Babil-onV2BellerGreg

Synekine,Paris,FranceContact@synekine.com

Abstract.Babil-onV2isaperformanceofaugmentedmusicaltheatre,whichdescribestheimaginarydestinyoftheSpeech.Startingwithpurevowels,somemorecomplexelementsliketheconsonantsorfurther,thesemanticmeaning,appearasdisruptiveelements.Babil-onV2surgicallydissectsspeechtoextractitsemotionalcharge.Theperformerisequippedwithamotioncapturesystemenablinghimtoliterallyhandlehisvoiceinrealtime.Inthecontextofaclose-up,facingtothepublic,hecutshisvoice,playswithit,spreadsitinthesurroundingspace,catchesitback,modulatesit,multipliesit...Theperformanceseemstosticktoatechnicaldemonstration,whileaninsidioustruthappears.Babil-onV2isametaphorofHumandestinythatcannotceasetogrow,toaccumulate,tocomplicateHissituationtothepointofnotbeingabletoenjoyitwithoutcausingHisownruin.

Keywords:Speech,Voiceprocessing,Gesturerecognition,SoundSpace,Interaction,Performance.

IntroductionFromtheimaginarydestinyoftheSpeech…

Babil-onV2drawsanoriginalportraitoftheSpeech,asifitwasanindividual.Mixingvariousscientificapproachestospeech,inheritedfromvariousdomains:phonetics,phonology,bio-philologicalevolution,languageacquisition,speechprocessing,G.Bellercomposedastructuredepictingtheimaginarylifeofthisparticularindividual.

Ofabirthmarkedbytheenjoymentofthephonationandbythepurityofthevowel,thebabblinggetsexcitedinhiccup,thenincrisistolaugh.Anaccidentoccursthen:theirruptionofaconsonant.Bycontagion,thevoicecomplicateslittlebylittleinthesketchofapre-language.Then,thesemanticsenseburstsasanewdisruptivephenomenon.Itdrivesthespeechinacontinuousstreamoflinguisticactions,whichwilleventuallyimpoverishthevocalmaterialbyexhaustion.ItisthefallofBabylon.Thewor(l)disexhausted,onlyapuresingingwillallowusareturnintheoriginalbreath.

Thesethreedisruptions(theconsonant,thesense,thenoise)articulatefourparts,theevolutionsofwhicharemoreorlesssystematic.Simplesituationsstartfromtheseanchors,wherenewrulesaregiven.Theperformerstartsbydiscoveringwhathecanmakeinthisnewworldwithhisnew"power".Fromasimplegame,heslightlygoesintosomemorecomplexsituations,untilheloosescompletelythecontrolofthesituation.Theaccumulationtakesoverandleadshimtoruin.

Subtly,thisprocessofcomparingtheSpeechtoanindividual,bringusbacktoourself-conditionofhumanbeings.Theconstantgrowthunderneaththestructureofthepieceisadirecttranslationoftheevolutionofthecivilizations.Startingfromsimpleandidealisticsituations(Eden’sgarden,forinstance),weenrichagamewethinkweunderstand,toapointofnoreturn,untilthenextdisruption.

…totherealfateoftheHuman

GenesisBabil-onV2startedfromresearch&developmentsmadeduringtheproductionofLunaPark,ofGeorgesAperghis,premieredin2011.G.Beller,thecomputermusicdesignerofthepiece,inventedSpokHands,asystemtocapturethegesturesofR.Dubelski,whotriggerspre-recordedvoicesounds,byplayingaerialpercussions,duringtheshow.

Toplayhimselfwiththefullrangeofthesystemhecreated,G.BellerthencomposedafirstversionofBabil-on,forR.Dubelski.This15minutesversionhasbeenpremieredthe15thofOctober2013,atThéâtredesBernardines,Marseille,France,duringCMMR’13,the10thInternationalSymposiumonComputerMusicMultidisciplinaryResearchonSound,MusicandMotion.Inthispre-version,R.Dubelskytriggersagainsomepre-recordedvoicesounds,butastepfurtherhasbeendone:Thequalityofthegesturemodulatesthequalityofthevocalsyntheticsounds.

G.Bellerwantstogofurther.Hewantstoallowtheperformerformanipulatinghisownvoiceinreal-time.Consequently,hestartedtheSynekineprojectin2014.Thisprojectbringstogetherperformanceandscientificresearchtocreatenewwaystoexpressourselves.Byanalogyin“synaesthesia”,thephenomenoninwhichtwoormoresensesofperceptionareassociated,the“synekinesia”wouldreflectourcapacitytoassociatetwoorseveralmotorsenses.

