<
https://www.theverge.com/report/879819/laurie-spiegel-is-celebrating-40-of-music-mouse-with-a-modern-revival?view_token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpZCI6InR3OVZQbk5salYiLCJwIjoiL3JlcG9ydC84Nzk4MTkvbGF1cmllLXNwaWVnZWwtaXMtY2VsZWJyYXRpbmctNDAtb2YtbXVzaWMtbW91c2Utd2l0aC1hLW1vZGVybi1yZXZpdmFsIiwiZXhwIjoxNzcxNzcxNzUxLCJpYXQiOjE3NzEzMzk3NTF9.5EZ4-0Mis_XfzJ-OXGrh-iBXJN7tJTkYssFF1Xmo6S8&utm_medium=gift-link>
"In 1986, electronic music pioneer Laurie Spiegel created Music Mouse, a way
for those with a Mac, Atari, or Amiga computer to dabble in algorithmic music
creation. Music Mouse is deceptively simple: Notes are arranged on an XY grid,
and you play it by moving a mouse around. Back in 1986, the computer mouse was
still a relatively novel device. While it can trace its origins back to the
late ’60s, it wasn’t until the Macintosh 128K in 1984 that it started seeing
widespread adoption.
By then Spiegel, was already an accomplished composer. Her 1980 album
The
Expanding Universe is generally considered among the greatest ambient records
of all time. And her composition “Harmony of the Worlds” is currently tearing
through interstellar space as part of the Voyager Golden Record, launched in
1977. But she is also a technical wizard who joined Bell Labs in 1973 and was
instrumental in early digital synthesis experiments and worked on an early
computer graphics system called Vampire.
Spiegel was deeply drawn to algorithmic music composition and this new tool,
the home computer. So, she created what she calls an “intelligent instrument”
that enables the creation of complex melodies and harmonies with minimal
music-theory knowledge. Music Mouse restricts you to particular scales, and
then you explore them simply by pushing a mouse around.
Spiegel gives the user some control, of course. You can choose if notes move in
parallel or contrary to each other, there are options to play notes back as
chords or arpeggios, and there is even a simple pattern generator.
Despite being available for purchase until 2021, Spiegel never updated it to
work on anything more current than Mac OS 9. Now, 40 years after its debut,
it’s getting reborn for modern machines with help from Eventide."
Great to see old software that embodies a good idea revived for modern users!
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
