Theme from the Titanic played on the Eigenharp Alpha

Update: The Max/MSP code for interfacing with the Eigenharp is now described and available at a new site, http://max4eigenharp.com

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This is a demonstration of the Eigenharp Alpha under the control of patchers developed with MaxMSP. Raw data (key presses, key movement) is sent via OSC from a lightweight EigenD setup into MaxMSP where it is first converted into row/col data and then interpreted as if the keys were tuned like the first 5 strings of a guitar. The keys of the Eigenharp are amazingly sensitive allowing extremely expressive control over synth parameters.

The main MaxMSP environment supports a collection of VSTs and effects that can be loaded on the fly and external devices (synths and effects pedals) can also be routed through the system. The accompaniment is a wave audio file that can be started or stopped from the Eigenharp. It is derived from a MIDI file that was turned into audio tracks with the solo instruments muted.

The images are hard to see so here is a link to a full-sized screen shot of the MaxMSP environment I"m using.
http://i.imgur.com/6szM4.jpg

The upper area with a light blue background represents a particular "song" and contains routing information for MIDI and audio. The group of connections on the right of that section controls the LEDs on the Eigenharp. Rows 2 and 14 are red and rows 6,18, and 22 are green. This provides me with usual navigation, much like the white dots one finds on a guitar neck.

The area below represents a collection of VSTs instruments and effects that are globally available. Depending on what system I am running, I might have a different number of these available. Further, it is possible to have extras inside "song" patchers, which is the way I used to do it.

Information about how the Eigenharp data is processed from Max can be found at http://deskew.com/blog/using-max-with...

More details of the development of this particular Max environment can be found in a four part article (so far) that starts at http://deskew.com/component/content/a...

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  Howto & Style

[David Jameson]

Thanks --- MaxMSP is a great environment for this kind of thing.