diy & experimental electronic music

[analoq]

Anyone out there making your own music-making tools? Any Reaktor (http://www.native-instruments.com/index.php?id=reaktor5_us), Max/MSP (http://www.cycling74.com/), pd (http://puredata.info), SuperCollider (http://www.audiosynth.com/), ChucK (http://chuck.cs.princeton.edu/) or even SynthEdit (http://synthedit.com/) aficionados? VST Programmers? Circuit-benders? Anything you'd like to share?


I'm probably barking up the wrong tree, but I figure I'll share anyways. I've been doing programming and music independently for years but until recently I've never tried to put the two together. I had some extra time over the holidays so I decided to code a simple software synthesizer.

Now, I don't have the strong DSP theory or calculus background necessary to implement filters or band-limited impulse trains, but thankfully there is an awesome website http://musicdsp.org which I was able to adapt code from.

My synth speaks MIDI, so I was able to demonstrate it by running a 10+ year old GM file I wrote thru it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r69dXsDUc7g
It was a fun project and I'm eager to do more along these lines. I'm currently developing a basic *drum-machine. My goal is to make some music using nothing but software that I wrote. Should be fun to try, at least.

*And here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAJ7QTWjCwA

Tracker-style sequencer with simple synths:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7v57AP7Z0g

[Harmony]

one day, when I find some of that "extra time" that I've been hearing so much about, I'd love to sit down and d.i.y. an fx plugin or two. Looks like you've got a pretty good start there analoq.

[Yoozer]

That is totally neat. If my G4 wasn't such a dinosaur I'd try something like it too.

I'd be happy already if I could make a simple MIDI plugin, something like this:

http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/292/abletonchordmemoryplugimo9.png

It shouldn't be rocket science to make, even with that UI, but it'd be awesome.

[Zephyr]

Wait, so that would process a midi message and then turn it into a chord, then send it back out? That'd be sweet! If you do make it, please share, and it doesn't look terribly difficult.

[analoq]

one day, when I find some of that "extra time" that I've been hearing so much about, I'd love to sit down and d.i.y. an fx plugin or two.
It's easy: Instead of enjoying the holidays and spending time with loved ones, just sit at your computer all alone reading about DSP programming.
In other news, I just realized how incredibly sad my life is. But seriously, I bet you certainly could make some interesting FX on your own. You've got the brains for it!
I'd be happy already if I could make a simple MIDI plugin, something like this:
(Interesting Mock-Up)
ooh, that's interesting. The only way I can think to do something like that with Live is several single-note keyboard splits, each split going to a Chord and then an Arpeggiator effect for the strum... which is way too cumbersome and complicated. Your UI mockup looks very intuitive.

cheers.

[DJ SymBiotiX]

Wow, thats really cool... and surprizingly something I was going to ask about very soon.
Right now im in this course at university called Real-Time Systems. One of our final projects is to make something out of an FPGA board. The standard thing is an mp3 player, but Im going to make a Synth out of it. Its going to take in midi through USB and output sound. Basically we get this board with a bunch of I/O (usb, sound, ps/2, serial, etc), and we have to write all the drivers and software for everything. This dsp site will be a GREAT resource, thanks alot :D

[analoq]

Now that ^^^ is hardcore. Best of luck with your project and do keep us posted on it.

[The Pezman]

Max/MSP (http://www.cycling74.com/),
Had this for years, as I've crossed paths with it several times in my travels, but I want to wait til after college to get into it (especially now with Version 5). But I've seen the shit it can do:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbpZBQ7jXgI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5beEz1n5A6Y&feature=related

pd (http://puredata.info), SuperCollider (http://www.audiosynth.com/),
Just downloaded this the other day. Is there much of a difference between it and chucK?

I've wondered about using tools like these for remixing.

At any rate, I haven't developed my own synths or anything like that, but I might start hanging out here (http://www.harvestworks.org/cms/), in which case it could happen. In the meantime, if you do anything with it let us know.

[analoq]

Just downloaded this the other day. Is there much of a difference between it and chucK?
SuperCollider? I haven't played enough with ChucK to really know the differences, though I would like to. The Audicle (http://audicle.cs.princeton.edu/) environment seems particularly interesting.

