Final thoughts

what i would do different

use shorter clips,the real rocking bits of the film use about 20-30 second clips.tho there is space for longer meditative bits....chek out the weird pysedelic bit with billie pipe going mental.....

use less archive/more archive footage. i wanted to get a feeling of swindon today, now you cant know your future without knowing your past but i think we could make two films with the footage we have. one slighty dreamy version reminissing about swindons past, and another of an overall veiw of swindon.

the software worked well,tho it did crash twice during the performance..,i blame billie...and the fact i was recording off the output.i just have to keep on updating the software. find new effects, ways to present images, but i see the software as a growing entity..,and the mix it made was a good starting point.

i was pleased with the sound, but more sound clips would have been good. unfortunatly due to cinema restrictions we couldnt go quadraphonic on the night,which is a real shame...the quadraphenia worked realy wel, and added an additional psycedleic elemen to the film....better luck next time...


things i learnt and didnt know about....

finding out about how much stuff was on youtube, and especialy the bbc website made finding archive footage a real joy.i wasnt expecting to find so much stuff.

peoples enthusiasm.., it seemed people realy liked the idea, and the film gave an enjoyable veiwing experience. people watched out for their own clips, and recognised bits from the film.it also gave an oppertunity for a stroll down memory lane.

how easy it was to edit the clips.......
i used i am the mighty jungulator, to manpulate both the sound and vision
quicktime to quickly chop and edit the film
TubeTV to download and keep films from youtube
Snapz pro to grab video and audio from real audio sources and dvds
Sound Studio to edit sounds
Imovie to edit all the selfgeneragtive chuncks into each other

how easy it was getting a blog tgether to explain the process...(tho would still llike to work out how to get proper links on the page......)


one final ting....im going to stick the media on a computer at the reate centre, so people can add to it if they want to. and also im working on an internet streaming self generative video juke box,,,,more on that when i get time.....

cheers and thanks.......


matthew x

Self Generative Portrait Of Swindon, the movie

here you go in its 52 minuet glory....


ive taken four self generative runs and crashed edited them in imovie. i havent done much editing,,,just balanced the sound(as best as possibe) and put some tranistions inbetween the clips
two of the clips used were from the performance (and probley the reason why the player crashed).

Music Alive

been in contact with debbie from music alive!.....theyre contributing some of their extensive archive for use with the project.....

check em out here.....

Seven Wonders OF SWindon

tobias pointed this one out....artists Jasper FForde on the seven wonders of swindon.....

check it out......

Swindon history centre

The Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre opens to the public on 31 October 2007...........

heres its website......

The Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre opens to the public on 31 October 2007.

Recording off real media

the BBC got loads of swindon in the 60's and 70's films (as discovered by steve), but alsa theyre in the non recordable/grabable format of real media.

here they are......



fear not.....for a mac use Snapz pro



or for a pc use RM recorder


you should be able to grab the videos straight from the desktop to disk.........

matthew x

19th century survey of swindon

found this on www.archive.org

its a scan of

Jefferies' land; a history of Swindon and its environs. Edited with notes by Grace Toplis from 1896.
its also contains some notes from desmond morris's grandfather........

here

you tube downloader

if your interested in that software i was using to download youtube videos try.......

here

not sure if its only mac......sorry....

its free!

for the pc you can use this one!!!!

here

workshops

thanks to steve for coming along to the workshops.
he forwarded me these youtube links about swindon.
enjoy.....

this one

that one

another one

one more

here

there

and here

and there

another one here

the last one

jungulator on the radio

was on the frequency show this week,...informing swindon of the jungulator workshops and film......

hear it here

Generative music and Brian Eno

just copied this from wikipedia.
tis about brian eno and what he's been doing....

