RayTone: A Node-based Audiovisual Sequencing Environment

Eito Murakami, John C Burnett, and Ge Wang

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract:

RayTone is a node-based software environment for creating audiovisual compositions. The software emphasizes the aesthetics and joy of patching procedures, aiming to promote a playful workflow for transforming creative ideas into artistic content. RayTone allows for native access to ChucK music programming language and OpenGL Shading Language (GLSL), affording programmability of arbitrary complexity inside each node on canvas. The ability to sequentially connect nodes as well as to live script functionalities therein makes RayTone suitable for users with widely varying skill levels and as an entry point to digital signal processing and shader programming. In this paper, we discuss RayTone’s patching and scripting workflow and how it is designed to facilitate the integration of audio and graphics. RayTone was used as a primary educational tool for a five-day summer workshop, introducing participants to building original live multimedia performances. We present selected student compositions from the workshop as example projects, and evaluate the expressiveness of RayTone as a digital art-making platform.

Citation:

Eito Murakami, John C Burnett, and Ge Wang. 2024. RayTone: A Node-based Audiovisual Sequencing Environment. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.13904975

BibTeX Entry:

  @article{nime2024_92,
 abstract = {RayTone is a node-based software environment for creating audiovisual compositions. The software emphasizes the aesthetics and joy of patching procedures, aiming to promote a playful workflow for transforming creative ideas into artistic content. RayTone allows for native access to ChucK music programming language and OpenGL Shading Language (GLSL), affording programmability of arbitrary complexity inside each node on canvas. The ability to sequentially connect nodes as well as to live script functionalities therein makes RayTone suitable for users with widely varying skill levels and as an entry point to digital signal processing and shader programming. In this paper, we discuss RayTone’s patching and scripting workflow and how it is designed to facilitate the integration of audio and graphics. RayTone was used as a primary educational tool for a five-day summer workshop, introducing participants to building original live multimedia performances. We present selected student compositions from the workshop as example projects, and evaluate the expressiveness of RayTone as a digital art-making platform. },
 address = {Utrecht, Netherlands},
 articleno = {92},
 author = {Eito Murakami and John C Burnett and Ge Wang},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.5281/zenodo.13904975},
 editor = {S M Astrid Bin and Courtney N. Reed},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {September},
 numpages = {5},
 pages = {627--631},
 presentation-video = {},
 title = {RayTone: A Node-based Audiovisual Sequencing Environment},
 track = {Papers},
 url = {http://nime.org/proceedings/2024/nime2024_92.pdf},
 year = {2024}
}