The Final Showdown

Silat Pengantin Performance Documentation

Done By: Muhamad Nur Azhar Bin Noordin
Matric No: U1222373L

My assignment 2 is an improvised version of the previous assignment. I believe that it is definitely a great leap from the first assignment, even though the concept is closely related. In assignment 1, I played with lights and movement based on the mouse cursor to portray my performance. But for assignment 2, I planned for Wiimote and pressure sensors as my source of interaction.  

What is my piece about?

Everyone has to make decision in life. As we carry on living in this world, we are prone to eventually have heavier and more responsibilities. Time management would then come in to play. Without proper time management, we would not achieve our aims and thus causing failure which leads to stress. Having manageable amount of stress would force us to be in the right track, but having too much would have impact on our health.  

In relation to the paragraph above, I am keen to potray my thoughts into a crafted performance of Silat Pengantin, whilst retaining and explaining the aspect of such performance. 

Silat Pengantin, one of silat famous performances, is usually performed during Malay wedding ceremony. It comprises of slow movement of the hands, known as the “bunga-bunga” (flowers), and punches (which must not be directed to the newlyweds). Punches are supposed to be kept at minimum as it indicates violence. The performer will be standing a few steps away from the seated newlyweds. He will then do sleek silat moves, which demonstrate his professionalism in performing silat, as he slowly, approach to the newlyweds. Movement must be together with the beat of either the Kompang or Gamelan, which are the music component for the particular performance. Eventually, he will then “salam” (respected handshake) to the newlyweds; and that would mark the end of his performance.

Hardware

To meet my objective, I would require:

• 1xWiimote
• 5xPressure Sensors with connecting wires
• 5xResistors
• 10xCrocodile Clips
• 1xArduino Board
• 1xBreadboard
• Wires (Colourful wires)

I started shaping my performance by crafting out the software and eventually explore to ensure audience interaction is not neglected.

Software

 

Obtaining the Music

Music, as identified, would be from the Kompang and Gamelan. Initially, my intention would be to use “adsr” (Attack-Decay-Sustain-Release) to create the tone as close as to the real instrument. However, after spending a few hours meddling with the object, I still could not be able to get the tone I desire. Alternatively, I searched the sounds from Youtube and used Audacity to cut the music into separate aiff files, selecting different beats. In total, I prepared 8 aiff files (4 different beats for each instrument) 

Fig1. Cropping of music in Audacity

Fig2. Aiff files - Ready to be opened in MAX/MSP

Playing the Music with Pressure Sensors

Pressure sensors are used for the performer to step on which enables music to be played out from the computer. There are several parts to obtain the outcome. 

The pressure sensors are linked to the Arduino Board and breadboard to detect force acting on it. It will undergo a scale in MAX/MSP, which then passes the “if” object to select the pressure. If the force exerted initiates decrease in output below the desired scale, it would turn on the music. If the force is being lifted off from the pressure sensor, the output would return to its original state thus switching off the music. “Change” is being used to detect the different output in the given “if” condition. As mentioned for my performance, I used pressure sensors to generate music when the performer steps on it. As the performer moves up closer to the newlyweds, the tone will get faster and he would have to move together with the beat.

Fig3. Kompang and Gamelan starting beat with counter to detect the choice of instrument (In this image, Kompang has been selected as the only instrument to be played throughout the performance)

The performer will have a choice to start his performance with either the kompang or the gamelan (Left or Right of Fig3.). He may select both for the start, and as he moves towards the newlyweds, both beats gets faster. However, if he chooses only one, for example the kompang, then only the kompang music will be played throughout the whole performance with increasing of tone as he approaches the newlyweds. He can only make his choice during the start of the performance. 

  

As seen in figure 3 (red box), there will be a “counter” after the “change” to indicate that the particular instrument has been selected. As the performer moves towards the next single pressure sensor ahead, it will register that the particular instrument is initially chosen thus eventually, play the beat of the particular instrument at a faster beat. If the performer did not select the particular instrument, it would not be registered as 1 and eventually would not be played throughout.

Fig4. Kompang, being selected, triggers as “1” to its 2^nd, 3^rd and ending beat of the sfplay, only waiting for the pressure sensors to be pressed. Gamelan will not trigger as “1”since it is not being selected initially.

The kompang beat, in which the pressure sensor is being pressed, will be played after going through a multiplication. No sound will be produced by the gamelan sfplay due to no history of being pressed during the start of the performance.

Fig5. An overall outlook of the software

The image above, Fig5, shows 8 aiff files allocated accordingly to its sfplay. In this situation, Kompang has been selected which eventually triggers a “1”to all its kompang related component. However, the music will only be played if the particular pressure sensor is being pressed. The performance will end with an end beat of approximately 2 seconds.

 

Fig6. Connecting to Maxuino Analog/Digital Input

Fig7. Interfacing with the GUI for the allocated pressure sensors

 Here is a demo video of how the software works (without using pressure sensors):  

  

Integration of Wiimote

I did my research to understand how a Wiimote can be connected to Mac for my performance. I downloaded softwares like DarwinRemote and Osculator. But interestingly, aka.wiiremote works better and it helps to integrate to MAX/MSP which would be useful for my performance. 

I used the wiimote to detect fast movement of the hands, in particular to silat performance, commonly referred as punches. When the hand moves at certain speed detected by the wiimote’s accelerator, a punching sound will be heard.

Fig8. aka.wiiremote MAX/MSP program integrated with written objects to produce the punching sounds and noise.

  

Fig9. Sending out the movement axis of the Wiimote

I extracted the required value out and send to the programme I designed to produce the punching sound. The sound will be in the form of aiff format which will be pre-loaded prior to the performance. Noise will be allocated if the punches are repeated for 15 times. The noise would increase in gain when the performer repeats the next set of 15 punches. These swift punches would represent stress and as mentioned, having too much would affect our health. Therefore, the noise will cover the beautiful music that is being played through the pressing of pressure sensors. 

Here is a video of how the Wiimote works in my performance:

 

The Final Performance

Finally, when everything is working as planned, I integrated both the pressure sensors and wiimote into the silat performance.  

Fig10. Hardware

Fig11. Pressure sensors

Last but not least, a video of my Silat Pengantin performance with explanation:

Conclusion

There were some technical difficulties that I faced throughout the process to reach my desired outcome. The most irritating one would be the Bluetooth connection. Sometimes I even had to restart the Mac and troubleshoot the problem before it gets connected again. Fortunately, it worked during my performance day. 

Honestly, I am extremely happy when my programme functions as desired while performing my piece. It is like my hard work for the past semester had paid off. Not forgetting the knowledge I have gain during this course, it is definitely a fruitful electives. Most importantly, I have met my objectives since the start of the DM2009 Performance and Interaction which was to explore the movement aspect of a Silat Pengantin Performance. In fact, I managed to successfully create a simple yet engaging performance based on the knowledge I have learnt in class and online tutorials. I would like to thank Mr Dirk Stromberg for his patience and listening ears to listen to our ideas and problems. He is definitely willing to help us, engaging our minds in the field of performing arts. :)

Thank you once again Mr Dirk Stromberg!