NAILAH DAVIS
Creative Technologist, Artist, & Designer
MUSIC INTERACTION DESIGN
Week 1
Assignment #2: Write a project prompt for yourself. You will use it to frame subsequent assignments, but it can evolve/change later.
Prompt: For my project I will be creating a performance based, art installation experience using generative music and visuals for live audiences. The project will explore storytelling through non-linear sound, midi instrumentation, speech/vocal audio and visual projections that represent West African influences on Black music in America.
Breakdown:
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Use a clip from Dr. Amira Davis (PhD education policy studies), critical race theorist, educator, and performing artist, on the history of the drum.
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Build a structured, but abstract rhythm using drum/song from West Africa. Include spliced up audio bits from references to guide the story.
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The idea is to go through the evolution of selected music genres that were influenced by West Africa, and to also tell a story that juxtaposes the past and present, while reflecting on the contributions Black people in pop-culture. That genre would be Hip-Hop for this project
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Visually, I’d like to use found images, film, tv, and music video stills and clips, and abstract visuals that are stimulating, visually seductive, euphoric, and nostalgic to tell a cohesive story in a non-linear fashion.
Week 2
Aural mood board: For my aural mood board, I curated a list of sounds, instruments, drum patterns/rhythms which are mostly from West Africa. Some sounds derive from Afro-Latin music. This mood board features mostly percussion sounds. Towards the end of the curated list features samples of more modern instruments that developed over the course of time through iterations. Here are screenshots of the list.
User Experience Mock-up:
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The user approaches the installation that takes up the wall, and uses a podium style table that comes out of the wall for the user to interact with.
The user can take the headphones and listen to the different sounds. They then have the option to play different patterns and loop rhythms, and make their own beat.
As far as how I plan to specifically design this interaction, i.e. the wall piece, and the table interaction part, I am still unsure. However, I do know that I would like this interaction do be a mix of a visual art piece, that also allows users to interact and make music with. Perhaps a novelty instrument(?) A second thought that I have is featuring a microphone in the installation to allow users to add their voice?
Week 3
Assignment: given your user path, use the Wizard of Oz technique to prototype aspects of interactivity. The person interacting can be you (so you experience the interaction yourself), your partner (so you can observe them), or both.
This first video is showing the collection of sounds that I would, ideally, have for available for a user to explore in order to build a beat in a way that a stepper would allow.
This second video is of me using a West African sound kit to make a rhythm. I started with an instrument called an Ngoni instrument. It is a similar instrument as the Akonting. Both of them are from West Africa, specifically in countries like Gambia, Senegal, and Zimbabwe, just to name a few. If you notice, the Ngoni sounds similarly to a popular folk music instrument, the Banjo. The Ngoni and Akonting family is where the Banjo originated from. Other instruments that I looped in were the Djembe, congas, claves, cowbells, and shakers.
This last video is of me laying modern Hip-Hop instruments, or as some would call "trap instruments" over the first layer of West African instruments. This includes a snare, 808 bass, and hi-hats.
Some thoughts: I'd imagine that using a stepper mode for this interaction would create more of an opportunity for the average person, who may not have much experience playing music, feel more at ease when interacting. Since the rhythm loops automatically, it doesn't require a user to set too many parameters on structuring a beat, or rhythm.
I'm still lacking direction in how I would like for the physical interface to be set up. I do like the idea of having physical buttons to press for tactility and control benefits. (What those buttons look like could be interesting)? I think that people are just as enticed by how something looks, just as much as how it functions. What I may be getting at is that the visual appeal of this should function as an object, but also as an art piece... A functional art object(?)
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Assignment: Informed by the listening and code examples from today, by your work so far (mood boards, user paths and prototypes), and by last week's reading on mapping, design several interactions that focus on exploring rhythm/time. Implement two studies.
This week I made two different tracks, but decided to blend the together into one track. I used some similar instruments as last week's, i.e. congas, bongos, claves, and other West African/ Afro-Lating instruments. I couldn't resist exploring other sounds to mix in with this rhythmic exercise. I'm from Chicago, and House music started there. That to say I've been really inspired by house music lately. I weaved in and out of 3 main rhythms. This was really fun for me to explore.
Week 5
Assignment: Within the context of your project, implement two interactive studies focusing on melodic elements.
This week I worked on creating two separate melodies. For the first study, I used a marimba sampled from my controller. I layered a couple of different melodies, and tried to play some notes within the range. I noticed that I have trouble with understanding corresponding notes off hand. However, what I am able to do is blindly scroll and press keys until I am able to match the pitch or the note. I used to play the piano in elementary school, as well as the saxophone, but my memory doesn't really exceed past basic notes like C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. This study made me interested in chords, and their "progressions"(?)
For the second melody study, I used an African guitar kit sample and played some notes to create a simple loop. Then I added a second synthesizer melody over the loop, accompanied by a gong-like/Tibetan singing bowl sound. With an interest in the fusing and superimposing of past and present sounds and instruments, adding in a synth felt like an appropriate stylistic approach that I'm finding to be joyful and intriguing to explore.
Week 7
Midterm Assignment: Create a protoype of your project.
For my midterm project, I sketched the first iteration of my midi controller. This is a two sided controller that allows for playing with both hands and drumsticks. There will be 8 to 10 touch sensors on each drumhead (Djembe and Snare). The touch sensors will feature other percussive instruments, control pitch, tone, and timber.