Live Coding and Music Production as Hybrid Practice

This article discusses incorporating live coding as part of a new Foundation pathway for music production at a UK university that started in September 2022. The inclusion of live coding, using the application Sonic Pi, is situated alongside music production using a DAW, initially through the process of drum programming. The role of Sonic Pi is also to provide a means for producers to take their productions into the live performance space. This article’s contribution is in three areas. The first is to provide a short history of live coding at the current institution coupled with a longer account of my fragmented journey into live coding to provide some context. For the second discussion area, information about the foundation, its structure and how it fits into the overall degree programme is discussed. This section also includes some short code examples to illustrate the approach and links to video materials. For the last discussion area I outline an area of crossover between production and live coding which opens up a number of critical discussion points. This concerns the use of a breakbeat, what this means when used in productions, in live coding and when shipped with paid for or free software

The Implications of Loraine James’s Production Approach as Real-time Production Performance Practice

My abstract for the Practice Research in 21st Century Music which took place at the University of West London. Details of the conference can be found here: http://www.c21mp.org/events/practice-research-in-21st-century-music/ The theme for this presentation develops arguments from my other work on DAWs, sampling and live coding. Abstract Regardless of movements like controllerism (Boon 2021), most productions still exhibit a division between studio and stage for the producer-performer and performer-producer type of artist practitioner. Real time production activities, when encouraged by DAW manufacturers, are usually in the service of creating an artefact for further editing and mixing rather than solving computer performance issues. This position is further complicated by notions of what constitutes real time performance with computers (see Burgess 2013: 85), as well as who controls the computer and who is doing the performing, which become central and critical concerns. Thus, Loraine James, a queer black female working class electronic musician, presents an interesting case for artistic research in this area to fill this clear gap in research. The knowledge implications for performance, production and pedagogy, which are all simultaneously bounded within this process, also extend to the decentering of production power relations and presence, such as women and their access to the identifier producer, within these fields (Reddington 2021: 4). James’s production-performance/performance-production approach circumvents many issues encountered by DAW artists, by adopting a specific method to their artistic working practice. This encapsulates pre-production, performance and post-production as a combined creative process generating three simultaneously derived and useful artefacts: 1. Performance; 2. Audio recording; 3. Video recording of the performance. This presentation’s contribution considers the affordances and constraints of James’s approach and why it might signal the reimaginaing of a more conventional production process for electronic music producers. I highlight the implications and applications for emergent producer-performer/performer-producer practitioners and theorise how this approach potentially (re-)solves related work based problems such as workflow and mediatization, possibly even monetisation, of digital musical production-performance labour. References Boon, H. (2021). Using DAWs as modelling tools for learning design sound-based applications in education, Journal of Music, Technology & Education, 13(2-3), pp. 305-322. Burgess, R., J. (2013). The Art of Music Production : The Theory and Practice, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Reddington, H. (2021), She’s at the Controls: Sound Engineering, Production and Gender Ventriloquism in the 21st Century. Sheffield : Equinox

Working for the AI Man: Algorithmic Rents, Accumulation by Dispossession and Alien Power

This paper discusses AI, its effects on the production condition of users and conditions of alienation made possible by AI music applications

The Construction of Verification Models for Embedded Systems

The usefulness of verification hinges on the quality of the verification model. Verification is useful if it increases our confidence that an artefact bahaves as expected. As modelling inherently contains non-formal elements, the qualityof models cannot be captured by purely formal means. Still, we argue that modelling is not an act of irrationalism and unpredictable geniality, but follows rational arguments, that often remain implicit. In this paper we try to identify the tacit rationalism in the model construction as performed by most people doing modelling for verification. By explicating the different phases, arguments, and design decisions in the model construction, we try to develop guidelines that help to improve the process of model construction and the quality of models

Lumbar puncture for the generalist

The safe and successful performance of a lumbar puncture demands a working and yet specific knowledge as well as competency in performance. This review aims to aid understanding of the knowledge framework, the pitfalls and complications of lumbar puncture. It includes special reference to three dimensional relationships, functional anatomy, imaging anatomy, normal variation and living anatomy. A lumbar puncture is a commonly performed procedure for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Epidural and spinal anaesthesia, for example, are common in obstetric practice and involve the same technique as a lumbar puncture except for the endpoint of the needle being in the epidural space and subarachnoid space respectively. The procedure is by no means innocuous and some anatomical pitfalls include inability to find the correct entry site for placement of the lumbar puncture needle and lack of awareness of structures in relation to the advancing needle. Headache is the most common complication and it is important to avoid traumatic and dry taps, herniation syndromes and injury to the terminal end of the spinal cord. With a thorough knowledge of the contraindications, the regional anatomy and rationale of the technique and adequate prior skills practice, a lumbar puncture can be performed safely and successfully

The effect of different frequencies of ultrasound on the activity of horseradish peroxidase

Ultrasound technology has been studied by food researchers as an alternative method for thermal processing. The use of ultrasound as a way to inactivate and/or activate enzymes has been widely studied at low frequencies (20–40 kHz), however, little research on the effect of high frequencies has been reported. Thus, the effect of high and low frequency ultrasound on commercial horseradish peroxidase with a concentration of 0.005 mg mL−1 is described. Experiments were performed for 60 min using 20, 378, 583, 862, 995, 1144 and 1175 kHz ultrasound at power levels (acoustic energy) between 2.1 and 64 W. Residual activity was monitored using a spectrophotometric method and data analysis was performed using ANOVA. A significant enhancement of enzyme inactivation (p < 0.05) was observed at each frequency with an increase of sonication time and power. Inactivation of peroxidase by ultrasound followed first order kinetics and an increase of the rate constant with the power applied was observed for all the frequencies studied. Overall, low frequency (20 kHz) and low power are not effective on the enzyme inactivation and the level of residual activity remained high. The use of 378 and 583 kHz (48 W) is particularly effective for complete enzyme inactivation

Surface coatings and catalyst production by electrodeposition

Electrodeposition and electrocodeposition in low gravity are discussed. The goal is to provide a better understanding of the role of convection and buoyancy in the mechanisms of formation of some electrodeposited surfaces, fluid flow in the vicinity of electrodepositing surfaces, the influence of a moving medium upon codeposition, the effect of gravity upon the dispersion (coagulation) of neutral particles that are desired for codeposition and preparation of improved surface coatings and metal catalysts

Time-resolved fluorescence observation of di-tyrosine formation in horseradish peroxidase upon ultrasound treatment leading to enzyme inactivation

The application of ultrasound to a solution can induce cavitional phenomena and generate high localised temperatures and pressures. These are dependent of the frequency used and have enabled ultrasound application in areas such as synthetic, green and food chemistry. High frequency (100 kHz to 1 MHz) in particular is promising in food chemistry as a means to inactivate enzymes, replacing the need to use periods of high temperature. A plant enzyme, horseradish peroxidase, was studied using time-resolved fluorescence techniques as a means to assess the effect of high frequency (378 kHz and 583 kHz) ultrasound treatment at equivalent acoustic powers. This uncovered the fluorescence emission from a newly formed species, attributed to the formation of di-tyrosine within the horseradish peroxidase structure caused by auto-oxidation, and linked to enzyme inactivation