Dimitris Menexopoulos

About

Dimitris Menexopoulos (a.k.a. Menex) is a versatile composer, sound designer, music technologist and multi-instrumentalist from Thessaloniki, Greece. Having an academic background in Geoscience, Electronic Production and Design, he often draws elements from a wide spectrum in the fields of Art and Science to carry out his work. He has two solo albums under his name (Phenomena - 2014, Perpetuum Mobile - 2017), an EP (40 EP - 2020), a virtual reality video game soundtrack (The Village - 2019) and various performances internationally. His collaborations include electronic musician Robert Rich (Vestiges - 2016), director Shekhar Kapur (Brides of the Well - 2018) and film composer George Kallis (Cliffs of Freedom - 2019) among others. As a designer, he has presented work at sites including the Barbican Centre (Nesta FutureFest - 2019, with Akvile Terminaite), the Somerset House (24 Hours in Uchronia with Helga Schmid - 2020) and Apple Regent Street (Today at Apple - 2020, with Yiming Yang). His current research is on innovative Music Creation Systems. His original devices have been displayed at prestigious venues in the UK (Iklectik - 2020), France (IRCAM - 2019, 2020) and in the USA (Mass MoCA - 2019). He is currently based in London, UK.

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Degree Details

Statement

ΟΣΟΝ ΖΗΣ ΦΑΙΝΟΥ
ΜΗΔΕΝ ΟΛΩΣ ΣΥ ΛΥΠΟΥ
ΠΡΟΣ ΟΛΙΓΟΝ ΕΣΤΙ ΤΟ ΖΗΝ
ΤΟ ΤΕΛΟΣ Ο ΧΡΟΝΟΣ ΑΠΑΙΤΕΙ

While you live, shine
have no grief at all
life exists only for a short while
and Time demands his due

Epitaph of Seikilos, 200 BCE

Seikilos sums up the essence of life with the utmost concision and elegance, in the oldest surviving complete musical composition. This is what I am after: radiating light upon the world. My main mediums are Music and Sound and my method is Mousagneia (Greek: Μούσα = Muse, Αγνεία = Purity). If by the time I die I have inspired somebody, then my life was worth living.

Homo Informis - Introduction

Homo Informis - A Music Creation System — Homo Informis is a unique music creation system by Dimitris Menexopoulos. It functions by translating still and moving images into sound and by exposing the sonic parameters to be controlled by body gestures and EEG waves in real time. In this example, there are two sound sources: a Eurorack modular patch and Photophonia, an original Max for Live synthesizer that creates sonic waveterrains from real time video streams. Data streaming is done via the use of a hacked MUSE Headband (choosemuse.com) connecting to the computer through the Mind Monitor app (mind-monitor.com). Then, an assortment of original Max for Live devices translate the data into MIDI and CV in various ways. For more techincal details, please consult the next section.

Homo Informis is a unique music creation system which functions by translating still and moving images into sound and by exposing the sonic parameters to be controlled by body gestures and EEG waves in real time.

