Last month we saw Sarah Angliss using the Theremin as an audiovisual controller. If you’ve got a Theremin and want to try this yourself — or try some other similar continuous input — here’s a really simple example of a patch that converts audio to MIDI. It uses Pd, Max/MSP’s open-source cousin for Mac, Windows, and Linux.
If you haven’t used Pd before, you should download pd-extended. It’s a stable, friendly installer for Pd with all the documentation and extras you’d need. Pd can be tricky to install, but this is friendly to just about anyone.
Pure Data Downloads (choose “most recent release” for the latest stable build of pd-extended)
In this case, Charles Martin, a percussionist from Australia, whipped up this simple patch and the fiddle~ object (which analyzes incoming pitch) to control effects in Ableton. Very cool stuff. He describes the patch and includes copy-and-paste code here, though I actually recommend going through the image above one step at a time and recreating it to better understand what it involves.
Theremin to MIDI Control program in Pd [Charles Martin Percussionist Blog]
ive tried twice now downloading from here
but twice its loaded a virus to my computer
blade runner trojan virus
id have liked to give pd a go aswell
@al: That sounds like a false positive, which the antivirus tools are notorious for.
If you're downloading from pd-extended, you should be safe. But I can look into why it's triggering that error. Unfortunately, usually the only fix is to temporarily disable your antivirus program since it is incorrectly identifying a threat that's not there, then re-enable it once you're installed.
I think the program was slightly broken. I updated the blog post with a new version! Fun!
That's neat. More pd please peter!
[…] this could be used with a number of different audio signals – Theremin to MIDI control in Pd [via Create Digital Music] Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Music | Digg this! Tags: […]
cheers peter i may have to download it then
and give it a try
just a few questions
can i use mp3s
as id like to build some sort of mixing app
for djing
and how different is it to
reaktor synthedit and bonnville cps
i use all three but id like a program thats a mix of the three
thanks
al.
also would i need to download gem
to make a gui screen
knobs n faders wavforms of the tracks
and other stuff
and also can a project be saved
to be used standalone
ive played with a few max/msp apps
just wondering if pd does the exact same
sorry for all the questions
but there appreciated
thanks
al.
[…] Charles Martin’s wrote a program for use with Pure Data which converts an incoming audio signals pitch and amplitude into a MIDI control value. In addition to the theremin it seems this could be used with a number of different audio signals – Theremin to MIDI control in Pd [via Create Digital Music] […]
@al :
<cite>can i use mp3s
as id like to build some sort of mixing app
for djing</cite>
this is just a a patch who give midi. You do whatever you want with the midi after.
pd is just a low level, real time sound application, not something directly for mixing mp3, or to have a nice GUI. Download the pd-extended, not pd alone.
<cite>and also can a project be saved
to be used standalone</cite>
I don't think so, but i'm not sure.
Pd is not "exact same" as max, but the it's the same guy who build both, at the beginning.
(but all this kind of stuff are more suitable in the forum, I think, sorry !)
[…] Theremin to Midi-Tool mit Puredata – Arne baut sich gerade ein Theremin und Kollege Louis, der sich um den Webshop kümmert, ist unser örtlicher Puredata/MaxMSP Experte. Da kommt das Tool genau richtig! […]
First time using Pd and I just got it up and running with Ableton. This is awesome, I'd like to see more.
[…] Theremin to Midi-Tool mit Puredata – Arne baut sich gerade ein Theremin und Kollege Louis, der sich um den Webshop kümmert, ist unser örtlicher Puredata/MaxMSP Experte. Da kommt das Tool genau richtig! […]
[…] How to Turn Theremin into MIDI, Free with Pd Theremin as AV Controller: Technical Details from Spacedog […]
[…] this could be used with a number of different audio signals – Theremin to MIDI control in Pd [via Create Digital Music] Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Music | Digg […]
Does this require any knowledge of Pd to get working with VDMX? I am already up to my eyeballs in VDMX and QC and Processing, and I am really loathe to try and learn yet another platform.
As an aside, I am friends with a band that uses the Theremin pretty extensively, and they are willing to hire a consultant to help them build out a VDMX setup that includes some theremin controlled visuals for a couple of the songs.
[…] in free Pd patching adventures: How to Turn Theremin into MIDI, Free with Pd GA_googleFillSlot(“CDMu_interpost300”); MPC5000 Gets 2.0 OS; Does it Stack Up to JJOS […]
once you have the pd patch how do you run it in ableton??
once you have the pd patch how do you run it in ableton??
once you have the pd patch how do you run it in ableton??