MAW Media Mash-up at the WBSC

Posted on September 25, 2009 by John C.S. Keston

Earlier this month I shared an excerpt of music from a performance at a recent Minneapolis Art on Wheels exhibition. MAW artist, Andrea Steudel, did some excellent video documentation that highlights the artwork and sound that transpired at the event.

The audio quality is quite good, considering the conditions in the space, and goes a long way to illustrate the ambiance during the night. Please enjoy the video and checkout the original post at http://minneapolisartonwheels.org/content/media-mash-wbsc.

Step Sequencer Built in MaxMSP

Posted on September 23, 2009 by John C.S. Keston

I built this step sequencer in Max/MSP today as an exercise. My intent was a to build a simple step sequencer, however it got more and more complicated as time went on. This is probably not a tool that I’d actually use without some significant changes, but I learned quite a bit in the process of creating it.

The core of the sequencer is an itable object that contains the note sequence. The user interface items all have a green background. The first thing I wanted to be able to do was to allow the user to set the number of notes in the sequence and adjust the note range (click the image for a detailed view). Then I wanted to be able to randomize the notes regardless of the length and range of the sequence. I also added the ability for the user to set the velocity of each note in the sequence with a multislider object.

BPM, note length, amplitude envelope, and master volume are all also adjustable. After all that I added in the ability to send the sequence to a noteout object, so it can be played via MIDI. Here’s a clippy sequence I created using the tool.

Clippy Step Sequence

GMS Beta Release, September 28, 2009

Posted on September 23, 2009 by John C.S. Keston

gms_grab I have decided on September 28, 2009 as the release date of the GMS, coinciding with my performance with Graham O’Brien, and my birthday. We can call it a combination Ostraka with Dial System and DJ Zenrock show, GMS beta software release, and birthday party. Currently I am releasing a binary version of the software for Mac OS X only. A windows version is in the works, with no prediction of when it’ll arrive.

The GMS is a Gestural Music Sequencer that I developed in Processing (processing.org). The application samples video and displays it either normally or inverted so it looks as though you’re looking into a mirror. Each frame is analyzed for brightness, then the X and Y data of the brightest pixel is converted into a MIDI note. These notes produce a non-repeating sequence based on movement within the range of the capture device.

For more details, including audio examples and video produced using the GMS, checkout the
GMS category. There’s also a Gestural Music Sequencer Documentary Short produced by Josh Clos, that does a good job of illustrating what the software does.

The Microtonal Beep Master 9000

Posted on September 21, 2009 by John C.S. Keston

beep_master_9000 One of my recent class assignments led me to create a patch that automates the playback of a pair of microtonal tones with a frequency range of 200Hz to 1200Hz. I call it the Beep Master 9000 (press tongue firmly against cheek). The large toggles in the upper left turn on and off each of the sine waves individually. The large bangs to the right randomize the frequency when clicked. Below the bangs are a couple of smaller toggles that turn on metronomes that automate the randomization of the frequency for each cycle~ object. The number boxes allow the user to adjust how often the pitches are randomized in milliseconds. The encapsulated sub-patch (“p rightMetro” amd “p leftMetro”) multiplies the frequency of each metro by 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, or 1 randomly. This causes the beats to change by divisions (i.e. 4 times faster when multiplied by 0.25, twice as fast by 0.50, and so on). Here’s a sequence I created using the Beep Master 9000.

Beep Master 9000

Simple Wavetable Oscillation with Max/MSP

Posted on September 20, 2009 by John C.S. Keston

wavetable_oscillator For my second entry in the One Max Patch Per Week category I’ve created a very simple, monophonic, wavetable oscillator.

Although it hasn’t been a week since my last patch, I’m going to allow myself to produce more than one example per week, if I happen to have the time available. To create output from the patch I loaded a rim shot sample using the read button into the buffer object. After that I turned on the dac and dragged the mouse around on the keyboard, known as the kslider object in Max.

The kslider sends velocity data from the bottom right outlet. The velocity values are determined by the vertical position of the mouse on each key. I scaled the velocities to 100 through 127 so that I wouldn’t get very quiet notes while dragging near the bottom of the keyboard. View the comments to copy the compressed patcher.

Simple Wavetable Oscillator