Scott Smallwood - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Scott Smallwood

paper describes recent developments in the creation of sound-making instruments and devices power... more paper describes recent developments in the creation of sound-making instruments and devices powered by photovoltaic (PV) technologies. With the rise of more efficient PV products in diverse packages, the possibilities for creating solar-powered musical instruments, sound installations, and loudspeakers are becoming increasingly realizable. This paper surveys past and recent developments in this area, including several projects by the author, and demonstrates how the use of PV technologies can influence the creative process in unique ways. In addition, this paper discusses how solar sound arts can enhance the aesthetic direction taken by recent work in soundscape studies and acoustic ecology. Finally, this paper will point towards future directions and possibilities as PV technologies continue to evolve and improve in terms of performance, and become more affordable.

Open Book Publishers, 2021

In this paper, I describe the phenomenon of the Trinidadian Steelband movement as a local nationa... more In this paper, I describe the phenomenon of the Trinidadian Steelband movement as a local national style, its evolution, and the international outlook of the movement as the music is disseminated outside of Trinidad. In particular, I am interested in exploring the subject through the lens of ethnomusicologist Mark Slobin's super/sub/inter-cultural model, as described in his excellent book Subcultural Sounds: Micromusics of the West.

Computer music composition portfolio. Document (M.M.)--Peabody Conservatory of Music, 1999. Inclu... more Computer music composition portfolio. Document (M.M.)--Peabody Conservatory of Music, 1999. Includes bibliographical references (p. 85). Contents of compact disc : 1. Nemeton : percussive sculptures & electronics -- 2. Nawglan : marimba & electronics -- 3. Terraforming II : computer-generated tape -- 4. Areophany : violoncello & electronic sounds. Photocopy of computer printed ms.

Proceedings of the ACM on computer graphics and interactive techniques, Sep 6, 2022

Electronic Workshops in Computing

Paper presented in the symposium Music and ecologies of sound. Theoretical and practical projects... more Paper presented in the symposium Music and ecologies of sound. Theoretical and practical projects for a listening of the world, University Paris 8, May 2013 Abstract: Harnessing the sun as an energy source is of great interest in this age of energy crises, and holds our imagination because of its quiet, seemingly magical properties. Photovoltaic technologies have grown quickly over the past 20 years, and more and more applications of solar power are finding use today. In the arts, solar power is often used as energy sources for public artworks, as a practical matter. These systems typically work in conjunction with batteries or other sources of energy in order to ensure a constant voltage and power level. However, an alternate approach is to design the work to use the sun's energy directly, and exclusively, with the sunlight itself as a functional parameter of the material. In this paper, we examine the use of photovoltaics in the direct production of sound as a function of its ...

Leonardo Music Journal, 2010

This paper describes a series of investigations into the use of sustainable methods for powering ... more This paper describes a series of investigations into the use of sustainable methods for powering electronic musical instruments and perhaps ultimately a large ensemble such as the Princeton Laptop Orchestra, a collection of 15–25 meta-instruments each consisting of a laptop computer, interfacing equipment and a hemispherical speaker. The research discussed includes the development of instruments specifically designed for solar power, as well as the use of solar panels and/or batteries to power more conventional devices such as computers and amplifiers.

Computer Music Journal, 2008

Errata The opening paragraph, below, was omitted from "The Laptop Orchestra as Classroom" in the ... more Errata The opening paragraph, below, was omitted from "The Laptop Orchestra as Classroom" in the previous issue (CMJ 32:1, p. 26): This article chronicles our pedagogical adventures in the Princeton Laptop Orchestra (PLOrk). We introduce the PLOrk classroom as well as new approaches and tools for teaching. In doing so, we explore an integrated, naturally interdisciplinary educational environment for composition, performance, and computer science. In such an environment, the learning and internalization of technical knowledge happen symbiotically with the acquisition of aesthetic and artistic awareness. There is only one explicit goal: to learn to make compelling computer-mediated music together in an academic setting. All other learning happens "along the way." The presence of experienced guest composers, who compose new works and teach them to the ensemble, allows students to learn about and experiment with varying aesthetic and technical approaches. We believe this is an exciting new environment where the learning of interdisciplinary knowledge is not only natural, but also inevitable (and fun). The review of the book New Digital Musical Instruments: Control and Interaction Beyond the Keyboard (CMJ 31:4, pp. 75-77) mistakenly listed the reviewer's location as Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK. The reviewer, Victor Lazzarini, is affi liated with the

