Rock Music
Rocks, Camera, Action!
Rock Music is a fun way to make music without needing to know how to play an instrument. Just arrange rocks and hear what happens. The project shows how everyday objects can become creative tools with a bit of technology.
Tools
Sound with VCVRack
Rock recognition with OpenCV on Python
Step 1: Place a rock
To start making music, one just needs to place a rock on the platform. An overhead camera recognises rocks on the platform. The rock's position decides which instrument plays, and the number of them changes the rhythm. All of this is managed in Python, and sent to VCVRack for music production.
Dennis places a rock to start playing.
Step 2: Make music
We used a MIDI bus to communicate between Python and Garageband, which worked great for early prototypes where we just wanted to perfect the pipeline. We soon realised that Garageband can only use one MIDI bus for inputs, so we would be limited to one instrument. VCVRack allows for a lot more (10?), and it's open-source.
All rock info from Python is segmented to 4 instruments, and their rhythms change with the amount of rocks.
VCVRack interface
Step 3: Enjoy!
One of my favourite projects from CIID: learnt a new tool, made music and had fun with friends. 10/10 would do it again.
(Tap to toggle sound)
A friend demoes Rock-Music.