#jamuary2024 05 ZOA (Game of Life seq) & Aparillo

video upload by SynthAddict

""More iOS fun...

ZOA - a 'Game of Life' sequencer (cellular automata) with limited native timbre settings, but it's great for MIDI output goodness, very fun to explore

Aparillo - an amazing synth/sound design tool

Just another fun improv noodle, so plenty of errors and happy accidents. :-)
I went a bit long as I got carried away..."

Lectric Panda's Automata Sequencer

video upload by Lectric Panda

https://lectricpanda.com/

"Cellular Automata based MIDI Sequencer. Bits from the Automata state are added to the note base parameters: Trigger, Pitch, Velocity, Duration, Slice, and Hold.

Four MIDI CC's can also be generated.

1-D Automata.
Reset every N steps.
Scalable UI.
Integrated tool tips.
Host Transport Sync.
Sample accurate MIDI Generation.
VST3 Format."

"Automata was heavily influenced by work David Burraston @ noyzelab had done with his uMANIAC sequencer."

FM60P & ODT3 by NYZ

Two new releases from NYZ - FM60P composed w/ Kodamo's essenceFM, and ODT3 below, composed with GForce Software's Oddity3.

https://noyzelab.bandcamp.com/album/fm60p

"Appropriately, FM60P is the sixth NYZ release to focus directly on FM synthesis, and the first six-operator variant of the FMX0P releases (which was incidentally also the first conceptual iteration of the sub-series of FM synth works, despite being released this far down the line). Given this provenance, those familiar with FM synthesis might assume Burraston would begin a six-operator exploration with the ubiquitous Yamaha DX7 - perhaps the most iconic FM synthesizer of all time - but instead, he's taken a different tack entirely, and opted to use a modern machine - the Kodamo EssenceFM, a megalith of FM processing power with a mind-numbing 300 operators available within its outwardly unassuming racked interface - albeit acting in an ascetic sense by limiting himself deliberately to only six operators. Longtime Psoma listeners will also note a referential connection with PMFM, a prior release that also utilized the EssenceFM in its construction.

On a technical level, FM60P manifests itself through the arcane pathways of Burraston's cellular automata research, which informs both the sequencing information sent into the synthesizer, and the microtuning of the voices also. Beyond this initial working ethos, the designs and numerical relationships of the operators' ratios have been arranged with the use of three different sets of Fibonacci number sequences, as well as tuning dispositions referencing Alain Daniélou's Harmonic Division of the Octave. Fibonacci freaks will be pleased to know that this arrangement of operators will form intricate setups of Golden Ratio based FM timbres.

For many listening and reading, these points of reference may have no meaning whatsoever, and we here at Psoma would like to offer the consolation that there is no right or wrong way to listen to or interact with any sound matter found in our catalog, or anywhere else for that matter. It could even be said that part of our initiative in publishing works such as these is defined by a desire to simply introduce more challenging and concept-driven music into the world, in order to bring new and stimulating experiences to people who are both familiar and unfamiliar with the deeper details of sound itself.

So what does that leave us with then? The sound of FM60P could be described as a chiming din of glassy tones playing in serpentine unison with sub-bass hum - but this is only a small prologue of two minutes, quickly pulling back the curtain to reveal a massive hour-long drone wall, presented in Burraston's characteristic style of rippling heavily modulated swaths of energy, underpinned by a more midrange foundation of a pulsing alien plinth. Filter sweeps reveal many more dimensions to the layers that are not initially obvious, bringing incessant bass tones and arpeggiator-like sections into focus before the wavering sea reclaims them.

Burraston's music is unlike anything else in the space it is able to inhabit, simultaneously sounding artificial and unnatural to an almost impossible degree, while also functionally conveying itself in elemental and naturalistic ways. Everything is an object, an outline, a weather system or a color, each possessing a specific set of attributes that communicate synaesthetically with the listener, as temperatures and spatial indicators, rather than confining themselves to much more arbitrary traditional sensations.

