Create Digital Music » Generative Music Interfaces of the Future

Jan 08 2009

Generative Music Interfaces of the Future – Look to Games?

I’m going to make this a minimalist post because I’ve said what I’ll say about Kodu, the one really cool part of Microsoft’s keynote yesterday, on Create Digital Motion. (Am I the only person who wishes Sparrow had just done the whole keynote?)

But have a look at the shot above. One of the complaints about generative and algorithmic music software (and music software in general) is that the interface has been so complex. Clearly, there are many other ways to design these interfaces, and in turn, to shape the way we use these to compose and perform music. Forget for a moment that games are “games,” and this this thing is “for kids,” and I think you’ll agree – there are lots of areas to explore, and lots of potential.

It doesn’t even require some futuristic music software. Imagine more complex rules in Ableton Live’s follow actions, made graphically.

Excuse me, I’m going to pick up some Tinker Toys to think about interactive design.

You Know, For Kids: Game Design, World Creation as Microsoft Research Previews Kodu [Create Digital Motion]

PS, I believe now more than ever that Music and Motion deserve separate sites, but have a look and I think you will find some overlap.

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5 Comments

Justin Price

MSFT Research also released their Songsmith accompnaniment software yesterday. Played with it a bit this morning and it seems like a great tool sketchpad (need to try the midi export when home).

January 8, 2009 @ 2:15 pm

Holva

I think games to create generative music is a great idea. How many games did Cage create for composition? And not to mention the use of games in choreography (Merce Cunningham, Yvonne Rainer, Remy Charplip, ect). I say go for it.

January 8, 2009 @ 5:20 pm

mistrust

My 5 y.o. loves Nintendo’s Mario games so I thought I’d let him have a go of Mario Paint Composer. Anyone seen it? It’s quite fun (for a 5 y.o.) but the sounds get a bit boring…

January 13, 2009 @ 4:59 pm

Create Digital Music » Alternative Sequencers: Elysium Generative Mac App and the Joy of Hex

[...] Kodu by Microsoft Research uses interactive rules for game design, not music, but I can see the interface working well for musical applications, too. What really makes it work is that you have immediate visual feedback as to what youâ€™ve created, which makes the kid doing the driving very pleased, indeed. [...]

January 13, 2009 @ 5:05 pm

Create Digital Music » Music on the Game Grid: Interactive Arpeggiators Al-Jazari, reacTogon

[...] generated as events are triggered on the grid. And like Microsoft Researchâ€™s (non-musical) game Kodu, the gamepad and a set of symbols make what is essentially scripting easy and transparent. (Few [...]