Don't be too hasty...

So after the last post I made, I started investigating the best ways to go about my ideas. It gets deep quite fast - it turns out that there is no clear way to use prexisting max objects in order to build what I need, certainly not on the PC and I dont have a mac, though getting one for the project is obviously on my mind.

I found that there are a host of max objects on the Mac version that could be used to grrab data suitable for midi conversion, here is a list and explanation, with link to the site they are available from.

sigmund~ - A sinusoidal analysis and pitch tracking object.

fiddle~ - pitch following and sinusoidal decomposition object

bonk~ - described as a "percussion follower". presumably a form of transient detection.

centroid~ - computation of spectral centroid. I need to research more how this may be useful.

More details about the creators along with download links can be found here -

VUD - Max

As I said, these do not exist in the PC domain of Max and to be frank, I am not enthused by the idea of learning an actual coding language. Max is learnable in the time frame, however not if I have to start coding objects for it.I have emailed the people behind this to ask if/when it will be available for the PC or suggestions otherwise.

I did find a tool called peaks though, which is available for PC. This simply take the incoming audio and measures the volume, spits out MIDI data that corresponds at the other end. This is obviously useful for making lights pulse to audio, which is a part of the battle I am trying to win here. What the sinusoidal analysis gives me is the ability to track frequency neatly. However it isn't the only way. If I was to split the audio into 7/8 bands using that number of channels with band pass filters, then put a "peaks" unit afterwards, then effectively I would have the data that I require, if in a convoluted way.

I love the internet.

During my many searches with Google, I have turned up some really cool projects and as it turns out, I might be trying to go about this all the wrong way. I have still yet to find anybody who has implemented my idea in the way I am thinking, so I am pretty sure I still have academic validity in doing this, however I have found people thinking along the same lines, just for different reasons and ends.

I found this guy last night

This is using a microprocessor called the MSGEQ7, when I searched this, it spewed out a whole host of videos on YouTube, which led me to 2 clear conclusions. The first being this is the way forwards for simple implementation of the colour seperation on the front end of the device I am looking to make. The second being people need to learn how to name YouTuibe videos better.

So I need to now think about how best to chain this all up. The MSGEQ7 does almost negate the need to use any other information to create live audio spectrum mapping with colour. It does add an extra level of live control over what is going on with the colour though. It would be great to be able to define the spectrum you find most useful. Perhaps some people would prefer to work with blue at the bass end of the spectrum, while others would prefer red. Would be an excellent parameter for control.

I also need to think about how I am going to implement the lights themselves. As I mentioned in my first post, I love the idea of remixing. This whole process has got me thinking about remixing ideas, I am now thinking it maybe an interesting take on the question. Perhaps something relating to remixing ideas about musical hardware together. 

I have this fantasy now of owning a pair of monitor speakers that not only sound fantastic, but give you visual feedback also, built in. Imagine perspex speakers with this idea built in, automatically changing colour and pulsing with the music. They would give you automatic visual feedback about the spectral content, volume and stereo balance of the audio being played through them.

You could also implement this idea into acoustic treatments. Because of the grid like layout of diffusers, they could be effectively turned into a device that also gives you spectral infomation. I love the idea of a light reactive diffuser that is all frosty, diffusing light and sound in one device.

Both of these are remixes of two ideas that already exist themselves, but have yet to be combined, so I feel this is a strong avenue to persue.

I have had this feeling in the back of my mind about another passion of mine and the possiblity of persuing that as my project, the idea of remixing being what ties all of this together.

Initial Ideas

I am really keen to do somethingthis year that is going to serve me well in the years to come; something that I can hopefully turn into a business, or that aids and advances my skillset in the world of sound design and music composition.

I am also keen to build something, as for the last four years I have been almost solely sitting in front of screens, hands confined to a keyboard of one description or another. I want to have something solid to show for my time spent in education.

With that in mind, I spent the summer considering everything that I have done over the last four years. I tried to think about what had inspired me the most during this time, the solid moments in my mind where I felt I turned a corner, or made progression in one area or another. Though in the end that was quite a few, there are a few I am going to share just now that have stuck with me and kept running around in my head.

Acoustics

Since the first class I had in college about acoustics, I have been fascinated by the topic. I would go as far as to say that it has become an obsession in my life, certainly in the practical sense - I am constantly now striving to make my listening experience better & more accurate.

This has led me on a journey to discover a wealth of knowledge that I would have otherwise over looked. I have rediscovered a passion for numbers and shapes, one lost since the time I spent in my earlier years of school. The ancient history of Pythagoras & Fibonaci; the "Golden Ratio". How places of worship in days gone by were designed with this in mind 100's of years ago, without the aid of staring at computer screens with machines doing all the work, with perfect acoustic characteristics.
Just writing here makes me want to go and spend the rest of the day reading and watching things about the topic, maybe move my speakers a bit or change the placement of my acoustic treatments to try and get that stereo image a bit more poppin'... God I'm sad.

