Taking advantage of the new location and the renewed attention, we would like to organize a small festival, refreshing the walls a bit and inviting all composers of SL’s own music to continue to send a photo and a note about themselves to Livio Korobase and/or Renee Rebane, so they can be added to the directory.
Many are already on the walls, but there is still room.
Some time ago I bought a software for VJ (VJing (pronounced: VEE-JAY-ing – is a broad designation for realtime visual performance). Characteristics of VJing are the creation or manipulation of imagery in realtime through technological mediation and for an audience, in synchronization to music.
NestDrop is an ingenious software based on the visualization system produced by the programming language called Milkdrop, originally developed by Ryan Geiss in 2001.
Milkdrop at work. On left, the script that build the image on right.
I like Milkdrop’s beat detection system, it works well and we all know how music and lights in sync can produce pleasant moments.
So, after playing on my own for a bit I said to myself why not try to do a music and light show in Second Life, live?
It’s not as simple as it seems, especially when it comes to Second Life for video. The support is rudimentary, all you can do is apply a URL to the face of an object and start playing it (this is called MOAP, media on a prim). However, this does not guarantee at all that everyone will participate in the event, because in the case of a film, for example, each user start a playback from the beginning and so if someone arrives late they will never be aligned with the other participants, who perhaps are not even aligned with each other. We would like to have a party, not watch a movie each on a separated sofa. Give us our keyframe.
There are systems in Second Life that try to overcome this problem with scripting and other systems, but they are unreliable and complex. How to do it in a transparent, simple and economical way?
A day i visited a sim, Museum Island, where a guy with nickname Cimafilo was streaming a movie, Alice in the wonderland, and i noticed that data stream was small but fluid, in sync (also if on sim was used the parcel media and was not possible understand who and what was managing the sync), so i tried to get some infos about. Cima was using a for me unknow video format, WebM and OBS, with good results in my opinion. So I tried to create a similar system, but suited to my needs: analogous workflow, but using a dedicated server and a higher frame rate.
I can say I succeeded, the system devised can stream and sync audio and video events in Second Life using simple open source tools. Let’s see how.
As mentioned, my goal was to use a VJ program to create an audiovisual event in Second Life.
All you need is any audio player (personally I use Winamp because it’s very light, but any other player is fine) and a VJ software (in my case NestDrop, but any other is fine). The result of our audio and video mix must be able to be captured by the OBS (Open Broadcaster Software), so any program that generates video output on your PC monitor is fine.
Your desktop at the end of first part of setup: from left, Winamp produces sound, NestDrop make the visuals and OBS capture all.
I was thinking to myself, how can I send this output from OBS to Second Life with acceptable quality and in sync for anyone? Showing the video is easy, almost, there are many methods by going from a web page or a streaming service but they all lack the detail that is so important to me: sync.
However, I noticed one thing: almost all of these services use MP4 container or its variants to distribute the content. And by studying, I realized that the MP4 container does not have a sync system suitable for my purpose. I need the sync to be sent at pre-established intervals during the projection. Codecs world is a real jungle managed through trade wars.
At this point I entered a hell of questions and answers on forums, web pages, approximate and/or wrong answers, you name it. I’m also no expert on these things, and this was new territory for me. Double difficulty then.
I convinced myself along the way that the secret was in the format, and indeed it was.
Arguing with FFMPEGspecs I discovered the format that’s right for me: compact, manages good audio (in Opus) and video (VP8 or VP9), open source, all browsers can view it: WebMwas the trick.
Above all, a specification of webM container shoot me: Key frames SHOULD be placed at the beginning of clusters.
Exactly what I was looking for, bingo. In a few words, when the Play key is pressed in the SL viewer, each visitor gets a key frame to sync at the exact point of the actual key in the video. Yes, I want to use this!
Okay, but where do I send this WebM stream if I manage to convince OBS to do broadcasting?
Read here, search there, a server that accepts WebM is Icecast2.
Now comes the slightly complex part, because you need an Icecast video hosting, which will work like Shoutcast hosting which – if you have ever played music in Second Life – you surely already know. Or, you can implement your own server there. I obviously chose the second path both for its affordability and to fully understand how it works.
