Dance-Steps for Computers

web-based partying

I really like the design of the Groove Pizza example. It plays really well with the cyclical aspect of rhythm and loops, and the option of adding certain shapes for the patterns is very helpful and brings out interesting ideas. But I’m not fully “convinced” by it. It does not let you manipulate the swing of each beat and the concentric design gives a weird sense of scale of importance to each track. Still, I made one track that plays an interesting rhythm with the tools they give out.

Out of the two re-creations of the TR-808, I liked the HTML5 drum machine much better. For a web-platform, I don’t see the point of adding all the information in the same layout as the physical controller. And the abstractions and different paths that one takes make a much more intuitive design. Anyway, I appreciate recreating that instrument in an online form. It set or follows the standard of sequencers or drum machines we see everyday. It is really functional and to the point, and is what most people have in mind when they talk about this.

Playtesting and prototyping

So, before I actually read the email and what the assignment was actually about, I just started creating a simple sequencer. I wanted to nail down the logic and learn how to use Tone.js’s Transport before doing and trying out any design. The result of this experiment is this not-fully-working drum machine that randomizes each track when it loads.

Speaking about design, I would like to create something on the style of the Groove Pizza, but giving the possibility to the user of having a different bpm or time signature for each different circle. I want the design to play with the concept of different timings by using clock representations and I would like to add a more visual modularity to the signature’s subdivisions.

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