How Do You Know When a New Music Instrument Design is Done?

Reviewing the Pyramid Eel and reflecting on other instruments, I set my foot down in the sand and label the first Pyramid Eel "done." Watch the video to hear the full details!

Adding Sensitivity and Expression Using Optical Encoders on Electric Eel Generators

I recently upgrade the generators on my Electric Eel instruments to include optical encoders.  Check out this video to see how it works.

This means I'll be able to measure the speed and acceleration of the bow, leading to much more sensitive and expressive instruments.  I've been wanting to do this for YEARS and now it's finally happening...  

Over the years of playing my generator-based Electric Eel instruments, I have been enjoying how pushing them hard increases the sound volume.  It makes for sound so much more expressive than even my best MIDI keyboards with aftertouch.  It's slowly becoming apparent to me, though, that if I had a better idea how fast the player is pushing/sliding/bowing the generator, the sound could be even more sensitive and expressive.

Early on, I tried to do this by measuring the voltage on the temporary capacitors.   That approach works a little bit, but it doesn't change fast enough and different sound outputs consume the voltage at different rates, so it's way too entangled with the output sound, rather, than focused on what the player is doing.  Therefore, I decided to go WHOLE HOG and use an optical encoder.

This wasn't an easy decision.  These are more expensive and the algorithms get much more complex.  However, I am working again and don't have children (my instruments are my children!), so I went for it.  And actually I had a nice surprise---- over the last ten years, prices have come waaaaay down for these parts.  What used to cost about $300, can now be for only $40.  Yes, it's hard to believe.  It must be through the mass quantities of these parts that get used in factories.  Anyway, I picked up two of them and I've been wiring them up and writing code for them.  Soon I'll be putting them right into the instruments.  I can't wait.  It's going to be a whole new era.  In the meantime, please my newest video so you can share some the excitement that I'm going through!

New Synth Knob Multiplexer - 64 Analogs in one! Part 3

You've seen it run with 5 synthesizer knobs, but now the stakes are higher!  I'm going to daisy-chain three of my circuit boards together.  Then I'm going to run them at top speed.


And if that wasn't enough, I've been preparing a special treat, so watch through the second half of the video :)

New Synth Knob Multiplexer - 64 Analogs in one! Part 1

New! Fresh in the mail. A circuit board I designed. Check out the edgy and powerful design!

It muxes 64 analog signals, especially synthesizer knobs, into 1. It lets you read a wholllle lot of knobs with just a few pins.

You can use three pins from an Arduino or other microcontroller and read all 64 daisy-chain knobs!

You need this board to make professional synthesizers with lots of knobs.

Free Book on DSP in Python

Think DSP- Digital Signal Processing in Python

This book looks great - it's a work in progress by Allen Downey, a professor at Olin College.  Every example includes Python code to perform the calculations as well as read and write waveforms.  Many examples use music so that should be valuable to readers of this blog and people who like to DIYDSP.  So go ahead and download the free PDF or read it in HTML.

Axoloti - Embed A Digital Modular Synth In Your Instrument

This is very special to me.  This is exactly what I have been looking to do with the digital music instruments I have been designing and building - Give them a modular synthesizer editor.

This is a software and a hardware project.  It lets you graphically edit a patch for a DSP-based music instrument, then upload it into a small circuit board.  That means you can put that instrument into a box with sensors and controls, make a digital guitar, tune it to sound just the way you like it and even put all kinds of digital effects on it!  It's a very difficult and important project and I am sure it will lead to very many interesting kinds of new instruments, songs, performances and possibly even genres of art!

Here are the specs:

• Two 1/4" jacks
• Stereo headphone output
• MIDI Input
• STM32F4 processor (168 MHz w/ FPU)
• USB
• Modular synth editor on Desktop
• Cross-Platform support (Lin/Win/OSX)
• Approximately $100 incl. shipping

I highly recommend supporting Axiloti on Indiegogo.  I look forward to working with it a lot in 2015!

Javascript audio feature extraction library designed for and implemented in the Web Audio API

I've posted hugh's demo on DIYDSP.com for you to try out.

This is a Javascript library for "Feature Extraction."

If you don't know what "Feature Extraction" is, let me tell you:

It's a term used in Machine Learning.  A "Feature" is quite simply a "calculation."  For example, if you examine a stream of sound or a file, you may want to calculate the average loudness of the stream every 50 milliseconds.  In that case, you are said to be calculating the "Feature" of loudness.  Also, you may wish to calculate the loudest part of the spectrum.  In that case, you would extract the feature called "Spectral Centroid."

So now you learned the jargon of what it means when everyone says they are "computing features."  What is it good for?

The primary use of features is in "trying to figure out what a piece of audio means."  For example, I once wrote a script that automatically downloaded 2-hour FM radio shows from WMBR.  I wanted to know which parts of the shows were the DJ talking and which parts were the music.  So, to do that, I did some research and discovered it's possible to compute "features" on the audio and compare them to determine whether the audio is speech or music.

Unfortunately the code for that is on a computer in another country at this moment, but if enough people request it, when I get back to that computer, I'll post the code and show how it works.

Good luck with this library and try out the demo I posted at Meyda Demo on DIYDSP.com.

New Playlist For Electric Eel Christmas Carols

 My new playlist: Electric Eel Christmas Carols

Subscribe to find out when new songs are added on my upcoming trip to Germany!

