4 ms·

Can You Live Code a Church Organ? [video]

111 points by emsign 3y ago

MezzoDelCammin 3y ago
Anyone else reminded of Knuth's "Royalties, use of" in TAOCP?
emsign 3y ago
Using the musical live coding software TidalCycles to control a church organ via MIDI.
geerlingguy 3y ago
I love watching 'This is not a museum' grow... the pipe organ project has been fascinating, and I'd love to visit if I ever have a chance. The YouTube channel this is on is also doing a whole series on a massive telephone exchange they've basically rebuilt inside the space, showing how all the phone circuits used to work pre-digital times.
- acquacow 3y ago
  Now you just have to write a playbook/role that sings to you as it executes through tasks... Audible feedback during execution would be cool for some things.
  - peterleiser 3y ago
    Or maybe the "Talking Head" from the book Neuromancer: https://williamgibson.fandom.com/wiki/Talking_head https://williamgibson.fandom.com/wiki/Talking_head "On the exterior it is an antique-looking bust, cloisonne over platinum, studded with seedpearls and lapis. In the interior it contains a beautiful arrangement of gears and miniature organ pipes that can produce voice, instead of ubiquitous synth-voice chips, the equivalent of a baroque clockwork automaton. Jacked into a computer, it can narrate in a melodious, inhuman voice."
al_borland 3y ago
>improvising music with code All I can think about is TempleOS when I hear this phrase.
noazark 3y ago
This channel is wonderful. The museum’s curator primary channel, Look Mum No Computer[1], is just as good! 1: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCafxR2HWJRmMfSdyZXvZMTw https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCafxR2HWJRmMfSdyZXvZMTw
Haemm0r 3y ago
This is actually a real thing in modern pipe organs since years (the programming part or electronic playback part, not sure about the live programming ;-) ). Check out e.g.: https://www.rieger-orgelbau.com/en/leistungen/rieger-electronics https://www.rieger-orgelbau.com/en/leistungen/rieger-electro...
NoZebra120vClip 3y ago
I shut this off halfway through. It was terrible. I was rather nonplussed by the rundown environment, and crass attire of the host and guest, and the cacophony produced from this guy's code was not really music at all. I am sure he knows what he's doing in terms of code, but couldn't he actually carry a tune of some kind, rather than random MIDI pulses?
- Intermernet 3y ago
  Bad take. The host is a self taught electronics hacker who has been making experimental electronic music for years. He's widely respected by people who you would certainly find less crass, and musical taste is much more subjective than most casual listeners would like to believe. Try to appreciate the goal and the passion, as well as the skill and lack of resources. This wasn't aimed at a generic audience, and you decrying it adds nothing of substance other than giving the impression that you may occasionally yell at clouds.
  - NoZebra120vClip 3y ago
    "Musical taste" only applies when actual music is involved.
    - brulard 3y ago
      Who decides what is and what isn't music? My mother always said it's not music what I listened to. I disagree
    - Intermernet 3y ago
      So if I appreciate Bach, Phillip Glass, Nils Frahm, Metallica and Wutang Clan, do I have musical taste?
    - lawgimenez 3y ago
      I can say the programmer has good music taste. Look at his hoodie, that’s Misfits. One of the most greatest punk bands of all time.
    - 3y ago
ecrance 3y ago
Related: a joint work between people in Brittany and Quebec allowed "MIDIfying" an organ in Guérande. (video in French) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S941N39XheA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S941N39XheA
jimeecee 3y ago
[flagged]
djaychela 3y ago
Love Sam and the channel. I saw a weird speaker (massive leslie-type thing) locally being given away and let him know about it, and a few months later, he'd picked it up and made a video on it [1]. Was nice to be able to add something to a museum that I'll eventually get to visit when I have the time! [1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBTJAtiSbxw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBTJAtiSbxw
- porbelm 3y ago
  Ah, thanks for enabling an excellent impromptu LMNC / Hainbach EP :) I loved that weird thing, and I'm so happy Sam and Hainbach "found each other" -- they jive so well together.
tiew9Vii 3y ago
I came across another similar video a while ago going down a YouTube rabbit hole 3am one morning. Controlling a MASSIVE pipe organ with my computer, Rob Scallon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQHdFAm7g7E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQHdFAm7g7E The precursor to that video is just as if not more interesting, "Pipe Organ (An instrument the size of a building)" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeB3JnKp8To https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeB3JnKp8To . In the video they find a midi port on the control unit. Several months later after talking to the manufacturer they go back and figure out how to get midi working and play bohemian rhapsody. It would of been an experience to be there with the size of the organ.
rjmunro 3y ago
I really liked the videos about dismantling, moving and reinstalling the organ at the museum. There's a playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLluPQLh1xzlI7EMB5qIxDd_1OLE-Z_kyC https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLluPQLh1xzlI7EMB5qIxD...
- LegitShady 3y ago
  me too although youtube thinks watching those meant I like watching ALL instrument repair videos so my suggestions are f'd full of instrument repair videos I care nothing about.
zengid 3y ago
if there are any tidal hackers in here I've found it difficult to figure out how to use pitch frequencies that aren't the standard MIDI notes or 12TET frequencies. Does anyone have a guide on that? Let's say I want to just use raw frequency values, or a non-12 EDO, how would I do that? Does that interfere with the patterning language in Tidal?
- chaosprint 3y ago
  If you refer to the original Tidal, it communicates with SuperCollider, so you can just look at the source code to see if you can change something. I haven't used it for a long time so it's just my best guess.
  - yaxu 3y ago
    Yes you can use supercollider's tuning model like this: https://github.com/musikinformatik/SuperDirt/blob/develop/hacks/pitch-model-from-tidal.scd https://github.com/musikinformatik/SuperDirt/blob/develop/ha...
- polytely 3y ago
  Some hardware synths* allow the user to change the scale so if you hook those up tidal over midi, you can do non-standard scales without having to do it in tidal itself. *The Korg Monologue & Korg Wavestate both have this feature
- yttrious 3y ago
  Here’s a reference: https://club.tidalcycles.org/t/custom-tuning-just-intonation-microtonality/3344/5 https://club.tidalcycles.org/t/custom-tuning-just-intonation... I also wrote a post on the TidalCycles blog. It covers my microtonal tuning and composing process. https://tidalcycles.org/blog/blog_topic_relyt_r_xuixo https://tidalcycles.org/blog/blog_topic_relyt_r_xuixo
  - zengid 3y ago
    thank you!
chaosprint 3y ago
you should try it at: https://strudel.cc/ https://strudel.cc/ live coding songs isn't that hard. for example this simplified Kraftwerk's Das Model: https://glicol.org/demo#themodel https://glicol.org/demo#themodel
p0w3n3d 3y ago
A little bit of Close Encounters of the Third Kind's vibe. However, I'm pretty sure that this organ will not work for long if the notes are switched so fast, just because of mechanical parts wear out

