We are now able to drag and drop audio files directly in to the interface, save and load compositions, and add, delete, and connect nodes in the UI (hooray). Last week I spoke of what Noteworks won’t be (a revamped version of Max/MSP, Reason, or Logic), this week I’ll focus on what it will be. Underneath the hood, noteworks will be more closely related to current composition software such as Finale and Sibelius. The primary focus will be handing MIDI data, but most audio formats will also be fully supported.
Q: What will noteworks do that other pieces of software can’t?
A: Noteworks will allow the user to write pieces of music that evolve over time, and features such as stochastic nodes will enable the user to think in terms of probabilities and tendencies. Rather than creating one composition at a time, a single network will potentially generate hundreds (of thousands) of unique compositions. There may be several ways in which a chord structure could potentially evolve, and theoretically a listener could set a network in motion and allow it to unfold for days on end without hearing every possible combination. Once more, the instrumentation could also be programmed to vary algorithmically over time. At any point while the composition is playing back, the user will be able to begin writing the MIDI data to a file. They could then import this data into Finale and print out a piece of sheet music, or into Logic and spit out a roaring synth lead.
Q: I’m not a composer, neither am I very tech savvy, is noteworks for me?
A: Yes! We’re coding in Java, which is an interpreted language, so both Mac and PC users will be fully supported. Noteworks is going to be a lot of fun. I came to this realization when I started scheming up ideas for tutorial patches. I’m hoping to fuse learning, creating, and having fun into one activity. The user will be tasked with increasingly difficult goals that will require ever-greater leaps of imagination. It’s the “AHA!” moments we’re after. For example: (spoiler alert?) the user may need to realize they can create the entire left hand part of heart and soul by using echo nodes to transpose a single chord. Ideally, the user will learn the entire app without realizing they’re using a piece of composition software. By the time the user finishes up the tutorials, they’ll not only have begun creating works of their own, they’ll (hopefully) be brimming with ideas. In short: I’m looking to build a piece of software I can take home to my parents.
If you have any questions (general or specific, basic or advanced) please leave a comment and I’ll try to address them in future posts.
-Rob
Tags: algorithmic, Composition, MIDI, stochastic nodes
