CNMAT Summer Workshops 2006

There are still some spaces available for the following 2006 Summer Workshops at CNMAT…contact Richard Andrews (richard@cnmat.berkeley.edu) if you would like to make a reservation:

Jitter Night School, July 21-23, 7-10 PM
Max/MSP Night School (for intermediate to advanced users), July 24-28, 7-10 PM
Max/MSP Day School (for beginners to intermediate users) August 7-11, 11 AM -4 PM

2006 Summer Workshops at CNMAT
http://www.cnmat.berkeley.edu/Max_MSP2006.html

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Jitter Night School
July 21-23, 7-10 PM
CNMAT, 1750 Arch Street, Berkeley, CA
Instructor: Joshua Kit Clayton (developer of Jitter)
Fee: $200

Jitter is an extension to Max that allows flexible generation and manipulation of video, matrix, and 3D graphics data. Jitter is all about matrix data — any data that can be expressed in rows and columns, such as video and still images, multidimensional geometry, as well as text, spreadsheet data, particle systems, voxels, or audio. Jitter is useful to anyone interested in real-time video processing, custom effects, 2D/3D graphics, audio/visual interaction, data visualization, and analysis.

This three-day sequence of evening classes covers Cycling 74’s Jitter environment and is designed for students with at least a basic understanding of Max programming. (Graduates of the Max/MSP Day
School will be adequately prepared for the Jitter night school.)

Topics will include the following:
– Jitter’s data structures: matrices, planes, dimensions, video
– Jitter’s programming model: scheduling, interaction with other Max/MSP processing
– Interactive real-time video processing
– Using Jitter with live camera input
– Sound programming with Jitter

After completing this course, a student will be able to write Jitter programs that generate and/or process video in response to real-time control and/or simple algorithmic processes. Graduates of this course will also have the skills to read and understand larger Jitter programs and the foundation for exploring more advanced features of Jitter via tutorials, help patches, and online documentation.

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Max/MSP Night School (for intermediate to advanced users)
July 24-28, 7-10 PM
CNMAT, 1750 Arch Street, Berkeley, CA
Instructor: Ali Momeni
Invited lectures by: Adrian Freed, David Wessel, Matthew Wright, Les Stuck, Michael Zbyszynski
Special Guest Appearances by: key developers from Cycling ’74.
Fee: $400

This intensive week of evening classes features instruction in Max/MSP programming by a cast of highly experienced Max/MSP programmers. This year’s night school will not cover the basics of Max/MSP programming — students should already be experienced with Max/MSP.

The course focuses on the use of Max for control of complex interactive systems. Emphasis is placed on areas of active research and interest at CNMAT, including:
-real-time performance with computer based instruments
-probablistic approaches in interactive instruments
-gestural controllers (e.g. Wacom, Continuum, Tactex, Thunder, Lemur, etc.)
-rapid prototyping of gesture based instruments and accompanying real-time software in Max/MSP
-complex gesture-to-sound mappings techniques including interpolators, neural networks and physical models
-gestural controllers
-many approaches to treatment of time and rhythm
-data-management
-advanced list and matrix processing
-advanced network applications with Max (e.g. ftp, http, POST/GET, ….)
-inter-system communication with OpenSoundControl
-intra-patch communication with OpenSoundControl
-analysis/resynthesis using additive and resonance models
-the SDIF file format
-complexity management in Max/MSP/Jitter
-reliability and robustness of concert-ready patches
-connecting Max to other software environments (e.g. Java, JavaScript, VST, MySQL, python, Ableton, Native Instruments…)

A variety of materials and resources will be provided to course participants, including copies of all the programming examples provided in the course, references to large sets of 3rd party externals, references to a wide range of research topics in the field. After completing this course, a student will have been exposed to most of the uses of Max/MSP in current CNMAT music production and research. Graduates of this course will have a variety of techniques for avoiding trouble while developing large-scale, concert-ready Max/MSP programs.

