The zound of descending into simplicity...
For a while now, I’ve been experimenting with making digital instruments. I’ve released some of the more “finished” ones at https://thealternativedesktopsynthesizer.garden/
Some are simply goofy, like this synth that is made to look like windows in the 90s. It doesn’t do anything particularly exciting, but you could bring a controller and a laptop to a gig, and it will function just fine.
Others, like this one, which literally changes the pitch of your upper notes to match whatever tuning system you setup in the bass, legitimately might affect your playing and help you make some different music than if you just plugged in any old Moog emulator.
Others may only work at home, like this one, tempered to your keyboard.
Nevertheless, there are options to really create some new music with it. I like finding some good sounds, and then just typing the verbal thoughts in my head.
One is a polyrhythmic drum machine for DJs that are going for that filling-the-dancefloor-with-nerds sound.
Anyway, @SimpleStacker was out bot-bating last week and straight up blew my mind with this post on the Collatz Conjecture. Dude! I love learning about this kind of thing. It’s kind of like the opposite of Conway’s Game of Life. With this set of rules, you can start with infinite complexity and always end in the same simple sequence.
Anyway, through persistent badgering, I learned that he had made this cool visualizer for it with his son, and I immediately wanted to hear it as well. So…I would like to share with you Hailstone Harmonics. It may not be the most functional herb in my garden, but you can definitely get some pretty sounds (the rhythms of the bass in particular) out of it.
Make sure to play with all the options below the graph/keyboard too! :)
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