aleatory

Ableton Live 8: This video demos a Max For Live “Game Of Life” interactive cellular automata note pattern generator.

Code available at 2rem (.zip).

This is a visual tour and demo of Xoxos Hyperion, an algorithmic sequencing VST.

Hyperion MIDI VST has a semi-modular structure suitable for a wide variety of tuned algorithmic applications. LFOs and counters are used to easily create dynamic MIDI sequences and change them on the fly, or to modulate other components of the architecture.

Hyperion produces glissandos or subtly varying sequences for up to three parts on three separate MIDI channels using a simple chord function. It can also be used as a phrase arpeggiator to make sure that you never play out of key or out of sequence.

Hyperion is available for $25. The demo is limited to bpm settings.

Far Out Apps’ Oblique Strategies (app store link) is a free iPhone application that makes it easy to consult the oracle of Eno.

The original Oblique Strategies is a deck of cards created by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt, first published in 1975, and now in its fifth edition.

Each card contains a phrase or cryptic remark which can be used to break a deadlock or dilemma situation.

From the introduction to the 2001 edition:

“These cards evolved from separate observations of the principles underlying what we were doing. Sometimes they were recognised in retrospect (intellect catching up with intuition), sometimes they were identified as they were happening, sometimes they were formulated.”

“They can be used as a pack, or by drawing a single card from the shuffled pack when a dilemma occurs in a working situation. In this case the card is trusted even if its appropriateness is quite unclear…”

The Oblique Strategies app is free and open source.