This is me playing traditional Christmas Carols like Silent Night, Joy to the World, etc., on an instrument I designed while at the MIT Media Lab.  It's called the Electric Eel.  I designed it because I was stuck between the two worlds of electronic and acoustic music.  I like the sounds of electronic music, but I also like the spontaneous, collaborative, nature of acoustic music.  So I designed this instrument which responds to the intensity of sliding the belt up and down by generating more power to emphasize notes.  If you're really curious, check out my wiki Exertion Music where I show how to design and build your own.

Volca Sample SDK - A Sample and Sequence Encoding Library for Volca Sample

A Sample and Sequence Encoding Library for Volca Sample

Did you know that you can upload samples and sequences into the Korg Volca?

Yes, it's possible and now it's much easier with this software from Korg, including the source code. Wow!

This program takes your sequences and samples and turns them into an audio file that you play into the Korg Volca Sample to record the data into its memory!  Wow!

It even comes with a Visual Studio project and a GNU makefile! 

This is seriously cool, thank you Korg!

Music Instruments are Not About Music

This is a long, but brilliant essay.


I especially enjoyed the section on Music Instruments about 1/4 down the page.
The theme argues the idea that civilization/society/humans create for the sake of social status, not for the effect of the creation.

For example: We choose to learn to play guitar to "be cool," or piano to indicate we want to be thought of as high-class rather than because we value the sounds of either of these instruments.

This can be incredibly earth-shattering to realize. I hope it's not 100% true, but there is plenty of evidence to show it is.

This type of thinking may also inform the famous "Mac vs. PC vs. Linux" debates. Do we choose our OS based on it's social significance or its technical, productive and visual benefits?

Music Hack Day in Cambridge, USA

This is music Hack Day, November 8th - 9th 2014, in Cambridge, MA, at Microsoft N.E.R.D.

The day begins with an incredible amount of information dissemination and research on topics related to online music software development and APIs.

The Geometric Principles of String Instrument Making in Brescia [pdf]

http://infoluthier.free.fr/francois%20denis/en/resources/Articolo.Denis.pdf

Compiling the Bitbox for the STM32F4 Under Lubuntu 13.10

If you didn't know, the Bitbox is an excellent, efficient graphics and audio project for the stm32f4 microcontroller.

In a small package you get VGA out, Micro SD Card, USB Keyboard and Controllers in, and headphone out.

Over on DIYDSP.com, I give step-by-step instructions for compiling it under Lubuntu 13.10.

.MOD music player ported to BitBox

If you're not familar with .mod  format, you should read up on it, because they're an efficient way to store music.  Instead of recording a full waveform, like mp3/aac, they store a number of short samples and a score file for the music.

Having mod-playing code on a platform is extremely useful because it allows that platform to play songs with very limited resources - which is often the case in embedded environments where DSP is most useful. 

The Bitbox itself is a DIY video game console based on the excellent stm32f4 processor.  So, having the mod player there is valuable because it will let you add music to your video games without having much memory and disk space.  Speaking of disk space, this release of the mod player is extra great because it can play the mod files directly from an SD card!  So, check it out!

Dan A. Designs a great-sounding IIR filter on the FV-1 DSP

Synthesize Sounds of Thunder in Javascript!

This is a really great demo in which first lightning is synthesized and then thunder that you can actually hear and actually sounds like thunder!

p.s.  Here is a link to the source code for synthesizing thunder!

p.p.s.  Andrew Glassner, a research in Washington State, has also written about his model for synthesizing the sounds of thunder while working at Microsoft!

Understand Dither Intuitively with Nigel Redmon's Javascript Applet

Over on Earlevel, Nigel Redmon writes on a number of topics that can help you increase your understanding of DSP at an intuitive level.  Most recently, I've found his "Dither Widget" exciting!  Go ahead and play with it and see if it doesn't increase your understand of the technique of dither in DSP.

Expert: Richard G. Lyons' DSP Sequel

One of the most valuable books I have ever read was Understanding Digital Signal Processing by this author. I highly recommend it to people who want to get started with digital signal processing.

Suddenly, just this evening I noticed Lyons released a sequel!

Just looking at the table of contents,

 I was impressed with the promise of clearly-explained algorithms. 

It appears to deliver algorithms like: 

1. "Efficient DC Blocking" 
2. "A Fast Binary Logarithm Algorithm"
3. "Ultra-Low Phase Noise DSP Oscillator"

Some chapters help alleviate common, time-consuming tasks, others promise higher signal-to-noise ratios than ever before.  And some just help you do more calculations per millisecond than it ever seemed possible.

Considering the epic impact of Lyons' previous book

people on the comp.dsp newsgroup still rave about this author

I'm rating this a strong buy recommendation. BTW, I've placed it, along with his first book and a few others at BuildInstruments.com on the bookshelves.

Richard Moore's DSP Code for a Piano String

Richard made this program to synthesize a piano string available for people to experiment with for free!
http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/46984-saitispianomodel-m


He would like some help updating the model so it can simulate a "prepared piano," so if you can help him, get in touch with him.  You can see his email address on this page:
http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/authors/343450


Richard's Piano script is based on Master's thesis work by Charalampos Saitis which you can find at http://www.music.mcgill.ca/~harry/pdfs/Ch_Saitis_MA_Thesis.pdf .
 
Also, if you don't have Matlab, try out GNU Octave.  It's free, very compatiable and quite good!

In-Browser DSP Music Development

http://wavepot.com/