Finishing touches

I spent today putting the finishing touches on Groove Culture. All the functionality is now fully incorporated into the piece and is ready to be presented. The interface is also fully overhauled and looking a lot nicer and less 'flat'.

Interface Overhaul

Further to my previous interface updates, I spent all of today working on the Interface for Groove Culture. I have changed the colour pallette considerably and have changed the way in which the grooves interact with the user. As I was working on the interface I continually sought the opinions of my peers to gauge the effectiveness of my work. Their honest opinions served as invaluable constructive criticism and stopped me form being single minded in my approach/design.

PD and XML are now working.

After a lot of experimenting and editing, Groove Culture is now working properly with the server side software PD. This is a huge advancement and a great relief. Not all features are working yet but the main ones are working fine. There is a lot to do still but having this functionality is a big milestone to reach. Also I have encorporated a slider into the design/interface which will control the volume and tempo of the beats. I sourced the code for this online because I have never implemented a slider in Flash before. So I give all credit for the code for the slider to the original creator: 'http://www.kirupa.com/developer/mx/slider.htm'. I did adjust it heavily to meet my own needs so it looks totally different in the final piece.

XML and Review Feedback

Just a quick update: I have received the updated the XML code from Gary which will work with the server side of the piece. Next step is to take this to Hugh in the CSM and link it all up. On top of this I must work in the interface a lot more - the aesthetics are not to be a last minute consideration.
Regarding the Prototype Review that we had on Thursday last, I think it went fairly okay however I am awaiting the feedback which will provide greater clarity and focus as the final weeks approach.

XML Update and Prototype Review

I'm still making the grooves that will be used in the final piece. Mean while Gary Couse has sourced the necessary XML information that I need however it is written in Actionscript 2, the now defunct version which won't work with my piece. Gary is kindly updating the language and has told me to keep reminding him about it. I'm not sure if he'll have it ready for the prototype review on Thursday but I'll be able to just run the sound samples from within the Flash file itself.

CSM Visit

Last night I used the electric music center (EMC) in the Cork School of Music. This room is packed with a plethora of digital music instruments. However for my project all I needed was the use of the computers which had the necessary software for making my grooves. I booked the room from 6-10pm which gave me plenty time to work. That being said I found that the initial setup the process very time consuming. Once I had a system in order then I was able to produce the grooves at a reasonably fast pace. I didn't get all the grooves done but I now that I know what I'm doing it will be a lot quicker to complete.

XML sockets and Flash progress

I'm continuing to work on the flash code which is coming along at a slow but steady pace. I have emailed Gary Couse in relation to the XML functionality of my piece which will have to be sorted out within the next three weeks. Time is moving fast but things are starting to come together too.

World Rhythms

As well as coding I've been think about the world rhythms that I'm going to use in the piece. This is very important becasue it has an big effect on the end user experience. A famous drum teacher Tommy Igoe has a well known list of popular grooves from around the world. This is a handy reference but I'm starting to lean towards dividing the loops/grooves up according to continent - ie have one loop from America, one from South America, one from India, another from Africa etc. to make sure that the cultures with great differences are represented.

Not how but If

One thing I am learning with this project - with respect to coding in particular - people in general don't care how it works. They just care if it works and if it's interesting to them. I have to be careful to maintained focussed on the end product - an engaging and interesting user experience. Not an exercise in Actionscript and XML sockets.

Second meeting with Hugh from CSM

On Tuesday I had my second meeting with Hugh from CSM. I updated him on my progress with the Flash front end. He then walked me through a little more of the program PureData which I will be using to communicate with the server. PureData has its own unique interface and language (here's a look at the code so far) which is tricky for me to understand at the moment but Hugh's explanations helped a lot. I have installed PureData on my computer at home and will start playing around with it myself. PureData will recieve information from my Flash interface via XML sockets. XML sockets are a language that both the programs understand.
In order to link these all up Hugh suggested I talk to Gary Couse as he has had experience with this type of work before (PD + XML sockets). I have emailed Gary to explain the setup and to seek his advice in the proper implementation of the code structure.

