Re: [LAU] introducing l2ork

I agree that parts of the site are incomplete, mainly because the site is
still growing (just as we are through our maiden L2Ork voyage that began
this fall), so some confusion is naturally warranted. That said, Alex has
described it very well.

L2Ork basically is a laptop orchestra that uses Linux rather than Mac
platform (as is the case with PLOrk and SLOrk), and as such is as far as I
know World's first laptop orchestra using Linux.

Since we are still in early stages of development, a lot of things are up in
the air. As of right now what I can divulge about the project is following:

HARDWARE:
Apart from homebrew speakers, we are using MSI Wind netbooks, wiimotes and
nunchuk as main sources of input (in addition to obviously keyboard and
mousepad), UA-1G soundcards (basically rebranded UA-1EXs under
Cakewalk-Edirol brand).

The speakers have built-in preamps and allow easy exchange of discrete
6-channel and mono setup using two different types of cables (one is 6-pin
XLR to 6 mono TSs, the other is 6-ping XLR to RCA). We currently do not use
balanced audio feeds as each system is self-enclosed and requires minimal
cable lengths. As a result, we've encountered no ground loop issues and/or
similar major degradations in audio fidelity. Speakers have theoretical
range of 50Hz-30KHz. That said, 50Hz sounds rather weak so we also
supplement our setup with subs. Theoretical peak amp power of the three
embedded amps is 15 Watts per channel, while each speaker cone peak amp
power is 25 Watts. We've retrofitted amps to improve sound fidelity (based
on online docs for the Dayton DTA-1 class amps). For more info on this one
please see online videos. Regarding the actual loudness, suffice to say to
run these at maximum possible strength without distortion for prolonged
periods of time will undoubtedly result in hearing loss.

SOFTWARE:
We use modified version of Ubuntu 9.04. Rather than issuing tons of various
scripts/patches, we maintain an in-house disk image of the entire HD. This
thing should be available soon for download for those who wish to burn their
bandwidth :-). This is mainly because we don't have enough man hours to
actually build user-friendly patch system for the amounts of updates we
issue on a weekly basis. At some point we may opt for a better way of
packaging these.

Main audio platform for the time being is a modified version of Pd. Some of
the changes to Pd have been already shared with the Pd community, others
will become available once we work out the kinks.

ART:
Currently, most of our efforts revolve around harnessing the power of hand
gestures through wiimotes and nunchuk, in conjunction with keyboard and
mousepad. Likewise, we are actively exploring ways of interconnecting the
ensemble (e.g. imagine one performer generating a note and by doing so also
altering someone else's instrument properties, etc.) through as set of
custom-built monitoring tools (using Pd). I understand that this does not
tell you a lot about art and this is mainly because we are still in the
process of learning and discovering... I'll gladly share more as we reach
new milestones.

MISCELLANEA
We will try to post more video footage as we find time to do so. Right now
our priority is on the development/production/performance. That said, I am
hoping to post more in the coming weeks. As of right now, footage mainly
focuses on the toughest piece of the puzzle--the speakers. Down the road, we
will provide more details on other, more straightforward aspects as well.

So much for now. Thanks all for your replies. These are all very good
comments that will help us greatly improve the site content, particularly
FAQ section.

Best wishes,

Ico

> -----Original Message-----
> From: linux-audio-user-bounces@email-addr-hidden [mailto:linux-audio-
> user-bounces@email-addr-hidden] On Behalf Of alex rae
> Sent: Saturday, October 24, 2009 12:20 AM
> To: lau
> Subject: Re: [LAU] introducing l2ork
>
> The "What is L2ork?" link on their website has some more explanation.
> The most succinct explanation is in their faq:
>
> [quote]
> What is L2Ork?
> L2Ork stands for Virginia Tech DISIS Linux Laptop Orchestra, World’s
> first orchestra of its kind built on Linux.
> [/quote]
>
> Though I agree that to those who've never heard of a laptop orchestra,
> that may not be so illuminating. For that, the PLOrk (Princeton
> Laptop Orchestra) site (http://plork.cs.princeton.edu/bio.html) has a
> bit more of an explanation. Basically, the idea is to develop the
> technologies (hardware + software), skills, repertoire, etc to enable
> an ensemble of laptops/players to perform together, coordinating and
> interacting with each other with both networking tech and
> musician-type skills.
>
> For generating sound, PLOrk (the first laptop orchestra) i believe
> mainly uses ChucK (Ge Wang developed ChucK with Perry Cook at the
> Princeton Sound Lab, the same group that started PLOrk). I saw
> somewhere on the L2Ork site that they are starting out by using Pd.
> It would be interesting to see more behind-the-scenes info on the
> whole setup.
>
> Basically the reason that there's all the stuff about hardware and
> also linux is just that they are doing both -- setting up a bunch of
> computers with linux audio tuned to their needs, and building a bunch
> of hardware to go with it (e.g. the special speakers (each computer
> has its own speaker unit).
>
> -Alex
>
> On Fri, Oct 23, 2009 at 11:18 PM, Guru Prasad B. R.
> <prasadbrg@email-addr-hidden> wrote:
> > Robin wrote:
> >> 2009/10/23  <hollunder@email-addr-hidden>:
> >>
> >>> On Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:52:26 -0400
> >>> "Ivica Ico Bukvic" <ico@email-addr-hidden> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>> Greetings all,
> >>>>
> >>>> I wanted to share with you my latest Linux-based and
> >>>> Linuxaudio.org-related project that has been sucking up most of
> my
> >>>> time over the past year or so to the point it seemed as if I have
> >>>> disappeared off the face of the Earth. Needless to mention it
> >>>> continues to alter my sleeping/eating patterns with unprecedented
> >>>> aptitude and with no end in sight ;-).
> >>>>
> >>>> http://l2ork.music.vt.edu/
> >>>>
> >>> It would be real nice if you could say in a few sentences what it is.
> >>> The about page on the website reads more like a personal history
> than
> >>> anything else, and I haven't found anything that tells me what l2ork
> or
> >>> disis is.
> >>>
> >>> Philipp
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> Linux-audio-user mailing list
> >>> Linux-audio-user@email-addr-hidden
> >>> http://lists.linuxaudio.org/mailman/listinfo/linux-audio-user
> >>>
> >>>
> >> http://disis.music.vt.edu/main/index.html has some info.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> > I'm sorry, Ico,  but I'd have to agree with Philipp on this. After
> > spending quite some time going through the links that you've sent us,
> > I'm still clueless about what L2Ork is.
> > Here's the problem: The videos are essentially about speakers, which
> are
> > hardware, but 1 of the 'L's in L2Ork stands for Linux, which is an OS.
> > What I'm interested in (and I assume others on this list, too) is, what
> > applications are used to generate the instrument sounds in Linux? Are
> > these existing applications? Samplers? Synths? Or have you come up
> with
> > something entirely new? Does it run on Jack? If so, how do you ensure
> > robustness? These are just the first few of the pressing questions which
> > remain unanswered after going through your links.
> >
> > It's possible that all this info is there, but I've somehow missed it
> > (and so has Philipp). If so, I'd request you to take our limited
> > info-gleaning abilities into account while providing more detailed
> > information.
> > Wishing L2Ork all the best!
> > Cheers,
> >
> > Guru
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Linux-audio-user mailing list
> > Linux-audio-user@email-addr-hidden
> > http://lists.linuxaudio.org/mailman/listinfo/linux-audio-user
> >
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Received on Sun Oct 25 04:15:02 2009