less concepts

Description

'less concepts' uses elementary cellular automata (CA) to scan sets of notes and determine which ones to play + when, by iterating a seed value through a set of simple rules.

there are four classes of rules:

- Class 1: rapidly converge to stasis (eg. rule 32)

- Class 2: rapidly converge to repetition (eg. rule 108)

- Class 3: longer-running + repeating (eg. rule 182)

- Class 4: complex structure that has varying convergences (eg. rule 110)

as you play, you'll find that some rules start off as very active and then terminate to silence (eg. rule 60). this is expected and intentional -- simply re-seed the rule and you'll get another burst of activity (great for flourishes). 'less concepts' is full of parameters that can be tweaked and modulated to create complex sequences out of very simple decisions.

use the included PDF doc and `visual rules` aides to learn more.

for new [phone] mode and other text boxes, check out @rjonline's devices: https://maxforlive.com/profile/user/rjonline00

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this max for live version includes all the major functions of the monome norns script of the same name. it also has a unique feature set:

- [olafur] mode: inspired by the self-playing pianos of Olafur Arnalds, [olafur] will bypass the chosen scale and will build note pools from direct keyboard input. just arm the track and play a chord.

- [laurie] mode: inspired by Music Mouse by Laurie Spiegel, [laurie] will add chord voicings to your bit streams. choose a gating bit and enable '1' '2' or '3' for unique harmonies.

- five text-based meta sequencers: using text operators, sequence/modulate/randomize all parameters to extend expressivity.

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the core functionality of 'less concepts' is adapted from Ezra Buchla's binary-centric implementation of CA in monome's Teletype eurorack module.

to learn more about elementary cellular automata:

http://mathworld.wolfram.com/ElementaryCellularAutomaton.html

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elementary_cellular_automaton

'less concepts' is also an album: https://dndrks.bandcamp.com/album/less-concepts

original artwork by Racquel Cable (IG: @biscotti.dippin)