Here is a link to the (very) basic interface that I have made thus far for the project. It works on a click basis so that when you click a groove (represented by the colors) that groove appears on the lower half of the screen which represents the timeline. To remove a groove you simply click on it once and it will return to its place holder. No more than four grooves can be selected at any one time.

Thursday Meeting with Phil

Here are my notes from today's meeting with Phil. I need to keep my eye on the final piece. The user will not care how it works, they will simply care IF it works. I also need to develop my use of color and look into the different connotations that different colors have.

Flash Progress!

The Flash code is coming along a lot better now but there's still a lot to do. I will post what I have done so far in a little while when it's a litttle more robust. I would like to get this wrapped up ahead of schedule because it may run away time-wise if I don't keep discipled about it. I need to keep my head down now and just keep going.

Flash Work

The Flash front end of my interface is giving me a lot of hassle. The actionscript for a seemingly simple interface is proving to be quite tricky and buggy. This problem isn't insurmountable but it is taking longer that I had anticipated and so is shifting my schedule. I still have until week 8 to create this Flash framework but the sooner I can get it done the better because it's completion is necessary for the progress of the back end of the project with FLOSC (see earlier post).

Proposal Notes

Here are the notes from the proposal review we had in B123l. The comments circled in blue in the mid section of the page are the comments that apply directly to my project. However all the points are valid for me too though in one way or another.

Creating Environment

I've started to create a rough draft of the flash environment for Groove Culture. Trying to make a user experience which is intuitive, appealing and interesting will be tricky because of Actionscript but for now I'm just focussing on creating a basic stage so that I can go on further into developing the back end of things with Hugh on Monday.

Meeting with Hugh

This morning I met with Hugh McCarthy from the Cork School of Music. We discussed my idea and he helped me a lot with the back end of the project. He introduced me to a server based software program called Flosc which will handle the sending and receiving of the drum samples/clips using the Flash XML socket function. Because I've never heard of this software before I don't understand the ins and outs of how it works. Thankfully though, Hugh is well used to it and so he can explain it very well.

After we looked at the coding side of things Hugh brought me down to the Electronic Music room. This is where they keep all their electric + MIDI instruments: drums, keyboard, guitar etc. He showed me the different resources that were available for my use and pointed out which instruments would work for each part of my project. Using digital instruments affords perfect accuracy and therefore optimum flexibility for the end user.

I'll be meeting with Hugh again at the same time next week. In the meantime, I'm going to make a start on a basic working model of the Flash interface so that we can move onto the back end code next week.

Project Proposal - Groove Culture

Intro

Music is a vital part of any culture. Wherever you see a unique and distinct culture, you are likely to find an equally unique and distinct musical style. Where language can become a barrier in cultural rapprochement, music provides us with an effective and simple way to communicate - whatever our culture.

Background

The idea of combining different world rhythms in order to highlight multiculturalism is nothing new. Drum circles are a common example of this where groups of people play layered percussion pieces together for team building or educational purposes. What I’m proposing to do is to develop an online interactive rhythm platform called Groove Culture where users can mix and play around with different world rhythms themselves allowing them to discover the different cultures through this medium. This approach does not exist already.

Aim

To highlight cultural rapprochement by making an interactive rhythmic piece which incorporates rhythms from major world cultures.

Objectives

My objectives are:

Week 4 - 8

Research and collate suitable major world rhythms.

Research and utilize the Cork School of Music’s music technology resources.

Capture/create appropriate sound clips to use in the piece.

begin to develop the Flash environment for the piece.

Week 9-12

Keep the project as interactive and as simple as possible.

Further develop the Flash structure/framework for the piece until satisfactory interactivity has been achieved.

User test the piece and make relevant adjustments

Overall

Be flexible in my approach and technique.

RhythmCulture.com

Rhythm Culture is a company that facilitates 'rhythm events for communities, organizations, youth groups, schools and businesses nationwide' using 'unifying world rhythms'. This is a good example of the many Drum circle companies that are out there that use world rhythms as team building exercises. No interactive content present as the site is simply brochureware.

Drum Circles