111 points by emsign 3y ago

MezzoDelCammin 3y ago

Anyone else reminded of Knuth's "Royalties, use of" in TAOCP?

emsign 3y ago

Using the musical live coding software TidalCycles to control a church organ via MIDI.

geerlingguy 3y ago

I love watching 'This is not a museum' grow... the pipe organ project has been fascinating, and I'd love to visit if I ever have a chance. The YouTube channel this is on is also doing a whole series on a massive telephone exchange they've basically rebuilt inside the space, showing how all the phone circuits used to work pre-digital times.

acquacow 3y ago
Now you just have to write a playbook/role that sings to you as it executes through tasks... Audible feedback during execution would be cool for some things.
- peterleiser 3y ago
  Or maybe the "Talking Head" from the book Neuromancer: https://williamgibson.fandom.com/wiki/Talking_head https://williamgibson.fandom.com/wiki/Talking_head "On the exterior it is an antique-looking bust, cloisonne over platinum, studded with seedpearls and lapis. In the interior it contains a beautiful arrangement of gears and miniature organ pipes that can produce voice, instead of ubiquitous synth-voice chips, the equivalent of a baroque clockwork automaton. Jacked into a computer, it can narrate in a melodious, inhuman voice."

al_borland 3y ago

>improvising music with code All I can think about is TempleOS when I hear this phrase.

noazark 3y ago

This channel is wonderful. The museum’s curator primary channel, Look Mum No Computer[1], is just as good! 1: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCafxR2HWJRmMfSdyZXvZMTw https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCafxR2HWJRmMfSdyZXvZMTw

Haemm0r 3y ago

This is actually a real thing in modern pipe organs since years (the programming part or electronic playback part, not sure about the live programming ;-) ). Check out e.g.: https://www.rieger-orgelbau.com/en/leistungen/rieger-electronics https://www.rieger-orgelbau.com/en/leistungen/rieger-electro...

NoZebra120vClip 3y ago

I shut this off halfway through. It was terrible. I was rather nonplussed by the rundown environment, and crass attire of the host and guest, and the cacophony produced from this guy's code was not really music at all. I am sure he knows what he's doing in terms of code, but couldn't he actually carry a tune of some kind, rather than random MIDI pulses?

