sampler/sampler_1.0

sampler [NOUN]
1: A piece of embroidery worked in various stitches as a specimen of skill, typically containing the alphabet and some mottoes.
2: An electronic device for sampling music and sound.

sampler/sampler_1.0 is a digital blackwork embroidery stitch emulator, sonification system and sampler.

Blackwork embroidery, a technique of counted thread embroidery that became popular in England in the 16th century, uses simple straight stitches across the regular grid structure of evenweave fabric to create repeating geometric patterns.

sampler/sampler_1.0 relies on two networked computers (actual or virtual); one as a pattern sample generator (host) and another as a pattern sampler (client).
The pattern sample generator, built using Processing (a programming language for creating interactive visuals), is designed to mimic the structure of hand stitching a thread path. Alternating between front and back thread positions on the virtual fabric, each stitch generates a corresponding sound through SuperCollider (a platform for audio synthesis and algorithmic composition). As simple shape patterns are constructed by the host in Processing, the thread path is recorded creating a sample that is sent to the client machine. Simple pattern samples are repeated and combined in the client SuperCollider to generate complex improvised visual/audio pattern structures.

sampler/sampler_1.0 is an ongoing collaborative project between live coder, digital artist and musician Sean Cotterill and Toni Buckby, a textile, digital and performance artist. It was presented for the first time on 12th November 2016 at Crafting Sound (I) (Millennium Gallery, Sheffield) as a commission for the AlgoMech Festival 2016 .

Future possible development of this project include:

a more intuitive and heuristic user interface;
expanding the network of machines for collaboration between a greater number of performers;
adapting the system as an interactive installation;
creating a web-based version as both a stand-alone and integrated system, allowing for potentially limitless collaborators.