I really do that though. Aaaaaand it really does make a difference. You will hear all sorts of things online on both sides, that it either is all you need in your life and you should sell your clothes for it, right through to it being a pointless waste of time that doesn't make a difference. Well both are clearly bollocks, however I have infact ended up selling some (fairly old and fairly useless) property, in the chase for a better sounding room. I guess this means I er on the side of, well.... bollocks? Could never have won that one anyways...

Seriously though, I ended up building these

8 Broadband Absorbers, 3 Corner Traps & 1 Slatted Helmoltz Absorber/Diffuser. Obviously this is something I like doing, so my first consideration for my honours, in a nut shell, is acoustic treatment R&D. Looking at how it effects making music, what the main treatment types are just now and how they could perhaps be improved upon. Something in this field anyways...

Speakers

Before I realised how important acoustic treatments were, I like most used to think that speakers were the be all and end all of the resulting end sound that we hear. Rarely do you find someone that has even so much as thought about the baring your environment has on the sound you are hearing.  Around the time I started higher education in audio, my friends finished a pretty high end DIY SoundSystem build. Though I had no part in the build itself, this also was the time that I bought my monitor speakers. So these situations combining at the same time as acoustics becoming a thing in my life kinda peaked my interest. I would now say that speakers are equally as important as acoustic treatment. They are like sinks and taps - you shouldn't have one without the other. Certainly not if you are serious about sound.

Though you can only see one above, I like many have a pair... a big pair (no pun intended). They are definately one of the loves of my life and I seriously use them all the time; I am addicted to listening to music through them. I would add that their full potential wasn't realised until I got a proper audio interface, however that is a whole other kettle of fish.

The point is, I have strongly been considering going down the route of speaker design. Is it possible to create a "studio accurate" pair of speakers at home is a question that keeps coming to mind, though Im not sure about the academic validity of such a project.

Lights

Bare with me. This post has been composed over the first few weeks, simply because though I had thought a lot about what I wanted to do, I hadn't really got any closer to making my mind up by the start of play.

Ableton Live is my tool of choice for creating music & sound. It is built around a programming language known as Max/MSP, which can also be accessed through an aplet within ableton, cleverly named, "Max for LIve", or M4L as it is more affectionately known.

It is something that I have wanted to get a lot more in-depth with; it is viewed as somewhat of a dark art in the world of bedroom producers. I'm sure to a hardcore programmer it is basic as hell, but there you go. I started wondering about ways that I could incorporate all of my wants for this year into one, using this magical piece of software...

Well the common theme throughout all of what I have said just now is audio reactivity, at least in its analogue sense so far. Both speakers and acoustic treatments are audio reactive. Max for live opens a world of possiblity when it comes to audio reactivity, from within the digital domain this time. Like I said though, I want to BUILD something this year. Then it hit me.

Until I am told it is a bad idea, or can't be a good question made of, this is the plan. Real-time, audio reactive lights, where the colour is mapped to the frequency spectrum, and the user can choose beetween either Amplitude, Peak Detection or RMS data to scale the dimming effect. In the box, my aim is to build a Max for Live app, that splits the incoming audio data (sits on the masterbus) into 8 bands, representative of the 8 audible octaves of sound. Each of the bands (filters) can then be modulated on the way in.

Though the aim will be to keep the centre point of the band pass stable, two modulation parameters will be useful at the input stage. The Q point can be modulated to give a more specific band reaction, it can also be given a reaction threshold - if its not loud enough, it wont activate anything. The system is much the same throughout as a classic vocoder, however I am looking for other data at the output stage.This data can be scaled and spat out as MIDI data, which in turn can run DMX.

In parallel I will run a chain that collects the Amp, Peak & RMS data from the overall mix, compensates for the enevitable delay incurred by the chain above, and hopefully the combines to be spitting out 11 glorious channels of MIDI data, ready to run the second stage of the project.

DMX and MIDI, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G... Shit joke. Anyways, they do love each other and there are a lot fo programmers and electricians that have built a wealth of great toys to play with. So I am going to buy four reals of RGB LED's, a power supply and a DMXis MIDI to DMX converter in order to build the reactive lights themselves.

The real idea behind this, is to hopefully create the feeling of sitting within a metering system. I want to explore the possibilities of calibrating a system like this in such a way that it served to benefit a music producers working environment. I have spent a lot of time thinking about this and, though technically challenging in a few ways, I believe it is not un-doable. It is also something I am passionate about, or certainly have become so in the last few weeks. Here are a few rudimentary examples of what I am talking about in video form, however they don't really get across fully what I have in my head. They will certainly give you a glimpse of the poissibilities...

Colour Organ

Peak Reactive.

Anyways, this has been a long post so I will leave it there for now. To surmise, I am starting my research into the uses of RGB LED lights as a full room metering system for audio production, using Max for Live and outboard MIDI/DMX convertes/LED's, that will sit behind my acoustic treatments. A fully audio reactive room is the goal, fun times ahead!