subnotebook/netbook w/ linux 4 electronic music?

[Tony Hardie-Bick]

On 26/08/11 14:49, Marc Nostromo [M-.-n] wrote:
> You mention the ardiuino and it's precisely what was the fun factor of the
> pocket piano (and now my midivox, and the pieces of soon-to-be shruti-1). You
> plug it, press something and boom, audio.

The arduino has exactly the right vibe about it, and obviously can be used to 
generate audio itself. By adding a CPU that can run sc, you end up with a system 
that can do audio at any level of quality (and scramble bits, if that's your 
thing), load up scene graphs that can change dynamically, create your own synth 
scripting language, if you really need to...

On the sc-users list there have been several people asking questions along the 
lines of: What distribution should I use; How can I set it up so that when I 
plug it in my sound/light installation starts automatically, runs overnight, and 
can reboot if the cleaner switches it off before the exhibition opens the next day.

These issues relate to generative systems (otherwise, one would just use an MP3 
player), and the questions are just beginning to be asked, because enough sc 
users are also artists who create these kinds of installations (a small sample 
from a very big population).

But also, more generally, if one considers the aesthetic appeal of gear in terms 
of colours, lights, all kinds of interrelated things going on, then, the ability 
for the designer to address questions such as: Should I connect the 1kW bright 
blue spot to the 1Hz LFO, (as opposed to: okay, does the nyquist criterion apply 
in the feedback loop of a frequency modulated oscillator), means that more art 
gets done.

Hopefully all this would apply not just to generative systems, or new keyboard 
instruments, but break down the difficulty so that new thinking about sound, 
music and how people interact/relate to them become possible.

Tony (HB)