Sparkles

Jaehoon Choi

Main Idea

Wanted to design a music interface which doesn't have an start or an end. Through this project, I focused on building a non-linear experience of sound and music.

Details

The user will use a trackpad for this interface. I used the trackpad as the main input because I liked the continuous aspect of it. Through trackpad, the user can 'draw the music' using three fingers. When the user finishes one drawing, particles of randomly selected color schemes will appear with the sound tied with a particular color scheme. Sounds are granualar synthesized sound samples from guitar, piano, flute, and cello played from a random sample point. Until the particles disappear, the grains of the sample will be smaller, and as the grains get smaller particles will be more vibrant and will mingle together with other particles as the granulated sounds does with other sounds. In addition, the relative x position of the particle system determines the panning of the sound. If the user draws a shape on the left side of the canvas, it will pan more left, and more right if it draws on the right side of the canvas.

How to set up

This application only works on Mac OS. Before playing with it, there are some settings you have to set up in your system preference.
1) Go to 'Trackpad' > 'Point and Click' and then check 'Tab to click'
2) Go to 'Accessibility' > 'Mouse and Trackpad' > 'Trackpad Options ...' and click 'Enable dragging three finger tab'
Next, download the app HERE, unzip it and enjoy!

Focusing on simplicity

For me, the primary criteria was simplicity. When starting a project, plans are often sophisticated and ambitious too. When this grand plan gets implements in a simple form with instinctively good feeling, things feel to be in a stable state.

Sparkle from Jaehoon Choi on Vimeo.