[HN Gopher] Show HN: Typebeat: Keyboard-controlled music sequenc...
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Show HN: Typebeat: Keyboard-controlled music sequencer, sampler,
and synth
Author : hkgumbs
Score : 157 points
Date : 2022-03-20 12:23 UTC (10 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (github.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
| ruined wrote:
| god damn it. if i'd seen this yesterday i probably wouldn't have
| blown rent on a couple of volcas.
| ruined wrote:
| now i'm thinking about some kind of qmk integration that
| provides step indication and other status info directly on the
| keyboard. there's LEDs in it anyway right
| hkgumbs wrote:
| I've thought a lot about this! I'd love to create hardware
| someday that plugs directly into a keyboard and turns it into
| a music workstation. I recently came across the Wooting
| keyboard line which seems like the perfect fit, since you
| could get pressure sensitive keypresses (currently one big
| downside of the Typebeat workflow).
|
| https://wooting.io/
| ruined wrote:
| pressure sensitive is alright but once you move away from
| the absolute baseline of common hardware it's more
| attractive to just spend money on a real synthesizer.
|
| go full pi appliance. it wouldn't be too hard to make an sd
| image, perhaps compatible with one/some of those "pi
| tablet" kits, that would boot straight into this, recognize
| various qmk-compatible usb ids and offer to push firmware.
| nkingsy wrote:
| Love to see more open source music creation tools!
|
| I feel like the lack of knobs would make exploration difficult.
|
| On the step sequencer side, having buttons that light up is key
| for tracking state.
| raviisoccupied wrote:
| I really love it, I'm fascinated by the quirky design and UI that
| a lot of music gear like this uses. You've really captured that
| in this!
| hkgumbs wrote:
| Thanks a bunch! I wonder which gear brands you had in mind when
| commenting. Teenage Engineering had a big influence on how I
| make music, and I like to think some of their charm shines
| through in Typebeat.
| popedriver wrote:
| This couldn't have come at a better time - I'm a onetime
| guitarist who just picked it back up after a long hiatus, and
| I've been getting interested in the process of recording and
| beat-making (with no prior experience in that regard). This
| project looks awesome - any recommendations for learning to make
| coherent beats / drum patterns for jamming and songwriting?
| tiborsaas wrote:
| I'm a long time bedroom producer and I find this tool an
| interesting concept, but I couldn't get through the initial step
| to create a 4/4 kick loop. There's too much internal state going
| on with no indicators about what's active or what mode I'm in
| that it feels more like a memory game than a fun music toy. Maybe
| it's not a coincidence I'm not a vim/emacs fan? :D
|
| What I'd add is a few tutorial videos to explain the basic
| concepts from scratch.
| nkozyra wrote:
| This is the creators dilemma when it comes to UX - you know how
| it works so it feels intuitive.
| tiborsaas wrote:
| I know a few musicians who made their own software to create
| their music so if it works for you that's already a win.
|
| What would work to improve the workflow is to ask people to
| try it in front of you, just like a normal UX research.
| inglor wrote:
| This is really neat! I see you're using Solid and Vite - how are
| you enjoying them so far for the UI?
| dimatura wrote:
| I've dreamed of a vim-like workflow for music making for a while
| now. I still think it would be neat, but this itch has been
| scratched to a large extent by the dirtywave M8
| (https://dirtywave.com). It's a handheld hardware tracker that
| has a workflow roughly based on the LSDJ gameboy tracker, but
| 100x more capable. Like vim, it takes a while to get the hang of
| it, but once you build muscle memory it's really streamlined, and
| now I can't imagine using anything else!
| adamnemecek wrote:
| I've been working on an IDE for music composition.
|
| Launching soon https://ngrid.io.
| can16358p wrote:
| Looks like a nice idea. Any screenshots? Couldn't find on the
| website.
| adamnemecek wrote:
| I'm polishing the UI as we speak. It's somewhat rough around
| the edges right now but it will be done soon.
| sam1r wrote:
| Subscribed. Glad you mentioned the value props on a landing
| page.
| danbmil99 wrote:
| http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/dr-ts-keyboard-controlled-...
| hkgumbs wrote:
| Hi HN! I've been working on Typebeat for a year and a half, and I
| decided yesterday to make the code public. There's also a website
| where you can download the macOS build and try an online demo:
|
| https://typebeat.kofi.sexy
|
| The project was initially conceived as "vim for music". All of
| Typebeat is controlled by the 30 main character keys on the
| computer keyboard. The result is a workflow that's a little
| tricky to learn but fast to use once mastered. (So I suppose I
| nailed the vim experience in that regard.) If you'd like to see
| how I use it at top speed, you can check out this 2-minute jam I
| made recently:
|
| https://youtube.com/watch?v=RT0qUB4gbas
| Jenk wrote:
| Atreus keyboard?
| imachine1980_ wrote:
| yes he use one of those, in this video
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RT0qUB4gbas
| tmountain wrote:
| Github page says, "I am not actively developing this project,
| but I may return to it at some point in the future". Is that
| still accurate?
| hkgumbs wrote:
| Yes, pretty much. It's definitely cool that so many folks
| here have left positive feedback, but ultimately I don't have
| the same bandwidth and motivation that I had when I started
| this project. Whenever those return, I'll return to it. Until
| then, I'm just planning to chew on the core idea and take in
| everyone's suggestions.
| tessierashpool wrote:
| I think this is a perfectly reasonable default. thanks for
| making something interesting and making it available for
| everyone to use and/or learn from.
|
| aside: it's kind of weird to assume that all projects on
| GitHub are constantly being updated for free. old projects
| are inevitably going to outnumber new ones on any system
| that keeps old projects available, unless that system
| continues growing at an ever-increasing pace forever and
| ever.
| marban wrote:
| My OP-1 is watching from the sidelines
| adamgordonbell wrote:
| This is amazing. It seems like music composition is a place where
| steep-but-worth-it learning curves are a good idea.
|
| What other online tools like this exist?
| chaosprint wrote:
| https://glicol.org
| chaosprint wrote:
| very interesting project! also the design is very elegant.
| osmnshkh wrote:
| Seriously cool project!
| meowface wrote:
| Really cool, and I think I might use or integrate this, but I
| agree with:
|
| > I find this tool an interesting concept, but I couldn't get
| through the initial step to create a 4/4 kick loop. There's too
| much internal state going on with no indicators about what's
| active or what mode I'm in that it feels more like a memory game
| than a fun music toy.
|
| I think it should be set up such that you can immediately,
| intuitively start making things as soon as you visit the page. It
| should feel like a fun music toy.
|
| One web app that does this really well, in my opinion, is
| http://sampulator.com - you just start pressing keys and you get
| sound; you press shift and you start recording tracks. It's very
| simple and intuitive. It doesn't have nearly as many capabilities
| as your app, but I feel like friction is one of the biggest
| issues with digital music making, and if you want to stand out,
| providing something people can wield as an instrument without
| even thinking about it will be a huge advantage.
| dankoss wrote:
| I totally agree removing friction is key. I have really enjoyed
| Korg Gadget
| https://www.korg.com/us/products/software/korg_gadget/ - most
| people are familiar with the iPad version, but the Mac version
| has the keyboard mapped out like sampulator for immediate
| playing like an instrument.
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