jitsonti@hotmail.com

I'm a graphic design student, and my final project is to visualize the sound in Thai poetry using LED light as a medium.

The result is going to be like when you listen to the verse but you will see the sound(light) rather than hear it.

There is 66 of LEDs appears one by one (each one represents one sound) until the end of the verse. Therefore, in my case, if I want to control the lighting circuit from the computer, do you think max/msp is the right software for me?

And, if yes, do I need any hardware to connect computer and the circuit?

I'm a graphic design student, and my final project is to visualize the sound in Thai poetry using LED light as a medium.
The result is going to be like when you listen to the verse but you will see the sound(light) rather than hear it.
There is 66 of LEDs appears one by one (each one represents one sound) until the end of the verse. Therefore, in my case, if I want to control the lighting circuit from the computer, do you think max/msp is the right software for me?
And, if yes, do I need any hardware to connect computer and the circuit? 

shall-i-use-maxmsp

Is there a way to make the place for assistance text line longer 

(bottom bar area for description of inlet and outlet). A beat more 

place would help me sometimes to find my pathway when i give a comment 

that i don't succeed to synthetise with four words.

Hello,
Is there a way to make the place for assistance text line longer 
(bottom bar area for description of inlet and outlet). A beat more 
place would help me sometimes to find my pathway when i give a comment 
that i don't succeed to synthetise with four words.
Franck


On 7-Jun-2006, at 12:11, Franck Beaubois wrote:

> Is there a way to make the place for assistance text line longer

The status bar grows/shrinks with horizontal window size, so making 

However, externals written in C have a maximum string length of 64 

chars and I think that limit applies also to mxj, javascript, and 

Peter Castine +--> Litter Power & Litter Bundle for Jitter

iCE: Sequencing, Recording & |home | chez nous|

Interface Building for |bei uns | i nostri|

On 7-Jun-2006, at 12:11, Franck Beaubois wrote:
> Is there a way to make the place for assistance text line longer

The status bar grows/shrinks with horizontal window size, so making  
the window wider may help.

However, externals written in C have a maximum string length of 64  
chars and I think that limit applies also to mxj, javascript, and  
abstractions.

--------------    http://www.bek.no/~pcastine/Litter/    -------------
Peter Castine             +--> Litter Power & Litter Bundle for Jitter

Thank you very much PC, Your answer is very helpful.

Not an easy task, but as Thai is a tonal language, at

least you might be able to use the pitch information

for something; you can use fiddle~ or one of Trstan

Jehan's objects for this - see www.maxobjects.com.

Not an easy task, but as Thai is a tonal language, at
least you might be able to use the pitch information
for something; you can use fiddle~ or one of Trstan
Jehan's objects for this - see www.maxobjects.com.
cheers
Roger


Thanks Peter for those precisions, i will try to be shorter :-)

Thanks Peter for those precisions, i will try to be shorter :-)
Franck


i've studied some chinese and while it is true that tonal languages follow a pitch pattern, the one you learn in grammar books is very simplified.

It's not like a musical melody. it's combined with intonation and relative pitch related to former phonemes, add some timbral changes and a big bunch of randomness.

been reading a book about it and well, it seems like hell to me to get anything non-random out of it by analysis.

anything more appropriate than pitch analysis of a non-tonal language at least.

ok, maybe you weren't witing for that, but im posting anyway : )

It's not like a musical melody. it's combined with intonation and relative pitch related to former phonemes, add some timbral changes and a big bunch of randomness.
been reading a book about it and well, it seems like hell to me to get anything non-random out of it by analysis.
anything more appropriate than pitch analysis of a non-tonal language at least.

ok, maybe you weren't witing for that, but im posting anyway : )


Since I'm very new to this software, I don't want to make the result out of my control, therefore, If I just want to control(turn on/off) the 66 separate LEDS in a certain time, do you think it's possible for a beginner like me to finish it by the end of this month. Moreover, about the sensor interface, i've found the 3 potential boards to connect my computer and the LEDs. Those are;

But i still don't quite understand how does it work about the digital output, they all have not enough digital output for my 66 separate LEDs, my question is, do I need 1 digital output per 1 LED, or do I need just 1 digital output to connect the whole LEDs circuit?

TELEO http://makingthings.com/
Phidgets http://www.phidgets.com/ , and
Arduino http://www.arduino.cc/

It seems that there are a growing number of physical computing questions on

this list (awesome). Anyway there are some great resources for pcomp here:

Kool, depending on how quickly you pick up breadboarding/soldering and

programming microcontrollers, you could be switching on and off 66 separate

LEDs from Max, by the end of next week (about 40-50 hours of research, and

You would need 18 digital pins to control 66 separate LEDs.

