Really fascinating project, Ico. Congratulations to you and your team (nice people on youtube videos). I'm looking forward to watching some video of this in action (maybe I missed some among all the instructables). Regards. 2009/10/25, Ivica Ico Bukvic <ico@xxxxxx>: > 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@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:linux-audio- >> user-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of alex rae >> Sent: Saturday, October 24, 2009 12:20 AM >> To: lau >> Subject: Re: 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@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: >> > Robin wrote: >> >> 2009/10/23 <hollunder@xxxxxx>: >> >> >> >>> On Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:52:26 -0400 >> >>> "Ivica Ico Bukvic" <ico@xxxxxx> 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@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >> >>> 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@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >> > http://lists.linuxaudio.org/mailman/listinfo/linux-audio-user >> > >> _______________________________________________ >> Linux-audio-user mailing list >> Linux-audio-user@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >> http://lists.linuxaudio.org/mailman/listinfo/linux-audio-user > > _______________________________________________ > Linux-audio-user mailing list > Linux-audio-user@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > http://lists.linuxaudio.org/mailman/listinfo/linux-audio-user > -- Carlos "sanchiavedraz" * Musix GNU+Linux http://www.musix.es _______________________________________________ Linux-audio-user mailing list Linux-audio-user@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx http://lists.linuxaudio.org/mailman/listinfo/linux-audio-user
