Hydra.js

performed with dan gorelick at syzygy. really loved working with dan on our concept where we started from nearly blank screens (i started with only one function describing an fft spectrum and worked my way up from there), and was also glad i was able to integrate some realtime analog camera work of dan playing live cello. dan taught me how to do midi interface integration into hydra so that for a future set (when i’m more prepared!) i can control features with sliders. ...

As of this writing, imo this is the best hydra set i’ve ever done. mapped to a rollup door behind the dj booth i don’t have a recording since this was a last-minute idea (about an hour before, f. asked me to do visuals), but i followed my constraints well (monochrome, minimal, all visuals would be derived from the fft spectrum, an emphasis on linearity), showed restraint in letting ideas play out rather than shift too jarringly, clearly demonstrated the idea to the audience, and felt embodied enough with the music that i really enjoyed myself. i was really happy with the result. ...

i was one of the photographers for avclubsf’s event hexcode algorave. i was warned the light would be low, but the ever-changing light levels with very variable intensity were among the hardest conditions i’ve ever encountered. tried to rally and got some helpful advice from jason, and just continued to attempt to get the performers emoting as best i could. got good feedback on the set even if i was frustrated by a few of them being blurry… learned that maybe i should have turned up ISO earlier on even though i’ve never really gone over 1200 ISO in studio. ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhKkNg-P3EU fun chiptuney set with live guitar by Nobel Yoo. i was going for more minimal, line-oriented visuals (but added some colors and pixel art cause halloween and chiptune). midway through (maybe at 12:00) you can see me wipe the codebase and i start from scratch! :x the second half was thus totally improvised and it still ended up looking surprisingly cool.

starting to record brief hydra sketches and concepts from first principles, since usually i’ve altered or edited other people’s sketches, or relied a lot upon editing camera output of the performer. for my upcoming gray area performance i’m trying to channel some minimalism inspired by audioreactlab (difficult when colors and complex textures are foundational functions in hydra). how to do this in hydra when the elements never seem that distinct from each other? i’m playing with shapes for a start, but it seems like if i want to individually vary these, they’ll need to be in p5, or something more explicit. ...

using this implementation of oscilloscope and learned about currying functions in js @_@! truly the most “visualizer” sketch i’ve ever done. would be nice to get some specific emphasis on certain frequencies next time (bass, etc). pretty happy with how directed the gaze is on this strong shape, and i think the fft reactivity is just right (engaging but not spastic) // contour oscilloscope y = (q=5) => { // oscilloscope implementation by ojack a.setBins(q) x = shape(2,.15) for(i=0;i<q;i++) { x = x.modulateScrollY(osc(1+i*10), ((i) => () => a.fft[i])(i)) } return x } y(5).out() src(o0).repeat(1,[1,15].fast(.1)).out(o1) src(o1).modulate(noise(2,.1)).pixelate(7,2000).out(o2) src(o2).color(1,0,1).add(src(o2).scrollY(.1).color(0,1,0)).out(o3) render(o3) a.setScale(10) a.setSmooth(.9) a.setCutoff(0) ...

leeann invited me to do visuals for her composition for apature 2021, and i improvised a performance at bindlestiff studios using hydra.js to react to her live composition. we later re-recorded visuals and her track to incorporate her concept of i-ching hexagram generator function. thematically i tried to incorporate visual static and warps to correspond to the auditory distortion, and microscope videos of mitosis and apoptosis to represent themes of isolation and attempts at togetherness during the pandemic. ...

this was my first hydra.js set: a collaboration with faited that we originally performed at ambient awakenings, then re-recorded in our studio to a small audience. i used a usb camera and manually controlled optical zoom to incorporate visuals of faited, and worked with her on the concepts of liquidity, flow, and distortion to accompany this set. unfortunately as the video progressed, my hardware couldn’t handle the required capture speed and it is very low framerate towards the end. ...