KVR Audio

ztrauq · Post by **ztrauq** » Thu May 02, 2019 7:10 am

A long time ago (i.e. back in the Mac OS 8 days) I found a really interesting program called ColorMusic. Basically, what it did was, you'd load up an image, and then you'd play the cursor over different areas. Based on the characteristics of the pixels it was over, it would take I guess the brightness, contrast, etc. and convert it live to MIDI note and velocity, allowing you to in a sense use any arbitrary image as an instrument and "play" it on the fly. It would also record and export the session into a MIDI file that I could then import and play around with in a DAW.

Fast forward to now, and the old Mac OS and this program are pretty much history. I've been trying to track down the original app and get it working in an emulation environment, which is easier said than done. In the meantime, I've found several apps and plugins that work with images, albeit in different ways - things like PhotoSounder and nuSpin work for going image -> sound/spectrum, and there are a couple of apps I've found like the iOS app Melodist that will take in an image and create music/MIDI from it, but it doesn't allow any control over the process.

I was wondering if anyone had come across a more modern version of this concept. I'd love to be able to play this way again, as I came up with some fascinating sequences that I haven't been able to replicate using anything else.

Tj Shredder · Post by **Tj Shredder** » Thu May 02, 2019 7:30 am

For sure you could patch something like that together in Max/MSP/Jitter.
Try to run the original in Basilisk/Sheepshaver... I could not find that app on macintoshgarden.org though, do you still have a copy?

ztrauq · Post by **ztrauq** » Tue May 07, 2019 6:54 am

So, I dug back through my storage, and managed to find my original OS9 install CD, along with some burned CDs of data from that era, which were somehow still readable. Found an archive of random applications on one of them, including ColorMusic 1.1 (all 42k of it!). Using the OS9 CD I was able to get SheepShaver up and running, and lo and behold, it actually works! Granted, it will load a tiny corner of a modern-resolution image, and there seems to be a slight lag on the cursor input from the emulation, but I was able to load it up, import an image, and "play" it into MIDI using the cursor.

I'm including some text from the readme file below, so people can get a better idea of what it does (and what it would be awesome to find in something modern, if it exists). The readme file states that the program is freeware, and can be freely distributed, so even though the original website for it is gone, if people are interested in getting ahold of it I'll stick it on my website and post a link.

----------------------

What is ColorMusic?
ColorMusic plays sounds with QuickTime software synthesizer, by converting a color to the pitch, velocity, duration of a note. You can also save your play as SMF (Standard MIDI File).

System Requirements
System7 or later
QuickTime,QuickTimeMusicalInstrument2.5 or later

*Pitch,Velocity,Duration
You can assign Pitch,Velocity,Duration of the note to RGB(Red,Green,Blue),Lightness,Hue,Saturation.
[Pitch]
60 is middle C. You can set from 0(low) to 127(high).
[Velocity]
You can set from 0(silent) to 127(loud).
[Duration]
You can set from 1 to 1000ticks (1tick=1/60second).

*Frequency to pick color
If you like faster tempo, set this value small.

*Instrument
You can choose the instrument.

Scale setting
If you select any scale except "None", the pitch of the note will be changed to the inside of the scale.

ShowStatus
You can see Pitch,Velocity,Duration of sound at the upper left of the window.
Chose "ShowStatus" from File menu to set this function on/off.

Tj Shredder · Post by **Tj Shredder** » Tue May 07, 2019 8:00 am

You should send it to macintoshgarden.org as well, and yes I’d be interested and might cobble something like it together in Max...

ztrauq · Post by **ztrauq** » Tue May 14, 2019 7:58 am

Okay, I have a link to the application archive up:

https://digint.idlecircuits.com/wp-cont ... 11_OS9.zip

Don't know about other emulation environments, but it runs fine on SheepShaver.

I'd definitely be interested if you do manage to come up with a Max-based version. I don't know a whole lot about Max/MSP, and I only have Live Lite so no idea if I could run it, but I'd love to find a way to get a modern version of this. I'm also planning to scour the Reaktor library to see if there's anything similar...

Tj Shredder · Post by **Tj Shredder** » Wed May 15, 2019 6:30 am

It does not open in my SheepShaver, maybe the zip is missing something? Do you have a .sit as well?
Or best an image of the original installer disk...

colonel_mustard · Post by **colonel_mustard** » Wed May 15, 2019 9:03 am

42k! Nobody writes them like they used to.

