The Journey Begins

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

Creating Wallpaper and Textile Prints and how to make money from it?

I have begun to create patterns using screen printing process with graphic design and photography being my informative source as a starting point.

I have taken some photos of a live performance and using slow shutter speed I have managed to capture the movement on the screen. I will be using these as a source of development to create a wallpaper print.

I have found a very useful app called  Pantone, that lifts the actual Pantone code along with the RGB and also the HEX code, which will be helpful when matching the colors to household paint or making sure the graphic is the correct colour. 

 

You click on the square color above and it gives you the exact Pantone.

I have purchased a colour swatch that gives me CMYK for when I am working in photoshop but here is a pantone to CMYK conversion table:Click here

Using the guidance of the book  Digital Textile Design by Melanie Bowles and Ceri Isaac 2012 and also youtube tutorials  I have been created wallpaper panels.

I used this image as my reference, which is an image I created from a graphic design of mine then screen printed.

I inverted the color and used the photoshop wallpaper repeating pattern process and created this.

Based on sound, frequency, and cymatic data.

I took the file to a company called Ocean signs, unit 11, Village Court Farm Ind. CF33 6BX and they printed a very high-quality Lino size 2m x 50cm. I have purchased a sheet of ply. Covered the ply in polish to create a smooth service for the print to be stuck to.

Cost of the item to produce £40 and £20 and polish £5 = £65

including design and graphic hours at £20 per hour £100 but this can be split over the duplication and they could be printed as 1/100 making them more valuable, to collectors.

 

I have created some other wallpaper/ graphic using 3d sound spheres that I have designed in the past. I will continue to develop this work and print of a demo print.

I have purchased a Wacom Cliniq 21UX which is a full-size graphics tablet that you can sketch and draw on, this will expand my graphic design possibilities, in being able to sketch a photograph etc.

Here is a demo of the tab and its abilities:

I created an animation using this tab:

I am currently working on creating a selection of works using these photographs I took whilst on a visit to London this year, using the same technique as above.

I attended Sian Elin’s lecture on developing your professional practice and I was pleased to discover she is a textile print designer and her lecture delivered a wealth of information regarding, how to make money from print design and how to copyright your designs.

Should you charge hourly, daily, flat rate, commision rate or licensing rate? Some companies like Hallmark and Tiger have a standard rate. Its hard to work from home charging an hourly rate, but hourly rates are as follows:

Hourly Junior £15-£20, Senior £35-£55,

Daily rate is better for you and to negotiate: Daily Junior £90-£150, mid-senior £150-£250, senior £250-£350

Flat Project Rate: this would be for the entire project, its sometimes not so good as the client might want to make a lot of changes so its wise to add into the contract the amount changes allowed before there is an additional charge, at ? per hour. Rates are between £150-£450 per design and they will own the rights. You can draw up a contract to allow for the design to be used in only one artwork and retain the rights.

Licensing: The pay for royalties is quarterly, you will own the copyright. If you license to a client then can borrow the artwork for a year, then the copyright returns to you. You will get on average 8%-10% per sale.

It is wise to increase your rates every Tax year 1st April along with the percentage of increased living.

When working in collaboration with a studio or an agent only sign a 6-month contract to make sure its someone who will put promote.

Protecting your artwork is very important especially before you start sending out demo work to companies. ACID  anti copyright in design, is the place to join to protect your intellectual property. Someone can take your design and as long as they make 5 changes they are allowed legally to use it as their own. Placement of pattern on the product is also important when dealing with copyright.

