Title: Big Brother is Watching You
Demo:
Description:
Our project channels a creepy and unsettling feeling, with the visuals as well as sound. We wanted to capture a moment that is fleeting and uncertain through our work, with the use of darker visuals and eerie sounds. Inspired by Orwell’s 1984, we wanted to mimic the idea of being surveilled and trapped within a world where there is no sense of autonomy.
Process and Contributions:
The visuals begin at a calm tone with a light blue screen subtly oscillating waiting for the performance to begin. When the music begins to get a more steady beat so do the visuals as they shift steadily from one direction to the other. The integration of layers of noise and oscillation were with an intention to capture the visual randomness of noise within the visual order of the oscillator. The result was an almost flowing maze look, which tied in well with the theme as it evoked a feeling of entrapment. With this we wanted to create a visual that is fleeting in a way, changing its flow every time it looks like it’s about to drift away. At this point the visuals are a bright red colour, with an aim to evoke the creepy and unsettling feeling the music is pushing through. When the bass comes the visuals begin to momentarily shift to a greyscale version, creating a break in the visuals. Following that when the chaos in the audio increases so does the chaos in the visuals with the use of modulateRotate for some feedback.
For sound, we started by bringing the two piano sounds that we really liked during our group practice session. After working on it for a while, we had different sounds playing at the same time which was a bit noisy and messy to hear. Therefore, to make the sounds more cohesive, we used mask and whenmod pattern control functions throughout the composition to create a consistent rhythmic structure. For example, we used a mask on d2 and d10 so they alternate and play one after another. This created a more defined rhythmic pattern in our performance. Later, we removed one of the piano sounds then introduced a mi-UGens and bass sound to create a more creepy and unsettling vibe. Throughout the sound creation process, we continuously searched for and experimented with different samples and sounds. That is when we found the f sharp and c notes for the bass, they were a perfect fit for the unsettling atmosphere we wanted to create.
Regarding the contributions Lujain worked on the visuals while Buka and Zeina worked on sound.
Hydra Code:
osc(50,1)
.modulate(noise(100,2),cc[3])
.mult(noise(10))
.diff(noise(10))
.brightness(0.6)
.mult(shape(6,0.65,0.4))
.modulate(osc(15,0.5).
modulate(osc(15,0.5).rotate(2),0.2))
.invert(()=>cc[0])
.modulate(o0)
.rotate(()=>cc[1]*2)
.mult(osc(10,1),0.3)
.colorama(()=>cc[2])
.modulateRotate(src(o0).scale(2))
.blend(o0)
.blend(o0)
.out(o0)
hush()Tidal Code:
start = do
d2 $ jux rev $ arp "pinkyup" $ n "a'min" # sound "superpiano" # legato 8 # krush 0.5 # sustain 4 # attack 0.5
d12 $ slow 4 $ ccv "63 63 90 127 127" # ccn "0" # s "midi"
d14 $ ccv "127" # ccn "2" # s "midi"
d3 $ jux rev $ gap 2 $ s "feelfx:0 feelfx:1" # squiz 1 # legato 2 # lpf 1200 # room 0.4 # size 0.5
start
reverse = do
d2 $ mask "[1 0]/4" $ jux rev $ arp "pinkyup" $ n "a'min" # sound "superpiano" # legato 8 # krush 0.5 # sustain 4 # attack 0.2 # gain (fast 2 $ range 0.8 0.9 sine)
d10 $ mask "[0 1]/4" $ s "omi" <| note "a [~ g] [c b] [g gs]" # octave "<3 4 5 6>" # sustain "{1 2 1}%8"
d15 $ ccv "0 127 0 127" # ccn "1" # s "midi"
reverse
d5 $ mask "[0 1]/4" $ jux rev $ striate 4 $ s "msg:1 msg:2 msg:3 msg:4" # gain 1 # room 0.4 # squiz 3
d6 $ mask "[1 0]/4" $ chop 2 $ fast 2 $ s " ~ < house:3 house:3*2 >" # squiz 3
d8 $ whenmod 6 4 (fast 2) $ slow 2 $ s "bd*8" # gain (fast 2 $ range 0.7 0.8 sine)
play_bass = do
d11 $ slow 2 $ n "c fs c fs" # s "bass3" # room 0.4 # size 0.8 # lpf 1200
d14 $ ccv "0 127 0 127" # ccn "2" # s "midi"
play_bass
d3 $ jux rev $ gap 2 $ s "feelfx:0 feelfx:1" # squiz 1 # legato 2 # lpf 1200 # room 0.4 # size 0.5
d5 $ mask "[0 1]/4" $ jux rev $ striate 4 $ s "msg:1 msg:2 msg:3 msg:4" # gain 1 # room 0.4 # squiz 3
d10 $ s "omi" <| note "a [~ g] [c b] [g gs]"
# octave "<3 4 5 6 7 8>"
# sustain "{1 2 1}%8"
d4 silence
d4 $ mask "[0 1]/4" $ arp "thumbup" $ n "e'maj" # sound "superpiano" # krush 0.5 # legato 8 # release 1.2 # attack 0.1 # room 0.5 # gain (fast 2 $ range 0.75 0.8 sine)
d11 $ ccv (segment 128 $ range 0 127 tri) # ccn "0" # s "midi"
d12 $ fast 2 $ ccv "0" # ccn "1" # s "midi"
d13 $ fast 2 $ ccv "0" # ccn "2" # s "midi"
d14 $ stack [
ccv "63" # ccn "0" # s "midi",
ccv "0" # ccn "1" # s "midi",
ccv "60" # ccn "2" # s "midi"
]Thank you for watching. The performance has ended, but the surveillance remains.