#7

If you just want to edit notation directly something g like this might be more efficient:
https://kompapp.com/

Or maybe not? In Opusmodus you can type notation directly.

IMG_2312.PNG1044×708 46.5 KB 

((s a4 d5 fs4 d5 g4 d5) 
 (s a4 d5 fs4 d5 g4 d5) 
 (s a4 d5 cs5 b4 a4 g4) 
 (s fs4 d4 e4 c4 e d4))

Becomes this (in midi or musicxml)

IMG_2313.PNG924×136 7.71 KB

But to me, it’s more interesting to think about the power of lisp for manipulating lists like that.

1 Like
#8

There’s a similar Clojure-based music Lisp called Overtone. It’s built around SuperCollider: http://overtone.github.io/

3 Likes
#9

I would contrast the two like this (curious if you agree). Opusmodus seems to place more emphasis on structures to help you generate compositions grounded in theory, while Overtone places more emphasis on synthesis. My perception is that Opusmodus just wants to create the music and hand off to other tools for timbre. For me, this makes a lot of sense, but I can see the attraction to Overtone for it’s one-stop-shop approach.

I also happen to really enjoy Opusmodus as an IDE.

I wonder if you could use the two in tandem?

#10

I haven’t sat down to look at Opusmodus, but Overtone definitely came out of the live coding scene. You’re right that it’s more focused on quick results and improvisation. I just thought I’d share it while talking about music Lisps. It’s fun to connect all of these environments.

There’s also the CCRMA Common Lisp for Music: https://ccrma.stanford.edu/software/clm/

1 Like
#11

Which I believe is under the covers of Opusmodus? (Discussed above)

#12

From the readout above, it’s based on CCL (Clozure Common Lisp), while CLM is a package for vanilla Common Lisp. There are CLM packages for C, CL, Forth, Ruby, and Scheme. It’s very possible that Opusmodus is using elements of CLM, though!

EDIT: What’s fun is that CLM is built into Snd, which is CCRMA’s audio editing suite (https://ccrma.stanford.edu/software/snd/snd/sndclm.html). It’s an interesting workflow.
https://ccrma.stanford.edu/software/snd/snd/snd.html

1 Like
#13

Thank you for clarifying!

#14

No problem! I should also note that Snd is Linux only, specifically Fedora or CentOS (http://ccrma.stanford.edu/planetccrma/software/). My first link, Overtone, is more general. It’s just fun to point out the thread of Common Lisp running though these tools, each with a different focus.

2 Likes
#15

…the speed of the notation rendering is impressive and as someone who doesn’t really read music, curiously appealing.

My initial reaction of Opusmodus is positive. It looks like a deep environment but one which doesn’t heavily overlap with tools I already have - it does seem squarely focused on composition. I very much like that the environment is self contained and visually clean.

2 Likes
#16

Following this with interest. @jasonw22, what convinced you that quickly during your trial period that you’ll purchase Opusmodus? How are you planning on integrating this into your workflow?

#17

It seems like a very quick way to work with notes. Has a lot of built-in structures for music theory. I’m also very fond of lisp and this seems like a wonderful way to use it.

I’m planning to use it to explore music theory and generative systems, but also just to generate quick little midi riffs and progression for use in larger compositions.

I’m also curious to explore its functionality for integrating with DAWs and Reaktor and such, but I’m not very knowledgeable about what’s possible there. Even if it just spit out MIDI I think it’d be worth the price of admission, but it feels like it could become the compositional center of a larger system.

In the past I’ve used Liquid Music for a similar role in my workflow, but I like the idea of having programmatic/mathematical control over tonality (rather than the menu/form based systems in Liquid Music).

1 Like
#19

Very nice. I just love how legible the code can be when you have so much control over semantics.

I’m sorry I can’t offer any advice about libmonome/CCL/FFI/OSC/etc.

#20

Thanks for elaborating. That all makes sense to me. I guess I should spend some time with the trial version for a couple of days to see if the could get me further down a path of engaging in a more electroacoustic composition practice. It’s not a cheap piece of software, but with the current discount till end of the month I could probably swing it if I find it really adds a new dimension to what I’m currently trying to do.

1 Like
#22

You might give Overtone a swing while you’re at it (especially since it is open source).

1 Like
#23

Thanks for posting! Watching this thread with interest. Very keen to hear how integrating it with other tools plays out.

@jasonw22: how mature does the app feel? Do you get the sense that it’s well supported? (Installing later but I don’t mind spoilers. :wink: )

Popping up, Overtone looks quite interesting too @trickyflemming . I notice that there was once a monome interaction wiki page but it looks stale now (https://github.com/overtone/overtone/wiki/Monome). Did you play with that at all?

Anyway, thanks for the nudge(s)!

1 Like
#24

Check out https://github.com/pranavrc/tenor if you spend time with Overtone. The comment that overtone focuses on synth definitions is true IMO. There’s a metronome object, but you have to get fiddly to do things like “sequence a rhythm.” The tenor tutorials do a good job of explaining the more musical bits of Overtone. That said, I’ve only spent a few hours with them. I love the idea of overtone, but I end up getting frustrated and moving on. Might be worth checking into again.

Sam Aaron, the original author of Overtone (I think? He’s definitely the biggest contributor) also wrote a live coding environment called Sonic Pi that’s worth a look. It’s most definitely not Opusmodus, but it’s pretty great. The last time I checked it didn’t support sending Midi notes out. It’s really meant as a platform to teach kids computer science through music.

1 Like
#25

It feels very solid. I’m still a little confused bu the difference between “audition” and “evaluate” so sometimes I get surprising errors from using evaluate rather than audition. The user error sort of bug. I’ve also had some trouble running snippets of code found in the forums for the software, so I wonder if that indicates that it has evolved over the years and maybe some older code no longer works? But in general, I find it to be surprisingly deep and stable as well.

1 Like
#26

I love the look of this. I may try generating a score, and then playing it back on my modular via Ansible in midi mode. That could be a great way to use some interesting generative music theory sequences with the whole system.

2 Likes
#27

:open_mouth:

it’s…beautiful. the workspace approach is just gorgeous.

AND there’s a live coding instrument built in?

I have never wanted to hustle through a learning curve faster. that discount is serious.

2 Likes
#28

I have never wanted to hustle through a learning curve faster. that discount is serious.

I know it! I’m pretty jammed the next few days but am hoping to sneak in some time to demo.

If you try it, do report back!