Speaking of on-the-fly programming... Before I started work on my synth I coded minimal sequencer data-structures in Python, which when loaded into the interactive-interpreter allowed me to do on-the-fly manipulation of the sequences. I wrote a basic OSC client to "play" the sequences in real-time to Reaktor ensembles.

Doing something like a ritardondo was as simple as writing a for-loop to decrement the tempo variable each iteration at a specified interval. My efforts were not sophisticated enough to be useful, but fun to play with nonetheless.
I've wondered about using tools like these for remixing.
Yeah, it seems unwieldy towards that end, but if you make any progress on that front do tell.

cheers.

[The Pezman]

As long this thread exists let's post/talk about other stuff along these lines, since I totally geek out about it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6yGS_yQmj4

This one's kinda crazy; a performance by this media artist who came to my school sophomore year. Since I was just getting into the stuff at the time, I volunteered to be one of the singers. You can see me at 2:27, the bass/baritone singer. No, I don't understand what the hell was going on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oX0MU8BNaY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyWHUQew1MU

[Yoozer]

As long this thread exists let's post/talk about other stuff along these lines, since I totally geek out about it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6yGS_yQmj4



Hook up Voices of the Apocalypse, combine the trigger with an envelope, and you can have yourself some awesome Ligeti action going on there.

This is a project I found out about today - when this works, it'll beat the crap out of Unisyn and SoundDiver, so if you can code and have some older synths that listen to MIDI, give it a try: http://code.google.com/p/ctrlr/

[analoq]

As long this thread exists let's post/talk about other stuff along these lines, since I totally geek out about it.
Fair enough. It's kinda funny how once one gets past the trance and the bigbeats they find electronic music becomes very esoteric very quickly. Electronic music was always about the avant garde.

Anyway, my YouTube pal, frostedminipete (http://www.youtube.com/user/frostedminipete) made this crazy circuit-bent optically-sensitive thingamajig:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HyVwK6iP5U

Also, I came across this late 70s demonstration earlier today: the fine lady you see here programmed the logic for her accompaniment in C and loaded into this monster:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oz_zwyiuq4
It appears to be some sort of intelligent arpeggiator, like a 30 year old Karma. I like these sorts of self-accompanying performances.

[Sengin]

I have been interested in computers for a long time now. Audio, not as long, but it's definitely a strong interest. Hell, that is why I am taking a Real-Time Systems class (and in the same semester as Operating Systems (no, not using OSes, but making/programming them) and AI): for the audio/dsp components of the class. I really cannot wait until the later labs when we are doing audio stuff (I think the final lab is something to do with synthesis of audio to sound like an orchestra or something).

Also note that this class is an elective, and HARD. Including myself, there are 4 students in the class. Apparently I like to tortune myself, as I am the 2nd student to take OS and Real-Time in the same semester (in recent memory of the professor, who actually has a damn good memory - he hadn't seen me in three and a half years and remembered my name), let alone adding AI in there too. ...that's how much I want to learn and do with audio.

[DJ SymBiotiX]

hmm... lol did you read my comment? Im in real-time systems as well in my university (except there are like 22 people in my class).

Also, I just got my FPGA board last night.. and me and my friend spent 8 hours (untill 6 AM) programming drivers for the LED's, and Input Switches/buttons. I'll make a vid of it today :P

EDIT!: lol ok here is my video of my first Verilog HDL program on this beast.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPa7OP_no8I&fmt=18

[Yoozer]

Max for Live 8.

http://www.cycling74.com/story/2009/1/15/114420/967

Looks like I'll be building that concept of mine this year with a bit of luck.

[analoq]

My next step: A drum machine.
I'm controlling it rather uniquely by means of a mysterious minimalist interface (http://monome.org/) and an AudioKontrol 1:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAJ7QTWjCwA

Yeah, I couldn't resist throwing in some tube grunge...
cheers.

