http://www.simonbielman.com/2010/08/midi-keyboard-color-projector/
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MIDI Keyboard Color Projector
August 2, 2010 by: Simon
Back in college, after taking a class in sonata form, I decided to write a sonata that was integrated with this idea I had for translating music into color. That piece formed into Sonata No. 1, a very minimal, two-movement sonata with chord progressions selected based on color. It was performed on a MIDI keyboard attached to a laptop which ran special projection software. Here’s an in-depth look at how the system works, and what the code does.
The Color Wheel
The Color System
Colors are assigned in rainbow-order along the circle of fifths, with C as red, G as orange, D as yellow, etc. This pattern is almost identical to the scheme used byScriabin’s color organ in Prometheus: Poem of Fire.
When playing chords, the each invidual note is placed on a color wheel (as shown on the right), and the average coordinates of the notes determine the final color. For example, C and F# are red and cyan respectively. Those colors are opposite of each other, and the average coordinates are in the middle of the color wheel – white. Db (Sky Blue) and Eb (Violet) are close to each other, so the average color is blue. However, the coordinates are slightly closer to the center, producing a lighter blue than a pure tone. The farther apart two simultaneous notes are on the circle of fifths, the whiter they will appear on the color wheel.
Chord colors sorted by hue
Composing by Color
To write music under this color system, I made a color chart of various chords in every key, sorted by hue or the root of the chord. Using this chart, it’s easy to plan a composition by color progression. For example, I could write a piece representing bouquet of roses of various colors. I’d like to use bright colors and interesting chords, so I’ll choose Cmin7 (Red), Bb7 (Pink), Gaug (White), and Amin7 (Yellow). The stems are a dark green, so I may use a single low E as a low bass note from time to time, making the stem act as a root (clever, huh?). Sonata No. 1 treats color in an abstract way, distributing each hue on the color wheel evenly throughout the entire work, with some sections separated by white chords (Aug, Dim7, Dom7b5).
You can download the color chart here.
Complicated programs are complicated
The Software
The program runs in software called Pure Data (or PD) using the Gem extension. This program reads MIDI input from your keyboard and mixes the colors onto a color wheel in real time. The color to project is shown by a large window which can be made full-screen by clicking the [fullscreen 1] box in the lower-left corner. The colors are brighter the louder the notes are played. When the software is receiving no or little MIDI input, the projection window is black.
Download the PD project here. Remember, it needs to be run with the Gem extension.
Comments
4 Responses to “MIDI Keyboard Color Projector”Randall Hamilton says:
this is how I learned I could whistle 2 notes at once… Genious.Andreia says:
I am working on a academic project that relates music and color… I’m still doing the research. In the end I will use MaxMSP, that is similar with PD. Your post gave me some ideas ! Thank you!! Genious!
