Peter Slack (far right) – Senior Software Developer and IT Manager.ĭB:ĝavid Beckford, Lead Inventor and Vice-President of WaveDNA. Hui Wang (on laptop screen) – Senior Software Developer. Chris Menezes (behind Dave) – Junior Developer. We sat down with the creators to discuss their use of Max in the inspiration, development and prototyping of Liquid Rhythm.įrom left to right: Dave Beckford – Lead Inventor & Vice-President of WaveDNA. This innovative beat generator, which enables users to access the building blocks of ten quadrillion rhythmic patterns, integrates seamlessly with Ableton’s Live and is now updated to version 1.3.4 which introduces Ableton Push hardware integration. Wave DNA is a Toronto-based company that has achieved great success with their Liquid Rhythm software. Now I have to make my stupid-simple generative rhythm patch work in Max for Live next…) (And since some of you use Max and other patching environments, I’m sure the developers would be happy to talk to you about that. So if this story brings up questions, let us know. Like I might disappear for some time and not be seen. (While it works as a plug-in in other hosts, the toolset is also a fine showcase of Max when integrated with Ableton Live 9 Suite, so it’s a natural to talking about Max.) Full disclosure: Cycling commissioned Marsha to write this story, and provided CDM with permission.Īnd I obviously need to get deeper into Liquid Rhythm. Fortunately, recently CDM’s own Marsha Vdovin, veteran journalist and music tech industry insider (among other roles), wrote an interview with the creators for Cycling ’74. I had hoped to write about WaveDNA for some time, but it was so vast, I never quite got the window. It’s… everything, on the floors, walls, ceilings, whatever. (I still like them sometimes, so watch this week for my review of the 2×8 grid of the BeatStep from Arturia, but I hear you.) So, this seems the perfect time to bring up WaveDNA – it isn’t four-on-the-floor. We’ve been hearing from readers that many of you are tired of standard step sequencing interfaces. Here’s a look at how their in-line editing works, and how the musical concept functions:Īnd a bit on how the beat generation process works:Īnd for Ableton users, here’s a look at that integration in Live 9 Suite: Instead, they let you put rhythms where they don’t normally go. “We’re a music software company that makes no sound,” say the creators in the interview here. (See the video, as it’s easier to see than write about.) It’s tough to describe, but they have a different view, one that provides manual control in a unique interface that goes its own direction – more like a genetic cell than a piano roll. Yes, this common interface has become tyranny. Design grooves and velocity by color in an accent editor, or re-groove existing materials with something they call GrooveMover. BeatSeeker displays various genetic possibilities of patterns in a huge wheel.Īccents, grooves. Paint with patterns, or make patterns in pitch and rhythm from clusters, in BeatBuilder.ĭial up rhythms. Or Max for Live for Ableton Live, now with full integration with Ableton Push hardware. (They had me at ‘randomize.’) Or, if you’re brave enough to enter the worlds of beat and pattern control, you can use the tools for fine-grained production of unusual musical ideas. You can randomize and remix and shift, for quick ideas. There’s a whole suite of tools with more than enough of what you could explore in any host. Whether you’re using Drum Racks or notes, you can automatically see what pattern goes with what, working in real-time with everything visible as you go. If you use Ableton Live, the integration goes further still. In colored patterns, arrayed in bars and wheels, you can produce all kinds of new rhythms, then integrate deeply with your host software. It looks like a music theory class collided with a mandala. Liquid Rhythm is something unlike just about anything else in music software. That’s why I’m pleased to get to share this interview with WaveDNA. And sometimes, the path there involves retooling how that music is made. Music software is at its best when it goes beyond cookie-cutter regularity, and spawns something creative.
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