6/24/2023 0 Comments Maquette music︎Everything I do co-exists, each part is integral, part of the other’s processes. I started to think about how important it was to gain a new vocabulary, and have a new language to open up the strict different definitions of things, and learn words like “soundscape.”Įverything I do co-exists, each part is integral, part of the other’s processes. I took a class called “The Fundamentals of Music Technology” with Konrad Kaczmarek which was vital in expanding my idea of music, to the extent that I walk around and hear the ambient sound of the street, the light changing, a car going by. All this didn’t come together truly until my junior year. I use programming as a method of controlling music, and I use musical terms, abstractions, and ideas to inform how it organizes the code. Everything I do co-exists, each part is integral, part of the other’s processes. Over time, everything got fused closer and closer together. As I got older, it became less about video games and more about interactive, immersive experiences. For the longest time, I wanted to do computer science only to make video games. But to make it all happen, someone had to program it. There’s so much that goes into creating one-sound, storytelling, script. In terms of computer science, video games planted that seed. This has made me want to create more experiences that bring people together. It’s one of the only ways we interact consistently. When my hands were big enough to hold the controller, my older brother gave me one so that I could play. Video games, too, are a key point of relation with my family. I thought that I could do it all, and I don’t think that’s impossible! Except for Formula One, I think I’m not going to be able to do that. When I was younger and people asked what I wanted to do when I grew up, I’d say: I want to be a professional Formula One race car driver, a video game designer, a tester, a professional track star, and a professional musician. I’m always influenced by what is around me. Still from EMOTIONSFEST Wonderville, Roxanne Harris, 2022. They couldn’t blow into it, but somehow, I knew how. When I first brought it home, my parents thought I was crazy. It’s not that I need to be the center of attention, but I care about having a voice, being present, and being perceived clearly. I liked how saxophonists were the main character of a song. In pop music, especially at that time, if a saxophone is featured, it has a very strong sound, a very distinct part. The way that you can bend the notes, and the range of frequencies that it can occupy. I thought that it sounded the most human. I almost couldn’t play it, because my hands were really, really small. It was golden, had a good shape, and had the coolest sound. In the third grade, a new marching band course was introduced. My dad has these speakers in the basement. They brought over a lot of their CDs-reggae, reggaetón-with them. My parents immigrated from Jamaica to Queens, New York. Starting this semester, I thought: Let me just make music! I chose Sonic Pi as my environment of choice for music-making. When I was figuring out how to structure my thesis, I re-encountered it, and spent the whole last semester studying. I didn’t see a community around it, or if there was one, it wasn’t where I was at. It felt really niche back then it still does. At the time, I wasn’t aware that people used that as an aspect of performance. That’s when I got my first exposure to using code that would make music. I took his class dealing with sound synthesis and sound design, and learned about the program SuperCollider. He teaches algorithmic composition, algorithmic music, and heuristics. There are only two computer music people at Yale. Instead of doing twice the work, I wanted to find one topic that I could approach from different angles. Live coding entered my life in September of last year, mainly due to the fact that I am doing Computer Science and Music as a double major. Roxanne Harris performing live coding with Sonic Pi.
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