No MIDI, but I'll mention Alexander Zolotov here. Besides developing SunVox, he's done several projects with image processing and spectral synthesis. He recreated the ANS, which is perhaps the most impressive synth that I'd never heard of (although I did know the sound, from seeing Solaris). There's a BBC podcast about it if anybody's interested in knowing more.

http://www.warmplace.ru/soft/ans/

ztrauq · Post by **ztrauq** » Fri May 17, 2019 8:27 am

Tj Shredder wrote: ↑Wed May 15, 2019 6:30 am It does not open in my SheepShaver, maybe the zip is missing something? Do you have a .sit as well?
Or best an image of the original installer disk...

I don't recall it having an installer, just an app I downloaded from a freeware site. The only thing the folder I have contained was the application file, the readme, and some MIDI files I previously generated with it. I'll see if there are any files it has anywhere else. I know it does require that Quicktime and QT Musical Instruments be installed and enabled as extensions, or it won't load.

Not sure why the zipfile doesn't work, although the OSX archiver is sometimes kinda wonky. I re-archived just the application via the command line as a .tar archive with no compression:

https://digint.idlecircuits.com/wp-cont ... pponly.tar

Hopefully that will expand better? I haven't yet been able to track down my old Stuffit software to try compressing it as a .sit file.

Tj Shredder · Post by **Tj Shredder** » Fri May 17, 2019 9:12 pm

This doesn't work either. Could you compress the app within OS 9? I suspect the resource fork is missing. OS X does not care of it anymore and Windows has never heard of it. The program to compress it is called Stuffit, it will create a .sit file...

ztrauq · Post by **ztrauq** » Mon May 20, 2019 9:12 am

Tj Shredder wrote: ↑Fri May 17, 2019 9:12 pm This doesn't work either. Could you compress the app within OS 9? I suspect the resource fork is missing. OS X does not care of it anymore and Windows has never heard of it. The program to compress it is called Stuffit, it will create a .sit file...

I tried just uploading the app directly, no compression whatsoever, to mediafire:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/hmmydx1b ... c.app/file

Let me know if that works. If not, I'll see if I can track down where my old copy of Stuffit went...

Tj Shredder · Post by **Tj Shredder** » Mon May 20, 2019 4:37 pm

As expected, that is even worse, its not recognized as application at all...

Try this:
http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/stuffit-deluxe-2

W23 · Post by **W23** » Mon May 20, 2019 6:12 pm

This hasn’t been updated in a while, but as far as I know, the developer still supports it.

http://www.uisoftware.com/MetaSynth/

Tj Shredder · Post by **Tj Shredder** » Mon May 20, 2019 7:07 pm

I have seen this on Superbooth, a very different approach which creates nice sounds:
http://www.silhouette-synthesizer.de/

amanamission · Post by **amanamission** » Tue May 21, 2019 6:54 am

If you use iPad, you might have a lot of fun with Patterning for IOS. It gives you a circular sequencer and designates a color to each instrument. You can then play the instrument by tapping on the color and it will record the MIDI note at the appropriate spot in the sequence, or you can visually program the sequencer. You can then export your MIDI or audio output.

ztrauq · Post by **ztrauq** » Thu May 23, 2019 9:13 am

Okay, I was able to get a version of Stuffit to work, and have compressed the app and readme from within the OS9 emulation:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/dc0hzza6x ... c.sit/file

Also, thanks to everyone who suggested some awesome applications! I've had Patterning and I think just about every Alexander Zolotov app installed on the iPad Mini I use for some mobile music production, and I definitely enjoy seeing what interesting sounds I can get out of them. The one that's maybe closest to what I'm talking about (albeit for sound rather than MIDI) is Zolotov's Nature - Oscillator app, which changes the oscillator based on input from the camera.

Actually, after digging further through the iOS app store, I may have found the closest thing to ColorMusic yet, albeit only available on iOS:

http://www.pixound.com/main.html

It seems to follow the same general principle of ColorMusic, although with a lot more options: multiple "stylus" points, multiple instruments/rhythms, etc. It also has in-app "unlocks" to allow you to use the camera to play live video, and to output sessions to MIDI files - the video unlock seems to work fine, but I have yet to get it to output a valid MIDI file that I can load into anything. If I can ever get the MIDI function to work, though, this would be just about what I'm looking for. Now if I can only convince them to do a plug-in version...

Looking for an instrument that lets you "play" images and export to MIDI