Workshop Proposal - ScoreCraft @ NIME 2022 [workshop]
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Workshop Title
ScoreCraft @ NIME 2022 [workshop]
Description (up to 750 words)
The workshop aims to introduce participants to the multiplayer music game ScoreCraft and explore ways of making music by playing the game.
About ScoreCraft
ScoreCraft is a multiplayer music game exploring online music making mediated through gameplay. Each player controls the game by producing sounds, so effectively by playing the game the players are making music.
ScoreCraft is structured as a modular environment consisting of a collection of mini games and scenarios. Each mini game requires the players to produce a different, particular set of sounds in order to interact with the game, therefore, functioning as low-level musical material. The scenarios determine how the mini games are arranged on a 2d board, organising the low-level musical material embedded in the mini games and driving the high-level musical form.
About the workshop
The workshop will offer a well-rounded tutorial on how to play the game and set up new game sessions. We’ll try out several ScoreCraft mini games and scenarios and engage in a discussion about the experience of making music by playing games. Then, we'll focus on a few selected mini games and scenarios, and develop a performance of the game to be presented at the conference (we have submitted a separate music proposal for that).
We believe that playing ScoreCraft can be of interest to musicians working with new interfaces for musical expression as a tool to playfully explore their range of sonic possibilities. Additionally, the workshop is also targeted at musicians exploring the comprovisation continuum as ScoreCraft can be considered a gamified open score.
Since the underlying system is modular, we hope that in the future, participants will also be able to contribute by creating new levels and game configurations. While we’ll only briefly touch on this in the workshop, in the long run, the plan is to make the code of the game available as open source, allowing other people to independently develop and contribute to the project.
How to participate
The workshop will take place online, on Discord. To participate, each player will need some audio device to be used as the game's audio input (for example, a microphone) and one or more musical instruments. To be successful at the game, players should be able to produce a variety of sounds: short to long, quiet to loud, dark to bright, unpitched and pitched (range: C2–C7).
Schedule
The workshop will take place on June 29th. It will be divided five parts:
A. Introduction B. Play session 1 C. Play session 2 D. Discussion E. Performance
The following is a more detailed breakdown.
A. Introduction
10:00 Welcome 10:15 Technical setup on Discord and ScoreCraft 10:45 ScoreCraft’s Visualiser
B. Play session 1
11:00 Mini game: Darts 11:30 Mini game: Darts2d 12:00 Scenario: You Can't Win Them All, Can You? 12:30 Scenario: Settlers
13:00 Lunch break
C. Play session 2
14:00 Mini game: Whac 14:30 Mini game: Gaps 15:00 Mini game: Touch 15:30 Scenario: Race for Gold
*Short reflection-focused activities will be incorporated at the end of each play session.
16:00 Tea break
D. Discussion
16:15 General reflection on making music by playing ScoreCraft 17:00 Plans for the public performance 18:00 Close
E. Performance
TBC
Short Description (up to 70 words)
Play ScoreCraft and join its public performance at NIME 2022.This workshop aims to introduce participants to the multiplayer music game ScoreCraft and explore ways of making music by playing the game. The workshop will offer a well-rounded tutorial on how to play the game and set up new game sessions. We’ll play several game sessions, then develop a performance to be presented at the conference.
Goni Peles is a PhD student under the supervision of James Saunders and part of the Open Scores Lab research group at Bath Spa University. In his PhD, he investigates the transferability of game design to music composition and develops the multiplayer music game ScoreCraft. He holds two Master’s degrees in Composition and Music Theory from the Hochschule für Musik Basel, where he studied with Caspar Johannes Walter and Jakob Ullmann, and a B.Mus. in Composition from the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music (Tel Aviv University), where he studied with Dan Yuhas.
Yuval Adler is a PhD in Music Technology candidate at McGill University working at CIRMMT and at the Music Perception and Cognition Laboratory with Prof. Stepehn McAdams. He studies psychoacoustics and music cognition as applied to contemporary orchestration and composition. Yuval completed the MA in Music Science and Technology at CCRMA at Stanford University, and a BMus in Composition at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music at Tel Aviv University.
Preferred Length of Workshop
8 hours including lunch break and tea break
Technical and Space Requirements
No special technical and space requirements. Participants will be responsible for their setup, but we are happy to offer online technical support.
Also, we are open to adjusting the schedule and workshop structure to include global participants. We can divide the 8 hours into 4 days and do four 2-hour-sessions. We may even run sessions twice, depending on the number of participants and their geographic location.
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0)