Skillshare is a really good media platform to promote your work click here 

Creative bug to improve some skills click here

Print and Pattern is a very good blog to follow click here 

Film Making – Sound Mind

I am using brainwave imagery called Mindwave mobile and the visualizer app.  The brainwave reader has recorded my brain wave activity whilst I was listening to Solfeggio Frequencies: So I am creating a loop of sound communication, with these frequencies being received

• UT – 396 Hz – Liberating Guilt and Fear.
• RE – 417 Hz – Undoing Situations and Facilitating Change.
• FA – 639 Hz – Connecting/Relationships.
• SOL – 741 Hz – Awakening Intuition.
• LA – 852 Hz – Returning to Spiritual Order.

and these frequencies are being recorded by the brain wave reader BCI:

• HIGH BETA- waking state – 30 Hz
• LOW BETA – 14 Hz
• HIGH ALPHA -mediative -13 Hz
• LOW ALPHA- 8 Hz
• THETA – mediative – 4-7 Hz
• DELTA – Deep Sleep – 1- 3.9 Hz
• LOW GAMMA- 40Hz
• HIGH GAMMA- 200Hz

 

Process 1

I filmed the brainwave headset in use in the University studio. I then edited 10 min footage so that it could be used in a loop with no start or end.

I then filmed the brainwave visualizer separately, so that it was full screen.

From the neurosky headset recording I nested all small clips to make one endless stream.

Process 2: I Edited the footage for Good lighting and skin texture using this technique

Duplicate layer, go to video effects, choose Gaussian blur. In effects window click repeat edges, turn up blur. Go to blend mode: choose screen, apply color correction, fast color corrector. This process has created a more elegant flow of the brainwaves but has cut of a lot of the visual activity.

 

BASIC NOTES FOR PREMIER PRO

Premiere Pro Quick Guide

Log in and open up Premiere Pro (Purple box “Pr”)

Create “New Project” or open up an existing project.

Name the project and “Browse” to find your external drive/stick/SD card, “Choose” that and “OK” it.

Bottom left “Project” window. Go to “File” drop down menu, go to “Import” find your clips and import them.

Move the mouse over the clips to see what happens in each clip.

Double click on the clip to bring it up in the top left “Source” window.

Look at your clip by either playing in real time or clicking and dragging the play-head.

Mark the “in” and “out” points (using left  { and right } brackets).

Click and drag the clip to the bottom right “Timeline” window.

Repeat till all your clips are on the Timeline, snapping each one to the clip before it.

Play the Timeline (Space bar) and watch it in the top right “Viewer” window.

Transitions (cross dissolve) can be added to the clips, go to the bottom left window and click on the “Effects” tab. Click on the “Video Transitions” drop down triangle and click on the “Dissolve” drop down triangle. Click on the “Cross Dissolve” square and drag it into the Timeline, dropping it on the split between two clips on the video line, for a cross dissolve. If you drop it at the start of your first clip it will create a fade in from black and at the end of the last clip creates a fade out to black.

You can adjust the length of the dissolves by clicking on the end of the dissolve box and dragging it longer or shorter. Audio transitions can be done in the same way, except they are “crossfades” and are dropped on the audio line.

Effects can be added to each clip. Double click on a clip and it comes up in the “Source” window, click on the “Effects Controls” tab in that top left hand window and the “Effects” for that clip are displayed. Make sure the play-head on the Timeline is in the middle of the clip you are affecting, so you can see what you are doing in the “Viewer”. There are standard video and audio effects already in the window, to add further specific effects, go to the “Effects” tab in the bottom left window and select “Video Effects” drop down triangle. There is a long list of further drop down triangles, select the effect you want and double click on it. That effect will now be available in the top “Effects Controls” window with which you can now affect the clip.

Titles/text can be added. Place your playhead at the point in the timeline where you want to add a title. Go to the Toolkit, on the left of the Timeline and select the “T” icon. Click in the top right screen and a red rectangle appears. Type what you want. The text appears on the timeline as another clip. Double click on it to bring it up in the Source window and go to the Effects Controls tab. You will have all the control parameters for the text in there (font, size, colour etc). Remember to re-select the Selection (arrow-head) tool!

When you have finished your video, click on the Timeline to highlight it (blue edge), go to “File” drop down menu and “Export”, then across and click on “Media”. This brings up the “Export Settings” box.

In the top right there is the “Format” drop down menu, click on it and select which format you want.

“H.264” is a good all rounder, it produces a high quality Mpeg4 file which will play on computers and will upload to the Nets video channels. However, if you are just playing on a computer, using a media player or creating a DVD, then use “Quicktime”.

Three lines further down is “Output Name”, double click on the highlighted name next to it. This allows you to select your external drive/stick/SD card and “Save” it. This puts an empty file in that destination, you then go to the bottom right of the “Export Settings” box and press “Export”.

This exports your video into the created file. Normally the export will take as long as the video,     e.g. a five min video will take 5 mins to export, however, if you have used lots of effects it will take considerably longer so be prepared for that.

Process 3:

Edit the film footage of brainwave activity but edit out all the screen only keeping the waves.

Using after effects, create shape layer (make shapes to mask what isn’t needed using draw tool) parent the shape layer, under effect and present, use soft matt onto shape layer, on matt effect use mocha shape, set blend to sub, on a render type color shape cut out. Effect on brainwave image is vivid light. Create a duplicate layer to make brainwave more prominent. You can still see a visual marker from where the labels of the brain wave frequency was written but it has been impossible to edit this and would require it to be done frame by frame in after effects. I have decided it does not weaken the conceptual value and content of the film. I have attempted to use an effect that blurs the edges so that when the brainwave pattern crosses the missing brainwave line it disappears, this looks very elegant but it does compromise the most important part of the visual.

Please click here for the developement of the sound track:

Then add to media cue, export as AVI render, HEVC (H265) 1920 X 1200 to condense.

Playtime is 6.51.14 so had to adjust clip to match the headset footage.

Placed both films into channels and used opacity to blend both films together.

 

Film version 1

 

I have now improved on the first attempt on watching this on a big screen I feel I am more prominent then the brainwave activity, so I have edited the colour of the waves to make them more vibrant and I have taken colour from my face visual.

Full video can be seen below: film version 2- Master Film

I had to adjust the screen settings on the TV and also on the Home Theatre System, to achieve a good quality picture.

 

 

When I got to master the DVD and soundtrack in Bang Studios it was a very exciting moment to be able to watch on a large cinema screen with Dolby Atmos.

 

 

Sound Design for Sound Mind.

I will be using the brainwave activity recording taken from me whilst listening to The Solfeggio Frequencies- Info on Solfeggio Freq:

The Solfiggio Frequencies is another theory I have been looking into, here is a brief description below:

• UT – 396 Hz – Liberating Guilt and Fear.
• RE – 417 Hz – Undoing Situations and Facilitating Change.
• MI – 528 Hz – Transformation and Miracles (DNA Repair)
• FA – 639 Hz – Connecting/Relationships.
• SOL – 741 Hz – Awakening Intuition.
• LA – 852 Hz – Returning to Spiritual Order.

Each frequency has a spiritual purpose. The UT,RE,MI,FA,SOL,LA is a singing scale and each note is sung using the correct syllables. It is a diatonic musical scale and singing exercise.

I am using a Neurosky BCI unit to inform my sound design. I have researched into brainwave frequencies and will be using the information on Beta, Alph, Theta, Delta frequencies as below.

There is additional info on frequencies in the below graph:

I have been trying to use Mindwave mobile with Brainwave OSC 0.93 platform but use is only on PC. It has been very unpredictable due to the out of date software for brainwave mobile.

Screenshot from brainwave OSC

Using Brainwave OSC 0.93 allows data from Mindwave mobile to be converted into either MAX MSP or Pure Data , both these programs will enable me to edit and design sound forms. I was trying to assign the port B584 but port would not assign, then I started to look at Baud Value of mindwave which was 9600, I went to Github and discovered that the management platform for Mindwave mobile Thinkgear will not work with Brainwave OSC.

I have been researching and demonstrating the process of creating sound from data using soundforge.net, tones.wolfram.com and also Pd-0.43.

After trying these programs I have decided to use a program I am more familiar with called Cubase as this will allow me to spend more time on the production of 5.1 end result.

Here is a similar technique that has informed my practice where they have used fractual data to inform the musical composition you will hear here

Another very interesting piece of work that has helped inform my process is ewic_ev14_s13paper1 an EEG controller is programmed to create visual and music in response to the brain.

Here is the video of brain activity that was used as a data source:

I have found a graph and also a website that converts a frequency into notation which will enable me to sing the notation in relation to the brain frequency. An example is High Beta is 14-30Hz = A0.

I

I have created an octaginal graph in photoshop, I created Central point then axes, and placed it over brain wave activity in premier photoshop to use as a monitor for the brainwave activity as markers for the notation please see video below:

I used this graph and the footage in video editor window within cubase.

Here is the home set up I used for the first part of the composition. It was important that I used a full size piano which has made it much easier in converting the notes, especially when you’re having to play A0 and B6. I played the piano in real time whilst watching the brain activity footage.

I did a lot of research into 5.1 before I began recording tracks, the safest route for me was to record all the tracks separately and mix them down as separate wav files so they would then be in mono, I would later transfer the wav files into a new track and mix down in 5.1

I have two screens which made it easier when creating tracks and having to watch the video in real time:

I created sound files for each brain frequency. I was unaware of how all the various notes would fit with each other but I was very surprised to find that the notes were harmonic and complimented one another. The composition needed a baseline so I assigned Delta wave: note A0, Theta: note A1, and Low Alpha E2 as base synth sounds, which gave the composition a body and platform.

The graph below gives the notation, brain frequency and location of tracks in 5.1 sound mix:

I did consider using after effects to edit the sound files using keyframes for volume and velocity on the separate tracks, but then I decided to play the notes live which would enable me to give a more human touch, and I could express the intensity of the wave using soft or hard pressure on the notes.  I worked out that if I used 1-second points of reference for keyframes to change amplitude, I will be making 3360 reference points.

Open up cubase, create new file, click new track choose the instrument, then I choose Halion – embrace, I altered each track so they are slightly different and equalized them so that the frequency they represent was more prominent. I created the instrument tracks as midi so that at a later date I can assign new sounds to the files.

In the below window you will see the editing window for cubase and I had it set to 5.1.

 

The 5.1 Journey.

Here is what 5.1 looks like;

I would like to say the transition from being able to mix in stereo to 5.1 has been smooth but it has not, its a very confusing world of file types, musical delivery such as Dolby atmos, dolby digital, 7.1 and it goes on.

I discovered that I could mix down in Premier Pro, Audition and also Cubase and where I could stick with Cubase I did, but I crossed over a lot doing certain things in other programs becuase it was easier.

This was a useful video tutorial:

Problems I have incurred in Creating 5.1 Surround and being able to play it from another source other than computer.

I was prepared to settle for a stereo mix for Sound Mind because I was advised against it, and the Uni does not have the required equipment to achieve 5.1 sound. I have been concerned about settling for stereo as it did not sit with my concept of being immersed within the sound, concept being that all our cells and surroundings are constantly communicating and resonating in response to sound and frequencies within our surroundings. I did have a few surround sound systems at home but they were not aesthetically pleasing and required being fitted into the wall spaces. Whilst trawling the second hand buy and sell sites, which is something I do as relaxation, I came across a surround sound system that was free standing and would mean that it will immerse the audience within the sound, so I purchased it.

The original way that I was going to present Sound Mind if it was in stereo was putting the film and sound on usb plugging straight into the Tv, tv attached to two stereo speakers and place the tv settings on loop, but adding the 5.1 has thrown up some technical issues that have to be worked through.

Ok, here we go, On the back of the surround sound system, there are two sets of input options.

Left and Right stereo input.

This will run the system as a standard stereo system, with things on the left side coming out of the left front and the left back speaker and things on the right coming out of the right front and the right rear speaker. The bass just comes out of the bass bin as bass tends to be too long a waveform to have much in the way of stereo functionality in the home setting.

Here are the speakers of the system I am using:

The other inputs, where each speaker has its individual input, normally six of them, Front left. Front right, centre, bass, rear left and rear right is what is needed for it to function as a 5.1 surround sound system, which is what you get out of a 5.1 surround sound DVD player, with a 5.1 surround sound DVD playing in it.

So I will need to connect DVD player to TV, but most importantly I will need to able to burn a 5.1 surround sound DVD. If my DVD burner will only burn standard DVDs then it won’t work and I will only get stereo, or dolby digital which distributes the frequencies around 5.1.