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Max/MSP Day School (for beginners to intermediate users) August 7-11, 11 AM -4 PM
August 7-11, 11 AM -4 PM
(Lecture 11-12, lunch break 12-1, lab session with instructor support 1-4)
CNMAT, 1750 Arch Street, Berkeley, CA
Instructors: Michael Zbyszynski and other experienced Max/MSP teachers
Fee: $400
Requirements: Must bring your own laptop computer (Mac or PC) with Max/MSP installed and running.

Max/MSP is a graphical environment for music, audio, and multimedia that runs on both Macintosh (OSX) and Windows XP.

In use worldwide for over fifteen years by performers, composers, artists, teachers, and students, Max/MSP is the way to make your computer do things that reflect your individual ideas and dreams.

This intensive week of hands-on classes covers the basics of Max/MSP programming, including the following:
– Navigating the Max/MSP user interface
– Max/MSP work flow: organizing multi-file projects, the Max search path, where to save things
– Max’s data types: messages, bangs, integers, floats, and lists
– Structure and interpretation of Max programs: objects, timing, patchers and abstractions
– Signals and basic signal processing
– Basics of DSP: sampling, aliasing, amplitude, the frequency spectrum
– Avoiding unwanted clicks
– Sample playback, FM, additive, and granular synthesis
– Delay lines and looping
– Filtering
– Mixing event processing and signal processing
– Dealing with input from MIDI, the mouse and keyboard, USB devices, and Ethernet
– Managing multidimensional data with the coll object

The workshop will be held in the Main Room at CNMAT. Each day will include a brief lecture-style presentation introducing important concepts and a variety of hands-on programming projects based on these concepts. Each day’s basic afternoon lab assignment will solidify students’ understanding of the most important ideas; additional projects will also be available for faster or more advanced students. Experienced teaching assistants will be available to answer questions during the afternoon sessions.

After completing this course, students will be able to write Max programs that synthesize and/or process sound in response to real-time control and/or simple algorithmic musical processes. Graduates of this course will also have the skills to read and understand larger Max/MSP programs and the foundation for exploring more advanced features of Max via tutorials, help patches, and online documentation.

NOTE: Participants are required to bring their own laptops with Max/MSP already installed and running. (Mac OSX or Windows XP) Also, participants are strongly advised to have gone through the Max and MSP tutorials before the workshop.

MySQL access from loadbang.net MXJ library

Some months ago I announced a little MXJ system for creating a  
completely embedded SQL database inside Max, saving data to text  
files in Max’s search path. The forum thread is here:

http://www.cycling74.com/forums/
index.phpt=msg&goto=70245&rid=0&S=217fa547f718feeab95599d961307cd1&srch=
hsqldb#msg_70245

(except that this now seems to bork out the Cycling ’74 site – and I  
don’t know why it’s putting session information into the URL – so  
you’ll probably have to do a forum search for “HSQLDB”).

I’ve just modified the package so that it can talk to external MySQL  
databases as well as embedded HSQLDB ones, and I’ve build an example  
MXJ object which takes SQL statements directly, basically serving the  
same purpose as Bill Orcutt’s MySQL external.

Details, instructions, examples, downloads at:

http://www.loadbang.net/space/Software/net.loadbang-SQL/MySQL

This should work on OS X and Windows XP. (I’ve not tested this  
version on XP, but the previous HSQLDB version worked.) I would hope  
it would work unmodified on a forthcoming Max/MSP for Mac/Intel.

I’ve not thrashed this release very much – I add the MySQL support  
this afternoon after having problems with Bill’s MySQL external – but  
it’s now running as the backbone of a sound installation I’m  
preparing for next week, and seems to be pretty happy.

— N.

   nick rothwell — composition, systems, performance — http://
www.cassiel.com

Dynamic Looper

I traded some messages about looping strategies a couple of weeks back with some members.  Today I finally got around to cleaning up a looping patch I use so I could post it.  You can download it at:

www.magpai.net/max

This looper records loops with dynamic lengths; the length of time you hold down the record button is the length of the loop.  All loops which are recorded after that are automatically given lengths which are subdivisions of the first loop or multiples of those subdivisions, so that all remain quantized and synchronized, but there is the freedom to create loops which are shorter or longer than the first.

The patcher is not designed as a stand-alone, use it for everything program, but I cleaned it up enough so that it should be easy to implement into any project.

Dayton