stretta

A tour of beat factory


beat factory can be downloaded here

Some information on how pattr can be used to morph sets of parameters.

I get far better engagement on google plus, and much of my effort that would have been posted here is going in that direction. The only thing this blog allows me to do is interleave content and widgets with text. So, if I absolutely HAVE to tell something in that format, I'll do it here, but if you haven't done so already, I suggest you follow me at google+.

Here is an RSS feed of my google+
feed://plusfeed.appspot.com/101287835307087762724

mcvs is a 12 output cv source for use with DC coupled audio interfaces. You can define up to eight snapshots per output. Then, with a single MIDI controller (or using the on screen control) you can recall the snapshots or interpolate between them. I made this to give my Cwejman Res-4 the brains to perform a similar function as the Buchla 291e Triple Morphing Filter.

download the patch

Cycling 74 debuts a new video series in which I demonstrate some practical uses of Max and share the patches I make. In this first episode, I'm exploring what can be done with some inexpensive piezo mic elements and Tristan Jehan's analyzer~ external. But really, I'm just having an embarrassing amount of fun.



The patch and more information can be found here.

People seem to spend a lot of time making one synthesizer sound like another synthesizer. While I believe there is some value to be had from comparison videos such as these, I feel the conclusions that are implied overreach. You're supposed to come away thinking that if a virtual instrument can replicate the sound of an expensive vintage piece of gear, then that piece of gear is unnecessary.



It being 2011 and all, I'd kind of expect that we'd be able to emulate a fairly simple subtractive synthesis architecture with a reasonable degree of accuracy. In fact, given enough time and effort, a reasonable emulation of [x] using any number of modern tools could be achieved. That's the point of a dedicated emulation, to make your life easier, to save you time and effort.

While the success on sound accuracy is debatable (and a waste of effort, IMO), the argument places all its emphasis on the end point.

There are two debates conflated into one, and that is the problem. On the surface, they ask, can you hear the difference between a simulation and the actual. A valid question, but this is only one of many aspects of that tool in use, and doesn't tell the whole story of utility, yet many people believe it is the only one that matters.

I've been slowly building my modular over the last 10 years or so. It started with a 6U Doepfer Basic System I bought used from Germany, with the details of the transaction hashed out via bablefish. Back then, the euro format was supported by three small companies and their presence in the United States was minimal at best. But interest in analog hardware was growing, driven by a new generation of synthesizer enthusiasts, who were rediscovering the lost joy of manipulating sound with physical controls.

At the time, only vintage hardware featured knobs that directly manipulated the sound. All modern instruments were programmed via an LCD menu system. The market for vintage instruments exploded and analog synthesizers became scarce. People discovered these primitive instruments offered a fairly limiting palette of sounds and, for those who sought a combination of hands on control and open ended signal and control path flexibility, modular synthesizers were where it was at. However, modular synthesizers in working condition were scarcest of all, with systems fetching many thousands of dollars. It was under these conditions that a market arose for a new generation of modular synthesizer.

Over the years, my collection of external synthesizer synthesizer hardware like the Roland JV-1080 dwindled and my resources were redirected into my fledgling euro modular. I expanded out of my rack mount chassis to a Doepfer monster case, which I liked tremendously because it consolidated my system into one space. I added a monster base, which gave me more room, but somehow took something away from the integration. Eventually, I outgrew that too. A module at a time over many years will do that. It isn't as though I never sold any modules, either. I'm not sure how much of my original basic system remains.

Today, my modular contains modules from Doepfer, TipTop, The Harvestman, WMD, Make Noise, Analogue Systems, Cwejman, Plan B, Malekko, Elby, Livewire. 4MS, Intellijel, and Analogue Solutions.

I've loved synthesizers since I was very young, but no single synthesizer has held my interest for this long. This is because the synthesizer itself evolves, and I can direct the upgrades and the addition of new functions. A new module doesn't simply add a single function, it changes what I can do with the modules I already have; the interaction is new, refreshing the possibilities of the entire system.

Last year, unsatisfied with the ergonomics of my off-the-shelf enclosures, I asked my brother to design and build a custom case for my modular. My work is entirely in the studio, so portability wasn't a concern, and, I can barely lift a monster case anyway. After many months of painstaking work under very tight tolerances, this is the result.

The basic criteria was to widen the six row monster base/monster case combination another rack width, creating a triple-wide configuration that is easy to reach across. The width of such a configuration is about the same a standard piano keyboard. The curved design brings the top row dow to a more reachable height. The foot print of the system isn't much wider than my previous configuration.