Medium: Sound, Music, Visuals, EEG Waves, Gestural Movement

Homo Informis - Max for Live Devices

Photophonia Pro
Photophonia Pro — Photophonia Pro is the part of Homo Informis which produces sound via detailed real-time image translation to a waveterrain. A camera stream provides the visual material. Modulation can happen either by automating the synth parameters or by movement changes in front of the camera.
Photophonia Lite
Photophonia Lite — Photophonia Lite is the CPU friendly part of Homo Informis which produces sound via real-time image translation to a waveterrain. A camera stream provides the visual material. Modulation can happen either by automating the synth parameters or by movement changes in front of the camera.
MUSE Headband MIDI Note Controller
MUSE Headband MIDI Note Controller — With this device, playing any MIDI instrument with head movements is possible. Movement in the X axis picks a note, while a head tilt in the Y axis determines the velocity. Note On and Off messages are transmitted by a jaw clench and an eye blink respectively. This relation can also be inverted.
MUSE Headband MIDI CC Controller
MUSE Headband MIDI CC Controller — This M4L device sends up to four MIDI CC messages via head movement and acceleration in the X and Y axes at the same time, assignable to any available parameter inside the Live set.
MUSE Headband CV Gesture
MUSE Headband CV Gesture — Similar to the previous device, with two main differences: the gesture messages are transmitted as audio to be translated into control voltage and only one gesture is transmitted at a time. To be paired with Ableton CV Tools’ Envelope Follower for assignment to control destinations inside the Live set and/or to a modular system.
MUSE Headband CV Gate
MUSE Headband CV Gate — Gate messages transmitted as audio to be translated into control voltage. Jaw clenching is Gate On and eye blinking is Gate Off. This relation can be inverted. To be paired with Ableton CV Tools’ Envelope Follower for assignment to control destinations inside the Live set and/or to a modular system.
MUSE Headband Alpha
MUSE Headband Alpha — Alpha EEG waves transmitted as audio to be translated into control voltage and/or MIDI messages. To be paired with CV Tools’ Envelope Follower for assignment to control destinations inside the Live set and/or to a modular system.
MUSE Headband Beta
MUSE Headband Beta — Beta EEG waves transmitted as audio to be translated into control voltage and/or MIDI messages. To be paired with CV Tools’ Envelope Follower for assignment to control destinations inside the Live set and/or to a modular system.
MUSE Headband Gamma
MUSE Headband Gamma — Gamma EEG waves transmitted as audio to be translated into control voltage and/or MIDI messages. To be paired with CV Tools’ Envelope Follower for assignment to control destinations inside the Live set and/or to a modular system.
MUSE Headband Delta
MUSE Headband Delta — Delta EEG waves transmitted as audio to be translated into control voltage and/or MIDI messages. To be paired with CV Tools’ Envelope Follower for assignment to control destinations inside the Live set and/or to a modular system.
MUSE Headband Theta
MUSE Headband Theta — Theta EEG waves transmitted as audio to be translated into control voltage and/or MIDI messages. To be paired with CV Tools’ Envelope Follower for assignment to control destinations inside the Live set and/or to a modular system.
MUSE Headband EEG Monitor
MUSE Headband EEG Monitor — Monitoring all EEG waves in one device. This device serves the purpose of easy visual feedback with no actual output.

Homo Informis is programmed entirely in Max/MSP/Jitter and packaged as a Max for Live device bundle to be used inside Ableton Live. Each device is in communication with the MUSE Headband (https://choosemuse.com) via the Mind Monitor app (https://mind-monitor.com).

Medium: Audio Programming in Max/MSP/Jitter

Homo Informis - Development & Prototyping

Intelligent Systems for Music Creation: Consolidating Composition & Performance
Intelligent Systems for Music Creation: Consolidating Composition & Performance — My IED dissertation, the research of which formed the basis for the concept and development of Homo Informis.

Launch Project
ItoW
ItoW — One of the very first image to sound translation devices I made during the early stages of Homo Informis' development. Still functional and useful, but a bit more static as it only processes pictures and movies, as opposed to live camera streams. Controlled via the ROLI Seaboard in order to achieve a tactile feel while "performing" the image.
Sonified Human Figures
Sonified Human Figures — Sonification of visitors' figures during the IED WiP Show in February 2020. Photo by Kevin Walker.
IRCAM Forum Workshops
IRCAM Forum Workshops — A visitor's engagement with Homo Informis at IRCAM Forum Workshops 2020 in Paris, France.

Documentation about the inspiration and prototyping process of Homo Informis.

Medium: Music, Sound, Max/MSP/Jitter Programming, Visuals

BONUS ARTWORK IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19: 40 EP

40 EP
40 EP — 40 EP is a small collection of Menex's archived music that is released in response to the quarantine atmosphere due to COVID-19. A reflection on how life was and how it might be like after this global crisis settles. 1. Limbo 04:49 2. Incubus 03:05 3. City Walk 04:32 Released on March 24, 2020 Menex - Composition, Performance, Arrangement, Production Juliette Coquet - Cover Art

Launch Project

40 EP is a small collection of my archived music that was released in response to the early quarantine atmosphere due to COVID-19. A reflection on how life was and how it might be like after this global crisis settles.

Medium: Music

Size: 12'22"

In Collaboration with:

  • Cover Design by Juliette Coquet
    Juliette Coquet provided the album cover, taking into consideration the lockdown atmosphere, especially during the first very uncertain days of the pandemic. Her choice to illustrate a translucent closed window from the inside of a room perfectly captured this atmosphere.

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