3 ms·

How can I make music without knowing an instrument?

by brcmthrowaway 2y ago

Rochus 2y ago
E.g. with a tool like this: https://nodalmusic.com/ https://nodalmusic.com/
- brcmthrowaway 2y ago
  How does this differ to Max/MSP or PureData
  - Rochus 2y ago
    It has nothing in common with Max nor Pd. The latter specifiy signal flow and operators on the signal. Nodal instead represents events and time distances between them; this way you can design musical patterns; time is two dimensional, so you can draw loops; then you can associate musical information with the events and add logical operations so that your loops vary in time. It's a very nice experimenting and composition tool, especially if you don't play an instrument. See e.g. here for a tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQpJi0AkFBQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQpJi0AkFBQ. And here are some nice composition created with Nodal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1BzGaz62PE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1BzGaz62PE, https://youtu.be/gi61bHLyDsU https://youtu.be/gi61bHLyDsU, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTpyIT8dWIA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTpyIT8dWIA.
    - TheOtherHobbes 2y ago
      With some persuasion, Max can do everything Nodal does. It's not convenient and you have to use numbers instead of line lengths. But it's untrue they have "nothing in common."
      - Rochus 2y ago
        Well, that requires a demonstration ;-) > you have to use numbers instead of line lengths That's the whole point of Nodal; you represent musical patterns (and control flow) with graphical means. Entering numbers is close to Midi event lists and has little to do with Nodal's approach. Max/Pd are great tools, but focus on the processing and signal flow aspect (i.e. the machine which generates the music/noise), not the representation of the music.
bigbacaloa 2y ago
[dead]
shadowerm 2y ago
IMO the question doesn't make sense. You can't make music without learning an instrument. Maybe the instrument is a computer with PD or DAW software but it is still a musical instrument that you have to learn to play. There is no way around spending hours learning and practicing whatever instrument you pick. What makes a computer hard to learn to play is that it has too many options. You don't learn anything playing trumpet for a month, then changing to piano for 2 weeks, then trying a new guitar that just came out for 2 months. That though is basically what many computer musicians do. You need to pick the software setup and then spend a long time learning it and don't switch instruments.

How can I make music without knowing an instrument?

Rochus 2y ago

E.g. with a tool like this: https://nodalmusic.com/ https://nodalmusic.com/

brcmthrowaway 2y ago
How does this differ to Max/MSP or PureData
- Rochus 2y ago
  It has nothing in common with Max nor Pd. The latter specifiy signal flow and operators on the signal. Nodal instead represents events and time distances between them; this way you can design musical patterns; time is two dimensional, so you can draw loops; then you can associate musical information with the events and add logical operations so that your loops vary in time. It's a very nice experimenting and composition tool, especially if you don't play an instrument. See e.g. here for a tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQpJi0AkFBQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQpJi0AkFBQ. And here are some nice composition created with Nodal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1BzGaz62PE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1BzGaz62PE, https://youtu.be/gi61bHLyDsU https://youtu.be/gi61bHLyDsU, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTpyIT8dWIA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTpyIT8dWIA.
  - TheOtherHobbes 2y ago
    With some persuasion, Max can do everything Nodal does. It's not convenient and you have to use numbers instead of line lengths. But it's untrue they have "nothing in common."
    - Rochus 2y ago
      Well, that requires a demonstration ;-) > you have to use numbers instead of line lengths That's the whole point of Nodal; you represent musical patterns (and control flow) with graphical means. Entering numbers is close to Midi event lists and has little to do with Nodal's approach. Max/Pd are great tools, but focus on the processing and signal flow aspect (i.e. the machine which generates the music/noise), not the representation of the music.

bigbacaloa 2y ago

[dead]

shadowerm 2y ago

IMO the question doesn't make sense. You can't make music without learning an instrument. Maybe the instrument is a computer with PD or DAW software but it is still a musical instrument that you have to learn to play. There is no way around spending hours learning and practicing whatever instrument you pick. What makes a computer hard to learn to play is that it has too many options. You don't learn anything playing trumpet for a month, then changing to piano for 2 weeks, then trying a new guitar that just came out for 2 months. That though is basically what many computer musicians do. You need to pick the software setup and then spend a long time learning it and don't switch instruments.