Max II

05/18/22 - Final Project

Written Description:

My final project is an interaction interface for pulling data from a distance sensor and mapping it to midi and creating triggers out of it. The Max Patcher is the centerpiece of a grander set up where it plays the role of interpreter, translator, and communicator of data that is linked between the distance sensor via the Arduino to my modular synth system.

In the Max Patcher I use Bangs to trigger samples on my eurorack system, and distance to alter the sound. I used this system recently in a performance piece in which I did sound design, playing along manually to the already shifting soundscape being affected by a performers body to other bodies and the architect of a performance space.

The Max patcher features a scaler and smoother for the data to be less jumpy. From this point, increasing and decreasing (inverted) values are created from proximity to the distance sensor, and sent to midi, giving you the option to have certain midi and subsequently voltage increase as you get closer to the sensor, and you also have the option to pull midi and subsequent voltage in which the value are higher as you get further. These are available concurrently (being sent out 2 separate midi channels) and can be used at the same time as well as sent to multiple destinations.

In the trigger area, there are 3 different interfaces for creating bangs in different behaviors that react to the manner in which you move closer and further from the distance sensor. These are all available concurrently as well, being sent out on 3 separate midi channels.

These values are all available being converted to midi by my Mutantbrain Midi-to-CV eurorack module. They can also be used just as midi for software only projects, or other implementations.

In my experiments, I always always use the bangs to trigger samples on a sampler module on my modular syntheizer, which are always randomizing which one it will land on, and I have been having the values increase as I get closer to the distance sensor which is sent to increase the pitch of the samples as they play, open the cutoff of a low pass filter as you get closer, and increase feedback on a delay. I also have enjoyed using closing proximity to speed up an lfo which is sent to pan and cutoff of a low pass filter.

system Diagram:

Videos:

Patcher:

References:

Wii Drums

Jesse McFadden Max I Final Project

Codes:

Future Plans:

My future plans are to use this patcher as an initial template for installation based music and sound works and experiences based around interpreting raw data and sending it out to MIDI, which can also be converted to CV (control voltage) for use with hardware and eurorack synthesizers. Going forward, perhaps the sensor types may change, and the sounds as well, but the MAX patcher can always serve as a starting point from which you can pull data from a sensor and send it out the MIDI port. Now that this technical file has been created, it can be used in the support and production of many projects going forward, I’ll have to do is load it up and change a few things to customize the patcher to any future projects. Another future plan with this patch would be to create a visual side of the interface, where the same data of changing values coming in from analog sensors can be sent to objects that control visual aspects such as the playback and effects on movie files and graphics.

03/01/22

Arduino accelerometer to modular synth via Max/MSP

Performed by maneuvering the adafruit feather sense

02/09/22

Recording of pop dembow modular synth performance