NOTE: After some confusion from listeners, we'd like to make clear the fact that all NYZ/Noyzelab catalog releases at Psoma are available ONLY as abridged digital versions for name-your-price/free download, and in their full unabridged editions as physical CD-Rs. There is not an unabridged digital version of anything from NYZ at Psoma, and the physical editions do not ship with unabridged digital versions either (that is, if you do not count the digital music present on the compact discs). For listeners only interested in unabridged digital versions, we encourage you to visit noyzelab.bandcamp.com to purchase those directly from NYZ, or even better, subscribe to his Bandcamp output and just get everything."

https://noyzelab.bandcamp.com/album/odt3

"Continuing from SEM with his exploration of GForce software instruments, Burraston builds a wall with the Oddity3, an expansive modern iteration of the ARP Odyssey that includes several new additions and functions. ODT3 consists of two such instances of the Oddity3 to accomplish the wide stereo image, both focusing on the 4035 ladder filter from the short-lived Odyssey mark II (only one of three filter types present within the softsynth). Landing somewhere on the map between the Cell Meditations and the subharmonic hums of TESCO SYNFETIX, ODT3 pulses in shallow waves that betray the depth beneath their softened surfaces. Close listening yields wondrous results, especially in headphones, as the swirling mass of the frequency spectrum slowly rises like a shipwreck called back to shore. Almost imperceptibly, the true substance of this piece is revealed in microscopic increments, until it overtakes the senses and surrounds everything, filling the air with vibrating particulate and soporific electricity, glimmering like a portal to an adjacent dimension."

FEF by NYZ

"The delightfully titled FEF consists of pieces made on the Yamaha TX802 synth, driven by his self-designed MANIAC cellular automata sequencer. Glassy FM tones and microtonal tunings make for eerily melodic, playfully exploratory pieces.

NYZ is UK Midlands born, New South Wales based Dave Burraston, who also operates variously as Noyzelab, Dave Noyze and Bryen Telko. He's studied and worked with audio synthesis and computer science since the 1970s, culminating in a 2006 PhD thesis on Generative Music & Cellular Automata. Musical collaborators have included Oren Ambarchi, Russell Haswell and Aphex Twin (with whom he conducted the technically revealing 2014 'SYROBONKERS!' interview), and has had releases on labels such as Entr'acte, Fractal Meat Cuts and Important Records.

released May 1, 2020

Recorded Sept 2018 & Feb 2019 / Mixed January 2020 at Noyzelab.

Thunderstorm field recording on FM40P::cicFLUFFYCLOUDZ is an excerpt from Syracuse Storm, recorded July 2017 Syracuse, New York, USA in my guest bedroom at the house of Doug Quin & Peggy Droz.

Art by Graeme Swinton

Thanks : Paul Condon, Graeme Swinton, Sarah Last, Doug Quin, Peggy Droz

FEFNYZ / FEF88"

nonlinearcircuits Cellular Automata 1

Published on Jul 14, 2019 cirtcele

"NLC Cellular Automata module demo. It can be used as a CV pattern and gate generator. There is little control over the patterns other than feeding signals into the 4 seed inputs"

via nonlinearcircuits

"This is a 16 cell gate and pattern generator using cellular automata rules 90 & 150. It will run thru a process driven by a clock signal and requires a signal on one of the seed inputs (anything crossing 1V) to start a new process or alter the current one.
A process without seeds may run for hours or minutes, depending upon the start point and clock rate.

There are 3 CV outputs, two based on what is happening on each half of the circuit, one reflects the pattern created by the active cells. Each cell has a gate output.

The circuit uses CMOS chips and op amps, no microprocessors. It is a big build!

