looplog - issues

tuning the kernel

Sun, 25 Feb 2007 10:48:28 -0500

It's interesting that the process of optimizing performance of a machine is called tuning. It holds true for automobiles as much as it does for computers designed for audio composition work.

Regardless, I've been conducting some more tests under Linux to see if I can get stable and reliable performance for a long time frame loop-network system. I was having troubles with the kernel and Jack, the audio routing software, which was leading to audio drop-outs. From here on in it just gets more technical, so if that doesn't interest you then I bid you farewell. Just take this important message. Without the persistent networks of practice enabled by the internet, I could not in any way have made these refinements, and would remain at a loss as to how to tackle the problems I was having.

a new direction

Wed, 15 Nov 2006 12:58:02 -0500

Up until now the development of Looplog has been dependent on progress on the initial stages of the learning curve of the software on which Looplog is based. Now that I've gotten somewhat of an understanding of what is going on here, I feel I can safely start making a more reconsidered approach to how Looplog works for my practice and how it works as my practice. The upcoming release of Drupal 5 offers a perfect opportunity to do this, as I will have to upgrade the site when this occurs. As such, I think the move to 5.0 will be a big one, but will represent the final incarnation of the site, and subsequently the final representation of my practice, as I head into the assessment stage of my PhD project.

circulating the loop network

Tue, 13 Feb 2007 13:50:18 -0500

Essentially a place for discussing the rationale, design imperatives and function of setting up a podcast for making available audio documentation of the composition experiments of this project. The podcast can then be attached to the project or provided as an external playlist, whichever is easier to manage.

This stems for an earlier question and a problem I have been considering for some time. When dealing with multi-channel soundscape systems, and indeed multi-phonic acoustic experiences, how does one mediate those experiences and experiments within a broader circulation network so as to provide a modicum of currency to the work, and of course, receive feedback?

bibliography broken

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 13:47:39 -0500

It appears in updating the bibliography module to the latest to gain proper author sorting, the database didn't update correctly. As a result, the bibliography is kind of messed up at the moment. So for now, you'll have to bear with it until I put in some time this weekend to clean everything up. Once it's done though, I can being importing bibliographic data en masse, something I have been holding off on doing until the author sorting features had been fully implemented.

evaluating multiple operating systems for linux audio

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 13:01:40 -0500

I'm currently in the process of deciding which linux distribution I will use as the basis for the loop network. In order to do this, I need to have a single computer setup for multibooting between various distros to compare and contrast. I have used Fedora Core since FC1, and prior to that learned what little I know about linux from a Red Hat 7.2 book with included CD that was being sold for blowout price. I have my main internet machine which hosts my tasks database setup with FC5 and the Planet CCRMA low-latency enabled preemptive kernel, which has some really great performance.

acoustic network writing

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 01:26:19 -0400

It's a fancy title to be sure, but it means little more than to refer to the "how" of the writing process. It seems that most writing techniques are heavily visual, especially word-processors which employ composition according to visual blocks of text. I shant be the first, as there is a whole field devoted to data sonification, but one of the uses of the loop network is to investigate writing acoustically. That is, using the loop network and my trusty handheld recording system, I hope to brainstorm aspects of theory using simultaneous spoken (and hence recorded) lines, which will then be reproduced and remixed as a multi-channel soundscape. In the event of remixing, I will transcribe the product, which will be edited and formatted for academic circulation. If anything, this should prove an interesting studio exercise and hence learning experience and I have no doubt it will provide some insight into the theory to be remixed in a way that is fundamentally integrated with the practice I am concerned with.

what am I doing with technology?

Sun, 26 Nov 2006 13:47:00 -0500

What is it that I am trying to do with technology?

Firstly, in the process of building some sort of multi channel dispersion system, I am playing with sound in a very spatial sense. What am I trying to achieve in doing this? Really, what I have always had I'm mind is synthesizing soundscapes indeed the soundscape) from a systemic viewpoint. That is, from a compositional viewpoint I am interested not in producing compositions per se but defining and constructing a system which produces an ongoing soundscape that interrogates the very functional principals of soundscape - the way in which it is created and way in which it is experienced, the way in which it is perceived and the way in which it is recognized. That is, I am looking to setup a system in a space and leave it there such that I can interact with the system in an ongoing manner to learn about the relationship between the functional modes of repetition as they can be employed in a systematic, compositional and constructive manner. The content itself is not of interest so much as is the ability to investigate the modes of repetition through the content and to use the modes of repetition to generate content.

multiboot howto

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 13:04:54 -0500

Technical details for how to configure grub for multibooting between 3 or 4 linux distros on the same hard drive on the same computer.

import from tasks

Mon, 29 Jan 2007 09:19:55 -0500

I've just added some nodes to import data from the tasks database on a regular schedule, so it should make the workflow between the two environments run complete. A quick test run has successfully imported one entry for each of the modes of repetition. From here on in I can start importing and editing more complete and coherent tasks so that they are updated on the website soon after I have updated them on the computer in the studio.

project module modifications

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 12:56:35 -0400

the project module is useful in its present form but has some serious shortcomings. the first of these are that it has no way to easily collect a projects components as separate sub-projects. that is to say, whilst a project has components defined at the meta-level, these do not exist as manipulable or displayable objects at the content level. in other words, if the components of a project are defined at the meta-level in the project node, it would be highly useful to organise the project as follows project>components>issues but this still doesn't solve the problem i have with the soundscape studies project, and that is, the use of the project module is designed to make the process open to criticism and feedback to enable a more [[transparent praxis]].

map

Sun, 20 Aug 2006 08:35:29 -0400

what is a map? it is a transcription of a place. it is also a guide of how to get somewhere. the latter is the context in which I am using maps in this project. as such, I have promised a map of the acoustic ecology of the Internet and a map of my daily life. in the former, it must be said that the goal is the utilisation of the Internet to achieve some of the revolutionary potential within the scope of acoustic ecology. That is, how are we using the Internet and how can we use the Internet to achieve a goal of social change that integrates the concerns of acoustic ecology in the listed modes of repetition in daily social life.

modify notify module

Tue, 29 Aug 2006 15:23:37 -0400

It should be possible to modify the Notify module such that it includes a comment creation link below published content. One problem I can see in this is that not all node types will have comment functionality - eg issues, which rather have "follow ups". Nonetheless, issue nodes also have comment functionality, so the distinction between the two needs to be discerned.

compositional tactic

Sun, 16 Jul 2006 04:27:28 -0400

simultaneous muting of mainstream at a specific point. capture sub-loops of stream and disperse the loops throughout the system. the stream can re-enter the daydream sporadically, in a filtered, processed or time-distorted manner.