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Hello L2Orkers!

🎶✨ Gala here! I want to share some exciting news with you all. We’ve been performing quite a lot recently, and being a part of the Laptop Orchestra is getting better and better! 🎵💻

We now have 3 new videos on our YouTube channel: two from NYCEMF and one from the ICAD conference. You can check them out below:

🎥 8-bit Petal @ NYCEMF 2024: Watch now

🎥 Territorio Prismatico @ NYCEMF 2024: Watch now

🎥 8-bit Petal and Territorio Prismatico @ ICAD 2024: Watch now

I hope you guys enjoy our latest pieces, Territorio Prismatico and 8-Bit Pedal. We’re now starting to compose our next piece, so… stay tuned! 🎶✨

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After years of development, the Pd-L2Ork developer community is thrilled to announce immediate availability of the WebPdL2Ork open BETA that is capable of running just about any patch created using Pd-L2Ork inside a browser. Simply upload your patch to a Web-accessible location and point your browser to http://pd-l2ork.music.vt.edu:3000?url=<URL-to-your-patch>

All related subpatches and abstractions will be accessible as long as they are in the path. The main patch will be stretched across the browser window. Subpatches may be visible as floating windows as long as their location has been saved within the box of the original patch. Some adjustments may be necessary to the subpatch locations, or they can be even embedded as graph-on-parent-enabled subpatches on the main patch window.

To test out patches already hosted on our page, please use links provided below. Select patches also have hidden shortcuts. For optimal experience, we recommend Google Chrome or Chromium.

VT Waves Project Learning Modules:

  • Autotune (explore how an Adelle solo refrain would sound if sung on a single note;)
  • Distortion (experiment with clipping an audio signal to create a guitar-like distortion)
  • Phase Cancellation (learn how to cancel vocals from just about any mainstream pop tune by subtracting the right channel from the left with an inverted phase, use Shift+(1-3) to enable different sources)
  • Pitch Relationships (explore frequency and pitch relationships; use Shift+A to enable pitch/frequency ratio viewer, and Shift+S to open spectrogram subpatch)
  • Spectral Filtering (the iconic Forbidden Planet and FFT-based vocal filtering)
  • Spectral Filtering Harmonics (explore decomposition and reconstruction of human voice into 10 sine tones; use keys ~ and 1-0 to toggle individual overtones, use Shift+(2-3) to enable other potential sound sources, toggle off a source to “pause” the signal, use Shift+4 to toggle slider that cross-fades betwen the original signal and reconstructed one)

And, if you have a beefy computer, you can also run the entire L2Ork Tweeter inside the browser (currently networking is not supported, so only the offline mode is available). Once loaded, consider opening one of the included saved sessions using the top-right corner session loading option by typing “grapevine-end” (without quotes) inside the “SESSION NAME” text box, pressing enter, and then clicking on the green “LOAD” button positioned immediately to the left of the text box. Please be patient with the loading process, as this is a CPU intensive patch (the pd-l2ork patch itself is in excess of 5MB). Once the session is loaded, it may take up to 10 seconds for the audio engine to catch-up before the audio dropouts stop. If dropouts do not stop, or if loading takes much longer, chances are your CPU is not fast enough to handle the patch running inside the browser (you can always explore the desktop version which is considerably less CPU intensive). Use Shift+(F1-F12) to take control of individual parts. For more info on L2Ork Tweeter, including tutorial videos, visit our Tweeter page.

What does not work: Gem library, networking objects (they load but do not work due to sandboxed nature of a web browser) and a few select (and not commonly used) 3rd-party libraries are not yet supported. Everything else should work out-of-box.

To learn how to build your own HTTPS-enabled web server: Visit the pd-l2ork github and read the emscripten/DOCUMENTATION.md file.

This project is sponsored by the Department of the Navy, Office of Naval Research under ONR award number N00014-22-1-2164. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Office of Naval Research.

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Hello, L2Orkers!

Gala here, the newest addition to the L2Ork team! 🎉 You’ll be seeing a lot more from me as I dive into sharing all the latest news, events, and exciting developments we’re embarking on.

Mark your calendars! On April 20th and 21st, we’re thrilled to be hosting the very first Pd-L2Ork Hackathon, exclusively for VT students and our HBCU/MSI partners. This event is part of an ICAT & ITCAS Grant award aimed at fostering collaboration between Virginia Tech ICAT projects and HBCU/MSI. We’re focusing on the intersections of art, science, and technology, especially exploring the relationship between music, sound composition, and STEM careers. 🎵💻🔬

Calling all Virginia Tech students! If you’re eager to jump into this unique blend of creativity and innovation, now’s your chance. Register HERE by April 7th to secure your spot—don’t miss out!

For all the nitty-gritty details about the Hackathon, including what to expect, how to get involved, and who to contact with your burning questions, make sure to visit the Hackathon Page.

Can’t wait to see the amazing ideas and collaborations that will come to life! See you there! 🙂

 

2024 L2Ork Tweeter Hackathon

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A Perfect Drop

Today marks an important milestone for L2Ork and its half-dozen brave L2Orkists. This evening we premiered our very first crowdsourced work written for the newfound L2Ork Tweeter platform and did so online with the ensemble members residing hundreds of miles away from each other, yet delivering that perfect “drop” (check out the 03:13 mark in the video).

Like every other aspect of the work, its title “Into the Abyss” is a result of a truly crowdsourced effort that describes both its literal and figurative meanings. Due to ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, both L2Orkists and Ico had to take a leap of faith in exploring the newfound platform and seeking new forms of musical expression. The piece is also split into three sections filled with leitmotifs, exploring eerie moments before a literal leap off an imaginary cliff into an abyss, the fall, and finally plunge into the water and a discovery that it was all worth it. This unprecedented semester was also a particularly emotional journey, realizing that any repeat performance will be possible only for as long as we have this exact group of L2Orkists with their unique talents and contributions, and that it is unlikely we will ever be able to recreate the work as it was presented today again. Even though L2Ork has a long history of experimenting with crowdsourced elements in its works, none of them have ever gone this far.

Today also officially marks a beginning of a new era in the Pd-L2Ork development, which for the past several years evolved into the Purr-Data effort. Today, we are pleased to announce that not only is Pd-L2Ork back. It’s new release is also imminent. In fact, pre-release versions of the new Pd-L2Ork are already available on the L2Ork Tweeter page given that the latest version of Tweeter requires its latest updates, the official release of the next stable version is scheduled in the next couple of weeks. Until then, we wish you a safe and restful Holiday season and look forward to a New Year!

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L2Ork Tweeter Alpha Test and L2Orkist Reunion

It’s been a while since we’ve posted news on our main site, in good part because we’ve been voicing ourselves mostly via Facebook. Today, however, things are different. A whole lot different. The world is facing an unprecedented pandemic, and we felt like we had to do something to help us all get through these tough times. While we may not be good at developing a vaccine, what we are good at is connecting people. And connect people we shall. With this in mind, we are pleased to announce a free collaborative online laptop music making tool whose brevity has inspired its name.

L2Ork Tweeter (formerly known as L2Orkmatic) is a free open source, collaborative, and cross-platform laptop orchestra telematic (online) jamming tool destined to bring current, past, and aspiring L2Orkists and the community members closer through music. Driven by a simple FM synthesis engine and a loop-based 64-note tracker that runs locally, it aims to minimize the impact of the network latency inherent to online collaboration. The system allows for basic server admin, presence of both performers and guests/observers/audience, includes a chat system, as well as a way for sharing instrument presets, tracker loops, and even entire sessions. It also offers an offline mode where users can create their own works, or enhance the existing ones. So, head to the L2Ork Tweeter page to learn how to install your own free copy and start jamming today!

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