Category Archives: Research

Jimmy Raps in Morelia



Jimmy Raps (presented at the International Conference on Live Coding in Morelia [Mexico] in December, 2017) is a text ‘rap’ and audio-visual composition; by rap, I mean the live writer composes verses and launches musical rhythms, revealing an unspoken word rap of English slang that listeners may find humorous and nonsensical – a metaphor for the central figure whose sampled voice features strongly throughout the piece. Gestures (instrumental, typographical, spatial, epistemic, ancillary, etc.) are given tangible form through the use of the MYO biosignal interface and the browser-based textual performance and visualisation interface known as Live Writing (Lee, 2015). The MYO is a biosignal (electromyography) armband featuring inertial measurement sensing (3DoF accelerometer; 3DoF gyroscope). Live writing is a web browser-based textual performance and visualisation interface directly inspired by the fields of live and creative coding in computer music. The underlying code of live writing includes JavaScript, Web Audio, WebGL and OpenGL Shading Language. It features dynamic and animated text rendering, allowing the performer to explore a potential for visual and musical expression through the creation of live poetry, live electroacoustic sound and temporal typography.

Live Writing created by Sang Won Lee
livewriting.github.io

MYO developed by Thalmic Labs
myo.com

Software support:

Samy Kamkar
github.com/samyk/myo-osc

Michele Abolaffio
github.com/Sindel