Composition Project: “The Greatest Instrument is the Human Voice”

Following the words of the famed producer Kanye West, I wanted to incorporate a lot of the human voice into my project. My overall theme was a transition from happy, serene sounds with the backdrop of the phrase “I love live coding” spelled out, into a transition with a countdown and then a descent into madness with the phrase “pain” spelled out in repeat and it ends with the word “help” spelled out rather lifelessly.

The visuals then had to match this sequence, where I wanted the initial scenery to be colorful with pretty shapes. For the transition, I wanted the shapes to get a bit more distorted, and for the number of shapes to match the countdown so you can both see and hear the countdown for the beat drop. Right after, comes a brief moment of serenity before a descent into chaos, untilizing a lot of dark libraries as a backdrop to the prominent “pain” repeated throughout.

Making this project was a lot of fun and I am excited to see everyone’s project.

Tidalcycles:


setcps (135/60/4)  -- 1. Set global tempo


happyComplex = do {
  hush;
  d1 $ slow 4 $ s "alphabet" <| n "~ ~ 8 ~ ~ 11 14 21 4 ~ ~ 11 8 21 4 ~~ 2 14 3  8 13 6 ~ ~"
       # speed "1.2"
       # gain (range 1.5 1 (slow 64 sine))   -- starts loud then fades over time
       # room "0.1"
       # pan (slow 8 "0 1");
  d2 $ stack [
         fast 2 $ s "arpy" >| note (arp "updown" (scale "major" ("[0,2,4,6]" + "c5")))
              # gain (range 1.2 0.8 (slow 64 sine)),
         s "arpy" >| note (scale "major" ("[<-7 -5 -3 -1>,0,2](3,8)" + "c5"))
              # gain (range 1.2 0.8 (slow 64 sine))
       ];
  -- Light percussion: gentle claps and hi-hats.
  d3 $ stack [ s "~ cp" # room 0.5,
              fast 2 $ s "hh*2 hh*2 hh*2 <hh*6 [hh*2]!3>"
                   # gain (range 1 0.5 (slow 64 sine))
                   # room 0.7
            ];
  -- Ambient textures: acoustic drum loop and soft piano.
  d4 $ loopAt 8 $ chop 100  $ s "bev:1"  # room 0.8 # legato 12; -- # gain (range 1 0.3 (slow 64 sine));
  d5 $ slow 8 $ s "superpiano" <| n "c d f g a c6 d6 f6"
       # gain (range 1 0.3 (slow 64 sine))
};



happyComplex

d8 $ ccv (segment 128 (range 127 0 saw)) # ccn "0" # s "midi" -- 5.
d9 $ ccv (segment 128 (range 127 0 saw)) # ccn "1" # s "midi" -- 6.

d1 $ qtrigger $ slow 2 $ s "numbers" # n "<3 2 1>" # gain 1.5
--ctrl 4
d1 silence 

d10 $ ccv "0 127 0 127" # ccn "2" # s "midi" -- 8.
d11 $ ccv "<127 0 127 0>" # ccn "0" # s "midi" -- 8.

scaryComplex2

d1 $ slow 2 $ s "alphabet" <| n "~ 15 0 8 13 ~"
     # speed "0.6"
     # legato 2
     # gain (range 1.3 2 (slow 64 saw))
     # room "0.1"
     # pan (slow 8 "0 1")

 d1 $ s "alphabet" <| n "7 4 11 15" --19
   # gain 1.5  -- 21, 23, 25 change to 1, 0.5 0


hush
-- transitionComplex = do {
--   -- # hush;
--   d5 silence;
--   d1 $ qtrigger $ seqP [
--       (0.01, 1.01, s "numbers" <| n "3" # gain 1.5),
--       (1,    2,    s "off"),
--       (2,    3,    s "off"),
--       (3,    4,    s "numbers" <| n "2" # gain 1.5),
--       (4,    5,    s "off"),
--       (5,    6,    s "off"),
--       (6,    7,    s "numbers" <| n "1" # gain 1.5),
--       (7,    8,    s "off"),
--       (8,    9,    s "off")
--     ];
--   d2 $ fast 2 $ s "hh" <| n (run 6)
--        # gain 0.8
--        # speed (slow 4 (range 1 2 saw));
--   d3 $ loopAt 16 $ s "sheffield" # gain (range 0.2 0.4 (slow 32 sine)) # room 0.9;
--   xfadeIn 4 2 silence
-- };


hush

scaryComplex2 = do {
  clutch 2 $ s "ades3" <| n (run 7) # gain (range 1.2 0.8 (slow 64 sine)) # room 0.2;
  clutch 3 $ loopAt 1 $ s "dist:1" # gain 1.0;
  clutch 4 $ slow 8 $ s "bass1" <| n (run 30)
       # gain (range 1.0 0.7 (slow 64 sine))
       # up "-2" # room 0.3;
  clutch 5 $ stack [
         fast 2 $ s "arpy" >| note (arp "updown" (scale "minor" ("[0,2,3,5]" + "c4")))
              # gain 0.8,
         s "arpy" >| note (scale "minor" ("[0,1,3,5]" + "c4"))
              # gain 0.8
       ] # room 0.5;
  clutch 6 $ slow 4 $ s "industrial" <| n (run 32) # gain 1.0 # hpf 800
};







d1 $ s "alphabet" <| n "7 4 11 15" --19
  # gain 1.5  -- 21, 23, 25 change to 1, 0.5 0



hush --27

Hydra:

//S1

gradient(0.1)
  .colorama(0.1 + cc[0] * 0.7)         
  .mult(
    voronoi(5, 0.2 + cc[1] * 0.5, 0.7)
  )
  .modulateRotate(osc(10, 0.05, Math.PI / 2), cc[0])
  .modulate(noise(()=>(cc[0]+cc[1])*3,.1))
  //7. change to 3 -> 30 -> 300 -> 3000 
  .out(o0); // 4.

//S2
  osc(20, 0.1, 0)
    .modulate(noise(3, 0.1))
    .add(
      osc(10, 0.1, Math.PI / 2)
        .modulateRotate(noise(2, 0.05), 0.05)
    )
    .colorama(0.1 + cc[0] * 0.1).colorama(0.1).colorama(0.1).colorama(0.1).colorama(0.1)          // Subtle hue shift modulated by CC0
    .mult(
      shape(4, 0.2 + cc[2]*0.03)
        .repeat(3,3)
        //.repeat(2,2) // 11.
        //.repeat(1,1) // 12.
        //.repeat(3000,3000) // 13.
    )
    .modulate(noise(()=>(cc[0]+cc[1]) * 3, 0.1)) // 14. change to 3
    .out(o0); //10. play with the 3


  osc(200, 0.01, 4)
    .rotate(2 + cc[2]*20)
    .layer(
      osc(30, 0, 1)
        .luma(0.1, 0.1)
        .color(0, 0, 0, 1)
    )
    .layer(
      osc(300, 0.8, 1)
        .luma(0.1, 0.01)
    )
    .modulate(noise(() => (cc[2] + cc[2]) * 20, 0.5)) // 0 1
    .colorama(0.05 + cc[2] * 0.05).colorama(0.1).colorama(0.1).colorama(0.1)          // Modulated hue via CC2
    .mult(
      voronoi(5, 3, 0.7) //17. change to 30, 300
    )
    .out(o0); //16
    

shape(2, 0.01).thresh().out() //22
hush() //26

Link to video.

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