GMS


YAGMSMT

May 26, 2009 – 12:59 pm by John Keston

gmsdata1Translation: Yet Another GMS Micro Track. Many of these experiments are all starting to sound very similar. The reason why is that I’ve been doing all my testing with the same GMS preset file and the same set of virtual instruments in Ableton Live.

Soon, after I’ve slowed down on tailoring the code, I’ll start creating some new versions of things to see what sort of variety is possible. I also have plans for using these techniques in an ensemble.

GMS Microtrack 2



Tonight: MAW at the Mobile Music Symposium + GMS

May 22, 2009 – 12:40 pm by John Keston

innaTonight (Friday, May 22, 2009) MAW will be projecting at a party for the Mobile Music Symposium outside of the Nomad World Pub in Minneapolis from 9:00 PM to midnight. The artists include Jenny Schmid, Ali Momeni, David Steinman, Andrea Steudel, Rachel James, and Robin Schwartzman. I’ll be providing musical accompaniment using my gestural music sequencer, perhaps creating something similar to the following segment.

GMS Performance Excerpt #3



Odd Percussion Sequence

May 18, 2009 – 2:22 pm by John Keston

I rendered this odd percussion sequence from a GMS practice session in Ableton Live.

Odd Percussion Sequence



GMS Performance Excerpt #2

May 17, 2009 – 10:19 pm by John Keston

xmaslightsHere’s another unedited excerpt from a recent performance using the GMS. This example contains two live looped layers in a similar range at 124 bpm.

As shown in the photo, I was using a string of patio lights as one of my “light controllers” to create the sequences.

GMS Performance Excerpt #2



MAW Outing GMS Excerpt

May 15, 2009 – 11:03 pm by John Keston

mawaioutingHere’s a segment of audio from Wednesday’s MAW outing at Art Institutes Minnesota in downtown Minneapolis. I’m pretty happy with the arpeggiated, melodic loops I’m able to achieve with the right settings and a good light controller using this application. For video documentation of what was happening at the event, please visit minneapolisartonwheels.org.

This video shows me using various light controllers, including a string of patio lights, bike lights, and LED spinning tops to construct compositions using the GMS.

MAW Outing GMS Excerpt



Track Built Around My Favorite GMS Melody

May 13, 2009 – 11:45 pm by John Keston

inverted_topI was going to hold off on posting this piece until I had had a chance to produce it a little bit more. I did cheat and added a four-on-the-floor kick drum pattern to drive it along, but otherwise every loop was generated with “light controllers” using the GMS.

For this piece I used spinning tops with flashing colored LEDs inside. You may recognize the melody from My Favorite GMS Generated Melody So Far.

GMS Practice Piece Number 4



My Favorite GMS Generated Melody So Far

May 12, 2009 – 9:55 pm by John Keston

led_spinning_topI’ve been spending most of my limited spare time practicing with the GMS in preparation for tomorrow nights performance in Minneapolis. While practicing tonight I produced this melody. I was controlling the sequencer with a blinking led, spinning top and randomly looped this sequence of notes.

I’ve since built a track around it with more loops from the GMS, but it sounds good on its own. The nice thing about this technique is that everything I capture is MIDI, so if I get a good melody, but don’t like the sound, it’s easy to change the timbre, tempo, transposition, etc. In other words, beyond being a performance tool, I can use it effectively for composition and idea gathering.

My Favorite GMS Generated Melody So Far



GMS Practice Track Number 3

May 11, 2009 – 3:47 pm by John Keston

top_lightsI’ve almost finished with my initial round of tweaking and bug fixing on the GMS, so I’ve finally been able to put a bit more time into actually using the software for its intended purpose. My most recent work with it involves a companion document in Ableton Live that loads a number of virtual instruments into about nine separate MIDI tracks. Ableton provides the external sync via the Apple IAC (Inter-Application Communication) drivers. In turn, the GMS sends MIDI note on and off data to the instruments in Ableton. Using this method I can live loop on various tracks and build a multi-timbral composition in real-time. Here’s an example for a recent practice session.

GMS Practice Practice Track Number 3



GMS Practice Track Number 2

May 10, 2009 – 10:16 pm by John Keston

This recent practice session illustrates the use of external sync and live looping of MIDI data captured from the GMS in Ableton Live.

GMS Practice Track 2



GMS Practice Track Number 1

May 9, 2009 – 10:42 pm by John Keston

Here’s another sample of a practice session using the GMS and Ableton Live.

GMS Practice Track 1