Jon Hopkins - Insides

[frostypaw]

Yeah I've started making plans since the beginning, don't want to peak too early and you can roughly know how many sequences/styles to change through and when to build. Seen too many people's early tries (thanks youtube) where they reach 11/10 within the first minute of the track then where do you go?

AFAIK Dynamics outputs as fast as it/your scanners can and only cares about frames when you export to ILDA. Certainly I can put the timeline down to 1msec divisions and going from 100msec to 50 made it way easier getting the timing steady over a whole bar. The bit I've not got at all is relating what I hear to the numerical timing, end up going over a patch a bunch of times to get it to sync - no doubt where understanding how to use the FFT functions it has properly so it can handle some of the legwork would help a lot

[mixedgas]

A time period of 1/30th (30 Video FPS) works great for editing to music. So 1 second divided by 3= equals 0.03333 so 33.3 milliseconds would be about right. ~50 gets you close.
.

So your a musician by training. SO your used to Beats per Minute, right? Lets use 180 BPM as an example. 180 divided by 60 seconds = 3 beats per second...
.
one second divided by three beats per second = 0.33 seconds between beats.
.
If the resolution is set to 50 milliseconds, that is an event every 0.05 seconds. So you have 0.33 divided by 0.050 = 6.6 Dynamics Event Ticks between beats...

See how that works?

Steve

[swamidog]

OK, I'm done editing that post.
Que up Swami for some award wining sage advice on timing shows.. OH Swami....
'

Steve

who me?

some rambles.

i tend not to use FFT displays very much. they're helpful for rough cutting music into logical sections for sequencing, and maybe for timing on sporadic events like drum hits, crashes, other elements. but sometimes you don't want visual elements starting exactly where the waveform suggests they should. don't be a computer. let things flow. abstract effects are organisms. let them move and interact with the music and with each other.

try not to make screen saver laser shows. try to create with the light the machines that are making the music. don't react to the music, create it. remember, you're effectively making music videos. think about the rhythms of pacing, and transitions, and themes. think about the dynamics between nothing and everything and how not to just fill a space, but how to tell a story with it. you're creating and breathing life into light. it's not just a thing, it's a presence with struggles and tension and emotion.

i count beats and then use fractions of counts for timing. think also about layering timing. say you have a 32 beat section with something changing size from 50 to 100% 16 times with a sine or triangle wave. you've set repeat and phase so you're hitting the beats perfectly. now add something on top of that, maybe a master size from 100-0% repeating an odd number of times. it'll still match the beat, but it will be less mechanical.

think about the color and the shape of the sound. think about the emotion of the sound. what does it feel like? are you creating the organics of your sound?

YMMV

[frostypaw]

A time period of 1/30th (30 Video FPS) works great for editing to music. So 1 second divided by 3= equals 0.03333 so 33.3 milliseconds would be about right. ~50 gets you close.
.

So your a musician by training. SO your used to Beats per Minute, right? Lets use 180 BPM as an example. 180 divided by 60 seconds = 3 beats per second...
.
one second divided by three beats per second = 0.33 seconds between beats.
.
If the resolution is set to 50 milliseconds, that is an event every 0.05 seconds. So you have 0.33 divided by 0.050 = 6.6 Dynamics Event Ticks between beats...

See how that works?

Steve

Yeah, just did music at school, not by training as such and random flirtings with guitars and the likes of Rebirth since but I do know some things still

I think that .66 is my issue making me wander when I've set up a pattern - I'll have to do the maths first and give myself a fairer chance by setting the intervals closer to the music's own. Have ended up doing odd patterns of pasting four repeating sections then having to trim the last so when i past in the next lot they stay on beat... not helpful.

Wise words Swamidog, I'm just starting to use the idea of long layered effects rather than trying to do each bit separately. Saved a fair bit of madness

[Guido]

Hi Frosty,

if you have Problems with the FFT Analysis let me help you. But there are some things you need to know when you use it.
Not that the FFT of Dynamics not only show you the Waveform, there is also a Audioanalysis for Bass/ Mid / High . You can use the Expression "Frequency" to control
the Effect. A.e. "Frequency (0,4) . 0=Bass, 1=Mid, 2=High, 2nd Var (4 in this Case ) is a Exponential .

There can be a Delay from the FFT Events to the real Output of PC´s Soundcard. Depends on the used System. Latency from USB Soundcards a.e. can be very Long.
This delay is also adjustable in the Audiosettings.
For simple Effects like a Strobe you can set an Intensity Event on the Timeline, Startvalue 0, EndValue 1, Count the Beats during Event Time and use This Value for the Repeats inside the Event. Also Play with the DutyCycle !

ILDA Output isnt 100% perfect in my Eyes for exchanging Shows from one System to another. Using fixed fps the Targetsystem must use the same Scanrate and the used DAC must be absolutly perfect.
In the last Years i see many DAC´s here in my Lab, 30KPPs can also be 29.89Kpps...

Using fixed Framerate allows you a Little bit more. The Targetsystem must decide which Frame is used which Time. Depending on Scanspeed it can happen that one Frame will be repeated or skipped.
Inside here me and Joachim Mueller (jmlaser.com ) have an internal Format called "ULF" which means Universal Laserformat. This can carry Laserframes, DMX Frames, TTL or other Informations / "Framtypes"
The Laserframes are marked with a Timestamp (Duration or Offset from Start ). But this is still under Development and because we are small Player this will never be a Standart.

A Discussion about Showprogramming (not depending on a Special System ) is really nice. In my Eyes it is important not to use too much Colors and dont Repeat Animations too Long.
Your prefered Music Style... OK..as i told you by Mail...not really my Style :-)

Normally a Song is divided...Intro...Strophe...Refrain...Strophe...Re frain...break...Refrain for Example.
Using the same Animation for each Refrain can give you a recognition which CAN be nice...but this is not a MUST.
See Showprogramming as artistry..all is allowed as long as other People like it :-)

Some Parts of the Text come from a Translation Tool. Hope you understand all i wrote :-)