MSP/Synth/Bots w Half-Human Quartet & NoiseJam Homebrew Instrument Orchestra (Sat 10 Aug, 9pm, @ Noisebridge Hackerspace Benefit, SF)

Noisebridge, San Francisco’s Hackerspace, is having another epic benefit party, to include eclectic performers, interactive art, and more.

If you don’t know Noisebridge, see the end of this post for a brief summary of its importance to the Bay Area maker community.

¾ of the Half-Human Quartet: (L → R) Joe Lasqo, Ritwik Banerji (ঋত্বিক ব্যানার্জী) and Maxxareddu, 25 Jul 2013 @ Outsound New Music Summit (Photo: PeterBKaars.com, http://www.peterbkaars.com)

Fresh from our debut at the recent 12th Outsound New Music Summit festival, I’m excited to once again play as a member of the Half-Human Quartet — AI improvising agents Maxine & Maxxareddu, as channeled by Ritwik Banerji (ঋত্বিক ব্যানার্জী) of Berkeley’s CNMAT & myself, + visuals by Warren Stringer.

Ritwik Banerji (ঋত্বিক ব্যানার্জী, L) & Rob Frye (R) @ the Ivy Room, 26 Jan 2011

One inspiration for what we and our non-human colleagues are going to do sonically is the following video from the Cornell AI lab showing two chatbots kitted out in machinima avatars going at it. They have quite an interesting discussion:

Conversation is perhaps the most universal joint improvisatory activity, and what our musicbot routines do is something similar to what these chatbots do linguistically, in the musical sphere.

Joe Lasqo @ Meridian Gallery, 11 Jan 2012 (Photo: PeterBKaars.com, http://www.peterbkaars.com)

I raided a cupboard of techniques ranging from blackboard architectures and, especially, computational grammars, from my old work in expert systems development and natural language processing, to create Maxxareddu.

Improv Grammar Diagram from "The WIsdom of the Impulse", by Tom Nunn

Ritwik brought his own insights into heuristics techniques, machine/human learning, and astromusicology to create Maxine.

Ritwik and I will join Maxine and Maxxareddu’s conversation from time to time with our physical instruments (sax + RD-300NX keyboard).

Warren Stringer

It will also be our honor and pleasure to welcome the inimitable visual synthesis of maestro Warren Stringer (of Muse).

Those who have seen Warren at one of my previous shows or a Bay Area technorave know his unique mastery in combining art and algorithm for the real-time visual accompaniment of improvisatory music. (And the rest of you have something great to look forward to.)

L → R: Warren Stringer, Joe Lasqo, and Rent Romus, Luggage Store Gallery, 27 Dec 2012

Johny Radio

I’m also honored to join the digital section of the NoiseJam Orchestra at this event on laptop under the conduction of wonderful homebrew sound device guru & DJ Johny Radio. Other sections of the orchestra will include anything homebrew, invented, patched, or coded – so be prepared for anything from circuit-bent toys to tin-can-resonator banjos and Frankenvegetables.

These unique sonic events unfold for your listening pleasure at Noisebridge, 2169 Mission St., SF (map/directions), 9:00-9:55pm, Sat 10 Aug.

Lesley Flanigan & Tristan Perich leading the Loud Objects workshop @ Noisebridge

Our set as NoiseJam Orchestra is part of a much larger eclectic music/dance program starting from 4pm and going to late, also including:

Carl & Beatrice, dinnerwiththekids, DJ Nobody, Dull Richards, Free Reed Vibrating Society / Music in Motion (under the baton of the inimitable Bob Marsh), Fruit Helmet, Jeremy Hatch, The Majors, Mock Church, Pet the Tiger, Pinched Nerve, and Thunderground Collective

For details about the music schedule and more at this fantastic event for Noisebridge Hackerspace, see: here. (Open admission, but please donate, that is the point).

Noisebridge

If you can’t come, you still have the opportunity to donate to keep SF’s beloved hackerspace in good financial health (various ways to do this outlined: here).

Noisebridge

Why is Noisebridge important? What do you get when you support it?

I can’t say it better than Danny O’Brien, Noisebridge’s treasurer:

“Sure, you get the world’s craziest hackerspace, not-even-run by anarchist lunatics who built WikiLeaks and run one of the biggest Tor nodes and work for the EFF and construct X-Ray Lasers from spare parts and inspire SciFi books and start 3D printing companies and make kombucha and robots, and you get to come to it 24/7 and we’ll give you a key, and share our software and our classrooms and teach you how to fix your laptop or use our woodshop or share our library or use the darkroom or cook some food or have a free shell account or throw a party or chase a robot or paint a picture or make a dress. But you could do that without paying $10 anyway, right?

Well, maybe only for another few months…”

It's alive…!

Join us 9-9:55pm, Sat 10 Aug to hear musicians meet music AIs, and FM synthesis meet Frankenvegetables and/or ???

And donate in person or per instructions here.

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