Poi Party
Unity (C#), ChucK. 2018
What is it?
Poi Party is an interactive music sequencer powered by Unity and ChucK. After setting the music for each room, invite Pois over to come party and dance.
The personality and the designated voice(note) of the different Pois will create an emergent music experience.
The Story
A music sequencer is first and foremost a tool that can generate music. Now, whether its purpose is to generate music is a different question. For the most efficient sequencers where the aforementioned purpose holds, the predictability of what music the program is making is very important. This constraint is what leads to the linear, grid-based form of most sequeners that we know of.
Now, whether the program is delightful is a different matter. If you know exactly what you are doing, there is only so much that you can look forward to aside from the promised functionalities of the program.
This is why I seeked to find the perfect balance for this unique sequencer. I need the final result to be pleasantly surprising but not completely coming out of the blue.
The music that you’re making will be a collaboration between you and your virutal friends, a.k.a the Pois. By changing the light settings for each party room, you are the one setting up the vibe: the base beat, the ground for any other sound that is going to be added on top.
The Pois
That’s where the Pois come in. You choose what guest Pois to invite. All Pois are different; each of them have a different voice (a different note, signified by their color). Big Pois have deeper voices as opposed to Smol Pois. Shi Pois are shier and will try to be alone, while Fab Pois are fabulous and will look for rooms that are lit.
The rest is up to them. Observe how they interact and vibe along the party. Sit back and enjoy the music that they make! Feel free to spice things up a bit by inviting some random friends too. They might bring some pleasant surprises, who knows?
