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…the name of this festival I am participating in, the English pronounciation spelled with the Hungarian alphabet. I think I spelled it right…and hang my head in shame that after almost four years in Hungary I still haven’t properly learned the alphabet. Why that is, is a topic for another post. But today, back to the festival, which is where I am going in about one hour.

Yesterday I continued in Jasch’s workshop. He started us off with a little Max/MSP/Jitter demonstration that had me spellbound, mesmerised and completely enraptured. (I’ll let you know if I come up with any more adjectives.)

He had a small watercolor painting he had done that morning. A simple series of lines - reds, yellows, purples - drawn on the page. But what he did with it is where the real art comes in.

When he painted it, he photographed it after the addition of each brush stroke, resulting in 42 frames, which he then used to make a short animated film. That process took him about 15 minutes.

When he showed it to us, he used it to demonstrate the versatility of the Max/MSP/Jitter software. He programmed the software to reassemble the movie using the frames in varying sequences. Then adding blur effects, the image took on an impressionist watercolor quality; the addition of zoom manipulated the perception to create the illusion of vivid sunsets, the suggestion of flowers in bloom, and other soft, delicate images. Then a short music sample was added, which was also manipulated with the program. Then we saw the real beauty and power of this software in the hands of an accomplished and sensitive artist. The music manipluated the assembly of the image, and we saw the Sound and Image working together to create an independent ephemeral work of art. The result was - did I use - exquisitely beautiful?

As Jasch’s workshop continued, I left and dropped in on Pamela Z’s workshop as I had planned, arriving 20 minutes late, to find her still setting up her equipment. I decide to blow it off, and went back to the Sound and Image workshop where spent my after noon staring at a computer screen, drawing a little map, while my teammate manipulated the software. The result? Méjking Nyú Véues written with Jitter. The other teams came up with some really interesting stuff. Hmmmm….

I’m going back today and hope I get a bit further.

The evening concerts were kind of a let down after Thursday’s. The guitar bot - in my opinion - lacked any genuine musicality. There was something about its sound quality that left me unmoved. It sounds more like a kid’s auto race set than a musical instrument. Sorry. Perhaps harsh. Maybe I can come up with a better description than that. Maybe it’s the compositions? Perhaps it’s a work-in-progress? Perhaps robots will never be able to make great music because they lack soul, even if they are programmed by a soul-filled person?

All food for thought…

The following act, eavesdropper and visual kitchen was your standard electronic drum and bass veejay affair. There were a few interesting moments early in the performance, but I think Jasch’s codespace which I saw on Thursday has spoiled me. He gave me a CD which I haven’t even yet ripped the shrink wrap off. After the festival I’ll take a listen.