tisdag 5 augusti 2008

The monome

When I saw the monome 40h (8x8 grid of buttons that light up) on a YouTube vid, I thought that it looked like a really cool thing, but didn't think much more about it. Then, when I noticed that they were making a 256 button version, my mind started racing so hard, that the only way to stop it (besides being constantly drugged or jumping off a cliff) was to get it. So I did. And i don't regret it. The obvious comparision is Yamaha's Tenori-On, but from what I gather that isn't as configurable as I'd like, and it doesn't have that gorgeous OSC support that makes programming the monome such a pleasure.

I've made a couple of ChucK apps for it since I got it:


A simple usage of LiSa in combination with the monome makes a great fun samper/sequencing experience.

The accordeome is a kind of MIDI keyboard with a layout that facilitates playing chords.

The note sequencer is one of those sequencer apps that you instinctively make on the monome - though I made a piano roll like thingy instead of sample grains or parts. I think it works fairly ok.

I made a digital Clock, that displays on the monome's buttons.



Software - ChucK and stuff

I enjoy programming, both professionally and as a hobby. Here are some small applications and utilizations I've made:

I've been enjoying a fairly new programming language called ChucK for a while now. ChucK uses a thread-like thing called shreds (non-preemptive, locking) and makes the clock behave in a deterministic way, aiming at being useful for making sound. I think it does a very good job at that! 

The Command Line Sequencer is an attempt at making a sequencer that you control in real time with typing on a computer keyboard rather than a point-and-click interface or some MIDI controller. If you doubt the usage of something like this, find an old Unix system administrator and ask her or him for a demonstration of the "vi" text editor. You'll be suprised at the speed at which you can control something via a keyboard. Also, the way you type is somewhat akin to the way you learn playing a piano keyboard (logical, really), meaning that practice makes perfect. I've managed to pull some tricks from this, and I'm thinking of adding some new improvements.

Mouse Harmony is a little application that takes the input from several mice, each controlling its own sound generator. Not very useful in itself, but I am pretty entusiastic about the prospect of hooking up a load of trackballs to a computer to make music.

Keyboard Trainer is a little game that plays notes and then checks if you play it right on a MIDI keyboard. The linked thread quickly diverges into a lot of advanced stuff - I only posted stuff at the start.

Sample Composer is a larger project that uses Java to display a GUI where you can freely place samples in sequence or parallell, pitch shift them and change their start and length. The GUI communicates (using OSC) with a ChucK program that makes up the sound generating back-end.


SoftMusic is a Java app I made on my hotel room while being on a dull job in Stockholm for half a year. It uses a set of homespun algorithms to generate MIDI music, depending on a large set of configuration parameters. I don't think it works properly, I have been meaning to check it out to fix bugs for a time.


Music

Here are some links to music stuff that I've done:



Stuff I've posted at www.electro-music.com - this site is great for anyone remotely interesting in electronic music, incredibly friendly and knowledgable people from all parts of the spectrum. I can't begin describing the impact this site and the people who make it up have had on my view on life and music.

I like do dabble with music things - I trained classical guitar until my teacher threw me out for not practicing around the age of ten. I wrote a song while biking back from a biology excursion at the age of 13. A friend gave me a copy of Soundtracker for my Amiga when I was 16 - enlightenment! Then I played the electric organ for a year or two - cheerful oompha music but at least I got to train my fingers. Around when I went to study at the university I got my old nylon string back, and started occasionally plucking it at random. A bought an old DX7. I made a song by hooking two tape decks together and overdubbing a borrowed Roland MU32, guitar and high-pitched singing about a porno nightmare. I bought a Washburn acoustic with steel strings too cheap from a friend who needed the money. I got a Fostex fourtrack and recorded 20 minutes of original stuff a month for several years. I bought an Ibanez roadstar something from a friend who didn't play it. I got an Amiga CDTV, which along with a CD of tracker samples made a great drum machine. I got my first PC, and a copy of Cubase. I compiled a CD of my own material and gave it to a girl. I made several more, pestering my friends with them. I got more instruments. I started using Ableton Live. I wrote this blog entry.

First notice

I have done various throwaway things that I have thrown out on the web. I thought I'd collect info about them here. Some might be of interest to myself or someone else someday.