RSSMaker Faire Bay Area 2010
Beatseqr / Steppa: an Arduino Mega-based Drum Sequencer
Topic(s): Music
- Haptic Synapses/Rich DDT
Experimental Music & Art Stage Saturday 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
| Location: Fiesta Hall 343 |
Our project is an arduino mega and Max/msp based drum sequencer. It's not just for drums, but that's the easiest way to understand what it does.
Why? Because using the mouse to do live performance on a computer is slow and hard to control. Our project lets you put your hands on the beats. It's a fast way to build up patterns in either a performance setting or in the studio. You'll spend more time exploring sound rather than wrestling with software.
A somewhat lengthier description is that it's an arduino mega based interface that talks to a couple of supporting applications that run on your computer which in turn create a midi loop. This midi loop can be used to drive almost any music app that accepts midi.
Even deeper into the details: the arduino mega is talking to the computer over a serial protocol to a Processing app. The Processing app is then sending out an OSC data stream to Steppa, a Max/MSP patch that's parsing the OSC data and creating the midi loop sequence. From there, the midi data will work with basically any software that accepts it. That includes Reason, Live, Logic, GarageBand, Quartz Composer... and tons more.
We've been building on what we showed at the 2007 maker faire (using OSC to drive music and visuals) and have a highly functional tool that's been battle tested in dozens of hours of live performances. Our exhibit will show how it works and talk about the build process. This includes locating, purchasing, and testing out the electromechanical parts for the circuit board; designing and having the PCB fabricated; designing, visualizing, and fabricating multiple versions of the user interface; and then all of the software: arduino, objective-c/cocoa, processing, and max/msp.
Web site: http://beatseqr.com
About the Maker(s)
Derek Scott
Derek has been making electronic music since 1987. Inspired by groups like Art Of Noise, Kraftwerk, and Mantronix he started an all-synth band in high school with some friends. The band broke up shortly after graduating, so he started working on music solo. Since 1994, he has released music on labels such as Flask, Solid Trax, Resource Records, SIXONESIX, P&D, Audio Abuse and Random Access Recordings. He also releases his music on DoBox Recordings, his own netlabel.
After creating music for so long, Derek began to develop an urge to make musical instruments. Over the last 5 years, he has delved into doing just that. He started by creating Windows-based virtual instrument plugins, and took a stab at making a simple physical synthesizer. Now he has put his focus on helping Steve Cooley further develop the capabilities of Beatseqr, a drum machine controller device that utilizes OSC and MIDI data. He and Steve continue to refine Beatseqr and regularly put it through the paces during their jam session performances with their band, Haptic Synapses.
http://doboxrecordings.com
Steve Cooley
Derek Scott is a long time veteran of the electronic music scene in california. Most recently the netlabel he founded has celebrated it's 50th release.
Steve Cooley is an award winning fine artist and programmer. His works have been shown in venues across the san francisco bay area.
http://sc-fa.com
