Published 2/12/08
“Imagine music that mixes itself”
Currently in its beta-testing stages, having been announced in September 2008, MXP4 is a data format that developers Musinaut hope will change the way we listen to music. It allows for multiple stems of audio, called ‘skins’, to be selected on-the-fly from within one file, but also for the semi-random playout of an unlimited number of different submixes inside each skin. (It’s not truly random because the probability of the playback of each submix is manually defined.)
Files in the MXP4 format are produced using an application called MXP4 Creator, into which regular WAV, AIFF and OGG Vorbis files can be dragged and dropped (MP3 compatibility is apparently due soon). Files are played back using another programme called, sensibly, MXP4 Player, which can be embedded in web pages, in a similar way to Youtube videos, or downloaded for free from the Musinaut web site.
But what does this mean in practice? We met with Elaad Behava, one of the first producers to embrace the MXP4, who suggests that we should “imagine music that mixes itself”: an alien concept to many music makers. With MXP4, artists can create files that have different drum mixes, for example, or male and female vocal leads, which are never heard together.
With MXP4 Creator’s advanced features, different versions of the same song can be included in the MXP4 file, so the end user can choose to listen to a chillout version of a song, the full radio edit, or a dub remix, for example, and segue seamlessly between them.
Further parameters can be used to programme loop points around songs sections — Musinaut call these Patterns — and define relationships so that, say, an up-beat chorus will only follow a progressive bridge Pattern, which in turn is only heard after a subdued chorus. Crossfades can even be pre-programmed so that transitions between Patterns are smooth. Taken to its limit, this functionality can be used to create potentially unpredictable, never-ending and constantly evolving music.
Not yet implemented in the Beta software, but planned for the full release version, is technology that can time-stretch the audio in each skin or submix, so if imported files are at different tempos, they can be analysed and conformed to a user-defined tempo using built-in algorithms. Other software features include proprietary mix-processing effects, parameters for which are carried in the authored file, instead of being ‘printed’ on the audio.
If you’d like further information about the format and creation software, head to the MXP4 web site, where you can try out some of the first material in the format from the ‘MXP4 Café’.
www.musinaut.com
www.mxp4.com
Currently in its beta-testing stages, having been announced in September 2008, MXP4 is a data format that developers Musinaut hope will change the way we listen to music. It allows for multiple stems of audio, called ‘skins’, to be selected on-the-fly from within one file, but also for the semi-random playout of an unlimited number of different submixes inside each skin. (It’s not truly random because the probability of the playback of each submix is manually defined.)
Files in the MXP4 format are produced using an application called MXP4 Creator, into which regular WAV, AIFF and OGG Vorbis files can be dragged and dropped (MP3 compatibility is apparently due soon). Files are played back using another programme called, sensibly, MXP4 Player, which can be embedded in web pages, in a similar way to Youtube videos, or downloaded for free from the Musinaut web site.
But what does this mean in practice? We met with Elaad Behava, one of the first producers to embrace the MXP4, who suggests that we should “imagine music that mixes itself”: an alien concept to many music makers. With MXP4, artists can create files that have different drum mixes, for example, or male and female vocal leads, which are never heard together.
With MXP4 Creator’s advanced features, different versions of the same song can be included in the MXP4 file, so the end user can choose to listen to a chillout version of a song, the full radio edit, or a dub remix, for example, and segue seamlessly between them.
Further parameters can be used to programme loop points around songs sections — Musinaut call these Patterns — and define relationships so that, say, an up-beat chorus will only follow a progressive bridge Pattern, which in turn is only heard after a subdued chorus. Crossfades can even be pre-programmed so that transitions between Patterns are smooth. Taken to its limit, this functionality can be used to create potentially unpredictable, never-ending and constantly evolving music.
Not yet implemented in the Beta software, but planned for the full release version, is technology that can time-stretch the audio in each skin or submix, so if imported files are at different tempos, they can be analysed and conformed to a user-defined tempo using built-in algorithms. Other software features include proprietary mix-processing effects, parameters for which are carried in the authored file, instead of being ‘printed’ on the audio.
If you’d like further information about the format and creation software, head to the MXP4 web site, where you can try out some of the first material in the format from the ‘MXP4 Café’.
www.musinaut.com
www.mxp4.com