He collaborated on the development of SSEYO's Koan generative music system (created by Pete Cole and Tim Cole of intermorphic), which he used to create his hybrid album Generative Music 1.
Brian Eno, 1996:
“ Some very basic forms of generative music have existed for a long time, but as marginal curiosities. Wind chimes are an example, but the only compositional control you have over the music they produce is in the original choice of notes that the chimes will sound. Recently, however, out of the union of synthesisers and computers, some much finer tools have evolved. Koan Software is probably the best of these systems, allowing a composer to control not one but one hundred and fifty musical and sonic parameters within which the computer then improvises (as wind improvises the wind chimes).
The works I have made with this system symbolise to me the beginning of a new era of music. Until 100 years ago, every musical event was unique: music was ephemeral and unrepeatable and even classical scoring couldn't guarantee precise duplication. Then came the gramophone record, which captured particular performances and made it possible to hear them identically over and over again.
But now there are three alternatives: live music, recorded music and generative music. Generative music enjoys some of the benefits of both its ancestors. Like live music it is always different. Like recorded music it is free of time-and-place limitations - you can hear it when and where you want.
I really think it is possible that our grandchildren will look at us in wonder and say: "you mean you used to listen to exactly the same thing over and over again?"
”
Using the pseudonym CSJ Bofop, 1996:
“ Each of the twelve pieces on Generative Music 1 has a distinctive character. There are, of course, the ambient works ranging from the dark, almost mournful Densities III (complete with distant bells), to translucent Lysis (Tungsten). These are contrasted with pieces in dramatically different styles, such as Komarek with its hard edged, angular melodies, reminiscent of Schoenberg's early serial experiments, and Klee 42 whose simple polyphony is similar to that of the early Renaissance. But of course, the great beauty of Generative Music is that those pieces will never sound quite that way again.


and heres what wikipedia also got to say about generative music

There are four primary perspectives on Generative Music (Wooller, R. et.al., 2005)(reproduced with permission):

1. Linguistic/Structural: music composed from analytic theories that are so explicit as to be able to generate structurally coherent material (Loy and Abbott 1985; Cope 1991). This perspective has its roots in the generative grammars of language (Chomsky 1956) and music (Lerdahl and Jackendoff 1983), which generate material with a recursive tree structure.
2. Interactive/Behavioural: music generated by a system component that ostensibly has no inputs. That is, 'not transformational' (Rowe 1991; Lippe 1997:34; Winkler 1998).
3. Creative/Procedural: music generated by processes that are designed and/or initiated by the composer. Steve Reich's Its gonna rain and Terry Riley's In C are examples of this (Eno 1996).
4. Biological/Emergent: non-deterministic music (Biles 2002), or music that cannot be repeated, for example, ordinary wind chimes (Dorin 2001). This perspective comes from the broader generative art movement. This revolves around the idea that music, or sounds may be 'generated' by a musician 'farming' parameters within an ecology, such that the ecology will perpetually produce different variation based on the parameters and algorithms used [citation needed].
Lerdahl and Jackendoff's publication described a generative grammar for homophonic tonal music, based partially on a Schenkerian model. While originally intended for analysis, significant research into automation of this process in software is being carried out by Keiji Hirata and others.
In Its gonna rain, overlapping tape loops of the spoken phrase "it's gonna rain" are played at slightly different speeds, generating different patterns through phasing.
Brian Eno, who coined the term 'generative music'[citation needed], has used generative techniques on many of his works, starting with Discreet Music (1975) up to and including (according to Sound on Sound Oct 2005) his latest album 'Another Day on Earth'. His works, lectures, and interviews on the subject have done much to promote generative music in the avant-garde music community.
Many software programs are now available to create generative music, such as SSEYO's Koan Pro (1994-2007) (used by Brian Eno to create his hybrid album 'Generative Music 1'), Karlheinz Essl's sound environments fLOW (1998-2004) and SEELEWASCHEN (2004), furthermore MusiGenesis (2005), a program that evolves music.
Lauri Gröhn has developed Synesthesia software that generates music (midi file) from any photos in a few seconds.
The madplayer uses generative techniques to create electronic music, as does LEMu (Live Electronic Music). Many algorithmic music projects are also considered to be generative. algorithmic.net comprehensively maps them.