Oneofthegoalsofthisinnovativeprojectistocreatenewinstrumentsthatdefinenewpathsforvocalimprovisation.SeveralAugmentedRealitySoundTools(noglasses,novideo)allowtheperformerformanipulatinginrealtimethesoundofhisvoice.Thenamesareevocative:SoundSpace,HandSampling,BodyChoir,HyperBall…Forinstance,withtheSoundSpace,theperformerliteraryspreadshisvoicearoundhim,creatinganentiresoundscenemadeofhisvoice,whileinteractingwithitbythegesture.

SomeofthesenewinstrumentshavethenbeenbackpropagatedintothestructureofBabil-ontoproduceanextendedversioncalled:Babil-onV2.G.Bellerhimselfhaspremieredthis25minutesversion,the17thofAugust2015,atISEA2015,AVDisruption,VancouverBC,Canada.Tosumup,Babil-onV2isatestimonyofa5yearsresearchprocessthatG.Bellerconstantlyconductedthroughdifferentprojects.Itisalsothefirstperformanceofabeginningseries.OtherchaptersaretobewrittenbythegrowingSynekineDanceCompany.

AdditionalInformationTheSynekineProjectbringstogetherperformanceandscientificresearches,withsocialaspects.Theneologism“synekinesia”,isbuiltfromtheGreekterms“syn”,(union)and“kinesis”(movement).Byanalogyin“synaesthesia”,thephenomenoninwhichtwoormoresensesofperceptionareassociated,the“synekinesia”wouldreflectourcapacitytoassociatetwoorseveralmotorsenses.IntheSynekineproject,theperformersdevelopafusionallanguageinvolvingvoice,handgesturesandphysicalmovement.AninteractiveenvironmentmadeofsensorsandotherHuman-ComputerInterfacesaugmentsthislanguage.Throughcollectiveexploration,wewishtoseeemergeamorefaithfullanguagetotheexpressionofouremotions.

Biography

GregBellerworksasanartist,aresearcher,ateacherandacomputerdesignerforcontemporaryarts.HedefendedaPhDthesisinComputerScienceongenerativemodelsforexpressivityandtheirapplicationsforspeechandmusic,especiallythroughperformance.Whiledevelopingnewideasforsignalanalysis,processing,synthesisandcontrol,hetakespartinarangeofartisticprojects.HeiscurrentlythedirectorofthedepartmentforResearch/CreativityInterfacesofIRCAM,wherehecoordinatestheworksoftheresearchers,thedevelopers,thecomputermusicdesignersandtheartistsinthecreation,thedesignandtheperformanceofartisticmoments.Moreinformation:www.gregbeller.com

Figure1.Generalsketch(scorereduction)ofBabil-onV2

Figure2.IllustrationoftheSYNEKINECompanybyNicolasPatrix

Acknowledgements.Theauthorwouldliketokindlythankpartnersoftheproject:IdexUniversité,Bordeaux;l’IRCAM-CNRS,Paris;LaBRI,Bordeaux;NFCInteractive,Bordeaux;SCRIME,Bordeaux;SCENE44N+NCorsino,Marseille;UbrisStudio,Marseille;FormesElémentaires,Paris;peoplewhomadeitpossible:G.Aperghis,N+NCorsino,C.Béros,A.Cont,E.Flety,J.Henrot,P.Bondu,F.Bévilacqua,N.Schnell,R.Borghesi,J.Françoise,YannPhilippe,SamuelToulouse,JulesFrançoise,PatricSchmitz,JosephLarralde,LéaIkkache.SpecialthankstoRichardDubleskiforhisvoiceandhiscomplicityandtootherperformers,sofar,involvedintheSynekineproject:ValenciaJames,StéfanyGanachaud,Jean-CharlesGaume,DalilaKhatir,Jean-PierreDrouet,LennyBarouk,GregBeller,MartinSeigneur,AlexNowitz,ScottShepherd,HaimIsaacs.

ReferencesBeller,Greg.2015.SoundSpaceandSpatialSampler.MOCO2015,SFU,Vancouver.

Beller,Greg.TheSynekineProject.MOCO2014,IRCAM,Paris.

Beller,GregandAperghis,G.2011.GesturalControlofReal-TimeConcatenativeSynthesisinLunaPark.P3S,InternationalWorkshoponPerformativeSpeechandSingingSynthesis.Vancouver.

Beller,Greg.2011.GesturalControlOfRealTimeConcatenativeSynthesis.ICPhS.HongKong.

Beller,Greg.2011.GesturalControlofReal-TimeSpeechSynthesisinLunaPark.SMC.Padova.

Beller,Greg.2009.AnalyseetModèlegénératifdel’expressivié:Applicationàlaparoleetàl’interprétationmusicale.PhDthesis,UniversitéParisXI,IRCAM.

Beller,Greg.2009.Transformationofexpressivityinspeech.LinguisticInsights,97:259–284.

Beller,Greg,Schwarz,D.,Hueber,T.andRodet.X.2005.Hybridconcatenativesynthesisintheintersectionofspeechandmusic.JIM,volume12,pages41–45.