Samplebrain

A custom sample mashing app designed by Aphex Twin.

Samplebrain (made in 2015) chops samples up into a 'brain' of interconnected small sections called blocks which are connected into a network by similarity. It processes a target sample, chopping it up into blocks in the same way, and tries to match each block with one in it's brain to play in realtime.

This allows you to interpret a sound with a different one. Over time developing it, we gradually added more and more tweakable parameters until it became slightly out of control.

Quick start:

Load a bunch of samples into the brain
Click (re)generate brain
Load a loop sample into the target
Click (re)generate target
Press play

Demo brain session

Manual

Binaries

Windows

samplebrain_0.18_win.zip

Mac

samplebrain_0.18_macintel.zip

Contribution of a universal or apple silicon binary gratefully received (see building instructions below)

Linux

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:thentrythis/samplebrain
$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install samplebrain

If you'd like the right font, optionally:

$ sudo apt install ttf-mscorefonts-installer

Building from source:

Install libraries for the sample engine (use brew on mac, MinGW on win):

$ sudo apt install libsndfile1-dev portaudio19-dev liblo-dev libfftw3-dev

Install dependancies for the interface:

$ sudo apt install build-essential qtcreator qt5-default

Build $ run it:

$ cd app
$ qmake
$ make
$ sudo make install
$ samplebrain

Mac build additions:

To make a mac app bundle:

Run macdeployqt to copy all dependancies inside the app.
Copy desktop/samplebrain.icns (the icon) to the Resources directory in the bundle.
Edit Info.plist to add samplebrain.icns to CFBundleIconFile.

What's here

brain:
- samplebrain engine code
app:
- code to build the Qt GUI app
gui:
- qt designer project files
desktop:
- various icon file etc
cooking:
- sketches and ideas
- proof of concept written in python
- initial (abandoned) attempt at clojure version

2.4 KiB Raw Blame History