Lab 2 [Distance]

Distance

Distance is a minimal monophonic arpeggiator by which it is possible to play a sequence of four notes. The pitch of each note is defined by the distance between the the corresponding circle and the central one. The user is able to freely move the central circle that works as a pitch controller,  simultaneously for all the four steps.

The extremely simple interface is supposed to be used only as a controller and not as a graphical interface to receive visual feedback about the audio output. The lack of visual feedback leads the user to focus all the attention on the produced audio output. In this way, the user learns to coordinate the graphical control with the played sound, without being driven by any kind of information related to the current distances circle-controller, the corresponding pitch or the standard notes references.

Despite in theory the arpeggios can be exactly determined defining the distance between the controller and each circle, in practice, the instrument is never completely governable. Indeed, the human mind is not really able to split the attention into four different focuses and in this instrument every time you change one controller-circle distance you necessary modify also the other three values.

The application is realized using openFrameworks for the interface and Pure Data for the audio system. Those two tools communicates with each other sending and receiving values through OSC protocol.