On 6/3/07, David Powers <<a href="mailto:cyborgk@gmail.com">cyborgk@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>> > > I am finding almost all of the "Academic" music kids at my local<br>> > > Dorkbot (Melbourne, Australia) are using Max for their work, simply
<br>> > > because it was what their lecturers used. I am hoping to change their<br>> > > opinions on the matter, and expose them to ChucK!<br>> ><br>> > Yes, that was the exact case here. Marcel, who organsed this, teaches MAX so
<br>> > most competitors were his students. MAX is great, nothing wrong with that,<br>> > but I would've liked more diversity in this competition (I saw one other<br>> > night as a spectator). After this finale I suspect next season will see more
<br>> > diversity.<br>> ><br>> <br>> I am getting really tired of how "MAX-centric" (not to mention<br>> mac-centric) everyone who does any kind of experimental (or academic)<br>> electronic music is. I guess part of my annoyance is that it's
<br>> prohibitively expensive, especially for a non-student. I can't afford<br>> either Max, or a Mac. But I just find it strange how people are really<br>> confused when I tell them I use PD instead of Max, and even though PD
<br>> is free nobody seems interested in using it. Max just has some sort of<br>> "aura" of being the software you are "supposed" to use.<br>> <br><br>I have to say "Bump" on that about [Max/Mac] -centricity.
<br><br>I respect Max (hey, it's named after one of my top 5 heroes of music), and I have utmost respect for the work that people like Brad does; Adding ~chuck into Max is awesome. It's a level of coding I will never aspire to, but, as Oppenheimer is misquoted as saying "Who'll bake the Bread?".
<br><br>Please, allow me to indulge you all with a little tale about my history in "computer music".<br> I remember trying to get into CSound back in 1996. I was poorer than a student -- I was on mediocre welfare, living a small town where I had to struggle to get access to a computer with a CD-ROM drive (remember Caddies?). I had to pay to download software at my local town library. Through a bizarre chain of events through someone's website I'd learned about CSound, and this place called IRCAM (where they were doing the vocal effects for a foreign film Farinelli was done). I was spending the majority of my luxury money on copies of Future Music and Sound on Sound because these were the only publications I could get my hands on. It had software on CDs. CDs! I would occasionally get to copy this stuff onto floppy disks (spanned zips) and would play them on my woeful IBM made 386, no co-pro, no sound, non upgradable PS2. With 2 megabytes of ram. I would run a CSound example, y'know, toot1 toot2. Save them to 5K 8 bit sound files, then load up Windows
3.1 where I installed a driver someone got for me from the internet that played wave sounds through your PC speaker.<br><br>I thought I was so hardcore, and, in a lot of ways, I was.<br><br>I struggled with CSound for a few weeks, but, due to overwhelming lack of technology, I never got back into it.
<br> Instead, I purchased a Synthesizer. I had Mark Vail's book on "Synthesizers". I saw a Dx7IIFD in a store, it was potentially within my price range -- if they'd let me pay it off over 3 months, which, joy -- they did. I ended up getting it. I had NO IDEA about FM at all! It was an uphill battle, but, I managed to get my hands on a copy of "FM Synthesis..." by Chowning & Bristow.
<br>That was a whole other kettle of fish. I have a livelong obsession with FM, as you can tell from my website <a href="http://www.loscha.com">www.loscha.com</a>, particularly the <a href="http://www.loscha.com/ybb">www.loscha.com/ybb
</a> page. I've been collecting FM synthesizer service manuals for quite a while, datasheets of different chips, and even old soundcards with discrete FM chips. I dabble in electronics engineering, so, I might make something from the YM3812s one day).
<br><br>It wasn't until 2002 that I owned a computer fast enough to consider doing serious music on (Duron 800) which is what I am using for Chuck, and trying to get into Pd a bit, too. I prefer to use open source sound software whenever possible, I've purchased some software over the years -- well, purchased is a loose term. I've had it purchased for me by caring family members and a few donations from caring fellow musicians.
<br><br> I believe in ChucK, like there are a lot of people out there who believe in Linux, that it can change the world, even in small ways.<br>ChucK will be able to run on Mobile Phones, soon (if it can't already). Hopefully, those guys and gals who get Linux to run on FPGA boards the size of playing cards will be able to squeeze ChucK on there, too. Imagine -- unplugging your USB cable from the side of a box the size of a pack of cigarettes (not that I smoke), plugging in headphones and a few AAs -- and listening to a beautiful piece of music a friend on the other side of the world made last night, generated in real-time right there in your pocket?
<br><br> That would be truly beautiful.<br>And, you know what? I'm pretty sure I'll be alive to see it.<br><br><br>-Edward