Latest revision as of 06:22, 18 October 2020

Homework #3: Interactive AudioVisual Music Sequencer

NOTE: this image is here mostly for its colors, PLEASE DON'T (NECESSARILY) MAKE IT LOOK LIKE THIS!

timeline:

part 1 (research + on-paper design), submit to Canvas and be prepared to present
part 2 (demo/something working), be prepared to present in-class
part 3 (demo/semi-polished playable prototype)), be prepared to present in-class

Almost inevitably at some point in one's music software design journey, you'll be asked/tempted to make a step sequencer. In this assignment, we are going to get that off our chest/out of our system, and make a crazy, real-time, audio-visual software, driven by some type of step sequencer!

(Part 1 of 3): Research + Preliminary Design

due in-class (also upload to Canvas)
do research on music sequencers!
compile a list of useful references on various types of step sequencers / designs (articles, papers, images, etc.)
sketch your own preliminary designs of a real-time audio-visual step sequencer! make 3 different designs, maximally different from each other.
what features to include?
- what does it look like? linear? circular? spherical? mobius?!? a game? a galaxy??
- sequencing of pitch? dynamics (loundness)? envelopes (attack/decay/sustain/release)?
- how many parallel tracks / layers / or different types of sound? (e.g., track 1 synth, track 2 drum etc)
- how input the sequence (in real-time)?
- how does it sound? will it use synthesis? load audio samples? MIDI?
- can you save/load sequences? what file format? should we have a common Music256a/476a format?!
- how to control/depict tempo?
sketch as much as detail as possible, even if you don't end implementing them!
hand in scans of your paper designs and be ready to present on Monday! (scans of these design sketches can go onto your website for this project!)

(Part 2 of 3) Something Working

IMPORTANT! timing must be audio-driven to ensure precision' (i.e., driven from audio/chuck, not from graphics/unit)
have something working in software, towards your core idea/aesthetics!
Check out the CHICKEN SEQUENCER tutorial video
- files from the tutorial chickencer.unitypackage
  - (NOTE: this is mainly to show how to integrate timing; copy/paste as it is helpful but this is NOT meant to be "starter code" -- every sequencer may be quite different)
- driving the timing of a repeating sound event from chuck
- having the time between sound events be variable and controlled from unity
- driving the animation corresponding to it from a value in chuck, NOT a value in unity
- (this is essential because chuck's timing is much tighter than unity's)
decide on a design + set of features for a real-time audio-visual step sequencer; the design decisions should account for the questions raised in part 1 above!
implement a working prototype of your step sequencer
should use:
- Chunity
  - see chunity tutorials (skip the "setup" step)
  - see chunity reference for complete documentation
  - may wish to refer to Unity Execution Order
  - may wish to refer to Unity Colliders Overview for which colliders interact with which colliders and how
  - may wish to refer to Unity Object.Instantiate for programmatically instantiating a prefab (see more here )
potential things to sequence:
- pitch
- dynamics
- different timbres / instruments
- envelopes
requirements / high-level functional aesthetic goals
- must be graphical
- must be interactive
- must be musical
- should be flexible in usability
- should support some narrative complexity
- should feel satisfying to use
"hints"
- think of user/interaction design **and** software/system design
- create an audio engine, as well as a graphics engine; how do they interact?
- having a "grid" can be very useful (but not strictly necessary)!

(Part 3 of 3) "Playable Prototype"

given the short timeframe, please aim for a semi-polished playable prototype
Musical Statement + In-Class Presentation
- using your sequencer, create a short musical statement
- create a short but polished video of a "mini-performance" of your sequencer
- be prepared to present it in class
create a webpage for your audiovisual sequencer, which must contain:
- one or more screenshot(s)
- your sequencer "mini-performance" video
- your initial design sketches + research, motivate and articulate how you made your design decisions
- system design: how is your software architected? we recommend a class diagram.
- (optional) any code for download

Note

As always, have fun with it! Make it satisfying.
you are welcome to work together, but you must do your own work
comment your code!

Deliverables

a website containing:

1) design sketches (scan them in if necessary)
2) a polished video of your step sequencer in action, and your musical statement
3) screenshots of your step sequencer in action
4) (optional) source code/executable to the project
5) instructions on using your step sequencer
6) instructions on building the project (for example, anyone in the class should be able to download)
7) readme section describing:
- any comments you want to share (difficulties and what you enjoyed) on using Chunity
8) upload the website URL / submit all necessary files (code, images, videos, etc) to canvas!

