luigibalbo

March 6, 2014
by luigibalbo

Room Frequency Response

This time, I used the Fuzz Measure Pro software to identify the different frequency responses and early decay times for our conference room, using a fast frequency sweep coming from a digital sound generator.

Fuzz Measure Pro

The second part of my room acoustics project consists in the analysis of the frequency response and decay time of every room that will be analyzed in the environmental audit.

The purpose of such measurements is to understand how different frequencies in room respond to sounds and differ in decay times. An ideal room should have short decay times (under 1 second), especially in the human voice range (400 Hz to 4kHz), since most of the rooms on campus have to be used for lessons taught orally.

To measure the different decay times, I used fuzz measure pro, which is a program that features a suite of graphs and analyzers for measuring different room acoustical measurements, from early decay times to FTT.

The conference room was the first location where I made my measurements.

This was my equipment:

1 AKG omni-directional microphone

1 Shure XLR to Usb converter and signal amplifier

1 laptop, MacBook Pro

1 set of speakers to reproduce the sound coming from the sweep generator.

I plugged the speakers, which already had their amplifier, to the computer, to reproduce a loud sound that came from Fuzz Measure's noise generator. The sound was a 10 seconds sine wave sweep from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. With the AKG mic, I then recorded the sound coming from the speakers and its subsequent reverberation.

Fuzz Measure plotted the following graphs:


The upper graph is from 20 Hz to 10 kHz, we can notice a large resonance at around 100 Hz, 180 Hz and 250 Hz. This particularity, however, is in part due to the presence of a subwoofer in the speaker system used to reproduce the sweep sound.



This is the same graph, but concentrated on the 20 - 300 Hz range, we can notice smaller resonances at 30 Hz , 50 Hz and 70 Hz. This, however, is not an alarming information, as sounds with such a low frequency are not usually reproduced in the conference room.



Conclusion

Except for the peak at 100 Hz, most of the frequencies have an early decay time (T30) that is less than 250 ms. All the frequencies above 300 Hz have low decay times, which makes the conference room an ideal place where to talk, discuss and reproduce sounds of any sort, especially because the human voice will always be higher than 400 Hz. The 3D cascade style graphs plotted from Fuzz Measure were very useful for understanding how the conference room responded sonically. I will soon measure different rooms within and outside of the Energy Lab.



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February 13, 2014
by luigibalbo

Room Acoustics

Today, I first tried to use the electroacoustics toolbox application by generating a virtual audio file that played a simple reverb, then, I tried to measure the decay time of the reverb in our Energy Lab conference room.

Virtual Reverb


To test the electroacoustics application on OSX, I decide to create a virtual reverb audio file on the program Ableton Live 9. To do so, I used a clap sample loaded on an audio track and routed it to a send channel containing a reverb effect. For the reverb, I used a "Gymnasium-like" preset. I exported the sound under as a .wav file.


Then, I uploaded the file on the room analyzer of the electroacoustics toolbox application. The analyzer reported a T60 time of 1.5 seconds. T60 is the time that the triggered sound takes to go down by 60 dB from its peak.





Conference Room Reverb


I used two long wood rulers to make a loud noise in the conference room. I recorded the sound with our Shure microphone, which was connected via usb to my laptop. I recorded a .wav file on Ableton Live and then uploaded it on the elctroacoustics toolbox application.


The T60 time was about 400 ms, which is an ideal value for a conference room. Rooms that are well designed acoustically have usually less then 1 second of T60.





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February 11, 2014
by luigibalbo

Room Acoustic Analysis

While I progress with my research int the "Brain to MIDI" project, I have decided to start a new project in parallel. In occasion of an environmental audit that will take place in our school, I will analyze the noise levels and the acoustics of different rooms and buildings on our campus.

Noise Levels


Part of this project will consists in measuring the average and peak noise levels of different rooms. All measurements will be made in dB (decibels). Lower values of dB will indicate quieter rooms. Quieter environments can facilitate the concentration levels of students and make the learning and teaching experience more pleasurable.

For a sample before starting the official measurements, I recorded the average noise levels of the commons of my school dorm over the course of 3 hours. The measurements are probably inaccurate, since an iPad built-in microphone was used. To record I placed an iPad at about 1,5 m from the floor, on a side of the room. The iOS application used for the recording was "dB Meter".

Recordings were made from 3 PM to 6 PM, on a Sunday.

Average dB 52.3
Peak dB 54.7
Peak Hold 150 dB (someone probably shouted directly at the microphone lol)
Minimum dB 45.9

The following is a screenshot of the application running at the end of the experiment.



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November 17, 2013
by luigibalbo

Thought to Sound 2.0

After exploring the main functionalities of Reaktor 5 I started a second experiment in my "thought to sound" project

The instrument


This time, for synthesizing sounds, I used the Limelite synthesizer, from the Reaktor5 library.

