural Electronic Music
In: Proceedings of the Practice-Based Research Workshop at NIME, June 30โJuly 03 2014, Goldsmiths, University of London.
The practice of gestural electronic music performance provides the background for an artistic, practice-based investigation. To this end, the material and conceptual conditions for the development of performance pieces using gestural actions need to be explored. Digital musical instruments and concepts for the expressive use of their affordances lead to questions of the perception, by the musician and by the audience, of movements and actions, body and instrument. The practice of developing pieces and performing them ex- poses the issue of tacit knowledge that remains embedded within the subjective experiences of the artist. Means and ways are sought to establish โ if not knowledge from within โ then at least a meaningfully contextualized web of relationships that is drawing on terminologies and concepts from relevant neighbouring fields.
Available online (last accessed: 9.1.2018)
Jan C. Schacher / Daniel Bisig
Watch This! Expressive Movement in Electronic Music Performance
In: Proceedings of the International Workshop on Movement and Computing --- June 16-17, IRCAM, Paris, France, 2014.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
How does bodily awareness relate to instrumental action, how is movement perceived and what role does it play in music performance with technology? This article investigates such questions in the light of the application of concepts and models for machine-based gesture recognition. The problematic relationship between paradigms of control and the notion of โinter-actionโ in the technically mediated art-form of electronic music is revealed. The concepts used when apply- ing gesture-recognition display a problematic limited scope as well. The challenge in using these advanced algorithms is to be able to detect and translate salient and expressive aspects of a movement-based music performance. Acknowledging this as a goal exposes the need for a unified high-level descriptive system for expressive movements or gestures in music and dance performance.
Jan C. Schacher / Cathy van Eck / Trond Lossius / Kirsten Reese
Sonozones โ Sound Art Investigations in Public Places
In: Journal for Artistic Research, Issue 6, 2014
The 'sonozones' project investigates sound art practices in public places through personal and public acts of listening and sounding. The topic is explored using artistic processes developed on site in Mรผlheim in the Ruhr region of central Germany. Four sound art practitioners collaboratively explore ideas and concepts that question the significance and impact of listening and sounding in public places and suburban and urban spaces. The project collects traces and artefacts of the artistic processes as a basis for investigations into key elements of the individual and social dimensions of sound art. The exploration of forms sets the stage for experiments, interventions, and performative presences carried out on site by the artists. A continuous dialogue and the collection of verbal reflections frames these activities. In addition to texts, this exposition lays out a collection of audio recordings, photographs, and videos in order to document and convey sensory experiences as well as thoughts.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
2013
Chikashi Miyama / Jan C. Schacher / Nils Peters
Spatdif Library โ Implementing the Spatial Sound Descriptor Interchange Format
In: Journal of the Japanese Society for Sonic Arts, Vol. 5, No. 3, December 2013, p. 1โ5.
The development and specification of SpatDIF, the spatial sound descriptor interchange format, is complemented with an actual software implementation in order to become usable in various environments. In this report, the current state in the development of a software library called โSpatDIFlibโ is discussed. The design principles derived from the concepts and specifications of SpatDIF, the class structure of the library, and code demonstrating its usage is presented. Furthermore, an application that utilizes the library is introduced as an exemplary use case.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
Jan C. Schacher
An Exercise in Freedom โ Researching Bodily Performance in Electronic Music
In: L'Esmuc Digital, Revista de l'Escola Superior de Musica de Catalunya, Nรบmero 21, octubre 2013.
ยซNon-knowing is not a form of ignorance but a difficult transcendence of knowledge. This is the price that must be paid for a work to be, at all times, a sort of pure beginning, which makes its creation an exercise in freedom.ยป
(Lescure 1956) cited in (Bachelard 1957, p. 24)
This quote from the middle of the last century delineates in a beautiful way the crux of artistic creation but also of research in the domain and with the methods of the arts. If one of the de?nitions of research is the creation and dissemination of new knowledge, then the obligation for art as research to fulil this criterion is evident.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
Nils Peters / Trond Lossius / Jan C. Schacher
The Spatial Sound Description Interchange Format: Principles, Specification, and Examples
In: Computer Music Journal, Vol. 37, No. 1, Spring 2013, p. 11โ22.
