Visual Music: controlling Laser and Vector Monitors through Sound
workshop by Alberto Novello aka JesterN
friday june 16 2023 at 3:00pm at Museo Hermann Nitsch (vico Lungo Pontecorvo 29/d Napoli)

Probably as a consequence of the renewed interest towards analog circuitry and modular synthesizers, in the last few years, analog video synthesis has become increasingly popular in the community of electronic musicians and multimedia artists. An easy first approach is through vector graphics: one can start experimenting with Oscilloscopes and Lasers in a very intuitive way with just a couple of oscillators.

The appeal of vector graphics may derive from the seemingly infinite resolution, the line-based aesthetic, and the intrinsic impermanence of the display. Other motivations lie in repurposing obsolescent hardware, reimplementing historical devices, or simply diverging from mainstream approaches to video.

This is a multidisciplinary workshop that brings together expertise from different theoretical fields: media archaeology, analog electronics, graphic design, optics, computer vision, coding and early 3d modeling for 1980s gaming.

Through digital prototyping, the workshop will show possible hardware configurations to setup an analog video-synthesis workstation, build several mathematical modules to achieve different aesthetic results (from Lissajous curves to 3d modeling and raster video), while learning about the history of video art. We will also discuss possible solutions on how to setup an all analog audiovisual live show using laser and vector monitors.

Participant Tools: personal laptop (Mac/Pc)
Required Knowledge: basic knowledge of a personal laptop
Software: Max/MSP, Pure Data, SuperCollider or any software for real-time audio synthesis
Optional Hardware: Vector Monitors, Oscilloscopes, Lasers (with ILDA plug), Multichannel sound cards (preferably MOTUs if available)

Participant fee € 15,00
for the subscription, send an email to info@em-arts.org