KISS2018: Altered States

A global community of sound designers & musicians meet to explore ways in which sound, music, and technology can alter state…

Sound designers, musicians, and sound-afficionados are invited to participate in the tenth annual Kyma International Sound Symposium (KISS2018) in Santa Cruz California from 6-9 September 2018 when Kyma practitioners at every level of experience — ranging from beginners to experts who make their living teaching, performing, and designing sounds with Kyma — will convene to present their most recent creative and technical work related to the conference theme, “Altered States” and sub-theme, “Ecosystems”.

Whether they interpret “Altered States” in terms of state machines for cryptography, shamanic trance states, stable/unstable states in a dynamical system, states of consciousness along the path to enlightenment, hidden states of a Markov model, or the ways in which active-listening can inspire changes to the state of the ecosystem, there is one point on which all the symposiasts agree: Sound and music can alter states.

KISS2018 Program Highlights

KISS2018 will feature over 25 hours of technical sessions, discussions, and live electronic music performances showcasing some of the most thought-provoking work created with the Kyma sound design environment this year. The full KISS2018 schedule is available online.

Here are a few highlights:

Gabriel Montufar (DJ Monti) is collaborating with the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) Fencing Club to present En Garde, a unique live performance in which the movements and breath of fencers engaged in a live duel are transformed into intricate sounds intended to alter the state of the fencers and the outcome of the match.

The Tower of Voices is a ninety-three foot tall musical instrument containing forty wind chimes to represent the forty passengers and crew members of United Flight 93. Artist Ben Salzman (Hamilton College) and composer Jon Bellona (University of Oregon) will reflect on the states of existence between life and death as they reconstruct the compositional processes of their late friend and mentor Sam Pellman who composed the music for this installation. The formal dedication of the Tower of Voices will be held on 9 September, 2018 in Pennsylvania as part of this year’s 9/11 observances.

Kristin Erickson (aka Kevin Blechdom), Technical Coordinator for Digital Arts and New Media at UCSC, will present the premiere of her new operetta The Dolphinarium in collaboration with film and television producer, Matthew Galvin. Based on the groundbreaking research of physician, neuroscientist, psychoanalyst, psychonaut, philosopher, writer and inventor John C. Lilly, the operetta explores aspects of Lilly’s 1965 Dolphin Cohabitation experiments and his lifelong research into altered states.

Carla Scaletti, president of Symbolic Sound Corporation and co-creator of the Kyma language for sound design, will welcome symposium delegates with a keynote lecture on the conference theme of Altered States in relation to sound, programming languages, memory, and learning.

Italian DJ/producer Domenico Cipriani (Lucretio) is performing Predator/Prey, a living sonic ecosystem in which sounds are born, move, hunt, reproduce, and die within a quadraphonic listening space, inspired by John Holland’s Adaptation in Natural and Artificial Systems and Daniel Shiffman’s The Nature of Code. Cipriani, whose degree is in linguistics from the University of Padua, studies the relationship between functionalism and social semiotics. Inspired by Cristian Vogel´s 2016 performance at the Decipher Language party in Berlin, Cipriani’s recent focus has been digital audio programming and performing with the Symbolic Sound Kyma system.

Korean composer Kiyoung Lee and pianist/improviser Ha-Young Park from Dankook University will present Turritopsis dohrnii, a live performance based on the process of transdifferentiation performed by the “immortal jellyfish”, a biologically immortal species that can literally alter the state of its own cells.

Franz Danksagmüller, professor at the Musikhochschule Lübeck and the Royal Academy of Music in London and creator/performer of live electronics and sound design for John Malkovich’s “Just Call Me God”, will be performing emotional states — Lieder one Worte, a song cycle based on the utterances people make when they can’t find the right word or expression during a conversation.

Robert Efroymson, software developer and CEO of the high-speed optical communications firm Dynamic Photonics, will describe and demonstrate his new Cryptographic Music Sequencer modeled after the M-209 — a WWII era mechanical encryption device.

Garth Paine, Senior Sustainability Scientist and composer at Arizona State University, will present a keynote lecture on the Listen(n) project with a focus on the ways in which active-listening can inspire meaningful action toward changing the state of the environment.

and many others… (Click for the full schedule of concerts and talks)

Who should attend KISS2018?

For anyone who is obsessed with sound — whether a novice seeking to kickstart their career, an expert looking to take their mastery to the next level, or someone who’s simply curious about how sound and music can alter states — KISS2018 is an opportunity to be immersed in sound and ideas and surrounded by fellow sound enthusiasts for four days and nights of intensive discussion, learning, music, and forging new professional connections and lifelong friendships.

