Week 6

In Class

• Lecture “Composition & Improvisation” (Bart)
• Design Workshop:
  1. Starter Sketch: sensor data flowing into Max/Plugdata
  2. Mapping: scaling, linear vs non-linear, continuous vs triggered, thresholds
  3. Sound Design: symbolic vs expressive, designing rules and sounds
  4. Assignment 2: build a first prototype that responds to live data

Optional — Quick tour of Ableton Live as a sound-design partner.

Key Ideas

• Thing-Centeredness — what does your object’s character suggest about its sound?
• Mapping — how does sensor behavior connect to sound?
• Sound Design — what does the object sound like, and why?

Key Tools

• Starter Sketch
• Troubleshooting

Homework — Pairs

Refine what you started in the workshop.

1. Define your mapping — what sensor values trigger what sound parameters, and why?
2. Iterate on your patch in Max or Plugdata — test it with your object
3. Does the sound behavior fit the character of the thing?
4. Document your rule set and design decisions — you will need these for Assignment 3