Day 0, Sunday, 7/9/23: Brimming with enthusiasm, Cluster 9 arrived on campus in the afternoon for opening day of COSMOS.  We moved into Harlan, Frankfurter, and Stewart Halls at Warren College, then had dinner at Canyon Vista, our first meal on campus. After dinner and some fun activities getting to meet new people, Cluster 9 gathered for introductions and icebreakers, and brainstormed briefly for COSMOlympics. We went to bed looking forward to tomorrow’s day of learning! 

Day 1, Monday, 7/10/23: Cluster 9 met up after breakfast for our first full day of COSMOS. In the morning, we discussed what sound and music are and learned about the physics of sound waves. We also got to watch a demonstration of synthesizing music on Ableton Live and Max/MSP. After lunch, we continued discussing possible definitions for technology, sound, and music, realizing that the line between sound and music is not so clear cut. We discovered that music and how different people perceive sounds are affected by culture and society, so there are endless possibilities to music. Before class ended, Cluster 9 got to experiment with all sorts of instruments that synthesize music by applying technology in some sort of way. For example, the theremin, an instrument that can be played without physically touching it, radios and their detection of sounds inaudible to the human ear, and whirly tubes that made different pitches when spun at various speeds. For an hour after finishing dinner, we grouped together to come up with ideas for the COSMOlympics and plans to practice for the next few days.

Day 2, Tuesday, 7/11/23: After breakfast, Cluster 9 walked to class and received an ethics lecture for the Ethics Essay Competition. We brainstormed music and technology related topics and split into groups to pitch our ideas before selecting a final essay topic for our cluster. In the afternoon, one of our TAs introduced the concept of algorithmic composition. Using Python in the Google Colab workspace, we were able to create various rhythmic audio tracks and complete practice exercises with our newly learned knowledge. Exercises ranged from looping beats to finding patterns in rhythms and tempos. Cluster 9 gathered in the evening to rehearse our COSMOlympics skit, gathering props and expanding upon our ideas. After a busy day, we went to bed looking forward to what tomorrow’s day of class would bring. 

Day 3, Wednesday, 7/12/23: Today’s class was focused on using Max/MSP software to experiment with making audio. In the morning, our professor walked through the basics of Max and introduced the various tools in the interface. After getting familiar with Max, we began a project based on a FM and AM modulator. We learned how to toggle the amplitude and frequency of sound using floats and how to automate and randomize the modulation to generate all sorts of sounds with just the press of a key. To visualize the effects of changing amplitude and frequency, we used the scope object to display the waveform of audio outputs. In the afternoon, we started a second project using pre-downloaded drum samples to create a beat maker that could be customized to play all kinds of rhythmic beats. We utilized the matrixctrl object to organize the system and used a randomizer to randomize the output of drum samples. The air soon filled with the sound of rhythmic beats and various instruments. For COSMOlympics practice in the evening, Cluster 9 rehearsed and ran through our skit, finalizing our script for Friday's performance.