CC2 - Week 1 - Music and Sound Processing

On the left is my 'PoplessAmp', which allows changing of volume without pops or clicks. On the right is my 'PoplessDAC', which allows switching on and off of a stereo signal output without pops or clicks. I also like to say 'Popless' as often as I can.

~Patches ZIP 3KB

Thoughts
I can see that MSP is going to require a change in lateral thinking from normal Max, however so far everything seems fairly logical. I look forward to fully utilising all the tools that are available, and I'm sure everyone in the class will have drastically different outcomes through their experiments. I have a feeling that music theory (real music theory) is going to absorb a lot of time this semester, which will no doubt effect my usual fervor for tech-related projects.

Issues
My main issue was deciphering exactly what was asked of us in the 'handout'. The first issue is for the (a) amplitude object - it says the ramp time should be set via the "custom object's argument". As far as I know an argument will apply to the inputs of an object, however we were to create "an amplitude object that takes two inputs, an audio signal and a volume value". To have an argument control ramp time, an additional input is required. Unless there is some way to have specific argument controls...? In (b) stereo output object, I was not sure whether the object should be containing the DAC, or if it is to be connected to a DAC. In any case, my version contains the DAC as it saves on having multiple outputs.

Help files are contained in the ZIP.

AA2 - Week 1 - Introduction to Game Audio

Sure I wasn't even born when it was created, but I still grew up playing Donkey Kong (1981). Although suffering from the polyphony issues that the limited arcade machine hardware caused, I'm sure at the time the sound played little part in the storyline driven experience. The main title screen has a monophonic theme song, which still manages to be catchy, and the start of each level has introductory music, which dies out as soon as the gameplay kicks in. The sound effects are dominated by the seemingly random 'boing' used for Mario's footsteps (or the 'b-boing' of Mario jumping), to the extent that not much else can be heard. Standing still allows other sounds to become apparent, including a distorted bass 'thump' used when Donkey Kong beats his chest. As this game was so early in the life of video games, it is not surprising that the audio is quite horrendous, however I don't remember ever getting annoyed with it when I was younger. Sound effects aside, the music was a very early sign that Nintendo could create catchy melodies. I cannot think of one Nintendo game that I have played that hasn't gotten me humming the tune. Ocarina melodies from The Legend of Zelda on N64 still haunt me to this day.

Creative Computing Major Project

Giggity. The file you want to double click is called ~Metal Piano~.pat. I finally made a Mac compatible version, and it still doesn't run as well as it does on PC. I think the Mac edition is more like a 'Metal Piano Lite'. If you own a Mac, you should be use to getting inferior version of software.



~Patch (MAC) 3.4MB~

~Patch (PC) 3.9MB~

Audio Arts Major Project

As most of you already know, I've had a wonderful time trying to get musicians to participate in a recording. I would have preferred for them to say "No" so I could find someone else, however that wasn't to be. Yet, I managed to record a rock band a couple of days ago (uhh, yesterday and the day before) and the results were quite satisfactory. The band, "Mytosis", consisted of a drummer, 2 guitarists, bassist and singer. Their style is similar to 90's rock/grunge, and most of their influences come from this period.

For their first song, "Psycho Bitch"
On the drumkit I used all the cliched mics, namely the Shure drumkit mics, a pair of Yamaha MZ-204s on the snare plus a couple of Neumann KM84i's for overheads. For the guitars I tried to give each one a distinctive sound, so I opted for SM57 and SM58 on one, and Beta57 and Beta58 on the other. Initially the SM57 recording sounded incredibly dull, however after applying time offset to one of the mics it really brought it to life.

Okay, I've tried, but I can't make it. I've been awake for 32 hours and I can't focus on the screen anymore, so I'll have to write these later.

Here are the mastered tracks.

Ripples 6.04MB

Psycho Bitch 3.94MB

UPDATE
Those links won't work, as I have deleted the files and replaced them with a more recent master (made after 13 hours sleep). File sizes are as above.

Psycho Bitch
Ripples

CC2 - Week 12 - Composition Preproduction

In a nutshell, I'll be making a tonally pleasant music generator. As a part of my preproduction I created a prototype for my idea (or the prototype created the idea) which uses my AutoPlay patch from Term 1, and incorporates a probability chord generator (or "KORD GenR8R", where KORD stands for "Killmatic Oblivion Radiation Deathmaker). This works, for example, by playing a I chord, which then uses a probability table to decide what chord to go to, and depending on probability strength plays either a V,vii,IV,ii or vi (being strongest to weakest). Thus the chosen chord then goes through the same process, eg. a vii chord will either go to a iii or back to I. I selected these probabilities using a theory hand-out from last year of a 'chord gravity' chart. It had a tonic in the centre, with all the other chords orbiting around it at different distances. The closer each chord was, the stronger the pull was to one another. To spice things up I also added an arpeggiator for the chords, which sounds almost deliriously happy. Here is an example of the prototype KORD GenR8R+AutoPlayer in motion. ~MP3 371KB~

Here is a hypothetical monologue to illustrate my plans.

"Have I eaten today? Oh yeah, I went to Knoodle Junction. I should probably go home before it gets too cold outside, plus I have that stupid Primary School performance tomorrow. Okay, Max time. As the GenR8R plays each cadence, the chance of that cadence happening again falls. As other cadences are played, the chance of the cadence occurring increases. As time passes, the chance of a key change slowly increases, and each chord will have its own pivot direction(s) to a new key. The chance of a V chord pivoting to a new key is higher than that of a iii key, just because that's how Western harmony works. Who makes these rules? In any case, there is still a chance that iii could be the pivot chord, just slightly less. Perhaps there could be a user defined pivot... nah, too much work. Bang, change of key. The new key could be in Major or Minor, luckily my AutoPlay already caters for both. As keys change the strength of the tonic key gets stronger, and the music will end up back there at some point. There is a Sonata-style progression, with melodic ideas being introduced in the Exposition, then played around with in the development (with key changes) then gets pulled back to the tonic for the recapitulation. Rhythmic variation is fairly random. Accelerando and ritardandos are loosely linked to velocity, where a quicker melody produces somewhat louder notes. Loud notes may also play very slow parts, heightening the emotion. There is an end rather than an eternal generation, so the use of form, eg. Sonata, is wise. Melodically there is repetition of motifs, even user entered motifs (!) and some very emotional changes from slow notes to fast, or quick trills and sudden pauses. No Vinny, I'm busy! Okay, give me a listen. Oh that sounds awesome! I hope SuperCollider is as good as they are all saying. I wonder if I have any Jasmine..."

At which point I lose my train of thought.

Prototype KORD GenR8R

AA2 - Week 12 - Mastering 2

The last weekly assignment for AA, and a nice way to round off the semester. I mastered the song excerpt "Getting Home" or whatever it's really called. I used a 4-band EQ to bring up the bass and some of the mid range, and a multi-band compressor to even out the mid range and make the high end more present. I also used 'Aural Exciter' for the first time, with seemed to bring out the snare quite a bit. My mix does sound different to the Edensound mix, but I wasn't actually trying to emulate it exactly anyway. The following files are a sample of the original unmastered mix, my master and a sample of the master from Edensound.

~Unmastered~

~My Master~

~Edensound Master~

Inserts