In Garth Paine‘s new interactive Kyma work, CrossTalk, created in collaboration with Simon Biggs and Sue Hawksley, the text is automatically transcribed from the dancers’ speech as they describe inner body sensations and their relationship to the system. Later, the dancers collide with the sentences and the system generates a new language which they then dance, and so on. Watch as the printed sentences take the form of dancing stick figures projected on the back walls:
The creators describe it as an auto poetic system for making behaviors based on the anthropological idea of “making people†as described in their paper published in MOCO the Proceedings of International Workshop on Movement and Computing at IRCAM.
Workshops, Talks, and Live Performances on “Organic Soundâ€
From organs (biological) to organs (musical), this year’s Kyma International Sound Symposium (KISS2014), to be held in Lübeck Germany on 25-28 September 2014, will explore multiple meanings of the phrase “organic sound†through technical talks, live performances, and hands-on workshops. Sound designers, composers, and live performers are invited to participate in a wide range of thought-provoking activities including:
An examination of how to emulate the organic sound of the analog recording studio using Kyma, presented by composer/sound engineer Greg Hunter of Dub Sahara
A special evening of “pipe organs like you’ve never heard them before†in the experimental, virtuosic hands of master organist/composer Franz Danksagmüller and his students
Intensive afternoons in The Collaboratory creating and rehearsing several world premieres including a live sound track for a new film by experimental filmmaker Theo Lipfert performed by faculty and students of the Musikhochschule Lübeck processed through Kyma
A hands-on “plantification” workshop where you’ll learn from Rudi Giot and his graduate engineering students how to control Kyma sounds through the growth of living plants
Events will kick off on Thursday with the unveiling of a major new release of the Kyma software and will culminate on Sunday with an evening of dancing to Kyma beats at club Parkhaus. The full program is online at: http://kiss2014.symbolicsound.com/detailed-program
About the Symposium
Hosted this year by Franz Danksagmüller and the Musikhochschule Lübeck, each morning of KISS2014: “Organic Sound” features technical/philosophical sessions on topics ranging from voice processing, to sonification of organic chemicals and the Internet, to organic growth and decay, to how to build your own performance controller and use it to control Kyma via OSC, to presentations by individual composer/performers detailing how they utilize Kyma in their live performances and installations.
Afternoons are dedicated to interaction and hands-on activities including open rehearsals of collaborations-in-progress in The Collaboratory, a workshop on Conduction ensemble improvisation techniques presented by London Improvisers Orchestra trombonist and Kymaist Robert Jarvis, and the Kyma Open Lab where Kyma experts (Jeffrey Stolet, Cristian Vogel, Bruno Liberda, Scott Miller, Kurt Hebel, Carla Scaletti and others) will be on hand to answer your questions and consult with you on your current projects.
This year’s KISS features more live performances than ever before, with concerts every evening showcasing some of the best work created in Kyma this year, presented in the acoustically perfect MHL Große Saal and the Jakobikirche Lübeck with its three historically important pipe organs, famously decorated with faces on every pipe.
Anyone who lives for sound — whether you are a novice looking to kickstart your career, an expert seeking a fresh jolt of inspiration, or simply someone who is curious about sound and Kyma — you will find in KISS2014 a chance to meet kindred spirits and immerse yourself in sound and ideas for four intense and inspiring days and nights of non-stop discussions, interactions, music and sound design.
Here’s how Chicago-based sound designer and re-recording mixer, Dustin Camilleri (http://www.pulsetrain.net) describes his experience at a previous KISS:
“…The unique thing about Kyma, I find, is that it appeals to such a wide spectrum of people doing such an amazingly diverse set of things, but sharing a common language. The conversations I had were so incredibly inspiring; the performances I saw were just over the top, and the community at large was just some of the nicest most genuine people I’ve ever had the pleasure of spending some time with.”
What if you could hear your music performed on a 500 year old organ that was once played by J.S. Bach? What if you could invent a new kind of live DJ set with Kyma and live percussion? Or work with an opera singer and a pop singer to develop new ways of transforming the voice in a live performance? What if you could spend several days experimenting with live Kyma-processing of strings, woodwinds, piano, percussion, and other acoustic instruments?
The Collaboratory is a “collaboration laboratory” where you can be part of a team of composers/performers/technologists inventing a new kind of live performance piece, live improvisation, live sound-track-to-picture performance, live DJ set or experimental live interaction involving Kyma and acoustic or electronic performers. The choices are yours, and the possibilities are limitless. Make a proposal and see what happens!
Audio Technologies for Music and Media is an international interdisciplinary conference that focuses on various aspects of audio, audiovisual and music technologies for music and media as well as the relationship between sound, music and image in both ‘traditional’ and ‘new’ media.
Isikyakar will demonstrate how he utilizes Kyma in his work and talk about how Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi‘s nine elements of flow apply to his way of interacting with Kyma. Csikszentmihalyi describes the ‘flow state’ as “being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one…”
Three world premieres at the Musicacustica Beijing 2013 festival are utilizing Kyma for live sound generation and processing:
Magic Fingers for Leap Motion and Kyma by composer/performer Wang Chi, a composer and performer whose research and composition interests include data driven instruments and sound design. Chi is also an active translator for electronic music related books, including Kyma and the SOS Disco Club.
