Multimedia performances, uniting music and interactive images, are a unique form of entertainment that has been explored by artists for centuries. This audio-visual combination has evolved from rudimentary devices generating visuals for single instruments to cutting-edge video image productions for musical groups of all sizes. Throughout this evolution, a common goal has been to create real-time, audio-responsive visuals that accentuate the sound and enhance the performance. This paper explains the creation of a project that produces real-time, audioresponsive and artist interactive visuals to accompany a live musical performance by a symphony orchestra. On April 23, 2006, this project was performed live with the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra. The artist, onstage during the performance, controlled the visual presentation through a user interactive, custom computer program. Using the power of current visualization technology, this digital program was written to manipulate and synchronize images to a musical work. This program uses pre-processed video footage chosen to reflect the energy of the music. The integration of the video imagery into the program became a reiterative testing process that allowed for important adjustments throughout the visual creation process. Other artists are encouraged to use this as a guideline for creating their own audio-visual projects exploring the union of visuals and music.

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When people first started to use digital technology to generate music, they were thrilled with their new ability to create novel and different sounds; accordingly, much research effort has been directed towards rich and complex methods of sound synthesis. Unfortunately the deep physical connection that exists between a musician and an instrument has not received as much attention, and so although we have machines capable of synthesizing fantastic new sounds, we don’t have the ability to use these sounds with any immediate finesse, of developing virtuosity with our new instruments. The work presented in this thesis is an exciting step towards a more dynamic future for computer-based musical performance. The Radio Drum was designed in 1987 at AT&T labs as a prototype of a three-dimensional mouse. Max Mathews later repurposed the apparatus as a musical instrument known as the Radio Baton, which in its most modern form outputs data using the MIDI protocol. The result of this work, a new system called the Audio-Input Drum, provides high-resolution gesture capture, a simplified apparatus, and access to the extremely flexible Max/MSP/Jitter real-time software signal processing environment.