Hello.
For a while I’ve been very interested in the “classic” laptop computer music era, 90s/early 2000s, and the software and techniques used.
At the end of last year, I got a link to a Supercollider 2 patch, Bhob Rainey’s Xynthi, made to ‘emulate’ the EMS Synthi. It didn’t run on anything past OSX 10.5 or something, so I had to get an old 2001 Powerbook and install an OSX 10.3.something and the last version of OS9 just for fun. Xynthi is wonderful. Without a doubt worth getting a Powerbook for. A year on and I still use it quite often. I cannot stress how much I like it. And it looks like you’re playing minesweeper while using it.
That just made me curious. What other abandoned software and patches are out there, half-forgotten? Someone must have saved all those odd patches that were maybe passed around between laptops. I’d love to try them.
I signed up for the macos9lives forum, will have a deep dive soon.
The Curtis Roads software is usually worth a shot, the Pulsar Generator has been revamped by Marcin Pietruszewski with guidance from Roads. It’s a fantastic piece of software.
Since then I’ve tried a handful of things for OS9 unfortunately most doesn’t run that well. Just today I tried to get lloopp running on OS9, Max/MSP 4 runtime, but it runs out of memory after only opening 3-4 objects and freezes the whole laptop. Not that I need to run lloopp, I’ve got ppooll running fine on Max 8 on my 2012 laptop, but there’s without a doubt a different set of objects available that I’d like to try.
I remember seeing this post some years back.
So if anyone has got any interesting Max/PD/Supercollider/other patches lying about, please do share them.
Let’s all buy Powerbooks and make antiquated laptop music and trade cd-r albums. I’d wish Bandcamp would introduce a TRADE option for getting physical releases. You get my album of laptop music if you send me your album of laptop music.
All the best.
MH