Origami

1
Origami

• Hiroko Terasawa, Grace Leslie

2
Todays talk

• Motivation Aesthetics
• Musical Goal
• Links btw/ objects and music
• Score performance
• Acoustic properties
• Electronics computer use
• Controllability
• Summary

3
Why Origami?

• Analogy between computer music and origami
• flexible medium
• complexity by processing and combining simple
  materials and parts.
• Antiphon to futurism
• Fragility
• Modality

4
Our musical goal

• Hiroko
• Evocative / metaphoric match between parameter
  dimensionality, timbre and form.
• Fragility and transformation
• Grace
• Clear expectations (e.g. traditional crane)
• Openness in a few parameters (i.e. paper and size
  in origami)
• Each performance will be slightly different but
  the overall character and integrity will be
  maintained.

5
Physical to sonic translation
Predetermined parameters Open parameters
Physical incarnation (origami) Fragility, form, clear boundaries Material and size
Musical incarnation (our piece) Form and space timbre
6
Score and performance

• Degree of control
• Score and instructions
• Predetermined form score - origami itself.
• Causality with limitations in physical medium
  and musical possibilities.
• These limitations exist in the number and types
  of folds possible, and the final form of the
  origami.
• Improvisation
• The performer is able to choose the material and
  size of the origami they create, which in turn
  affects the timbral characteristics of the piece.

7
Acoustic property

• Source - Filter Model

Excitation
Resonance
Sound
pulse
low
high

• large - small
• thick - thin
• elastic - stiff
• folded - plain
• large cavity - small cavity

• Tapping
• Rubbing
• Blowing

static
8
Electronics and Musical Materials

• Folds / objects and filters
• an analogy between combinations of paper folds
  and both traditional and extended permutations of
  musical materials (that is, not only
  invertibility etc, but also a particular sequence
  of folds as a filter.) (J. Berger)
• Max/MSP patch
• translate the physical sounds of making origami
  into a sonic realization of the process.
• Signal and controller
• Contact and condenser microphones and a digital
  audio interface (origami to the computer)
• Switches, variable capacitors

9
External control

• Switch
• Mute when folded
• Variable capacitors?

10
Time control

• The length of the piece
• determined by the speed of the folds
• how long performers meditate upon the final
  product.
• The form
• determined by the types and complexities of the
  folds.
• Origami translation of physical space from
  simple to complex and chaotic to ordered.
• Our mappings will reflect these transformations.

11
Spatialization control

• Boundaries / discreteness
• Graces head

12
An open end..

• What we covered today
• Aesthetics, musical style, form, technology,
  control.
• More details
• To be determined upon more prototyping /
  discussion / feedback