see above for reply

I could not find bongos but I did find a Tabla kit so here is another try with populus on the tabla and series on the sitar:

http://www.wusiklabel.com/members/82/song_focus_111.php

I must say I was impressed by populus on the tabla (this is the world5 preset with minor tweaking).

I did get to automate the restart on populus (after 16 bars) with a midi envelope, and also the mute of the seq 1 and 2 on series. However I still have the problem that when there is a ramp in the envelope, series, and I think also populus, stop emitting notes. So it is not much of a problem for toggles where you can have a steep ramp from 0 to 10 over a 16th or whatever, but it is a problem for other controls (such as moving High from 8 to 16 over 32 bars).

I have to work more on series since I still do not really control it. I think I understand miniseries... but series never seems to work like I think.

With populus, it is difficult to visualize how the population evolves. It would be nice if there was some output format that could help analyze the notes as generations of the population. Perhaps it would not help control populus, but at least it would help understand the dynamics of its output.

Fine experiment. Hard to analyze, indeed.

Usually I try to analyze the output of these plugins by recording into a new track/clip/part/(whatever your host's nomenclature calls this) and having a look at the result in the piano roll view. Almost every half-decent host has a piano roll.
I'm using Ableton Live 7 here. Now after xoxos added the pseudo-audio outputs, using his really nice midi generation plugins is even simpler in Live, as there's no more need to have EnergyXT involved.

populus has an extremely simple algorithm that can create complex output with some settings.. if you are having trouble understanding it, try using it on a synth part, assigning the sequence to midi note, and slowing the clock down to 1/4 notes. or try sketching it out on graph paper, like the diagram on the 2nd page.

eliminate conflict, and concentrate on the 'life cycle' and 'child' parameters. you will notice that even a slight change can completely alter the output. you'll also see that leaving the parameters in one position usually creates one pattern that has a "behaviour," producing the "motif" behaviour that is imo the useful quality, but is not predictable. - eg. on the tabla, it tends to repeat the same phrase, adding or dropping a note here and there, which is what i was shooting for.



you killed them, hammurabi!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamurabi

here's something else you may want to read about - as you can see, it again uses simple rules, however it would be difficult to predict the output sonically.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conway_game_of_life

I can do that, but I find it hard to visualize the period of the counter, or of the generations, on the piano roll. But I have to explore how the midi output could be formated with other tools perhaps...

I wish I could see the graph output as I hear the midi output.



It seems you succeeded. I only restarted the sequence once, and did not change anything else during the populus performance on the tabla, and I found it pretty convincing !







I did not remember Hamurabi, although I think I had it a or variant on my TRS-80, a long time ago. But I have programmed my share of Conway's game. So I am familiar with the rules and the visual dynamics, but not yet familiar with how this transforms into music. I need to play more with it.

I also have this book in my long list of things I have to read someday:
http://www.wolframscience.com/nksonline/toc.html

i have a few vs of hamurabi in my trs-80 lit. (tandy in france? i suppose instead of the bbc dragon.)

changing any param in use is more or less going to create unrecallable output unless you automate the parameter change.

it's not like populus is capable of composing a sonata with the right settings, unless one is forgiving. perhaps it would create a suitable musical accompaniment for the evolution sequence in allegro non troppo (oc pending inexistence of bolero :p)

i ~think of it as a one-trick pony for bubbly, primaeval sequences. put it to a 303 sequence with a 120 rhythm back in '88, and i think that's about the extent of it's utility. to expect more from it may be overanalysis ? :p

otherwise, it is essentially proof of concept for the efficacy of simple implementation!

For some reason I won't even try to explain (don't ask ) I ended up with a rusty steel drum and a reasonnably grunting orc, so this lead to my next experiment with populus:

http://www.wusiklabel.com/members/82/song_focus_127.php

This time there is no automation, the tempo changes are created by a populus lfo modulating the beat div, and populus also modulates the background melody via cc BEND.

definately my favourite from you.. mp3 a bit quiet, i had no idea what was going on.. (except for the bell tree)

thanks for the demo

> don't ask

i won't ask, if you decide to tell, that would be okay

Glad you like it.

For the mp3 being quiet I have no defined rules to create it, so I usually just encode the wav I exported from energyXT2. Perhaps I should take some time to adjust or normalize the volume, but what would be the ideal target ?



My pleasure, and thanks for making such interesting plugins.



Are you trying to trick me ?

Antoine, this last demo is very nice.

Thanks, I really appreciate the feedback

Here is today's experiment, still with 1 populus: this time driving ManyBass (with the cc triggering the keyswitching thanks to some nf_MungRack2_3 conversion) and the tabla and the steel drum I used previously in Wusiks via 2 mididelay2. There is no automation, everything is produced by populus.

http://www.wusiklabel.com/members/82/song_focus_133.php

I like populus

gotten some fairly musical results out of it as well.

the piece makes me wonder what you do when you're not doing plugin demos..