The FA Yun An man for Kyma by composer Wang Chunming, associate professor of Zhejiang University of Media and Communications, PhD candidate in digital media at the Shanghai Conservatory Of Music, and Director of the Institute of China Electronic Music.
And Theatre of Spheres by composer Jeffrey Stolet of the University of Oregon. Jeffrey Stolet is a professor of music and director of the Intermedia Music Technology at the University of Oregon where he has installed 5 Kyma teaching and production studios. In addition to teaching Kyma to his composition and sound design students at the University, Professor Stolet also directs the yearly Summer Academy on the UO campus where he welcomes international students and faculty for a two-week intensive course on digital audio, sound design and Kyma. Recently Stolet completed a book on Kyma, entitled Kyma and the SumOfSines Disco Club that is currently available in English and will soon be available in Chinese.
At this year’s Kyma International Sound Symposium —12-15 September 2013 in Brussels, Belgium — composers, sound designers, and performers will be focusing on interfaces for interactive sound design and live performance.
Actor Allison Goodman, shown here controlling Kyma with an Emotiv EPOC neural headset, is one of the performers scheduled to appear at KISS2013 in Brussels September 12-15 2013
KISS2013: INTER faces will also feature technical sessions on topics ranging from signal processing to interfaces, an ‘Open lab’ where Kyma experts will be available to answer questions, hands-on demos and workshops focusing on innovative user interfaces and controllers, and evenings filled with live musical performances showcasing some of the best work created in Kyma this year, including music controlled by brain interfaces, game controllers, iPads, Continuum fingerboards and drawing tablets; audio signals used as controllers; Foley artists as live performers; live cinema; motion-tracked dancers, and more!
Kyma developers Carla Scaletti and Kurt J. Hebel will be joined by over 30 audio and music professionals from ten countries in presenting the seminars, music, and hands-on demonstrations.
Get up close and personal with hardware and software interfacing tools including Open Interface and Skemmi (the universal Open Sound Control interface builder), Soft Kinetic Cameras, Interface-Z sensor kits, Tobii eye trackers, Reactable on a Microsoft Surface, Raspberry Pi, Dynamixel, Microsoft Kinect, and more!
InterFaceOff
Modeled on a reality-TV-style creative competition, InterFaceOff pits teams of composers and engineers against the clock, challenging them to create new performance interfaces in just four days!
A Spatial Dialog
KISS2013 attendees will have a unique opportunity to learn about live spatialization performance from Belgian composer Annette Vande Gorne who, in a public dialog with Electric Sound author and composer, Joel Chadabe, will discuss and demonstrate musical spatialization using a 70+ loudspeaker Acousmonium installed in the Espace Senghor.
Concerts featuring performances of live interactive Kyma pieces will be spatialized in real-time by experts from Musique et Recherches utilizing their 70+ speaker Acousmonium.
Who should attend
Anyone who is obsessed with sound – whether a novice looking to kickstart his or her career, an expert seeking fresh inspiration, or someone who’s simply curious about sound, interfaces, or Kyma – will find in KISS2013 a chance to immerse themselves in sound and ideas for four intense and inspiring days and nights.
Here’s how Chicago-based sound designer and re-recording mixer, Dustin Camilleri describes his experience at last year’s KISS:
“…The unique thing about Kyma, I find, is that it appeals to such a wide spectrum of people doing such an amazingly diverse set of things, but sharing a common language. The conversations I had were so incredibly inspiring; the performances I saw were just over the top, and the community at large was just some of the nicest most genuine people I’ve ever had the pleasure of spending some time with. For a conference it was truly amazing.”
Registration and travel
Registration is now open. An early registration discount is in effect until August 1, 2013. Student discounts are also available.
Fascinating papers, lively concerts, entertaining hands-on workshops, and conversations that carried on late into each night made KISS2012, the fourth annual Kyma International Sound Symposium, an inspiring and invigorating experience for all.
The symposium was covered by several local news outlets (click on photos to read the stories):
Hua Sun and Kurt Hebel perform the annual ritual for KISS2012
Sound designers to converge on St Cloud Minnesota for over 24 hours of lectures & demonstrations, 9 hours of hands-on workshops, and 3 nights of live music, cinema and improvisation
The fourth annual Kyma International Sound Symposium (KISS2012) — to take place September 13-16 at St Cloud State University School of the Arts in St Cloud, Minnesota — will include over 24 hours of technical sessions presented by Kyma experts, 9 hours of hands-on labs, and evenings filled with live music and live cinema showcasing some of the most outstanding work created in Kyma this year.
Since the inaugural symposium in Barcelona in 2009, KISS attendees around the world have benefited from the extensive technical training, aesthetic inspiration, and opportunities for collaboration that KISS is known to deliver. This year, more than 100 sound designers, composers, performers, filmmakers, game designers, authors, audio engineers, educators, and students are expected to participate in KISS2012.
