In Orbit Labs has launched a Kickstarter project to fund production of Particles, a touchscreen creative physics simulator in Eurorack format.
Each particle in the simulation can be given unique values for acceleration, velocity, gravity, mass and starting XY position, offering a flexible range of possibilities. Particles can travel through portals, be removed from the simulation by black holes and collide with the environment and each other to generate gates.
The particle’s XY position can be mapped to the CV outputs to create waveforms or quantized to create melodies. Collisions may also be switched off for any or all particles allowing them to travel freely around the display without colliding with other sim elements.
Simulations can be drawn from scratch with the touchscreen or setup in fine detail by manually inputting positional values in the UI. Surfaces can be animated to create structures that move the particles around the display in a controlled manner, funneling into choke points for dense collisions or directing the particles along a user-drawn path towards specific quantized voltages.
Internal timed resets or external reset inputs can be used to sync the module or to create repetition and rhythm. Alternatively, no resets can be used for free flowing, ongoing compositions that generate musical events based on collisions and current particle locations.
Pricing and Availability:
Particles is available to project backers for about $532 USD. Delivery is targeted for July 2024.
Cool!
That’s intriguingly weird! There’s a line between what you play and what you trigger. The first is a hands-on physical endeavor you develop over time, like tackling a Rhodes piano. The second is part of the modular world, where its more about what you set in motion and how you modulate it.
I prefer Chromaphone’s direct modeling approach, where you get most of the first approach with a lesser but decent amount of the second. I see most of the point of Particles; I just like the sounds over the motion itself. I pay plenty for softsynths & outboard crap as it is. I’m glad that does the trick for me, because modular is like a crack habit. :O
that reminds me of the apps Sound drop and Musyc… for me touchscreens of this small size don´t make me happy. A editor for tablet or computer would maybe make it more flexible? But i like the concept…good luck with it!