Contribute...by using my new software

ive made a bit of software

it turns you computer (if you have a webcam) into a video comment box....like that channel four right to reply program used to have. The idea is that you, and/or your freinds record off a record of what you want to say and then by a press of the button the computer will randomly select a clip and display it,once thats finished then itll play another...ad infutum....
fill it up with a load of clips and it starts to make its own story up.....

its avalible for the mac or the pc..download it from below....
you need a webcam (or isight) attached and for the pc you need a version of quicktime instaled and the vdig video component

for the mac

for the pc

any problems drop us a line at

matthew@robotmonkeytank.free-online.co.uk and ill do me best to ort it out....

also if you have any clips to pass on give us an email and il arrange digital collection.....

notible swindonians

again cribbed from wikipedia....

Dean Ashton - Premiership footballer playing for West Ham United. Born in Swindon.
Ralph Bates - Writer.
Jon Bourgerie - Presenter of The Late Show London [1] was born in Swindon
Mark A. Brennan - Canadian Landscape Painter, Born in Swindon, 1968.
Julian Clary - Comedian, formerly a resident of Rodbourne. His family still lives in the area.
Jamie Cox - Boxer. ABA light-welterweight champion. Won a gold medal for the England team at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia.
Rick Davies - Founder and member of the band Supertramp.
Diana Dors - Actress.
John Francome - Novelist, sports commentator and former jockey.
Justin Hayward - Lead guitarist (and one of the composers) for the rock band The Moody Blues.
Jason Martin - Radio DJ
David Hempleman-Adams - Explorer.
David Howell - Ryder Cup golfer. Ranked 10th in the world[2]. Highest ranked English golfer, and also the highest ranked British golfer.
Richard Jefferies - Victorian nature writer born at Coate.
Mark Lamarr - TV presenter, comedian, and radio DJ. Grew up in Park South.
Jon Lewis - England and Gloucestershire cricketer.
Angel Long - Adult Movie actress.
Melinda Messenger - Former glamour model and television presenter. Born in Swindon.
Antony Micallef - Artist.
Matthew Mills - Manchester City FC & England U-21 Defender.
Desmond Morris - Anthropologist.
Tom New - Leicestershire cricketer.
Orange n Blue - DJ from the 90s Drum & Bass Scene. Now part of Cintamani records
Gilbert O'Sullivan - Irish born, Swindon raised, singer/songwriter.
Billie Piper - Actress and former pop singer, who played Rose in the 2005/2006 seasons of BBC Sci-Fi TV programme Doctor Who.
Laurie Pycroft - Political campaginer who founded the pro-animal research group Pro-Test
Jon Richardson - comedian
Rachel Shelley - Actress, born in Swindon.
Tim Smith - Radio 2 Broadcaster and co-presenter of Radio 2's "Steve Wright in the Afternoon" Show.
Ben Thatcher - Football player in the FA Premier League with Manchester City FC.
Ken White - Artist, best known for his association with Richard Branson's Virgin Companies.
XTC, pop rock band from Swindon.
Dave Gregory - Lead guitarist from 1979 to 1999. Born in Swindon.
Colin Moulding - Founding member, second songwriter, vocalist, and bassist for the band. Born in Swindon.
Andy Partridge - Founding member, guitarist and chief songwriter. Born in Malta. Raised in Swindon, where he lives.
Thaila Zucchi - Big Brother 8 personality

ideas for swindon film festival

im just collecting the material and dont want to influence its outcome,..... but ive been looking up facts about swindon (well looked it up on wikipedia, so i can get a few ideas about the city).
its got some good claims to fame.....ive copy and pasted them down below. sorry if i have left any glaring ommissions...

It is referred to in the Domesday Book as Suindune, a name believed to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon words swine and dun meaning 'pig hill', or possibly 'Sweyn's hill' where Sweyn would be the local landlord.

In 1840, Isambard Kingdom Brunel chose Swindon as the site for the large Swindon railway works he planned for the Great Western Railway.

