Hi I posted this deep in the "this doesn't work" thread, thought it might be better to start a new topic. This is in response to those who expressed interest in discussing home-brewn chuck live systems, so here follows a short description of mine. First I must tell a little bit about the kind of music that I'm doing in this particular project. It's obviously electronic, but not very loop based. Although it's not pop it uses to some extend the pop forms like intro, verse, chorus. Also it has chord changes like a pop song, and those changes might be different for each song part. And finally it involves a double bass player and a singer (besides me and a vj). Maybe it's time for some music. These are the first two tracks of the first concert with chuck. They might be representative of what I do live, something algorithmic, something prepared, something weird (for the regular listener) and something poppy. Notes 1) The thing blowing up between tracks is my micron, 2) the muddy sound on the vocals should be better next time, 3) besides the vocal the bass and the blow-up in the transition everything is chuck. http://atte.dk/download/01_train.mp3 http://atte.dk/download/02_holde_pkt.mp3 One of my main motivations was to be able to make something that is flexible like a real band. I want to be able to jam with it, take the dynamics down, repeat a part, stay on a part, and play solo (either with synth, game pad or melodica) over it. With this small band I soon felt it would be a waste of my hands and mind to simply play any single part unless it would be possible to modulate the whole piece dramatically with that specific part. In stead my role is to modulate the whole "band", kind of like a director, deciding in real time which part comes next, taking certain instruments out and controlling the music in more general terms. Everything is controlled from a bcr2000, and I play a little on a keyboard and a game pad. So my system lets me program "patterns" like a synth part, or a drums part, each of which is a single .ck file. They have a degree of either randomness to them or are actual algorithms that spin out eternal variations. Each of them "listens" to the settings of various knobs like dynamic (how loud to play), height (chose notes in either lower or higher register), length (play short or long notes) and activity (play less or more). Each part goes into an eight channel mixer with delay (with controllable delay time and feedback) and a controllable filter. I make some abstractions on time (this was where my segfault occurred), like: Time.wait(4); which means "wait for the next quarter-note" or if(Time.sub(8)%2 == 1) which means "if we're now on one of one-and, two-and etc. Basically the system works very well, but it takes practice. Not only can it be tricky to actually press the right button at the right moment, but it demands alot to be able to shape an eight minute piece from beginning to end with a satisfying structure and a natural climax not only so that the piece itself comes out right but also so that it fits within the entire set, which lasted about 50 minutes (next gig will have more new songs, so we're doing two sets of about 35-40 minutes). I hope this gives you an idea of what I do and why. Of course this explanation leaves out a lot of details, and the systems does a bit more here and there, but that's basically it... -- Atte http://atte.dk http://modlys.dk