When: Tue 26 July – Sat 30 July
Performances: Tue – Fri: 4pm and 6pm; Sat: 2pm and 4pm showings
Where: The Edge, meet at reception
Cost: Free
Bookings: Backbone Youth Arts on 07 3210 2666

What do you get when you put Arduinos and a large, empty space in the hands of artists, code monkeys, sound designers and emerging theatre makers?

Initially we had no idea. But now you can see for yourself in The Room. This interactive installation work has been developed by a motley crew, brought together by their love of tinkering, experimenting and eating pizza.

If given the right tools, could a random group of people work together in a productive, efficient way? Would they work to inspire each other and would ongoing, collaborative relationships result?

For Anna and Luke the project represented an opportunity to play and build things. Both have solid technical skills, as software and web developers respectively, but Anna were keen to diversify their skills.

“This is a real project where I get the chance to play with Arduinos, not just read about them,” said Anna.

Nathen, with his experience in Arduino, electronics and interactive installations was naturally drawn to the project. Not so much challenged by the technology, he was curious to see the success of the proposed working model.

“It’s still young days for using microprocessors and creative coding in immersive interactive spaces. Perhaps those who come along will learn something, or be inspired to make something themselves or want to come along to the edge and continue this type of work.”

Clinton’s interest lay in learning new skills. A self-confessed codemonkey, he’s at home in the Matrix, but was keen to bump brains and get his head around processing and the possibilities opened up by Kinect.

Alex and Danny bring to the mix an artists’ perspective. They are both relative newbies to the Arduino and technology side of things, but have ideas by the thousands coupled with a keen interest in breaking new ground in interactive installations.

Having worked interactive sound design for circus performance, Nintendo DSi videogame titles and Remote Control, the soundtrack to the Nintendo Wiiware/Apple iPhone game Pop on iTunes, Andrew adds another layer of imagination to the project. As a former Edge Catalyst, he is familiar with the space, but the new curious new collaborators he meets keep him coming back each week.

The team from Backbone will be be adding the final layer to The Room through an interactive performance. The young theatre makers also got their hands….tangled as they played with the Arduino sensors, scripting a short rhyme to help them keep their wires straight.

“Black and green should never be seen unless a resistor is in between!”

So now, using words like synapse and processing, phrases like ‘triggering procedural visuals’ and languages like C+, Lisp, Python, Java. these techno-pioneers are building The Room. This one you will have to experience to believe. Book your place today.

We’re on the countdown to UnConvention 2011: that’s right, the grass-roots music industry discussion event returns to The Edge this June.

If you’re still trying to get your head around the concept, UnConvention organiser Dave Carter gave a great interview to AAA Backstage. They asked what people can expect from the UnConvention program this year, and Dave replied:

“Two days of fascinating and interactive discussion about music, success, failure, chaos, what it’s like to run a venue, bleeding edge music technology, photography, shooting music videos, self-publishing, recording and the opportunity to connect with other people who are passionate about independent music. Oh, and there’ll be music, booze and lunch.”

One way UnConvention has grown even bigger and better from last year is with the addition of hands-on workshops.

• DIY Electronics / Gear Building: basic audio tech project (DI Box)
• You better get a lawyer son: rock ‘n roll governance and other misnomers.
• Run Your Own: Setting up and managing a DIY music space.
• We don’t got no steenking budget!: Jaymis Loveday will run 2 x 2 hour workshops on guerrilla music video production.
• UnMixing: local producers pull apart their projects / sessions.
• Self Publishing On / Offline: Everett True will share his experiences writing and self publishing as a music critic.

These are $5 extra on top of the $30 ticket price. You’ve probably paid more for a burger!

There are two weeks to go until UnConvention, which takes place at The Edge on the June long weekend (June 11-12). We’re counting down and the UnConvention guys clearly can’t wait either! They’ve kicked off the discussion already on Twitter (look for the hashtag #uncon20) and Facebook – and they want you to join in with your voice and thoughts.

Get Tickets HERE.

The Edge relaunch
12-9pm Saturday May 7
Who: Everyone!
Where: The Edge
Cost: Free
Program: HERE

The floods may have dampened our enthusiasm for a while, but as of today The Edge is back in business – and we want you to help us celebrate.

We missed The Edge’s first birthday while our building was closed, but we can’t let that go by without a proper party! So on Saturday May 7 come visit The Edge as we celebrate the things we made in our first year, and all the exciting new things we have to come. (If you want to bake us a cake shaped like a giant “1” covered in smarties, that would be nice too)

The day will be a great way to see what goes on at The Edge. There will be workshops running, market stalls with local artisans showing off their wares. Plus we’ll have demonstrations from some of our Catalysts and Residents – you can learn how to make seed bombs or see the hacked clothing people made at the ThreadTech workshops.

