Apr 11, 02:50 PM (evening) - by dedi
i got a max patch underway, and it’s getting there. i can select a sample and set the in point from which it plays out to the end. i’d really like to get it to play just a little bit of the sample at that point and move on the next input. or if that doesn’t work interpolate the changing position for the position on the playhead so that played fast enough it can sound fluid. really these two ideas are the same, it’s just a difference in math (calculus vs brute force).
once i get max summed up, i’ll adjust my pic code and i’ll have a virtual instrument setup. as for the physical one…the part i ordered was a dead end. i’m going to pick up some legos or hack up the wheels i already have. if i can get this mechanism going, then i can rule you all. muhahaha. it’s okay that i write this now, since no one reads this. ;)
filed under nime
feedback [1]
Apr 4, 05:47 AM (morning) - by dedi
i’ve been doing more research on pure data (pd) so i can get my patch going. i’ve been working with many of the built-in examples and collecting online resources. gideon even sent me a paper from hans steiner to help support my efforts. hopefully, i’ll have something to show people soon. at the moment all i can make really are odd noises and broken patches. so goes my first adventures with visual programming languages.
i ordered a new part, a coilable spring that should handle the spring action i need. this might work instead of or better than the hacked tape measure idea. i’m not sure. i still need to pick up some new wheels, gears or spools. my little conveyor belt idea would make for an interesting visual if i lit up the inside of the casing.
i’m afraid i’ll never get this together, it seems like whenever i get started something breaks, doesn’t fit or requires something i have to order. it’s a constant sit-and-wait. i’m also having trouble managing this and my thesis time. thesis time has a higher priority, but it may be a little too high…and maybe that’s the way it should be, i’m unsure.
filed under nime
Mar 28, 07:20 PM (midnite) - by dedi
well, not entirely…i have begun getting around in the osx version of Pd. i think it will work. i order some parts and now i need to reorder some more, or make my own (the gears i bought don’t fit on the multiturn pots i bought). i should probably throw in a rotary encoder, just in case the multiturn pot is too limiting.
i’ve got a pic circuit setup to read in the ADC values from the pot though. right now it’s just spitting everything out with a slight delay, so i can test the waters.
i’m beginning to wonder if my rough sketch will really come together or not. i need to keep plugging away at it. maybe it will all come together quickly and i can make another one.
filed under nime
Mar 7, 07:15 AM (noon) - by dedi
so, with the help of christina, i learned how tape measures work…perfectly for my needs. it appears that tape measures are all wound up in the opposite direction of their natural curvature. without all the parts holding them back they would unwind themselves only to rewind themselves the other way (clockwise vs. counter-clockwise).
if i rip off one of the halves of the tape measure i’m thinking i can mount it onto my prototype. all that i need is some way to measure the velocity (or the change and direction) of the tape as it gets pulled in and out. perhaps using some gears with a rotary encoder or 360 degree potentiameter will work. i’d like to get that working this week and start on building a sample selector.
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Feb 28, 12:25 PM (evening) - by dedi
i need to catch up with goodness for more, but i think the key element of this instrument will be all about spring action and measuring it. what i’m looking for in the “playing” of the instrument is the ability to pull on the toy’s corded with some measure of resistance. the further the string is pulled the further along in the sample to play. when the string gets pulled back in the sample could play backwards or just silently reset the postion (i’m leaning towards the latter but it might be nice to have a switch for this).
once i figure out what the mechanics of this motion/movement are i can work on figuring out how to measure the distance and velocity to feed back into my system/computer.
there’s an article about how a real see n’ say works on howstuffworks.com that’s useful. it might not help me ultimately because i want to be able to change the samples and having to swap out phonograph-like discs isn’t practical.
next week i’d like to start hammering out a pull string prototype so i can figure out if it works with the “big idea”. although i’m afraid that i’ll get this lovely mechanical system up and running only to flunk on the software/music side.
filed under nime
Feb 13, 06:32 AM (morning) - by dedi
i’m thinking perhaps an instrument based on those plush toys with the pull strings. if some other controller can lay down a simple loop, then the pull-string instrument could be used to select and play some samples over that and since this is of course me, i’m thinking cartoon jokes, slams and catchphrases.
perhaps the first workable idea i’ve had…i’ll sit on it some more.
edit: just thought of another, based on a bar code scanner. using the sequences of numbers read to select and control the music. hm.
edit: another toy-based idea. this one based on the dial and pull string toys where children would select a picture/sound and pull the string to hear the song/noise. applying this to sampled music, there could be a loop in the background and samples selected for each region of the toy and a string to trigger samples (or some more intricate control).
filed under nime
feedback [1]
Feb 12, 06:52 PM (late at night) - by dedi
here’s the rundown on my cd cabinet.
electronic 45%
jungle/dnb
ambient
house/prog house
downtempo
trip hop
rock 40%
metal
hardcore/industrial
progrock
queercore
alternative
classic rock
folk
chick-rock
vanilla
classical-ish 1%
pop 12%
new wave
hiphop 1%
other 1%
of that i am actively listening to about 60% electronic (heavy on drum and bass and downtempo/triphop), mixed with 20% queercore, 5% classic rock and 15% new wave.
also, an example of sampled music i like: datathief
filed under nime
Nov 15, 05:28 PM (late at night) - by dedi
i got the mini-itx board today. joe came over and we put gentoo on the box. we hit a snag with the CFLAGS, which setup the compiler to build all the programs. we’ve got an EPIA MII-1000 which has a nehemiah chip. the appropriate CLFAGS should include ”-march=c3-2” which is shorthand for ”-march=i686 -msse -mmmx”. the older EPIA chips (eden) have the shorthand ”-march=c3” which expands to ”-march=i586 -m3dnow”. confusing the two would have caused seg faults and prevented any programs from actually running. for some reason the c3-2 keyword caused a problem so we had to write it out the long way.
so, i guess when in doubt, skip the shortcut.
filed under linux
Nov 11, 07:03 AM (noon) - by dedi
slax is based on slackware linux; comes with x, kde, and the trimmings but fits on a mini-cd or >256Mb usb key. i’m thinking this might be useful to have later, even if it’s just for troubleshooting/recovery/testing.
filed under networks
Nov 2, 10:17 AM (afternoon) - by joe
main idea
our final project will give a physical interface/perspective of local wireless networks and their “health” or “security.” the focus of our project is to expose certain things that occur/exist in networked conmmunities that are potentially dangerous and normally go unseen.
details
we’d like to create a plant to act as a “living” surrogate for the network. it’s “health” is related to the state of security and activity of the network in which it is planted.
currently we’re monitoring the following:
- transmission of sensitive information in cleartext (eg: passwords)
- amount of trafiic
- viruses/spam sent via email
we’re working out the actions the plant will make when it encounters these triggers as well as how to use this as an educational tool. at the moment, we think that the general “health” of the network can be reflected in the plant’s posture/”wilty-ness” and excitement over lots of activity through twittering leaves. on special events like the discovery of a cleartext password, the plant may broadcast that information somehow. we’re still debating these actions and actively thinking of more.
resources
carnivore pe
tcpdump
linux
filed under networks
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