Week 3 Lessons: User Input and Control Signals

The goals for this week are:

1. to understand the basics of how to get user input via the computer keyboard and mouse (soon we'll look at other input sources such as MIDI and microphone),
2. to understand the notion of a "control" signal—the shape of which is used to control some aspect of another sound, rather than be listened to directly.

For 1, first study the lesson on Keyboard and mouse input in Max. For HTML/JavaScript, learn about DOM Events and how to access DOM Events in JavaScript, EventListeners, and KeyboardEvents. Although we will not spend much time on jQuery in this class, you're welcome to use it if you like it; for jQuery access to mouse and keyboard events, see User Input in HTML and JavaScript: A Quick Reference.

For 2, start with the lesson on Linear Mapping and Interpolation. That lesson starts with a conceptual/mathematical discussion of how to make points that describe a line, and then it shows examples in Max. A signal that just goes in a straight line, or that is constructed of lines and curves, is not generally something you'd listen to, but it can be used to shape other sounds, so it's a good example of a control signal. Then study at least the first three of the lessons in the topic of Control Signals. Try using a control signal to modulate a sound in Max. There are many other (increasingly weird) examples of modulation in examples 1-12 from a different class.