Animusic

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, based on MIDI events processed to simultaneously drive the music and on-screen action, leading to and corresponding to every sound.

Unlike many other music visualizations, the music drives the animation. While other productions might animate figures or characters to the music, the animated models in Animusic are created first, and are then programmed to follow what the music "tells them" to. 'Solo cams' in the Animusic DVD shows how each instrument actually plays through a piece of music from beginning to end.

Many of the instruments appear to be robotic or play themselves using curious methods to produce and visualize the original compositions. The animations typically feature dramatically-lit rooms or landscapes.

The music of Animusic is principally pop-rock based, consisting of straightforward sequences of triggered samples and digital patches mostly played "dry"; i.e., with few effects. There are no lyrics or voices, save for the occasional chorus synthesizer. According to the director's comments on DVD 2 (see below), most instrument sounds are generated with software synthesizers on a music workstation. Many sounds resemble stock patches available on digital keyboards, subjected to some manipulation, such as pitch or playback speed, to enhance the appeal of their timbre.

Contents [hide]
1 Compilations
2 Publicity
3 Software used
4 Animations
4.1 More Bells And Whistles
4.2 Beyond The Walls / Concerto In 3D (stereoscopic version)
4.3 Animusic: A Computer Animation Video Album
4.3.1 Animusic audio CD bonus tracks
4.4 Animusic 2: A New Computer Animation Video Album
4.4.1 Animusic 2 audio CD bonus tracks
4.5 Animusic 3
5 See also
6 External links
7 References


[edit] Compilations
As of 2006[update], two video albums 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, and 8 new animations are planned. In a recent newsletter, it was announced that they would also be producing a high-definition version of Animusic 2 on Blu-Ray, to be released sometime before Animusic 3.[4] In another newsletter, they revealed the working titles of 3 animations in Animusic 3: “Sonic Warfare”, “Paddle Ball” and “Super Pipe Dream”.

[edit] Publicity
Animusic has been promoted at SIGGRAPH since 1990, and has been promoted on Public Broadcasting Service and other television networks such as Tech TV's "Eye Drops". Wayne Lytle and his works have also been featured on Fox News and over 30 other local stations in January 2007.[5] Animusic's 'Pipe Dream' was released as a real-time demo for ATI's Radeon 9700 series graphics cards.[6] Animusic also rendered 'Resonant Chamber' and 'Starship Groove' in HD resolution for Apple's Quicktime HD Gallery.[7] There was an internet rumor that the "Pipe Dream" video was recreated at the University of Iowa from farm machinery parts. This has been proven false.[8]

[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. They have also created their own software called AnimusicStudio.

[edit] Animations
Various animations for SIGGRAPH
More Bells & Whistles (1990), made by Wayne Lytle before creating Animusic
Beyond the Walls (known as Concerto in 3D if watched in stereoscope) (1995), the first animation made under the name of Animusic, produced for VRex (a manufacturer of stereoscopic glasses and projectors)
Kansas - Device, Voice, Drum DVD (2002)
[edit] More Bells And Whistles
Instruments
Percussion, including:
A xylophone
Four wood blocks
Four cowbells
Five drum synthesizer pads
Two "light tower" cymbals
A two-part acoustic drum kit (one has a snare and 8 toms, and the other has a bass drum and a hi-hat)
A set of pan flutes
A circular vibraphone fountain
Three church bells
Ten "wow"-effect bass synthesizers
Pink electric guitar laser
[edit] Beyond The Walls / Concerto In 3D (stereoscopic version)
Instruments
Bubble Machine
Gong (with Chinese writings)
Trumpets
Tuba
Drum kit, with 5 parts: first part with only a pair of clash cymbals, second with a bass drum and a hi-hat, third with a snare and a cowbell, fourth with only a single crash cymbal, fifth with 8 airplane toms and a pair of helicopter clash cymbals
Bass Synth
Sawtooth Synth Lasers
Synth Brass Lasers
Synth Chorus (treble and bass)
[edit] Animusic: A Computer Animation Video Album
Track listing:

Future Retro
Instruments in the order they're presented:
Three-Necked Electric Guitar - a combination of a
2-stringed bass guitar
Synth Bass pulse ring
Blue bass lasers
Pan Flute
3-stringed electric jazz guitar
4-stringed electric guitar (overdriven)
Green power chord laser
Percussion instrument including a drum kit, vibraphone and gong
Four Red synth Sawtooth Lead Lasers
Violet Chorus Beams
The robotic drummer (surrounded by a percussion set) has four arms and one bass drum mallet foot; two of the arms hold 2B Drum sticks while the other two hold the Glockenspiel mallets.
Stick Figures
Instruments in the order they're presented:
Fretless hammered Bass Guitar (Known as "Mr. Stick", in reference to the Chapman Stick)
Percussion instruments, including a Drum Kit, triangle, Slapstick, Gong, and Metallophone
Trumpet and baritone horn tower
Sawtooth Lead red synth laser
3-stringed acoustic guitar
Pan Flute
Backup Sawtooth pink synth laser (acts as the "echo" to the red laser)
Double bass (fretless; one string is a plucked acoustic and the other is a bowed string)
Three 1-stringed Violins
Aqua Harp
Instruments in the order they're presented:
26-stringed Harp
Pan Flute
Tubular Bells
1-stringed Cello
1-stringed Violin
Drum Machine
Instruments in the order they're presented: (various gear-driven percussion devices)
Background gear-grinding noises (synced to the tempo of the music)
A drum kit with hi-hats, a snare drum, a bass kick drum, a small crash cymbal, a cowbell, and a large crash cymbal
Twelve toms in a 3x4 arrangement (the largest four are presented near the beginning of the video; the next smaller four along with the first four are shown near the middle, and all twelve are shown at the end)
A second drum kit with four timbales, four timpani, four wood blocks, a vibraslap and two agogô bells
A third kit with three church bells and two tamtams
Pipe Dream
Instruments in the order they're presented:
Acoustic Guitar/Bongo double instrument
Banjo/Bongo double instrument
Percussion, including:
A drum kit
A circular vibraphone fountain
Tubular bells
A Slide-bar Marimba
Acoustic Curves
Instruments in the order they're presented:
Acoustic guitar (strummed)
Acoustic guitar (hammered)
Bass Guitar (strummed and hammered)
Drum kit, including a snare, bass drum, cymbals, and toms
Vibraphone
Tubular bells
Harmonic Voltage
Instruments in the order they're presented:
Background synth strings (emitted from plasma wisp)
Red synth laser (beginning in purple, then changing into pink and then red according to dynamics)
Percussion instruments, including electronic drum set
Taurus Bass Pedals with bass chorus
Green Slide Circles
Green electric guitar laser
Yellow pulse dischargers
Bass Guitar synth in the "tower"
[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)
Instruments
Electric Guitar (overdriven)
Percussion with Gong
Bass guitar
Synth Chorus
Synth Sawtooth Lead Laser
Tubular Bells
Calliope
A Slight Delay (Click here to hear a sample)
Instruments
Marimba
Mute Guitar
Bass guitar (finger, pick and slap)
Percussion with a cowbell and cabasa
Harmonica
Reed organ
Rock Organ
Lute
Tuba
Electric Guitar
The Harvester (Click here to hear a sample)
Instruments
Cello
Electric Guitar
Acoustic Guitar
Percussion
Trumpet
Bass guitar
Synth Sawtooth Lead Laser
Harpsichord
Since they were never animated, it is difficult to determine the shapes of the instruments, although they may strongly resemble many seen in the two Animusic albums.

[edit] Animusic 2: A New Computer Animation Video Album
Track listing:

Starship Groove
Instruments in the order they're presented:
Violet Bass synth
Two-part drum kit
Red Lead synth
Light Speakers
Yellow Plucked synth
These instruments are played by the starship robots. In the commentary, Wayne Lytle states that the robot that plays the red lead synth pad set looks like a female. She is also capable of actions and body language.
Pogo Sticks (pictured at right)

A screenshot from "Pogo Sticks", the second video on Animusic 2.Instruments in the order they're presented:
Two hammered guitars (one lead, one backup)
Hammered bass guitar (an updated version from 'Stick Figures'; the bass now has two strings and is in motion)
A two-part drum kit, including:
3 bass drums and a snare drum
2 cymbals, 3 hi-hats and a cowbell
Xylophone
Metallophone
It has been revealed that the stick bass has "cousins," which are the hammered guitars. His "friends" are the drum kit playing sticks and the stick xylophones.
Resonant Chamber
Instruments in the order they're presented:
Eight-stringed Classical guitar
Seven-string Autoharp
Two-string Bass guitar
Four-stringed tapped/muted Guitar
Two-string Ukulele
Three-stringed Lute
Cathedral Pictures (based on selections from Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky)
Instruments in the order they're presented:
Trumpet
Percussion instrument, including a drum kit and gongs
Pipe Organ
One-string electric bass
Harpsichord
Light-emitting Clarinet
Large xylophone
Tuba
Pipe organ expression louvres (synthesized tone)
Electric arc sound (synthesized tone)
Light-emitting Flute
Pyrotechnics
Pipe Dream 2
Instruments in the order they're presented: (the set is used in Pipe Dream in Animusic 1, but is aged and dented here)
Acoustic Guitar/Bongo double instrument
Banjo/Bongo double instrument
Percussion, including:
A drum kit
A circular vibraphone fountain
Tubular bells
A Slide-bar Marimba
Fiber Bundles
Instruments in the order they're presented:
Green Bass Chorus Synth
White Echo Synth Pulses
Violet Synth Bass
Electric Percussion set
Red Synth Lead
Yellow Chorus Synth
Green Synthesizer Flash Pulses
Towards the end of this piece's commmentary on the DVD, Wayne Lytle remarks that the music in the Ratchet & Clank series, written by David Bergeaud, may have had some influence over this piece.
Gyro Drums
Instruments in the order they're presented:
Drum kit
Four snare drums
Four bass drums
Four hi-hats
Seven tom-toms
Six bongos
Eight buzz synthesizers (concealed at first)
Eight cymbals - four crashes, two rides, one splash and one China
Second Drum kit
Eight hi-hats
Two cowbells
Two woodblocks
Two timbales
Four bongoes
Eight tom-toms
Four cymbals - Two rides and two splashes
Third drum kit
Four gongs
Four ride cymbals
Four bass drums
52 tom-toms
Fourth drum kit
Eight maracas
Eight cabasas
Four bass drums
Eight snare drums
Four Crash Cymbals
Four Hi-hats
171 drums, cymbals, etc. in total.
Heavy Light
Instruments in the order they're presented:
Blue Chorus synth Lasers
Violet Synth Bass Guitar Beams
Yellow Lead Synth Lasers
Percussion instruments including gongs
Orange synth string Lasers
Red synth sawtooth Lasers
White Chorus Floodlights
Green Chirp Laser
[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 (sample)
Fiber Bundles - Drum/Bass Submix (sample)
Fiber Bundles - Synth/Ambient Submix (sample)
[edit] Animusic 3
Animusic is currently producing the 3rd volume of the animusic series; it is predicted to be released sometime in 2010, featuring Super Pipe Dream.[9]

[edit] See also
MIDIJam - a program that allows one to animate any MIDI file on their computer
Synesthesia - a medical condition where one sees different colors based on shapes or sounds.
[edit] External links
Animusic official website
'Pipe Dream' real-time demo
'Resonant Chamber' in HD Resolution at Apple's Quicktime HD Gallery
'Starship Groove' in HD Resolution at Apple's Quicktime HD Gallery
'Pipe Dream' at Archive.org
Animusic 1 at the Internet Movie Database
Animusic 2 at the Internet Movie Database
[edit] References
^ http://www.animusic.com/company/
^ http://www.animusic.com/company/people.php
^ http://www.animusic.com/company/software.php
^ "Animusic 2 in HD". http://www.animusic.com/news-Nov06.html. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
^ "Wayne Lytle TV interviews". http://www.animusic.com/news-TVtour.html. Retrieved 2007-10-11.
^ "Pipe Dream video used as a Radeon demo". http://ati.amd.com/developer/demos/r9700.html. Retrieved 2007-10-11.
^ "Animusic featured in Apple's Quicktime's HD gallery". http://www.apple.com/quicktime/guide/hd/animusic2dvd.html. Retrieved 2007-10-11.
^ "'Farm Machine Music' on Snopes". http://www.snopes.com/photos/arts/musicmachine.asp. Retrieved 2007-10-11.
^ "September 2009 Newsletter". http://www.animusic.com/news/wayne-news-sep-09.php. Retrieved 2009-10-20.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animusic"
Categories: Software companies of the United States Computer animation Music software Video albums Companies based in New York
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