I often play with the brilliant Sonic Pi https://sonic-pi.net/ for a bit of fun, but let's be clear I have no musical ability.
To get my head around it I tried turning thee one tune I know "Hot Cross Buns" for the recorder into a tune. I found a useful webpage https://newt.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/notes.html to turn the notes into the MIDI number (60, etc) . Played with the synthesier sounds and choose tech_saw just because I liked it. The code is below
use_synth :tech_saws
2.times do
play 71
sleep 0.5
play 69
sleep 0.5
play 67
sleep 0.5
end
4.times do
play 67
sleep 0.25
end
4.times do
play 69
sleep 0.25
end
play 71
sleep 0.5
play 69
sleep 0.5
play 67
Also tried it with changing the synth to prophet
Also tried to make it a bit more mournful (possible slightly aggressive) with minor chords - I used https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minor_chord#:~:text=In%20music%20theory%2C%20a%20minor,is%20called%20a%20minor%20triad. to get the notes in combination with the MIDI notes list (I still think I got it wrong!)
use_synth :prophet
2.times do
play 71
play 62
play 66
sleep 0.5
play 69
play 60
play 64
sleep 0.5
play 67
play 70
play 62
sleep 0.5
end
4.times do
play 67
play 70
play 62
sleep 0.25
end
4.times do
play 69
play 60
play 64
sleep 0.25
end
play 71
play 62
play 66
sleep 0.5
play 69
play 60
play 64
sleep 0.5
play 67
play 70
play 62
sleep 0.5
Adding sound effects is great fun - same code as above with a slightly techno sound to it
use_synth :prophet
with_fx :ixi_techno do
2.times do
play 71
play 62
play 66
sleep 0.5
play 69
play 60
play 64
sleep 0.5
play 67
play 70
play 62
sleep 0.5
end
4.times do
play 67
play 70
play 62
sleep 0.25
end
4.times do
play 69
play 60
play 64
sleep 0.25
end
play 71
play 62
play 66
sleep 0.5
play 69
play 60
play 64
sleep 0.5
play 67
play 70
play 62
sleep 0.5
end
or alternatively
use_synth :prophet
with_fx :ixi_techno do
2.times do
play chord(:b4, :minor7)
sleep 0.5
play chord(:a4, :minor7)
sleep 0.5
play chord(:g4, :minor7)
sleep 0.5
end
4.times do
play chord(:g4, :minor7)
sleep 0.25
end
4.times do
play chord(:a4, :minor7)
sleep 0.25
end
play chord(:b4, :minor7)
sleep 0.5
play chord(:a4, :minor7)
sleep 0.5
play chord(:g4, :minor7)
sleep 0.5
end
I am the first to admit I have little musical knowledge but playing with Sonic Pi is still good fun; just changing the sound effects (like changing it to whammy and getting it sounding like aliens) is enjoyable.