Registration for KISS2018 is open to all and includes access to the lectures, hands-on labs, lunches, dinners, coffee breaks and an opening reception and seven live performances at the UCSC Recital Hall, Digital Arts Research Center (DARC), including a special, outdoor concert among the redwoods at the Stanley Sinsheimer Glen.

Organizers

KISS2018 is being co-organized by the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) Arts Division, the Digital Arts and New Media Research Center, and Symbolic Sound Corporation.

Contact information and details

For information on registration, travel/lodging information, and programming, please visit: http://kiss2018.symbolicsound.com

To follow the latest KISS2018 news and developments:
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/nI9ATE
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KymaSymposium

The KISS2018 Organizers would be happy to answer your questions via email.

Call for Proposals: KISS 2018 — Altered States

The Arts Division at the University of California Santa Cruz and Symbolic Sound invite proposals for talks, live performances and workshops for the 6-9 September 2018 Kyma International Sound Symposium — KISS2018: Altered States (and Ecosystems).

Altered States

State spaces, state of mind, state of the art, deep state, state machines, state of the nation, state variable filters, topological state, head of state, solid state physics, state of grace, state transitions, spin states, state of the union — whatever your definition of state, one thing is for certain: Sound and music can alter states.

Join us in the state of California as we explore the multifaceted concept of Altered States through talks, workshops, and live musical performances at KISS2018, 6-9 September 2018 on the campus of the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Ecosystems

Atop a forested hill overlooking the Pacific ocean and Monterey Bay, on the tectonic boundary between the Pacific and North American plates (aka the San Andreas Fault), accessible from the San Jose or San Francisco Airports, Santa Cruz is shaped by the economic/technology ecosystems of Silicon Valley, the biological ecosystems of the Pacific ocean and the Santa Cruz mountains, and a continuation of the counterculture lifestyle and political protest movements of the 1960s — hence the sub-theme of the conference: Ecosystems. Whether “Ecosystems” inspires ideas for environmental music & field recording, ecosystemic feedback control systems, the human microbiota, or more abstract political/economic/social ecosystems, we welcome proposals involving “complex networks or interconnected systems” of sound and music.

Important Dates

26 March: Deadline for submissions
15 April: Notification of acceptance & start of early registration

For more information and to make a proposal, visit: https://kiss2018.symbolicsound.com/call-for-proposals/

Sound & Music for Augmenting Reality

KISS2017 in Oslo Norway 12-15 October 2017 — a symposium on new opportunities for sound designers & musicians in virtual, augmented and mixed reality creation

Sound and music are the original augmented reality technology. Throughout human history, sound and music have played an essential role in transforming the mundane into the sublime, turning everyday events into memorable milestones, and enhancing the flow of experience.

Sound designers, musicians, museum curators, game developers, researchers and others interested in the power of sound to create and augment reality are invited to participate in the Kyma International Sound Symposium, KISS2017 in Oslo Norway 12-15 October 2017. Join fellow participants exploring the uses of sound in Augmenting Reality through talks, live performances, hands-on sessions, and informal conversations over meals (which are included with your conference registration).

Program
The full KISS2017 technical and creative program is available here: http://kiss2017.symbolicsound.com/complete-program/

Here are a few highlights from the international lineup:

• Tour and reception at the Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology, including a special lecture on computer music pioneer Knut Wiggen’s musical innovation during the early years of the EMS Electronic Music Studio in Stockholm (presented by NOTAM’s founding director, Jøran Rudi), followed by a science/art-themed concert at the museum.

• An evening at Norway’s premiere jazz venue Victoria Nasjonal Jazzscene featuring Deathprod/Supersilent members Helge Sten & Arve Henriksen (Norway) performing live Kyma electronics on a program that also includes sets by SØS Gunver Rydberg (Denmark) and Michael Wittgraf (USA)
http://nasjonaljazzscene.no/arrangement/helge-sten-arve-henriksen-wittgraf-sos/

• Presentations on designing sound for planetarium-presentation; listening to the past in museum exhibitions; learning how to listen with cochlear implants; sound and music for calming dysregulated children; cooperation between musicians and machines

• Technology talks including pitch-tracking of live audio signals to control game avatars in real time, multidimensional audio, ambisonics, head-tracking, sonifying geo-spatial data, Open Sound Control, connections between Kyma 7 and the Unity3d game engine, live performance of electroacoustic music for an audience wearing VR headgear, using physical objects to interact with digital sound synthesis and processing, using wireless sensors to control and manipulate sound, and integrating live dance with generative sound and video for mixed reality performances.

