Archive for October, 2009

We’ve made AudioCubes sets available with 6 and 8 cubes, together with the release of MODULOR. The software works from one to sixteen cubes, but we recommend using it with at least four cubes, to benefit from the MIDI effect and sequencing capabilities.

If you’re a professional user and really want to explore all MODULOR can do, 6 or 8 cubes is the best choice. If you’re working on an installation project for a museum or in a school where you’d like to have multiple people interact with the cubes simultaneously, a set of 8 cubes is probably what you need.

That’s why we’ve made these sets available, with a discount over buying multiple sets of 2 or 4. Visit the shop here to see the offer:

• http://shop.percussa.com/percussa-audiocubes-set-of-6.html
• http://shop.percussa.com/percussa-audiocubes-set-of-8.html

We’ve released a new version of libcube some weeks ago, but the news went by a bit silent because we were so busy working on MODULOR.

The library can be used to develop your own applications, in C/C++ or any other programming language you’d like to use, if you can make a wrapper for a library.

It offers access to the topology information of AudioCubes, so you know which cube is where in the network and what orientation it has. Of course, distance features are still there.

If programming is too hard core for you, you can simply use our Max/MSP and PD external, or you can use the applications which are ready to use.

You can download all software through the downloads page at http://www.percussa.com/downloads/

I’ve created a thread in the forum to discuss MODULOR, the new application for AudioCubes, which we released this week. Please join us, check out the software and post your feedback here: http://forum.percussa.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=60

Oliver from Wire to the Ear just did an interview with myself about Modulor and the other AudioCubes software. Of course we also discuss beer, lego and what a belgian dinner looks like.

More at http://www.wiretotheear.com/2009/10/30/interview-with-bert-schiettecatte-of-percussa/

Meet Modulor for AudioCubes, a new software application for the AudioCubes hardware platform.

We are very excited to release this – it’s the  result of one year of very hard development work, in which we focused on implementing topology detection in the AudioCubes firmware.

It’s now possible for AudioCubes to detect each other in a network, and forward data to each other within the network. This means that AudioCubes can be configured or colours can  be set through other AudioCubes, and that you only have to have one AudioCube connected to talk to the rest.

Modulor is the first application to take advantage of this exciting upgrade. It’s an application developed specifically for people who like to create their musical ideas using building blocks (e.g. loops of MIDI data).

The software lets you record loops into cubes using your favourite MIDI controller, and then combine those loops simply by putting cubes together. Colour coding can be used, for example to remember which loop is where or what key the loop is in.

Besides recording and playing back loops, it’s also possible to process MIDI data, from loops or from live input,  for example, using arpeggiators, chord generators, transposition, echos, … each cube can have one MIDI effect, and by forming networks of cubes you can create processing chains for MIDI data.

The application is a VST instrument host, so you can run it all by itself, and load your favourite software instruments. The resulting MIDI can be recorded to disk as a MIDI file with multiple tracks, one for each software instrument, which lets you bring your project into your favourite DAW software.

The application was in development for over a year, and we’ve decided to release it as a free download. More details can be read at http://www.percussa.com/uses/composition/ and http://www.percussa.com/applications/modulor/

Chris Warren sends us these interesting videos, showing how he uses a single AudioCube to control his custom instrument for sound design. Four parameters are simultaneously controlled using the sensors and his hands.

Do you live in Belgium or are you close to Belgium geographically … and would like to join us for an intensive one day workshop on AudioCubes?

Visit http://www.meetup.com/AudioCubes/ to learn about the series of upcoming workshops about tangible interfaces for audio-visual creation, and AudioCubes.

Are you a Max/MSP or PD user? If yes, you might be pleased to know that we’re working on a brand new external that will work in both systems.

The external and demo patches will take advantage of the upcoming topology support for AudioCubes. This will let you detect the entire network topology the cubes are in, and do all sorts of crazy stuff with it, like patching VST plugins and instruments together depending on the location of the AudioCubes.

We are also working on a secret VST instrument that will take advantage of this new functionality.

For those who can’t wait, there is a firmware update and Max/MSP and PD kit on the server. Please note that this is a BETA. Please submit your bug reports and comments to us using the contact form on this website (see Contact Us).

http://percussa.com/releases/FWUpgrade/bin/092009 (beta).zip

http://percussa.com/releases/libMaxMsp/audiocubes-flext.zip

We are grateful to Thomas Grill for helping out with the new external using his flext framework.