ACM SIGGRAPH 2022 Art Gallery

This paper/poster describes the development of an experimental listening game called Locus Sono; ... more This paper/poster describes the development of an experimental listening game called Locus Sono; a 3D audio puzzle game where listening and exploration are the key forms of interaction. The game was developed by a motivation to create an interactive audio environment in which sound is the key to solving in-game puzzles. This work is a prototype for a larger planned work and illustrates a first step in a more complex audio gaming scenario, which will also be partially described in this short paper

Sound Lanterns is an interactive sound installation that is powered by the sun, and emits sounds ... more Sound Lanterns is an interactive sound installation that is powered by the sun, and emits sounds based on the amount of sunlight available, as well as on the amount of light that falls on light sensors on each of the four lanterns themselves. Listeners can change the nature of the sound by casting shadows over the solar panel, or over individual sound lanterns. The piece relies entirely on sunlight available in the moment. In most PV applications, the solar panel is actually supplying current to a battery or a capacitor, thus "buffering" the power. In this piece, I wanted to experiment with using the sun's raw energy directly, without regulating the voltage in any way. Therefore, these sound makers go through many changes as the sunlight waxes and wanes. Each lantern features a slightly different sound-making circuit, thus the four voices are unique and, when sounding together, create a chorus of sun-powered chattering, squealing, buzzing, and humming. Listeners should feel free to "play" the lanterns together by casting shadows, touching the solar panels, or slightly tilting the panels. The performance of these devices depends upon the amount of sunlight available: if it is dark, they make no sound, in dim light, sound is non-existent, or very soft and subtle. In bright sunlight, they scream and wail loudly.

There is rich history of using found or "readymade" objects in music performances and s... more There is rich history of using found or "readymade" objects in music performances and sound installations. John Cage's Water Walk, Carolee Schneeman's Noise Bodies, and David Tudor's Rainforest all lean on both the sonic and cultural affordances of found objects. Today, composers and sound artists continue to look at the everyday, combining readymades with microcontrollers and homemade electronics and repurposing known interfaces for their latent sonic potential. This paper gives a historical overview of work at the intersection of music and the readymade and then describes three recent sound installations/performances by the authors that further explore this space. The emphasis is on processes involved in working with found objects--the complex, practical, and playful explorations into sound and material culture.

Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Historical Cryptology HistoCrypt 2020, 2021

The Dorabella cipher is a symbolic message written in 1897 by English composer Edward Elgar. We a... more The Dorabella cipher is a symbolic message written in 1897 by English composer Edward Elgar. We analyze the cipher using modern computational and statistical techniques. We consider several open questions: Is the underlying message natural language text or music? If it is language, what is the most likely language? Is Dorabella a simple substitution cipher? If so, why has nobody managed to produce a plausible decipherment? Are some unusual-looking patterns in the cipher likely to occur by chance? Can stateof-the-art algorithmic solvers decipher at least some words of the message? This work is intended as a contribution towards finding answers to these questions.

Copyright and permissions for the reuse of many of the images included in this publication differ... more Copyright and permissions for the reuse of many of the images included in this publication differ from the above. This information is provided in the captions and in the list of illustrations. This book is dedicated to Doris and Peter Kule for their support for the advancement of social sciences, humanities and arts research. Their gift established the Kule Institute for Advanced Study at the University of Alberta that brought us together. We are also deeply grateful to the researchers and support teams that made the Around the World conference series such a success over the years. And we also dedicate this to future scholars, for everything you will do to help weave together our civil society to face the shared challenges of climate change.

Current Research in Systematic Musicology, 2017

This paper gives a historical overview of the development of alternative sonic display systems at... more This paper gives a historical overview of the development of alternative sonic display systems at Princeton University; in particular, the design, construction, and use in live performance of a series of spherical and hemispherical speaker systems. We also provide a DIY guide to constructing the latest series of loudspeakers that we are currently using in our research and music making.