Dasein 1

The electronics part for “DASEIN 1” is made up of 12 channels fixed electronics soundfiles, spatialized in real time in the hall, through an 8 speakers ring, placed around the audience.
A Spat 5 device in the concert patch handles the 12 channels of the soundfiles. Sources 1-8 are static and represent specific stereo plans in the virtual space (like: front, right, back, left), while the sources 9-10 and 11-12 are stereo pairs, constantly turning clockwise, with a slightly elliptical trajectory, each one with a different speed. Sources 9 and 12 are also turning on themselves, each one with different yaw turning speed. This gives the electronics soundfiles a constantly lively and changing spectrum. Moreover, during the performance, a live control allows to change the closeness of all the sources, in order to have more or less presence.

The cues for the electronics score are triggered by the Computer Sound Designer, following the score. This means a camera showing the conductor must be installed for him, in order to follow the conductor’s gesture. Otherwise, cues may also be triggered by a musician sitting onstage, along with all the other musicians of the ensemble, following the conductor’s gestures, and hitting a pedal or a midi keyboard (much safer solution).

N.B.
The acoustic ensemble MUST BE AMPLIFIED. This because otherwise a proper fusion with the electronic sounds, at the very quiet dynamics prescribed by the score, is absolutely not possible.
The sound engineer must then handle the amplification of the instruments; during the concert, in cooperation with the Computer Music Designer, who's handling the level of the electronics.

Stage Setup

Audio and Loudspeakers Setup

The patch for the electronics of this piece has 0 inputs and 8 outputs.
Global Sample Rate : 48 Khz.
The instruments must be amplified, and their sound must come out from the frontal 1-2 speakers, or other dedicated frontal system (like a frontal double line of speakers, a top and a bottom one, configured in a WFS system).

Microphones for the amplification of the ensemble :

MIDI Setup

The Computer Music Designer who triggers the cues, in the regie, will need a special monitor, in front of him, receiving the image of the conductor, from a camera placed onstage.

Software Installation

• download and install Max 8.5.6 (or later).
• download and install IRCAM SPAT 5.3.1 (or later).
• download and install Antescofo for Max 1.0-325 (or later).
• Launch MAX, open the File Preferences panel, set the path for the folder containing the Concert Patch.
• Open MAX 8 Audio Status panel, set the chosen proper audio input and output driver for the audio setup you're using (for ex. Fireface 802). Set sampling rate to 48Khz. Set « I/O vector size » and « Signal Vector Size » to 512 samples. Check « overdrive » on, “Audio Interrupt” off.
• Click on "open I/O mappings" and set the correct inputs and outputs for the chosen audiocard.
• Quit and relaunch Max

Patch Presentation

MIRA interface

Initialization Routine

• Open « 0-DSP_DASEIN-1_8ch_05.maxpat », wait until it's loaded and then Launch « 3-MIRA_DASEIN-1_01.maxpat ».
• Click on the purple button "ALL.INIT" and wait 3 seconds.
• Turn the DAC ON and click the red "RESET" button. Wait 3 seconds, again.
• On the Antescofo panel, under the “Load Score” popup menu, select the correct score for the piece: “DASEIN.01.asco.txt”.
• Make a noise test with MAX’s Audiotester, to make sure that the 8 channels going to the loudspeakers are well configured in a circular clockwise fashion, from 1 (front left) to 8.
• Connect the iPad via USB to the computer and open MIRA. Set the MIRA interface in the iPad in order to visualize the “SOUNDFILE” panel, which is the correct one to handle the faders for the piece. Press the red RESET button again in the main MAX patch.
• Then, finally, in the MAX concert patch, in the antescofo panel, reload the score, by selecting it again from the “Load Score” menu. Wait 4 seconds, then press the computer keyboard right arrow once, in order to trigger the dummy event "m00_READY! " in the antescofo score.
• On iPad MIRA interface, set the Master fader to the desired level for the beginning of the piece. You are ready to start the performance.

Performance Guidelines

The electronics part of this piece acts as a sort of shadowy counterpoint to the already very quiet instrumental part. This means that the electronics must be mostly very quiet. On the contrary, the electronic solo at the end, can be way louder, and have a quite some presence in the hall.
Cues triggering must be very exact, since the cues are rhythmically synchronized to the instrumental part.
The Computer Music Designer must train himself in advance, using the simulation, which is included in this documentation. The simulation is in the form of an Ableton Live Session, which contains a simulation of the instrumental part on one track, laid on the timeline (with measure numbers and tempo changes) of the score, while another track contains MIDI notes corresponding to each Cue of the electronics score. Connecting the midi output of the MIDI track to MAX’s midi input in the concert patch, the Live session can trigger the Cues for the electronics with the correct timing, and so provide a very useful training mean for the Computer Music Designer.