SpatDIF, the Spatial Sound Description Interchange Format, is an ongoing collaborative effort offering a semantic and syntactic specification for storing and transmitting spatial audio scene descriptions. The SpatDIF core is a lightweight minimal solution providing the most essential set of descriptors for spatial sound scenes. Additional descriptors are introduced as extensions, expanding the namespace and scope with respect to authoring, scene description, rendering, and reproduction of spatial sound. A general overview presents the principles informing the specification, as well as the structure and the terminology of the SpatDIF syntax. Two use cases exemplify SpatDIFโs potential for pre-composed pieces as well as interactive installations, and several prototype implementations that have been developed show its real-life utility.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
Jan C. Schacher
The Quarterstaff, a Gestural Sensor Instrument
In: Proceedings of the 2013 Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression, NIMEโ13, 27โ30 May 2013, KAIST, Daejeon, Korea, 2013.
This article describes the motivations and reflections that led to the development of a gestural sensor instrument called the Quarterstaff. In an iterative design and fabrication process, several versions of this interface were built, tested and evaluated in performances. A detailed explanation of the design choices concerning the shape but also the sensing capabilities of the instrument illustrates the emphasis on establishing an โenactiveโ instrumental relationship. A musical practice for this type of instrument is shown by dis- cussing the methods used in the exploration of the gestural potential of the interface and the strategies deployed for the development of mappings and compositions. Finally, to gain more information about how this instrument com- pares with similar designs, two dimension-space analyses are made that show a clear relationship to instruments that precede the Quarterstaff.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
Jan C. Schacher
Hybrid Musicianship โ Teaching Gestural Interaction with Traditional and Digital Instruments
In: Proceedings of the 2013 Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression, NIMEโ13, 27โ30 May 2013, KAIST, Daejeon, Korea, 2013.
This article documents a class that teaches gestural interaction and juxtaposes traditional instrumental skills with digital musical instrument concepts. In order to show the principles and reflections that informed the choices made in developing this syllabus, fundamental elements of an instrument-body relationship and the perceptual import of sensory-motor integration are investigated. The methods used to let participants learn in practical experimental settings are discussed, showing a way to conceptualize and experience the entire workflow from instrumental sound to electronic transformations by blending gestural interaction with digital musical instrument techniques and traditional instrumental playing skills. The technical interfaces and software that were deployed are explained, focusing of the interactive potential offered by each solution. In an attempt to summarise and evaluate the impact of this course, a number of insights relating to this specific pedagogical situation are put forward. Finally, concrete examples of interactive situations that were developed by the participants are shown in order to demonstrate the validity of this approach.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
2012
Esthir Lemi / Jan C. Schacher
Rhythm as a Link between the Visual and the Acoustic
In: Music and The Body Conference, Hong-Kong University, 9โ11 March 2012.
This paper focuses on the perceptual function of rhythm in painting, music composition and choreography, and how it affects memory space. It explores the way composition in all forms of art constitutes the free space of interpretation within flexible limits of space depending on our perception. Furthermore it proposes ways in which rhythm and temporal developments might be comprehended spatially in the form of imagined visual elements via the closed form and structure they represent. The repetitive constant flow of rhythm is present in its various representations, as organised musical meters. This is described as a map-like composition process, which is a constructed collection of parameters where composers, performers, and listeners share parts of information never revealed, in other words information which is selective; hidden information offers directional choices while describing sound, vision, time and, more importantly, action. There is a suggestion of a spatial differentiation of imaginary masses and physical schemata: aspects which form part of a free mental space and affect synchronization of external and internal phenomena, their theory based in abstract painting but usable in all forms of composition (music and movement). The constant revelation of information provides an instructive map that helps us reach the balance between rest and active points for a further interpretation of the three-dimensional world. This process is analogous with music composition where we are led to a period of rest after which follows a span of activity, thus forming a dual rhythmical structure of body endurance.