There will be interactive sound installations (which you can still help design), a hacked up version of Rock Band for you to play in the auditorium.

And it’s all capped off by a night of awesome performance and music – including Laneous & The Family Yah, Joel Stern, The Videomatics, Ivy May Dillon and our very own Katie Wighton.

Oh, and you know us – it’s all free (with the exception of some workshops). Swing by and help us celebrate! Bring your mates or even a date!

cowper – The Kite Song – live at The Edge – 30th April 2010 from Jaymis on Vimeo.

cowper – Capulet – Live at The Edge – 30th April 2010 from Jaymis on Vimeo.

The shoot used three of the Edge’s little Sony HD cameras, and were operated by Kristy from 4ZZZ and other cool kids who happened to be in the Auditorium.

We’ve got quite an archive of performance footage building up, so if anyone would like to get some experience editing multi-camera shoots, you should get in touch with me.

The audio from this performance was recorded straight from the mixing desk to hard drive, and all four tracks can be downloaded for free from Cowper on Bandcamp.

Rowley and I have two Music+Visuals gigs coming up this weekend, first playing in one of The Edge’s window bays as part of the Unconvention lunchtime showcase on Saturday, then the Unconvention Afterparty at The JOYnt on Sunday immediately after Unconvention wraps up.

I’ll also be providing visuals for the Unconvention All Ages Showcase on Saturday night. Big weekend! Hope to see you there.

A VJ, or Video Jockey, is an artist who performs with video. It’s like a mixture of video editing, digital art, and playing computer games on stage.

Jaymis has been a VJ for over 10 years, has played all around Australia & Europe, and spent a year touring Aus as the “Visualist” member of Bobby Flynn and the Omega Three.

His software of choice is Resolume, which now works on both PCs and Macs, so we’re able to run a workshop where everyone can use the same software, together!

What you’ll learn:

This workshop will cover the basics of VJing – how digital video works, how VJing software works, how to select, prepare and perform with video clips, and a little on how to work with a laptop, midi controller and projector for live performance.

What you’ll need:

Yourself, and optionally: some video clips you’d like to work with.

Now that the craziness of The Launch has passed, I thought it would be a good idea to introduce myself, and tell you about what I actually do. You may have seen me referred to as a visualist, but as this term is understood almost exclusively by people who are, themselves, visualists, this probably bears some explanation.

What is a VJ?

Apparently, the term VJ or “Video Jockey” was coined in the 80s, to describe someone who performed with moving images on screens. Back in the 60s (and before) this would involve film and slide projectors, overhead transparencies, and oil projection. Over time, video gear became cheaper, so the term encompassed people who worked with analogue video (VHS and Betacam), live video feeds, CRT screens, DVD players, and eventually laptops and data projectors. By the early 2000s, laptop computers became fast enough to display and mix multiple layers of video, and hard drives became cheap enough to for a performer to carry many thousands of video clips around in a backpack. Data projectors also underwent a drastic drop in price. The stage was set for a VJ explosion, and explode we did. In the last decade, VJing has progressed from a relatively tiny subset of event production, to an integral part of just about any live performance or club. Computer VJ programs now number in their hundreds, we have our own, custom hardware,  and there are many different “forms” and styles of VJing. VJ also became the pop-culture term for someone who presents music videos on TV. We needed our own nomenclature.

Enter The Visualist

In 2006 I founded CreateDigitalMotion.com with Peter Kirn, an electronic musician and video artist from New York. The site covered the gamut of live video performance, video production, animation, visual programming, music videos, video hardware hacking and more. We’d been watching the art form progress and change around the world, and started to use the term “visualist” to describe someone who was a rounded video performer, who shot, animated and programmed their own source material, created and customized their own hardware setups, and then performed live, with or without a band, DJ or source of music. For us, a “VJ” now refers to a performer who uses VJ software (or hardware video players) to mix pre-created video loops and provide visual backing for a performance, whereas a Visualist is someone who is much more deeply intertwined with the process of creation, production and performance.

What is a Jaymis?

Hi. I’m Jaymis. I’m a visualist (everyone on the same page now?). My main proposed activity while I’m here at The Edge is to help other artists become visualists. I’ll be collaborating with fellow catalyst Andrew Gibbs, and putting on workshops designed to take you from Zero to Visualist in 6 months. So you’ll learn: How to shoot and edit digital video, how to animate using a computer, how to perform live using VJ software, how to design and implement a system for live video production and streaming, and more!

