These are three pieces for Arduino microcontroller, Grove Shield, Heart rate sensor, Ultraracer PS1 joystick with USB adapter, and laptop. The composition is written in ChucK scripts and an Arduino sketch.

The heart rate sensor sends data to ChucK using the microcontroller and shield. The ChucK code plays three Euclidean rhythms whose tempo is driven by the heart rate data sent from the sensor. 

The joystick simulates a compass and rotates the starting point of the three rhythms based on direction (N, S, E, W, NE, NW, SE, SW). Each rhythm plays its own sample. One rhythm is set to play arpeggios on the beats.

This second piece is a faster version of the first piece, but has the same tempo.

The third was done after taking pictures of the setup just before leaving work. Similar to the second piece.

Comments, critiques, and ideas are welcome.

Hope you enjoy!

Biometric Music Composition - Simple Proof of Concept

The Bot Chorale

These "rendings" are from my second assignment from the "Survey of Music Technology" online class taught at coursera.org by Dr. Jason Freeman and TA Brad Short.

This was an experiment in the use of online audio workstations, musical programming frameworks, and algorithmic composition. 

I've posted an article about the experience on my WordPress site:  http://wp.me/p4hY6n-2f

I thoroughly enjoyed working on this. 

I have...plans...

Have fun!


Euclidean RhythmScapes

I created "Play on Gypsy Ghost" using a JavaScript-based audio framework called Scribbletune. It sat in my laptop for about a year before I discovered AIVA.ai, a site that uses AI to generate music, and decided to play with the piece again.

One of the features of this AIVA.ai is the ability to use another song as an inspiration for other compositions. "Hard, Strange Cycle" is a combination of two variations generated from "Play on Gypsy Ghost", the first piece in this SoundCloud playlist.

So...Embrace the strangeness.

The Hard, Strange Cycle

I created "Play on Gypsy Ghost" using a JavaScript-based audio framework called Scribbletune. It sat in my laptop for about a year before I discovered AIVA.ai, a site that uses AI to generate music, and decided to play with the piece again.

One of the features of this AIVA.ai is the ability to use another song as an inspiration for other compositions. "Hard, Strange Cycle" is a combination of two variations generated from "Play on Gypsy Ghost".

So...Embrace the strangeness.

Play On Gypsy Ghost - Showboat

Science fiction soundtrack
Think a dark version of "Rendezvous with Rama"

9 - So Small, and Yet Such Dreams

8 - The Box Of Songs

7 - We're All Travelers Here

6 -  You Would Know Us?

5 - The Cylinder Awakens

4 -  My God, The Beauty!

3 - On Approach,  Seeking Entrance

2 - Building the Tyson, with Speed, Eagerness and Caution

1 - The Discovery Of The Cylinder, Orbiting Uranus

This is the first segment of a new reading of "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot.

I'm learning new tools and new techniques to create a new reading of the poem in its entirety.

Hope you enjoy

This photo, “Place Pigalle” is copyright (c) 2012 John Henderson and made available under an Attribution 2.0 Generic license

Prufrock Revisited - Let Us Go Then, You and I...

This was an experiment in the use of online audio workstations, musical programming frameworks, and algorithmic composition. 

I've posted an article about the experience on my WordPress site:  http://wp.me/p4hY6n-2f

Euclidean RhythmScapes - Rending X

Euclidean RhythmScapes - Rending V

Euclidean RhythmScapes - Rending IV

Euclidean RhythmScapes - Rending III

Euclidean RhythmScapes - Rending II

First track from my second assignment from the "Survey of Music Technology" online class taught at coursera.org by Dr. Jason Freeman and TA Brad Short.

This was an experiment in the use of online audio workstations, musical programming frameworks, and algorithmic composition. 

I've posted an article about the experience on my WordPress site:  http://wp.me/p4hY6n-2f


Euclidean RhythmScapes - Rending I

In Prior Lake, where the mirth takes birth,
On velvet surfaces of Minnesota's earth,
I feel a joy, a fervent warmth unfold,
Within ideal brackets where my senses hold.
But in air's density, a remote scorn hides,
As Barometric pressure slightly bides.
Wind's ballet whispers stories of dread,
But whispers they are and do not proliferate thread.

