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Thread: music for laser shows (the backwards approach)

  1. #1
    swamidog's Avatar
    swamidog is online now Jr. Woodchuckington Janitor III, Esq.
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    Default music for laser shows (the backwards approach)

    when i finish a new show, i feel tired but wired. like there's still some leftover patterns jangling around in my skull. part of it is the need to take the pretty light experiments a little further.. "what about a world z transform and three clone loops instead of two" and part of it is just the instinct to keep ploughing on and creating things that have never been seen.

    tonight is no exception. my 440 show update is posted and i've been watching old laser show videos on youtube. there's a simple effect i've always loved. it's just a rapidly collapsing or expanding circle with color modulation effects. it looks like a pov trick with leds and bicycles wheels. very traditional and lovely.

    i've been poking at it for a while. working with dots and lines and things. then i figured out how to cheat and use the lissajous editor. then i figured out how to cheat some more and reduce point count by using post rendering intensity modulation effects to simulate line breaks. i've been playing with layering color modulation effects on top of it, but i've been completely uninspired. i can close my eyes and visualize exactly what i want to make, but i can't make my fingers do what my brain sees.

    and then it hit me.

    i am entirely incapable of making laser shows without music.

    fair enough. i spend some time surfing through my mp3 collection, playing music too loudly and rejecting songs based on criteria i'm not conscious of.

    an hour later and i realized instead of making a laser show to music. i am now selecting music to match the laser show in my head.

    the face i'm making right now...
    suppose you're thinkin' about a plate o' shrimp. Suddenly someone'll say, like, plate, or shrimp, or plate o' shrimp out of the blue, no explanation. No point in lookin' for one, either. It's all part of a cosmic unconciousness.

  2. #2
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    Good for you!
    "There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot, but there are others who, with the help of their art and their intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun." Pablo Picasso

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    Whatever gets you to your goal, Swami. If one were to use music and musicians as an analogy, one would find that the most skilled among their ranks are capable of instantly translating what's happing in their mind's eye (or ear) directly to their instrument. This is one of the hallmarks of a master. Take your time during your stroll to mastery, there are many places to stop along the way and admire the progress you've made.

    In the meantime, may I put in a request? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jy4CtVWbkg A bit short at 2min, and maybe not quite the arc you're looking for but maybe it'll jar something loose or get you thinking about something similar

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    ooooooo swami! Make something for any deadmau5 song and you will have my heart
    Freelance Laser Operator in L.A.
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    drugs are bad mmkay

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by magus View Post
    If I'm inspired my some song, I make my laser show to music.
    If I'm inspired by something else, I make the laser show and then match music to it.
    Simple as that.
    It's really a shame so many people seem to do it that 2nd way - because it doesn't f--king work...
    "There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot, but there are others who, with the help of their art and their intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun." Pablo Picasso

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    Quote Originally Posted by laserist View Post
    It's really a shame so many people seem to do it that 2nd way - because it doesn't f--king work...
    It's shame that you feel the need to shame peoples' creative process...

    -Sal
    Last edited by discothefunkyhippo; 06-10-2014 at 15:59. Reason: misplaced apostrophe

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