Mapping Tools Virtual Workshop 2022

On 1 September 2022 we held the third annual workshop on the mapping tools project (libmapper and surrounding tools). This year we had presentations and discussions covering:

• recent related projects and publications, including ForceHost and Mapper4Live
• updates to libmapper, language bindings, and user interfaces
• integration with FAUST and Ableton Live
• (re)release of the pySignalPlotter utility
• a proposal for adding quaternion support to the libmapper expression engine
• a proposal for a standard MIME type for referring to libmapper objects, enabling drag-and-drop mapping between signals
• a proposal for expression-language extensions for supporting “self-timed” periodic map updates and synchronized transports
• a proposal for adding support for “datasets” to libmapper

Video documentation of the workshop will be posted at a later date.

Mapper4Live

Using Control Structures to Embed Complex Mapping Tools into Ableton Live

This paper presents Mapper4Live, a software plugin made for the popular digital audio workstation software Ableton Live. Mapper4Live exposes Ableton’s synthesis and effect parameters on the distributed libmapper signal mapping network, providing new opportunities for interaction between software and hardware synths, audio effects, and controllers. The plugin’s uses and relevance in research, music production and musical performance settings are explored, detailing the development journey and ideas for future work on the project.

Boettcher, B., Malloch, J., Wang, J., & Wanderley, M. M. (2021). Mapper4Live: Using Control Structures to Embed Complex Mapping Tools into Ableton Live. NIME 2022. https://doi.org/10.21428/92fbeb44.625fbdbf

Mapping Tools Virtual Workshop 2021

On 2 September 2021 we held the second annual workshop on the mapping tools project (libmapper and the surrounding tools). This year we had presentations and discussions covering:

• recent related projects and publications
• map expression syntax for supporting reducing over vectors, signal history, signal instances, and inputs to convergent maps.
• improving distribution via package managers
• using libmapper on embedded platforms including ESP32, Raspberry Pi, and Bela
• integration with the game engines Godot and Unity
• using MediaPipe as a libmapper source device
• implications of the upcoming MIDI 2.0 protocol for interfacing with commercial hardware and software
• proposals for future applications

Video documentation of the workshop will be posted soon!

Les multiples usages du mot “geste”

Another new piece for the T-Stick DMI, this time by composer Antoine Goudreau:

Higher Order Gestalt Fromage

Here is a video of the piece Higher Order Gestalt Fromage for two soprano T-Sticks and 24 channel loudspeaker array, composed and performed by blablaTrains (Ana Dall’Ara-Majek and Takuto Fukuda). The piece was premiered in the live@CIRMMT concert series on 13 February 2020 at Music and Multimedia Room (MMR) at McGill University.

I love the way they played with the relationships between gesture and sound! Unfortunately those of who could attend in-person have to imagine the spatialization aspect of the performance since it can’t come across in the stereo audio here.