Category Archives: Code for Art

In Code for Art, we were asked to pick an adjective as a constraint for our next project. Since my core thesis topic is rhythm, I chose “rhythmic” as my word of choice.

I had the “a-ha” moment last week after a combination of events, influences, and interests all seemed to intersect (Maker Faire, Trespass book release show, visual music, openFrameworks, QR codes, psychogeography, etc), and I have decided to create a form of visual music graffiti for my thesis project.

In general, I will be creating a custom application that allows musicians and artists to compose music/sound pieces, export them as images, and paste the visual pieces up. Using an app, the public can “read” these images and translate them into the music that is embedded within the image. There is much more to the project but that is a brief overview.

For this prototype, I took my first step toward illustrating my idea:

This program reads the image pixel information from the camera, stores the pixel RGB values in to an array, and based on the actual values, maps the image to the sequencer. Basically it looks for black pixels in specific locations and maps them accordingly.

As I started running out of time before class, I had to hardcode some of my variables, so I’m going to need to go back and redo some of this work. I also would like to add the ability to change the tempo, the number of sequencer buttons, alter what instruments are being played, and include some text for directions.

As a first prototype, it was successful in showing the general idea of the final outcome. Looking forward to doing the next prototype.