Nodal, a generative music application, has been updated to run on both Mac and Windows.

The video above features a live performance of music created using Nodal 1.1 by Peter Mcilwain.

Nodal uses a novel method for the notation and playing of MIDI based music. This method is based around the concept of a user-defined graph. The graph consists of nodes (musical events) and edges (connections between events). You interactively define the graph, which is then traversed by any number of players who play the musical events as they encounter them on the graph. The time taken to travel from one node to another is based on the length of the edges that connect the nodes.

Version 1.1 beta version of Nodal is now available for download. It’s free, but future versions will require a registration fee. Details below.

If you’ve used Nodal, leave a comment with your thoughts!

Nodal Version 1.1

This version includes a number of enhancements and bug fixes over the previous 1.0 release. These include:

• Nodal is now cross-platform, working on both Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows platforms
• Nodal files can be freely interchanged between operating systems
• a redesigned user interface
• new keyboard shortcuts, including the use of the spacebar to start and stop playback
• Direct access to internal MIDI synths (Windows version only) so no external MIDI synth software is required.

The developers have received additional funding to continue the development of Nodal as a cross-platform generative composition tool. The current versions are free, but will expire on the 24th September 2009. Beyond that, they plan on charging a fee to purchase the updated version of the software. Fees collected will go back into further developments of the software. Updated versions will include technical support, a more detailed manual and tutorial guides.