This is fun! I'd like to be able to drag the notes around the circle to align the beat as needed, or a snap to grid with resolution options - but does the thing as described, very nice!
It wasn't obvious to me that this only had 16 possible beats so I kept trying to input triplets and it didn't work. I was very confused and thought there was some awful latency or something else odd like that.
Used sans metronome, I can see its appeal. That is, cool grooves in the studio may be related to low listener expectations. I mean, J Dylla grooves are cool precisely because they violate listener expectations. Funk is the art of surprise.
However, with metronome, it is unusable on a Chromebook from USA. Getting my ictus to agree with the metronome was impossible, presumably because the latency from the key press to the recording of the event vs. the sounding of the metronome. I'm guessing the author knows this.
I thought it had latency as well, but I think it might be deliberate. It only lets you define 16 evenly spaced notes. Logically it has to wait until the next beat to play the sound, meaning if you are a little late on one input, it will be pushed back to the next beat. Just a guess but I think it explains the issue.
It's not just the input. The playback is pretty screwy. Try filling every slot with hi-hats. At least in my browser, the playback is quite stuttery and I can't really entrain to it.
It sure is neat though! I love how the icons for each instrument can combine together, and the dynamic page title is fun.
I guess it makes sense that binary design underlies rhythmic fascism. I'd prefer minimalism that is not lossy. Either that or I don't want to work hard at triplets or be forced into faking them.
Worth mentioning, since the post you replied to name-drops Dilla, that this renders it completely impossible to make a "Dilla"-style beat, let alone add any swing at all.
IMO it is just missing a way to turn off quantize and then turn it back on so you can both be on the grid and also swing or be ahead/behind the beat.
As typical though with anything related to web audio, it is neat one off parlor trick to show web programming skill but isn't worth the effort.
A circle is a compact way to make a useless quantized beat but if you want to take this further it will just end up reinventing the DAW wheel timeline. Otherwise, you have to have a sequencer for the circles, and then a timeline and then just get rid of the circles and have the timeline. In other words, a piano roll.
On another level, it is the coolness but uselessness of circular data visualization.
after taking a look at the src[0] it looks like you can share sequences by adding a hash.
the format appears to be a letter A-Z to notate the position, followed by a sequence of numbers for the sounds. ex:
https://martinwecke.de/108/#A1B2C3D4G123I4
gives [[1], [2], [3], [4], [], [], [1, 2, 3], [], [4]] where each array is a note and the subarray is the list of sounds played
Some comments pointed out that there are latency issues, which are mainly caused by tonejs. I used tonejs a few years ago for my first live coding project: https://quaverseries.web.app/
Interestingly, I also used the same interactive rhythm prompts as op in the page title, but the timing was not accurate at all. See this classic article: https://web.dev/articles/audio-scheduling
Later, in order to refine my idea, I used rust + wasm and made https://glicol.org/.
It basically solved the audio latency problem, and I also made js bindings: https://glicol.js.org/
I'd love to get as much feedback as possible. I feel that this sequencer is particularly suitable for glicol's seq syntax.
Partially agree. It's not necessarily Rust. But C/C++/Rust -> wasm -> AudioWorklet <- SAB -> Main Thread is basically the ceiling of web audio. Of course, there is still room for improvement in interaction. Your example is a project from 2018, also based on tonejs. The main problem is not latency, but the impact of GC and the main thread on the clock.
Can you explain further or point to, how exactly wasm allows more precise timing? I also agree that the timing with JS and Webaudio is really poor, not as bad as MIDI with 24 PPQN, but I think a few years back from my experiments, the max I could get was a fluctuating 96PPQN.
This is absolutely fabulous - the simplicity of it and the opportunity it gives to novices like me, who are too often nonplussed by the Abletons and the Novations.
Great job resisting the urge to add bells and whistles !
I actually really enjoyed the latency, unintentional or not. There are a million tools I can use to create a groove exactly as I intend. I enjoyed the aspect of surprise, of recording something and it not coming out exactly as intended, somewhat wonky and imperfect. The challenge and subsequent joy of trying to “feel” the resulting groove, one that you may not have ever come up with otherwise, is a delight.
Wow! I didn't expect the simple circular design, but it's so apt and clean. I just finished watching the Dieter Rams documentary, and this seems to follow his key principles well.
I love this! One thing I wish was there was the ability to click and drag a note I just put down. I want this because it's sometimes hard to get the note where I want it, and I want to reposition it.
61 comments
[ 2.8 ms ] story [ 134 ms ] threadlet me know how i can support
not totally sure what the novel UX is here, felt pretty hard to get anything fun out of the tool
However, with metronome, it is unusable on a Chromebook from USA. Getting my ictus to agree with the metronome was impossible, presumably because the latency from the key press to the recording of the event vs. the sounding of the metronome. I'm guessing the author knows this.
It sure is neat though! I love how the icons for each instrument can combine together, and the dynamic page title is fun.
Worth mentioning, since the post you replied to name-drops Dilla, that this renders it completely impossible to make a "Dilla"-style beat, let alone add any swing at all.
As typical though with anything related to web audio, it is neat one off parlor trick to show web programming skill but isn't worth the effort.
A circle is a compact way to make a useless quantized beat but if you want to take this further it will just end up reinventing the DAW wheel timeline. Otherwise, you have to have a sequencer for the circles, and then a timeline and then just get rid of the circles and have the timeline. In other words, a piano roll.
On another level, it is the coolness but uselessness of circular data visualization.
the format appears to be a letter A-Z to notate the position, followed by a sequence of numbers for the sounds. ex:
[0]: https://github.com/hatsumatsu/108/blob/fcbe8fd93847cd114424f...Though, I see you fat-fingered an 'F' instead of a 'T' in your username.
/s/usernamechecksout
Oops, I meant r/
Some comments pointed out that there are latency issues, which are mainly caused by tonejs. I used tonejs a few years ago for my first live coding project: https://quaverseries.web.app/
Interestingly, I also used the same interactive rhythm prompts as op in the page title, but the timing was not accurate at all. See this classic article: https://web.dev/articles/audio-scheduling
Later, in order to refine my idea, I used rust + wasm and made https://glicol.org/.
It basically solved the audio latency problem, and I also made js bindings: https://glicol.js.org/
I'd love to get as much feedback as possible. I feel that this sequencer is particularly suitable for glicol's seq syntax.
Might I recommend you put a link to `glicol.js.org` from your main site. I might have given this a go instead of tone.js on a recent project.
https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/Song-Maker/song/63391...
I guess due to the discrete nature of the tool, the sound must be cut to 16ths.
Dvorak user here -_-
I'd strongly encourage using 1-9 instead of alphabets _-
Q W E R T U I representing the white notes of the piano/ synth, and
2 3 5 6 7 representing the Black.
I'm not sure if it is [has become] an industry standard within other DAW's, but ctrl+k has brought that up for me for oooooh, years.
I use it when i get bored of regular synth-midi input and the occasional, inevitable 'mistake', often takes me in new directions.
I might try a Dvorak kb...been feeling rather Schoenberg of late.
Great job resisting the urge to add bells and whistles !
hell ya this is awesome.
https://martinwecke.de/108/#A0C2D4E013G2I0K2L0M1N3O02