[po!]

i haven't really thought about making my own filters or synths (what would i do that hasn't already been done?), but i have thought about developing a sequencer/DAW. i definitely have some ideas for that... but it would just take waaaay too much time

[The Pezman]

mysterious minimalist interface (http://monome.org/)
I've been thinking of getting one of those for some time, but in the end I settled for something cheaper:
http://ci.vestax.com/en/products/img/vci300_top_L.jpg



How much did it end up costing you? Do you think it was worth it?

And what do you use the AudioKontrol for most of the time? And what's that device on the right?

[analoq]

(obnoxiously large photo)I don't see how that device has anything in common as it is specific for deejaying; the monome has no defined use or purpose other than what you want it to be.How much did it end up costing you? Do you think it was worth it?I couldn't say, I got it as part of a trade a few months ago. In general I would say that since they are difficult to get ahold of, the prices for them tend to be overinflated.And what do you use the AudioKontrol for most of the time?The AudioKontrol is mainly my audio interface. Hadn't really made use of its controller features before.And what's that device on the right?It's a Metasonix (http://metasonix.com) TM-1, which as of November is no longer being made.

[The Pezman]

I don't see how that device has anything in common as it is specific for deejaying; the monome has no defined use or purpose other than what you want it to be.
Well, they're certainly not exactly the same, but thanks to Max/MSP I can also make the VCI fairly modular. Maybe not to the extent of the Monome (which is why I may get one someday), but given my resources I think it's a fairly decent thing to play around with for now.

[sgx]

That is totally neat. If my G4 wasn't such a dinosaur I'd try something like it too.

I'd be happy already if I could make a simple MIDI plugin, something like this:

http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/292/abletonchordmemoryplugimo9.png

It shouldn't be rocket science to make, even with that UI, but it'd be awesome.

Bro, you are probably looking forward to Max for Live in Live 8, eh?

EDIT: I should probably read through the thread before posting, eh?

[Yoozer]

Bro, you are probably looking forward to Max for Live in Live 8, eh?
If I catch the Ableton people on the Messe I'm going to hug every single one of 'm.

[anosou]

Max for Live pretty much made my pants explode. Even though I don't use Live much at the moment (mainly because I'm not comfortable with it yet) this is reason enough to never leave my room.

Also, more experimental electronic music on OCR! Using a simple melody / chord structure you can vastly alter the timbre and soundscape to make an arrangement that is varied without having to be a showcase in western music theory tradition.

[The Pezman]

Also, more experimental electronic music on OCR! Using a simple melody / chord structure you can vastly alter the timbre and soundscape to make an arrangement that is varied without having to be a showcase in western music theory tradition.
I would love to, but it gets kind of hard to remix a melody into something experimental. You're a judge... imagine what a time you'd have with evaluating something like that.

I do have some grandiose, never-been-done plans for my entering remix, though.

[anosou]

I would love to, but it gets kind of hard to remix a melody into something experimental. You're a judge... imagine what a time you'd have with evaluating something like that.

I do have some grandiose, never-been-done plans for my entering remix, though.

I think it's rather the other way around! Experimental isn't always noise btw, and even if you want noise there are some cool drum only tracks you can arrange rhythmic patterns from. DrumUltimA made an all-percussion mix that passed so there's a lot of possibility AS LONG AS THE SOURCE IS IDENTIFIABLE AND DOMINANT MIND YOU :D

[analoq]

AS LONG AS THE SOURCE IS IDENTIFIABLE AND DOMINANTTherein lies the issue. Concrete, microtonal, algorithmic composition, circuit-bending and other electronic techniques don't particularly lend themselves to the pop melodies and rhythms of the video game genre. Recognizability is necessary for OCR but that limitation is not conducive to experimental music when the whole point is not to have limits.

Not that there's any shame in that. Reworking music from a niche genre into far removed styles is plenty esoteric by itself.

[The Pezman]

DrumUltimA made an all-percussion mix that passed
When was this? I'd love to hear it. However, the only percussion-only track that comes to mind off the top of my head is the Chrono Trigger World Map music in 65 million BC.

Do you think you could make an experimental (whatever that means to you, I suppose) track to submit here? Maybe then we'd have a better idea of how you see it working.

[zircon]

That's exactly what he remixed - you'll hear it when it gets posted.

