Strange-R: Music Theory Aware Quantizer-A Deep Dive

[@joeyfrench4369]

I've been looking for exactly this. Thanks so much!

[@planetplex]

This is amazing and is going right to the top of my modules to get list!

[@planetplex]

There’s going to be a lot of used quantizers on the market now lol

[@RaveJammies]

This is positively mind blowing! What an amazing time to be a musician =) This kind of tech is a testament to the cultural revolution we are living through right now.

[@stochasticinstruments]

There's a wonderful quote by Jean Michel Jarre where he says "The more complex the technology, the more vital the hand of the musician". I think that's absolutely correct, and it's an ethos that sits at the heart of SI's work. Yes, we have incredible tools now as musicians but we also have to remember why conventional instruments have endured for thousands of years, across thousands of cultures, and had written for them the most sublime music imaginable-it's because we value the physical contact and intellectual relationship with our instruments. The trick, I think, is finding a way for the tech to invite learning through exploration and expression-removing barriers to entry without sacrificing the additional depth of expression won by continuing the relationship with the instrument.🙂

[@RaveJammies]

@@stochasticinstruments Thank you for sharing!! That is in fact wonderful and your added context and ideas are beautifully phrased, I believe in the the truth that is in everything you are saying. There is something about music that connects to such a primal part of our very being as living creatures, and we evolved to recognize music as a primordial form of what we now distinguish as language. It truly is universal, and speaks volumes without actually saying anything! Something with this powerful of a connection to our ancestors and code as living creatures must also be respected in all of it's own history that brought us both to where we are today =) The coolest and most fun fact I can think of is the existence of a 60,000 year old bone flute, I fail to find a more smooth transition to tie this in, but I simply had to share since its relevant to the topic and was one of the things which inspired me to pursue music for the love of learning in the first place!

[@stochasticinstruments]

@@RaveJammies Lovely comment. The Divje Babe Flute is already an incredibly sophisticated piece of music technology, capable of both vastly more complex sound generation and control than most 21st centrury electronic instruments so as instrument makers we have to be humble in the face of our forebears. It's also true that music and language seem to share some features but remember that music is non-propositional, non-syntactic and not semantically universal. Non-propositional means you can't communicate specific concepts like "the cat sat on the mat" with it. Non-syntactic means that you can't communicate propositional differences by altering the order of the parts (i.e. you can't say "The mat sat on the cat" either!). And not semantically universal means that, while music is a human universal, the musical means by which different cultures express the same ideas (joy or sadness, say) are not always identical. I am very sympathetic however to the deep connections between ours and every other animal species, and certainly do not see anything completely discontinuous between our music and that of say birds or whales, even if "language" (that is, symbolic referential and transformationally syntactic language) does seem to be uniquely human. 🙂

[@RaveJammies]

​@@stochasticinstruments WOW! Thank you for your kindness in sharing. I am familiar with these concepts regarding syntax and the uniqueness of our abilities as humans in terms of phrasing to an extent and am so eager to be learning as much as I can. The way you are able to take a match and run away with it as a torch is the sign of a true trailblazer, but us in the comments already knew that was you from your creation in the video above! I am so grateful for your willingness and ability to expand on these ideas and share this knowledge in such a fluent, detailed, and digestible format, which is displayed in congruence by the technology in the Strange-R device!! I am humbled, as well as excited and hopeful for the opportunity to stand on the shoulders of giants and learn to play with one of these in the future! I am a new albeit huge fan of your work and mind

[@tiny333333]

It is !!

[@noise-86]

The jam at the end is magical, wow!

[@stochasticinstruments]

Thank you! These vids are a nice challenge because I do them in one take and then just tidy the voice over and add the graphics in post so I have to pre-compose the music (or more strictly 'prepare' the kinds of melodic/harmonic material I want to use) to fit the technical details I want to demonstrate, in the kind of timespan I need. This one needed it to be the same Phrase Loop contour throughout (i.e. not moving it with ρ/∆ because it's a technical deep dive specifically about the quantizer) so I wanted to at least finish with a slightly more sumptuous harmonic backdrop!! Really glad you liked it!🙂

[@deathofaraver]

I'm on the mailing list. this machine will appear in a lot of techno racks

[@tiny333333]

Phin how are you patching this with SIG ?

[@stochasticinstruments]

Any way you like! Generally I clock them both from a common source and of course both use our arbitrary clock system so it will go as slow as you like, as fast as you dare (well into audio), and with any rhythm you want! 🙂

[@tiny333333]

⁠@@stochasticinstrumentsI think I’m asking if the seq from The sig fed into the new thingy makes it follow

[@walrtbstudios5430]

I doubt that I’ll ever understand it properly, but I’ll still be getting one: no doubt about that.

[@stochasticinstruments]

Well there's understanding how to *operate* it (which is a doddle, just twist, listen and enjoy!) and then understanding what it's actually doing under the surface-which, while a little more involved, is entirely graspable if you start simple! Just start with two or three notes and get a feel for what a modal shift is, and then build on that, practicing listening for the unique sound of the modes you like best in the melodies Strange is making with you!

[@dr.syntheo9489]

Can’t wait to get it….will something completely different than this bleep blop stuff