Limelite is a synthesizer that has its own sequencer, as well as a collection of different effects that are already built in the synth itself.
It can generate up to 5 waves at the same time: 3 of them are used for percussion and 2 of them for harmonic sounds.
Every wave generated has its own sector, where dozens of different waveforms can be selected.
Every sector is different from the other for the kind of waveforms that are available in it, one sector is dedicated to the kick, one for the snare, one for the hi-hat and the last two for any kind of non-percussive sound.
Each sector has its own envelope generator, filter, drive and pitch controls, so that every sound wave can be modified independently.
The last row of modules in Limeite features an EQ, a delay effect, an effect automation module and a filter.
As mentioned earlier, Limelite also features a built-in sequencer, which can trigger sounds independently and effect automations as well.
The wide choice of effects, the freedom of modulation and the large variety of usable waveforms make this synthesizer a very versatile sound machine that can create basic grooves, with an incredible array of sonic possibilities.



The experiment


My goal in this second experiment was to create and modify in real time a simple groove created with Limelite.

With MindyourOSCs and the Emotiv control panel I assigned two basic emotions to two assignable controls of the synthesizer.
I assigned my brain "Frustration" value to the volume gain of the hi-hat, to increase and decrease the presence of the groove (since high frequencies, in psico-acoustics, determine the vivacity of a musical piece perceived by our ears.


Then, I assigned my brain "Excitement" value to the low pass filter cutoff amount of the "tie" sector, the oscillator that generated the lead sound of the groove. This value changed the overall mood of the groove, as higher values of the cutoff lead to more "open" sounds.

In this second experiment I could control the overall mood and "brightness" of the track, this was the first time that I could shape and modulate a proper musical ensemble, rather than producing a single sound.
The two values that I decided to modify are only some of the many parameters that can be controlled; with such a variety of controls, an entire electronic musical composition can be arranged.
In the next installments of my "Though to Sound" project, I am planning to use more Brain parameters in order to have a much more versatile control of the instrument.

Conclusions


Future ideas for enhanced creative processes and stochastic music synthesis

Even if I could control multiple parameters, the control over the instrument that I had was still limited; If I will get enough parameters to control the various values, my brain would have a greater influence in the creative process of the groove.
Another problem that I encountered is the imprecisions of the headset; Since I haven't calibrated it properly, my cognitive commands can sometimes lead to unexpected results. So, at this point of my project, I will improve the accuracy of the EEG headsets with careful calibrations. However, I might also use an uncalibrated EEG sensor for working on stochastic music synthesis, which is another field that really fascinates me. This method might lead to whole new musical branch, where algorithms would make music based on random results, creating music that is not synthesized by humans. For example, a software could be designed for instant, unplanned generation of music based on our mood.

In the following weeks, I am also planning to create an instrument completely on my own, without using any Reaktor module, and design it around the concept of the Brain as a MIDI controller.

A couple months ago, I designed my own synthesizer: a polyphonic instrument with 4 oscillators, 3 ADSR envelope generators, including one for the filter, and a voltage controlled filter. (this, however, contained pre-made Reaktor modules).



Right now, I am working on a new synthesizer, similar to the first one, but with components designed by myself.

The foundations of the new instrument that I am designing: a ADSR generator and a sawtooth wave oscillator.



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October 10, 2013
by luigibalbo

Listening to the mind

Starting from my interest in computer music and in sound synthesis, and thanks to the availability of Brain wave monitoring systems in our monitoring lab, I decided to create the project "Listening to the Mind".

-Purpose

In this project I will use the Emotiv EEG headsets, kindly provided by Dr Bill Wiecking and Emotiv, to extract information coming from my Brain Waves and use it to create, modulate and arrange sounds.
I am finding a way of using the Emotiv headset as a musical tool for creating sounds without the need of a physical interface.


-Programs and instrumentation

I will use the EEG headset and its relative software, which is already available in our monitoring lab, to extract the information from my Brain Waves.

The EEG headsets

-The Interface of Emotiv's Control Panel, where the Brainwave data is displayed-

This encrypted information will be converted in to OSC signals (a content format for musical interfaces) with the computer application "MindyourOSCs".

-"Mind your OSCs"-
Once these OSC signals will be created, I will import them on a music program called "Reaktor 5" developed by Native Instruments™, a graphical modular software music studio intended to create and patch audio signals and sound modulators.

Reaktor is a unique approach to the process of sonic synthesis, it uses a modular structure to create virtual instruments or modifing sounds. Instruments are virtually assembled with modules which modify audio and control signals and execute very precise tasks: like envelope generation, frequency modulation or mathematic functions.