• Desktop Demo Sessions where you can speak to the presenters one-on-one and ask them questions about their work

• An Open Lab where you can ask questions and consult on your Kyma projects with fellow practitioners and the creators of Kyma 7

• Live mixed reality performances including:

• A performer running through the streets of Oslo & transmitting a live video feed to the audience as his geospatial data generates and controls quadraphonic processing of a live ensemble
• A live musical performance of a computer game where acoustic audio controls real-time decisions leading to a distinctive outcome on each play-through
• Mixed reality performances where physical objects, like Tibetan bells or balloons, control digital sound and image generation
• Performances utilizing new musical inventions like the Electronic Bull Roarer and a new input device inspired by Ssireum Korean wrestling
• Citizen journalism and crowd-sourced news as an augmented reality performance
• A performance that looks at how organizations can use language to alter reality and neutralize our position as workers
• A mixed reality performance where long-distance communications augment time and space and magnify our stories
• The sounds of writing create sound fantasies in the minds of the audience & then mutate into other sounds that augment and clash with those imagined by the audience

Summary
KISS2017 is an opportunity for anyone interested in creating sound for augmenting reality to immerse themselves in new ideas and experiences and to meet and learn from like-minded colleagues.

Registration includes talks, concerts, reception, lunches & dinners (Student discounts are available): http://kiss2017.symbolicsound.com/kiss2017-registration/

For travel and lodging information: http://kiss2017.symbolicsound.com/travel-lodging/

Official KISS web site: http://kiss2017.symbolicsound.com

To follow the latest KISS news and developments:

Facebook
Twitter

Organizers and Sponsors

The Norwegian Academy of Music
University of Oslo Department of Musicology
NOTAM
Symbolic Sound Corporation
The Research Council of Norway

Contact the organizers

See you in Oslo!

The rocket scientist of human hearing

In 1999, astrophysicist/musician David McClain spent an intense three-month period working on The Northern Sky Survey, mapping the sky in the near infrared while getting by on an hour of sleep per night. When he finished the survey, he was suddenly struck by a viral infection that nearly killed him; his doctors were never able to determine the cause and, after three months, the infection dissipated almost as quickly as it had appeared. But afterward David noticed that he could no longer understand his wife when she was speaking to him. He went to an audiologist and discovered he had a sensorineural hearing loss of 60-70 dB in the high frequency range. Hearing aids helped him understand speech, but he was devastated to discover that music never sounded right through the hearing aids. But as a physicist, he was determined to solve the problem.

Motivated by his love of music and informed by his scientific training, McClain has spent the last 16 years developing equations to describe the entire hearing experience – from the cochlea, to the afferent 8th nerve, to processing in the central nervous system, efferent 8th nerve interactions — and developing signal processing algorithms to adapt to and compensate for his hearing loss in a way that preserves the audio experience of music. The result is a collection of signal processing algorithms he calls Crescendo. Kyma is one of the tools David uses for testing out new ideas and prototyping them for Crescendo.

Now he’s blogging about his findings on his web site http://refined-audiometrics.com. In keeping with his motto “Keeping music enjoyable for all!” David hopes that his experiences, research findings, and extensive set of algorithms can benefit others.

 

Silvia Matheus at CMMR in Brazil


Composer/sound designer Silvia Matheus is one of the presenters on the scientific program of the 12th International Symposium on Computer Music Multidisciplinary Research (CMMR2016) in São Paulo, Brazil on 05-08 July 2016. Matheus’ talk, State of Art in Sound Design, Production and Synthesis will include an opportunity for conference attendees to learn more about how Silvia uses Kyma in her sound design and composition work and to interact directly with her Kyma 7/Pacarana system.

Kyma Klub of Santa Cruz

When PhD candidate Madison Heying discovered there was a Kyma system at the University of California at Santa Cruz and that Kristin Erickson, Technical Coordinator of the Digital Arts & New Media center also had a personal Kyma system, they decided to organize the Kyma Klub — an informal group of students and staff members who meet weekly to read through Kyma X Revealed and teach themselves Kyma. The first public performance by club members was AQULAQUTAQU — a sci-fi operetta by Madison Heying & Kristin Erickson (voice & Kyma) with Matthew Galvin (voice & video), David Kant (voice), and Maya Galvin (narrator) — that they premiered at KISS2015 in Bozeman Montana (home of first contact).

