curriculum/content/experiment/us-listening-to-machines-listening-to-us.md

---
title: "Us Listening to Machines Listening to Us"
---

# Us Listening to Machines Listening to Us

A score and experiment for [Zoom](https://zoom.us/), by [Mattin](http://mattin.org/)

Commissioned for and first performed at Machine Listening: Improvisation and Control, 13 March 2021
{{< nosup >}}[Documentation](https://youtu.be/EZvK8atIlnA?t=4033){{< /nosup >}}

Using a simple instructional score, I propose for my presentation to do a collective improvisation involving the audience using the audio settings of ZOOM. The idea will be to play with the algorithms that regulate AEC (Acoustic Echo Cancellation), AGC (Automatic Gain Control) and NS (Noise Suppression). By doing this we hopefully get more traction on the specific forms of mediation that involves sound within the reality of Zoom so prevalent these days.


## Score

This intervention will last 15 minutes in total and it requires your participation if you are willing to participate.

You are invited to turn on your microphone

You are invited to turn on your camera

The administrator will add you as panelist

If you are wearing headphones remove them

Click on the Zoom microphone icon and make sure output is set to speaker

Click on the audio settings

Adjust your microphone input level and your speaker output level

Increase them both until you feel you are on the verge of feedback,
without actually feedbacking

Unclick the setting - Automatically adjust microphone volume

In the setting - Suppress background noise - change from low to medium to
high to auto

Improvise with the controls