In Reaktor 5, there is a wide selection of instruments and ensembles to choose from, however, it is possible to create your own synthesizers, sound machines or patches between different modules.

. -The GUI of Reaktor 5-


These three programs will run on a Windows Xp operating system, for assuring the maximum compatibility of "MindyourOSCs"

-First Experiment

-"Equinox Deluxe"-

I used the instrument "Equinox" from the Reaktor instrument library and used my computer keyboard to trigger midi notes.

Equinoxe Deluxe consists of a sawtooth oscillator shaped by an amplitude envelope and a 4-pole ladder lowpass filter.

I assigned the OSC command "Smile", exported from the Emotiv control panel and translated by MindyourOSCs, to the Cutoff knob, a parameter that substracts the higher frequencies of the sound produced by the synthesizer.

In other words, with the action of smiling, I could shape the presence of the sound. Not smiling would not produce any sound, more smiling would mean a brighter sound.




-Vision

For centuries, musicians have been expressing their feelings and ideas through physical instruments that could produce only precise sounds.
With the advent of analog and digital synthesizers and digital sound processing, artists could expand their musical expression by modifying sound or generating it in unconventional ways.
This, however, can still pose a limit to our artistic and expression capabilities.

My vision for this project is to create a product that won't limit our creativity with an instrument that can produce a defined range of sounds, instead, it will be a tool that will perceive our emotions and translate them seamlessy into harmonic sounds.

Artists and sounds designers will be able to modify almost an infinite number of parameters without using a physical object as interface.



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May 28, 2013
by luigibalbo

HI-SEAS articles

Recently, at the energy lab, we started a monitoring project of the NASA habitat on our island, we will monitor the consumption of energy, water, CO2 and food of the participants of the simulation.

This is the article from our school about our project and our meeting with the six astronauts:
http://www.hpa.edu/news/hawai‘i-preparatory-academy-students-assisting-nasa-big-island-experiment

This is an article from West Hawaii Today, our local newspaper:
http://westhawaiitoday.com/sections/news/local-news/hpa-students-helping-mock-mars-mission.html

This is an article from NbcNews:
http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/24/18475167-aloha-mars-what-well-eat-wear-and-play-with-to-ease-boredom-in-space?lite

"me at the habitat"

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March 6, 2013
by luigibalbo

MacWorld 2013

At the very beginning of this year, we had the great opportunity of visiting San Francisco and to present our High School projects to the "MacWorld" fair and exposition, we also had the chance of meeting Tan Le, the creator of the E-Motiv headset (a professional device for brainwaves scanning), and discussing with her about our future projects regarding brain studies, applied to fields of study like education,health and psychology.


Dr Bill, our teacher, documented our amazing experience with pictures and a few paragraphs.
You can find the report here:

http://energylab.hpa.edu/public/photos/2013/macworld2013/macworld%202013%20report%20min.pdf



"We also visited Stanford and had a really interesting discussion with Dr Peter Vitousek about sustainable architecture"
(I'm the second guy to the left)

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March 5, 2013
by luigibalbo

The QCN & Swarm programs

The following is a comparison that I did between the two computer programs that I use in my research, extracted from a Physics honors project.


QCN Software

The QCN (Quake Catcher Network) software, developed by University of California Berkeley, comes along with tiny, easy to use, triaxial sensors developed by Stanford University. The sensors are really cheap compared to the professional seismographs, they only require the installation of the QCN software, and use a mini USB cable for alimentation and for sending real-time data. This software sends the seismic data to the QCN headquarters in San Francisco, CA, but at the same time it receives data from QCN sensors from all around the world. This software has a friendly interface and it can be used for both educational and professional purposes.

"The QCN app has also a conventional triaxial graph for displaying seismic movements"

"The QCN app benefits of a friendly interface, which it's useful for educational purposes"

"With the QCN network we can see real-time seismic data from the QCN sensors from all around the world"



Swarm Software

The Swarm Software is a professional application used by geologists and entities from all over the world, including PTWC (Pacific Tsunami Warning Center) which runs several sensors on the Big Island. This software retrieves seismic movements from multiple sensors and converts them into sinusoidal waves. Every sensor records in real-time seismic movements on three axis: north to south, east to west and vertically. By comparing multiple sensors we can identify the different types of waves. The interface of Swarm is a bit more sober compared to the QCN, but it's extremely accurate and reliable. This can be a really powerful tool if placed in the right hands.

"The Swarm program uses helicorders to display seismic data, slightly more complex but with more information than the QCN application"



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March 5, 2013
by luigibalbo

Science Fair Essay and Presentation

The following is extracted from an essay I did for participating to our Physics honors program here at school and to present my project in any kind of circumstance.


