Technical specification for “Living Room Pieces”, a generative sound installation

for living spaces.

General:
Living Room Pieces is generated using algorithms that decide what sounds to play
when. On instantiation, the program, written in Pd, sets up a 7 day cycle, each day of
the week having its own structure, heard in the type and frequency of sounds heard.

Sound sources:
There are 301 “modules”, each a single sound with multiple variations in parameters
including volume, panning, delay between channels, reverb type and amount, filtering,
distortion effects, playback speed and playback order. These variations were derived
using algorithms executed and recorded in Max. There are over 7000 sound files in this
version of Living Room Pieces.

Two more modules, “Chords of Four” and “Noematta” are special - each occuring on
one day of the week and determining the playback of the other modules.

The 301 sound sources (excluding “Chords of Four” and “Noematta”) are divided into
11 categories:
1. Spoken
2. Ambiences
3. Rhythmic Noise
4. Rhythmic Pitched
5. Static Noise
6. Static Pitched
7. Active Sustained Noise
8. Active Sustained Pitched
9. Intermittent Noise
10. Intermittent Pitched
11. Pieces/Solos

The algorithms that determine when and what modules will play take into account the
categories in order to insure variety when multiple modules are playing at the same
time.
Most modules, excepting “Pieces/Solos” will last for between 170 and 430 seconds.

The 7 day cycle:

There are 7 modes of organizing which modules will play when through the course of a
single day. These are:

1. Serial - 12 sounds (excluding any from “Pieces/Solos”) are ordered into a “row”,
disregarding categories, for example 207, 133, 144, 53, 162, 197, 3, 50, 218, 152, 115,
22 (the modules are ordered in numbered groups according to their categories).
Through the course of the day, this pattern will be repeated. This mode is relatively
active, with up to 3 modules playing within an hour, so that there may be overlaps.
After a time, the listener should detect the repeating pattern.

2. Sequence - Creates an ordered row of the 10 categories (excluding “Pieces/Solos”

and plays a module from each, in order, as the day passes. Similar in some ways to
“Serial” but the specific module from each category may be different each time. This
mode is also relatively active.

3. 1 per day - A single module is chosen and played throughout the day. This is the
sparsest mode, an hour or more may go by without the sound being heard.

4. The Rest/Rhythm 1st - Two modes in one: “The Rest” chooses a module from any
category except “Pieces/Solos” and plays it for between 170 and 430 seconds.
“Rhythm 1st” chooses a module from the category “Rhythmic Noise” and then adds up
to two more modules, creating a mix of sounds, also playing for between 170 and 430
seconds.

5. Music Solo/The Rest - “The Rest” has already been discussed. “Music Solo chooses
a sound from the category “Pieces/Solos”. This category has some of the longer-
lasting sounds, full pieces, some lasting an hour or more.

6. Noematta - “Noematta” is a category of sounds defined as short, gestural,

surprising, evocative, often “found” (i.e. sampled from a published source). The
algorithm decides how many of these short sounds will play within an hour, between 8
and 55, following the Fibonacci series (8, 13, 21, 34, 55). Every 11th sound played will
trigger a module from one of the 10 categories excluding “Pieces/Solos”.
7. Chords of Four - Soft, wafting chords of 4 notes each play intermittently throughout
the day, with pauses of between 119 and 301 seconds separating each iteration. Every
11th chord played will trigger a module from one of the 10 categories excluding
“Pieces/Solos”.

These 7 modes or structures are ordered into a 7 day cycle when the piece is started.
Therefore, if “Chords of Four” occurs on a Wednesday, it will continue to do so until the
computer is restarted. In this way, a large scale structure will be perceivable over
weeks and months, without there being any repetition of the specific sounds.

The Sound System

This version of Living Room Pieces is for 2 channel sound system and Raspberry Pi
computer running Pd software. The algorithm is set to play for 12 hours beginning at
the time the computer is started and then to be silent for the remaining 12 hours of the
day. This can be changed at the listener’s request, though it is recommended that the
installation run for a minimum of 8 hours/day. The listener may turn of the speakers at
any time, though it is recommended that the volume be set at optimal (according to the
composer) and that the computer remain on, in order to perpetuate the 7 day cycle.

Speakers should be set up so that they are as far apart from each other as possible,
preferably in adjoining rooms and facing away from each other. This is to create a
maximally “spatial” effect, one that does not create a stereo “stage” but rather isolates
the sound sources from each other - as if two instruments or radios were playing in
separate rooms.

Another version of the piece exists that uses 8 speakers and a Mac computer. This
version has more real-time processing than the Pi version thanks to the enhanced
power of the Mac. Of course, it requires a much more intrusive installation, preferably
where the speakers and/or speaker wires are in-wall or hidden in some way, to more
fully integrate into the home environment.