open source music software

The Mixxx team is proud to announce the final release of Mixxx 1.7.0.

Mixxx 1.7.0 features an overhauled MIDI mapping system with advanced scripting capabilities, improvements to vinyl control, and many other tweaks and optimizations.

The new MIDI scripting engine allows both users and developers to add complex behaviour to their MIDI devices.

Download Mixxx here. If you’ve used Mixxx, leave a comment with your thoughts! Read more…

Johannes Kreidler’s Programming Electronic Music in Pd is a free textbook intended to make working the music programming language Pd accessible.

Abstract:

Pd was initiated by American software engineer Miller Puckette, who previous co-developed the well known and similarly structured software Max/Msp. Pd is not commercial software; i.e., it was not developed by a corporation and is not for sale. Instead, it is “open source”: its source code is not the (patented) property of a corporation, but is rather freely available to all. One drawback to this is that a detailed operating manual for users who lack programming experience has not existed until now. In contrast to a corporation— which has a monetary interest in ensuring that first-time users can easily operate new software—the open source movement lacks such a driving force to make itself accessible. This book is an attempt to fill that gap.

This tutorial is designed for self-study, principally for composers. It begins with explanations of basic programming and acoustic principles then gradually builds up to the most advanced electronic music processing techniques. The book’s teaching approach is focused primarily on hearing, which we consider a faster and more enjoyable way to absorb new concepts than through abstract formulas.

The patches described are available for download.

The book can also be purchased as a paperback. Details at the Pd Tutorial site.

Experimental Scene has released DarkWave Studio, a Windows app designed for the composition, synthesis and recording of digital music, as a free and open-source application.

Details below. Read more…

Koblo Audio Software has made all of the code for the Koblo Studio available as an open source project at http://github.com/koblo. Koblo Studio, for Mac or PC, may be downloaded for free.

By making it open source, Koblo is allowing any developer to build upon the Koblo Studio platform.

“Our business model seeks to change the rules of the game” said Michael Logue, CMO for Koblo. “Just like the rules have changed when it comes to music distribution, we are changing the rules around music creation.”

Developers are invited to share their ideas, experiences and questions at the Koblo forums at Koblo.com. Koblo is currently seeking Linux developers who are interested in porting the Koblo Studio to the Linux platform.

The Koblo Studio has also been updated to Beta 0.9 r3041. This newest release introduces beta audio recording and many bug fixes.

Peter Kirn posted an interesting look today at Mrmr - a platform for creating dynamic user interfaces on mobile devices.

The above video shows its use on an iPhone in a recent audiovisual performance and ends with an interview with its designers.

Simply put, Mrmr is a technology that lets you use ordinary cell phones and PDAs as controllers in audiovisual performances, or to participate in interactive museum exhibits, or to use your mobile device in the place of the mouse or trackpad from your full-size computer.

This could evolve into an open source platform for controlling sequencers, DJ and VJ software. 

Mrmr is available now, for free, on iTunes (App Store Link).