ï~~THE SHOW MUST GO ON: DEPENDABLE AUDIO COMPUTING
Jlrn Loviscach
Fachhochschule Bielefeld (University of Applied Sciences)
Fachbereich Ingenieurwissenschaften und Mathematik, Bielefeld, Germany
joern.loviscach@fh-bielefeld.de
ABSTRACT
Dependable computing has originated in domains such as
aeronautics and medicine in which computer failure can lead
to fatalities. No human lives are at stake in audio and music
computing. However, a malfunction of today's computerized music gear can easily ruin a live performance. This Unconference session looks into minimizing the risk of computer failure in unrecoverable moments of audio and music
performances or recording sessions. The objective of this
session is to share best practices as well as eclectic ideas, to
inspire novel approaches, and to fuel future research.
1. INTRODUCTION
This session intends to assemble an audience of electronic
musicians and computer scientists, ranging from novices to
weathered experts. It starts off with a presentation of different aspects of reliability and approaches to it. Conventional
and less conventional solutions as well as weird ideas will
be introduced to spark contributions from the audience. Applying Unconference techniques, this session aims at building a Web-based repository, possibly in the form of a Wiki,
preferably even before ICMC 2010. This repository stores
general advice as well as specific tips and tricks-and experiences on what works and what does not.
The following sections illustrate topics each of which
can form the basis for a breakout session, depending on the
audience's preferences. Some topics address overarching
strategies, others address general but underrated technical
issues. The aim is to not get lost in details but to spark fruitful discussions that extend long beyond the conference.
2. TOPICS: OVERARCHING STRATEGY
Sophisticated or reliable: Pick one? The simpler a system
is, the easier it can be guarded against failure. To safely
perform with a violin, you only need to bring an extra set
of strings, just in case. Are there general principles-more
concrete than "reduce to the max"-for striking the right
balance between sophistication and reliability in electronic
music performances?
Learn from rocket science? Airplanes can cross an ocean
without a mid-flight reboot. Which of the development approaches employed to create such hardware and software
can be carried over to audio and music? For instance: May
a musician bring three computers onto stage, each doing the
same task in parallel, but with a different version of some
audio software on a different operating system?
Make it foolproof? To a large extent, computer failure results from user error. How to design user interfaces that an
artist can handle in critical situations close to mental overload? This affects aspects such as graphics design and tangible controllers, but may also lead to rethink the technology behind the interface. For instance, a recording tool may
record all of the time, so that one can't forget to press a
"Start" button. Human-computer interfaces based on image
processing and/or pattern recognition incur a huge potential
for disaster; this could be kept in check by deeper layers.
3. TOPICS: TECHNICAL ISSUES
Kill those daemons? On a standard computer, too much is
going on. Malware protection may put a vital file into quarantine. The firewall may block a program that never before
tried to fetch updates from the Internet. The wireless LAN
card may disturb some critical interrupt. How can we learn
what's actually running on the machine? What is indispensable? How do we get rid of the potentially harmful items?
Run in parallel? Now that computers regularly come
equipped with four or eight CPU cores, more and more developers have to tackle the intricacies of concurrency. Are
there specific tools and/or specific guidelines to write multithreaded audio software? How can audio and music software be dissected into units with minimum dependencies?
Can we run, say, sequencer software as a collection of different processes so that one audio track may crash, but the
others continue playing?
Dodge the wires? Inadvertently pulling a plug suffices to
stop the show. Can you insert an audio plug again without
devastating noise from the P. A.? Do you need to restart
the audio software if you unplug a USB or Firewire audio
device and then reconnect it? Should we go wireless? What
would that mean in terms of latency and in terms of safety
and security?
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