Lissajous For OS X Lets You Explore The Relationship Between Sound & Vision

lissajous-mac

Exploratory music label Audiobulb has released Lissajous – a complex audio/video signal generator for OS X, built in Max/MSP and inspired by the work of Jules Antoine Lissajous.

Audiobulb says that the software is created with the purpose of ‘investigating the relationship between sound and vision, chaos and order.”

Here’s a video demo:

The software shows sound oscillations as X/Y matrix functions and creates complex graphics curves.

Lissajous graphically describes sound and allows observation of constantly varying signal voltage of two audio signals as function of time. Video generated by sound can be controlled in a wide variety of ways, giving to the user the possibility of a whole new range of interactions.

Lissajous is available for OS X for £15 at the Audiobulb site.

If you’ve used Lissajous, leave a comment and share your thoughts on it.

26 thoughts on “Lissajous For OS X Lets You Explore The Relationship Between Sound & Vision

  1. I think it was designed in Max but operates as a stand alone app. It is a bit confusing. I’ve been working in Max a bunch lately and this looks very cool. After scanning the manual it appears to operate as a stand alone instrument but you can send it MIDI from Live.

    1. There are a few visual Max4Live programs to be used inside Ableton Live. Check out Vizzable and V-Module. They work together and are Syphon/Spout enabled. But there are also others that you can download from Ableton.

  2. That video tells me nothing. Oh well, I guess it’s just meant to titillate, not demonstrate. FWIW, don’t Reaktor’s Skrewell and Metaphysical Function do the same?

    1. yes to the Reaktor ensembles, but those displays are smaller and more of a “side” product of the intent of the ensemble… ie, MR and Skrewell are sound engines first and foremost, and happen to have this sort of display. Whereas this product seems to be first and foremost a visual output focused tool… meant to create images from sound, rather than a sound generator with a groovy display. The PDF says it will respond to MIDI, not only from Live, but any MIDI source. Would love to send this a full piano improv MIDI track and see what it does!

  3. Nice to see OSX users now able to experience the use of Lissajous patterns (oscilloscope in X/Y mode) like the Nintendo 3DS users have for the last year (see Korg DSN-12 by Detune). If you’re an iPad user get MC Studio and enable the Goniometer.

    If anyone doesn’t understand X/Y mode or Lissajous patterns it’s used to compare two signal sources and identify any phase differences between the two which, if present….makes trippy patterns.

    Funny to see the new age hiptronic inspirational commentary on the site spawned from an oscilloscope reading. Would the same people fall to the ground prostrate when seeing the working cutaway engine on display at a motorcycle show?

    1. You can gather a lot of information about a sound from an oscilloscope reading and the implications of attractor, lissajous, and other experimental waveforms in the synthesis world is good for everyone.

  4. Thanks for all your interest and comments.

    The software is really getting a lot of attention and some great results are being created.

    Hope to get a PC version out.

    Best wishes

    David

  5. Lissajous
    Audiobulb is excited to bring you an innovative audio & image creative tool.
    Lissajous is a real-time audio reactive graphics application (available as Standalone or MaxForLive) built in Max/MSP and inspired by the work of Jules Antoine Lissajous.

    http://www.audiobulb.com/create/Lissajous/Lissajous.htm

    The media project is born with the purpose of investigating the relationship between sound and vision, chaos and order, closely related to astronomy, mathematics & physics. It explores the field of harmony and disorder and let the user dip into an elegant, dreamlike, minimalistic yet chaotic space which reflects the complex rules of the universe in all its abstract beauty.
    The software shows sound oscillations as XY matrix functions and creates complex graphics curves. Lissajous graphically describes sound and allow observation of constantly varying signal voltage of two audio signals as function of time. Video generated by sound can be controlled in endless ways by giving to the user the possibility of a whole-new range of interactions.
    Operating System: PC Windows or Mac computer (not ipad or iphone).

    Lissajous comes in two forms: 
    1. Lissajous Standalone Module
    2. Lissajous Ableton Live Version (M4L Version) ?

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