I guess Boy George is out of a gig. MEK
From: Kevin Conrad <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: 313@hyperreal.org Subject: [313] Move over HPDJ Date: Tue, 29 May 2001 07:17:29 -0700 (PDT) This was lifted from a BBS, so I don't have a link to the original article: DJ Robot Turns the Tables By Katie Dean A professor at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is the man behind DJ I, Robot, which is the first random-access, analog robotic DJ system. It's made up of a computer and three turntables that can mix, scratch, cut, and beat-juggle like a human disc jockey. "It's a new means of composition and competition," said Chris Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced chick-sent-me-hi), an electronic arts professor at RPI. "What's really been fun is coming across really strange sounds that you're not expecting to and deciding that it's not really a negative, but a positive." The machine is hardly musical or expressive. It doesn't have a collection of old records it likes to scratch up. But it can spin platters up to 800 revolutions per minute, compared to 45 RPMs by a human hand. To create the new mixes, 80 breakdance songs were pressed onto each record. The location of each musical element -- such as a particular measure, beat or audio sample -- is indexed on the computer. Programmers mix tracks by dragging-and-dropping each element into a timeline on the computer, then an analog motor spins the platter at the programmed speed and direction. The computer controls the manipulation of the tracks, but the motion is analog. The platter moves as if a human hand were guiding it, but with superior technical precision. Yet it's the human quality that counts in the artistic process, said one DJ. "What separates different DJs from each other is how they choose records to mix together, how they mix them, and the kind of tricks they do when they mix them," said Paolo, a DJ who has played jungle and hip-hop clubs in Washington D.C. and New York. "A computer is not going to know how to do that. It's missing the inspiration," Paolo said. "There's only so much you can program." Would he jam to the mixed beats of DJ I, Robot? "That wouldn't interest me at all," Paolo said. "That's not the point. There's a certain amount of personal expression going on when you mix records. That's what you're there to see or hear." DJ Qmaxx420 had a different reaction. "Bring it on, man! I think it's a great idea," said Qmaxx420, a professional DJ who has played clubs in New York, Germany, London and Tokyo. "I think that can be fun and entertaining." "It was inevitable that this was going to happen anyway," he said. "This is the future." Qmaxx420 said that DJ I, Robot might have some unexpected benefits. Some DJs don't like to spin first or last at clubs, so DJ I, Robot might be a good opening DJ. Also, because the machine has no emotions, it would never feel like it's selling out. Maybe record companies could use it to promote new songs, he said. Csikszentmihalyi admits the machine has its limitations. "It doesn't have taste and it doesn't have a sense of music," he said. "There's no algorithm for funk. We're faking the funk." Nevertheless, Csikszentmihalyi hopes DJ I, Robot will be able to outperform any human DJ in three or four years. So far, the machine has battled several DJs and has a losing record. "It's kind of a remake on the John Henry competition," Csikszentmihalyi said. "That's why we've been calling it the DJ killer app." The system has already received international attention. DJ I, Robot was a finalist in the Berlin Transmediale, an international juried competition for software art, and it's performed in a Berlin nightclub, at a street party in Boston and a warehouse party in Brooklyn. The machine will tour Europe this summer. http://www.dj-i-robot.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices http://auctions.yahoo.com/ --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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