16 of them could cover 64 LEDs when configured in a row collumn scan:

8 digital pins emit voltage or not, and 8 digital pins would sink voltage or

not. The remaining two pins would be used for the two LEDs that did not get

This assumes you are building the LED circuit. If you have a serial

controlled LED display than you may not need all those digital i/o

It seems that there are a growing number of physical computing questions on
this list (awesome).  Anyway there are some great resources for pcomp here:
Phys Comp Home page: http://stage.itp.nyu.edu/physcomp

Kool, depending on how quickly you pick up breadboarding/soldering and
programming microcontrollers, you could be switching on and off 66 separate
LEDs from Max, by the end of next week (about 40-50 hours of research, and
production). 

You would need 18 digital pins to control 66 separate LEDs.
16 of them could cover 64 LEDs when configured in a row collumn scan:
8 digital pins emit voltage or not, and 8 digital pins would sink voltage or
not.  The remaining two pins would be used for the two LEDs that did not get
addressed in the array.

This assumes you are building the LED circuit. If you have a serial
controlled LED display than you may not need all those digital i/o


You will definitely need more than one digital output, but not 

necessarily 66! One possibility is to arrange the LEDs in a matrix - 

this way you need only enough outputs for the total number of rows 

and columns in the matrix. Unfortunately 66 is just above a 

convenient size matrix (8 x 8 = 64), so you would need an 8 x 9 

matrix, which will require 17 digital outputs, but it's better than 66.

Essentially what you do is drive each row low in rapid sequence, 

while driving high the columns that need to be on in that row - the 

output just keeps cycling round continually. One approach to this 

might be to use a coll. If you use line index as the row reference 

and store the column data in the coll for each row, you can devise an 

output routine that simply reads the coll row-by-row continuously. 

When you want to change the state of one LED you simply write new 

data into the appropriate row index of the coll.

A lot of interfaces have a mix of analogue and digital inputs and 

outputs - look for one that has enough digital outputs and not much 

stuff that you won't need. Teleo have a 12 digital output module, so 

you would need two of those at USD149 each. Phidgets only do a mixed 

module. I can't get the Arduino site to respond and I can't remember 

the exact spec of their unit - but they are very cheap, so that is 

Lawrence Casserley - lawrence@lcasserley.co.uk

Lawrence Electronic Operations - www.lcasserley.co.uk

Colourscape Music Festivals - www.colourscape.org.uk

You will definitely need more than one digital output, but not  
necessarily 66! One possibility is to arrange the LEDs in a matrix -  
this way you need only enough outputs for the total number of rows  
and columns in the matrix. Unfortunately 66 is just above a  
convenient size matrix (8 x 8 = 64), so you would need an 8 x 9  
matrix, which will require 17 digital outputs, but it's better than 66.

Essentially what you do is drive each row low in rapid sequence,  
while driving high the columns that need to be on in that row - the  
output just keeps cycling round continually. One approach to this  
might be to use a coll. If you use line index as the row reference  
and store the column data in the coll for each row, you can devise an  
output routine that simply reads the coll row-by-row continuously.  
When you want to change the state of one LED you simply write new  
data into the appropriate row index of the coll.

A lot of interfaces have a mix of analogue and digital inputs and  
outputs - look for one that has enough digital outputs and not much  
stuff that you won't need. Teleo have a 12 digital output module, so  
you would need two of those at USD149 each. Phidgets only do a mixed  
module. I can't get the Arduino site to respond and I can't remember  
the exact spec of their unit - but they are very cheap, so that is  
worth looking at.

L
Lawrence Casserley - lawrence@lcasserley.co.uk
Lawrence Electronic Operations - www.lcasserley.co.uk
Colourscape Music Festivals - www.colourscape.org.uk


http://www.seattlerobotics.org/encoder/200311/dickens/Multip

Another way is using a LED driver like the MAX6955. Needs only two outputs

of your microcontroler to manage it (serial i2c communication):

http://www.maxim-ic.com/quick_view2.cfm/qv_pk/3540

You can make a LED matrix too! THis way, with 16 output pins, you can

drive 64 LEDs. 17 outputs give you 72 LEDs. It's difficult to explain by

-I plug a LED at each intersections, negative pin pluged to the row,

-SO, if my column#2 pin is positive and my row#3 is negative, it lights

LED#18 (intersection of column2 and row3).

