Biocomputer music
An interesting experiment at the interface of music, biology, and engineering is being conducted at the Interdisciplinary Center for Computer Music Studies at the University of Plymouth (ICCMR).
Eduardo Miranda (composer and director of ICCMR) and his team assembled a bio-computer based on the Physarum polycephalum forest mold mucosa and developed an interface for its interaction with the piano.
The whole installation is a feedback system.
')
A biocomputer is an analog circuit with a bag of mold, to which wiring is connected for electrical stimulation of the body and for measuring response microcurrents in its tissues. On the piano deck, electromagnets are attached that work as pickups and non-contact mediators. The person plays the instrument, the pickup output signals are converted into pulses sent by the mold. The mold "listens" and "responds", its response is interpreted by the scheme as a set of notes and converted back into a current to vibrate the strings. So it turns out the accompaniment.
The moment is interesting that the input pulses affect the state and growth of the organism, thus the mold remembers the notes heard earlier in its body, and its reaction in the future will depend on this memory.
Experimenters have developed software for the iPad, in which a person can choose groups of magnets that are accessible to the mucous accompanist for use. This limits his freedom of choice, but makes the overall sound more harmonious.
In fact, the response sound is produced by the same piano, but the sound extraction is far from both the traditional and the avant-garde.
Eduardo Miranda argues that the process of creating music through such a system has completely new properties. This may be so. It would be interesting to understand the design of the biocomputer in more detail, in order to understand whether the mold scheme is equivalent to the noise generator passed through the soft filter to harmonize the sound, and whether there are regularities in the response to the Physarum polycephalum allowing to call this answer an accompaniment.
In addition, the ICCMR conducted many other interesting experiments, the results of which can be found on their website.
Eduardo Miranda (composer and director of ICCMR) and his team assembled a bio-computer based on the Physarum polycephalum forest mold mucosa and developed an interface for its interaction with the piano.
The whole installation is a feedback system.
')
A biocomputer is an analog circuit with a bag of mold, to which wiring is connected for electrical stimulation of the body and for measuring response microcurrents in its tissues. On the piano deck, electromagnets are attached that work as pickups and non-contact mediators. The person plays the instrument, the pickup output signals are converted into pulses sent by the mold. The mold "listens" and "responds", its response is interpreted by the scheme as a set of notes and converted back into a current to vibrate the strings. So it turns out the accompaniment.
The moment is interesting that the input pulses affect the state and growth of the organism, thus the mold remembers the notes heard earlier in its body, and its reaction in the future will depend on this memory.
Experimenters have developed software for the iPad, in which a person can choose groups of magnets that are accessible to the mucous accompanist for use. This limits his freedom of choice, but makes the overall sound more harmonious.
In fact, the response sound is produced by the same piano, but the sound extraction is far from both the traditional and the avant-garde.
Eduardo Miranda argues that the process of creating music through such a system has completely new properties. This may be so. It would be interesting to understand the design of the biocomputer in more detail, in order to understand whether the mold scheme is equivalent to the noise generator passed through the soft filter to harmonize the sound, and whether there are regularities in the response to the Physarum polycephalum allowing to call this answer an accompaniment.
In addition, the ICCMR conducted many other interesting experiments, the results of which can be found on their website.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/377361/
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