GMS Producing a Major Scale Pattern

The intervals in a major scale are really the same as a minor scale. What’s different is the starting point. All the pitches in a major scale are the same as its relative minor, which is down a minor third. So the difference between a melody in a minor key and a major one is the root note. The same melody can be minor or major depending on the perspective of the listener. The last pattern I posted is only in a minor key if you consider C the root. If you consider E flat the root, then the melody is in a major key with C being its relative minor. In this case, the pattern is in C major, so if you listen with an A (the relative minor of C) in mind you’ll hear it in a minor scale.

GMS Major Scale

Gestural Music Sequencer Generating a Minor Scale

In my previous example of audio created with my gestural music sequencer, that I’m tentatively naming GMS, I presented a pattern of sampled Rhodes notes in a chromatic scale. One of the functions I’ve built into the application is the capability of switching scales. Currently the available scales are major, minor, pentatonic minor, and chromatic. Here’s an example of the application producing notes in a minor scale. One thing you may notice is the dynamic range. By gesturing lower within the Y axis the notes get quieter, while gesturing near the top of the screen makes notes that are louder.

GMS Minor Scale

Gestural Music Interface in Processing

A big thanks goes out to Jason Striegel and Nick Watts for inviting us to perform at Make: Day at the Science Museum of Minnesota. I performed with my group Keston and Westdal. Other performers included Savage Aural Hotbed and Tim Kaiser. Besides the performances there were some excellent presenters. Myself, Nils Westdal, our drummer Graham O’Brien, and our intern, Ben Siegel greeted visitors at our table. We presented bits and pieces that Graham used with his drums including sticks, pencils, and a chain. We also showed materials from Unearthed Music, Audio Cookbook, and I revealed a gestural music sequencer (GMS) I developed in Processing.

I was really excited to see the reaction to the sequencer. The application samples video and displays it 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 note. The X axis is used to select a pitch, while the Y axis determines the dynamics. As visitors moved, danced, or gestured in front of the camera notes were generated based on a predetermined scale. Here’s a short sample of what the GMS can produce. I’ll post more about this soon.

Gestural Music Interface

Notes From a Hat in C Minor

I created this sequence of randomized notes using Processing.org with the RWMidi library installed. The notes were randomly selected from a C minor scale. I also randomized the occurrence of the notes to eliminate any rhythmic qualities. The velocity was also randomized within a range so there’s absolutely no consistency to the dynamics either. I could go further into Dada territory by using a chromatic scale, or even random frequencies entering into microtonal realms, but this is just an experiment I did to test some of the functionality within the library.

Notes From a Hat

Pulsar Automata in E Minor

The cellular automata known as the “Game of Life” originated from work done in 1970 by British mathematician John Horton Conway. Curious about how the game of life sequencer would react to documented patterns, I drew several of them into the sequencer and captured the MIDI output in Ableton Live. In order to use the documented patterns I changed the grid to thirteen by thirteen squares so I could match the patterns exactly. I got some variable musical phrases as a result. A very symmetrical sequence was produced by the pulsar (pictured). Starting the sequencer with the pulsar created a simple, rigid one half bar pattern before all the cells died. Afterward I ran the MIDI into a virtual instrument, looped it, and applied processing to get today’s sound.

Pulsar Automata in E Minor