The Otherside

The Otherside

Web-based Collaborative Sound Synthesis System

Detailed information here: Paper on the Otherside (PDF)

Stable Version available here: Otherside v0.1

Otherside
University of Sheffield Sound Studios
Created by Jesus H. (ppsycho@mailcity.com)

The Otherside is a unique multimedia application that enables the online collaboration between a number of people who control a software synthesis engine using network-based interfaces. It is an open source project, based on free software and a Linux operating system.

Minimum requirements are a computer connected to the internet, a web browser and a media player capable of streaming audio over a network.

The Audio Stream is the sound being generated. This is the first step. Anyone is welcome to listen to the audio. Interested parties can then participate in the creation process, thus altering the sound. For most operating systems and browsers, a simple click on this link will load up your default media player and start playing the streaming audio.

To participate, there are several options. The easiest one is to click on the IRC link. If your browser supports frames (99% of them do) you will be presented with a screen asking you for a user name. Use any name you like, or the default if you can't think of one. Press Enter, this will direct you to a chatroom. In the chatroom, you will notice a user called Otherbot. This is the Otherside IRC bot (robot). It is not a human user, this is a machine that listens on the chatroom for any control commands or information requests and takes the appropriate action.

Typing anything in the chatroom will be recognised by the Otherbot as raw computer data, directed to the synthesis engine which will use a polyphonic synthesizer to generate sound, controlled by the raw computer data.

There are however specific commands that allow for more precise control over the sound. The following commands use the OSC protocol and can be either given through the IRC chatroom or by using an OSC controller (see below).

To use the commands, just start by typing in osc followd by the command, followed by a space and the necessary data.

table - Example: osc table 12 - The speed at which a wavetable is read in a Wavetable synthesis module.

mod - Example: osc mod 512 - Controls the Single Sideband Modulation module, to modulate the Wavetable module sound.

ring - Example: osc ring 65 - Ring Modulator affecting the speech synthesis engine.

comb - Example: osc comb 23 - Comb Filter, comes after the Ring Modulator, affecting the speech synthesis engine.

delay - Example: osc delay/time 500 - Example: delay/fb 90 - Stereo Delay effect, to which most of the modules are connected. Comes with a time and feedback (fb) path. Time controls the delay time in miliseconds and Feedback controls the amount of feedback in percentage (90%).

Other non-OSC commands recognised are:

help - Example: help - Outputs a short help message.

talk - Example: talk say this now - Directs all text after "talk" to a speech synthesis module, that actually "speaks" the text in a loop.

midi - Example: midi - In the future this will allow for midi implementation, so the synthesis engine can be operated from a midi controller.

Using an OSC controller:

It is possible to use an OSC controller with the otherside. The path list is available below:

/table

/mod

/ring

/comb

/delay/time

/delay/fb

Connect to: usss-otherside.shef.ac.uk Port: 9998

Using Telnet:

It is possible to establish a raw connection to the server using Telnet or a similar program to control the synthesis engine:

To do so, the server is: usss-otherside.shef.ac.uk

There are two connection ports available for control:

UDP 9998 for OSC data EXCLUSIVELY.

UDP 9997 for raw ascii data.

Using your IRC Client:

It is possible to use an IRC Client to connect to the IRC chatroom.

Server: usss-otherside.shef.ac.uk

Port: TCP 8079

Chatroom: #otherside

Using your own IRC bot:

You are welcome to use your own IRC bot on the Otherside server, however we do request that you notify the administrator first by email: ppsycho@mailcity.com (use this as a subject: USSS-OTHERSIDE BOT REQUEST)

Using your own bot can allow for complex control, either via the OSC protocol if you can program it into an IRC bot or by using the raw data function.

Connect your bot to:

Server: usss-otherside.shef.ac.uk

Port: TCP 8079

Chatroom: #otherside

Starting your own chatroom:

Feel free to start your own chatroom on the Otherside server. However, please note that this is an experimental IRC server with no services such as nickserv and chanserv. Hence, there is no way of registering your nickname or owning your chatroom. There are no operators and the kick/ban functions are disabled for users. Should you be experiencing any serious abuse problems, please contact the administrator: ppsycho@mailcity.com (use this as a subject: USSS-OTHERSIDE ABUSE REPORT)

The Otherside