Does Sound Have Meaning?

Sound Researchers and Practitioners Convene to Discuss 'symbolic sounds' at #KISS10

Can music and sound-effects be symbolic?

Sound designers, composers, sound artists, film makers, researchers and others sharing an intense interest in sound will be convening in Vienna (Austria) from the 24th through 26th of September to discuss this and other, similarly controversial, issues at the annual Kyma International Sound Symposium (#KISS10).

Lively discussions, electronic/computer music performances, interactive installations, demos, workshops, and paper sessions will be held in the newly renovated Casino Baumgarten, a spectacular ballroom built in 1890, and the Rhiz Bar Modern, a showcase for experimental media in Vienna.

[view from the Stage at Casino Baumgarten]

Join in the free on-line discussion

Anyone having an intense interest in sound is invited to join in the free on-line discussion at pphilosophyofsound.ning.com. Sign in and introduce yourself by sharing your earliest sonic memory. Discussions on sound, symbol, and meaning have already begun and will continue during and after the symposium. You can participate on line whether or not you are able to attend the symposium in Vienna.

To register for #KISS10:

The registration deadline for participating in #KISS10 is 13 September 2010. The participation fee of € 90 (€ 40 for students) includes the 3-day symposium, morning/afternoon refreshments, and 2 evening concerts.

Background

The Kyma International Sound Symposium (KISS) is an annual conclave of current and potential Kyma practitioners who come together to learn, to share, to meet, to discuss, and to enjoy a lively exchange of ideas, sounds, and music! Kyma is a sound design environment created by Symbolic Sound Corporation. This year, the KISS symposium is being organized by Wiener Klangwerkstatt in cooperation with Symbolic Sound and with the support of Analog Audio Association Austria, Preiser Records, and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science and Research.

[Focus on Kyma International Sound Symposium - KISS09]

Conference Contact Information:
Barbara Kopf
KISS 2010 Conference office
Email: office.KISS2010@tonsalon.at
Telephone: +43 (0)650 212 1646
[tonsalon.at/KISS2010]

Open Sound Control (OSC) for Kyma

OpenSound Control is an open, transport-independent, message-based protocol developed for communication among computers, sound synthesizers, and other multimedia devices.

OSC is often used as an alternative to the 1983 MIDI standard, where higher performance, higher resolution and a richer musical parameter space is desired. OSC messages are commonly transported across the internet and within home and studio subnets using (UDP-IP, Ethernet).

The advantages of OSC over MIDI are primarily speed and the comparative ease of specifying a symbolic path, as opposed to specifying all connections as 8-bit numbers. 

Symbolic Sound Corporation has expanded the list of devices and applications that can communicate with its Kyma sound design environment by adding support for OSC to control parameters of Kyma sound synthesis and processing algorithms. OSC communication requires the Paca or Pacarana sound engine.

Using Open Sound Control, users can interact with Kyma using a variety of real-time controllers and software that offer higher resolution and faster update rates than can be achieved using traditional, standard MIDI controllers, such as the newly announced Apple iPad (and compatible iPhone and iPod Touch), the award-winning JazzMutant Lemur multi-touch surface, among the others.

OSC-enabled Kyma X.74 is a free software update for registered Kyma X owners.

[Jazz Mutant Lemur with Kyma]

Wrapping Other Protocols Inside OSC: MIDI over OSC

Symbolic Sound's protocol for sending bi-directional MIDI streams over OSC

Users can make good use of one of the following applications for sending MIDI over OSC to Kyma (removing the need for a MIDI interface on the computer):

• Andy Capon's OSCKymaMIDI (for Max and Max for Live)
• Delora's PacaMidi
• Camille Troillard's OSCulator

[Read more: Open Sound Control (OSC) for Kyma]
[Listen U.S.O. Project exploring the SlipStick Synthesis in Kyma]
[See Kyma at these upcoming events!]

2nd Kyma International Sound Symposium: Vienna, Austria

@Symbolic Sound and Wiener Klangwerkstatt invite you to share your ideas, experiences and results with fellow practitioners at the Kyma International Sound Symposium (KISS), an annual conclave of current and potential Kyma practitioners who come together to learn, to share, to meet, to discuss, and to enjoy a lively exchange of ideas, sounds, and music.

[This year's theme]
[How to submit]

#KISS10 is scheduled for 24-26 September 2010 in the newly renovated Casino Baumgarten, a spectacular ballroom from 1890, which - due to its excellent acoustics became one of the main recording studios in Vienna in the 1960s and 70s.

[Casino Baumgarten]

Cost: € 90, students € 40

Deadline for submission of proposals: April 11th, 2010

Organizers: Wiener Klangwerkstatt in cooperation with Symbolic Sound, supported by Analog Audio Association Austria (AAAA), Preiser Records and Stadt Wien

[Full details - via tonsalon.at]