Conference Programme - Clár na Comhdhála

Music for Flesh II is a solo piece for augmented muscles sounds,‭ ‬which aims at demonstrating an experimental coupling between theatrical gesture and biological sounds of human body. Composition was developed as a first milestone of the Xth Sense project,‭ ‬a broader ongoing research which investigates exploratory,‭ ‬open source applications of biophysical sound design for musical performance and responsive milieux. Presently Xth Sense technology consists of a low-cost,‭ ‬biosensing wearable device and a Pure Data-based framework for capture,‭ ‬analysis and real time processing of biological sounds. Performer’s voluntary muscles contractions produce kinetic energy,‭ ‬an acoustic sound which is captured by the biosensor and deployed as only sonic source.‭ ‬At the same time the biological signal undergoes a features extraction which provides several control parameters for the real time sound processing. Performer's body is not only a controller,‭ ‬but,‭ ‬more importantly,‭ ‬it becomes a truly real musical instrument‭; ‬performer is capable of actually crafting music exciting his muscles fibres.‭ Such paradigm attempts at informing classical gestural control of music‭; ‬during the concert both performer and listeners can perceive an authentic auditive and cognitive intimacy‭; ‬the neat and natural responsiveness of the system prompts a suggestive and unconventional sound-gestures coupling.

This paper seeks to outline methods underlying the development of the Xth Sense project, an ongoing research which investigates exploratory applications of biophysical sound design for musical performance and responsive milieux. Firstly, an exploratory study of the acoustics of body sounds, namely muscle sounds is illustrated. I describe the development of an audio synthesis model for muscle sounds1 which offered a deeper understanding of the body sound matter and provided the ground for further experimentations in signal processing and composition. Then follows a description of the development and design of the Xth Sense - a wearable hardware sensor device for capturing biological body sounds, this was implemented in the realization of Music for Flesh I - a first attempt at musical performance. Eventually I elaborate on the relations between the role of sound in cognitive experience and the acoustic capabilities of biologic body sounds and try to establish an array of principles which will provide the backbone of the next stage of my inquiry.