From 1871, GWR workers each week had a small amount deducted from their pay and put into a fund – its doctors could prescribe them or their family members free medicines or send them for medical treatments. ,From the opening in 1892 of the Health Centre, a doctor could also prescribe a hair cut – and even a bath – for a patient. The cradle-to-grave extent of this service was later used as a blueprint for the NHS.

In 1997 Swindon was named the fastest growing settlement in the world.

The town itself has a total area of approximately 40 km²

It offered the aspiring poor the UK's first lending library, and a range of improving lectures, access to a theatre and worthy pastimes from ambulance classes to xylophone lessons.

Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Swindon include - Coate Water, Great Quarry, Haydon Meadow, Okus Quarry and Old Town Railway Cutting.

More people have joined the Hare Krishna movement in Swindon than in any other English town.

Swindon is considered to be an almost exact microcosm of the whole United Kingdom in its demographic make-up, to the extent that it has been used for market research purposes and trials of new products and services. One example was the ill-fated Mondex electronic money.

In May 2007, 65.3% of households in Swindon had broadband Internet access, the highest in the UK

A 2007 report by Endsleigh Insurance concluded that the town was the second safest place to live in the UK,

Major employers include the Honda , BMW/Mini,Motorola, Dolby Labs and retailer W H Smith, Intel has its European head office on the south side of the town and Lucent Technologies head office is on the west side. Nationwide Building Society and Zurich Financial Services, and pharmaceutical companies such as Canada's Patheon and the US-based Cardinal Health's . Several of the UK's Science Research Councils have their head office here. Swindon is also the location of two Tyco Electronics sites. Also household products division of consumer goods supplier Reckitt Benckiser – best known for dishwasher detergents, disinfectants and cold remedies.

The town is notable for its roundabouts, to the extent of selling yearly calendars featuring a different roundabout for each month] The best known roundabout is the 'Magic Roundabout' at the junction of Drove Road, Queens Drive and Fleming Way near the County Ground.

Between 1973 and June 2000 Swindon had its own cable television channel. At first, it was Swindon Viewpoint – a community television project run mainly by enthusiasts from the basement of a Radio Rentals branch on Victoria Road

Museum of Computing Oakfield Campus, University of Bath in Swindon, Marlowe Avenue.

swindon is twinned with Salzgitter, Germany (1975),Ocotal, Nicaragua (1990),Toruń, Poland (2006),Chattanooga, USA (2006)

TV detective series A Touch of Frost starring David Jason is often set in or around Swindon (called "Denton" in the series)

Noel Gallagher, the lead singer of the rock band Oasis chose the name of his band after visiting Swindon's Oasis swimming pool and leisure centre in 1993

The rock band XTC, the notable rock-pop group formed in 1977, are from Swindon. Also members of related act Shriekback. XTC's co-founder guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and graphic artist Andy Partridge still lives in the town.

Supertramp keyboard player and singer Rick Davies comes from Swindon. The sleeve art for Breakfast in America shows the band's members in an American diner reading their hometowns' newspapers, Davies is reading Swindon's Evening Advertiser (since renamed as the Swindon Advertiser).

Moody Blues' vocalist, lead guitarist and songwriter Justin Hayward is from Swindon. He wrote their signature song Nights in White Satin.

Electronic music outfit Meat Beat Manifesto, were formed in Swindon in 1987.

.........i already knew diana dors (or fluck as was her real name ) came from here, shes me favourite film star. i highly recommend her autobiography to any one, tis callled dors by diana....you can get it off ebay intermitantly. its a fantastic story, a proper greek tragidy full of characters,and realy seedy.....but in a good beating the odds type way. and she abosoluty refuses she could have been wrong at any stage.

desmond morris i knew about too. he appears in the diana dors book (and the other ,more trashier a-z guides...believe me when i say i know a lot about the dors....i also reccomend never on a sunday, but only if you have read dors by diana, and are prepared to use it as a factual guide to wether diana was telling the truth or not)...any way this is about desmond....
hes done a lot to bring us down to the level of the ape...which is a good thing......but thats all i know....

