This lecture was held for Ableton User Group 08.July .2015 in Berlin by moritz simongeist from Sonic Robots. http://sonicrobots.com/ ============== Sonic Robots How to make Techno - with robots! (Lecture, 120min or longer) The artist group „Sonic Robots“, led by and robotic musician Moritz Simon Geist, present performances where electronic music is created live by ... Robots! In this talk, Moritz will give an insight look into the world of robotic noisery, acoustic robots and music hardware techniques. He will present some of his instruments. The first part of this talk provides an overview of the different concepts and approaches for robotic musical instruments. The second part deals with the technical implementation in software, electronics and mechanics. The following topics will be discussed in detail: • Why it is good to be a music hacker and why it is bad to use presets • Where robotic music came from and where it could envolve to • Explanation of common robotic techniques • Controlling mechanical latencies • Capturing sound without microphones • Structure and electric control, Arduino, Power • Mechanical parts, actuators and 3D Printing File under: #madscience #bass #robots _ARTIST INFO: "Sonic Robots is treating some important questions of the future, like the perception of technology, the robotization of society or the artificial intelligence, but still comes in a very playful and entertaining way: through electronic music." (Alain Bieber, ARTE)

2. Contents
Where do the music robots come from?
(aka history lesson)
– Robotical instruments
– Robot Bands
My Robots
– MR-808
– Glitch Robot
How to create, build & play robots

3. „Hello,
I am Moritz Simon Geist from Sonic Robots“

4. Music robots
History and famous representatives

5. 19th
Century: Piano Robots
Pic: player piano ~ 1900 Wikipedia

6. 19th
Century: Piano Robots
Piano robot „Pianista“ 1863, Source: Wikipedia

7. Modern Life:
20th
and 21th
Century robots
● Spread of DIY- and maker culture since
the 80s.
● Since 2000s: Rise of DIY techniques
(Arduino, 3D Printing)
● Explotational character of musicians
(and technicians)

8. Tonal String Robots
„Mechabass“, J. McVay2003
Pic: J. McVay
Link

9. Tonal String Robots
„Guitarbot“, Eric Singer,
2003
Pic: LEMUR

10. Percussiv Drum Robots
„Yellow drum machine“
automous, driving Robot
Pic: letsmakerobots.com

11. Percussiv Drum Robots
Felix Thorn: Felix machines
Pic: Felix Thorn

12. Music robots
Technically Conceptional
Tonal Robots
● Piano robots
● String robots
● Percussive, tonal robots
Rhythm-Robots
Deterministic
Controlled by humans
Anthropomorph-autonomous
Iterativ patterns
„AI“
Reacting autonomously to
surrounding

13. Robot Bands

14. Z-Machines
(JP)
Z-machines live in Tokyo 2013 Source: metro.co.uk

15. Compressorhead
Screenshot from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqE9zIp0Muk © Frank Barnes /
Compressorhead

16. MR-808 Installation

17. Mechanic Rhythm 808
MR-808 (Geist): Pic: Jürgen Lösel

18. Installation MR-808
TR-808 Manual, 1981, Pic: Roland

19. MR-808: Goals
● No more sound creation
inside the computer
● Extending creativity
● Visual appealing
MR-808 (Geist): Toms,
Pic: Jürgen Lösel

20. MR-808 (Geist): Claps,
Pic: GEIST

21. MR-808 (Geist): Claps,
Pic: GEIST

22. MR-808 (Geist): Claps,
Pic: GEIST

23. Lesson learned: thermoforming

24. MR-808: Case
● Wooden case
● Many technics like 3D/Printing, vacuum molding
MR-808 (Geist): Buttons

25. Sonic Robots: Glitch Robot
(2014)
Glitch Robot

26. Glitch Robot

27. Glitch Robot

28. Glitch Robot

29. How to build
music robots

30. Why building instruments that
- sound worse,
- are harder to transport
- are more difficult to build and
maintain
.. than its digital counterpart?
Music Robots – WHY?

32. The pyramid of sound creation
The POSC explains the connection between sound and technology.
Source: GEIST

33. The pyramid of sound creation
→ Music robots cover many subjects – thats what makes it
so interesting.

34. Motivation
● Appealing Interaction (visuals & sound)
● Making sound visible
● Extension of musical possibilites, hacking
music
● Robots as extensions from body
● Last but not least: world domination

35. Build music Robots: Think
Goal is to find a cool sound.
● Through Experimentation
● Through planning

36. Build music Robots: Think
Experimentation

37. Build music Robots: Think
Planning
Wanted: a cool bassdrum sound
● Sinus like
● Clean
● Decaying
Source:
http://ua726.co.uk/2012/04/18/diy-808-bass-drum/
→ What physical object sounds like that in real life?

38. Build music Robots: Think
Planning
Pro Tip: ask
a circuit
Source:
http://ua726.co.uk/2012/04/18/diy-808-bass-drum/

39. Build music Robots: Think
● Planning
● → What physical object sounds like that in real
world?

40. Build music Robots:
Time for the Workshop!

41. Build music Robots: Make
● Best sine wave is
created by a metal
tongue
● Marimba like
● Pitch can be
precisly adjustes
with tension

42. CAD-Construction
Build music Robots: Make
3D-Printing

43. Electrical Circuitery
Build music Robots: Make

44. What do we need from the electrical side?
● ΜC like Atmega328
● MIDI-IN: One note triggers one Actor
● Power Amplifier (Mosfets)
● Actor: Motor, Solenoid
● Power supply (e.g. 12V / 10A)
● Case
Build music Robots: Make

45. Build music Robots: Make
Start coding:
● Midi In stream
● Each note triggers one Pin on the
Atmega
● MIDI-Channel select
● Pitch or CC to controll Motor
speed or servo
Software e.g. Arduino

46. Build music Robots: Make
What we did so far:
● Build mechanics
● Build electronics
● Programm µC (Arduino)

47. ● Mechanical system imposes delay from
trigger to sound
● Latency within the µC
● Latency can be up to several 100ms
Latency Control

48. ● The most important method to
make music robot coordinated
playable
● Time manipulation of MIDI data
● All sounds can be heard in time
without delay
Latency Control

49. Latency Control (1)

50. Latency Control (2)

51. Latency Control (3)

52. Latency control – MAX/MSP

53. Latency control – Max Msp

54. Latency control - Summary
TOP:
• Needed to make robot playable (music)
• Measurement: by simple I / O Tool, signal- Response
time is measured
FLOP:
• No more live control
• latency is static

55. Glitch Robot / Bass

56. Last Step:
Make awesome music!

57. ALL YOUR BOTS ARE
BELONG TO US
THANK YOU
@simongeist
www.sonicrobots.com

58. Upcoming shows
● 03.08-10.08, Berlin [DE], Krake Festival
● 29.08.2015, Duisburg [DE], Ruhrtriennale w/ Mouse
on Mars and Tyondai Braxton
● 25.09.2015, Hamburg [DE], Reeperbahnfestival