A Morel mushroom, head like honeycomb,
In woodland it finds its humble home.
An echo of place, a creature of soil and sky,
Just like me, just as shy.

The poem was based on the following weather and location information:

{"city":"Prior Lake","state":"MN","country":"US","lat":44.7133,"lon":-93.4227,"temp":67.8,"pressure":29.35,"wind_speed":14.97,"id":"711dae12-2488-4fa9-adc7-98a98ac83b3d"}

Weather Poem (Generated) - Prior Lake, MN

I figured this would be a simple composition exercise - something to get my mind back in the mode of composing. I thought about what I could do with a recording of ice in a glass, and I remembered some ChucK (http://chuck.cs.princeton.edu/) scripts that tracked pitch. That's where I started.

The initial sound was recorded using my Android phone. Audacity was used to convert the file from 3GP to WAV.  

A total of six ChucK scripts were used to create this piece.

The "workhorse" script was based on a set of pitch trackers created by Rebecca Fiebrink and Ge Wang. The scripts were initially designed to take in microphone input, so I modified it so that it could use audio files as input. I refactored the code so that I could use the same sample multiple times and set the pitch created by the tracker's oscillator to use intervals of a third, fifth, or seventh.

I also refactored a ChucK demo script to create a function that played the sample file at 2% normal speed for a duration equal to 100 times the number of samples.

Playing the composition consisted of calling scripts to 
1) read the audio sample,
2) play three instances of the pitch tracking oscillator at three different intervals at different times, and 
3) play the slowed version of the audio file.

Recording consisted of running another ChucK script to record the piece for 230 seconds, fade out, then stop. I used Audacity again to adjust the volume of the final rendering.

Hope you enjoy!
_____________________

More on this 157th Disquiet Junto project — “Record the sound of ice in a glass and make something of it.” — at:

disquiet.com/2015/01/01/disquiet0157-icemusic2015/

More on the Disquiet Junto at:

disquiet.com/junto

Join the Disquiet Junto at:

soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/

Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at:

disquiet.com/forums/


Migration[disquiet157 - Icemusic2015]

Three years ago I set out to create soundscapes for all 36 sonnets of H.P. Lovecraft's "Fungi from Yuggoth".

This labor of love is now complete, and is available on bandcamp.<a href="https://bryantohara.bandcamp.com/album/fungi-from-yuggoth-by-h-p-lovecraft-music-and-narration-by-bryant-ohara" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bandcamp</a>

This track uses the following samples: 
slow-atmosphere-4-short.wav by Freesound.org user <a href="www.freesound.org/people/erh/">erh<a/> under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/">Creative Commons 0 License<a/> 
pad-gas04.wav by Freesound.org user <a href="www.freesound.org/people/ronny pries/">ronny pries<a/> under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution license<a/> 
wind-chimes.wav by Freesound.org user <a href="www.freesound.org/people/littleboot/">littleboot<a/> under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/">Creative Commons 0 License<a/> 
quay-waves-wind-5-7bft-short-150112-0499.wav by Freesound.org user <a href="www.freesound.org/people/klankbeeld/">klankbeeld<a/> under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution license<a/> 
pageflip5.wav by Freesound.org user <a href="www.freesound.org/people/pbickh1/">pbickh1<a/> under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/sampling+/1.0/">Creative Commons Sampling+ license<a/> 
books01.wav by Freesound.org user <a href="www.freesound.org/people/abolla/">abolla<a/> under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/">Creative Commons 0 License<a/> 
breath-to-sitar2.aif by Freesound.org user <a href="www.freesound.org/people/thanvannispen/">thanvannispen<a/> under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution license<a/>

I - The Book

Three years ago I set out to create soundscapes for all 36 sonnets of H.P. Lovecraft's "Fungi from Yuggoth".&#13;
&#13;
This labor of love is now complete, and is available on bandcamp.<a href="https://bryantohara.bandcamp.com/album/fungi-from-yuggoth-by-h-p-lovecraft-music-and-narration-by-bryant-ohara" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bandcamp</a>