I'm going to translate this recent press release from monster.

Monster announced the Gratitude In-Ear Headphones

...created in alliance with legendary band Earth, Wind & Fire...

specifically engineered and tuned to faithfully reproduce the true harmonics of live music and the sonic details of each musical instrument, resulting in a more natural and vibrant audio experience.

They boast a specially engineered noise isolation architecture

that results in superior audiophile sound with the ability to reproduce detailed harmonic soundscapes.

Key Monster innovations that contribute to their natural sound

and help listeners truly get "inside the music,"

include a new Monster design that allows the earpiece to rest more comfortably and deeper within the wearer's ear canal

enabling a perfect fit, superior isolation and ultimate performance.

With 'Gratitude,' we aimed to capture the unique passion, feel and experience of the band with headphones that will reproduce the sounds of real music, not synthesized sample or tracks created purely in the studio. These headphones are specifically tuned to produce the signature tones and harmonics of brass, the staccato punch of the percussion, the cleanest possible bass and the most natural vocals.

Here is the polyphonic MIDI version of the plane sequencer for the monome grid and arc. Also works great for drum sequencing.

Download here.

This is a video capture of the recording session for 'combine the charms', which appears on 'could have the skies'

Yesterday I planned to see if I could get plane -p into shape for release, but I had an idea for a tuner adapted to the monome using the analyzer~ external. Semitones are displayed on the grid, and you can shift the window side to side to display a different range of notes. The arc is displaying a strobe tuner simulation. I'm not sure how useful it is as a tuner in practice, but I'm still glad I did it.



Download the patch here.

vcvi is a suite of maxforlive devices to control your modular synth with a dc coupled audio interface.

You might be able to tell I'm clearing the decks a bit. My new modular case is arriving soon and I need to finish a few projects that were 90% done, such as 'could have the skies', for example.

One thing I'd like to release is plane. Everything in this collection of maxforlive devices is derived form stuff already inside plane. Since plane could easily be disassembled into the functionality in this suite, I simply decided it was something I should do myself and treated it as a pre-requisite to plane's release.

Not to mention, I'd find it useful. Which brings me back to my modular. I'd promised myself I'd shift my discretionary time to a follow up to 'a funneled stone' once the case arrives. I hope that sounds interesting to someone.

I recorded this tutorial because I can't be bothered to write documentation right now. It should get you started at least, or give you an idea of how the software is supposed to behave.



Included functions
Calibrated Step Sequencer
CV Source
CV Trigger Sequencer
MIDI Continuous Controller to CV
MIDI Note to Calibrated CV
MIDI Note to Gate
MIDI Note to Trigger
MIDI Note Velocity to CV
Synced LFO
Saw Cloud

download vcvi v1.0

Could Have the Skies is the third set of solo piano improvs under the Escape Philosophy moniker. The same rules apply as the previous Escape Philosophy releases; I don't have a preconceived idea what I'm going to play when I sit down to record, but I try to visualize something or express a feeling or memory.

I have a short period in the morning when the house is empty. The emphasis is on capturing a moment, including the hesitations and mistakes which I feel are more interesteing than pristine sound quality or the perfect take. You'll hear the familiar birds from the previous albums, body movements, dampers rising of the strings, etc.

Some of the piano music from Escape Philosophy was once described as pointillistic which I thought was pretty, and apt. There is guitar and orff chime bars on one track but otherwise, it is all piano, often manipulated by the monome grid and arc.

Listen for free online at soundcloud
Download album in MP3 format in exchange for a tweet
Download album in any format at a price you set

Arguably, If you drink wine everyday for 20 years, You'd begin to become an expert on wine, or at least, what you like in wine. I drink sencha every single day.

There are a number of parameters you can adjust to get the most out of a tea. The timing of the infusions. Water temperature. Amount of tea. Teas have various qualities like intensity or duration of experience. Also, the quality of the tea varies over multiple infusions. The second infusion is sometimes the sweetest, or brews instantly. Some third infusions flower over a long sustained brewing. Others become undrinkable. Or give up completely. How you brew the first infusion affects the quality of the subsequent infusions.

And as grow older, you become aware of the scarcity or abundance of good tea. Some years are better than others. Often you can tell by the sweetness of the Spring harvest.

