Patatap is a visual sound kit application with animations by computer programmer Jono Brandel and Japanese electronic duo Lullatone, consisting of Shawn James Seymour and Yoshimi Tomida.
Summary Patatap consists of unique palettes of colors, sounds, and shapes that are altered via the spacebar."Patatap". Jono Brandel Official Website. Retrieved December 20, 2017. The 26 melodic and rhythmic sounds that are in each set are triggered by pressing the A to Z keys."Patatap: Make trippy synaesthetic beats with your keyboard". Acclaim. Retrieved December 20, 2017. All of the sounds present a visual animation over the background when played. A writer for Co.design described the audio textures as ranging from "bells and snaps to pew-pewing lasers and alien spaceship landings."
Development Jono Brandel had been experimenting with animations serving as visuals for music "over the last couple of years," he said in a 2014 interview.Van Buskirk, Eliot (April 7, 2014). "Interview: How That Amazing Patatap Music App Was Made" . Evolver.fm. Retrieved December 20, 2017. In October 2013, he got in touch with the Japanese duo Lullatone who conceived of making a musical instrument application that was based on visualizing music. As Brandel described the intentions of making Patatap, "we [were] interested in the mixing of aural and visual senses, and wanted to bring that to a format that anyone can enjoy."
In order to develop an instrument where a user with no musical abilities could create a song, Lullatone made sure all the sounds weren't "muddy if someone pressed too many buttons at once." The duo initially made a set consisting of more melodic notes than percussion hits, but they figured out that "too many melodic elements made it hard to create tracks with room to breathe." Thus, the final set of sounds consisted of an equal amount of thirteen melodic sounds and thirteen rhythmic sounds. As Lullatone's Shawn James Seymour explained, "We just chose sounds for each set that we thought would work well together to make a song with a few random dudes thrown it to give it some spice!"
Release and reception Before its official release, Patatap was featured at the Monarch bar in San Francisco in 2012 and Gray Area's Creative Code program in 2013. Later on, Brandel and Lullatone presented the program at several conventions, such as the eighteenth Japan Media Arts Festival in 2014,"Patatap". Japan Media Arts Festival Archive. Retrieved December 20, 2017. Ableton's 2015 Loop convention in Berlin,"Talk: Patatap & Typatone: building A/V instruments for the web". Loop Official Website. Ableton. Retrieved December 20, 2017. The Tech Museum of Innovation in 2014, Rhizomatiks' 2014 "Super Flying Tokyo" event,"Super Flying Tokyo". Rhizomatiks Official Website. Retrieved December 20, 2017. and the Punto y Raya Festival. The app was released officially online on March 25, 2014Palladino, Valentina (March 25, 2014). "Patatap turns your browser into a musical animation controlled by your keyboard". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved December 20, 2017. and on the iPhone OS on June 6, 2014."Patatap". iTunes Stores (US). Apple Inc. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
Publications honored the application as "addictive,"Milk, Chris (June 30, 2014). "Patatap: the addictive art app that turns your keyboard into a music machine – interactive". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved December 20, 2017.Levy, Karyne (June 12, 2014). "You Won't Be Able To Stop Playing This Addictive Music App". Business Insider. Retrieved December 20, 2017. "only the very best in procrastination,"Vincent, James (March 28, 2014). "Are you addicted to Patatap yet? Became an electronica DJ just by tapping on your computer keyboard". The Independent. Retrieved December 20, 2017. "the most fun you'll ever have with your computer keyboard,""Patatap Turns Your Keyboard Into A Nifty Musical Instrument". Co.design. March 27, 2014. Retrieved December 20, 2017. and "delightful as the first time you banged on some piano keys or clanged on pots and pans and discovered: Hey, I can make noise!"S. Robinson, Eugene (April 14, 2014). "The Pitter-Patatap of Little Beats" . Ozy. Retrieved December 20, 2017. Refinery29 journalist Colleen Nika stated that the charm of Patatap was that it "takes a familiar conundrum — being supremely bored in front of your computer — and saves you from backsliding into the rabbit hole of wonky cat gifs and "Which Lindsay Lohan Are You?" quizzes. Instead, it encourages you to open your browser, get free-associative, and create something."Nika, Colleen (March 30, 2014). "Prepare To Spend Way Too Much Time With Patatap". Refinery29. Retrieved December 20, 2017. She also called it superior to other digital audio workstations: "Unlike with actual music software, there's no UI logistics or performance pressure to grapple with — it's a foolproof self-destructing sketchpad for whimsical kicks alone."
References
External links
Patatap at Google Chrome Experiments, where Brandel works