For this week’s assignment to create a sketch that uses external media (sound, images or video), I decided to do a piece using a song and the video camera.

The final code is here: https://editor.p5js.org/elinsterz/sketches/SkKJAW0hm

Below is a video of the piece:

 

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Process:

This time around, instead of sketching out my plans for the homework, I decided to go off script (shocker)!  I had no plans going into this particular piece – I  just tried to have fun with it. Lately, I’ve been feeling uptight and pressured to get a lot right and learn a lot fast that I decided I wouldn’t put pressure on myself to make sure my ICM final code matches up with my initial sketches. I’m sure there will be a time and place for making sure that I can execute what I intend to, but honestly, I wanted this to be fun to make and cathartic (keeping in the spirit of ICMadness).

With this in mind, I took two of my follow-along codes from one of the Shiffman’s Coding Train videos and messed around with it. Here is the video camera code that I started off with: https://editor.p5js.org/elinsterz/sketches/B1ZSY8Tn7

I also had my follow-along code from the sound tutorials:
https://editor.p5js.org/elinsterz/sketches/SJQ2bopn7

https://editor.p5js.org/elinsterz/sketches/HktTfsp3Q
These tutorials all use the same song: “Juju” by Ras. I’ve been obsessively listening to it lately. Even after this homework assignment of listening to it chopped up and rewinded via p5.js, I’m still not over it!

So from there, it was an unpredicted progression of trying to improve the sketch to my liking. The general idea is that these sliders control both the visuals and the way the song is played. For instance: 1.) the volume correlates with the saturation of colors, 2.) the height shifts in placement (and was supposed to correlated with the panning between left and right, 3.) the speed correlates with the width of the copied rectangle.

 

See code and videos below:

a.) https://editor.p5js.org/elinsterz/sketches/BymqO2anQ

 

 

b.) https://editor.p5js.org/elinsterz/sketches/SJWvX6anm

 

 

c.) https://editor.p5js.org/elinsterz/sketches/ryw0bJAnQ

 

 

d.) After a certain point I just stopped tweaking, because I felt like all my changes were minor and not making a big difference.

The final code is here: https://editor.p5js.org/elinsterz/sketches/SkKJAW0hm

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Reflections

I have to say I really had a lot of fun with this one. Instead of banging my head up against the wall (at some point) like I normally would. I just went with the flow and got lost in listening to the song and trying to make it something as visually soothing as it is sonically. It was a nice change to not force myself to get it “perfect” and “right” this time. And I have to say I personally enjoyed messing with the song settings to change the graphics. I should do more of these music + graphic + code mix ups. This was a healthy break before the final!