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I have a hunch of an idea that I have absolutely no clue on if it is possible...so here it is...I am wondering when you pop a CD into any/every CD player, what information is being read by the CD player? Now here is what I want to know if it is possible. I would like to create an audio CD, that has a large number of potential samples sequenced lets say bar by bar at a time stamp encoded in the CD. Now I would like to know if there is a way to write a small program, in which would randomize pre-programed samples at there stamped time position...to virtually create an infinite album, that no matter how many times you play the CD, its different every time.

I have tried to explain this the best way possible.

An example of what I'm trying to take to the next level is at where the artist Canibus I am working with created a infinite rhyme that can be sequenced into infinate possibilities. Now if you check out the site you see a basic mixing board, the first two channels are two beats synced together that can be interchanged during playback and will work together. The other five channels are vocals, sequenced and written to rhyme with each another, at any given point if you were to flip inbetween them...

now that you have the concept of this.

is it possible to take this to the next level and induce a CD with a program to randomly pick a beat out of say 14 available on the CD, and randomly pick vocal tracks, bar by bar from say 8 different interchangeable vocal tracks.

Thank you to all those that can offer some insight

PP

Comments

PistolPete Sat, 04/28/2007 - 00:02

thanks for your reply

Thats what I figured, but I didn't really know what the data being transfered between cd and player consisted of...I figured even if there was a possibility to program a cd and player in that nature...there would still be a pause between tracks being selected to play in sequence as the laser searches for them....

I have seen it done with a dvd, a movie called "What the Bleep do we know" where the dvd is a different sequence every time it is played...thats what lead me to the question if it was possible with cd audio....

i guess i would have to have an exe. program written and placed on the cd as an enhanced cd....that might be possible..but also irritating for non computer listeners...

I will keep searching to find a way....

thank you for your response

Kapt.Krunch Sat, 04/28/2007 - 05:29

..that no matter how many times you play the cd, its different every time.

Actually, you MIGHT be able to do that if you put track markers in at key sections of the tune, and instructed someone to play it in "Random". That would depend on how long the CD/DVD player took to switch tracks...which may be the reason that I wonder if this was really done, or not. I know live album CD's have a continuous run, with no space between tracks. But, when you randomize one, the laser stops, moves, finds another, and then starts playing. It's not continuous, and it doesn't start right away. It's going to take longer to go from track 50 to track 2 than it will to go from track 3 to track 2. It seems a CD/DVD player would have to be puposely designed with an "Instant Random" feature, and possibly incorporate some kind of buffers for the laser to read ahead, write to memory to keep the present song going, switch tracks, and have the next tune ready to instantly start. I don't know of any with that feature. If any exist, may be able to make it work.

Maybe it's my imagination, but I seem to recall a commercial CD of some popular group that had a tune that would do that to some extent. I know I've heard of that scenario before...maybe it was just an earlier discussion somewhere. I KNOW I wondered about the same thing...

If it IS possible, and it did actually happen...then it could only be possible to shuffle around entire small snippets to randomize. It won't be possible to remix any two things to create something new that wasn't there before, since it's only linear stereo tracks, and not multi-tracks that can be rearranged and remixed. Unless it was purposely designed to stack up two or more tracks to play at once. And, even then, what a nightmare scenario to make sure all tracks will work musically with any and all others!

I have seen it done with a dvd, a movie called "What the Bleep do we know" where the dvd is a different sequence every time it is played...

I didn't know that! But it makes sense that it might, since it plays heavily on the randomness of quantum physics, where all possibilities exist until we choose an observation or action that makes only one of those possibilities real.
I rented it and taped it, so I've only played the DVD once. It seems, though, they they couldn't stray TOO far from the linearity of the movie, because parts of it would make absolutely no sense without knowing what led to it.

Cheers,

Kapt.Krunch

Kapt.Krunch Sat, 04/28/2007 - 05:42

The more I think about it, I wonder if that wasn't something that was done when they were experimenting with CDi (CD interactive) a few years back?

The music CD came with extras that a regular CD player just ignored. Plop it into a computer, and you had graphics, short low-quality videos....or possibly a small application you could launch to make, say, track 10 use your computer to re-sequence a tune fairly flawlessly?

I bet that's what I was thinking of. Anyone remember anything like that?

Kapt.Krunch