xtc i knew,tho never realy listened to a lot of their music, it is one of those bands (english psycedilia..ive been told)..ive been meaning to...could only name senses working over time,or making plans for nigel...and i know they've made about 100 albums with loads of bamds offshoots like the kings of the statusphere(???)....dave loves em and thats good enough for me.....i didnt know about justin hayworth out of the moody blues....tho i love his work on War of the Worlds....but Knights in white satin (which he wrote) is my least favourate piece of music ...it actualy makes me feel sick..it abosulutly terrorises me...that bit where it goes ..cos i love you (yahh ahhh)..horrible...

railways i sort of knew about...if i was asked about swindon i probly would use my knowlegde of the industrial revolution to half offer the fact it was a railway town.......

roundabouts...i saw a postcard with that roundabout in it.....

Jungulator plays after Basil brush

Yes...at the Wyvern theatre, only hours before the jungulator performance, you can catch basil brush on his basil of the caribbean stage show. I'm realy looking forward to being just in the building with basil. I should get the larger dressing room.....

Arts Afternoon 29th September

theres an open day at the institute of Contemporary Interdisciplinary Arts,University of Bath

saturday afternoon from 2.30 till 4.30

heres a link to a map


i'll be explaining what we're hoping to do, and demostrating the software....you might be interested....

Software for workshops

got a couple bit of software here, a movie recorder/editor, and a sound recorder/editor

im going to update em soon, and i've got another couple of bits to put up..but ive got to finish em first....

anyway they're up there and free..both pc and mac.....they'll let youdo anything quicktime can do......and theyre free dammit....


they're on a page with loads of other bits and peices,which i wont go into here (tho have a go at em)...at the bottom of the page
start your downloading here....

Culture Crunch online

heres another application that create a live selfgenerative audio/visual mix. and can be a bit skittish on wireless conections..plug yer machine back into the wall...

download it here.....

Self generative radio show

here you go download this and you get a little radio application ,a selfgenrative radio show with its own robotic annoucer....

Examples of self generative media

i 'll go more in depth about self generative media later,but for now heres some links to some self generative examples.

Culture crunch

this is an example of a selfgenerative video mix of ziegist tv moments


The road ahead

a selfgenerative road movie



Self generative community portrait of kids in Lawrence Weston,Bristol.

its got an introduction of how my colleges and i went about the process


for more examples of the whole community protrait program have a look here

all about i am the mighty jungulator

i am the mighty jungulator is the name of a band i'm in and also a piece of software i have written.
i could go on about it here but we've got a website where you can check it out.
for general band info go to here

for information about the software go here

i'll put up some links later for specifics, but the webite is a good resource. Loads of free bits of audio/visual software, examples of video work and free music

How can i get involved in the workshops/donate some media

Two workshops will be held before the performance to introduced the ideas and software to participant, also to start collecting
media.
if you want to take part in either or both workshops email

info@swindonfilmfestival.co.uk

at the moment i have no hard facts about the workshops but i think theyre taking place on october 25 and october 30

if you're coming along bring with you ideas about swindon,and something to capture your media on.

it could be a digital camera,a minidisc recorder or best of all your mobile phone, sounds and images captured on yer mobile would be perfect.

if you cant make the workshops dont worry, give me an email at

matthew@robotmonkeytank.free-online.co.uk

and i can arrange for you to send me your contributions electronicaly over the internet innit.....

What is an audio/visual self-generative mix?

The project will create a quadraphonic sound-scape with an accomplying film, made from sounds and visuals (in the form of pictures and video clips) donated by members of the public.
The audio visual clips supplied will then be processed and mixed by a peice of software i have developed called, i am the mighty jungulator. The jugulator software makes decisions of how the media is processed and evolves a presentation and narrative, that can either be guided through human interation,or be left to create its own feelings and interpitation.

Welcome

i've put this blog together to document the process's and and actual work of creating a self generative audio visual mix to be premiered at the Swindon film festival.
Heres the advert...