Gearfuse

About six months ago, I was reading up on music creation and the program Max/MSP, a graphical workflow environment for creating and manipulating audio and video. Very complex, but powerful stuff. The author of Max/MSP, Miller S. Puckette, later created a piece of similar, open-source software called Pure Data (pd). Pure Data is similar to Max/MSP except that it’s free for anyone to use and make stuff with.

In this post, we’ll go over what exactly I managed to do with PD. It involved using an M-Audio MIDI controller to manipulate videos in a real-time graphical environment. Sound too complicated or scary for you? It’s really not. C’mon, I’ll show you how it works.
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It’s no news that we’re Arduino nuts here at Gearfuse, but lately, we haven’t seen anything that has really pushed the boundaries of the popular microcontroller. Now some smarty pants named Martin has come along with a schematic that allows real-time audio processing with the Arduino. This means you can create guitar FX pedals, equalizers and a whole lot of digital instruments thanks to this setup. Says Martin:

The first set of examples alter an incoming audio signal and put it back to an audio output. We achieve effects like Reverb, Phasor, Flanger or Ringmodulator. The second set of examples are outputting computed waveforms like Sinewave, Bell and Xylophone sounds.

Think you can handle it, Mr. Programmer? Then get to it.

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Check out this impressive real-time music visualization system. We already know that the Arduino is capable of pretty much anything your brain can fathom and then some, including this sweet DIY project that’ll turn any mundane stage band into a star-bound success. The amount of hardware that has gone into this visual output system is extensive but well worth it.

If you’re in a band but your stage act sucks and you want to get your foot in the door then you need to become like KISS. No, I don’t mean you need excessive pyrotechnics or fake blood to put on a great show. All you need is an Arduino, a Bluetooth adapter, a couple of webcams, a network card and piezo sensors. You’ll be off putting on shows that even GWAR would be jealous of.

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Sky Factory’s new programmable “SkyCeilings” is just what introverts need to raise their Sims “room” stat. In an effort to make surroundings either at home or at the work place aesthetically pleasing, Sky Factory’s ceiling creates an illusion of nature by introducing changes of light and color; all in real-time as if it actually were to simulate the local rising and setting of the sun.

I live in a room with no windows. I haven’t seen the sun in seven years.  This is exactly the healing tool I need to enhance my physiology and well-being.  Ah fuck it, I love looking like Liz Taylor.

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Japanese researchers have devised a prototype that renders 3D images by using pictures taken by 64 cameras placed on an 8 x 8 grid. The 3D display is comprised of a small assortment of shapes and colors.  The images taken by the cameras look three-dimensional to the naked eye and researchers say it’s, “almost real time.”

By taking 60 angled shots from 60 different directions using the camera grid, the rendering system is able to display images of objects and adjust the 3D effect accordingly.  Devices like these serve a lot of potential, but at a price tag of $5000, this 3D rendering system is far from commercialized.
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