Gio is a sophomore majoring in Symbolic Systems, with a concentration in Computer Music. While his primary instrument is electric guitar (lead for Stanford-based indie rock band "Siberian Front"), he has a passion for computer-mediated music and music recording and production.
Description: The Intervalia is a simple, intuitive computer instrument that is played with the keyboard and trackpad. The basic premise behind the instrument is sequencing, based off of intervalic patterns. When a key is pressed, an intervalic sequence is launched. In other words, a finite stream of predetermined notes is played, with each pitch set by its distance from the key's "base" note. These intervalic distances can be changed via the Intervalia GUI, while the timbre of the sound can be adjusted with the trackpad.
This instrument is a refined, better-sounding, and user-friendly version of the prototype I created for the "Generative Soundscape" assignment, which focuses auditory illusion, timbre, generative synthesis, interactive control, multithreading, and basic synthesis elements.
Instructions: The Intervalia is implimented in one simple, compact, but dense chuck file. Upon launch, a MAUI view control is brought into instantiation. Each of the eight sliders represents the interval to be played, in relation to the base, at the corresponding point in the sequence. Interval differences can range from 0 to 2 octaves. The user presses the keyboard's alphanumeric keys to launch sequences. The up and down arrows hasten and slow tempo, while the left and right arrows adjust the base pitch. Finally, a linked LP and HP filter can be adjusted by moving your finger along the trackpad. X values adjust the HPF, while Y values adjust the LPF. Press the QUIT button to remove all shreds and exit the application.
Credits: SMELT offered inspiration for mouse-tracking and keyboard-mapping techniques.
Difficulties: I ran into several bugs regarding mouse-tracking, and multi-threading of intervalic sequences, but managed to iron them out!