Jan C. Schacher / Sรฉbastien Schiesser
SABRe: Affordances, Realizations and Perspectives
In: Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference ICMC, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2012.
This paper focuses on the Sensor Augmented Bass clarinet Research (SABRe) in terms of musical practice, instrumentalist skills and compositional approaches. After a short overview of the concept of embodiment and instrument, the new possibilities of the SABRe instrument are exposed. Then, the first realized compositions present the strategies they deploy in view of the new control modalities and the exploration of affordances this augmented bass clarinet offers. Finally, some possible improvements and perspectives are outlined.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
Jan C. Schacher / Sรฉbastien Schiesser
SABRe: The Augmented Bass Clarinet
In: Proceedings of the Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression NIME, Ann Arbor Michigan, USA, 2012.
An augmented bass clarinet is developed in order to extend the performance and composition potential of the instrument. Four groups of sensors are added: key positions, inertial movement, mouth pressure and trigger switches. The instrument communicates wirelessly with a receiver setup which produces an OSC data stream, usable by any application on a host computer. The SABRe projects intention is to be neither tied to its inventors nor to one single player but to offer a reference design for a larger community of bass clarinet players and composers. For this purpose, several instruments are made available and a number of composer residencies, workshops, presentations and concerts are organized. These serve for evaluation and improvement purposes in order to build a robust and user friendly extended musical instrument, that opens new playing modalities.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
Nils Peters / Trond Lossius / Jan C. Schacher
SpatDIF: Principles, Specification, and Examples
In: Proceedings of the 9h Sound and Music Computing Conference, Copenhagen, Denmark, 11โ14 July 2012.
SpatDIF, the Spatial Sound Description Interchange Format, is an ongoing collaborative effort offering a semantic and syntactic specification for storing and transmitting spatial audio scene descriptions. The SpatDIF core is a lightweight minimal solution providing the most essential set of descriptors for spatial sound scenes. Additional descriptors are introduced as extensions, expanding the namespace and scope with respect to authoring, scene description, rendering and reproduction of spatial audio. A general overview of the specification is provided, and two use cases are discussed, exemplifying SpatDIFโs potential for file-based pieces as well as real-time streaming of spatial audio information. This paper won a best paper award of the SMC 2012 Conference.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
Jan C. Schacher
The Body in Electronic Music Performance
In: Proceedings of the 9h Sound and Music Computing Conference, Copenhagen, Denmark, 11โ14 July 2012.
This text discusses the notions of physical presence, perception and โgesturalโ actions as an important element of a performance practice in electronic music. After discussing the meaning of the term โgestureโ in music and dance, a brief overview about current trends and methods in research is presented. The skills associated with the performance of electronic instruments are compared to those acquired with traditional instruments, for other physical performing arts such as dance and in technologically mediated art forms that extend the concept of the stage. Challenges and approaches for composing and performing electronic music are addressed and finally a tentative statement is made about embodiment as a quality and category to be applied to and perceived in electronic music performance.
Available online (last accessed: 9.1.2018)
2011
Daniel Bisig / Jan Schacher
Flowspace โ A Hybrid Ecosystem
In: Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression, 30 May - 1 June 2011, Oslo, Norway, 2011.
