Cool audio software for OS X + guitars.
August 23, 2011 6:20 PM Subscribe
Please recommend generative/reactive audio software for OS X.
I recently got a MacBook Pro, and have been having fun plugging my guitars into GarageBand, and it got me thinkin': what cool generative/reactive audio software is there for OS X?
Ideally, something that reacts to what I play on the guitar, but is more than just effects, something more algorithmic.
I recently got a MacBook Pro, and have been having fun plugging my guitars into GarageBand, and it got me thinkin': what cool generative/reactive audio software is there for OS X?
Ideally, something that reacts to what I play on the guitar, but is more than just effects, something more algorithmic.
Well, if you get ableton live and a midi controller (maybe something with foot pedals, you can use in the guitar) you can create loops and switch between them as you play and keep everything in sync. You can transpose them as you switch keys, too.
posted by empath at 7:14 PM on August 23, 2011
posted by empath at 7:14 PM on August 23, 2011
Tassman is a package I used to work with a while back. It's a modeling synth, which means you set parameters that model the physical properties of objects, like a string or drum skin. It's modular, like Reaktor, so you plug objects together. But it also doubles as an effect that works along the same lines. You could run your guitar through this and get some crazy sounds.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 8:05 PM on August 23, 2011
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 8:05 PM on August 23, 2011
It's probably worth noting that Ableton Live now has 'Max for Live' which gives you the best of both worlds in terms of ease of use and insane flexibility.
And maybe take a look at ChucK, which is (I think) a lot easier to get your head around than Max.
posted by jack_mo at 8:16 PM on August 23, 2011
And maybe take a look at ChucK, which is (I think) a lot easier to get your head around than Max.
posted by jack_mo at 8:16 PM on August 23, 2011
...and there is SuperCollider, which is probably harder than Chuck or Max/MSP to get your head around. But it is amazing.
posted by dubitable at 8:33 AM on August 24, 2011
posted by dubitable at 8:33 AM on August 24, 2011
Best answer: If you're willing to get your hands dirty (and spend some cash), 2nding Reaktor big time.
It's an audio lego set, like Max/MSP and Tassman, but far more user-friendly, imo, than either of those, mostly because of the vast and ever-growing resource that is the User Library of free creations uploaded on a regular basis from active users, along with the extremely helpful User forums. I've used Tassman and checked out Max/MSP and they are certainly cool and powerful and worth checking out, but neither has a user base as devoted to sharing and as active compared to Reaktor, or as large. There's a steep learning curve with all of these, so it's priceless to have a huge collection of cool, surprising, sophisticated tools and tutorials already built to get you rolling. Reaktor's is by far the leader of the pack.
All these build-your-own platforms are about way more than audio processing; the synth/sampling/sequencing/beat-creating stuff generally far outweighs the audio processing stuff (altho Reaktor's very well supplied with FX, from the basic to the very strange), and once you find that, not much of it is reactive/generative out of the box. But it's not difficult to build set-ups that could, say, use the pitch or volume of your audio input to modulate effect parameters, or add sequencers or randomizers that can do anything from change parameters to reroute audio, switch presets, reorder effect chains, etc., etc., and really etc. And you could have your guitar input trigger those things, too.
I was interested in just what you asked about when I got into Reaktor, and eventually decided that I'd need to write my own specialist's guitar-processing Reaktor-FX tutorial as the best way to see how to bend Reaktor to that task, as nothing was already there. It's a little dated by now, but it's still an excellent way to get a grasp of what you can do with Reaktor as a guitar- or audio-processor. No doubt you need to be a registered user to access it from that link, but I'm happy to share it. (It's a pdf) Skip over all the intro how-to-build stuff; there's a bunch of examples described in it that should clarify some powerful ways to make effects reactive and algorithmic using a tool like Reaktor.
posted by dpcoffin at 11:32 AM on August 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
It's an audio lego set, like Max/MSP and Tassman, but far more user-friendly, imo, than either of those, mostly because of the vast and ever-growing resource that is the User Library of free creations uploaded on a regular basis from active users, along with the extremely helpful User forums. I've used Tassman and checked out Max/MSP and they are certainly cool and powerful and worth checking out, but neither has a user base as devoted to sharing and as active compared to Reaktor, or as large. There's a steep learning curve with all of these, so it's priceless to have a huge collection of cool, surprising, sophisticated tools and tutorials already built to get you rolling. Reaktor's is by far the leader of the pack.
All these build-your-own platforms are about way more than audio processing; the synth/sampling/sequencing/beat-creating stuff generally far outweighs the audio processing stuff (altho Reaktor's very well supplied with FX, from the basic to the very strange), and once you find that, not much of it is reactive/generative out of the box. But it's not difficult to build set-ups that could, say, use the pitch or volume of your audio input to modulate effect parameters, or add sequencers or randomizers that can do anything from change parameters to reroute audio, switch presets, reorder effect chains, etc., etc., and really etc. And you could have your guitar input trigger those things, too.
I was interested in just what you asked about when I got into Reaktor, and eventually decided that I'd need to write my own specialist's guitar-processing Reaktor-FX tutorial as the best way to see how to bend Reaktor to that task, as nothing was already there. It's a little dated by now, but it's still an excellent way to get a grasp of what you can do with Reaktor as a guitar- or audio-processor. No doubt you need to be a registered user to access it from that link, but I'm happy to share it. (It's a pdf) Skip over all the intro how-to-build stuff; there's a bunch of examples described in it that should clarify some powerful ways to make effects reactive and algorithmic using a tool like Reaktor.
posted by dpcoffin at 11:32 AM on August 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
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posted by Blazecock Pileon at 6:47 PM on August 23, 2011