Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrina Zhang
Hi Andrina, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Looking back at my journey, I always feel blessed. The founding stone that helped me to get here is I chose to follow my heart and picked Interdisciplinary Computing and the Arts major (ICAM for short) with a specialization in Computer Music and Music Technology as my double major at UC San Diego. All the artists I’ve met on this journey have been inspirational to different extend. I feel a strong sense of belonging to the community around me and am willing to give back when the time comes.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The question made me hesitant at first sight. It depends on everyone’s different understanding of smooth roads and struggles. I would categorize my path as being smooth, even with the moments where I felt lost or stumbled. Fortunately, I’m prepared and resilient to the growing pains that I expect at this time of my life. I get excited about entitling myself as an artist, so the grindings were taken naturally.
The struggles were caused by my fresh touch in music when I first started this major. I only played piano and drum set when I was in primary school, so I was almost at a fresh start when I chose the ICAM major. I’ve encountered people asking me why did I choose this major and that became a little stressful for me at the beginning when I was also trying to figure things out. The confident part was that I was sure I had time for a double major and ICAM was the one (maybe also the only one) I wanted to major in. After one year of learning and when classed fully went back in person after COVID-19, I overcame the burden of not knowing enough. 2022-2023 gave me the strongest feeling that I am a part of the community. I love how this intense feeling has been kept from then on.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m an engineer and an artist. During my time at UC San Diego, I have done computing arts projects in different programming languages. Projects focusing on computer music are in C++ (JUCE) and Pure Data; visual arts and machine learning projects are in Python. I started to have some spatial audio experience when I worked in the Audio Spatialization Lab called Sonic Arts @ Qualcomm Institute – Calit2. I took a spatialization class from Professor Shahrokh Yadegari and got to work with him in the lab, so I had experience in spatial audio electronic music production and exposure to spatial audio algorithms. I learned a lot during the past summer when I was interning at the lab and grew exponentially by having hands-on experience in beamforming. Currently, I work at Bose as a software engineering co-op, working on the next generation of smart soundbars.
Any big plans?
I moved from San Diego to Boston at the beginning of this July for the 6-month software engineering co-op at Bose. I enjoy the tasks that I’m working on and am excited about learning new things in pro audio and meeting with new people. Besides work, I plan to continue creating computing artwork and producing music, to get myself a better portfolio as an artist. I wish to collaborate with other musicians or visual artists on digital pieces and installations. I look forward to seeing what will happen and the various projects I / my future team can create.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://andrinazxx.github.io/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrinazxx/
