Rob Canning

This workshop introduces Oscilla, a browser-based framework for animated, cue-driven graphic scores in which performance semantics are embedded directly into SVG notation. Rather than separating score, control system, and playback environment, Oscilla treats the score as a single executable surface—authored visually in Inkscape and enacted in real time via a lightweight browser runtime.
Participants will explore how temporal organization, gesture fields, navigation, OSC-driven control, and media cues can be authored directly into drawings using a compact microsyntax.
The session combines conceptual framing, live demonstration, and hands-on authoring of small examples.
Topics include: temporal articulation (pauses, speed shaping, countdowns), animated gestures (rotation, scaling, path-following), navigational structures (pages, sections, probabilistic traversal), OSC integration for hybrid acoustic-electronic performance, and tight network synchronisation for coordinating scores across multiple devices.
Because Oscilla blurs the line between interactive score and controller, it can also be used to build custom performance interfaces—opening possibilities for both notation-driven and control-surface-driven workflows.

Requirements:
- No specialist technical background required.
- Participants should bring a laptop with:
- Inkscape (free, available at https://inkscape.org)
- Safari, Chrome, or Firefox for viewing scores
- Headphones optional but useful for audio cue examples

Source code and binaries are available at https://oscilla.cc