This track uses the following samples: 
life-line.wav by Freesound.org user <a href="www.freesound.org/people/stk13/">stk13<a/> under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/">Creative Commons 0 License<a/> 
atmospheric-ambient-short-piano-and-bass.wav by Freesound.org user <a href="www.freesound.org/people/rutgermuller/">rutgermuller<a/> under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/">Creative Commons 0 License<a/> 
glass-windows-shaking.aif by Freesound.org user <a href="www.freesound.org/people/rutgermuller/">rutgermuller<a/> under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/">Creative Commons 0 License<a/> 
pageflip5.wav by Freesound.org user <a href="www.freesound.org/people/pbickh1/">pbickh1<a/> under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/sampling+/1.0/">Creative Commons Sampling+ license<a/> 
books01.wav by Freesound.org user <a href="www.freesound.org/people/abolla/">abolla<a/> under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/">Creative Commons 0 License<a/> 
wild-laughter-of-the-orthodox-priest.mp3 by Freesound.org user <a href="www.freesound.org/people/urupin/">urupin<a/> under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution license<a/> 
lock.wav by Freesound.org user <a href="www.freesound.org/people/jfajner/">jfajner<a/> under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/sampling+/1.0/">Creative Commons Sampling+ license<a/>

III - The Key

Three years ago I set out to create soundscapes for all 36 sonnets of H.P. Lovecraft's "Fungi from Yuggoth".&#13;
&#13;
This labor of love is now complete, and is available on bandcamp.<a href="https://bryantohara.bandcamp.com/album/fungi-from-yuggoth-by-h-p-lovecraft-music-and-narration-by-bryant-ohara" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bandcamp</a>&#13;

This track uses the following samples: 
88bpm_Chaos of LightEXC.wav by Mike DiMattia under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution license<a/> 
88bpm_Main Kick.wav by Mike DiMattia under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution license<a/> 
88bpm_Udu Vocode G.wav by Mike DiMattia under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution license<a/> 
fishertone_c2_1.wav by Berklee samples v.14 under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution license<a/> 
etuda1_1.wav by Freesound.org user <a href="http://oeyvind.teks.no/">Oeyvind Brandtsegg</a> under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution license<a/> 
etuda1_2.wav by Freesound.org user <a href="http://oeyvind.teks.no/">Oeyvind Brandtsegg</a> under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution license<a/> 
efx_Ticklers.wav by Freesound.org user <a href="http://oeyvind.teks.no/">Oeyvind Brandtsegg</a> under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution license<a/> 
etuda1_3.wav by Freesound.org user <a href="http://oeyvind.teks.no/">Oeyvind Brandtsegg</a> under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution license<a/>

IX - The Courtyard

Three years ago I set out to create soundscapes for all 36 sonnets of H.P. Lovecraft's "Fungi from Yuggoth".

This labor of love is now complete, and is available on bandcamp.<a href="https://bryantohara.bandcamp.com/album/fungi-from-yuggoth-by-h-p-lovecraft-music-and-narration-by-bryant-ohara">Bandcamp</a>

This track uses the following samples: 
breath-voices.wav by Freesound.org user <a href="www.freesound.org/people/ombrios57/">ombrios57<a/> under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/">Creative Commons 0 License<a/> 
weird-dimension.wav by Freesound.org user <a href="www.freesound.org/people/staticpony1/">staticpony1<a/> under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/">Creative Commons 0 License<a/> 
sawtooth-16-pads-160bpm.wav by Freesound.org user <a href="www.freesound.org/people/ombrios57/">ombrios57<a/> under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/">Creative Commons 0 License<a/> 
peaceful-garden-ambience.wav by Freesound.org user <a href="www.freesound.org/people/bradovic/">bradovic<a/> under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/">Creative Commons 0 License<a/> 
fishertone_c2_1.wav by Berklee samples v.14 under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution license<a/> 
pad2.wav by Freesound.org user <a href="www.freesound.org/people/loserboy66/">loserboy66<a/> under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/">Creative Commons 0 License<a/> 
subsonic.wav by Freesound.org user <a href="www.freesound.org/people/shnur/">shnur<a/> under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/">Creative Commons 0 License<a/> 
fishertone_f#2_1.wav by Berklee samples v.14 under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution license<a/>

X - The Pigeon Flyers

Three years ago I set out to create soundscapes for all 36 sonnets of H.P. Lovecraft's "Fungi from Yuggoth".