(default: CCRMA webpage: http://ccrma.stanford.edu/~YOURID/256a/hw3/)

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 <div style="text-align: left;">[[Image:Sequencer-thing.jpg]]</div>
-'''NOTE from Ge: this image is here mostly for its colors, PLEASE DON'T (NECESSARILY) MAKE IT LOOK LIKE THIS!'''
+'''NOTE: this image is here mostly for its colors, PLEASE DON'T (NECESSARILY) MAKE IT LOOK LIKE THIS!'''
 timeline:
-* part 1 (research + on-paper design + something working), in-class (be prepared to present)
+* part 1 (research + on-paper design), submit to Canvas and be prepared to present
-* part 2 (demo/mini-performance)), in-class (be prepared to present)
+* part 2 (demo/something working), be prepared to present in-class
+* part 3 (demo/semi-polished playable prototype)), be prepared to present in-class
 Almost inevitably at some point in one's music software design journey, you'll be asked/tempted to make a step sequencer.  In this assignment, we are going to get that off our chest/out of our system, and make a crazy, real-time, audio-visual software, driven by some type of step sequencer!
-=== (Part 1 of 2): Research + Preliminary Design + Something Working ===
+=== (Part 1 of 3): Research + Preliminary Design ===
 * '''due in-class (also upload to Canvas)'''
 * do research on music sequencers!
@@ Line 26: / Line 27: @@
 * sketch as much as detail as possible, even if you don't end implementing them!
 * hand in '''scans of your paper designs''' and be ready to present on Monday!  (scans of these design sketches can go onto your website for this project!)
+=== (Part 2 of 3) Something Working ===
+* '''IMPORTANT!  timing must be audio-driven to ensure precision' (i.e., driven from audio/chuck, not from graphics/unit)'''
 * '''have something working in software, towards your core idea/aesthetics!'''
-** can start from the Chunity Example script "ChunityExampleTimeAdvancerWithHelperComponents.cs" for an example of:
+* '''Check out the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZMLEfjq8Ns CHICKEN SEQUENCER tutorial video]'''
-*** driving the timing of a repeating sound event from chuck
+** files from the tutorial [https://arrful.design/tv/tutorials/files/chickencer.unitypackage chickencer.unitypackage]
-*** having the time between sound events be variable and controlled from unity
+*** (NOTE: this is mainly to show how to integrate timing; copy/paste as it is helpful but this is NOT meant to be "starter code" -- every sequencer may be quite different)
-*** driving the animation corresponding to it from a value in chuck, NOT a value in unity
+** driving the timing of a repeating sound event from chuck
-*** (which is valuable because chuck's timing is tighter than unity's)
+** having the time between sound events be variable and controlled from unity
+** driving the animation corresponding to it from a value in chuck, NOT a value in unity
-===(Part 2 of 2): Implementation ===
+** (this is essential because chuck's timing is much tighter than unity's)
 * decide on a design + set of features for a real-time audio-visual step sequencer; the design decisions should account for the questions raised in part 1 above!
 * implement a working prototype of your step sequencer
 * should use:
-** chunity
+** Chunity
 *** see [http://chuck.stanford.edu/chunity/tutorials/ chunity tutorials] (skip the "setup" step)
 *** see [http://chuck.stanford.edu/chunity/documentation/ chunity reference] for complete documentation
@@ Line 52: / Line 56: @@
 ** must be interactive
 ** must be musical
-** 'important: timing must be audio-driven to ensure precision' (i.e., driven from audio/chuck, not from graphics/unit)
 ** should be flexible in usability
 ** should support some narrative complexity
@@ Line 59: / Line 62: @@
 ** think of user/interaction design **and** software/system design
 ** create an audio engine, as well as a graphics engine; how do they interact?
-** having a "grid" is optional!
+** having a "grid" can be very useful (but not strictly necessary)!
+=== (Part 3 of 3) "Playable Prototype" ===
+* given the short timeframe, please aim for a semi-polished playable prototype
+* Musical Statement + In-Class Presentation
+** using your sequencer, create a short musical statement
+** create a short but polished video of a "mini-performance" of your sequencer
+** be prepared to present it in class
 * create a webpage for your audiovisual sequencer, which must contain:
 ** one or more screenshot(s)
+** your sequencer "mini-performance" video
 ** your initial design sketches + research, motivate and articulate how you made your design decisions
-** system design: how is your software architected?  recommend a class diagram!
+** system design: how is your software architected? we recommend a class diagram.
-** the code for download
+** (optional) any code for download
-** (your musical statement: stuff from part 3 below)
-=== Musical Statement + In-Class Presentation===
-* using your sequencer, create a short musical statement
-* make a VIDEO of you performing it
-* do a '''live''' presentation of your step sequencer in class
 === Note ===
-* as always, have fun with it!  Also: make it satisfying
+* As always, have fun with it!  Make it satisfying.
+* you are welcome to work together, but you must do your own work
 * comment your code!
-* you are welcome to work together, but you must do/turn in your own work (you'll likely get more out of it this way)
 === Deliverables ===
-An HTML website containing:
+a website containing:
 * 1) design sketches (scan them in if necessary)
 * 2) a polished video of your step sequencer in action, and your musical statement
 * 3) screenshots of your step sequencer in action
-* 4) source code to the project
+* 4) (optional) source code/executable to the project
-* 5) your musical statement!
+* 5) instructions on using your step sequencer
-* 6) instructions on using your step sequencer
+* 6) instructions on building the project (for example, anyone in the class should be able to download)
-* 7) instructions on building the project (for example, anyone in the class should be able to download)
+* 7) readme section describing:
-* 8) readme section describing:
 ** any comments you want to share (difficulties and what you enjoyed) on using Chunity
-* 9) upload the website URL / submit all necessary files (code, images, videos, etc) to canvas!
+* 8) upload the website URL / submit all necessary files (code, images, videos, etc) to canvas!
 (default: CCRMA webpage: http://ccrma.stanford.edu/~YOURID/256a/hw3/)