MusicSequencer
Latest
A spreadsheet based music tracker: get ready to rock your accounts (video)
Art and geekery: two sides of the same coin. A fact wonderfully demonstrated by this spiffy spreadsheet-based music sequencer. Live-coder and all-round music hacker Patrick -- aka cappel:nord -- spotted the LibreOffice spreadsheet's sonic potential and decided to work his magic. The result is demonstrated in the video below. Sure, it's a little bit senza functionally, but it does appear to have velocity control, based on the cell's number value, as well as effects. Not bad for what the creator claims was "a three hour hack". Sadly there's sparse detail on how exactly the task was accomplished, but if you know your quavers from your variables, grab the source code by tapping the via after the jump.
Bronze makes your music collection sound downright lazy
No matter how large your record collection is, there'll always be days when you're sick and tired of everything you own. There are some pretty easy fixes to this, of course -- streaming music services, internet radio, and even the old fashioned terrestrial variety, but none attack the problem quite as directly as Bronze. The app was co-created by Golden Silvers' front man, Gwilym Gold, in part as a clever way to promote his new track, "Flesh Freeze," a hushed, Robert Wyatt-esque number, which just so happens to be the only song that it's compatible with at present. Bronze combats musical stagnation by altering the music itself, assuring that no two listens of a song are ever quite the same, running an algorithm that jumbles the sequence and presence of elements including the instruments and vocals. The changes are generally fairly subtle from play to play, taking a few listens to really pick up on what's unfolding. At present, it's available as a download for the Mac, with Windows and mobile versions to follow. It's free for now, but that, like the song, should change soon enough.
Otomata sequencer creates generative music for the melodically challenged (video)
It won't bring you the success or adoration that Brian Eno's enjoyed, but the Otomata sequencer could have you making noise like the Roxy Music alum in seconds. Way back in 1996, Eno espoused the idea of generative music, which is a non-repetitive form of music created, in this case, anyway, by a piece of software. Otomata takes that idea and puts it to use in a cellular automaton, consisting of a simple grid of cells in different states. With Otomata, each selected cell has four states: up, down, left, and right. When activated, the cells move in the direction of their given state, and when they encounter an obstacle, like a wall, a pitched sound is created. After each collision, the cells turn around and head in the opposite direction until they hit another obstacle, and the process continues indefinitely. The result is a chaotic but somehow lulling symphony of electronic sounds, a la Mr. Eno, that anyone with a mouse can muster. Head on past the break to see for yourself.
