madelyn holveck

GuitarSimulation, Unity3DMake full-screen

Bio

Madelyn Holveck is a graduate of CAST Tech High School and SAY Sí’s HIVE Studio. She takes inspiration from many things, such as video games, comics, science fiction, computer science, and biology to create multimedia works at the intersection of science and art. At SAY Sí, Madelyn was given the opportunity to learn deeply about the topics she was passionate about, as well as develop a strong network of artists who support her. She will be attending Trinity University, where she hopes to double major in Computer Science and Biology.

Artist Statement

The human guitarist is a performer. They are given a script of musical notes, they read the notes and then, using their guitar, they turn it into a song. When a computer guitarist does the exact same, is it not a performance?

Using mathematical equations from lutherie and physics, this computer program emulates a guitar by generating the exact pitch a real guitar would make, given any note. All 72 notes are being generated in real time using math; there are only 6 sound recordings. In addition, the computer program has digital ‘arms’ which will animate itself playing the guitar in real time. The animation is also being generated in real time using math, calculated through equations native to robotics known as Inverse Kinematics.

I have long been captivated by the systems which go behind real world processes, like playing a guitar. This program is an exploration of not only the interesting mechanics which interact to create guitars and human arms, but also music, which has always been rooted in mathematics.

EXPRESSIONS oƒ SOLITUDE• • • • Adam Villarreal Andres Gutierrez Andrew Mendoza-Knecht Anna Isabel Hernandez Ashley Barg Brenna Brown Calista Olivares Cristino-Paul Fuentes Giovanna Lopez-Tristan Jonathan Rodriguez Kaitlynn Andrews Kayla Ritchey Kristin Quintanilla Maggie Rose Kolb Madelyn Holveck Nat Lopez Romero Nathan Daniel Cazares Richie Combs Sara Canestaro Sofia Rodriguez Tereza Espinoza