I'm still pretty sure experimental stuff could easily get posted here. Look at BT's latest album. VERY experimental - nothing is in 4/4 across the whole thing and just about everything is insanely chopped, warped, and bent to hell. Massive 15 minute soundscapes. But there are still melodies of sorts.

[The Vagrance]

Really if one wants to do an experimental remix all they have to do is start off with an experimental source (which means Final Fantasy games are probably out of the question)

[anosou]

Therein lies the issue. Concrete, microtonal, algorithmic composition, circuit-bending and other electronic techniques don't particularly lend themselves to the pop melodies and rhythms of the video game genre. Recognizability is necessary for OCR but that limitation is not conducive to experimental music when the whole point is not to have limits.

Not that there's any shame in that. Reworking music from a niche genre into far removed styles is plenty esoteric by itself.

While I most certainly does not think BT is experimental, zircon has a valid point. It's possible to work in motifs from sources and like Vagrance said, you could probably do well in look around for sources suitable to your intended "style".

I bet it's harder than making you know trance or metal but it's absolutely possible and I, for one, is trying to create a remix in a very experimental style.. We'll see when time allows!

Noise or really twisted breakcore would probably work well if you borrow distinct rhythmic patterns from a source and maybe simple bassline chord structure in a song without melody. More algorithmic compositions a la Stockhausen and Cage are probably not possible because the whole point of these is to free them from human thinking. Thus using such a style for an arrangement is not only hard but quite stupid :) Circuitbending, microtonal and in some cases algorithmic (depending on what algorithms you are actually using and for what) is still possible. The limit is ofc that it's hard to make an all out circuit bent track with JUST noise. The key issue is finding the balance.

Ah well, hope we've sparked some interest for these kinda things anyway.

[The Pezman]

Really if one wants to do an experimental remix all they have to do is start off with an experimental source
Hmmm... what games would you suggest for that? REZ comes to mind... sort of.

[analoq]

I bet it's harder than making you know trance or metal but it's absolutely possible
I never said it was impossible just not particularly conducive. I think our disagreement is more fundamental than the angle you are coming at:
I, for one, is trying to create a remix in a very experimental style..
And I'll respect that as long as you respect your artistic vision. The moment you compromise for the sake of recognizability or any scrutiny on what you perceive a remix should be, then you are no longer making an experimental remix -- you are making a normal remix with some experimental techniques thrown in. And I don't call that avant-garde, I call that a gimmick.

So, best of luck to you on treading that fine line.

[anosou]

I never said it was impossible just not particularly conducive. I think our disagreement is more fundamental than the angle you are coming at:

And I'll respect that as long as you respect your artistic vision. The moment you compromise for the sake of recognizability or any scrutiny on what you perceive a remix should be, then you are no longer making an experimental remix -- you are making a normal remix with some experimental techniques thrown in. And I don't call that avant-garde, I call that a gimmick.

So, best of luck to you on treading that fine line.

Now I feel the pressure :D

We'll see how it turns out

[The Pezman]

I'm taking Artificial Life right now, and my teacher mentioned a number of applications to music and art. I looked through the Artificial Life Open Dictionary and found a couple (http://www.intlab.soka.ac.jp/~unemi/sbeat/) things (http://www.draves.org/bomb/) of interest (http://helios.hampshire.edu/~lasCCS/genbebop.html). If I do something like this for my senior project, it might be possible for me to "evolve" an OCRemix out of the source.

[The Vagrance]

Hmmm... what games would you suggest for that? REZ comes to mind... sort of.

Not really though, just because Rez mainly just had a bunch of Techno tracks by relatively recognizable artists, with the exception of the final track which is by a pretty damn big name in electronic music (Adam Freeland).

[analoq]

I'm sorry, but I must post this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QztYiikQMf8


To make up for that, here's an old favorite:
http://musicthing.blogspot.com/2005/05/tiny-music-makers-pt-3-thx-sound.html

The story behind the THX sound. So hardcore it puts nearly everything else to shame...

[anosou]

That made me laugh :D

Treewave ( www.treewave.com ) does some amazing things with a printer if you wanna listen btw.

[The Pezman]

Can anyone speak to the utility of the musicpole (http://surbahar.blogspot.com/) or Axis-64 (http://surbahar.blogspot.com/2008/02/axis-64-harmonic-table-keyboard.html)? They look pretty damn awesome, but there's no way I'd drop for either of them without trying them out first.

[analoq]

I'm rather intrigued by the Axis64. A while back, I programmed the Axis layout for my Monome (tilting it diagonally) to get an idea of how it plays. The chords and scales do make sense but it's certainly a different animal -- no amount of keyboard experience will help you with that thing.

They're coming out with an Axis49 soon. If it approaches affordability I'm going to have to consider it.

[The Pezman]

Hot professor at some college has a ten-part(!) video series on her modifying the Axis to fit a different kind of scale.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luLEthFtxrY&feature=related

I guess I would like to see some statements about whether that particular layout is the best way to arrange the notes. Or something. I don't know nearly enough theory to make a judgment, but I don't like that C-Thru music has just thrown up a website with this totally strange animal and expects someone to buy it.

Also, check (http://www.marcodi.com/home.html) this (http://www.midigun.com/midiGunchart.htm) stuff (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcATQ458wx0&feature=related) out (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsEziytzwC8).

[Zephyr]

I hope the Harpejji gets popular, it looks cool and I want one. Bass player and guitar in one, with variable envelopes and note detection even. You could even wire that to transmit midi if you knew what you were doing.

[analoq]

Hot professor at some college has a ten-part(!) video series on her modifying the Axis to fit a different kind of scale.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luLEthFtxrY&feature=related
I couldn't help but watch all (12) of these. Very interesting and she is rather captivating...

I don't know nearly enough theory to make a judgment, but I don't like that C-Thru music has just thrown up a website with this totally strange animal and expects someone to buy it.

I'm a proponent of the idea. There are physical limitations in what sort of keyboard layout you could use for a piano, harpsichord, organ due to the mechanical/acoustic nature of the instruments. With electronics, you don't have those limitations so I'm glad C-Thru is among the companies out there trying something different. I wish there was more competition among alternative controllers, bring those prices down.

I guess I would like to see some statements about whether that particular layout is the best way to arrange the notes. Or something.
In the Jordan Rudess Axis videos he says there are some things you can do with that layout you can't do on a regular keyboard -- and vice versa. I don't think there's a good answer to your question; does a guitar use a better note layout than a piccolo?

[The Pezman]

I'm a proponent of the idea. There are physical limitations in what sort of keyboard layout you could use for a piano, harpsichord, organ due to the mechanical/acoustic nature of the instruments. With electronics, you don't have those limitations so I'm glad C-Thru is among the companies out there trying something different. I wish there was more competition among alternative controllers, bring those prices down.
I think you misunderstood. I'm very happy to see this product, and I'm excited by the idea of pushing boundaries in general. Like I mentioned, I'm wrestling with the ideas of what I can do with it. However, with this controller trying to forge such new ground, I feel the burden of proof ought to be on them in order to allow us to see for ourselves what we can do with it. In other words, let us try before we buy.
In the Jordan Rudess Axis videos he says there are some things you can do with that layout you can't do on a regular keyboard -- and vice versa. I don't think there's a good answer to your question; does a guitar use a better note layout than a piccolo?
Fair enough, but what I guess I'm saying here is that I'd like to understand what drove the designers to arrange the notes the way they did. For example, a regular 1-3-5 chord can be played with a finger, but a scale is less intuitive. From a theory perspective, what drove them to put the notes where they did? And as you said, unlike a guitar or piccolo, there were no physical limitations about what went where, so they were free to arrange the notes in what I imagine was the way that (theoretically) would allow for optimum music composition and performance.

[analoq]

The inventory of the layout, Peter Davies, sells his own version of the controller: http://www.theshapeofmusic.com/

According to the site he's been researching this stuff since the early 80s. You could try emailing him and asking if he's written any research papers relevant to his layout.

Though, if you play a bit of piano and guitar I don't think anything needs to be explained. It has the action of a keyboard instrument but with chord shapes and scales like a guitar but using more logical patterns. Any musician can see the layout is clever, at least.

Whether it's optimal for composition/performance/etc, again, who can say?

[The Pezman]

Though, if you play a bit of piano and guitar I don't think anything needs to be explained. It has the action of a keyboard instrument but with chord shapes and scales like a guitar but using more logical patterns. Any musician can see the layout is clever, at least.
I don't know the first thing about guitar. Could you explain a little more about that part please?

[zircon]

I've always been kind of interested in a more intuitive mapping for typing keyboard to MIDI. Seems like most arrangements assign white notes to ZXCVBN and QWERTY with black notes on ASDFGH and 123456. I think this could be done better... though I don't know how, offhand. For people like me, that type ridiculously fast, I could imagine some cool musical applications.

[analoq]

I don't know the first thing about guitar. Could you explain a little more about that part please?
The similarity is in the sense that on guitar, there are certain chord shapes and scale patterns along the frets that can be moved horizontally and to some extend vertically along the fretboard for transposition. The Axis does the same, but more fluently.

I've always been kind of interested in a more intuitive mapping for typing keyboard to MIDI. Seems like most arrangements assign white notes to ZXCVBN and QWERTY with black notes on ASDFGH and 123456. I think this could be done better... though I don't know how, offhand. For people like me, that type ridiculously fast, I could imagine some cool musical applications.
If you come up with some ideas, do share them. I've written some software previously along these lines:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXQSPUDvefg
I got an octave and a half and assign the bottom manual to an arpeggiator and I'm able to perform a simple piano piece. Geeky fun, but not exactly a revolution.

[analoq]

Came across this self-playing modular patch just now,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRoj0ft6fOw
Lovely, and brilliant too.

[Yoozer]

why do these people have a zillion bucks for a great modular

and days of time to figure this kind of shit out

but always, always, always fail to record their work with a decent harddiskrecorder/audio-interface/anything that's not a camera mic


ffffffffffuuuuuuuuuu

[analoq]

Back to the Axis64...

I'm rather intrigued by the Axis64. A while back, I programmed the Axis layout for my Monome (tilting it diagonally) to get an idea of how it plays.
I made a video demonstrating this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JptJyQ3huE0

Also, the aforementioned layout inventor Peter Davies is on YouTube, can't help but post this video of his:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK88yT7U39U

cheers.

[The Pezman]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qNtL5VxYcE

Hmmm....

[Nase]

Fun thread, not the type of stuff I'd expect to find on OCR.

Maybe I'll feel inspired to try SynthEdit again and do something more than the usual VA layout.

[hobscrk777]

Analoq,

I really enjoyed this thread, I found myself quite interested in the video you posted to youtube showing your custom workspace. I've got a lot of interest in music and in programming, and your thread has inspired me to want to combine the two of them, much like you did. Could you post some kind of tutorial, or at the very least, a rough description of the whole process of creating that application? I imagine there might be some other people interested in how to set this kind of thing up. I'm not looking to build my own advanced suite of editing tools (there are plenty of software packages out there already), but I think it would be really satisfying to code something basic like what you did to gain a deeper understanding of how this all is done.

[analoq]

I wouldn't really know where to start with a tutorial, but I can go over the general steps that brought me to where I currently am:


My conceptual knowledge comes from a music technology program I went thru in college. The important thing was understanding how digital audio works: Pulse-Code Modulation, Nyquist sampling theorem, etc.. wikipedia has some articles on digital audio (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_audio).


Knowledge of synthesis came about from this program as well. Important topics include waveforms (phase, frequency, amplitude, overtones, duty cycle), filters (lopass, bandpass, highpass) and control signals (envelopes, LFOs). SOS has a great collection of synthesis tutorials (http://www.soundonsound.com/search?Section=8&Subject=12) (part 1 is on page 3).


I used modular synths and software like Reaktor to help me understand how all these components work together (signal path) to make different sounds. If you're on PC a good free program along these lines is SynthEdit (http://www.synthedit.com).

After being comfortable with a variety of modular software synth engines, I began checking out sound programming environments like ChucK (http://audiosynth.com)
Then I started playing with a set of C++ classes for synthesis, Synthesis ToolKit (http://ccrma.stanford.edu/software/stk/). This gave me an idea of how to organize code in a software synthesizer.
Now I was ready to try making my own software synthesizer. I set up my classes in a manner similar to STK and adapted code from musicdsp.org for my oscillators and filters. I used the cross-platform RtAudio (http://www.music.mcgill.ca/~gary/rtaudio/) library to interface with the sound device and RtMidi (http://www.music.mcgill.ca/~gary/rtmidi/) to interface with MIDI.
After I got everything working I dropped the Rt libraries and wrote my own Audio/MIDI interface code using the APIs provided by the OS (Leopard, in my case)
So yeah, pretty much a top-down approach. All that may be too general to help you at all, but hopefully I've given enough background so that you can direct me towards more specific topics you're interested in. Last thing I have to mention is inspiration: what keeps me motivated and interested in this stuff? ...

- http://matrixsynth.com
- http://synthtopia.com
- http://createdigitalmusic.com

Keeping up with the blogs and watching all the cool things other people are doing, I can't help but want to contribute.
cheers.

[analoq]

I hate animals but at least it's an interesting use of SynthEdit...

MeowSynth: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VYtQ9jP73s

[Arcana]

I don't know if this is interesting at all, but a professor at my University works on a lot of music technology and music information retrieval.

There's a bit of a synthesis and audio analysis project that he's worked on that apparently helps support the creation of synths as well.

http://marsyas.sness.net/about/overview

I don't know much about this overall but if you're touching on programming your own synths there might be something interesting here for you guys.

[analoq]

While I don't think I'd have much use for it, the research is definitely interesting. The Genre Meter demo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDLhrc_WR5Q) was especially cool.

And to update on my own endeavors, here's a video demonstrating and experimenting with visualizing chords on my monome sonome adaption:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pSSfz8JbJ8

cheers.

[Arcana]

He works on the floor above me, so if there's any specific questions or research you're interested in I can get you connected. I wish I took his music information retrieval course but I finished all of my courses by the time he got around to offering it again.

You do some interesting work Analoq, I'm starting to pass along the vids to my friends. I personally have an interest in HCI (human-computer interaction) but no experience with performing music - it's cool to see people using these kinds of devices to "play music better" so to speak.

[The Pezman]

I personally have an interest in HCI (human-computer interaction)
Do you think you might go to grad school for that? I myself am taking at least two years off before I even consider the possibility, but at present that sounds like something I might want to do. However, I admit I know little about it other than "make UIs simpler."

[Arcana]

Would *I* personally go into grad school for that? Well, at this point it's too late for me, I'm in graduate school for something else (human factors and communicatino in software engineering, specifically).

But it is possible for someone to go into graduate school in human-computer interaction, yes. A lot of it is basic elements such as testing new styles and paradigms of UIs for computers (maybe new "styles" of certain applications we all use), but more radical branches deal with different hardware peripherals and their usefuless (ex: interfaces that support two mice, chord keyboarding, information visualizations). I don't know who the "big names" are but I know of some research done by William Cohen (University of Waterloo) and Peggy Storey (University of Victoria) that deals with HCI issues. George Tzanetakis (the guy doing the music stuff) might be involved in that as well from the music playing and production standpoint (one of his postdocs programmed a WACOM tablet to play back samples, for example).

[analoq]

I hate to bump old threads but I know at least 2 people were lurking this thread, so I might as well give an update:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7v57AP7Z0g

I made a tracker-style sequencer with simple synths. It's a meagre app but a notable milestone for me as it does provide the bare minimum of features in order to make (chippy) music. Plus, there's some awkward visualizations.

Next stop: the piano roll.

[Zephyr]

This is pretty impressive, you're moving along quickly.

[analoq]

Thanks Zephyr, it was a lot of work even for something that basic. I have a heightened appreciation for companies like Native Instruments that really make art out of software. Not to soapbox on piracy, but music software really is worth the money...


Anyway, one of the blogs I follow is a guy who's been developing live coding software using Haskell. He just posted a new screencast demonstrating it:
http://yaxu.org/more-hackery/

I was working on a similar polyrhythmic sequencer for Python's interactive interpreter but I never got near that level of sophistication. Interesting stuff.

[dfalkmusic]

very cool synth you got there analoq :) a bit less than a week ago I made a VERY simple midi drumpad out of a broken headphone. it works pretty well actually. if i ever get a decent camera i'll make a video to show it off but until then.. you guys can just guess how it looks and functions.

[Yoozer]

http://narrat1ve.com/

Was this posted already? It's pretty unique for what it does :).

[analoq]

^^^ Looks nerdy enough. Where are the videos of it in action?
midi drumpad out of a broken headphoneYeah get a camera, I have to see that.


As for content, I saw this interview with Curtis Roads who has been doing work with granular synthesis since the 70s. Insight on "microsound" composition, interesting landscaping analogy and you get to see the innards of a Hammond organ. Something for everybody:

Part 1: The breakdown (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Xy0szkt7ao)

Part 2: Getting Granular (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ehu8u_JTjw)

Part 3: Build it up (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul4y_e3TLyk)

[Yoozer]

^^^ Looks nerdy enough. Where are the videos of it in action?

http://narrat1ve.com/images/WTPA_095_vs_The_Knife.mpg on http://www.narrat1ve.com/LejendaryAdventures.html (ctrl+f "video"). Yeah, the site design could be a bit more systematic, but hey.

[analoq]

I'm not sure whether this is serious or satirical, but I liked it:

"Compression Sound Art"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iMPxJ8WSkc

Includes all Beatles songs, Beethoven symphonies, entire film soundtracks and more reduced to indecipherable glitches. Too unusual to pass up.

[analoq]

Here's something for your iPods, a collection of four 1960s avant-garde electronic music works from the Columbia/Princeton University with descriptions:

http://www.analogartsensemble.net/2009/06/electronic-music-from-columbia.html

Included is early work from none other than Wendy Carlos.

[The Pezman]

Anyone heard of Harvestworks, Eyebeam, and/or NYC resistor?

I hope to be allying with them in the months to come.

[The Pezman]

Bumping this thread. I can't believe I didn't know this existed:

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/472495

It's the C-64 layout in flash form! Give it a try. It's very visceral.

[Legion303]

Audio engineering at its finest: http://www.behance.net/Gallery/Music-From-a-Stapler/140956

I have two synths "in progress" (for like 3 years) but I wouldn't feel right pimping them here until I at least look at some of the other ones posted in this thread, so I won't. Plus, they both kind of suck.

-steve

[Zephyr]

Music from Stapler is sweet! That's really well done!

[Legion303]

Ah, I guess the thread is more about "cool music stuffs" and less about "what I made with Synthedit." Still neat. Analoq, your stuff is great.

Here are my synths:
1. "Eat A Bag of Dicks" (SynthEdit--VST only, sorry)
http://neutronstar.org/tmp/dicks.dll

2. "PadMe" (Synth Maker, VST again, very old version but the new one is on a drive at home)
http://neutronstar.org/tmp/padme.zip

EDIT: looks like the version of PadMe on my site is standalone (exe) only.

EDIT2: PadMe evolved into a regular synth when I unhid some of the effects. Here's its current state, which I've been calling "4osc" in a fit of originality:
http://neutronstar.org/tmp/4osc.exe

-steve

[Arcana]

I'm wondering if anyone here has had the opportunity to really play with the Tenori-on.

http://www.global.yamaha.com/design/tenori-on/

I saw one at the store and played with it (for not long, maybe only about 10 minutes) but it seems like it would be extremely fun to experiment with. I've put it on the list of things that I am actually consider buying.

However, it's quite a steep purchase at $999 and there are apparently a few issues with it such as having a bad MIDI Clock, and terrible samples (which you can replace). But, it seems extremely fun and something that I could learn to work with to create some really cool patterns on the fly when hooked up to a computer.

[loomcore]

Audio engineering at its finest: http://www.behance.net/Gallery/Music-From-a-Stapler/140956

Haha, that's cool! I've been doing something similar with the sound of a mobile phone interefering with a stereo actually - coincidence, heh :smile: