The idea obviously started with this: what if the classic arcade game Breakout had MIDI values assigned to its blocks, so when you hit them and they blow up, they’d play a note
The idea obviously started with this: what if the classic arcade game Breakout had MIDI values assigned to its blocks, so when you hit them and they blow up, they’d play a note? The next step, of course… was to not blow them up . A few years ago, I built an iPad app to drive analogue and modular synths using this concept. I even used it on a few recordings — all before the era of AI coding — but I never released it on the App Store. Fast forward four years, and I finally got around to rebuilding as a far more versatile, universal, adaptable, delectable, susceptible and possibly even useful app for macOS and I called it bloQs Similar ideas exist in MAX and other environments with physics engines and sprite animation driving MIDI. Hell, Aphex Twin did the bouncing ball thing 30 years ago right? bloQs is a blank page. Any 2D regular rectangle environment can be built. Like a drawing app. The possibilities are endless. ENDLESS! It’s a “random” (not really random!) musical tool that’s just plain fun. You can jam with the built-in synths for an hour, or — better yet — connect it to your DAW for even more creative possibilities as it outputs CoreMIDI. bloQs uses a physics engine normally reserved for games. You can adjust gravity and restitution, create resizable blocks with MIDI data, then fire up to 16 balls using slingshots. When balls collide with blocks, they read the MIDI data stored within the block and send that trigger to the channel assigned to the ball. Play on-grid for quantized patterns or off-grid for free-flowing rhythms. Even the slingshot launch can be quantized or free, depending on the mode. It’s quite simple but has potential to createa very complex environment. It’s intuitive, flexible, and perfect for offbeat rhythms, ambient textures, or film sound design.
| InAppPurchase_Sequence | InAppPurchase_Name | InAppPurchase_Price | InAppPurchase_Currency | InAppPurchase_Region |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | InAppPurchase_DefaultItemName | ¥ 38 | CNY | 中国 |