PCB set = USD25
panel = USD23

assembled = USD280"

Pantala Labs - Carcellata - ANTS : Sub module

Published on Apr 25, 2019 Gibran PantalaLabs

"Pantala Labs - Carcellata is a cellular automata based Eurorack module that comes with several algorithms to create cool melodies, triggers and CVs abstracting behaviors of the real life.
ANTS : - is a sub module capable to create melodies and rhythmic sequences based on behavior of a life being. We mapped elements like , birth, grown, movement, reproduction and death (there are many other behaviors)."

Pantala Labs - Hormiga

Published on Dec 13, 2018 Gibran PantalaLabs

If you ever wondered how cellular automata based software works this video tutorial does a pretty good job using the movement of ants as an analogy. Audio comes in at 1:11.

"Is a cartographic cellular automata based on the abstraction of the life of an ant. The module implements behaviors
from birth to the death of an ant with manual
controls of its evolution or
with automatic behavioral evolution. Consequently,
it also enables an easy way of creating music
and generative music

3 voice Eurorack module specially developed to create patterns CVs

More on :
https://github.com/PantalaLabs/hormiga"

Pantala Labs - Hormiga Cartographic Cellular Automata

Published on Dec 6, 2018 Gibran PantalaLabs

"This is a prototype from the Hormiga , an Eurorack module to create music from ants life. Soon a complete video"

Vinyl Debut by NYZ - SHFTR FRQ - Featuring Aphex Twin's Sequentix Cirklon & PreenFM2

"+ [Special note for track A9 - SHFTR_CA#BB1] => A huge shout of thanks to Richard D James for gifting me a Sequentix Cirklon sequencer and PreenFM2 synth during my Regional Arts Fellowship in 2017! This was the first track I made using this gear. You can also read up more about my open source Farey Sequence FM programming tool for the PreenFM here =>
github.com/noyzelab/FareyPreenFM2

++ Folks interested in using cellular automata can also check out my open source Arduino based synth module here =>
github.com/noyzelab/uMANIAC"

NYZ of Noyzelab has a new release out on neon orange vinyl (limited to 300 copies) titled SHFTR FRQ which features PreenFM2 sequenced by the Sequentix Cirklon. You will find a track off the release above. Below you will find some exclusive pics sent my way from NYZ and info on the release from Forced Exposure where it is available in the US. The album is available in the UK from Boomkat here. Update: it's also available at Phonica Records, Norman Records, Juno Records, Redeye Records, and Bleep.

"The Death of Rave is honored to plate up the vinyl debut by NYZ; the cult, algorithmic/ generative music project of award-winning artist/scientist Dave Burraston (Bryen Telko, Noyzelab). The A-side revolves 14 succinct blatz, ranging from cranky percussive pieces to queered microtonal dissonance and SAW II-like atmospheres -- notably including one track made on a Sequentix Cirklon sequencer and PreenFM2 synth gifted him by Richard D. James. The B-side contains a steeply immersive spectral drone tract that (never) ends in a locked groove, especially cut at D&M, Berlin. The results are wholly unique and speak to the endless, playfully experimental variation of NYZ's art/research. They reveal visceral, alien microcosms of curdled microtonal tunings and proprioceptive chicanery bound to thrill and induce strange, new sensations in even the most hard-to-please fiend of electronic music. It's strongly recommended to followers of Russell Haswell's chaotic gnash, the mind-bending tunings of Aphex Twin, the visionary algorithmic scapes of Roland Kayn, and Eliane Radigue's microtonal meditations. In Dave's own words:

"SHFTR FRQ is a series of experimental studies into simple synth setups controlled by varying levels of generative complex systems [MANIAC cellular automata]. SHFTR FRQ was recorded over the last six years on an ever-changing hybrid of equipment encompassing the domains of modular and MIDI-based microtonal sound synthesis [analog and digital]. Setups were always ultra-minimalist, often with just the MANIAC cellular automata sequencer and one or two modules/synths to provide a consistent sensory focus. The studies range from ultra-short sequences, micro-ditties, investigatory motifs, to a full length high spectral drone meditation."

Burraston has previously collaborated with Alan Lamb on recordings of a mile-long telephone wire in the Australian outback, and more recently he issued nearly a dozen NYZ tapes and CDs with some of the most crucial modern music labels, as well as a number of releases under the Noyzelab and Bryen Telko aliases. In 2014, Dave self-published SYROBONKERS!, the most technical and in-depth interview ever given by Aphex Twin. Screen-printed jacket. RIYL: Russell Haswell, Aphex Twin, Eliane Radigue, EVOL/ALKU, Roland Kayn."

CLICK FOR MORE »

Critter & Guitari - CAmenti for Organelle

Published on Nov 9, 2018 Critter & Guitari

"Download this patch here: http://organelle.io
CAmenti records and then slices a sample into segments. It plays those segments rhythmically with a generative algorithm called Cellular Automata (CA). The CA is made up of 256 rules and selecting a different rule will play the segments in a different pattern. Set master in/out points in your root sample. Stitch segments together to form sustained (uninterrupted) sounds. Turn segments on and off with the keyboard keys. Sample drums and make a new rhythm! Sample sustained sounds to make a choppy bounce! Sample the radio for a twisted broadcast!"

Critter & Guitari - CA Filter and Pedals

Published on Sep 15, 2018 Critter & Guitari

"More Cellular Automata-based sounds with the Organelle! We're using the CA Filter patch along with with other effects for rhythmic sound design. CA Filter is a 15-band filter controlled by a generative algorithm called Elementary Cellular Automata.

To show off this generative effect we connected our Organelle to a Boss DR-770 drum machine. In some clips we have synced the tempo between the Organelle and the drum machine via MIDI. Then we added other effects to the chain, namely the Dwarfcraft Eau Claire Thunder, Old Blood Noise Endeavors Haunt Fuzz, Moog MF Delay, Boss DM-2, Boss OS-2, and the Yamaha FL-01. See what sounds your pedals can make with CA Filter!"

Critter & Guitari - CA Additive for Organelle

Published on Aug 23, 2018 Critter & Guitari

"Look out! It's the newest additive synth for the Organelle! Use Elementary Cellular Automata to individually control 15 partials of an additive synthesizer. The Cellular Automata (CA) is depicted graphically on the Organelle’s OLED screen. The result is a unique method of modulation with 255 possible patterns, or ‘rules’.

Control the CA tempo, rule, loop length, and synth voice to shape your sound. Latch notes, write a sequence, or send MIDI to CA Additive. Use Ableton Link to wirelessly sync with other devices."

An Interview with David Burraston of noyzelab

You can find the full interview here.

"David Burraston (who also goes by Dave Noyze) may well be the only scientist and synthesist who lives five miles away from the nearest paved road. “We live on the farm where [my wife’s parents] were when they retired,” he explains. “We run a farm as well as the Wired Lab here. We’re in the middle of nowhere, and we’re not served by any amenities except electricity. We have to capture our own water, we have our own sewage and septic tank, we have to take our own rubbish to the tip. We don’t even get mail.” This is somewhat surprising for a man who obtained a Ph.D. for researching cellular automata and generative music, and famously conducted and independently released Syrobonkers!, the most technically comprehensive interview Aphex Twin ever gave."

NYZ - NTE GDN => Behind the scenes with the Yamaha FB-01

Photo Credit: Calum Gunn * all other pix by NYZ *

"The new NYZ - NTE GDN tape on Conditional is just out [limited edition of 50 copies]! Matrix heard on the synth grapevine that it heavily featured the Yamaha FB-01 operating in a secret sysex mode, so he asked me if I'd write a little about how it was used. You can check the album out on the Conditional Bandcamp page here, release date July 6th =>

and have a listen while reading. Its also available from Boomkat [with track previews] =>

