Where Are You Standing?

Bongjun Kim, and Woon Seung Yeo

Music Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

• Year: 2012
• Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.A.

Abstract:

Program notes: Where Are You Standing? (2012) is a collaborative mobile music piece using the digital compass on mobile phones as an intuitive, interactive musical instrument. The piece features performers on stage making sound by aiming at other performers: compass-measured orientation of each aiming gesture is mapped to a specific musical note depending on which player is aimed at, and is visualized on screen in real-time. The piece begins with three performers playing ``harmonic'' sounds by taking aim at each other. This consonance is broken by the introduction of the fourth performer who represents conflict: the notes played by this performer as well as the notes played by others when they aim at this performer are dissonant to cause musical tension. Finally, the last performer leaves the stage to resolve the tension, and the piece ends with three performers back in congruity. Composer(s) Credits: Bongjun Kim, Woon Seung Yeo Instrumentalist(s) Credits: Bongjun Kim (operator), Woon Seung Yeo, Jeong-seob Lee, Seunghun Kim, Xuelian Yu (iPhones) Artist(s) Biography: Bongjun Kim (b. 1981, Seoul, Korea) is a Masters student at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and a member of the Audio and Interactive Media (AIM) Lab at the Graduate School of Culture Technology (GSCT), KAIST. Kim has received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Industrial and Information Systems Engineering from Ajou University, and he has also worked at Doosan Infracore as an R&D researcher. He is also a composer, performer, and system developer of the KAIST Mobile Phone Orchestra (KAMPO), where he has designed interactive mobile music performance system and composed the piece ``Where Are You Standing?'' which features digital compass-based interaction. Currently his research interests are algorithmic composition, music informatics, machine improvisation, and mobile media as a new musical interface. Woon Seung Yeo is a bassist, media artist, and computer music researcher/educator. He is Assistant Professor at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and leads the Audio and Interactive Media (AIM) Lab and the KAIST Mobile Phone Orchestra (KAMPO). Yeo has received degrees from Seoul National University (B.S. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering), University of California at Santa Barbara (M.S. in Media Arts and Technology), and Stanford University (M.A. and Ph.D. in Music). His research interests include digital audio signal processing, musical acoustics, audiovisual art, cross-modal display, physical interaction for music, musical interfaces, mobile media for music, and innovative performance paradigm as well. Yeo has also curated/produced mobile music concerts, telematics music concerts, and multimedia installations and exhibitions. Jeong-seob Lee is a Ph.D. student at the Graduate School of Culture Technology (GSCT), KAIST, Korea, and a research member of Audio & Interactive Media Lab. He received his M.S. degree from the same institute, and his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from Seoul National University. As an amateur dancer and choreographer, he is interested in various performances involving dance. His experiences on stage and in engineering lead him to conduct research in interactive performance paradigm and multimedia interface technology. He has produced a number of new media performances through collaborations with dancers and musicians, and worked as an audiovisual interaction designer. He is also interested in acoustic motion detection with off-the-shelf audio devices. Seunghun Kim is a Ph.D. candidate at KAIST and is a member of Audio and Interactive Media (AIM) Lab in the Graduate School of Culture Technology (GSCT). He has received the B.S degree in electrical and communications engineering from Information and Communications University (ICU). He wrote his Master thesis on sound synthesis of the geomungo (a traditional Korean stringed instrument) at KAIST. He has presented several papers on musical interfaces at domestic/international conferences including the international conference on new interfaces for musical expression (NIME) and the international computer music conference (ICMC). In addition, he has participated in the development of interactive installations, which were exhibited at Incheon International Digital Art Festival (INDAF), KT&G SangSang Madang, Gwangju Design Biennale, and Seoul Digital Media Content International Festival. He is also a member of the KAIST Mobile Phone Orchestra (KAMPO). Xuelian Yu was born and raised in China and earned her B.S. in engineering at Jiangnan University's Digital Media Technology program. She joined the Audio and Interactive Media (AIM) Lab at the Graduate School of Culture Technology (GSCT), KAIST in the Fall of 2010 to combine her problem-solving skills and creative abilities to set up worlds that people become characters in the environments and interact with their surroundings. Xuelian is currently in Pittsburgh to discover more experience in projects that produce artifacts that are intended to entertain, inspire or affect the participants, at Entertainment Technology Center of Carnegie Mellon University and she focuses on the research on the comparison of description on surround sound at the same time. The passion for learning and expanding her experiences has strengthened her goal to work in interactive design. Concert Venue and Time: Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre, Tuesday May 22, 7:00pm

Citation:

BibTeX Entry:

  @incollection{nime2012-music-KimYeo2012,
 abstract = {Program notes:

\emph{Where Are You Standing?} (2012) is a collaborative mobile music piece using the digital compass on mobile phones as an intuitive, interactive musical instrument. The piece features performers on stage making sound by aiming at other performers: compass-measured orientation of each aiming gesture is mapped to a specific musical note depending on which player is aimed at, and is visualized on screen in real-time.