This labor of love is now complete, and is available on bandcamp.<a href="https://bryantohara.bandcamp.com/album/fungi-from-yuggoth-by-h-p-lovecraft-music-and-narration-by-bryant-ohara">Bandcamp</a>


In the meantime, check out these first few pieces, and let me know what you think. Hope you enjoy - stay tuned for updates!

XV - Antarktos

Three years ago I set out to create soundscapes for all 36 sonnets of H.P. Lovecraft's "Fungi from Yuggoth".&#13;
&#13;
This labor of love is now complete, and is available on bandcamp.<a href="https://bryantohara.bandcamp.com/album/fungi-from-yuggoth-by-h-p-lovecraft-music-and-narration-by-bryant-ohara" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bandcamp</a>&#13;

This track uses the following samples: 
churchbells-blackbird-watering.wav by Freesound.org user <a href="www.freesound.org/people/inchadney/">inchadney<a/> under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution license<a/> 
waterdrop.wav by Freesound.org user <a href="www.freesound.org/people/ryanconway/">ryanconway<a/> under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution license<a/> 
space-music-ambient.wav by Freesound.org user <a href="www.freesound.org/people/evanjones4/">evanjones4<a/> under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/">Creative Commons 0 License<a/>

XIX - The Bells

After building "The Tyger by William Blake", one of my sons asked me if I was going to do "The Lamb". 

This is the result. 

Again, I'm using the "singing-computer" version of the Festival speech synthesis engine in singing mode, Audacity as the audio editor, and Ubuntu as the OS.

Here's the actual poem for those interested:

The Lamb (from Songs of Innocence)
By William Blake

   Little lamb, who made thee?
   Does thou know who made thee,
Gave thee life, and bid thee feed
By the stream and o’er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing, woolly, bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice?
   Little lamb, who made thee?
   Does thou know who made thee?

   Little lamb, I’ll tell thee;
   Little lamb, I’ll tell thee:
He is callèd by thy name,
For He calls Himself a Lamb.
He is meek, and He is mild,
He became a little child.
I a child, and thou a lamb,
We are callèd by His name.
   Little lamb, God bless thee!
   Little lamb, God bless thee!

1794


The Lamb by William Blake

These are three pieces for Arduino microcontroller, Grove Shield, Heart rate sensor, Ultraracer PS1 joystick with USB adapter, and laptop. The composition is written in ChucK scripts and an Arduino sketch.

The heart rate sensor sends data to ChucK using the microcontroller and shield. The ChucK code plays three Euclidean rhythms whose tempo is driven by the heart rate data sent from the sensor. 

The joystick simulates a compass and rotates the starting point of the three rhythms based on direction (N, S, E, W, NE, NW, SE, SW). Each rhythm plays its own sample. One rhythm is set to play arpeggios on the beats.

This second piece is a faster version of the first piece, but has the same tempo.

The third was done after taking pictures of the setup just before leaving work. Similar to the second piece.

Comments, critiques, and ideas are welcome.

Hope you enjoy!

Biometric POC Recording(Mon Aug 10 17h45m48 2015)

Biometric POC Recording(Fri Aug 07 01h16m55 2015)

Biometric POC Recording(Fri Aug 07 01h13m43 2015)

I took as my inspiration "The Lark Ascending" by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

I started the composition process by using an online music utility called the P22 Music Text Composition Generator (https://p22.com/musicfont). Once I had a MIDI file, I imported it into the MuseScore notation software (https://musescore.org/). The second half of the composition by using the "Random score" feature. Once I had my "bucket 'o' notes", I started  carving out  interesting patterns.   

I used English horn, oboe, and bassoon for instruments and ran the audio through some effects before extracting a rough draft. I applied some more effects in Audacity and superimposed a stretched copy of the second half over that part of the piece.

The Mechanical Lark (disquiet0221-morningmusic)

A couple of years ago I tried a couple of experiments with the singing mode of an open source speech synthesis engine called Festival. I've decided to revisit the technology with the goal of creating a stream of computer-generated songs (with some human intervention).

For starters, I hope to have the entirety of "The Hollow Men" rendered soon. 