Intermernet 3y ago
Bad take. The host is a self taught electronics hacker who has been making experimental electronic music for years. He's widely respected by people who you would certainly find less crass, and musical taste is much more subjective than most casual listeners would like to believe. Try to appreciate the goal and the passion, as well as the skill and lack of resources. This wasn't aimed at a generic audience, and you decrying it adds nothing of substance other than giving the impression that you may occasionally yell at clouds.
- NoZebra120vClip 3y ago
  "Musical taste" only applies when actual music is involved.
  - brulard 3y ago
    Who decides what is and what isn't music? My mother always said it's not music what I listened to. I disagree
  - Intermernet 3y ago
    So if I appreciate Bach, Phillip Glass, Nils Frahm, Metallica and Wutang Clan, do I have musical taste?
  - lawgimenez 3y ago
    I can say the programmer has good music taste. Look at his hoodie, that’s Misfits. One of the most greatest punk bands of all time.
  - 3y ago

ecrance 3y ago

Related: a joint work between people in Brittany and Quebec allowed "MIDIfying" an organ in Guérande. (video in French) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S941N39XheA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S941N39XheA

jimeecee 3y ago

[flagged]

djaychela 3y ago

Love Sam and the channel. I saw a weird speaker (massive leslie-type thing) locally being given away and let him know about it, and a few months later, he'd picked it up and made a video on it [1]. Was nice to be able to add something to a museum that I'll eventually get to visit when I have the time! [1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBTJAtiSbxw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBTJAtiSbxw

porbelm 3y ago
Ah, thanks for enabling an excellent impromptu LMNC / Hainbach EP :) I loved that weird thing, and I'm so happy Sam and Hainbach "found each other" -- they jive so well together.

tiew9Vii 3y ago

I came across another similar video a while ago going down a YouTube rabbit hole 3am one morning. Controlling a MASSIVE pipe organ with my computer, Rob Scallon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQHdFAm7g7E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQHdFAm7g7E The precursor to that video is just as if not more interesting, "Pipe Organ (An instrument the size of a building)" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeB3JnKp8To https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeB3JnKp8To . In the video they find a midi port on the control unit. Several months later after talking to the manufacturer they go back and figure out how to get midi working and play bohemian rhapsody. It would of been an experience to be there with the size of the organ.

rjmunro 3y ago

I really liked the videos about dismantling, moving and reinstalling the organ at the museum. There's a playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLluPQLh1xzlI7EMB5qIxDd_1OLE-Z_kyC https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLluPQLh1xzlI7EMB5qIxD...

LegitShady 3y ago
me too although youtube thinks watching those meant I like watching ALL instrument repair videos so my suggestions are f'd full of instrument repair videos I care nothing about.

zengid 3y ago

if there are any tidal hackers in here I've found it difficult to figure out how to use pitch frequencies that aren't the standard MIDI notes or 12TET frequencies. Does anyone have a guide on that? Let's say I want to just use raw frequency values, or a non-12 EDO, how would I do that? Does that interfere with the patterning language in Tidal?

chaosprint 3y ago
If you refer to the original Tidal, it communicates with SuperCollider, so you can just look at the source code to see if you can change something. I haven't used it for a long time so it's just my best guess.
- yaxu 3y ago
  Yes you can use supercollider's tuning model like this: https://github.com/musikinformatik/SuperDirt/blob/develop/hacks/pitch-model-from-tidal.scd https://github.com/musikinformatik/SuperDirt/blob/develop/ha...
polytely 3y ago
Some hardware synths* allow the user to change the scale so if you hook those up tidal over midi, you can do non-standard scales without having to do it in tidal itself. *The Korg Monologue & Korg Wavestate both have this feature
yttrious 3y ago
Here’s a reference: https://club.tidalcycles.org/t/custom-tuning-just-intonation-microtonality/3344/5 https://club.tidalcycles.org/t/custom-tuning-just-intonation... I also wrote a post on the TidalCycles blog. It covers my microtonal tuning and composing process. https://tidalcycles.org/blog/blog_topic_relyt_r_xuixo https://tidalcycles.org/blog/blog_topic_relyt_r_xuixo
- zengid 3y ago
  thank you!

chaosprint 3y ago

you should try it at: https://strudel.cc/ https://strudel.cc/ live coding songs isn't that hard. for example this simplified Kraftwerk's Das Model: https://glicol.org/demo#themodel https://glicol.org/demo#themodel

p0w3n3d 3y ago

A little bit of Close Encounters of the Third Kind's vibe. However, I'm pretty sure that this organ will not work for long if the notes are switched so fast, just because of mechanical parts wear out