I have started working on sonification in human machine interaction, and yesterday a video was published over at Ted’s place.
I like this short and informative video, as it succeeds in showing the impact sound can have in an environment.
For me, who is researching how sound can be used as part of a user interface, it is very useful to be reminded about how sound pollution affects us.
Cheers
Arve.
I have set up a pair of active speakers and a subwoofer in my rehearsal studio: Two dB (dB Technologies) Opera Live 402 fullrange speakers, and one dB Sub15.
This is a setup that is sufficient for small gigs in clubs and such. The 402 speakers are rated at 500+100 watts, the Sub15 is rated 800 watts.
Point is: I sell this stuff, and want you to know about it. If you need speakers, microphones, cables or anything related to this, please contact. I have tested a lot of this for years, and I am confident that the products I sell is high quality, reliable and reasonably priced.
So why buy from Avols? Because Avols is about custom software and hardware. This means that you can buy speakers (and related stuff) and get software and/or hardware made for you and your needs.
You can save a lot of money if we set up a complete system running advanced, good sounding custom software creations for audio processing.
Please contact if you want more info. I will post more about projects that Avols has done in the past to illustrate how we do things.
cheers
Arve
I do tend to look around for inspiring engineering stories. This is definitely such an inspiring story. It kind of sums up what I think engineering should be all about from early schooldays to higher education: It is all about making things that you need, without being stopped by lack of money, materials or what other people think about what you are making.
I also like this example beacause it is a striking parallel to the everyday concern about not having enough electricity/power in the industrialized parts of the world.
cheers
Arve
When I studied engineering (electronics) during my Masters thesis in Musicology, it took about one week to figure out that Calculus was not what I was going to use my time on. This was discussed with my lecturers in electronics and programming, and to my surprise they agreed.
Thanks to the people in the administration of that particular university college (Høgskolen i Vestfold) I could quit those topics that was looked upon (by me that is) as not so very relevant, and go for those topics that I needed, and still need.
I do indeed need math and physics, but books and links are more efficient than hours of irrelevant math-lectures. To me it seems like some math professionals love the fact that their topic is hard for students, in fact so hard that many students can’t get through exams. Ego. Many students, me being one of them, has to put more effort into irrelevant math than any other topic, only to get through a c(o)urse that we do not need. This is not because we are stupid, but because logic strikes hard when time is spent on something we do not need…. This is, in my opinion, not right.
I am almost out on a rant here, so I’ll keep it simple: Those who teach mathematics in the irrelevant manner, should know better. Keep it relevant!
Now I have found someone who can speak out with authority and put things where they belong: Please – if you find math interesting that is – have a look at this presentation over at Ted’s.
Cheers
Arve.
While I wrote my master thesis I became a fuzzy logic user.addict.admirer. In my head fuzzy logic is a runner up for a lot of different tasks. If you do not know anything about fuzzy logic I suppose the website of Lotfi A. Zadeh, the man who introduced fuzzy logic, is a good place to start.
Point is that if you are already interested in fuzzy logic, some researchers at MIT got news for you and me.
In fact it is a link: http://managinghumans.com/. I do not want to say more about it. I just think that anyone who make stuff for humans should read it.
cheers
Arve
I have bought me my very first mp3-player, and it is an iPod. Now I am one of them. One of those with a white headset, except I really dislike walking and listening to music at the same time. It is like driving and eating, both things are fun, but it is best to stop, eat and drive again. Enough! Now to the bulkyness and elegance.
I have seen the Lemur (Jazzmutant multitouch screen) up close and personal, and I think it is bulky. It definitely has a bulky price tag, I don’t need a big screen with multitouch, I want several small ones, and there comes the elegance of the iPod Touch. It is super thin, super light and super affordable, and the battery last more than long enough for a soundcheck and a concert.
If you have an iPod touch or an iPhone, then buy one of the OSC-apps in the appstore. I have downloaded two, and a third one is on its way. The first one I tested was the TouchOSC, and it made me happy. However I am excited about the text definable interface in MRMR, and will definitely spend some time exploring it.
This is my first post about this, but it will not be the last. Keep an eye on this, and I think we will have something beautiful for your hands and ears.
cheers
Arve
First I wrote a lengthy post about why this Max in Live thing is so amazing that I can’t wait. Then I realized that there will be approximately 16 million other blog posts about the very same thing, so I deleted, and made a summary:
I have waited and waited for a better integration of traditional recording and editing tools in Max. In particular I have longed for a waveform edit tool such as the object tool in Samplitude. Max in Live is more than I could dream about as it opens up a world of new possibilities. Read about it at www.cycling74.com.
Cheers
Arve
I have been at Ted’s again, and I saw Scott McCloud talking about comics. I really think you should do that as well: If you find vision, comics, timeline, time & space interesting, that is. If not, don’t bother, unless you have to give a presentation every now and then. His use of images is amazing. Here is the link.
cheers
Arve
If you do love Applescript and adore the Automator, then skip ahead down the internet. If not, please read:
After switching to Apple a year ago, my computer life has become easier as expected. Every mac user on this planet would say off course, every Windows user might say something like ok, but (…). But it is not the ease of OS X that astonishes me the most. It is that the ease of the OS has translated into some of the programming tools. I still have Windows running under VMware for programming electronics and for using Samplitude, but OS X will be my main platform for programming productivity tools, as long as the client accept an Apple among the Windows.
Two Apple tools that can save your day:
Applescript is a time saver. End of story. Another story about applescript that has to be told and retold is the semantic syntax….. If all computer languages was semantic, then programming would be something that everyone could do without having to spend a lot of time learning how to think cryptic to do something easy.
Automator is a familiar concept for anyone used to MaxMSP Jitter, Pd, Bidule, Quartz Composer and so on. Make a program in a few minutes, distribute as standalone and your computer has become a little more easy to use (maybe…). Plug and play a program.
Cheers
Arve