garageCube

Hey all,

I'm trying to set up a completely hands off system which cycles through clips for a party, in time (or close to) with the music.

I've got everything working, except for the dynamically updating BPM part in Modul8.

I've managed to get AudioBoxBaby running via Parallels, which is giving me a correct(ish) BPM, but I can't seem to figure out how to get Modul8 to pick this up.

I'm aware this is probably a job for some dedicated hardware, but I'm trying really hard to stick with software if possible.

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, I'd love to hear them

Thanks,
Ben

At first look it seems like you are complicating things. When running AudioBoxBaby in Parallells you are running a PC and Mac at the same time. It doesn't really matter that you run them on the same computer since it's really the same as running a separate Mac and a PC in this case (well not really, that would actually give you a faster PC). However it doesn't stop you from running midi over the local network. I don't know how you set this up in Windows but if you manage to do so you can receive the midiclock signal in OSX and use it in Modul8. Just keep in mind that Parallells take up massive resources from OSX so I really wonder why you would do this?

Where are you getting the sound from? Keep in mind that many DJ mixers, DJ and music software can send Midi.
And don't underestimate setting the BPM yourself by tapping / Audio-visual sync. That actually gives you more feeling and understanding of the music.

There is also hardware that can analyze the music and output MidiClock. I have one of those, the Red SoundBite Micro, but it takes up to 10 seconds for it to automatically notice a change in BPM so I find it pretty useless for the things I do. You can push a button however and have it reanalyze in a couple of seconds however.

Very helpful, thanks!
The main reason for parallels was to keep the setup to an absolute minimum, and I couldn't find a software equivalent on OS X.

The music is coming from iTunes on another laptop - so nothing fancy at all.

I think I will just hunt for a Red Soundbite, as 100% sync is not really required. Tapping the beat works perfectly, but I just want to set it all up and leave it be - maybe visit back from time to time to tweak a bit

Wow, yeah you are really complicating it. Instead of iTunes, why not running Traktor Pro 2? It analyzes your music and sends the BPM as Midi clock. You can run it on the same computer. Sound Flower is your friend if you need to route the music to Modul8. I'd stay away from the SoundBite Micro.

Perfect - I'll give the demo a shot! Thanks again

You don't need windows... try out our new thing for beatmapping:

http://wavesum.net/

This is also designed to keep the phase really accurate, so it reacts to changes really quickly. Tell us what you think!

Cheers,
-Teemu/Wavesum

Thanks for the link oogi!
I've got everything working perfectly now, but running relatively expensive demo software which times out after 30 minutes.
I'll check your app and see how it goes.

oogi, that is exactly what I was after.
The BPM sync obviously isn't instant, but perfect for my needs.

The in-song correction is really great - I'm feeling pretty confident that I can just set this up and walk away now

Is the 'about' popup the only demo limitation?

d3v1an7 It's lovely to hear that we have a first happy user (:

The pop-up screen every 20 minutes is the only limitation... and that you should not use it in a commercial setting.

The price for such a small app is a bit high. But if it works similar or better than the hardware then it's maybe worth the money. Personally I think you get more money in the end (at least if you market yourself towards artists) if you lower the price to 1/2 or 2/3 and sell a bigger volume. Especially if you sell it through App Store if you care to deal with the hassle (probably worth it though).

I'd be happy to give it a try and compare it to the SoundBite Micro. The price for the SoundBite Micro is about the same (£49 minus p+p) but you get more functionality in the SoundBite Micro.

Even if I'm skeptical about the price I'm very positive to see this app surfacing. I've been looking for this for OSX for a long time.

to Midi Thief:

Thank you for your input. I do feel the pain of a starving artist, and to such, the price might seem a bit high. Still, considering the amount of signal processing that happens behind the curtains, as well as the research and development work (over 8 man-years :/ starting at TUT/ARG 2003), I think you get a good value for your 189€.

If you want to get a glimpse of what the algorithm does, have a look at this paper:
http://www.cs.tut.fi/sgn/arg/klap/sapmeter.pdf

I understand that Waveclock does not offer very impressive list of features (it has only one), but it does it's thing: helping you sync your visuals to the music it hears, better than anything else I'm aware of.

I appreciate if you can post your findings when you compare Waveclock to the SoundBite.

-T

EDIT: Price gone up

Hey oogi,

Just made the purchase, and although I got a confirmation from Paypal, I have not yet received any links or info on how to upgrade the demo.

Please advise asap!

*EDIT*
Just came through - didn't realise it was going to be a manual process!
Alls well that ends well

That Waveclock app is quite nice. Does the job nicely besides the fact that it's the only one of it's kind I've found for Mac yet.

Great stuff.

Mine was 7 BPM off. I need to run some serious tests to see what was up.
We double checked with the CD player's BPM and manual tap. But I need to see if Soundflower maybe messed things up.

midi thief: Have you got it working properly? Being 7bpm off constantly sounds really strange behavior.

I'm also interested in your experiences with the Soundflower, and how to use it right. I've been unable to make it work in a stable manner, and use microphone or physical loop back for the audio.