On the Web it is easy to find offers of virtual servers, even at very low prices. For me I got a VPS with 1 processor, 1 GB RAM, 100 GB hard disk. For an experiment it’s fine, in any case you can always expand. We go.
The installation of a Linux distro is always quite automated, just choose the desired distro from a drop-down menu and in a few minutes the basic server will be operational. So far so good, and I chose Ubuntu 20.04 for myself.
Preparing my VPS
In a few minutes the server is ready. I chose not to install anything apart from Icecast, but obviously the space can be used for all that you need.
Installing Icecast2 is very simple, all you need is a little familiarity with the terminal (for me, Putty) commands and your server is ready in 10 minutes. You can find dozens of tutorials, all copy/pasted from each other.
The only detail that I recommend you take care of is to open port 8000 of the server firewall, or no one will be able to connect and set your audio card setting on Windows at 48000 Hz for the audio side. You don’t need anything else.
Now test if Icecast is responding with a browser, adding :8000 to your server address. In my case, for example: http://vps-94bab050.vps.ovh.net:8000/
The server will most likely be listening.
Pelican Village TV waiting for a mountpoint
When configuring Icecast (you will be asked to specify passwords for admin and other details), you may have a doubt about mountpoints, and the documentation isn’t very clear either: should I create them now? Or when? In reality you don’t have to do anything, OBS (or the software you use for broadcast) will create the mountpoint with the name you chose in the connection string (we see later how).
I connected OBS to server, and the connection created the mountpoint /video, as specified in connection string.
Opening the URL http://vps-94bab050.vps.ovh.net:8000/video (following the example) you can already see what you are going stream in Second Life in a browser window (if someone is streaming, or you get a “Error 404 page Not Found”). The mountpoint is dynamic, this means it is alive as long as the stream is up. When you disconnect your broadcaster, the mountpoint disappears.
To connect OBS to the Icecast server, the issue is not very simple but it can be solved.
In File > Settings > Output > Recordings, select as Output Mode Advanced. Type: Custom Output (FFmpeg) FFMpeg Output Type: Output to URL File part or URL: icecast://user name:password@server URL:8000/mountpoint name User name and password you have set installing Icecast2, remember? Container Format and Container format Description: webm Muxer Settings open a chapter apart. This specs and Encoder settings have do be decided carefully reading the documentation at https://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/EncodingForStreamingSites and https://developers.google.com/media/vp9/live-encoding Configurations depends on many factors based on your material, hardware, connection, server. For me personally the string that worked for Muxer Settings is:
(For each parameter meaning and some sample configurations, refer to specs)
To start the broadcasting, push Start Recording button in OBS (we are recording to a URL).
Now what you need is to prepare the “screen”. In Second Life, associate the URL of your mountpoint with the Media texture of object you have chosen as screen and press Play on the viewer. Nothing else is needed. Let the rave begin 🙂
What a strange title, right? I’ll try to explain better.
Some time ago, I received an invitation to play at this event:
Astral Stories presents Nino Vichan and Waveform in ✦ Fair is Foul, and Foul is Fair ✦ 12 pm SLT Saturday, 11 November art opening of Nino Vichan’s scenes from Macbeth 12 pm SLT Sunday, 17 December opera recital of Macbeth inspired pieces by Merryjest 12 pm SLT Saturday, 20 January live improvised music performances by Poppy Morris - Echo Starship – Daddio Dow – Livio Korobase
Could I say no?
And I agree about improvisation, but calmly. I’m not a musician who can improvise a lot since I’m not an octopus for now, and I like to use a lot of instruments. So first of all I prepare my work tools.
When Macbeth enters, he is horrified by what he has done. He has brought with him the daggers that he used on Duncan, instead of leaving them in the room with Duncan’s servants as Lady Macbeth had planned. When he finds himself incapable of returning the daggers, Lady Macbeth does so. She returns to find Macbeth still paralyzed with horror and urges him to put on his gown and wash the blood from his hands.
So I started studying the how and why, and for this event I prepared a palette of sounds and synths, all in-the-box. It is not a simple thing to “set” the scene of an opera and play it. So I’ve identified some tools to make the performance easier.
You certainly need a DAW, which for me is Presonus Studio One, which I will use as a looper and to organize sound changes and so on. It’s easy to create tracks and assign to each track what it needs, the correct VST, automations, etc. etc. One difficult thing to do is play and mix at the same time, which as it is a primarily sonic, sound-based event requires a lot of attention.
A really annoying thing is mixing with the mouse… but I have an iPad and Studio One has a dedicated mixer interface (Studio One Remote) which allows you to use faders with finger tips on a touch screen. Great, a true mixer.
Using Remote on a iPad for mixing.
Another tool that helps a lot in these events is the Studio One Rehearse and Perform template, made especially for these situations.
With Studio One 6 and the Rehearse and Perform smart template, Studio One allows you to get up and running incredibly quickly with a templated session – instead of sitting down, adding all of the elements you need for the performance, linking them together etc, the smart template sets it all up for you, making it easier to go from booting up to creating in a matter of seconds. Great and easy to use.
Performing live?
I add two empty audio track for play live (useless more, still have few hands) and done.
So far we are. But do we have everything? No, we’ll have to connect the DAW’s output to Shoutcast somehow, or no one will hear anything in world.
Personally the simplest and most effective solution I’ve found is a VST plugin called ShoutVST. It is available in 32 and 64 bit and the installation is really simple. Fill in the plugin interface with your stream data and when you press Connect on plugin and Play on the DAW will start sending your music to the Shoutcast server.
There are probably other solutions, but this one is free and works. If so, let me know yours in the comments.
Today is the 12th, still a few days left for the 20th, day of the show. I feel like I have it all, but who knows.
In case we’ll see you at the event, at Waveform, Fair is Foul, and Foul is Fair, 12 pm SLT Saturday, 20 January
I think the musicians here apart from me are among the best in Second Life. If you like music it’s a good opportunity to listen to something interesting.
Bsukmet begins his musical journey at the age of 6, attending piano and musical language classes at an academy with exams through the Toledo Conservatory. Since he was little, he has traveled to various locations giving piano concerts with a classical repertoire.
In 2006 he joined the Madrid gothic pop rock band Evil Thoughts, taking on the role of keyboardist and lead songwriter. Together with them he writes 2 albums, the second of which is composed entirely by him.
In 2010 he entered the virtual world of Second Life, where he began his career as a DJ, focusing on artistic events, such as the SL anniversary party, and other projects with diffusion in the real world such as the Nice Carnival.
In 2019 he abandons his role as a DJ to start showing his own creations in Second Life. Since then he has released 4 solo albums: “Zero”, “Third Demise”, “Shattered, Almost Detached” and “Imniali: Forced Perspective” and the “Silent Beauties” album, in collaboration with the violinist Fly Kugin.
Bsukmet mainly uses electronic and orchestral resources, but his style is eclectic, and his method consists in using exclusively free resources available to everyone and avoiding the use of sounds created by other composers, writing each piece note by note.
After almost a year of weekly sessions ‘Music Listening Meditation’, I can still be pleasantly surprised by the difference between listening on my own, and listening with some other people who have come together with the same intention. We listen.
I know that in real life some of them may be driving, some may be cleaning their kitchen, some could be sitting quietly on their chair. We are in different times of our day because of the time zones, we bring a different mood because we are different human beings. So it seems the intention to listen is maybe the “only” thing we have in common. We listen.
We always do two sessions of approximately 20 minutes within the meditation hour. During the second session I ask the participants to try and focus on the group. This can be as much as being aware that there are others around us that hear the same sounds, that listen to the same music, that experience the same vibrations in their body. I am not sure if this awareness can create a physical connection, but it can have an impact anyway.
For me, that impact is like this: I enjoy the company of familiar and new people, I am grateful that people care to join. At times I choose music that is a bit hard to digest, and then it helps to know we are not alone in going through that. Sometimes a visualisation of how sounds go around in the circle is enough for me to bring up a smile, or to sense a new tingle at the back of my neck. Often the music sounds more intense than when I am listening alone. I hear more when I listen better.
Music Listening Meditation will probably not cause major transitions, but it can give you one hour of awareness, of intentional and focused listening. You observe, and don’t judge. You don’t have to try too hard: just let it happen. And if something else happens, that is ok, too.
The 4th edition of this online micro festival, which is part of the “Transonic Second Life Sessions”. These events offer, in different Second Life venues, concerts and audio-visual performances by bringing together around a community of sound and multimedia artists, visitors who, in a spirit that is both playful and adventurous, discover or follow the evolution of international talents performing under various avatars.
Organisation and scenography: A Limb & Livio Korobase
This new series of performances by artists associated with the Transconic label in Second Life is also part of the NoLA – No Lockdown Art initiative of Transcultures and European Pepinieres of Creation since the first confinement due to the health crisis since March 2020.
As maybe someone remembers, some time ago we opened this space in Museum Islands, which aims to be a kind of directory of producers of their own music in Second Life. It is all explained in this earlier blog post. The hexagons has also been added to the Second Life destination guide.
We have started a series of concerts, the season opened by Tia Rungray and which will continue in July with a small festival with various musicians active in Second Life and RL. The artists who have already joined the initiative are the following (in no order):
Tia Rungray A Limb Yadleen Echo Starship Bsukmet & Imniali Daddio Dow Livio Korobase Art Olujia Cypress Rosewood nnoiz Papp Martin Dimitrov Music Mish Musicat Chouchou Poppy Morris SM2 Mao Lemieux Morlita Quan Space Invaders Aleatorica
I invite all business owners in Second Life to view their biographies at Hexagons, each portrait provides a folder with the artist’s name, his image and a bio.
I also invite interested musicians to send an image and a bio, so as to make the directory even more complete.
The Hexagonsit’s a great opportunity for musicians to showcase their work and for businesses to support local talent. I hope many will take the chance to get involved.
The doors are always open, and on the roof there is a space available for events and concerts, and also as a rehearsal room.
A Limb is a well-known Second Life musician (maybe some knows as Mich Reblack), but he also has a real life, and he plays in several bands. Of the various bands he plays in, my favorite is ZAÄAR. a Belgian collective born from a rib of NEPTUNIAN MAXIMALISM, the cosmic free-jazz orchestra that in the last two years catalyzed the attention of those in love with psychedelic music, experimental drone doom and space ambient.
Below is a short story about ZAÄAR , straight from the A Limb lips during a conference in Second Life.
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Hello and welcome to my ZAÄAR conference and mini-concert.
I will start by playing recordings of several bands linked to ZAÄAR, then Magická Džungl’a, our first album, while giving some explanations about its creation. Then I’ll play a 20 minutes (maybe more) concert in free improv, using the instruments I used for the album recording.
So at the origin of ZAÄAR is another project called Lab’OMFI. It was a multimedia collective that welcomed all artists who wanted to experiment with improvisation.
The creator and main leader of this group was Jean Jacques Duerinckx, a formidable saxophonist who played among others with some of the best improvisers: Lol Coxhill, John Russell, Paul Rutherford, Dan Warburton, Michel Doneda. He is also involved in the Belgian electro-acoustic scene.
He also played on a Zohara album, published on Tzadik (John Zorn’s label)
I was very interested by improv, Specially Jean Jacque’s approach (I always incorporated some improvisation in all my earlier projects, but until then it was not an end in itself) and became a member of this collective almost from the start.
I played synths and iPad apps using granular synthesis. I’ll give some more infos about it later
Other future ZAÄAR members also joined Lab’OMFI for more or less long durations: Hugues Philippe Desrosiers (bass) and Guillaume Cazalet CZLT (guitar and trumpet).
After a while, Guillaume Cazalet left the band to found his own, Neptunian Maximalism, an excellent free doom psychedelic drone metal band. JJ Duerinckx joined this new project very soon, as well as the drummer Sébastien Schmit who later will become the drummer of ZAÄAR. And I was invited to join too some months later. Sébastien left the group almost immediately when I arrived, but all the links were made!
Neptunian Maximalism made 8 albums already (some live ones), and toured in France, Germany, Holland, Denmark… We prepare now a tour passing by Duisburg, Paris, London and more to be announced
Let’s come back shortly to Lab’OMFI. The problem with such open groups is that, very often, unwanted people who are not in phase with the spirit of the collective impose themselves, and sabotage the rehearsals. After a while we got tired of this formula.
A little before the confinement, Lab’OMFI was abandoned to make room for LamaPhi, a core group of a dozen artists, the most motivated to really work on improv.
LamaPhi performed in the streets during the whole confinement, even in winter 😀 . About 20 events. Most of them were filmed. You can watch them here:
Now the effective ZAÄAR story.
In the first days of January 2020, Philippe Desrosiers (Lab’OMFI’s bassist) called me.
He said “I’m trying to organise an improv concert in St Gilles (Brussels), February 1st, with Jean Jacques Duerinckx (sax), Guillaume Cazalet (Vocals, trumpet, flutes, percs) and Sébastien Schmit (Drums, percs). Would you be interested to join?
I answered yes of course. I can’t say “no”… Then he told me “It’s a very narrow place, you’ll see. We’ll have to get organized…”
Indeed it was narrow. The place was a hairdressing salon!
… but a very special one. It’s called Espace Moss, and Moussa, the hairdresser is a contemporary art lover. So he decided to use his salon as an art gallery.
It sounds weird but it’s a great idea, from my opinion. Even when you visit a museum, you rarely have one hour to devote to watch a single artwork. In a hairdresser salon, you are even obliged to sit and watch.
Of course Moussa makes arty haircuts too 😉
A hair salon is usually not very large. But the artist invited by Moussa was Yoel Pytowski, an architect, who re-designed the whole shop interior by adding walls, transforming the shop in a sort of middle-east market one-way street. So it was even more narrow.
Anyway, we found some place to install our instruments. When we started playing, the shop was full of people drinking and making noise. But despite this they listened and enjoyed the concert.
The name of the event was called “A Triptych In Sound” because we played 3 improv sessions during the evening. It was rather audacious, because the ability to concentrate during improv is strongly solicited.
But to our surprise we made the good connections right away, and it lasted until the last note. I had only played once with the drummer, and rarely with the bassist, but it was as if we had been playing together all our lives, and our three sessions were quite excellent, full of groove and creativity.
Hmm, the special homemade fruit alcohols served by beautiful fairies were free for the musicians. Maybe it helped too.
So when we left the event we were very happy and satisfied of ourselves.
Sadly, some days later started a quarrel. I was not involved in it, and don’t want to give you details about it. But after this argument, I didn’t give much chance for this band’s future…
… and then COVID arrived, so our musical activities fell into hibernation. The concert became a pleasant but already distant memory
But it’s not finished of course…
In February of 2021, we suddenly got an e-mail from Guillaume. It said: “Hey, maybe you didn’t notice, but I recorded the concert with my pocket digital recorder. I spent months cleaning and masterising the tracks. I think it sounds good. If you’re ok, I already have agreements with 2 disc companies so that a double vinyl album could be published this year. What do you think?”.
The album art was ready too (made by Peter Kľúčik – Untitled). Everyone agreed.
Personally I consider Guillaume to be a true mixing genius. Getting an album that sounds so good out of a concert recorded in the middle of a noisy crowd, in a reverberating room, with the only internal microphone of a pocket recorder, is a real miracle.
… and 2 Neptunian Maximalism albums were made the same way. We never went into a studio. It’s simply concerts and rehearsals recordings…
I think what makes the strength of this band is the bass and drums sections. They are both flexible and reliable. They can range from pure noise to rock funk rhythmics, while keeping a full coherence. It makes the improvisations of the other members very comfortable and it is very inspiring
Guillaume is a very skilled guitarist. But in this band he abandons his favourite instrument to devote himself to the flutes, the voice and the trumpet. He is very interested in occult sciences, religions and cults of the past, voodoo,… So you often hear throat singing, murmurs or readings of texts in unknown languages. All this was handled by its many effects pedals. For the most recent concerts, he gave up the effects and it still sounds awesome, more than ever.
On my side, I often use an iPad app called “Samplr“.This allows me to record what other musicians are playing, to select live very short excerpts and then to process these sounds with effects, to loop them, etc. That’s why it’s sometimes difficult to distinguish myself from other musicians, because I use the same sounds.
I also use a modular synth application called miRack. It is a kind of equivalent of Reaktor, for iPad. It is possible to build your own synths or your own effects. It produces some great experimental sounds.
And finally I also play the MicroFreak, a small synth that is also very experimental, with touch sensitive keys.
So now everyone reconciled, we started rehearsing for more concerts, and noticed the magic was still there when we played together. And now we have already new recordings for more albums. A new one is planned for the end of this year.
The first album was out November 5th, 2021 in a 2×12″LP Vinyl format in Gatefold Sleeve, Ltd 700 (350 Yellow, 350 Green) – Available on Bandcamp of course.
You were curious enough to open this link, right? And while you listened, you experienced a short moment of concentration, of focus. A moment where past and future did not matter, a moment where you were just listening.
There are not many times where we are surrounded by complete silence. And even then it is probably the smallest sound that will make us fully aware of the silence: the scream of a bird, the closing of a door, a rustle of the wind. Being surrounded by sounds does not mean we always hear all of them. We are capable of filtering out background sounds, or even filtering out all sounds, until the unusual will warn us to pay attention: a barking dog, a siren, the doorbell. We are capable of applying a ‘judgement filter’, that can both make us extra vulnerable for annoying sounds, or make sure we shut these out. The judgment filter can also cause us to only hear our music and for example completely filter out the traffic outside our window.
disable the filters
With Music Listening Meditation, we try to disable the filters. We could just sit still and try to focus on all the sounds, near and far. It is an interesting practice, if you listen closely you might hear for example your breath, maybe your belly, your chair as you move, a bird close by, people talking, a bird far off, leaves in the wind, music from other places, cars, a plane. Keeping focus for a longer time can be very hard and it seems that the more sounds there are, the harder it is to continue to try and hear them all.
Music or “orchestrated sounds” make this a little easier, although two sessions of 20 minutes each can still feel long. I promise, over time it becomes easier! It is important to open your mind and try to disable your filters. That includes the judgement filter. Of course it is perfectly okay to enjoy what you hear (please do!), but don’t let it carry you away. You can also get annoyed by sounds, but that too should not distract you from just listening. Stay curious always.
Okay, but why would we do this? For me, meditation is trying to reach a state where body & mind work together on a single focus. This can be by repeating a question, by following a guided meditation, by counting from 1 to 50 and back (yes, I have done that for many weeks and it is very boring and hard and frustrating how many times I would lose count), by watching a flower, or … by listening. Relaxation is what might follow from taking mind & body away from their usual affairs, or ‘buzz’ as I call it. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. It is a journey for me, too, and I am happy to share my steps on the way with you. And to hear about your journey as well.
join a session in second life
When you join us for a session on Monday from 8-9 am SLT , or Wednesday from 12-1 pm SLT, all you have to do is take a seat and let the sounds be what they are, laid out for you, following one after the other. Almost like breathing.
We call it meditation, but never try too hard, let it happen and if something else happens … that is okay too!
Disclaimer: as you may have guessed, I am not a professional or even amateur meditation teacher. However, I strongly believe that there is a level of meditation that anyone can practice, in any given situation. To get away from the buzz.
Tia uses this combined real video/virtual video formula that works a lot, is informative and interesting. Yesterday’s concert on the roof of the Hexagons was excellent, good music, good people, friends. Perfect.
Like those times you feel like you’re in the right place at the right time.
There isn’t much more to say. Listen to good music, it’s good for mind and body. Hope to see Tia-san on the roof of Hexagons again. Always welcome.
The location of the event, The Hexagons, is hosted in Museum Island and is open to anyone who wants a place where and can play in a context other than the classic “club” or “opening” one, The stress of competition does not exist here, and we are not interested in having crowds but on good music. Peace, love and coffee.
