May/100
Paper summary: Interconnected musical networks: Toward a theoretical framework
Weinberg, G. (2005). Interconnected musical networks: Toward a theoretical framework. Computer Music Journal, 29(2):23–39
Weinberg (2005) discusses musical networks, the concept of performance as an interdependent art form. Electronics expands the range of possible interdependencies in musical performance: ‘Although acoustic-interdependent models provide an infrastructure for a variety of approaches for interconnections and interdependencies among players, they do not allow for actual manipulation and control of each other’s explicit musical voices. Only by constructing electronic (or mechanical) communication channels among players can participants take an active role in determining and influencing not only their own musical output but also that of their peers’ (Weinberg, 2005, p. 23).
May/100
Book Summary: “Musicophilia” by Oliver Sacks
Sacks, O. (2007). Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain. Knopf.
Sacks explores the neurology of music and gives examples of patients who have various unusual responses to music. Told in a wonderful, person-focused, story-telling manner, Musicophilia expounds on music as the wonderful back door to our minds. One man gained a sudden appreciation of piano music after being struck by lightning. Some people get seizures from music or hear music in their seizures. Most people experience getting music stuck in their head, but some have more intense musical hallucinations.
Mar/100
Robotic drumming with machine learning back end
This video is what I'd like to build: Jazari drumming robots controlled by Wiimotes and machine learning.
Of course, I'm in the business of building better and more algorithms for music and other purposes, but this is the kind of hardware platform that I'd be keen to demo algorithms on.
You can read more on the artist's website.
Peter
Jan/100
TED talk on evolving robots
Today I found this TED talk on evolving robots by Hod Lipson at Cornell.
Towards the end of the talk he makes the interesting point that in absence of a particular reward, a heterogeneous population of simulated robots ends up favouring those kinds of robots that can self-replicate.
Peter
Jan/100
The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics
Today I came across and insightful discussion on a dark-ish corner of the philosophy of science: why does math describe the universe so well?
The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics by Richard. W. Hamming (of Hamming distance and Hamming window fame). Originally this article appeared in The American Mathematical Monthly Volume 87 Number 2 February 1980.
It's a bit of a long read, but here are some highlights: