Monophonic Step Sequencer Max for Live Device

I have converted a Max patch I build into a Max for Live device as an exercise for learning M4L. The original patch is a monophonic step sequencer that I wrote about in Step Sequencer Built in MaxMSP. I ran into some difficulties converting the patch along the way. Although it worked perfectly in Live, for some reason it was causing Live to crash after saving. It was also not storing the values in the Live number boxes, drop-downs, and sliders. The problem went away when I went through the tedious process of recreating the patch rather than copying and pasting my original work. This is a little worrisome since the next conversion will not be so simple (Multitouch Rotary Dial and X-Y Granular Exploration). Here’s an audio example with a little reverb to give you an idea of what it does.

M4L StepSequencer

GMS on CreativeApplications.net

CreativeApplications.net has posted an article about the GMS. If you’re not familar, CreativeApplications.net (CAN) is a blog founded by Filip Visnjic. From the CAN about page:

Aim of CreativeApplications.Net is to bring together applications that challenge the ways how we share and engage with information. By scouting the web, CAN brings you best in creative app development and thinking. CreativeApplications.Net is platform independent. We look at OSX, Windows, Linux, iPhone, Web Apps, Flash, Physical Interfaces, Max MSP development, Processing and many others.

Filip was a speaker at Flashbelt 2010. During his presentation he showed a variety of fascinating work by his students and more featured on CAN. I was lucky enough to introduce him at the conference and experience his session. Checkout CreativeApplications.net for more.

Sound Builders: Inventor of Circuit Bending Reed Ghazala

I’m really enjoying the Sound Builder series on Motherboard.tv, but this episode is brilliant. Now if I could just get the real-time version of that sped up footage! For more about Reed Ghazala checkout his bio and sounds from his instruments on anti-theory.com.

The Visible Pocket Oscillator

I really love this instrument. It’s simple to build and operate, yet the variety of sounds possible is broader than you would expect. This is the third Posc I’ve built. The first one I assembled into a small cardboard box. Let’s call it the Cardboard Posc. I disassembled the Cardboard Posc to build a prototype sound object for a dance piece.

For my third version I decided to build it into a transparent plastic case, formerly packaging for my iPod Touch. Let’s call it the Visible Posc. Right now it’s held together with a rubber band, but I’ll probably replace it with a screw or something to open it up for battery replacement. For more checkout these posts:

Saucer Sled Synth
POSC Pocket Oscillator

Experimental Music Mondays Part 4

Part four of the Experimental Music Mondays series begins at 9:00pm on May 31, 2010 at the Kitty Cat Klub in Minneapolis with Heizerbaum & Panderton featuring Andrea Steudel from MinneapolisArtOnWheels.org, with sound artist Luke Heizerbaum (actually I don’t think that’s his real last name, but let’s go with it). Expect to see some fascinating projections including images from a microscope of a vinyl record as it spins on a turntable.

Next up is Ostracon (John Keston on electronics and Graham O’Brien on drums). We perform generative, improvisational compositions using the GMS (Gestural Music Sequencer), that converts video input into musical phrases. “Keston captures, layers, loops and processes melodic segments in real-time out of the stream of notes created by his gestural input, tailored with probability distribution algorithms. O’Brien accompanies these angular, electronic structures, with dynamic playing that, at times, verges on the chaotic. More about Ostracon can be found at audiocookbook.org and unearthedmusic.com.”

Closing the evening is Twenty Thirteen, “a trio, made up of Chris Robin Cox (Junkyard Empire, Minneapolis Free Music Society) playing electric trombone, Bryan Berry playing guitar through tons of effects and loops, and Kahlil Brewington laying down bad ass funky drums. The music is ambient, yet groovy as hell, and incorporates influences as diverse Portishead, Bitches Brew era Miles Davis, and classic hip-hop, drum n’ bass, and dub beats. It’s like nothing you have ever seen live. The band sometimes performs with a fourth member: a television, which sits facing away from the band, and channels can be changed by audience members; the band providing the soundtrack for a television they do not watch. It’s a bit of a social experiment.”