Randall Chaves Camacho

Research Assistant

About

The life experiences of Costa Rican percussionist Randall Chaves Camacho in North and Central America inspired him to explore the diversity of genres and types of percussion playing; as well as the incorporation of technology, programming, and sound recording into performance. He joined the TaPIR lab to center his interests under the lab’s goal of researching, first, the engagement of classically trained musicians with technology in music, and second, the preservation of older works with technology. As part of TaPIR, he already has developed and performed with his personal Digital Musical Instrument using Arduino parts, as well as he has explored the use of movement in combination with the MUGIC sensor and MAX/MSP to enhance performances. In future research for the lab, he will focus on how to incorporate musical elements not associated with classical music as an introductory step to get musicians involved in exploring technology in music without the pressure of classical music standards.

Projects

Code Switch

Code Switch (2023) by Randall Chaves Camacho

*The composition is in the process of being completed.

In music compositions with electronics, musicians often use physical controllers (MIDI controllers, foot pedals, motion sensors) or track musical elements (such as pitch or dynamics) to manipulate the electronic components in real-time.

However, words have been less frequently adopted as a primary method for controlling the electronics, whether as musical, extra-musical, or something in between.

This project addressed that gap by developing a Speech-to-Text (STT) system in which spoken words control the electronic elements in a through-composed musical work within Ableton Live via Max for Live. This project, Code Switch, aimed to musically express the cognitive and emotional facets of bilingualism, all while answering the question:

Can words be used to control the electronic elements in musical composition?

my graduation speech by Tato Laviera

i think in spanish

i write in english

i want to go back to puerto rico,

but i wonder if my kink could live

in ponce, mayagüez and carolina

tengo las venas aculturadas

escribo en spanglish

abraham in español

abraham in english

tato in spanish

“taro” in english

tonto in both languages

how are you?

¿cómo estás?

i don’t know if i’m coming

or si me fui ya

si me dicen barranquitas, yo reply,

“¿con qué se come eso?”

si me dicen caviar, i digo,

“a new pair of converse sneakers.”

ahí supe que estoy jodío

ahí supe que estamos jodíos

english or spanish

spanish or english

spanenglish

now, dig this:

hablo lo inglés matao

hablo lo español matao

no sé leer ninguno bien

so it is, spanglish to matao

what i digo

¡ay, virgen, yo no sé hablar!

MadLib

MadLib is an electro-acoustic piece for open instrumentation with live electronics created using Max software. It was commissioned by Jonny Smith in 2021 from composer Louis Pino. The concept of this work was to create a piece that can be customized by the performer in a variety of ways thereby giving the performer greater creative agency and allowing for a wide array of potential musical outcomes. The concept of the piece is inspired by the word game, Mad Libs. In the game, the reader or group of readers is asked to think of and write down random words. These words are then used to fill in the blanks of a prewritten story, usually for comic effect. A core aspect of the piece is the performer uploading their own audio samples to then be manipulated by the patch in some preset and some personally customizable processes.

A study was held from October 4th to November 6th 2022, involving various TaPIR researchers learning, experimenting with, and recording their own versions of the piece. The goal of this experiment was to analyze how performers chose to perform and interact with the electronic accompaniment, and to evaluate the piece as a creative practical tool to aid in learning the Max software. MadLib premiered in April 2022 at The Space Between conference at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Both Smith and Pino performed their own versions of the piece in order to demonstrate how the piece can be shaped in a variety of ways by different performers.

Group Projects

MUGIC

For Mari’s MUGIC workshop, Randall created a piece using MUGIC attached to a maraca. The MUGIC captured the maraca’s movement and controlled various musical parameters using Max for Live.

Click here for more information on TaPIR Lab’s MUGIC workshop with Mari Kimura

Arduino

Randall added two extra buttons onto the breadboard in order to expand the range of possible pitch/rhythm combinations. These two extra buttons control the pitch combinations, while the other four buttons correspond to pitch material. His performance was a structured improvisation that revolved around consistent rhythmic motion.