In this section you will find some screencasts of buggy boy trying to do some educational! stuff with ableton live as well as the PD, Reaktor and Max/MSP patches of various instruments and effects he created.
Software Tools
Kakalak: A Granular Lifesaver for the Lazy Minded
Kakalak is a reaktor ensemble which is highly inspired from the legendary software Metasynth's shuffler and the Spectrumsynth. The ensemble has two operating modes, a granular rhythmic sequencer and a grain cloud generator.
The rhythmic sequencer is based on the idea of the performer seeing the actual waveform of the sample and choosing places and a time division of the master clock to generate rhythmic patterns. The user also has the ability to change the pitch, choose the duration of the grain, apply the 'human' factor to sampling -which is kind of the gimmick of this ensemble-. No modules for recording the output has been created, so the performer is highly encouraged to play and record the output -as if he/she is using an instrument-
The grain cloud generator is a cheesy attempt to find an alternative to Metasynth's SpectrumSynth. It regenerates clouds of selected grains and the user can select any part of the waveform and play live with the grains for creating nice and evolving textures.
In the demo video, buggy boy is demonstrating the general features of the ensemble.
Kakalak: A Granular Lifesaver for the lazy minded
S1.vst - A Step-sequencer for the lazy minded
S1 is a sample based step-sequencer which has been designed to be used in a live performance. Though the interface looks quite confusing -with so many knobs and buttons- it is an easy tool to operate. The user first selects a directory which contains desired samples to be sequenced. Then she/he chooses a speed for the sequencer. Since S1 is synced with the host environment, the user can choose half speed, normal speed and double speed. After that the user has to write -or play using a midi un device- a sequence for the sample using the big boxes on the interface. The exciting part starts after this point. The user has the ability to tweak the volume, pitch and the effect send (yes the device has a built delay effect) of each step. Also the user can change all these parameters randomly using the random knob of each function. The speed of changing randomly can also be set, which may give strange results to any sequence.
here is a demonstration of a performance using several instances of the plugin:
S1.vst: a step-sequencer for the lazy minded
L1 - A Loop player/chopper/manipulator for the lazy minded
L1 is a loop mangling vst which has the ability to load a sample and chop it to several parts into its seven cells. Each cell has the option to divide the loop into different sizes, create another loop within the loop file, change the pitch of the loop and most important of all, assign the prepared loop into a MIDI key -C3 to be specific-. L1 was created to fill a certain lack of Ableton Live -at the time of being created-; to improvise and create different phrases with a given loop. While it is much more easy to create new loops in ableton, it was not practical to improvise live with only a given loop file. With the randomization function of L1, the user can import a loop and randomize the parameters and instantly create a nice and new phrase with the given loop, and also record this phrase using the host -like ableton live-.
The video demonstrates the general features of the plugin:
L1.vst: A Loop player/chopper/manipulator for the lazy minded
M1 - For controlling 8 instances of S and L plugins from one window
After building the plugns S and L buggy boy performed with the plugins in a couple of gigs. A usual gig setup consisted of 6 S instances and 6 L instances so he decided to make another plugin which enabled him to control one of the most crucial parameters, the sample loading parameter. With this master plugin, the performer can have a total control on what sample/loop is playing in the insances and he/she has a way to quickly change a sample/loop in one of the instances.
One other feature of this plugin is that it has a timer which tells the performer how much time has passed since he/she started playing. Since this setup is really kind of hard to operate, the performer can easily loose track of time.
Screencasts
tutorial: creating a pure data patch to send random midi to ableton live