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Workflow: Create music by tapping on your desk!

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This morning I suddenly realized that I am sitting on a treasure chest of software that can generate raw input for Synfire. I have downloaded the fantastic libraries generously uploaded by other users and while that's enough to keep anyone busy for the rest of his life, it is fun to do something from scratch.

 

Sometimes when we are bored or restless we tend to tap our fingers on a table or a desk. That may seem as a useless occupation but that's about to change. Now the seemingly senseless tapping can be converted into music and here is how :)

 

Some months ago I bought "Pulse Controller". It consists of an application and a piezo microphone. Pulse Controller generates MIDI and thus easily connects to Synfire. Attach the microphone by its suction cup or velcro strips to anything you like and just start tapping! The intensity of the noise picked up by the mic is transformed to velocity and notes are sent to the host. Notes are selected according to various scales and executed according to "walks" or by a random generator.

 

So I decided to try this. First I (randomly) selected the cord progression "Example in Eb major" and added some simple drums. I selected some matching settings in Pulse Controller and started recording. The first try wasn't very good so I tried again and this time it sounded surprisingly good. 

I selected all segments and copied them a few steps up to create a second "part" harmony thing (what ever it is called). I had to adjust some symbols to make it sound OK in my ears.

 

Then I created a base and recorded it, did some adjustments and finally I exported a MIDI file and imported it into Logic. 

 

What is totally amazing about this is that it allows me, with virtually no music skills, to create things that before I could only dream of. The MIDI generated by Pulse Controller may not be very useful as it is but in Synfire it can be transformed into something or anything.

 

Here is a quick mixdown of this first test. The two tracks generated by my tapping, the "melody" and the bass line, I could never ever, ever have played on the keyboard…

Update: I just realized that "Pulse Controller" is only available for Mac at the moment but according to the FAQs there will be a Win version eventually.

 

(https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/track…)

PS. This is not meant as an example of something good or interesting but only to show that it is at all possible for newbies like me to make some kind of music thanks to Synfire. And don't forget that I have only had Synfire for little more than a week :) To most users this may not seem like much but remember that you must learn to walk before you can run and I am still at the crawling stage :)

 


Wed, 2012-08-22 - 19:36 Permalink

Thanks for sharing the ideas
this is nice chillout work!

btw..
pulse controller's price was good also
but yes too bad just for mac for now

Wed, 2012-08-22 - 23:26 Permalink

yeah .. why not tapping--there are more ways for composing and i am sure that there are some very ingenious with intereresting results too

A wind controller is for brass i think?
Music has to much structure to let it do by a monkey or algoritmic composing
In Fruity loops there is a controller what scans a paper and makes music out it....than it can scan fractals, but it goes by iterative formulaes as i remember, there is such program

How about the prime numbers too..music from them
Imagine there are lot of number sets what can produce music

 

I found a photocomposer never used..

It is whole new field of composing..without the keyboard or working in the phrase editor.

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 Photosounder is a one-of-a-kind image-sound editing program. It is

 More info: http://photosounder.com/

 

This brings me on the catanya arpeggiator plugin.. it can be used in Cubase too  ..to generate music

Thu, 2012-08-23 - 11:06 Permalink

Recently  i bought the KORG nanoPad2..tapping seems to be also possible on this controller

  • Plays riffs from the xy pad using our Touch scale or Gate Arp ( with Tap Tempo )(Gate arpeggiator-> tempo with Tap tempo)
  • x-y touchpad send midi notes or any two control messages
  • 16 great feeling higly responsive pads
  • Playing notes in a scale

    costs 39 Euro

Thu, 2012-08-23 - 14:11 Permalink

 

Thanks everyone for commenting and sharing ideas. Your feedback is highly appreciated :)

 

Great to know that the KORG nanoPad2 can be used to create patterns and arpeggios and at that price it is well worth investigating. What distinguishes Pules Controller from all other pad like controllers is that it can turn anything into a controller. A watermelon, a cookie jar, your desk, etc. And it also works with normal microphones the there are endless possibilities.

I sent an email to the developers but they didn't have any news about a possible Windows version.

 

Like janamdo and other write, there are lots of unconventional and interesting possibilities to create "raw materal" for Synfire.

For many years I have been using MetaSynth which is similar to Photosounder but unfortunately neither program outpus MIDI. In order to get MIDI one must use something like Melodyne which means a lot of work that often only renders MIDI files with too many notes. But it sure is fun to make sounds from pictures.