Sound Artist - Musicologist
As part of the Data Sonification Initiative, I have been researching the possibilities of brainwave sonification for music and sound art.
I created some prototypes in SuperCollider and Max MSP. The Brainwave Virtual Instrument is coded in FAUST and Python.
The Brainwave Virtual Instrument (BVI) is an open-source software synthesizer built in the programming language Faust. Its purpose is to facilitate the exploration of electroencephalogram (EEG) and other brain data through sonification. Pre-recorded data is translated as parameter controls of the instrument in the form of Open Source Control (OSC) messages that are generated and streamed by a small python program. The instrument can easily be distributed and compiled to different targets thanks to Faust’s flexibility. Frequency Modulation synthesis provides a comprehensive approach to textural parameters of sounds, so that musical composition and improvisation based on a creative use of brain data become feasible. This is exemplified by the Brainwave Etudes (BE), a series of compositions inspired by measurements of brain activity during different states of mind. The BVI was created for two major purposes: on the one hand, to find musical structures that relate to each other in order to present an aesthetic proposal, and on the other, to create a tool that familiarizes scientists and researchers in the field of neuroscience with sonification techniques, and the exploration of brain activity through sound.
The Brainwave Etudes are a series of small compositions based on task for the activation of different brainwave bandwiths.
The repository can be found here
This is an ongoing project supported by the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam