Otomata

New! If you like Otomata, check out my new instrument Circuli by clicking here!

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Update: Click here to get Otomata for your iPhone / iPod / iPad!

Official facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Otomata/218837764796473

Also this reddit page has many examples:
http://batu.in/otoreddit

And there is a subreddit for Otomata:
http://www.reddit.com/r/otomata/

Otomata is a generative sequencer. It employs a cellular automaton type logic I’ve devised to produce sound events.

Each alive cell has 4 states: Up, right, down, left. at each cycle, the cells move themselves in the direction of their internal states. If any cell encounters a wall, it triggers a pitched sound whose frequency is determined by the xy position of collision, and the cell reverses its direction. If a cell encounters another cell on its way, it turns itself clockwise.

This set of rules produces chaotic results in some settings, therefore you can end up with never repeating, gradually evolving sequences. Go add some cells, change their orientation by clicking on them, and press play, experiment, have fun.

If you encounter something you like, just press “Copy Piece Link” and save it somewhere, or better, share it!

Here is something from me to start with:
http://www.earslap.com/projectslab/otomata?q=0d6p224s4v508n7n6012

Here is an action video:

Edit: Woah so this has become famous! My sincerest thanks to you all!

Here are replies to some common questions:

Q: Will you add feature X?
A: I really strived for simplicity for this instrument. there are a lot of things that can be added, but I don’t want to clutter things. The ability to change the scale that is used and ability to change the overall tempo is already added in the second release. Always open to suggestions.

Q: MIDI Output? OSC output?
A: I will look into my possibilities for doing this. I will make a standalone version of this at some point which will emit OSC and MIDI. A VST and AU version might follow. These will take time. Sorry.

Q: What did you use to program it?
A: I programmed this with the HaXe programming language (it is awesome, look it up). I wrote a DSP library with HaXe and programmed this to try it actually. So far it works nicely!

Q: Why can’t I load pieces from other peoples’ links?
A: You most probably have JavaScript disabled.

Q: Will you open source it?
A: I will open source the HaXe DSP library I used to program this. I might open source the whole thing while I’m at it. Also the code needs a bit of clean-up to be meaningful.

C: I found this bug where the cells move in circles. I broke it lol!
A: Nope it is not a bug. They are called oscillators. Use them to your benefit! Try this.

Q: Can I use the output in my own piece, am I allowed to do that?
A: By all means do so! Hell do it even if I said no. I’d love it if you give some sort of attribution, still cool if you don’t do it.

C: You are a filthy liar! You can’t create “never repeating” patterns with a system whose state space is finite!
A: You are right. I should have said “(practically) never repeating” above. But please do the math, it is possible (but not proven) that there might exist some configurations where the exact repetition would take (billions of billions of times) longer than the known age of our universe. I am not a mathematician by any means, so that is as far as infinity goes for me (I also believe that light travels in infinite speed in a vacuum, come at me bro! I am a digital being, speed of light is my universe’s sampling rate). That said, I can see how my exact wording would make you cringe, sorry about that!

———

Thanks a lot for the interest. I have many nice instruments to play with at prototype state and will keep doing this. Follow me from wherever you please to get notified.

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1263 Comments

  1. james
    Posted July 9, 2011 at 11:49 am | Permalink

    what tempo is this?

  2. Pat
    Posted July 10, 2011 at 5:10 am | Permalink

    http://www.earslap.com/projectslab/otomata?q=686828286n2n

    Really simple, somehow I managed to make it mixed meter, it’s pretty crazy.

  3. william fisher
    Posted July 10, 2011 at 5:53 am | Permalink

    Hello,

    I’d like to use what I have created (using your program) in a musical composition. How do I copy the piece, in a lossless format, so I can record other tracks with it? I have a Mac and currently use Garage Band.

  4. :)
    Posted July 10, 2011 at 12:21 pm | Permalink

    http://earslap.com/projectslab/otomata/?q=2i3i6y5y3525537v707d7o101v1o1d63

  5. Bilim Çocuk
    Posted July 10, 2011 at 2:13 pm | Permalink

    Bilim çocuktan buldum bu siteyi müzikle uğraşanlar ve uğraşmak isteyenlere harika bir site

  6. Bilim Çocuk
    Posted July 10, 2011 at 2:14 pm | Permalink

    Bilim çocuktan buldum bu siteyi müzikle uğraşanlar ve uğraşmak isteyenlere harika bir site

  7. Ignacio
    Posted July 11, 2011 at 5:08 am | Permalink

    Great Work!. I wish you luck with tihs project in Iphone and Android (I hope)

  8. shhh
    Posted July 11, 2011 at 6:34 am | Permalink

    it so cool!
    http://earslap.com/projectslab/otomata/?q=0g5r8x37621m2u7s54345t3t

  9. Logan D
    Posted July 11, 2011 at 5:51 pm | Permalink

    May I incorporate this into a sculptural installation for a work of art in my B.A. Degree? If so please respond via email. Thanks

  10. miranda
    Posted July 12, 2011 at 6:54 pm | Permalink

    so cool. mine gets kinda annoying but i like it

    ahttp://earslap.com/projectslab/otomata/?q=8k8u8u8k757j757j47080h0ht

  11. T.Tjm
    Posted July 13, 2011 at 2:56 pm | Permalink

    http://earslap.com/projectslab/otomata/?q=2i4y4g447o7n

  12. Sharky
    Posted July 13, 2011 at 9:55 pm | Permalink

    All I have to say is…

    Thank you

  13. woohoo
    Posted July 14, 2011 at 7:18 am | Permalink

    if this was avaialbe in larger grids and one was able to set the notes and scales this would be the ultimate musical beat tool techno will never be the same

  14. sharkey
    Posted July 16, 2011 at 2:52 am | Permalink

    wheres my clipboard

  15. Sergii Henrique
    Posted July 16, 2011 at 8:43 am | Permalink

    The iphone/ipad app has just been released. Congratulations! Great app! Even better than the flash version. Great job!

  16. furkan
    Posted July 16, 2011 at 10:36 am | Permalink

    yaw şu otomata yı türkçe yapın da anlayak

  17. anita khanna
    Posted July 16, 2011 at 1:05 pm | Permalink

    This so awesome :D i could go on playing this for hours

  18. Zac laurent
    Posted July 16, 2011 at 5:45 pm | Permalink

    Hi, soon we launch a website and we are specializing in generative music and will feature apps

    Please send a promo code for your app, i have an iPad

    We will promote and review the app once site is finished

    Good luck and great work!

  19. Ben
    Posted July 16, 2011 at 6:11 pm | Permalink

    awesome. just awesome.

  20. Nano Ymous
    Posted July 16, 2011 at 6:35 pm | Permalink

    Why is it that in this version AND the last version the copy url to clipboard never works?

  21. Zac laurent
    Posted July 18, 2011 at 2:25 am | Permalink

    Hey

    I want to promote your app on my sites, I wrote requesting a promo code….did u get my previous message?

  22. lewis edwards
    Posted July 18, 2011 at 7:21 pm | Permalink

    alright man.

    instantly bought the ios version. but am having trouble on the podi version.
    it does not play, and crashes when i change the tempo and basically does not work.
    works great on the padi though. its lovely and already gave a five star review.

    lewis edwards
    ——
    smokingbunny.co.uk

  23. Rollo
    Posted July 20, 2011 at 12:23 am | Permalink

    Excellent! This the most beautiful to watch and listen to I’ve found so far:

    http://earslap.com/projectslab/otomata/?q=10_34_106_363453563473652542742632521431411321340230140250

  24. Stuart Marshall
    Posted July 20, 2011 at 2:38 am | Permalink

    http://earslap.com/projectslab/otomata/?q=10_0_150_630672452472770
    Is a bit repetitive but add a few extra notes and you get some awesome tunes

  25. MG
    Posted July 20, 2011 at 9:10 pm | Permalink

    You should add different instrument settings. It would be really cool if the collisions triggered percussion sounds.

  26. Subwoofers
    Posted July 21, 2011 at 10:35 am | Permalink

    Otomata is a deceptively simple sound synthesizer with a twist. Ingenious and musically inspiring.

  27. Henryk
    Posted July 22, 2011 at 1:29 pm | Permalink

    http://www.earslap.com/projectslab/otomata?q=12843c643q408n7u
    I think it sounds pretty relaxed.

  28. R9
    Posted July 23, 2011 at 3:40 am | Permalink

    you are great!!

  29. R9
    Posted July 23, 2011 at 3:42 am | Permalink

    You Are Great!!!

  30. Laird A Salmon
    Posted July 23, 2011 at 2:45 pm | Permalink

    Talent talent? I think i could Sign some of you up! Yes you guessed it .Publicity Stunt!