The dual nature of this year’s theme — reel time || real time — has attracted an incredibly diverse group of people! It’s just a great learning opportunity for everyone involved.
— Scott Miller, professor of music composition at St Cloud State University School of the Arts and host of this year’s KISS.
Throughout the four-day event, sound designers will be able to explore the latest innovations, features, and capabilities of the Kyma Sound Design Language and learn how to optimize their work flow so they can create amazing new sounds for film, games, music and more. Kyma practitioners are invited to bring their own Sounds to the labs where they can work with Kyma developers and fellow Kyma practitioners to enhance their results.
One of our passions is to partner with Kyma users to help bring their creations to life. There is no better way to maximize your Kyma skills and discover new collaborative opportunities than by participating in the Kyma International Sound Symposium.
— Carla Scaletti, president of Symbolic Sound Corporation, co-host of KISS2012.
If you are obsessed with sound — whether a novice seeking to kickstart your career, an expert looking to take your mastery to the next level, or someone who’s simply curious about sound design and Kyma — KISS2012 is your chance to immerse yourself in sound and ideas for four intense and inspiring days and nights.
St. Cloud, Minnesota: Photo courtesy of Adam Studer (http://www.Flickr.com/people/adamstuder)
Keynote speakers, expert presenters, and topics
Symbolic Sound President Carla Scaletti will start things off with an introduction to sound design in Kyma and an overview of this year’s theme: ‘reel time || real time’. On the last day, she’ll give attendees a tour of what’s new in Kyma.
Joel Chadabe, President of Electronic Music Foundation, author of Electric Sound: The Past and Promise of Electronic Music, Adjunct Professor in Music Technology at NYU, has been teaching and composing with Kyma since 1992. In his keynote address, he’ll discuss composition and sound design with Kyma as a learning and discovery experience. In his words:
Kyma is a kit from which you can connect specific components to make an instrument. It’s your instrument. And it does what you want it to do. I’ll talk about designing an instrument and how the design and the nature of interdependent variables, fly-by-wire and dynamic control hierarchies, and interaction affect what you do (and, by the way, what do we mean by ‘interaction’?).
British composer and sound engineer Greg Hunter is perhaps best known for his production work with The Orb and Youth and as a composer of electronic world music and contributor to the scores for Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions. Currently writing a book on audio engineering, Greg will share some of the secrets he has learned during his career as remixer and producer:
In the 21st century, the distinction between composer and sound engineer has become very blurred. Most modern composers do not have the time or inclination to become professional sound engineers, yet an understanding of these skills is very important for creating music and designing sound.
More than 30 expert presenters from eight countries will be on hand, among them London-based sound designer and master of morphing Pete Johnston; Mike Johnson, senior sound designer at Blizzard (World of Warcraft-Cataclysm, Diablo III, and others); Rudi Giot, director of the Belgian ISB EEG Brain Computer Interface project; Edmund Eagan, Canadian film composer and Continuum fingerboard virtuoso; Jeffrey Stolet, author of Kyma and the Sum of Sines Disco Club (currently being translated into Mandarin for publication early next year); and many more!
Among the topics to be addressed are:
Sound design for games, film, advertising, and music;
Live cinema with real time sound tracks;
New approaches to improvisation and interaction;
New musical instruments and new approaches to performance, including continuous touch-sensitive keyboards, musical soccer balls, game controllers, treadmills, tablets, and a direct-brain interface!
Exploring the differences between working in real time vs working in reel time (and the relative benefits of each);
Plus an in-depth look at what’s new in Kyma and an exclusive peek at where Kyma is headed.
For a more complete list of expert presenters, performers, and composers, please see the preliminary program.
The Kyma International Sound Symposium is  four inspiring days and nights filled with sound design, ideas, discussions, and music, and it offers a wide range of opportunities to increase your Kyma mastery: from introductory master classes, to hands-on question-and-answer sessions; from thought-provoking presentations, to inspiring concerts and after-hours discussions with new-found friends and colleagues.
This year’s symposium KISS2012 will be on banks of the mighty Mississippi River, September 13-16, organized by St. Cloud State University School of the Arts and Symbolic Sound. The KISS2012 theme, reel time || real time, puts the spotlight on reel time (sound for picture), real time (live performance), and all timescales between, including sound design for games, live cinema, live improvisation ensembles, live performances from a score, sound design for live theatre, live signal generation for speech and hearing research, interactive data sonification, interactive sound art, and more!
Ilker Isikyakar, sound designer and composer at 
KISS2013 attendees will have a unique opportunity to learn about live spatialization performance from Belgian composer Annette Vande Gorne who, in a public dialog with Electric Sound author and composer, Joel Chadabe, will discuss and demonstrate musical spatialization using a 70+ loudspeaker Acousmonium installed in the Espace Senghor.
British composer and sound engineer Greg Hunter is perhaps best known for his production work with The Orb and Youth and as a composer of electronic world music and contributor to the scores for Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions. Currently writing a book on audio engineering, Greg will share some of the secrets he has learned during his career as remixer and producer: