Instruo Scion Biometric feedback to CV module

[carlos]

[ioflow]

i recently picked up the instruo scíon, and made this with it today: “touchlight // across the void”

an ambient drone improvisation. semigenerative duet for synthesizer and succulents. scion provides the pitches for the oscillators, while the note+beat sequencing, clocking, and envelopes are via monome ansible (meadowphysics+kria) and mannequins just friends + isms LPGs/LPDs. i wrote some detailed patch notes on the video page.

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a couple of notes on the scion’s sensitivity:

first, i think the responsiveness of the module is going to depend to some degree on the type of plant you have, including how healthy it is. i originally used it with a broadleaf houseplant, but didn’t get much out of it. but as soon as i switched to the tiny succulent seen here, it was like a completely different module. super responsive; it not only responds to touch, but (at higher sensitivity pot settings) even light, water, and hand proximity. this is with the sticky TENS pads. the module also came with some lightweight clip-on sensors, but i’m not sure what they’re for. they don’t respond to plants, and are only somewhat responsive to human skin. they mostly seem to respond to pressing against metal conductive objects.

second, my scion seems to be misbehaving slightly; the gold leaf contact plate on the front of the module is nowhere near as instantaneously responsive as the manufacturer’s demo, or any of the other youtube/instagram vids out there. i’ve been in contact with instruo to see if there are any adjustments i can make on my end to avoid having to ship it across the pond for replacement/repair. it takes a painful amount of physical pressure to generate a response. the raw squarewave signal output shows the correct activity amount even at a light touch, but the LED tree and cv/gate outputs are very reluctant to engage.

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finally, there’s no manual yet. i had to type my own notes on the operating modes, based on upstream’s feature overview video. for pitch usage, you get either unquantized 0-5v, chromatic/semitone, or harmonic series/overtones. it would be nice if there was an additional mode for user scales, but that’s probably best suited to external quantizer modules. it’s hard to find dedicated quad quants, and four individual modules will be very pricey and occupy a lot of hp – though it’s been suggested that i look into ornament & crime/ uO_C’s various dual/quad quant modes.

i’ve just barely started to get to know this module, but there’s definitely a lot more generative/reactive organic “duets” that i want to explore.

[germinal]

20 characters of exceedingly lovely!

[_robin]

Lovely stuff. Regarding the different sensitivity of bigger and smaller plants: there’s a great interview with Michael Prime, who has been working primarily with plant biofeedback for decades, in which he talks about his experiences with different types of plants. A digital transcript of the Interview (taken from a wonderful zine about feedback processes in music, sadly long out of print) is hosted here:

http://mikroton.net/feedback/explorations-in-bioelectronics/

The extreme sensitivity of plants to their environment presents particular problems for live performance. Being moved to the performance venue often causes the natural rhythms of the plant to be submerged by its drastic reaction to its new, and apparently unfavourable environment. However, in 1991, I was able to give an outdoor performance in Madrid (for CIEM), in which I wired up a 1000 year old olive tree in situ. It was a complete contrast to the potted plants I usually have to use in performance. It seemed totally unaffected by the human activity around it – even touching it (which produces a strong reaction in a small plant) had no apparent effect. Living on such an extended time scale, it was as if it took no more notice of humans than it did of the small flies buzzing around it.

And thank you for suggesting the TENS pads, i’ve never heard of those before and have been toying with the idea of getting into biofeedback myself for quite a while without having a starting point regarding the sensors (i naively assumed you’d need some special type of sensor rather than a simple electrode).

[Kheone]

Thanks for sharing this essay. Just got a scion myself and have been wondering how to incorporate it into sound and video installations, respectfully collaborating with the non-human.

This part of his sound installation was very telling:

It seems that the piece became a microcosm of man’s activities on planet Earth, unbridled selfish activity damaging the ecosystem and sending it spinning out of control.

[caelmore]

I’d really like to see some examples of this being used with human biofeedback. I’d be especially interested in something that could take monitor specific things like heart-rate and brain activity. I’m already imagining taking heart-rate into account in live performances, wherein a variable might be affected by heart-rate fluctuations based on the level of stage fright I’m experiencing. Some other studio-based experiments could involve seeing how voluntary starvation and/or dehydration might cause changes in data, or how brain activity output changes based on depriving myself of sleep or skipping my anti-depressants for a few days.

[eblomquist]

Well this is fun!

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