OscilloScoop is an interactive music app for iOS that runs on the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch, available through the iTunes App Store. The app presents a real-time interface for creating electronic music in various electronic music genres from hip hop to techno and house. The app is designed with a minimalist modern interface of three colored crowns, that spin like potters' wheels. Touching each crown affects the parameters of the audio. The top crown controls pitch, the middle a low pass resonant filter, and the bottom a fader. Controls on the left allow one to change the bassline beat, while buttons on the right allow the user to save their creation, and a slider below controls tempo.[1][2]
| OscilloScoop | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Scott Snibbe, Lukas Girling, Graham McDermott |
| Publisher(s) | Scott Snibbe Studio |
| Platform(s) | iOS |
| Release | May 3, 2011 |
| Genre(s) | Music |
In 2011, OscilloScoop won the ZKM App Art Award, the first award ever given to art apps.[3]
History
editOscilloScoop was designed by Lukas Girling, a creator of interactive musical interfaces who has worked with world-renowned musicians and music technologists including Laurie Anderson and Max Mathews. The app was created in collaboration with interactive artist and programmer Scott Snibbe, author of the bestselling apps Bubble Harp and Gravilux; and Graham McDermott, noted video game and app developer.[4][5]
Girling and Snibbe began working together in 1996 at Interval Research researching new forms of musical instruments with Joy Mountford and Bob Adams. As part of the research groups there, they were able to collaborate with, and learn from highly regarded musicians and musical pioneers including Brian Eno, Laurie Anderson, and Max Mathews. Their work at Interval Research was never published, and they recently re-united to produce a new app for iOS that allows ordinary people to create electronic music with similar results as professionals.[6]
Their work borrows from the language of DJs, using the body's movements to create music in real-time, rather than composing music slice-by-slice with complex music authoring tools like ProTools and Ableton Live, creating "something as effortless (and fun) as Super Mario," according to Snibbe.[7]
References
edit- ^ John Pavlus, Wanted: OscilloScoop iPad App Makes DJing A Video Game, FastCompany Design, May 17, 2011
- ^ OscilloScoop in the iTunes App Store
- ^ "2011 ZKM App Art Award Winners". Archived from the original on 2011-07-26. Retrieved 2011-07-13.
- ^ Reyhan Harmanci, App Artist's Latest Release: OscilloScoop Archived 2011-07-14 at the Wayback Machine Bay Citizen / New York Times, retrieved May 6, 2011
- ^ OscilloScoop description from snibbe.com Archived 2011-07-08 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved May 6, 2011
- ^ CreativeApplications.net OscilloScoop review retrieved May 6, 2011
- ^ Music of Chance, blog posting by Scott Snibbe retrieved May 17, 2011