Interactive audio for the Web--recent works

June 22, 2006

Type: discussion

Here are relatively recent interactive audio works for the Web that have the
touch. These, I think, are all created since 2004. These pieces explore
audio and interface in compelling ways.

ja
http://vispo.com

PIXEL BY PIXEL by Frederic Durieu, Jean-Jacques Birge, Kristine Malden
(France)
http://www.lecielestbleu.com/media/pixelbypixelframe.htm
The interactivity here is via moving the mouse and clicking. The visuals are
quite good and you exercise subtle but audible influence on the music as you
move the mouse and occassionally click. The relation between the audio and
the visual is subtle and intriguing. Also, as audio (de)composition, this is
rich. More on Durieu and Birge at
http://arteonline.arq.br/Paris/durieuenglish.htm and
http://arteonline.arq.br/Paris/birgeenglish.htm (2003 profiles).
DIRECTOR

PATE A SON by Frederic Durieu and Jean-Jacques Birge (France)
http://www.lecielestbleu.com/html/pateason.html
An ingenious audio toy. Click the "?" symbol at bottom right so that "Help
bubbles" appear when you mouseEnter controls. Pixel by Pixel is no less an
audio/visual machine than this piece, but this piece highlights and exposes
more overtly the mechanisms that determine the audio composition in this
piece. A different type of music than Pixel by Pixel. As with Pixel by
Pixel, the tone of the audio and the visuals are congruent.
DIRECTOR

GRANULAR by Chris Savage (UK)
http://www.japanesefreeware.com
This is one of the first piece I've seen/heard that gets its audio from a
search engine (so does at least one of Jason Freeman's pieces); you type
something in and a sound is retrieved that relates to your query. But, more
significant than simply being a first in this technological regard, Granular
*does something interesting* with the retrieved sound. "Granular Synthesis
is the process of creating new sounds from tiny fragments (or 'grains') of
other sounds often as short as 10ms in length. These grains then get
redistributed and reorganised (often offsetting the pitch of each one) and
the result is interesting, unpredictable, evolving sounds with vague
characteristics of the original. This is a simple implementation of the
system created in Shockwave - grain length and pitch offset can all be
modified and it includes a simple modulation section. Sounds can be
retrieved via its own internal search engine, so for example typing 'car'
should return some kind of car sound and place it in the synthesizer.
Patches which users create can be saved on the web to be shared by other
users at any time."
DIRECTOR

WORKS FROM ARTZERO.NET by Vera Sylvia Bighetti (Brazil)
MADE TO (UN)ORDER
http://www.artzero.net/madetorder
A suite of 6 interactive audio pieces. A mixture of the tuneful and the
electronic.
TECLA1
http://www.artzero.net/grafic/tecla1.htm
Click and drag the moving triangles to size them; click the rectangular
shapes sort of as a keyboard; mouseover the triangles to trigger their
audio.
DIRECTOR

THREE IN PROGRESS by Katharine Norman (Canada/UK)
http://mappae.novamara.com
Three poetical/audio interactive works. I like the way these pieces move
among poetry and experimental interactive audio.
FLASH/JSYN

LOOPTRACKS by Conor O'Boyle (Ireland)
http://www.looptracks.net
What is striking here is the interactive interface. O'Boyle describes it as
"an interactive music video". And I think part of the idea of many
interactive audio works for the Web is to try to do something alternative to
the music video. Though of course there are also other fish to fry in
interactive audio, such as innovative music.
FLASH

PET\_00 by Simon Yuill and Laura Baxter (Scottland)
http://www.paragon-ensemble.com/commissions/laura\_baxter/pet\_00
PET\_00 is an interactive audio piece done in collaboration between software
artist Simon Yuill and composer Laura Baxter. "PET\_00 compositions are made
from three types of basic elements: particles, attractors and triggers.
Particles have audio samples linked to them. They move across the screen and
when they cross a trigger area the sound is played. The movement of the
particles can be influenced by the attractors." Mouseover the bottom of the
window for a menu. The thing of interest here is the constructive/generative
interface whereby you construct from "particles, attractors and triggers" an
audio composition. This piece was commissioned by Paragon, a Scottish
project in contemporary new music.
FLASH

FOLK SONG FOR THE FIVE POINTS by David Gunn, Alastair Dant, Tom Davis,
Victor Gama (USA)
http://www.tenement.org/folksongs
"Folk Songs for the Five Points is a celebration of cultural diversity and
change, using 'folk songs