Secondly, I need to check to see if DVD burner will burn a looping DVD. Some do, some don’t. Obviously, a loop is what I need , so you can just set it going and leave it forever. If it doesn’t loop, then I will have to look at playback options.

I need to burn DVD before exhibition time and check all these variables.

Update:

I have managed to burn a DVD at Bang Productions which is a professional film studio, the DVD plays in the home theater system and also loops. I have also been able to monitor the sound files via a Dolby Atmos system, this is something that would always be done on a music file it is called mastering and happens for radio plays etc. It is done to improve the sound quality and make sure the file plays and sounds similar through many different systems.

The sound is not true 5.1 its is dolby digital where the sound gets distributed around the speakers. I have given the tutor the option of the presentation been given at Bang Production studios but they are unable to do this. I could bring in to Uni a computer, the 5.1 soundcard and also the 5.1 surround sound speakers but this set up is to complicated for the people to set and shut down every day. So I have decided to stick with DVD.

 

Creating the 5.1 in Cubase 5.

I had to research about 5.1 sound cards as my computer did not have one, neither was the equipment in Uni set up in 5.1, I was advised against going down the development of a 5.1 sound production but I had already comprised my work and was not going to comprise on this ,but a friend of mine did. I purchased Z506 5.1 SURROUND SOUND SPEAKER SYSTEM Surround Sound Speakers in Currys to enable me to correctly mix down all the 8 tracks.

So I created a new file: setting inputs and outputs- add output tab 5.1 configurations.

Setting up using mono configuration- 6 tracks, named L, R, C, LFE, LS, RS assign each track its proper input, check surround panner, its explained in this tutorial:

Full sound and film can be seen below:

 

Developmental Journey of SOUND MIND.

I have spent most of my time at University focusing my art process on turning sound into vision and vision into sound. I wanted to bring to the audience’s attention that the universal source of communication is through frequency, and every thought, action and cell has a sonic signature. I came up with many different ideas on how to achieve this, as listed below. 

BCI costing

Research into hardware:

EMOTIV are a company that I have been following since 2012 they have designed EPOC which is a BCI (Brain-Computer interface). It has 14 EEG sensors and it wireless. Although after research I was advised to avoid the emotiv-EPOC. The software is ok, but there’ve been a lot of questions about the design, things like the sensors measuring no where near enough resistance for an effective differential amp circuit (a few khom when you need more like 1M ohm), such that they likely get a lot of their input from scalp muscle contractions and not actual brain activity. Cost $799.

Mind wave mobile by NeuroSky is another source of EEG technology, and can also be used with Arduino. This device only has one EEG electrode on the arm which rests on the forehead. Cost £135

Open BCI created their first EEG BCI in 2013 they have made improvements to an already great design, it can now read brain, muscle and heart activity.  Open Source BCI video Cost $999. 

The brain visualizer app records the brain activity. Data is collected and converted into:

HIGH GAMMA, HIGH ALPHA, HIGH BETA, DELTA, THETA, LOW GAMMA, LOW ALPHA, LOW BETA

To create your own BCI you will need:

shield ekg/emg £19.95

http://EEG sensors £10 each

Here I have found a opensource that has listed parts, place of purchase,an cost.

If you would like to build your own EEG pcb board click here 

Schematic for EEG PCB board

Here is a list of software links.

This sketch represents the idea that I use the mindwave mobile and create the interface required for communication via Arduino and Mindwave. For this you will need:

Mindwave headset

Arduino (advised to use 2 if linking to midi)

Bluesmirf RN41 USB dongle

Avago HDSP-4832 10 element LED bar

sparkfun level converter (might be able to do without)

12 v power source.

Linking arduino – to mindwave instructions.