The piece begins with three performers playing ``harmonic'' sounds by taking aim at each other. This consonance is broken by the introduction of the fourth performer who represents conflict: the notes played by this performer as well as the notes played by others when they aim at this performer are dissonant to cause musical tension. Finally, the last performer leaves the stage to resolve the tension, and the piece ends with three performers back in congruity.

Composer(s) Credits:

Bongjun Kim, Woon Seung Yeo

Instrumentalist(s) Credits:

Bongjun Kim (operator), Woon Seung Yeo, Jeong-seob Lee, Seunghun Kim, Xuelian Yu (iPhones)

Artist(s) Biography:

Bongjun Kim (b. 1981, Seoul, Korea) is a Masters student at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and a member of the Audio and Interactive Media (AIM) Lab at the Graduate School of Culture Technology (GSCT), KAIST. Kim has received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Industrial and Information Systems Engineering from Ajou University, and he has also worked at Doosan Infracore as an R\&D researcher. He is also a composer, performer, and system developer of the KAIST Mobile Phone Orchestra (KAMPO), where he has designed interactive mobile music performance system and composed the piece ``Where Are You Standing?'' which features digital compass-based interaction. Currently his research interests are algorithmic composition, music informatics, machine improvisation, and mobile media as a new musical interface.

Woon Seung Yeo is a bassist, media artist, and computer music researcher/educator. He is Assistant Professor at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and leads the Audio and Interactive Media (AIM) Lab and the KAIST Mobile Phone Orchestra (KAMPO). Yeo has received degrees from Seoul National University (B.S. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering), University of California at Santa Barbara (M.S. in Media Arts and Technology), and Stanford University (M.A. and Ph.D. in Music). His research interests include digital audio signal processing, musical acoustics, audiovisual art, cross-modal display, physical interaction for music, musical interfaces, mobile media for music, and innovative performance paradigm as well. Yeo has also curated/produced mobile music concerts, telematics music concerts, and multimedia installations and exhibitions.

Jeong-seob Lee is a Ph.D. student at the Graduate School of Culture Technology (GSCT), KAIST, Korea, and a research member of Audio \& Interactive Media Lab. He received his M.S. degree from the same institute, and his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from Seoul National University. As an amateur dancer and choreographer, he is interested in various performances involving dance. His experiences on stage and in engineering lead him to conduct research in interactive performance paradigm and multimedia interface technology. He has produced a number of new media performances through collaborations with dancers and musicians, and worked as an audiovisual interaction designer. He is also interested in acoustic motion detection with off-the-shelf audio devices.

Seunghun Kim is a Ph.D. candidate at KAIST and is a member of Audio and Interactive Media (AIM) Lab in the Graduate School of Culture Technology (GSCT). He has received the B.S degree in electrical and communications engineering from Information and Communications University (ICU). He wrote his Master thesis on sound synthesis of the geomungo (a traditional Korean stringed instrument) at KAIST. He has presented several papers on musical interfaces at domestic/international conferences including the international conference on new interfaces for musical expression (NIME) and the international computer music conference (ICMC). In addition, he has participated in the development of interactive installations, which were exhibited at Incheon International Digital Art Festival (INDAF), KT\&G SangSang Madang, Gwangju Design Biennale, and Seoul Digital Media Content International Festival. He is also a member of the KAIST Mobile Phone Orchestra (KAMPO).

Xuelian Yu was born and raised in China and earned her B.S. in engineering at Jiangnan University's Digital Media Technology program. She joined the Audio and Interactive Media (AIM) Lab at the Graduate School of Culture Technology (GSCT), KAIST in the Fall of 2010 to combine her problem-solving skills and creative abilities to set up worlds that people become characters in the environments and interact with their surroundings. Xuelian is currently in Pittsburgh to discover more experience in projects that produce artifacts that are intended to entertain, inspire or affect the participants, at Entertainment Technology Center of Carnegie Mellon University and she focuses on the research on the comparison of description on surround sound at the same time.  The passion for learning and expanding her experiences has strengthened her goal to work in interactive design.

Concert Venue and Time: Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre, Tuesday May 22, 7:00pm},
 address = {Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.A.},
 author = {Bongjun Kim and Woon Seung Yeo},
 booktitle = {Music Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 day = {21-23},
 editor = {Georg Essl and Brent Gillespie and Michael Gurevich and Sile O'Modhrain},
 month = {May},
 publisher = {Electrical Engineering \& Computer Science and Performing Arts Technology, University of Michigan},
 title = {Where Are You Standing?},
 year = {2012}
}