Systemic Feedback and Resonant Spaces with SuperCollider
Workshop Leader: Massimo Scamarcio
Acoustic space marks and defines our relationship with sound. Space defines the experience of listening, and the related concept of resonance shapes our sonic perception. Space and resonance have long been important concepts and themes in sound installation art and sonic/sound art and in the present digital age, they are often coupled with software/hardware platforms, building and managing systems of remarkable complexity. The workshop aims at linking this whole structure with the concept of feedback, and its relationship with space and resonance, through the use of the SuperCollider software. SuperCollider is an audio/synthesis programming language of great power and flexibility and will be used as a tool to explore and exploit acoustic spaces, both in their macroscopic (e.g. rooms) as well as in their microscopic identity (acoustic/resonant properties of common, everyday objects). By using microphones (both common-use and small contact microphones) and speakers, the acoustic characteristics of space will be dissected and brought into audio feedback. A number of techniques and ideas to incorporate these processes into installations and other works of sound art will be discussed and worked upon, through assignments and group work, during the course of the workshop.
A laptop and basic knowledge of the SuperCollider software is necessary. Software will in any case be available, as well as materials for group work (microphones, contact mics, speakers, common objects with resonant acoustic properties, etc. – people attending the workshop are encouraged to bring anything related.
The workshop is supported by the Lansdown Arts Centre for Electronic Arts, Middlesex University, London UK.
Bios of the Presenter
Massimo Scamarcio was born in 1977 in Naples and graduated with honours in Electronic Music at the San Pietro a Majella Conservatory in Naples under Professor Agostino di Scipio. His research covers several territories, ranging from semantics of sound, generative systems and audio analyses for investigation of acoustic space, to feedback and acoustic ecology. His works alternate between compositions/live electronics with instruments, and sound installations for mixed media, usually done through software languages such as Max/MSP, Jitter, Pure Data, SuperCollider. He is currently finalizing a Master in Sonic Arts at Middlesex University in London, under Professor Nye Parry, and is based in Berlin.
Posted by: Ebru Surek