In this paper an audio-visual installation is discussed, which combines interactive, immersive and generative elements. After introducing some of the challenges in the field of Generative Art and placing the work within its research context, conceptual reflections are made about the spatial, behavioural, perceptual and social issues that are raised within the entire installation. A discussion about the artistic content follows, focussing on the scenography and on working with flocking algorithms in general, before addressing three specific pieces realised for the exhibition. Next the technical implementation for both hard- and software are detailed before the idea of a hybrid ecosystem gets discussed and further developments outlined.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
Daniel Bisig / Martin Neukom / Jan C. Schacher
Composing With Swarm Algorithms โ Creating Interactive Audio-Visual Pieces Using Flocking Behaviour
In: Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference 2011, University of Huddersfield, UK, 31 July - 5 August 2011.
In this paper, methods and concepts for algorithmic musical composition with flocking algorithms are discussed. Taking three pieces from an exhibition as examples, the strategies for building the specific relationships between each swarm-system and its musical results are shown. General considerations about the structures of self-organising systems and their potential for shaping musical dynamics as well as about adaptive and interactive behaviours in an installation- context follow. The central aspects of a low-level unified algorithmic thinking in artistic processes are made evident and further scenarios for the organisation of flocking systems and the application to algorithmic musical composition are developed. Finally, some details are given about the technical tools that were used in the implementations.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
Jan C. Schacher
Traces โ Body, Motion and Sound
In: Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression, 30 May - 1 June 2011, Oslo, Norwegen.
In this paper the relationship between body, motion and sound is addressed. The comparison with traditional instruments and dance is shown with regards to basic types of motion. The difference between gesture and movement is outlined and some of the models used in dance for structuring motion sequences are described. In order to identify expressive aspects of motion sequences a test scenario is devised. After the description of the methods and tools used in a series of measurements, two types of data-display are shown and the applied in the interpretation. One salient feature is recognized and put into perspective with regards to movement and gestalt perception. Finally the merits of the technical means that were applied are compared and a model-based approach to motion-sound mapping is proposed.
Available online (last accessed: 10.1.2018)
2010
Jan C. Schacher
Seven Years Of ICST Ambisonics Tools For MaxMSP
In: Proceedings of the 2nd International Symposium on Ambisonics and Spherical Acoustics May 6โ7, 2010, Paris, Frankreich.
A brief overview of the practice and developments in Ambisonics at the ICST in the last decade is given. The paper traces the evolution of the ICST tools for MaxMSP and a number projects using them in concerts and installations is shown. Finally the current state of the software and the newly available features and implementations are discussed.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
Jan C. Schacher
Motion To Gesture To Sound: Mapping For Interactive Dance
In: Proceedings of the 2010 Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME 2010), Sydney, Australia.
Mapping in interactive dance performance poses a number of questions related to the perception and expression of gestures in contrast to pure motion-detection and analysis. A specific interactive dance project is discussed, in which two complementary sensing modes are integrated to obtain higher-level expressive gestures. These are applied to a modular non-linear composition, in which the exploratory dance performance assumes the role of instrumentalist and conductor. The development strategies and methods for each of the involved artists are discussed and the software tools and wearable devices that were developed for this project are presented.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
2009
Pascal Baltazar / Charles Bascou / Timothy Place Trond Lossius / Nils Peters / Jan Schacher
A Stratified Approach For Sound Spatialization
In: Proceedings of The 6th Sound and Music Computing Conference, 23-25 July 2009, Porto, 2009.
We propose a multi-layer structure to mediate essential components in sound spatialization. This approach will facilitate artistic work with spatialization systems, a process which currently lacks structure, flexibility, and interoperability.
Available online (last accessed: 15.1.2018)
Irena Kulka / Dennis Majoe / Jan C. Schacher
Towards an Interactive Multimedia Experience for Club Music and Dance
In: Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Advances in Mobile Computing & Multimedia 14-16 December 2009, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; MoMM 2009.
