Design Strategies for a Hybrid Video Synthesizer

INTRODUCTION: Technological advances have led to newer instruments and forms of audiovisual performance. Simultaneously, there has been a resurgence of analogue equipment in sound synthesis. However, such instruments for video synthesis are yet to be well established. OBJECTIVES: The primary objective of this research is to propose design guidelines for designing hybrid video synthesizers and develop a working prototype. METHODS: Through a study of historical and contemporary practises, design guidelines for a hybrid video synthesizer are proposed. A prototype instrument is then developed and used in live performances to justify the guidelines. RESULTS: The hybrid approach towards audiovisual performance has some merit, however, it may only be relevant to a certain group of people already familiar with modular workflows. CONCLUSION: The merits and demerits of our design proposal using the prototype instrument has been noted in this research. Future plans have also been discussed. Received on 21 December 2020; accepted on 12 March 2021; published on 19 March 2021

[1]  Chris Salter,et al.  Entangled: Technology and the Transformation of Performance , 2010 .

[2]  Andrew P. McPherson,et al.  Idiomatic Patterns and Aesthetic Influence in Computer Music Languages , 2020, Organised Sound.

[3]  Peter Sachs Collopy.  Video Synthesizers: From Analog Computing to Digital Art , 2014, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing.

[4]  Matthew Hughes.  URack: Modular audio-visual composition with Unity and VCV Rack , 2020 .

[5]  Atau Tanaka,et al.  AVUI: Designing a Toolkit for Audiovisual Interfaces , 2017, CHI.

[6]  Golan Levin.  Painterly interfaces for audiovisual performance , 2000 .

[7]  Mikael Fernström,et al.  Issues for Designing a flexible expressive audiovisual system for real-time performance & composition , 2004, NIME.

[8]  Juliane Junker,et al.  Analog Days The Invention And Impact Of The Moog Synthesizer , 2016 .

[9]  Atau Tanaka,et al.  Digital Musical Instruments as Probes: How computation changes the mode-of-being of musical instruments , 2020, Organised Sound.

[10]  Ian Holzer.  Vector synthesis: a media archaeological investigation into sound-modulated light , 2019 .

[11]  Sourya Sen.  Developing a hybrid video synthesiser for audiovisual performance and composition , 2019 .

[12]  Thor Magnusson,et al.  Designing Constraints: Composing and Performing with Digital Musical Systems , 2010, Computer Music Journal.

[13]  Nuno Correia,et al.  Interactive audiovisual objects , 2013 .

[14]  Michel Chion,et al.  Audio-Vision: Sound on Screen , 1994 .