  31. Laird A Salmon
    Posted July 23, 2011 at 2:45 pm | Permalink

    Talent talent? I think i could Sign some of you up! Yes you guessed it .Publicity Stunt!

  32. Laird A Salmon
    Posted July 23, 2011 at 2:45 pm | Permalink

    Talent talent? I think i could Sign some of you up! Yes you guessed it .Publicity Stunt!

  33. Laird A Salmon
    Posted July 23, 2011 at 2:45 pm | Permalink

    Talent talent? I think i could Sign some of you up! Yes you guessed it .Publicity Stunt!

  34. OwnedByGlove
    Posted July 27, 2011 at 1:40 am | Permalink

    http://earslap.com/projectslab/otomata/?q=10_0_120_082342232122100210320452
    A pretty coo lone that I made. It was a failed attempt at Ode to joy- the scale threw me off, as it was from the original otomata, but it was mesmerizing on its own.

  35. OwnedByGlove
    Posted July 27, 2011 at 1:40 am | Permalink

    http://earslap.com/projectslab/otomata/?q=10_0_120_082342232122100210320452
    A pretty coo lone that I made. It was a failed attempt at Ode to joy- the scale threw me off, as it was from the original otomata, but it was mesmerizing on its own.

  36. daniel
    Posted July 28, 2011 at 4:41 pm | Permalink

    love the new features, hate the new skin & sound…:/

  37. DA
    Posted July 29, 2011 at 2:10 am | Permalink

    my first try
    http://earslap.com/projectslab/otomata/?q=10_0_200_460422241643063200821682601862283020370753512131440443442441261660623222771172113710

  38. Megz
    Posted July 29, 2011 at 12:44 pm | Permalink

    I find this mesmerising! It’s so easy just to put six or so cells and just watch and listen to them! Wondrous ^_^

  39. bc
    Posted July 31, 2011 at 4:26 pm | Permalink

    http://earslap.com/projectslab/otomata/?q=10_4_124_322522500300410452

  40. i1150n
    Posted July 31, 2011 at 7:25 pm | Permalink

    A wonderful musical labyrinth. Let me know if you ever arrive in Texas; we’d love to have you perform.

  41. Robin
    Posted August 1, 2011 at 9:40 pm | Permalink

    http://earslap.com/projectslab/otomata/?q=10_0_150_220141210012801801732

  42. Robin
    Posted August 1, 2011 at 9:43 pm | Permalink

    A very nice tool!

    http://earslap.com/projectslab/otomata/?q=10_0_150_230060841153700700722033153033033330033050330242812

  43. AfroNinja
    Posted August 2, 2011 at 4:09 pm | Permalink

    http://earslap.com/projectslab/otomata/?q=10_0_150_310213311300573582731720731720732831150053572671572671573582311300153162153162053732150831310213

    i have made tetris pieces

  44. Natalia G
    Posted August 2, 2011 at 7:16 pm | Permalink

    Beautiful!!

  45. sarah
    Posted August 6, 2011 at 8:12 pm | Permalink

    this is cool i guess but i like having control over my music that i create and these things if you just press random buttons always make music sound good. i dont like it because the person who creates the sound barely needs to put thought into it to create something that sounds good.

  46. Gerri
    Posted August 7, 2011 at 12:48 am | Permalink

    Always the best content from these proigidous writers.

  47. umi_no_mizu
    Posted August 7, 2011 at 5:30 pm | Permalink

    Make an android app please? D= i would love to have this on my arc!

  48. Doug
    Posted August 8, 2011 at 5:12 am | Permalink

    This has to be one of the best sequencers out there! Thank you for creating this. The updated version you created gives people a great amount of variety with the tempo and scales, so thank you for adding that on. If I may request an additional feature or two:

    1) Variety of sounds (strings, piano, marimba, etc.)
    2) Extending the grid: Right now its limited to 4/4, or a 9×9 grid. It would be interesting to create a sequence in 12/8, or a 13×13 grid.
    3) Going along with #2, having an option for a different echo/decay. This could change the feel from Straight “16ths” to a swing, more rounded feel.

    Thank you again for creating this. I’ve spent hours on this and have utilized it in large variety of ways.

  49. pitzvhrulx
    Posted August 10, 2011 at 1:24 pm | Permalink

    oTRStX sepwofriiwrh

  50. Alan
    Posted August 11, 2011 at 4:06 am | Permalink

    http://earslap.com/projectslab/otomata/?q=10_3_170_062221610332033230423263433461083800703120

    Love it :)

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