Brian Eno once described a set of chimes being blown in the wind as an example of generative music. Adapting this philosophy of music-making to a digital setting, we can create environments where a series of musical elements can be triggered semi-randomly, akin to the blowing of wind.

What you'll learn

• In this workshop you will learn to create such a system in Max/MSP, building a simple synthesised bell-like sound with variable timbre which will then be ‘played’ by a loose algorithm that you will construct. This will involve learning a form of subtractive synthesis using a bank of resonant filters, applying variable controls to both its generation and post-processing through reverb and delay, and finally using combinations of random number generators to make digital ‘wind’.

Requirements

• You should be comfortable with the general workflow and data formatting in Max
• Some basic knowledge of frequencies (hz) in relation to music-making would be a plus

Course content

Who is this course for

• This course is for people interested in approaching generative music and subtractive synthesis.

Useful links

About the workshop leader