I made it for myself, and the way I work
August 28, 2013 1:13 AM Subscribe
I made a thing! It’s a simple music creation tool, called Bosca Ceoil (pronouced “bus-ka kyo-al”, Irish for “Music Box/Accordion”). [Mac+Windows/Adobe AIR/Flash App]
I made this because I find other music programs really confusing and distracting. Too many panels, buttons and knobs! I wanted something really simple, something designed to work the way I tend to create stuff – a process that I suppose I could best describe as: make something super simple, and keep tweaking it until it starts to get good.
- Terry Cavanagh (creator of VVVVVV, ChatChat, and Super Hexagon most previously)
I made this because I find other music programs really confusing and distracting. Too many panels, buttons and knobs! I wanted something really simple, something designed to work the way I tend to create stuff – a process that I suppose I could best describe as: make something super simple, and keep tweaking it until it starts to get good.
- Terry Cavanagh (creator of VVVVVV, ChatChat, and Super Hexagon most previously)
Why fall into the 'Cuil' search engine trap - give it a name people can pronounce.
Aside from that - I like it, it reminds me of the old 'tracker' software on the Amiga and ST.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 1:18 AM on August 28, 2013
Aside from that - I like it, it reminds me of the old 'tracker' software on the Amiga and ST.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 1:18 AM on August 28, 2013
Terry Cavanagh also made Don't Look Back, which is the best Flash game I've ever played.
posted by Nossidge at 2:02 AM on August 28, 2013
posted by Nossidge at 2:02 AM on August 28, 2013
This thing is very cool. Surprisingly intuitive. But still everything I make sounds like a cat falling off a piano.
Why fall into the 'Cuil' search engine trap - give it a name people can pronounce.
Irish people can pronounce it. Must the entire Internet be in English?
posted by distorte at 2:22 AM on August 28, 2013 [10 favorites]
Why fall into the 'Cuil' search engine trap - give it a name people can pronounce.
Irish people can pronounce it. Must the entire Internet be in English?
posted by distorte at 2:22 AM on August 28, 2013 [10 favorites]
But still everything I make sounds like a cat falling off a piano.
Kick drum on the 1, 5, 9 and 13. Snare on the 5 and 13. Open high hat on the 3, 7, 11, and 15. Spray around some random closed hats. Congrats, you have techno.
Drop all the kicks but the 1st one, put the snare on the 9 only, up the tempo to 140 -- now you have dubstep.
posted by empath at 2:27 AM on August 28, 2013 [7 favorites]
Kick drum on the 1, 5, 9 and 13. Snare on the 5 and 13. Open high hat on the 3, 7, 11, and 15. Spray around some random closed hats. Congrats, you have techno.
Drop all the kicks but the 1st one, put the snare on the 9 only, up the tempo to 140 -- now you have dubstep.
posted by empath at 2:27 AM on August 28, 2013 [7 favorites]
Not to be 'that guy' but the posting guidelines expressly forbid posting something you've made or are heavily involved in.
Edit: Ah, it was just oddly worded. I am a doofus.
posted by secretdark at 2:28 AM on August 28, 2013
Edit: Ah, it was just oddly worded. I am a doofus.
posted by secretdark at 2:28 AM on August 28, 2013
I recently ran across PixiTracker, which is similarly stupid easy to use, really graphical.... It's like a tracker for six year olds. I ran across it because I heard about SunVox, which is a pretty awesome piece of 'real' tracking software made by the same dude.
posted by kaibutsu at 2:46 AM on August 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by kaibutsu at 2:46 AM on August 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
Anyone know how to change what octave you're in?
Press the up and down keys.
Mentioned in the tutorial.
posted by jonbro at 2:52 AM on August 28, 2013
Press the up and down keys.
Mentioned in the tutorial.
posted by jonbro at 2:52 AM on August 28, 2013
Anyone know how to change what octave you're in?
You can scroll the pattern area with the up/down arrow keys. The octaves are shown on the right side. (My first instinct was to try the scrollwheel, which just makes the note cursor bigger instead.)
I wish the pattern area was enlargeable (the app window is pretty tiny, and maximizing it only enlarges the pixels), but that's nitpicking because this is pretty awesome. It's like a middle ground between an old-school MOD tracker and a modern "click pretty pixels play music" toy app.
One neat UI thing I noticed: If there's a note above or below your current pattern view, it indicates this using the top/bottom pixel row. Also, if you scroll all the way to the bottom of the pattern and hold the Down arrow, there's a button labeled "ADVANCED FILTER EDITING" that apparently lets you sequence the cutoff filter as the pattern plays. Easter egg?
posted by neckro23 at 2:52 AM on August 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
You can scroll the pattern area with the up/down arrow keys. The octaves are shown on the right side. (My first instinct was to try the scrollwheel, which just makes the note cursor bigger instead.)
I wish the pattern area was enlargeable (the app window is pretty tiny, and maximizing it only enlarges the pixels), but that's nitpicking because this is pretty awesome. It's like a middle ground between an old-school MOD tracker and a modern "click pretty pixels play music" toy app.
One neat UI thing I noticed: If there's a note above or below your current pattern view, it indicates this using the top/bottom pixel row. Also, if you scroll all the way to the bottom of the pattern and hold the Down arrow, there's a button labeled "ADVANCED FILTER EDITING" that apparently lets you sequence the cutoff filter as the pattern plays. Easter egg?
posted by neckro23 at 2:52 AM on August 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
I love this stuff. Nice one. Thanks for posting!
posted by we are the music makers at 3:55 AM on August 28, 2013
posted by we are the music makers at 3:55 AM on August 28, 2013
Oh this is great! Gonna spend some time with this after work, I've been wanting something simple again as a break from Ableton.
If anyone's interested in super simple hardware sequencers, I ran across the Arpeggio synth yesterday. Definitely going to keep an eye on that one.
posted by jason_steakums at 7:58 AM on August 28, 2013
If anyone's interested in super simple hardware sequencers, I ran across the Arpeggio synth yesterday. Definitely going to keep an eye on that one.
posted by jason_steakums at 7:58 AM on August 28, 2013
But still everything I make sounds like a cat falling off a piano.
Now I'm wondering what kind of weird and wonderful pile of instruments you put your piano on top of. Or if everything you make ends up sounding like a dull "thud."
posted by yoink at 8:56 AM on August 28, 2013
Now I'm wondering what kind of weird and wonderful pile of instruments you put your piano on top of. Or if everything you make ends up sounding like a dull "thud."
posted by yoink at 8:56 AM on August 28, 2013
YAY! This is going to be great. Thanks a lot, DC!
posted by Our Ship Of The Imagination! at 10:31 AM on August 28, 2013
posted by Our Ship Of The Imagination! at 10:31 AM on August 28, 2013
Rats, just a tad late for Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2013
posted by fallingbadgers at 10:58 AM on August 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by fallingbadgers at 10:58 AM on August 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
No kidding. Isn't the Fleadh Cheoil already swamped with uilleann pipe iPhone apps?
posted by sneebler at 9:01 AM on August 29, 2013
posted by sneebler at 9:01 AM on August 29, 2013
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posted by Doleful Creature at 1:17 AM on August 28, 2013 [1 favorite]