ï~~The DRGN Client Software
In order to translate and generate musical information locally, each user needs to run the DRGN client software.
This software, which was written in Max, has two primary responsibilities:
Network Communications The DRGN software establishes and maintains a connection with a MOO through
an implementation of the standard telnet protocol, provided by a Max telnet object.
Generation and Distribution of Musical Events The DRGN software is responsible for the actual generation of
the music on the user's local computer. The sound itself is generated by a multi-channel MIDI synthesizer
drive by the computer. The DRGN software also allows users to generate and record music to be added to the
"groove session". This musical data is coded into an ASCII format which is sent to the MOO. The MOO
records and processes the data before echoing it out to all the other participants.
In addition, the client software allows for normal MOO interaction by way of a simple chat interface and allows
users to graphically edit rhythm patterns.
It is important to note that the repetitive rhythmic style of music currently implemented in the DRGN is
particularly appropriate for the non-real-time nature of the Internet. The local Max patch handles the
metronomic timing of the music, while the network component of the application only communicates changes
to the other sites. These changes generally involve new rhythm or melody patterns that are updated at the
receiving sites only on measure boundaries.
The Future of the DRGN
Because the DRGN's musical information is conveyed from the MOO server to its clients via a simple, textbased protocol, any MOO programmer can create objects which both respond to and generate musical events.
This means that the network is limited only by the imagination of interested MOO programmers. The
currently implemented scenario involves "jamming rooms" with virtual instruments. A user from Germany
can play the bass with someone in Canada playing the drums and a person in the US playing the melody.
Users can form virtual bands, etc. In the future we expect people will build algorithmic composition tools for
the DRGN. We can even envision an Inter-MOO/DRGN radio service, with "stations" and "receivers" which
broadcast and receive the musical inspirations of DRGN musicians.
Conclusion
The DRGN is an attempt to provide a tool for global music-making. It has proven, in its use so far, to be an
enormously powerful tool for building not just music, but social relationships. Music is so powerful a
communicator that the DRGN's users seem to meet, almost instantaneously, at a "soul" level. It is hoped that
the project stands as a testament to the power of the Internet as a tool for breaking down the barriers of distance
and culture.
Thanks To:
Canton Becker, Tim Bran, Willy Henshall and Gary Kendall.
References:
Curtis, Pavel. (1993) "LambdaMOO Programmer's Manual" URL
ftp://ftp.parc.xerox.com/pub/M OO/programmersManual.txt
"CU-SeeMe Welcome Page" URL http://cu-seeme.cornell.edu/
Wolman A., and Becker C. "The Communal Groove Machine", Proceedings of the LCMC, 1994, pp. 224-227.
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