In this paper, we describe completed and ongoing work towards an interactive multimedia system that will appeal to todayโs youth culture identified as most likely to adopt such novel mobile applications that combines music, dance and technology. We describe our work in the application of three types of successful movement recognition applied in the field of Tai Chi with the objective being to identify gestural primitives of club dance associated with electronic dance music. In this approach, dance movements are first recognized and classified and then mapped, using multiple levels of complexity, to higher level algorithms that can modify multimedia content in real time. The paper describes the mechanisms supporting an attractive alternative to the now standard Video Disc Jockey (VJ) in which members of the dance public are empowered to create multimedia content in real time as opposed to the VJ.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
Jan C. Schacher
Action and Perception in Interactive Sound Installations: An Ecological Approach
In: Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME) 2009, Pittsburg, USA, 2009.
In this paper mappings and adaptation in the context of interactive sound installations are discussed. Starting from an ecological perspective on non-expert audience interaction a brief overview and discussion of mapping strategies with a special focus on adaptive systems using machine learning algorithms is given. An audio-visual interactive installation is analysed and its implementation used to illustrate the issues of audience engagement and to discuss the efficiency of adaptive mappings.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
2008
Martin Neukom / Jan C. Schacher
Ambisonic Equivalent Panning
In: Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference, pages 592โ595, Belfast, UK, 2008.
In Ambisonics sound is encoded and stored in multi- channel sound files and is decoded for playback. In the en- and decoding process complicated functions are used. In this paper panning functions equivalent to the result of en- and decoding are presented which can be used for real-time panning in an arbitrary high ambisonic order. In the function equivalent to the so- called in-phase decoding the order of ambisonic resolution is just a variable that can be any positive number not restricted to integers and that can be changed during playback. The limitations and advantages of the technique are mentioned, real time applications are described and the computational costs are estimated. The described procedure offers a new intuitive understanding of Ambisonics.
Available online (last accessed: 15.1.2018)
Jan C. Schacher
Live Audiovisual Performance as a Cinematic Practice
In: B. Debackere and A. Altena, editors, The Cinematic Experience. Sonic Acts XII, Amsterdam, 2008.In live cinema we witness, like in many other recent digital art forms, the development of an artistic practice that uses technology to explore a symbolic and at times non-descriptive intermedia/te space. Elements known from traditional narrative cinema are eliminated and a type of performance is established that has more in common with electronic music and digital arts than with cinema as it has been canonized in the last one hundred years. Narration and its dramaturgical devices as well as naturalist representation are replaced by abstraction and the pure juxtaposition of image and sound.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
Jan C. Schacher
davos soundscape, a location based interactive composition
In: Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME) Genova, 2008.
Moving out of doors with digital tools and electronic music and creating musically rich experiences is made possible by the increased availability of ever smaller and more powerful mobile computers. Composing music for and in a landscape instead of for a closed architectural space offers new perspectives but also raises questions about interaction and composition of electronic music. The work we present here was commissioned by a festival and ran on a daily basis over a period of three months. A GPS-enabled embedded Linux system is assembled to serve as a location-aware sound platform. Several challenges have to be overcome both technically and artistically to achieve a seamless experience and provide a simple device to be handed to the public. By building this interactive experience, which relies as much on the user's willingness to explore the invisible sonic landscape as on the ability to deploy the technology, a number of new avenues for exploring electronic music and interactivity in location-based media open up. New ways of composing music for and in a landscape and for creating audience interaction are explored.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
2007
Philippe Kocher / Jan C. Schacher
Raumklang mit Ambisonics in Max/MSP
In: Beitrag zum Symposium โMusik im Raumโ, 23. Juni 2007 im ZKM, Karlsruhe, 2007.
