06-08-2020 image

midi plotter

github

A Rust program which makes it possible to visualise midi notes with the HP7440A pen plotter as they are received. This project grew out of my fascination with printing technologies and a desire to explore whether printing can be seen as a time-based media.

Once finished I had a few different people try out the program. One friend started playing Partita by Bach: above is the pen plotter visualisation of her performance alongside the traditional representation of the piece.

When you perform with the pen plotter it almost becomes a second performer as the rhytmns and sounds the plotter makes as it draws merges with the notes you play on your instrument:

a gif animation of the plotter drawing a visualisation