Boomkat review => "Blinding new batch of synth and computer music chaos from Dave Burraston’s cultishly regarded NYZ. With such a wild variation to his purist approach it’s perhaps silly to draw comparisons or contrasts, but these are patently some of NYZ’s sweeter treats, such as the curdled harmonics of ‘ARTOFNYZbitcompander’ and the funky lil’ vamps of ‘RLD syncs’ for more insatiable and curious listeners. In other words it’s fucking ace!"

and Norman Records =>

Norman Records review => "9/10 Conditional unleash this beautifully wild and playful tape from David Burraston aka NYZ. Here he harnesses the spectrum splitting potential of John Chowning’s FM synthesis to birth and animate ludicrously cute and cuddly synthetic creatures that come to life before our very ears. What even are these little mutant alien lifeforms? Where is this strange place in which they dwell?

The overall experience of imbibing these sounds is a lot like an experience I once had watching Teletubbies on acid, where I thought the little blighters were actually communicating directly to me. This world NYZ has created and its inhabitants are clearly fantasy, but it’s so brilliantly, vividly realised and skillfully executed that if you just let go of the shackles of reality and submit yourself, it can be an authentic place where these things live and breathe, eat and sleep and go through their life cycle. We get to hang out with them as they speak, sing, laugh and cry. I’d much rather hang out with these chirpy little fellows because humans are the absolute worst. For music to get a miserable, misanthropic, curmudgeon bastard like me to grin like a child holding a cookie the size of its head is quite an achievement.

This tape is just so much fun - it's like a little utopia for the most part, but there are occasional darker moments - at times it feels like the big bad wolf or some kind of predator is lurking with intent to gobble up our little friends. Burraston’s custom-built MANIAC Cellular Automata Sequencer is instrumental in giving life to these sounds - a tool that gives this work a unique voice and an unpredictable energy that seems to organically flow through his machines. This music is most certainly unconventional even by avant-garde standards, and although on the surface is definitely weird and kinda eccentric, it taps into something deeper. Like Victor Frankenstein’s unorthodox scientific experiment in Mary Shelley's novel where scientist becomes an architect of life. This place, it's lifeforms and their language seems bewilderingly genuine - a sonic virtual reality -- a hybrid analogue/digital world where what is “real” and synthetic is blurred."


So why am I interested in the strange and esoteric Yamaha FB-01, and what are these secret sysex codes? Well, first up its a nice little 8 voice FM synth, and I'm well known for being a bit obsessed with FM [see the NYZ - DRN4 Declassified article]. Secondly, its a kind of in-between synth, arriving after the first 4 operator synths, such the DX21, but before the TX81Z which featured a full microtonal tuning table. Its this inbetweeness that really interested me, and its really the only first gen sine wave only 4op that can be micro-tuned, albeit in a very roundabout way via some secret sysex codes.

CLICK FOR MORE »

Critter & Guitari - CA Filter for Organelle

Published on Jun 18, 2018 Critter & Guitari

"Download here: http://organelle.io
Process your sounds with CA Filter on the Organelle! CA Filter divides the audio input into 15 bands that can be turned on or off individually with generative Cellular Automata. This algorithm acts as a sequencer for your filter, with 256 sequences, or 'rules' to choose from. Watch as new generations are made on the Organelle screen. Stop the Cellular Automata and turn the bands on or off manually with the Organelle keyboard (keys 1-15). Sync with other MIDI instruments for quantized filter stepping."

RAINWIRE [Processed] AFXs Fairlight #40 [Excerpt]

"Fairlight CMI Series 1
MANIAC cellular automata sequencer
Zoom F8
MOTU Microbook II
MacBook Pro

Recorded February 2017 during my Regional Arts Fellowship. This Regional Arts Fellowship is supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW.

Thanks to Richard D James for use of the Fairlight."

Noyzelab At EMS Stockholm w/ Buchla, Serge, Aphex Twin/Richard D James Fairlight and More

Published on Apr 10, 2018 noyzelab

"A quick iphone recording during a session on the Fylkingen Buchla 200 at EMS Stockholm.

FM patch with my MANIAC cellular automata sequencer.

