The Next Cycle...

I’m currently in the planning stages for the next cycle of Micronaut EPs. If you don’t know by now that I’m all about process, and the purity thereof, then you haven’t been reading this blog very long.

Setting up the process by which I’ll write the next go-round of music is actually the most pleasurable part for me. For the last cycle (what I internally call “the Bandcamp albums,” collectively Resistor, Capacitor, and Transformer) I didn’t really set up a particular workflow to get a specific result; it just kind of worked out that way, for better or worse.

For the next go-round, my intention is to create what I term “state machines,” where the entire song can play in real time, composed by a variety of procedural means, without utilizing any piano roll sequencing or DAWs. Essentially like the three “experiment” videos on YouTube that I put up recently, but not using the CMU-800R software for sequencing.)

In general, I will be allowed to guide the tracks, muting and unmuting instruments, diddling with the effects and settings and such, but the actual note choices are going to be left up to Skynet, when it comes down to it. And therein lies the point of this post. I plan to be making most of the states in Pd, since that’s the environment I’m most comfortable in, when it isn’t searing my eyes with its ugliness or crashing. But I also intend to create some MIDI control and sequencing applications for the iPad.

I’ll talk about the whole process as I do it, and film the actual performances, of course. I intend to record everything direct to 8-track tape, and mix from that, which should be entertaining.But my question is thus: if you’re an iPad user, would you be interested in these simple sequencers and control apps that I intend to make? Think the Axon sequencer, MIDI only, or the Tattoo sequencer, likewise. Or a functional equivalent of a Kaoss pad, but only MIDI. Simple little apps at simple little prices.

The reason I ask is that if I’m only making it for myself, the app doesn’t need a lot of user-friendly features. But it’s easier to plan for App Store release down the road if I do it at the beginning of the process, rather than trying to make some private rat’s nest of code behave later on.