Mike D. @ ITP » ICM

ICM Final – Drawing music is dun.

mike. — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 17:17:00 +0000

Processing, I hate you

mike. — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 05:47:57 +0000

Seriously. ICM is proving to be at least 5x as complicated/annoying as previous planned. I’m working with Lesley (and, unofficially, Tom) to try to get Processing to “play” written lines, and in this case we’re using video tracking (reduced to just its edges) and trying to have processing read that, output midi, and have that midi played by Absynth. That much works. But in terms of making it even remotely controllable or useful…

Arg.

Take it from me, LED’s just don’t understand…

mike. — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 21:03:53 +0000

Learning Max/MSP. Click full size view to diggit all. Also, as you may note, Max has LED buttons in the software that can be “wired up” to blink when things happen in the program. Apparently new media lovers the world ’round are just CRAZY for the blinkies.

Today was spent, for the most part, in the Japanese Room with Lesley, learning Max/MSP. Our onging attempt at drawing music (see also: our ICM final project) seems way more feasible in Max than Processing (or any other language we may learn in the next month), so it’s been our goal to get a semi-functional knowledge going so we can proceed with the rest of the project. So far, I can get it to print curses and blink a light while making a sound that closely resembles what I’d imagine a dying whale to sound like in outer space. Useful!

Fortunately, Max is proving to be waaaaay easier to work with than other languages, largely because it’s so graphically-based. You drag an icon onto the screen, you give it a name or number, you type a command, and off you go. This is inquestionably easier now than it would have been two month ago, as I now have a rudimentary understanding of programming and am familiar with a lot of the terms used, but it’s still not as much of a cakewalk as many would say. Then again, these many seem to be all audio/video artists. So meh.
I’m good now with getting it to play pitched sounds, respond to metronomes, evolve sounds (additive and/or FM synthesis), etc, but I haven’t gotten it to respond to any midi device I’ve made. I’m sure I’m just missing a button somewhere, so this should be fixable, and hopefully painless.

To add to the fun of all this, I have a bunch of new sliders and knobs to play with thanks to Amit (an ITP grad himself) who was liberating a box of pComp stuff. For me, this meant picking up a few chips, a multiplexor, a bunch of knobs, some audio thingies, a bag of piezos, a helping hands unit and a pile of other things. I shall now invent some sort of project that requires these things, or at least that’s the plan. The sliders on their own should make for really excellent synth controllers, once I learn how the hell to do that.

Full scope of the loot here.

Etch-A-Sketch in Ardunio/Processing — WORKS!

mike. — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 04:03:04 +0000

Etch-A-Sketch!, by doryexmachina.

I kick ASS!

[Etch A Sketch in action!]

Etch-A-Sketch in Ardunio/Processing

mike. — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 01:11:31 +0000

Etch-A-Sketch in Ardunio, by doryexmachina.

Physical pots are controlling the X and Y of the dot, just like in a real one!

Huzzah! I’ve replicated a cheap children’s toy! Go me!

Guys, I’m serial!!!

mike. — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 02:14:03 +0000

DSCN4297, by doryexmachina.

WE HAVE TO STOP MANBEARPIG!

*ahem*

I can’t say it’s all that nifty, as I’m just using code swiped off the site, but I still feel pretty damn nifty for having gotten the Processing/Arduino crossover to work. Rotate the pot, and the ball goes from top to bottom of the screen. Tweak the light sensor, and it goes from upper left to lower right.

[I made a moofie!]

JukeBot in Processing – 10.12.06

mike. — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 01:40:47 +0000

JukeBot in Processing – 10.12.06, by doryexmachina.

The beginning… Adam helped make it work, Tom actually got it to look nice. Rooooooock.

Array. Class. Object. Function. Cupcake.

mike. — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 22:01:22 +0000

I finally did it. I made lines go crissy-crossy on a screen with Processing using arrays.

And I added a cupcake for good measure. Because I love cupcakes.

[clicky]

…now I’m hungry.

ICM – 09.13.06

mike. — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 23:50:58 +0000

Not sure if I’m supposed to be posting my ICM homework — but I did anyway. So there.