David Emlyn Rhoderick - Students

My name is David Rhoderick and I am in my last year as an eArts major with a minor in Architectural Acoustics.  I came to RPI because I was interested in what an Electronic Arts major encompassed.  Now I see myself as an aspiring electronic artist, so I think I figured out something.

Music is one thing that I can remember being a part of my life longer than anything else. I don't remember when I started playing classical piano but it was over a decade ago.  I picked up classical guitar shortly thereafter.   I took a number of ABRSM examinations for piano and music theory.  After joining a band early in high school, I learned bass and drums.  Lately, I've picked up turntables and have started making my own instruments.

In high school though, I was torn between choosing a life of biological study and a life of making music.  I wanted to be a neurosurgeon and applied to every school except RPI looking to do something in biology.  While thinking that, I was active in a band that self-produced albums and played in high school Battles of the Bands (coming in third and second in sequential years).  I had no idea what I was getting into when I came to Troy.

Since coming here, I have learned a wealth of knowledge in a broad spectrum of subjects.  Living with engineers and taking arts classes, I have been trying to combine my logical and practical self with my dreamer and creator self.  I've since branched out of music.  I have taken on graphic design, video production, a little bit of animation, web design, and sound art.

Currently, I am working on my thesis, which should hopefully sell myself to myself as an artist.  It is called ThermoDJ.  It is a computer automated audience response based DJ/VJ system.  Using accelerometers and thermal imaging, the "rave" audience communicates their level of enjoyment to the computer, which intelligently mixes or fully synthesizes techno/trance music tracks and video in order to maximize the positive experience.  This project has been slowly refined over the past two years and I am looking to the final push to make it a reality.  Be sure to get your eyes and ears open for ThermoDJ!