Virginia Tech’s newest musical ensemble has a problem with one of its songs.
A faint cough can be heard on the track “Citadel,” briefly interrupting soprano graduate student Chelsea Crane’s vocals. It seems only the most discerning listeners would take notice of the small blemish, but to composer Ivica Ico (pronounced Ee-zo) Bukvic, it is deafening.
“In a song so serene, a cough sounds like an explosion of nuclear proportions,” he announces to the students in the room. His playful tone belies what the perfectionist composer considers a serious problem.
In the past, he explains, the audible noise would remain on the recording. Today, technology allows for different plans.
He gathers his students around his computer station and excitedly shows them a software feature that allows him to manually remove the audio track featuring the cough. When the blemish is excised, even a seasoned programmer like Bukvic is impressed.
“Pardon my French,” he asks, “but what the hell? How do they do that?”
On Dec. 4, those who attended the premiere event of the Linux Laptop Orchestra may have been asking the same questions if they didn’t know what they were getting themselves into. The ensemble, abbreviated as “L2Ork,” forgoes the traditional approach to composing and performing music.
Instead, members use open-source music software called Pure Data on their computers to program a complex series of notes and chords. While computer-based music is often associated with electronic music, the orchestra’s sound is closer to its instrument-based brethren.
“The idea behind it is that you have traditional singing and traditional chords,” said junior music technology major Steven Querry, “but the chords are made by laptops instead of traditional instruments.”
“Citadel” demonstrates this fusion of traditional and avant-garde elements. Crane’s voice, the centerpiece of the song, is covered with layers of softly rippling chords. The interconnected computer programs create an organic-sounding ocean of noise around the vocals.
With the cough removed, Bukvic seems satisfied with the recording. When he emits a relieved sigh, it is understandable. Few people have had as manic a semester as the L2Ork mastermind and assistant professor of music technology in the Department of Music’s Digital Interactive Sound and Intermedia Studio.
The maiden year of the L2Ork has been demanding, according to Bukvic.
“It’s been extremely exciting and exhausting, something I learned after the fact,” he said.
He laughs as he recalls receiving e-mails from fellow American laptop orchestra leaders congratulating him on starting the program — and offering condolences.
Despite the difficult road, Bukvic has no regrets about pursuing his dream. A self-described geek, Bukvic has been fascinated by the possibilities provided by an open-source, community-driven operating system such as Linux. He has tried to study the artistic potential of such a system for years, but limited infrastructure and research opportunities prevented a full exploration.
The breakthrough in computer-based orchestras occurred at Princeton University in 2005. Bukvic’s friend and colleague Dan Truman, upon deciding that technology had finally reached the necessary capabilities, formed the Princeton Laptop Orchestra. It was the first of its kind in America and soon after another colleague, Ge Wang, established a similar ensemble at Stanford.
With the technology in place and a national network forming, the biggest remaining hurdle for Bukvic was securing the necessary funding to launch such an ambitious project.
“I started looking for grants and sponsors and I was pleased to see our work resonate with people inside and outside the VT community,” he said.
Even with a $20,000 grant from the Virginia Tech Institute for Society, Culture and Environment, the overhead was still high enough that Bukvic and a group of students spent the spring and summer researching ways to reduce costs.
One of the first major decisions was eschewing the expensive Max/MSP software used at the other universities in favor of the cheaper, open-source Pure Data. Bukvic admits that the software comes with a steeper learning curve than Max/MSP. The upside is being able to contribute back into an open-source community, said junior political science major Adam Wirdzek. This, he believes, is fundamental to the L2Ork mission.
“What’s nice about using Pure Data is that it’s all open-source,” he said, “and that means that we can give back and other people can enjoy it as well and add onto it.”
This drive to remain cost-efficient led to innovations that Wirdzek said have come to define the ensemble’s visual identity. To control the Pure Data programs, known as “patches,” an input controller is needed. Rather than spend upwards of $70 for each orchestra member, Bukvic found a visually appealing, cheaper alternative: the Wii remote.
“The patches Ico wrote are the score and instruments, while the ‘Wiimote’ is how you control,” Querry said.
To ensure even distribution of the orchestra’s different sounds, Bukvic insisted on using hemispheric speakers. Over the summer the L2Ork team purchased several IKEA salad bowls and spent weeks transforming them into omnidirectional sound projectors at a fraction of the cost of a retail version.
According to Bukvic, the speakers simulate the natural acoustics of an instrumental orchestra, allowing audiences to hear each member’s part of the composition.
With the infrastructure in place, L2Ork began operation at the beginning of the fall semester with eight members. Participants vary in majors. Some are in the music technology program while others, such as Wirdzek, were recruited by Bukvic after expressing interest in the curriculum. The ensemble members all take a one-credit laptop orchestra course that doubles as practice. Progress, as Bukvic expected, was slow as students wrapped their heads around the Pure Data system.
“This semester — half of it, maybe more — was spent figuring out the software we have and turning it into music,” Wirdzek said.
Bukvic, the chief composer for the ensemble, said that the weeks leading up to the event were some of the most stressful of his college career. Members said they were still perfecting the compositions a week in advance of the show. Media coverage added to the pressure felt by Bukvic and the students to live up to expectations.
“He really was working his butt off to make sure these pieces were good because we were getting a lot of hype toward the end,” Wirdzek said. “I think it was well-deserved because we pulled it off pretty well because of him.”
The early December show, the culmination of the semester’s work, was considered a major success by all involved. The orchestra played to a standing room-only audience in Squires Studio Theatre that Crane described as “enthusiastic.” Perhaps the ensemble’s greatest validation came after the show when many students in attendance came onto the stage to ask questions and watch demonstrations of the equipment.
Bukvic smiles broadly as he talks about the positive reaction.
“It was really exciting because it says there’s genuine interest,” he said. “I think (the show) went amazingly well.”
With that first crucial success under their belt, the orchestra members now look forward to expanding the program. This semester, L2Ork is scheduled to play its first travel show at the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. Developing the infrastructure to enable touring performances is one of Bukvic’s major goals for the laptop orchestra community. The ensemble is also expecting to compete in an international music competition that could provide an opportunity to perform in the Netherlands.
The group is optimistic that bigger things await the orchestra in 2010.
“I see it expanding,” said Crane. “With all the publicity its getting now and so many people enthusiastic about it, I feel like more people will get interested and more funding will hopefully come to the L2Ork project as well as the music department.”