OCULAR SCORES

An Ocular Score is a visual musical score drawn using data generated from the analysis of complex sounds.

Ocular Scores will also be used as a teaching tool for notating extended technique and for young musicians to practice and learn these new techniques with the help of a feedback image of the sound they produce.

Ocular Scores is not yet available for public usage, as research continues for its
development.

TEAM

Ocular Scores is being developed in collaboration with designer Joseph Browne. The project is in residency at Matralab, Concordia University, Montréal, Québec, Canada, Sandeep Bhagwati, director.

IMPETUS

During the past few years, I have had the opportunity to work with brilliant improvisers while I created multimedia projects. It was inspiring to work with such creative musicians, and it made me want to be able to notate our unique collaborations in such a way that they could be repeatable by other musicians.

CRITICAL GUIDELINES

I wanted a notation that conveyed a sense of immediacy and was familiar and intuitive. The images had to be replicable, created from the interpretation from the sound analysis. Images had to be a reliable interpretation of a complex sound. This graphical notation needed to contribute something unique to our already sophisticated and precise musical notation system.

PROCESS

  • Currently, there are four versions of Ocular Scores® that facilitates
    several unique ways to process sound and to create a graphic representation.
    • We utilize TouchDesigner to interpret this data.
    • TouchDesigner then generates an image in the same way a pen might stroke across a piece of paper in real time.
    • Starting with Version 1, black lines were drawn on a white surface, interpreting the data from the analysis of complex sounds.
    • We eventually added various colors, to allow for multi-image tracking capability.
    • Time and frequency are traditionally tracked on the X-axis and Y-axis respectively.

GOALS

  • Ocular Scores® has many functions
    • V1 and V2 create images that are exported into musical scores
    • V3 and V4 create projected scores in real-time with zero latency
  • Ocular Scores® allows several novel interpretative modes
    • The ability to draw an image from the analysis of complex sounds that can be used as gestural elements to compose new works or to compare a complex sound against another complex sound
    • The ability to draw full transcriptions of a performance for future
      interpretations
    • The ability to draw images in real time and to manipulate those images to create interactive projected scores to be performed live by multiple performers
  • We are currently developing an interface for master improvisors to document their unique sounds in a reliable manner and in such a way that young musicians can use the same tool to learn and test these extended techniques
  • Ultimately, it is designed to be a composer’s tool to dependably notate complex sounds and to inspire and push instrumentalists into new sonic territories

CONCLUSION

Ocular Scores® was developed in collaboration with master improvisors who have
tested and provided expert feedback for each prototype. While Ocular Scores® is still making its way into public access, the poetic expression and precision of the musical and technological synergy continues to inspire the project forward.

DOCUMENTATION

See all media available in the PROJECTS MEDIA section