Just finished a slog through a 200g bag of old bulk sencha. Let me put it this way, I've never found a sencha in a 200g bag that wasn't like taking one for the team. Decent tea is still cheaper than coffee, but these are thrifty times. [brief daydream about a tea for music payment system]

But by choosing a life in the arts you’ve set yourselves apart from all that and from a nation that has become such a hostage to distraction that it can’t absorb a single complex thought without having it reduced to a sound byte.

A life in the arts means a life of sacrifice and tens of thousands of hours of devotion and discipline with scant remuneration and sometimes even scant recognition. A life in the arts means loving complexity and ambiguity, of enjoying the fact that there are no single, absolute solutions.

In order to achieve that element of surprise you have to set up expectation. The quality of the surprise—what Melville called the “shock of recognition”—depends on how carefully, how knowingly these expectations have been set up.

Jeeze. Do I have do do everything around here?

Recorded this morning, ostensibly for the could have the skies project. Part of the project philosophy is to keep things raw and unedited as possible, working with the sounds of the environment and whatever happy accidents occur along the way. At around 2:30 you should be able to hear my wife come home from taking the kids to school.

Recorded entirely in MaxMSP using a monome grid and arc.

Download won't be enabled until entire project is complete.

I recorded this video with me talking over it, explaining things, but I liked it better without the voiceover, so I left it out.



I've always loved step sequencers and I see the monome as an opportunity to address some of the grey area between the one-knob-per-function analog step sequencer and step sequencers with memory. The idea is to increase the available note range without sacrificing precision and increase the available sequence length range, without sacrificing direct manipulation and feedback. So, when the arc came around it seemed like a useful navigational tool to manipulate a large plane of data.

I've been referring to plane as a platform because there are a number of variations I want to implement using the underlying development. This version is optimized to serve as a control voltage source. As such, it produces a lot of outputs. The top row is step enable/disable which is typically used to fire off envelopes. Plane is generating control voltages directly. There are no intermediate bits of software or virtual instruments in-between plane and the end of the patch cords controlling the modular.

The row underneath it the playback loop ruler. Pressing anywhere in the ruler area moves the playback loop to that location. A chorded gesture changes the loop size. One section of the sequence can be edited while playback is occurring elsewhere.When the loop ruler goes off the visible edge of the grid, it lets you know in which direction the active stuff is happening.

Included is a very nice saw cloud simulation of multiple detuned oscillators with adjustable fatness which you can plug directly into your modular.

Also included is direct, accurate CV control of an oscillator via a closed-loop calibration procedure. Of course, MIDI output is also available.

This version of plane uses scale degrees and passes though my modal scale quantizer, so you can switch scales on the fly. You can also use a MIDI keyboard to transpose.

Or, it can also follow a programmed chord progression score, allowing you to improvise with a step sequencer within the harmonic framework of a lead sheet.

The bottom two encoders on the arc are serving as looping automated CV sources.

You don't have to use an arc with plane, you can navigate with the mouse or keyboard or powermate. Also, you don't need a 512 monome. All monome sizes are directly supported and can be hot swapped.

Here are a couple plane diaries I recorded during development.





I haven't released plane yet, so it isn't downloadable.

This is one of the things I made early this year at home. At the time, I think I was just listening exclusively to Bach and especially Glenn Gould because everything else seemed to drive me out of my mind.

I needed something short, that would highlight the major dot points in a unique way, but not come across as a power point presentation. Usually you try to overcompensate with bombast, and I wondered what would happen if you took the opposite direction.

I ended up recording my own version of a Fugue 6 WTC Book II BWV 875 for this piece and set about animating the camera in a way to suggest it was dancing with the music. The music was mixed in surround, and I wanted to emphasise the contrast between the dry piano up front and the reverb-drenched supporting lines in the back. This mix will sound a little different from the standalone full version.

This isn't exactly hidden knowledge, but I'll detail the procedure here for posterity.

Take an audio file of any type (except FLAC HA HA) and import into iTunes. Easiest method is to simply drag it to the application.

Go to iTunes preferences and hit the import settings button. Set "import using" to "Apple Lossless"

Go to your iTunes library and locate the audio file you what to turn into a ringtone. control-click (or right mouse click, or however you invoke contextual menus on your machine) on the file and select "Create Apple Lossless version".

Contextually click on the newly created file and select "Show in finder"

Go to the finder and rename the files extension from .m4a to .m4r (r for ringtone)

Drag that file into iTunes. Now it appears under ringtones in the iTunes sidebar.