Copacabana is a generative audio/visual toy with a Brazilian flavor. The graphics are loosely inspired by Italian/Brazilian painter Alfredo Volpi's work. The audio background is synthesized vowels and subtly changing Brazilian drum patterns driving sampled percussion sounds.

There is a one-to-one connection between the graphics and the sounds as the same algorithm drives both.

The user can control the rate of change (2 choices) and can freeze (loop) any or all of the 4 voices. Note that most buttons in the minimalist interface have more than 2 states.

If you own Max4/MSP2, feel free to download the folder containing the patch and the sound samples. Reusable code might include the patches driving the LCD buttons and the patch which generates the closed polygons which are the basis for the graphics and sound choices. All of the "wiring" is contained inside the patcher "CopacabanaStroll" inside CopacabanaPatch.

If you do not own Max4/MSP2, fell free to download and use the compiled application. This requires a Macintosh PPC to run. Tested to work on a Mac G4. Please read the terms of use in the included README file. Use at your own risk.

For Max/MSP users - download CopacabanaPatch.sit (230K)

For other users (Mac only) - download CopacabanaApp.sit (620K)

Photo on the left: card players on Copacabana Beach (1970). If you were there you might have heard drum rhythms emanating from the bars across the street. These rhythms are very similar to the ones you can hear in in this Copacabana application,