Who are you, and what do you do?
I'm Monica Lim, I'm a sound artist and composer. I was born in Malaysia but am now based in Melbourne. I was classically trained as a pianist, but now work a lot with new technologies like sensors, interactive interfaces, machine learning etc. I'm really interested in how our past and heritage traditions can be brought into the contemporary world, and how they can inform the future as well. I work a lot in collaborative teams with other art practices such as dance, animation, gaming, visual arts etc.
What do you use to get the job done?
Whatever is best suited to the project. I'm sort of a jack of all trades and master of none. Having said that, I use Max a lot in conjunction with Ableton, particularly for works that are mostly sound-based. Some of my favourite Max libraries are FluCoMa, for sound analysis, Spat for spatialisation, and I've been experimenting lately with SOMAX2 for real-time AI co-improvisation. In Ableton, my favourite tools are Robert Henke's Granulator, the classic Simpler sampler and Wavetable.
I do a lot of interactive gestural work, and for that I tend to use MediaPipe for computer vision. Sometimes I do browser-based projects, so that's implemented in JavaScript, but otherwise Torin Blankensmith's implementation in TouchDesigner is excellent. With wearable sensors I've been using the BITalinos for years, also the MUGIC sensor is great for musicians. I use TouchDesigner for interactive work with lighting, Kinect cameras or microcontrollers.
In the AI world, I've been experimenting with the Anticipatory Music Transformer, I can't say that I use it a lot yet, but I think it has a lot of potential, you can fine-tune it to your own dataset and use it for harmonisation or just generation. I like that it works in MIDI so I still have a lot of control over it.
My hardware setup is pretty simple. I still work from my bedroom. I have a MacBook M4 Pro connected to an RME Babyface Pro FS soundcard and Genelec 8030c studio monitors. I have 3 Roli Piano Ms that I use to tour as I can easily break it up and carry in my backpack. I have 2 x Korg NanoKontrol2 as my MIDI controller, as well as 2 pedals. I use 1 pedal to trigger transitions (as I usually have both hands busy on the piano or knobs) and another pedal for expressive control if I need it.
I have a soldering iron... an assortment of microcontrollers like the Arduino Uno and Teensy, wires and resistors. Oh, and an old Steinway D piano.
What would be your dream setup?
My own studio that's not my bedroom so I can work while the hubby sleeps, with at least 16 Genelec speakers so I can do 3rd order ambisonics, and at least 4 grand pianos, 1 of which should be a Disklavier or other self-playing piano, and 2 tuned to different microtonal scales. 2 studio assistants with specialised skills in creative technology so I don't have to struggle trying to code, a bed for my dog, a bed for me so I can lie down while working.