I'm also giving this experiment a name  - The Bot Chorale.

Hope you enjoy.

The Hollow Men, Part I

We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
Our dried voices, when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass
Or rats' feet over broken glass
In our dry cellar

Shape without form, shade without colour,
Paralysed force, gesture without motion;

Those who have crossed
With direct eyes, to death's other Kingdom
Remember us—if at all—not as lost
Violent souls, but only
As the hollow men
The stuffed men.

The Hollow Men - Part 1, by The Bot Chorale

This is part III of T.S. Eliot's, "The Hollow Men", performed by a computer-generated choir created using the Festival speech synthesis engine and Python code.

The Hollow Men, Part III

This is the dead land
This is cactus land
Here the stone images
Are raised, here they receive
The supplication of a dead man's hand
Under the twinkle of a fading star.

Is it like this
In death's other kingdom
Waking alone
At the hour when we are
Trembling with tenderness
Lips that would kiss
Form prayers to broken stone.

The Hollow Men - Part 3, by The Bot Chorale

This is part II of T.S. Eliot's, "The Hollow Men", performed by a computer-generated choir created using the Festival speech synthesis engine and Python code.

The Hollow Men, Part II

Eyes I dare not meet in dreams
In death's dream kingdom
These do not appear:
There, the eyes are
Sunlight on a broken column
There, is a tree swinging
And voices are
In the wind's singing
More distant and more solemn
Than a fading star.

Let me be no nearer
In death's dream kingdom
Let me also wear
Such deliberate disguises
Rat's coat, crowskin, crossed staves
In a field
Behaving as the wind behaves
No nearer—

Not that final meeting
In the twilight kingdom



The Hollow Men - Part 2, by The Bot Chorale

This is part IV of T.S. Eliot's, "The Hollow Men", performed by a computer-generated choir created using the Festival speech synthesis engine and Python code.

BTW, I'm going back and adding each section of the text of "The Hollow Men" to each piece.  

The Hollow Men, Part IV

The eyes are not here
There are no eyes here
In this valley of dying stars
In this hollow valley
This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms

In this last of meeting places
We grope together
And avoid speech
Gathered on this beach of the tumid river

Sightless, unless
The eyes reappear
As the perpetual star
Multifoliate rose
Of death's twilight kingdom
The hope only
Of empty men.

The Hollow Men - Part 4, By The Bot Chorale

This is part V of T.S. Eliot's, "The Hollow Men", performed by a computer-generated choir created using the Festival speech synthesis engine and Python code.

I'll upload a file with all parts combined soon.

The code used to create this piece is available on Github at https://github.com/bohara2000/text2melody. The code - and this project - are very much at an "alpha" stage. There will be more to come.

Hope you enjoy! 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
V

Here we go round the prickly pear
Prickly pear prickly pear
Here we go round the prickly pear
At five o'clock in the morning.

Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom

Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow
Life is very long

Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom

For Thine is
Life is
For Thine is the

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

The Hollow Men - Part 5, by the Bot Chorale

This is part of a period of musical tool exploration. In particular, this was done using the Aviary Audio Editor, part of a suite of online multimedia programs.

Honestly, I don't know where this came from or where it's going...it just kinda grew. If anyone has any suggestions for categories this fits into, feel free to pipe up.

Pattern of Growth

This is an attempt to build musical compositions using scribbletune and tone.js

The code for creating this is here: https://codepen.io/bohara2000/pen/rgRjQr

Settings used:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/18n4vjMzJ-1sgoUD_sKxsQh6Bp_FOMbgP/view?usp=sharing

Boogie Automaticland - F3 Phrygian Mode

This is an attempt to build musical compositions using scribbletune and tone.js

The code for creating this is here: https://codepen.io/bohara2000/pen/rgRjQr

Boogie Automaticland - C3 Aeolian Mode

Programmer, Poet, Science Fiction/Anime Geek - not necessarily in that order.
I think I know enough about music to be dangerous. 

I write poems and songs with science fictional elements. 
I write music with whatever software or code I can find or write myself. 
I use whatever musical genre works for the piece.
I am always searching for the "sense of wonder" and am amazed at where I find it.

Bryant O'Hara

Pinned to spotlight

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