Guillaume de Machaut – Quant en Moy
with Dina Khalil
The song consists of three vocal lines, each singing a different text – the lines vary from each other in text and rhythm.
The first interaction idea focused around dancing and movement – creating a musical experience by capturing the movement of two users in two distinct spaces. One user would be dancing on a floor that is marked with lines similar to a musical score, and their dancing along the lines would be converted into melodic elements.
The movement of the second user would be captured on camera, and using Posenet the rhythm of their movement would be analyzed to create rhythmic elements.
This interaction does not recreate the original song but it applies the idea of multiple simultaneous sources of musical material.
An alternative idea centered around the act of hugging, coming out of an attempt to capture the spirit of the song itself, being a medieval love song.
In this interaction, the original song is played, and the interaction parameters modify its elements slightly. It is more about the shared activity of hugging, which is a different experience than two people dancing separately.
The process of discussing these alternatives was an interesting challenge – my approach is usually more analytic than intuitive – my method for answering the question, “what is something about”, usually involves taking it apart to its elements, something like a dissection. Dina’s answer focused on what the piece made her feel the strongest – its emotional core.
I think that’s a good dialectic to have while thinking about interactions and art making.
Posted in Spring 20 - Music Interaction Design, Uncategorized |