/Nebulator

Scriptable midi/OSC sequencer.

Primary LanguageC#MIT LicenseMIT

What This Is

  • Most music software uses piano roll midi editors. This is an alternative - writing scripts to generate sounds.
  • C# makes a reasonable scripting language, given that we have the compiler available to us at run time.
  • Supports midi and midi-over-OSC.
  • While the primary intent is to generate music-by-code, runtime interaction is also supported using midi or OSC inputs.
  • It's called Nebulator after a MarkS C++ noisemaker called Nebula which allowed manipulation of synth parameters using code.
  • Requires VS2022 and .NET6.

logo

Usage

  • Main window includes the transport control and one per channel controls.
  • Also has log and comm tracing. Note that comm tracing has an impact on performance so use it judiciously.
  • Basically open a .neb file, press compile, then run.
  • Use your favorite external text editor. The application will watch for changes you make and indicate that recompile is needed. I use Sublime - you can associate .neb files with C# for pretty-close syntax coloring.
  • Click on the settings icon to edit your devices and options.

Example Script Files

See the Examples directory for material while perusing the docs.

File Description
example.neb Source file showing example of static sequence and loop definitions, and creating notes by script functions.
airport.neb A take on Eno's Music for Airports - adapted from this.
utils.neb Example of a library file for simple functions.
scale.neb Example of a library file for playing with a scale.
*.nebp Storage for dynamic stuff. This is created and managed by the application and not generally manually edited.
temp\*.cs Generated C# files which are compiled and executed.
example.mp3 A bit of some generated sound (not music!) using Reaper with good instruments and lots of reverb. I like lots of reverb.
airport.mp3 Snippet generated by airport.neb and Reaper.

The Documentation

External Components