Recorded February 2017 at EMS Sweden during my Regional Arts Fellowship. This Regional Arts Fellowship is supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW.

http://elektronmusikstudion.se/

Thanks to absolutely everybody at EMS!"

SERGE@EMS MANIAC

Published on Apr 10, 2018

"A quick iphone recording during a session on the Serge modular with my MANIAC cellular automata sequencer at EMS Stockholm."



Playlist descriptions:

1. RAINWIRE [PROCESSED] AFXs Fairlight #11

Fairlight CMI Series 1
MANIAC cellular automata sequencer
Zoom F8
MOTU Microbook II
MacBook Pro

Recorded February 2017 during my Regional Arts Fellowship. This Regional Arts Fellowship is supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW.

Thanks to Richard D James for use of the Fairlight.

2. RAINWIRE [PROCESSED] EMS Sweden Settels+Buchla et al [Excerpt]

Roberta Settels diode transformer ring modulator
Noyzelab custom built diode transformer ring modulator
Buchla 200
MOTU Microbook II
MacBook Pro
Recorded in Logic Pro 10, excerpt mixed down using REAPER 5

Recorded May/June 2017 at EMS Sweden during my Regional Arts Fellowship. This Regional Arts Fellowship is supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW.

Thanks to absolutely everybody at EMS!!

3. RAINWIRE [PROCESSED] EMS Sweden Buchla 288v [Excerpt]

Buchla 200
MANIAC cellular automata sequencer
MOTU Microbook II
MacBook Pro
Recorded in Logic Pro 10 from a mix of the 288v Time Domain Processor outputs, excerpt mixed down using REAPER 5

Recorded May/June 2017 at EMS Sweden during my Regional Arts Fellowship. This Regional Arts Fellowship is supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW.

Thanks to absolutely everybody at EMS!!

4. RAINWIRE [PROCESSED] UNI of HULL VCS3 [Excerpt]

EMS VCS3 MKII
MOTU Microbook II
MacBook Pro
Recorded in Logic Pro 10, excerpt mixed down using REAPER 5

Recorded March 2017 at University of Hull, UK during my Regional Arts Fellowship. This Regional Arts Fellowship is supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW.

Thanks to Rob Mackay at University of Hull.

See the Noyzelab label below for more.

noyzelab's uMANIAC Generative Cellular Automata Sequencer Module Goes Open Source

via @noyzelab

"uMANIAC generative sequencer music module for Arduino with a cellular automata core is now *OPEN SOURCE* 🤓 ==> https://github.com/noyzelab/uMANIAC … #arduino #cellularautomata"

You can find previous posts featuring noyzelab's cellular automata sequencers in the archives here.

noyzelab EMS Sweden Residency

Another visit by noyzelab. This one was at EMS Sweden. Click through for the full post include more info and pics of the Buchla system and more.

"On Feb 1 - 12 I was Guest Composer at EMS Elektronmusikstudion in Stockholm, Sweden. I also had my Eurorack modular with Intellijel Shapeshifter, CycleboxII + Expander, Tiptop Z-DSP & Numberz, as well as my uMANIAC and MANIAC cellular automata sequencers and a MacBook Pro + MOTU MicroBookII.

For the creative outcomes I spent my time again working mainly with modulation synthesis such as FM, RM, PWM, AM, and wavetable synthesis via audio rate sequencing. I was also processing sounds from my Rainwire recordings through some pretty exotic effects modules/units, ranging from spring/plate reverbs, modular systems and high end DSP boxes. Some of these recordings appeared in my Rainwire [Processed] installation at Sound+Environment 2017 at Hull University, part of the UK City of Culture 2017..." You can find the full post at noyzelab.

NLC Cellular Automata synth modules

Published on Jan 25, 2017 thenervoussquirrel

"First patch of six NLC Cellular Automata modules.

More details of the synth here:

www.nervoussquirrel.com/modular"