Outside of the workshops, catalysts are available to collaborate and work with other artists. So to give you an idea of whether you’d like to get together and be all Catalysed, here’s some examples of my work:

Studio Music Videos

Edward Guglielmino – Fail With Me (Warning: Some naughty words feature in this song)

Edward Guglielmino – Fail With Me from Jaymis on Vimeo.

Cowper – Berlin Four Two

Cowper – Berlin Four Two from Jaymis on Vimeo.

Edward Guglielmino – Settle Down With Me (Director’s Cut)

Edward Guglielmino – Settle Down With Me (Director’s Cut) from Jaymis on Vimeo.

Live Music Video

Flamingo Crash – Sister Sister

Flamingo Crash – Sister Sister from Jaymis on Vimeo.

Cowper – The Kite Song

Cowper – The Kite Song (Live) from Jaymis on Vimeo.

Live Event Vision and Streaming

Hungry Kids of Hungary – Scattered Diamonds (Live)

Hungry Kids of Hungary – Scattered Diamonds from Herovision on Vimeo.

Edward Guglielmino – Crushed by a Late Night Dream (Live)

Edward Guglielmino – Crushed by a Late Night Dream (Live) from Jaymis on Vimeo.

Animation

Stencil Cut and Spray

Tree Stencil Cut and Spray Timelapse – Draft from Jaymis on Vimeo.

The Colour Chase

The Colour Chase from Jaymis on Vimeo.

There’s plenty more to be found on Vimeo. If you’d like to ask any questions or to organize a meeting, please get in touch!

4–6pm Saturday 13 March 2010
Who: The Edge’s new Catalysts
What: quite a lot of showing off
Cost: FREE

Ride on down to The Edge this Saturday afternoon for the first ever Show Pony—The Edge’s own creative mash up.

Check out some of the weird and wonderful things our Catalysts have been up to over the last couple of weeks and find out how you can help them take over The Edge.

There’ll be live music by Catalyst Ian Rogers (AKA Ambrose Chapel), a showcase of participants from Musicadium’s upcoming workshops, as well as the debut performance by Hologram Carver (AKA Catalyst Andrew Gibbs).

Live visuals will be produced by Catalyst and Createdigitalmotion.com co-founder Jaymis Loveday including footage from The Edge Opening Event.

Catalysts Sandra Landolt (sculptor) and Stephen Stockwell (journo) will also be around if you have any questions about upcoming workshops at The Edge.

Kick back with a coffee and a muffin and see what The Edge Crewis up to (sign up for an Edge account first to get 10% off your coffee). This will also be a great time to sign up for free workshops (learn everything from cardboard engineering to music software) and check out the space.

This is a particularly timely piece of repurposing though, with the triumphant Edge Launch last Friday night, and loud, shouty bands like DZ playing, I was a little concerned that we weren’t providing hearing protection. Not that this is necessarily the responsibility of the venue, but I think it’s something that caring Places Of Noise should do, and I’ll be talking to our staff about getting a supply of cheap disposable ‘plugs for patrons of our shows.

If, however, you’re someone who sees a lot of gigs, cares about how those gigs sound, or who cares about not disposing of things which don’t necessarily need to be thrown away, then you should invest in a slightly more permanent solution. Enter the Etymotics ER-20 High Fidelity earplugs.

As a VJ and live performer, I’ve spent lots of time on stages and in clubs, and always worn hearing protection. Usually the disposable foam ones. They protect your ears well, but provide an uneven attenuation of sound, removing too much high-end. In non-audio-geek terms, this makes the music sound muffled, like it’s coming from the next room, or it’s being played through some speakers which are buried in blankets.

Higher quality earplugs have a more even attenuation, which makes the waves delivered to your ears sound much more natural. I’ve actually found that using them makes loud gigs sound even better than barebacking. When exposed to a loud sound, your stapedius reflex slightly closes your inner ear. This makes things sound different, and it’s why your hearing is muffled after a loud show, but it’s not enough to protect you from permanent hearing damage.

The ER-20s aren’t quite as comfortable as the soft, squishy ones, but the better sound more than makes up for this, and it protects the world from soft, squishy landfill. I actually had a hearing test done on Tuesday morning, less than 12 hours after seeing Phoenix at the Entertainment Centre. It was an extremely loud gig, yet my test results were all well within the normal range.

So. Hearing protection = compulsory. Higher quality hearing protection = lovely. If you’d like to know more on the subject, my original post on CreateDigitalMusic has loads of comments from musicians and performers around the world, both heaping love on Good Earplugs, and lamenting the fact that they didn’t know about them until Too Late.

If you’d like to get some of your own, you can order them for AU$35 (inc. delivery) from Headphonic in Australia.