-If you want to light several LEDs at the same time: Just open and close

each LED in sequence very very fast (less than 5milliseconds). Similar to

the "cinema illusion", your retina won't see the sequence. You will see

If this seems too complex for you, well it is normal if you never made any

electronic circuits and microcontroler programming! You won't be able to

learn and make your project in 1 month I guess. Unless you're a good

autodidact and already know a programming langage! Meaby you'll need to

hire a guy like me... :-) But if you try by yourself, you'll see when all

info is collected, it's a really easy task. Look for tutorials abut LED

matrix. There's alot of BAsic Stamp related tutorials on the internet.

Basic stamp is perfect for the beginner and they have a mac compiler. Easy

Basic langage for programming and a lot of ressources for newbies and

autodidacts. If you continue to play with microcontrolers in the future,

meaby you'll need a better and "professionnal" microcontroler.... But for

beginning, i highly recommend Basic Stamps (look to Stamp Stacks at

TELEO and PHIDGET are not microcontrolers. You cannot download a program

into them. But they are really MAX-friendly! If it's possible to make a

8x9 LED matrix with it, well I definitively suggest you to use TELEO! It's

the simplest way. But I don't think you can make the "matrix tactic" with

a TELEO... Anybody can answer that? But I know you cannot manage a LED

driver such as the MAX6955 with TELEO or Phidget.

I know TELEO is modular, wich means you can plug several output switch

modules until you got 66 switches. I never used TELEO, my advice could be

Never forget to put a resistor in series with each LED, unless it'll burn!

This is a "physical computing" issue.
You should ask to  http://stage.itp.nyu.edu/physcomp
They have a mailling list.

You need to multiplex your outputs!
  http://www.seattlerobotics.org/encoder/200311/dickens/Multip lexing%20Atricle.html

Another way is using a LED driver like the MAX6955. Needs only two outputs
of your microcontroler to manage it (serial i2c communication):
http://www.maxim-ic.com/quick_view2.cfm/qv_pk/3540

You can make a LED matrix too! THis way, with 16 output pins, you can
drive 64 LEDs. 17 outputs give you 72 LEDs. It's difficult to explain by
text without picture... I'll try:

-8 pins are columns, 8 pins are rows.
-8 columns X 8 rows = 64 intersections.
-I plug a LED at each intersections, negative pin pluged to the row,
positive pin pluged to column.

-SO, if my column#2 pin is positive and my row#3 is negative, it lights
LED#18 (intersection of column2 and row3).
-If you want to light several LEDs at the same time: Just open and close
each LED in sequence very very fast (less than 5milliseconds). Similar to
the "cinema illusion", your retina won't see the sequence. You will see
the LED lightened simultaneously.

If this seems too complex for you, well it is normal if you never made any
electronic circuits and microcontroler programming! You won't be able to
learn and make your project in 1 month I guess. Unless you're a good
autodidact and already know a programming langage! Meaby you'll need to
hire a guy like me... :-) But if you try by yourself, you'll see when all
info is collected, it's a really easy task. Look for tutorials abut LED
matrix. There's alot of BAsic Stamp related tutorials on the internet.
Basic stamp is perfect for the beginner and they have a mac compiler. Easy
Basic langage for programming and a lot of ressources for newbies and
autodidacts. If you continue to play with microcontrolers in the future,
meaby you'll need a better and "professionnal" microcontroler.... But for
beginning, i highly recommend Basic Stamps (look to Stamp Stacks at
Hvwtech.com).

TELEO and PHIDGET are not microcontrolers. You cannot download a program
into them. But they are really MAX-friendly! If it's possible to make a
8x9 LED matrix with it, well I definitively suggest you to use TELEO! It's
the simplest way. But I don't think you can make the "matrix tactic" with
a TELEO... Anybody can answer that? But I know you cannot manage a LED
driver such as the MAX6955 with TELEO or Phidget.

I know TELEO is modular, wich means you can plug several output switch
modules until you got 66 switches. I never used TELEO, my advice could be
wrong.

definelty, because there is no other program where 

you have such a wide range of volatge and dmx-controllers

available which have been tested with or even been built 

there are student licenses and a superb user forum, too.

definelty, because there is no other program where 
you have such a wide range of volatge and dmx-controllers
available which have been tested with or even been built 
for use with MAX.

Thank you for all replies, They are absolutely helpful. Now i know where to go. Wish you guys have a great works.

SHALL I USE MAX/MSP?