Version 1.0: Application for Mac OS X (>= 10.3.9, I believe)
I played with cellular automata software back when CGA was high tech. Time passed. I went to college and they were mentioned in a math class. Stephen Wolfram released a book about CAs and how they were going to unlock the mysteries of the universe. I thought, heck, I wish I could unlock the secrets of creativity. And so Mata was born.
Launch Mata. Note the Mata ID. Launch whatever program you use for making music and configure it to send MIDI Clock signals to Dst<Mata ID> and to recieve notes from Src<Mata ID> (MIDI channel 1). If you hit play in your host application and you are monitoring recieved notes, you should start hearing music immediately!
Some specific instructions for Ableton Live: after launching Mata, open the Live Preferences window, and go to the MIDI/Sync tab. For the Mata Input device, make sure "Track" is on, and "Sync" and "Remote" are off. For the Mata Output device, make sure "Track" and "Remote" are off and "Sync" is on. Close the preferences window. Put an instrument in a MIDI track. Operator works well for trying things out. Click the "IO" button to view the input/output options for each track. In the drop-down box beneath "MIDI From," select the Mata device that you previously configured in the preferenced window. Switch the "Monitor" option to "In." Press Live's play control (in the top row next to the current position indicator). Some music should come out of your speakers!
Most likely, it will sound OK but not great. Try adding a "Scale" MIDI Effect to the device chain before the instrument, putting all the warp markers on the C scale. This will knock all the notes into a single, nice scale, and will sound a lot better.
You will be presented with two grids. The grid on the right is the "reference" grid, and the grid on the left is the "live" grid. The notes that are generated are based on the population of the live grid. Once the number of notes specified by "Steps" field have been generated, the live grid is reset to the state of the reference grid. Notes are generated starting at middle C. The upward range is specified by the "Range" field. Remember that notes are not generated as any particular scale. The "Jitter" control is presently broken (I'm working on it). The "Note Every...Ticks" field can be used to alter how frequently notes are generated. A setting of six generates sixteenth notes. A setting of 24 generates quarter notes. Scale up or down to taste.
The big fun usually comes by altering the reference and live grids during playback. The left and right arrows between the grids cause one grid to be copied to the other position (i.e. copy the live grid to the reference grid, or reset the live grid early). Clicking on a position in the grid will turn it on (green), and holding down the control key while you click turns the position off (black). You can also drag while holding down the mouse button to leave a path of on or off positions in your wake.
Rad! I'm glad you like it. If you find yourself using it a lot, please consider sending me an email with the things you created with it!
Updated by Steve Brown on August 10, 2006.