Hacking Toy EEGs

Mindwave to Max/MSP 

Another BCI hack

 More BCI projects

 Arduino code for reading EEG

 This project is very much cost lead as some of these hardware items when pre-assembled are as much as £1500. I have purchased a Mindwave Mobile for £89 and Bluesmirf RN41 £22.18 and will be using 2 Arduino £70 and have managed to get much of the software for free.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Personal Reflection

Winter 2015 I was at a point in constellation where I had to choose what dissertation model to develop. At that time I had been in discussion with a work colleague whom I had worked with over a period of 20 years on many different professional music projects, such as songwriting, performing, developing new artists, publishing and community music projects such as IMMTECH, Major Music and Community Music Wales. An opportunity to obtain a building and facility for a Music, Art and Performance Centre had arisen within the CF11 Cardiff area so my colleague and I began to discuss and research how to create our own creative arts project. With this in mind my decision to develop a Business Plan lent itself to my business idea of Cardiff MAP (Music, Art and Performance) which would provide intervention programs, projects and alternative education within the creative arts to the vulnerable and disadvantaged, NEETS, mental health issues, and young offenders. Having already worked within the educational and community sector of providing intervention programs I felt my wealth of knowledge would assist my business development and dissertation. Unfortunately, in Dec 2015 I suffered a major health set back where I began to suffer with light sensitivity which brought on vertigo, this impacted on my work due to my work being on a computer screen and within facilities where there is false light. I informed my colleague, who was very understanding and I had to finish my involvement and part time job with Major Music due to the vertigo, which was very upsetting as I had worked there for 5 years. In June 2016 my tutor advised me to take a year out of studies. I was hoping in my year out I could use the time to further investigate my dissertation but found that I was unable to have contact with my tutor, which lead me to decide to continue on my arrival back to study in Sept 2017. Since May 2017 I have been going through an acrimonious divorce which has been highly stressful due to having two children, no home, many court dates and very large solicitor bills. So my return to Uni in Sept came with numerous personal difficulties. The deadline for formative assessment came upon me very quickly but I felt I was just about achieving what I needed too. After assessment, my tutor discussed another dissertation format that would be 6000 words and a presentation but I had my mind set on a business plan, at that time. I continued to work on my business plan which included a section called, case studies which included numerous facilities and projects I had personally been involved in. I began to approach the business plan with a focus on evaluating the difference between projects that were no longer in action and programs that have been providing intervention projects and education for over 20 years. Having set up 2 of my own businesses, one of which was a performing arts school called Stage C.A.M.P (Cardiff Academy of Music and Performance) I realised that my strength was the financial aspect of running a business but in the past and on projects I had worked on with Vale, Bridgend and Cardiff Youth Services a lack of research and poor evidence in outcomes were the corresponding comparable. Discussions with my tutor lead me to decide to work on a conference paper and not a business plan, where I could focus my research into figures, statistics and research into findings such as the cost of mental health on the NHS, what is the dominating financial burden within the health, social, educational and justice service and provide evidence on how creative arts can help relieve the financial burden within our society.

In 2010 funding cuts began to take place within the funding and community sector and I had first-hand experience of the impact that had within the community. I was working on a project called Yikes TV for Bridgend Youth Services where I delivered accredited courses to mental health, young offenders, learning difficulties within film, music and performance. The people I had been teaching had no other provisions to attend. I was offering an alternative to mainstream education, going back into mainstream education was not an option for them as they had severe problems. It took 2 years for funding cuts to take effect and many providers along with Bridgend Youth services faced cuts and closers putting a major strain on the very small amount of providers left along with NHS, social, educational and justice services. On reflection of this I feel it has guided my approach to my research and made me focus on what I could do within my business/ project to ensure I do not fall victim to the funding cuts, therefore leaving many people who need additional support within our communities without the necessary help and support.     

My tutor has given me brilliant guidance and provided me with the exact amount of support I needed. She has reminding me to remain focused on my outcome and not my personal situation, approach my work in stages, which is something new for me, as I would normally have very high unachievable expectations of myself and become stressed that things were not coming together as quickly as I think they should.

Writing the paper has been a long process and taught me to be patient with myself. I set small obtainable targets which would eventually become a larger final outcome.  This approach is something I am going to continue in my work.

I feel my learning within constellation has taught me how to write like an academic, develop a critical argument, researching from academic resources, evaluate, challenge and adapt my approach to learning and be realistic in my abilities. I have had many personal challenges to face within my years doing BA Hons and it has highlighted my sheer determination against all odds to achieve my goals , which has aided me with a new found confidence.