designed with musician <=> machine interactions as a focus…
an open-source standalone/AU/VST3 sample-based application/plugin/instrument that combines:
carefully designed, idiosyncratic objects (“preparations”) which process MIDI and audio in parametrized, composable ways…
with a straightforward configuration environment (the “construction site”) that facilitates various key assignments, combinations and signal flows (loosely akin to, say, Reaktor or TouchDesigner)…
intentionally limited (compared to, say, Max/MSP) to be more like a musical instrument than a programming language, but with features of both…
it’s more about preparation (a la Cage prepared piano) than programming…
and more about designed affordances than general problem-solving…
keyboard focused…
it is a keyboard-focused digital-musical-instrument design-environment…
the 88-key keyboard is its primary physical interface and software design constraint …
bitKlavier is designed to be used in real-time, as an instrument, with a keyboard interface…
Of course, that doesn’t mean it can’t be used in other ways!
able to change itself on the fly…
with instantaneous and continuous parameter changes performed via the keyboard, as prepared by the composer/performer/programmer…
particularly flexible and powerful for tuning…
unlike traditional keyboard instruments, bitKlavier’s tuning can change on the fly—even during sustain—in programmed, compositional ways…
setup to easily share pieces/settings with other performers/composers/producers via a simple text-based preset system…
has no external dependencies…
a music creation/performance/exploration tool that emerged over time, directly from a musician’s creative practice…
a product of a bottom-up creative process, rather than a task-driven design process…
dynamic, focused, idiosyncratic and—at its best—inspiring, relatively easy to use, and fun…
