Two Turntables And A Git Repo
by Ben Bleything, Yossef Mendelssohn
Over the last year, there has been a huge increase of interest in using
Ruby to create and manipulate music. If you're interested but haven't
been paying attention, or have just been sitting on the sidelines, we're
here to show you how you too can be a computer DJ.
First, we'll set the scene with some information about the technologies
involved. We'll get you pushing notes with Ben's MIDIator library, and
get you set up with a software synthesis environment so that you can
play along at home. Best of all, we'll do it all on the cheap.
Then we'll get into the actual music, demonstrating how to represent
actual, legitimate music in code using a project Jeremy Voorhis has been
working on, and how to manipulate it and play it back. We'll make some
beats with Giles Bowkett's Archaeopteryx, and take a brief tour of how
it works under the hood.
If you're not into making your own music (be it beats, tones, or just
"damn noise"), you're going to need to work with music that someone
else has made. Being a good DJ and reacting to the crowd is no walk
in the park, and while making a good playlist is easier, it's still
no cakewalk. With the right tricks up your sleeve, you can let your
computer build a playlist that's unique but still sticks to your
personal style. We'll show you what Yossef has tried and learned.
About Ben Bleything, Yossef Mendelssohn
Ben Bleything is a Rubyist, hardware hacker, and musical dilettante from
Portland, Oregon. Sometimes he does other things. He has not yet found a
quote that adequately sums up his personality.
There's a famous reddit comment that says "Learning how to program might
get you paid, but learning how to dance will get you laid." Well, Yossef
Mendelssohn can do both. He also aspires to be a better dance DJ and use
his laziness and programming know-how to help.