04.29 - Ge Wang Visit (Pictures)

Ge Wang's visit to USC began with the Structure In Music (ISE575/EE675/CSCI575) class, where he chimed in on Huihui Cheng's presentation of a paper on his iPhone Ocarina app, and Samir Sharma's presentation of a paper on the Stanford Laptop Orchestra (SLOrK), and gave numerous insights into the development of both the Ocarina and SLOrK.

Following the class, we had lunch at Morton Fig, where Ge showed off his Magic Piano app, which is about to be released on the iPhone in two weeks. At Maged Dessouky's request, Ge called in to Smule to have Chariots of Fire reinstated on the playlist so we could play the piece on the Magic Piano.

The activities culminated in a talk by Ge Wang in the Epstein Institute Seminar Series (the ISE PhD seminar), which gave us a glimpse of laptop ensemble concerts orchestrated by Ge, and the many apps created by Smule, including Sonic Lighter, World Stage, Leaf Trombone, Magic Fiddle, and I Am T-Pain.  Ge described how they experimented with giving users a social experience with the development of each app.

04.26 - Ge Wang Visit

ISE PhD Seminar Series:

The World Is Your Stage — 

Social Music-Making 
on Mobile Phones

Ge WANG, Stanford / Smule

TUESDAY, April 26, 2011

3:30pm - 4:50pm, RTH 105

Ge Wang visits USC and gives a talk in the ISE PhD Seminar Series.  Ge Wang is an Assistant Professor at Stanford's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA), and CTO and Chief Creative Office of Smule, creators of the Ocarina iPhone app.

04.17 - Isaac and Mimi @ Ussachevsky Memorial Festival (Video)

Isaac Schankler's performance with Mimi at the Ussachevsky Memorial Electronic Music Festival (see Feb 4 post) has been posted on VIMEO:

Mimi and Isaac Schankler in Concert at Ussachevsky Memorial Festival from People Inside Electronics on Vimeo.

04.16 - MicroTextual: music with words | words without music

MicroTextual, a Catalysis Projects presentation curated by Aron Kallay, brings together musicians and artists to create microtonal music, text performance, and performance-integrated sculpture, expanding the points of convergence between modes and disciplines of artmaking.

MicroTextual will present the premiere of Honey, Milk and Blood for soprano, women's chorus, and electronics: a collaboration between composer and MuCoaCo artist-in-residence Isaac Schankler, artist Kim Ye, and writer Jillian Burcar. Also featuring works and premieres by Harry Partch, Cat Lamb, Jeffrey Holmes, Bill Alves, Quintan Ana Wikswo and David Rosenboom.

SATURDAY, APRIL 16 8:00 PM • MIMODA STUDIO
5772 W. Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90019
$15/$10 online or at the door

For more information, call (818)397-6954 or go to catalysisprojects.com.

04.07 - Isaac Schankler at Electronics Live!

Today at Electronics Live!, Isaac Schankler presents and performs with The Harvester, a new interactive audio installation based on Mimi (Multimodal Interaction for Musical Improvisation), a system that allows humans and machines to create improvised music together, designed and implemented using François' SAI framework. For this installation, Isaac Schankler creates a new sonic environment for Mimi, which helps it interpret, synthesize and resample audio information.

This installation will also feature a special guest appearance by the BoeBot Music Ensemble, created by Keith DeRuiter, Isaac Schankler and Elaine Chew.

Electronics Live! is the third CARL residency hosted by the Culver Center. Creating an environment that is equal parts sound art installation, live music performance, and media fair expo, composers Jason Heath and Robert Giracello convert the atrium floor of the Culver Center into an interactive media fair, demonstrating a variety of approaches to interactive technologies in music and the arts, and engaging the public with hands-on experience of these technologies in a fun and experimental environment.


THU, April 7, 6-9 PM • Barbara and Art Culver Center of the Arts
3834 Main St, Riverside CA 92501 • FREE admission (Info: 951-827-3755)

04.06 - Eran Egozy Visit (Pictures)

Eran Egozy met with students in the MuCoaCo Lab at 3pm.  Isaac Schankler gave a demonstration of Mimi, including a preview of Mimi making music with the BoeBots — the BoeBots are programmed by freshman Keith DeRuiter.

Informal Q&A with Eran took place at Tutor Cafe.

At the formal event, Eran performed two movements from Poulenc's Clarinet Sonata with Elaine Chew, and spoke about the founding of Harmonix Music Systems, its humble beginnings, the success of Guitar Hero, and the growth of the company.

04.06 - Eran Egozy Visit

A Conversation with Eran Egozy
CTO, Harmonix Music Systems
Wednesday, April 6, 2011, 7pm - 8pm
Parkside Performance Cafe

Eran Egozy, CTO of Harmonix Music Systems (creators of Guitar Hero and Rock Band) visits USC and the MuCoaCo Lab, and gives a presentation at the Parkside Performance Cafe that includes a performance of Poulenc's Clarinet Sonata (with Elaine Chew).

Click on event poster on the left for Eran's bio.

For more information about Eran and Harmonix, see the following posts:
PBS: NOVA: Eran Egozy: Game Developer
Here & Now: The Secret Life of Eran Egozy
NYTimes: While My Guitar Gently Beeps

04.05 - KatieAnna Wolf receives NSF Graduate Fellowship

KatieAnna Wolf, DREU fellow at the MuCoaCo Lab in summer 2010, has received an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Katie will be commencing Computer Science PhD studies at Princeton in the Fall.

Katie was also a 2010 CRA Outstanding Undergraduates Award Finalist — see the Nov 30 blogpost.