Laptop Orchestra of Louisiana to Perform at the Manship Theatre
The Laptop Orchestra of Louisiana, or LOLs, will be performing on April 4 at the Manship Theatre, Shaw Center for the Arts, in Baton Rouge, LA, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $18 or $10 for students.
An orchestra in a laptop? That's the goal of the LOL. This innovative group of musicians uses ordinary off-the-shelf laptop computers to produce sounds of an entire band alongside sounds so unfamiliar that you wonder if they can be found in nature. Comprised of faculty and students from the LSU School of Music’s Experimental Music & Digital Media program, the LOLs are focused on creating musical experiences that push beyond the boundaries of music with exciting programs of compositions for instruments, computers, iPads, joysticks, Wii-motes, webcams and video.
“Laptops and computational science are giving musicians a new paradigm for creating music,” said Stephen David Beck, Derryl & Helen Haymon Professor of Music in the LSU School of Music and LOL co-director. “The laptop orchestra is not meant to replace real orchestras. Rather, it uses the metaphor of the orchestra as a new way of teaching, creating, and performing computer music. The LOL provides new avenues in which students can compose, interact, and experiment with sound, merging technology with the artistic process.”
“This year’s concert will be a mix of brand new works along with a few of our favorites. Our new pieces include music for webcams and glowing objects, a composition for shofar, conch, and laptops, music for laptops and video, and music based on twitter and Facebook status feeds. We will also be debuting our custom-made hemispherical speakers, which bring a more natural presence to our sounds.”
The Laptop Orchestra of Louisiana is a collaborative research project of LSU's School of Music and the Center for Computation & Technology and is part of the center’s AVATAR Initiative in Digital Media.
For more information on the concert or to purchase tickets, contact the Manship Theatre Box Office at 225-344-0334 or visit http://www.manshiptheatre.org/.
CCT Spotlight: Steve Beck
Stephen David Beck, Derryl and Helen Haymon Professor of Composition and Computer Music, is the lead principal investigator of the AVATAR Initiative program and the Digital Media Minor program at LSU. He is also the current head of the Cultural Computing Focus Area at the CCT.
Steve was born in San Diego, California. After being offered a professor position at the School of Music at LSU, he moved to Baton Rouge in 1988. Steve is married and has two children.
Currently, Steve is involved in grid-based control technologies for laptop orchestras, computer-human interface design for music making using the Microsoft Kinect, and composing music for fixed media.
Steve said, "...the use of technology in my music is not meant to replace musicians, but rather to enhance and expand a performer's potential for expressiveness, technique and, most importantly, timbre. There is an uncanny beauty in the physical and mathematical laws of nature, a beauty of intense complexity bond by simplicity, order and logic. For me, this is a constant and powerful source of inspiration, and the use of modern technology seems the perfect tool for expressing that inspiration and awe."
To unwind, Steve coaches youth soccer and he enjoys cooking and sailing. His favorite gadget is his iPhone. He likes both LSU football and Symphony and prefers the Spring over the Fall. Steve's prescription for life is to listen to Mozart or Bach once a day.
When asked why he does what he does, Steve said, "I can't imagine myself doing anything else."
Pats on the back:
• Thomas Sterling gave the Keynote Address at the 2nd International Supercomputing Conference in Mexico on March 21, 2011. The conference has been established to provide stronger emphasis on Mexican industry and research in the field of supercomputing with an additional emphasis on educational opportunity for students in that country. Sterling’s presentation was entitled “Enabling Exascale Computing through the ParalleX Execution model” that discussed the need for a new execution model to support Exascale and the LSU research on ParalleX.”
• Thomas Sterling was invited to the by-invitation-only NNSA Workshop on “From Petascale to Exascale: R&D Challenges for HPC Simulation Environments” in San Francisco, March 22-24, 2011. This was the third set of meetings to establish a long-term strategy and program for the nation to develop to deploy Exascale computing capability prior to the end of this decade.
• Thanks to the following who participated as judges at the 2011 Louisiana State Science and Engineering Fair for middle school and high school, March 23 & 24:
o Colby Jordan- both days
o Frank Loeffler- both days
o Kathy Traxler- high school
o Brygg Ullmer- high school
CCT in the News:
Laptop Orchestra of Louisiana to Perform April 4 at Manship Theatre
Source: LSU Office of Communications & University Relations
Ogf Welcomes Dan Katz and Wolfgang Ziegler as Area Directors of Applications
Source: Open Grid Forum
Nanoscience festival offers hands-on fun
Source: WAFB
Lectures this week:
TUESDAY—There will be a lecture on “Fast Algorithms for High Frequency Waves and Applications in Kinetic Inverse Problems (sponsored by LONI/LASiGMA)” by Jianliang Qian, Michigan State University. The lecture will take place Tuesday, March 29 at 2:00 P.M. in 338 Johnston Hall.
FRIDAY —There will be a lecture on “An Overview Of GRI-SSC Research” by Pat Fitzpatrick, Mississippi State University, Geosystems Research Institute. The lecture will take place Friday, April 1 at 1:00 P.M. in 338 Johnston Hall.
Please Note:
• Due to the overwhelming response, we have opened a second session for the Alice in Computation Land Summer Camp July 18-22, 2011, sponsored by the LSU Center for Computation & Technology. The camp is a five-day workshop for girls entering grades 6-8 who are interested in learning more about computational science and technology. For more information and to register, visit http://www.cct.lsu.edu/CampAlice
• Registration is now open for “Stop Motion Summer Camp,” July 11-15, 2011. This exciting summer education opportunity offers high school students a unique opportunity to build upon their interests in animation. Registration fee is $125. For more information and to register, visit http://www.cct.lsu.edu/StopMotion
• Applications for the SC11 Student Volunteer Program will open April 1 and close on August 12, 2011. Undergraduate and graduate students are encouraged to apply as volunteers to help with the administration of the conference. In exchange for volunteering, they will receive complimentary conference registration, housing, and most meals. In addition, limited support will be provided for transportation expenses (such as airfare) for international students and students from groups that traditionally have been underrepresented in HPC. For more information visit http://sc11.supercomputing.org/?pg=studvol.html or email student-vols@info.supercomputing.org.
• Prior approval is required for Special Meal Requests. Employees who make meal purchases without prior approvals may find that they must cover the cost of any monies spent for an unapproved event out of pocket, especially now that state funds are under a spending freeze. Please contact Susie Poskonka (susie@cct.lsu.edu) prior to any special meal with visitor(s) to file the appropriate request for approval. Prior approval could take up to one week, so please plan accordingly.
• Please remember to send your news concerning grants, awards, conferences, or other pertinent information to CCT Event Coordinator Jennifer Claudet at jennifer@cct.lsu.edu
• Follow CCT with social media to access photos and see news, events or updated information. These pages are public; you do not need an account to view the information.
o Facebook group : LSU Center for Computation & Technology
o Twitter : LSUCCT
o YouTube channel : LSUCCT
Upcoming Grant Deadlines:
Note: Please check the CCT deadline Web site , since it is updated daily.
Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program
July 23 2011 10:00 am
At Least $ 400,000.00 available
Publish Date:
03-29-2011
