Animusic
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Animusic is an American company specializing in the 3D visualization of MIDI-based music. Founded by Wayne Lytle, it is incorporated in New York and has offices in Texas and California. The initial name of the company was Visual Music, changed to Animusic in 1995.
The company is known for its Animusic compilations of computer-generated animations, in which MIDI events simultaneously trigger aural and visual actions, resulting in an on-screen action corresponding to every sound. The animations typically feature dramatically-lit rooms or landscapes in which imaginary instruments use curious methods to produce the original compositions which the animations visualize. Many of the instruments appear to be robotic or play themselves. The viewer's point of view changes throughout each animation, as if seen through a camera flying somewhat randomly around the scene.
The Animusic music is principally pop-rock based, consisting of straightforward sequences of triggered samples and digital patches played "dry" —i.e., with little or no effects. Sustained sounds are used relatively sparingly. Most instrument sounds are stock patches available on digital keyboards, subjected to no manipulation, aside from pitch / playback speed, to enhance their timbre.
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[edit] Compilations
As of 2006, two video compilations have been released:
- Animusic: A Computer Animation Video Album
- Animusic 2: A New Computer Animation Video Album
Animusic was re-released in 2004 in a special edition DVD. Animusic 2 was released in 2005. The Animusic website has announced that the company is making Animusic 3, but no release date has been given.
[edit] Publicity
Animusic has been promoted at SIGGRAPH since 1990, and has been promoted on PBS and other television networks.
Animusic has won various computer animation awards.
[edit] Software used
According to the company's FAQ, animation is created procedurally with their own proprietary MIDImotion software, Discreet 3D Studio Max was used for modeling, lighting, cameras, and rendering. Maps were painted with Corel Painter, Deep Paint 3D, and Photoshop.
[edit] Animations
- Various animations for SIGGRAPH
- More Bells and Whistles (1990)
- Beyond the Walls (known as Concerto in 3D if watched in stereograph) (1995) produced for VRex
- Kansas - Device-Voice-Drum DVD (2002)
[edit] Animusic: A Computer Animation Video Album
Track listing:
- Future Retro
- Instruments:
- Triple guitar - a combined 3-string electric guitar, 4-string electric guitar, bass guitar, pan flute, bass synth laser, chord synth laser, and sub-synth
- Percussion including the drum set, metallophone and gong
- Voice beams
- Lead synth lasers
- Instruments:
- Stick Figures
- Instruments:
- Hammered Bass Guitar (Also known as "Mr. Stick", in reference to the Chapman Stick)
- Acoustic guitar
- Percussion including a drum kit, triangle, slapstick, gong and metallophone
- Double Bass
- Violins
- Lead red laser
- Backup violet laser
- Pan Flute
- Trumpets
- Instruments:
- Aqua Harp
- Drum Machine
- Instruments:
- Various percussion instruments including a drum kit, timpanis, woodblocks, a cowbell, cymbals, toms, and gongs
- Instruments:
- Pipe Dream
- Instruments:
- Two triple-action stringed instruments (string, string, bongo), one high and one low ranged
- Percussion, including a marimba, vibraphone and tubular bells
- Instruments:
- Acoustic Curves
- Instruments:
- Acoustic guitar (strummed)
- Harpsichord (hammered)
- Bass Guitar
- Percussion including a metallophone and tubular bells
- Instruments:
- Harmonic Voltage
- Instruments:
- Red and pink synth lasers
- Electric guitar green laser
- Yellow pulse lasers
- Synth bass, hammered synth bass
- Background synth strings (emitted from smoke)
- Percussion, including a kick drum, cymbals, and various electric drums
- Instruments:
[edit] Animusic audio CD bonus tracks
There were also 3 other music pieces only available on the Animusic audio CD.
- Seventh Alloy (Click here to hear a sample)
- A Slight Delay (Click here to hear a sample)
- The Harvester (Click here to hear a sample)
Since they were never animated, it is difficult to determine the shapes of the instruments, although they strongly resemble many seen in the two Animusic albums.
[edit] Animusic 2: A New Computer Animation Video Album
Track listing:
- Starship Groove
- Instruments:
- Lead and bass synths
- Plucked synth
- Percussion, including standard drum kit components, and various other percussion
- Instruments:
- Pogo Sticks
- Instruments:
- Hammered bass guitar
- Two high-ranged versions of the hammered bass
- Drum kit
- Xylophone
- Metallophone
- Instruments:
- Resonant Chamber
- Instruments:
- Autoharp
- Classical Guitar
- Muted Guitar
- Two-string double bass
- Ukulele
- Lute
- Instruments:
- Cathedral Pictures (based on selections from Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky)
- Instruments:
- Pipe Organ
- Electric Bass
- Drum kit
- Horns
- Pan flute
- Clarinet
- Synth laser
- Large xylophone
- Hammered harpsichord
- Instruments:
- Pipe Dream 2
- Instruments:
- 2 Triple-action stringed instruments, one high ranged
- Drum kit
- Marimba
- Vibraphone
- Tubular bells
- Instruments:
- Fiber Bundles
- Instruments:
- Electronic drum kit
- Bass synth
- Echo synth blips
- Synth pad and voice pad
- Instruments:
- Gyro Drums
- Instruments:
- Various percussion instruments
- Instruments:
- Heavy Light
- Instruments:
- Percussion, including a drum kit
- Synth bass
- Lasers
- Voice pad lasers
- Instruments:
[edit] Animusic 2 audio CD bonus tracks
The bonus audio tracks on this CD consist of reduced versions of Heavy Light and Fiber Bundles:
- Heavy Light - Drum/Bass Submix (Click here to hear a sample)
- Fiber Bundles - Drum/Bass Submix (Click here to hear a sample)
- Fiber Bundles - Synth/Ambient Submix (Click here to hear a sample)
[edit] Trivia
- Animusic's 'Pipe Dream' has been released as a real-time demo for ATI's Radeon 9700 series graphics cards.[1]
[edit] See also
- Gantz Graf, an earlier, more experimental example of MIDI-synchronized computer animation