In early February 2016, UCSC faculty composer Larry Polansky invited Kyma creators Carla Scaletti and Kurt Hebel to UC Santa Cruz where Carla presented a graduate colloquium on data sonification and a seminar on sound design in Kyma 7.

Here, Madison and Kristin are presenting some of the generative algorithms they implemented in Kyma for AQULAQUTAQU:

Madison Heying, Kristin Erickson Carla & Kurt UCSC 2016

After the seminar, the Kyma Klub invited Kurt and Carla to Kristin’s studio where David Kant interviewed Kurt,

Kurt Kristin Carla David UCSC 2016

and Kristin Erickson interviewed Carla, while Matthew Galvin filmed their responses in front of a green screen for an as-yet-undisclosed proposal the Kyma Klub members have in mind to make for KISS2016.

Kristin Erickson interviewing Carla Scaletti UCSC 2016

Note the special blacklight Kyma Klub T-shirts (with matching event posters) designed and printed by Kristin and Madison for the visit.

carla on madison & kristin greenscreen UCSC 2016

Kyma morphing workshop in London

Have you ever wanted to do audio morphing like this?

 

UK Kyma Users’ group organizer Simon Smith announces that the second meeting of the group will take place at the University of West London, Ealing on the Saturday 20th of February from 10:30 am to 4:30pm and will feature a morphing masterclass by Pete Johnston.

DSC00095

Simon Smith

Charlie Norton, Kyma user and senior lecturer at University of West London, has generously agreed to host the event at the University music studios. The day will consist of a Masterclass/Workshop in the morning then after lunch, mingling, brainstorming and sharing of Kyma tips and hints. Also this will be an ideal opportunity to talk to the local organisers of this year’s Kyma International Sound Symposium (KISS2016) in Leicester UK: Craig Vear and Simon Smith.

If you would like to morph your own sounds at the workshop, please bring your Kyma system with headphones and some sound files you wish to morph.

To reserve a space, please email organizer Simon Smith.

Kyma at ICMC2015

Kyma had a strong presence at the 2015 International Computer Music Conference in Denton Texas, September 25 — October 1, including live performances by

Jeffrey Stolet,
ICMC2015JeffStolet2

Wang Chi,

Jon Bellona,
JP Bellona ICMC2015.jpg

Jon Bellona angst2

and Sun Hua,
Sun Hua ICMC2015.jpg
a keynote lecture by Symbolic Sound president Carla Scaletti,
ICMC2015 keynote Title Slide

ICMC2015 keynote social brain crowd

ICMC2015 keynote IMS to Platypus

ICMC2015 keynote platypus meets capybara Wang photo

ICMC2015 keynote close2

ICMC2015 keynote SSC in 1989

ICMC2015 keynote smiling at laptop2

ICMC2015 keynote output from the brain

ICMC2015 keynote computer musicians predict the future

ICMC2015 keynote making imaginary real

a one-hour Kyma workshop also presented by Scaletti (new music pioneer Larry Austin is seen in the audience at the lower left)
Kyma workshop ICMC2015 photo by Chi Wang

and fixed media pieces by Fred Szymanski and Jinshuo Feng. (If we’ve left anyone out, please let us know!)

Thanks to the ICMC 2015 organizers, presenters, and composers!

Special thanks to the ICMC organizers, Wang Chi, Sun Hua, and Jon Bellona for the photos and Iacopo Sinigaglia for the video excerpt.

Kyma Workshop in Brazil

Berkley-California-based composer/performer, Silvia Matheus, will be presenting a Kyma 7 seminar in Portuguese on October 8th 2015 at 1 pm in room 324 of FASM (Faculdade Santa Marcelina Convida) in São Paolo, Brazil.

Matheus describes Kyma as more than a language, but a complete production system for unique sound design used in the most famous film and sound production studios. In this seminar, she will demonstrate Kyma and provide an overview of the Pacarana system and Kyma language, addressing the numerous possibilities for sound transformation derived from this innovative and complex system.

No prerequisites are required and all compositores, músicos, sonoplastas, pesquisadores, game designers e artistas de som are invited to attend.

Faculdade Santa Marcelina – FASM
R. Dr. Emílio Ribas
89 – Perdizes
São Paulo – SP, 05006-020, Brazil
+55 11 3824-5800