Paris HQ 2.0
The EEGsynth HQ in Paris has gotten quite a facelift during the COVID-19 times: cork panels on the wall for aesthetics and sound diffusion, a new desk, and a couch for visitors and listening. The center-piece is a large wooden DIY Eurorack case by Ginkosynthese, in which I installed two Doepfer PSU3s (without setting anything to fire!). I moved ‘back to basic’ (read: Doepfer modules), now possible with the extra space the rack provides, and the fact that Covid-19 made moving around impossible anyway and reduced the need (and desire) for a portable setup. The modular rack is hooked up to the desktop computer with the Expert Sleepers ES-9, allowing quality recording and easy control of the Eurorack system via USB, allowing me to integrate the Eurorack and the EEGsynth with Pure Data and Max/MSP, which will is important for my work in the (see previous post, and the project website) A nice audio mixer ties it all together and allows some off-rack FX send/receive, and hopefully a microphone setup in the future. However, an EEGsynth HQ isn’t much without EEG, and sadly, after many years of service, both mine and Robert’s OpenBCI Cython boards have stopped working. Record In Peace, my friends.
Mentalab Explore Wireless EEG
It was therefor serendipitous that right when our old systems ended their life-cycle, we were contacted by Mentalab.
Mentalab was founded to make better tools for researchers and scientists. Based on years of experience in clinical and research settings, we create innovative technologies to advance today’s brain and health sciences.
Mentalab website
Mentalab put out their first product in 2020: the Explore, a high-quality, 8-channel, wireless (BlueTooth) EEG device. I won’t repeat the specs here, but they are very impressive. Maybe most impressive is just how small and light weight it is! Just look at it!
The quality of the EEG with the wet electrodes is of laboratory quality, and I was able to record very pronounced alpha activity as soon as the cap was set up. It is so light weight that in combination with the neoprene cap and silver-chloride sintered electrodes, the signal also seems very robust while moving (within reason). It’s comfortable as well, and quick and easy set up. I’ll report more about the dry electrode setup that they provide in a future post, as some improvements are still being made, and I haven’t had the chance to do proper tests (I am also partial to wet electrodes, which are still the gold standard). Lastly, what is very important for the research community, is that Mentalab provides open–source APIs in Python, Java, C++, MATLAB.
LabStreamLayer
The EEGsynth supports a range of ExG devices thanks to a library of custom-made device drivers. Making them is not trivial, however (I can’t), and we have relied on the work done by the FieldTrip team. However, EEG companies that aim for real-time applications (i.e. BCI), are increasingly supporting LabStreamLayer (LSL), which is a general data interface for realtime streaming of ExG data. Mentalab supports pushing ExG data through LSL, either by command line (Python), or with their GUI (currently in beta). This means that I could acquire the data in realtime with only a single command, and only had to update my EEGsynth patch (from my previous Harmonics patch). In the end it was surprisingly easy to integrate the Mentalab Explore in our pipeline, thanks to the fact that two years ago, Robert implemented LSL into the EEGsynth for another project (in which it was never used). Everything just came together!
A first EEGsynth patch
In a first EEGsynth patch, I acquired the data from the Mental Explore via Bluetooth and pushed it to LSL on my laptop, processed it, and used it to control my Eurorack system. The purpose of the patch was to showcase different ways by which the EEGsynth can control hardware and software developed within the BBDMI project. I used MIDI pitchbend messages send to the Endorphines Shuttle Control to control my Eurorack, and control the EEGsynth parameters (frequency bands) from within the modular Eurorack system using MIDI faders from the AtoV DIY project. At the same time OSC signals were send to my desktop computer via WiFi, on which I ran either a Max4Live or Pure Data patch to create control voltages to control my Eurorack via the Expert Sleepers ES-9 (as DC-coupled audio).
But I still needed test subjects! This was a great opportunity to invite some of my new colleagues from the BBDMI project to try out the new setup.
Much more to come!
In short, Paris HQ is back! Next I will work on finishing an audio-video setup so that I can better record – and hopefully live stream – EEGsynth performances: I imagine having people over regularly, and recording “EEGsynth sessions”, similarly as I was used doing on location. The cosiness and intimacy compared to most venues, strange rooms at conferences, will help the EEG performer to relax and explore the sonic embodiment and experiences deeper. Also, the time and energy saved preparing, decontructing, travelling, and reconstructing the setup at venues will allow much more actual performing, and with much less hassle and stress. And finally, the huge improvement in EEG quality and comfort thanks to the Mentalab Explore will really bring the project to the next level, opening up many new paradigms, and a greater connection between music and brain states.