Project 1: Crescendo and Decrescendo

I am thinking about making an interactive Flash page. It would incorporate flash animation and sound. Icons would somehow be arranged around the page, each symbolizing and thing, event, idea, behavior, issue, anything that is undergoeing or associated with rise and/or fall, crescendo and/or decrescendo.

When the user rolls their mouse over an icon a sound is played that embodies that icon. The sound itself, may be the connection to crescendo/decrescendo for that particular icon or the information associated with the icon may connect it to the theme. I imagine that most any sound will have some elements of crescendo/decrescendo, though.

After the user has rolled over the icon, they will be able to click on it, displaying a graph or some other form of written information about the subject.

I am not really sure how plausable it would be to finish all the research or even find all the necessary audio recording by next monday but it is an idea.

Feb 10, 2008

I have explored different actionscript that could possibly change to do what we talked about in class. All that I have come across requires a change from button symbols to movie clip symbols with code attached. I made some progress and have saved the work I have done but I still do not have enough information to make this piece work. As of now it functions better as it first was shown, I have, however, made a slight modification that helps it a little, I think. This piece served well as a "getting started" thing and I am ready to move onward.

 Project 2:

I do not know very much about the subject of my research paper--electronic music--so I don't have many strong opinions about it yet. However, it does seem that electronic music has been the 20th centuries great contribution to music. So my thesis wil be:

           "Electronic music has been the most influential musical development of the 20th/21st centuries. It has facilitated the creation of more technologies

            and instruments in a shorter period time than any movement before (Maybe? Let me know that last sentence is to grandious a clame. Should I just stick with the first?)"

3/4/08 Colleen - Your second sentence is probably true - but also very broad.  Music has changed SOOOO much since 1900.  You probabliy need to focus on a particular instrument or more specific genre or a couple of practitioners.  I think of the mechanical rhythms of the drum machine.  Does it make rhythms more soulless or more driving?  Are there artists who have exploited that mechanical quality - like Devo or Kraftwerk?  Are there artists who have contrasted the organic &  the mechanical - like Tortoise?  Try to get afew more ideas down so we can talk more.

3/5/08 Kyle- I am a Kraftwerk fan and could be interested in doing something on them. For some reason I was thinking very broadly but I would much more enjoy focusing on a certain instrument or technology or instrument or artist. The comment you made about the drum machine being soulless or more driving is an interesting question. Many of these sounds that are generated electronically seem removed from what people are familiar with but they are very interesting because a lot of them are like nothing you will hear anywhere else and are exciting to listen to. Also, that removed-ness is something our generation is comfortable with because a huge amount of our interactions take place in that remove, digital environment.

3/19/08 Kyle- Artist Presentation/Research Paper: The area of electric music I am going to focus on is Dub. I think it is often overlooked when people talk about electronic music. The Dub artist/sound and electronical engineer/record producer I will be focusing on is Osbourne "King Tubby" Ruddock.

Final Project:

Make Magazine Light Table