Luigi Balbo

Science Fair Essay

WAVES project

I’m Luigi Balbo, a boarding student at HPA, and it would be my pleasure and honor to present this project at the science fair.


This project is called “WAVES”, because waves are the most important elements in my everyday research at the Energy Lab, originally my first step in this project was to get familiar with waves and the methods to analyze them, from radio waves, to tsunami waves to seismic waves and earthquakes.

After this first stadium, Dr. Bill and I decided to take the research to another level and focus on the study of earthquakes and seismic data, understanding the meaning and the patterns behind sinusoidal graphs and earthquake motions.

The Big Island, due to its volcanic origin, is frequently subject to seismic activity; this characteristic makes it a perfect location for carrying on this kind of research.

The Energy Lab benefits from a great studying environment and efficent equipment, which has enabled me to access significant information for my project.

In this project, I started off learning the basic geologic concepts of earthquakes and the potential consequences they can generate, then I learned the dynamics of these events, from the movement between two tectonic plates to the propagation of P waves and S waves.

Learning this basic principle was essential to learn how to read and analyze seismic data. Once I got familiar with this principle I started using the Swarm program, an application created by the U.S. Geological Survey made for earthquake monitoring, to display the data from the seismometer located under our cafeteria.

Thanks to the Swarm program, I was able to have immediate access to real time data and contrast it with the official measurements that were posted on the HVO (Hawaiian Volcano Observatory) website. I was able to see and detect the small earthquakes that everyday occurred on the Big Island; this was my first approach to seismic monitoring and to the use of the helicorder, a graphical arrangement of seismic data unique to this field.

Our HPA seismograph is part of the PTWC (Pacific Tsunami Warning Center) and HVO networks. As soon as I got familiar with the Swarm program I had the great opportunity of contacting via e-mail Kanoa Koyanagi from PTWC, thanks to his help Dr. Bill and I achieved to receive data from more than 15 stations operated by HVO and PTWC in near real-time, but what was even more important was that the data we received was the same that many professional geologists had access to, leading to many improvements.

First of all, I was finally able to have more than one reference, which has enabled me to compare the data of two more stations so that I could calculate the P and S waves’ velocities just by knowing the different arrival times recorded by the sensors.

As a result of these studies, I learnt to recognize different types of waves on the helicorder: P waves, S waves and harmonic tremor waves, these concepts turned out to be very important when I spotted an earthquake that occurred in late October in the Queen Charlotte Islands, in British Columbia, Canada, which was about magnitude 7 and that generated a tsunami warning in all over the Hawaiian state; in addition to the massive amount of seismic data that I’ve encountered on my helicorder I could also see the T-phases, which were particular seismic waves that were converted to acoustic waves as soon as the went through the ocean,and travelled through the SOFAR channel (a waveguide at near bottom of the ocean were sound speed is very low). I could also understand their travelling time, wich turned out to be approximately 46 minutes, considering that their speed was about 1,5 km/s.

Dr. Bill and I were very thrilled by the idea of being able to develop a study of this quality, with professional data and unconventional software, but there’s one more element that improved my science project: the Boinc sensors.

In order to maximize my earthquake monitoring experience, Dr. Bill and I decided to build our personal seismic network. To accomplish this goal we purchased 6 USB seismographs of incredibly small size from Stanford University, which included the BOINC seismic software, developed by UC Berkeley. These sensors are reliable and extremely easy to install.

This project goes beyond the simple monitoring of seismic activity; thanks to the reliable sources and the equipment that has been installed in the Energy Lab, it’s possible to understand the nature of earthquakes from many points of view. With all the data that can be extracted, this is an opportunity to explore the mysterious and fascinating movements that happen under the soil and also to master the interpretation of professional graphs and data.

Special thanks go to Dr. Bill and Kanoa from PTWC for introducing me into the fascinating world of earthquakes, that never ceases to amaze me every day.

L.B.

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January 18, 2013
by luigibalbo

Earthquake report 12/07/2012

Earthquake Report

Friday, December 7 8:18:24 UTC, 2012

Location: east coast of Honshu, Japan

Magnitude: 7.3

Distance from Kona,HI: 6624,36 Km


P-WAVE recorded at 8:27:54 UTC 12/07; 22:27:54 HST 12/06

S-WAVE recorded at 8:35:40 UTC 12/07; 22:35:40 HST 12/06


According to my calculations, based on the waves times and the distance:

P-WAVE speed: 11.62 Km/s

S-WAVE speed: 6.4 Km/s


HPAH HHZ

HPAH HHE

HPAH HHN






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January 18, 2013
by luigibalbo

"WAVES" project

Hello everybody,

I'm Luigi Balbo, student at HPA, this is the blog where I'll post data about my earthquake project, from earthquakes reports, to wave analysis and to science fair presentations.
Welcome to my weblog.

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