Kyle McDonald's videos (27)
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Skittle-based beat sequencer, a tangible and edible music interface. This is a prototype developed over the course of two evenings, with a webcam and Processing.

The webcam is mounted using cardboard/wood above the screen, and Skittles are placed on the screen -- a cheap responsive surface (when a circle is active, it turns green).

Future directions may include: more sensor types (e.g., a slider for tempo control), note-sequencing mode, and assigning the different colors to different rhythms or instruments (purple as bassline, or yellow as "every other measure").

There is a cut in the middle where it transitions from solo improvisation to three people interacting simultaneously. Any out-of-sync audio/video is due to my frazzled camera.

One of the other big problems: people like to eat Skittles.
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  • Soxiam 4 months ago
    amazing. taste the rainbow, suckas!
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  • Andrew Pile 4 months ago
    Oh wow, this is great!
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  • Eric Anderson 3 months ago
    Well, that's just cool.
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  • Dylan 3 months ago
    my beat would be empty, all of the triggers would be in my gut hahaha.
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  • Mr Truffle 3 months ago
    How does it know not to trigger circles when your hand is over it? Great demo
  • Kyle McDonald 3 months ago
    If the border of the circle is obscured (i.e., does not match the "default" color) it does not update the information inside the circle (it assumes constancy). Thanks!
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  • Mr Truffle 3 months ago
    Makes sense and is simple now you explain it. Great work.
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  • sesotek 3 months ago
    you have got to be freaking kidding me! this is genius! i totally love it.
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  • Tweaking Knobs 2 months ago
    You are crazy man !
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  • nacho 2 months ago
    Sweet. Literally! :D
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  • Christopher Galasso 2 months ago
    This is friggin awesome.
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  • Geert Depuydt 2 months ago
    i assume the red line is just a visual aid for the users and has no function in the analysis part?

    great work btw! making one mself now
  • Kyle McDonald 2 months ago
    If you'd like the source, let me know. Minus some little tricks, it's pretty straightforward.

    And yeah, the red line is just a visual aid.
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  • justin Lincoln 2 months ago
    Have you ever taught workshops on MaxMSP ?
    It's something that really intrigues me...but my programming skills are so lacking that the learning curve is very imposing.

    Any suggestions?
  • Kyle McDonald 2 months ago
    I haven't taught Max/MSP, though I have taught Processing. Max/MSP is probably the best place to start if you'd like to experiment with sound on a very low level and don't have much programming experience. As for where to start: the tutorials that come with Max/MSP are the best I've seen, and I still use them for reference.

    Tangentially: I've heard that Reaktor can be a lot like Max/MSP as far as flexibility, but more friendly.
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