Seit einigen Jahren wird in Zรผrich im Bereich der rรคumlichen Klangprojektion geforscht und man hat sich auf die aus Grossbritannien stammende Technologie Ambisonics spezialisiert, die nicht nur der Wiedergabe mit dem Soundheld Microphone Herstellter, periphoner Aufnahmen dient, sondern mit der es auch mรถglich ist, Klangquellen im virtuellen Raum zu setzen und diesen รผber eine beliebige Anzahl Lautsprecher zu reproduzieren. Die am ICST entwickelten Externals fรผr Max/MSP ermรถglichen dem Benutzer einen einfachen und intuitiven Zugriff auf dieses Raumklangverfahren, einerseits durch Module fรผr das Encodieren und Decodieren in Ambisonics bis dritter Ordnung, andererseits durch eine graphische Schnittstelle zur rรคumlichen Manipulation virtueller Klangquellen in Echtzeit und einem Modul fรผr die algorithmischen Steuerung von Bewegungen im dreidimensionalen Raum.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
โโโ
Martin Neukom / Jan C. Schacher
Where's the Beat? Tools For Dynamic Tempo Calculations
In: Proceedings of the 2007 International Computer Music Conference, Copenhagen, 2007.
ยซTimegridยป is a set of methods and tools geared towards working with polyphonic tempo structures. Common tempo operations such as linear and exponential accelerandi and more uncommon ones such as arbitrarily complex functions are used, which are converted to simple time and tempo pairs. Aimed at the composer these processes produce a variety of files useful for audition, graphical scoring and direct use in algorithmic composition. The methods and tools described here can be used to solve a variety of problems. As an additional example a method for the generation of random numbers from an arbitrary distribution is shown. ยซTimegridยป is implemented as an external and an application in MaxMSP and made publicly available together with its source code.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
Jan C. Schacher
Gesture Control of Sounds in 3D Space
In: Proceedings of the 2007 New Interfaces for Musical Expression Conference, New York, 2007.
This paper presents a methodology and a set of tools for gesture control of sources in 3D surround sound. The techniques for rendering acoustic events on multi-speaker or headphone-based surround systems have evolved considerably, making it possible to use them in real-time performances on light equipment. Controlling the placement of sound sources is usually done in idiosyncratic ways and has not yet been fully explored and formalized. This issue is addressed here with the proposition of a methodical approach. The mapping of gestures to source motion is implemented by giving the sources physical object properties and manipulating these characteristics with standard geometrical transforms through hierarchical or emergent relationships.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
2006
Philippe Kocher / Jan C. Schacher
Ambisonics Spatialization Tools for Max/MSP
In: Proceedings of the 2006 International Computer Music Conference, New Orleans, 2006.
Ambisonics is an effective way of describing and projecting spatial sound. Based on the theoretical works of the late Michael Gerzon, it is more and more frequently being used not only to reproduce recordings made with a soundfield microphone and encoded in the corresponding B-format but also to place virtual sources in a periphonic space and decode them to an arbitrary number and configuration of speakers. The tools developed at the ICST implement Ambisonics in the form of Max/MSP externals and allow the encoding and decoding in three dimensions of up to third-order Ambisonics. In addition they include a graphical control module for real-time manipulation of source placement and modules for algorithmic control of source motion in three-dimensional space.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
Jan C. Schacher
Teaching Digital Tools for Live Audio-Visual Creation
In: FoAM, okno, nadine, and iMAL, editors, .x-med-a. experimental media arts FoAM, Brussels, Belgium, 2006.
Available online (last checked: 18.7.2023)
2004
Marcus Maeder / Jan C. Schacher
Transient Travels
In: Trans_it, New Music Days 2004, Switzerland, 2004.
Transient Travels was a temporary travel agency which operated in a carriage of the Sound Train during the World New Music Days 2004 in Switzerland featuring a panorama of contemporary computer music. Travel agents Jan Schacher (alias Jasch) and Marcus Maeder were commissioned by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia and World New Music Days 2004 to assemble a team of artists to take Transient Travelsโ passengers on journeys to various areas of digital music. Six artists presented their individual interpretation of the term ยซsonic journeyยป at the listening stations in the carriage and Transient Travelsโ interactive compartment. Transient Travels is part of ยซGallerie 57/34.6 kmยป, the cultural programme which is being organised by Pro Helvetia in connection with the tunnel construction sites at the Gotthard and Lรถtschberg.