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RGB Experimental Music Laboratory
RGB MusicLab converts RGB (Red, Green and Blue) value of an image to chromatic scale sounds. The program reads RGB value of pixels from the top left to the bottom right of an image. One pixel makes a harmony of three note of RGB value, and the length of note is determined by brightness of the pixel. RGB value 120 or 121 is the center C, and RGB value 122 or 123 is added a half steps of the scale that is C#. Pure black that is R=0, G=0, B=0 is no sounds.
It is not an impression of paintings or photographs of a composer. It reads a score from an image data directly. The result of music is one of art forms, however I am aiming to develop another art forms based on these studies and the concept.
You can experiment with aural interpretations from Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci to your personal digital photos and drawings. You may use the music for anything you like, such as for your viedo, your blog, your performance and your everyday life.
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RGB MusicLab V24 and Theatre: Download Freeware
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RGB MusicLab for MacOSX Version 24 (Universal binaries)
Do not put the program into a double-byte character name folder.
MacOSX Power PC can save MID and AIFF file. Intel Mac Can save MIDI file. If you are an IntelMac user and want to create AIFF, create a MIDI file then put it into iTunes. You can convert it to AIFF.
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RGB MusicLab for Windows Version 24
Program requires a free version of "Apple QuickTime"
Windows can save MIDI file only.
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Please send a bug report here: index@kenjikojima.com
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Quick Start:
Double click on MonaLisa icon. Program is opened. Drag-and-Drop your JPEG image (such as a digital camera image) onto the right image panel (1 on the top figure). Mosaic of the image is made on the left panel. Click on "Create RGB Music" (9 on the top image). Progress bar apears. Wait a short while. QuickTime controller apears. You can listen your music. If you like to save it to MIDI file, click on "Save Music" (10 on the top figure).
How to Create Your RGB Music
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What's New in 24:
• Added: Select Key. There are two "Select Key" 1) Change Mosaic > Scale: Adjust Half Step > Select Key and Custom Scale... 2) Change Mosaic > Scale: Replace to No Sounds > Select Key and Custom Scale... "Select Key" is not a change of key in musical terms. When you make a scale of image, you can select a start key of a scale. Default scale keys befeore version 23 were C. Now you can set any keys and can make any custom scales.
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What's New in 23:
• Fixed: When you selected "Paste Image into Mosaic" from "Change Mosaic" menu on version 22, the program froze.
• Changed: The largest image size of "Paste Image into Mosaic" is changed to 400x400.
• Added: "Default Setting" in File menu.
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What's New in 22:
• Adde: Double Harmonic Major Scale and Double Harmonic Minor Scale in the Change Mosiac menu.
• Added: Show Title in Craete RGB Music Sequence settings
• Fixed: Second instruments appeared on the Theatre.
• Fixed: Second Instruments change keys affected no sounds note (RGB value 0).
• Fixed: Some of settings were not saved in RGB MusicLab data.
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What's New in 21:
 • Added "Second Instruments". You can set up to 6 instruments. Second Instruments have changing keys. Plus 1 is a half step up, and minus 1 is a half step down. The setting is from -60 to +60. An octave up is +12.
• Color Range Editor has unlimited "Back to Preview".
• Fixed Pause and Play button icon in RGB Music Theatre.
• Fixed Paste into Mosaic.
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What's New in 20:
• Added "Theatre". You can think it is a kind o f animation player for RGB Music Color Sequnce. It plays a synchronized music and colors. See figs. The Theatre can be opened from menu “Theatre” of menu item “RGB Music Theatre”, or “Theatre Icon” which is under the right image panel.  RGB Music Color Sequences play on the Theatre through Internet. If you like you can register your site to the Theatre programs. There are Kenji Kojima's two sites in the program now. Click here How to make the site.
• Added menu item “Create RGB Music Sequence”. It creates a RGB Music Color Sequence document. Created documents must have extention ".rev".
• Added “Open URL...”. It opens a RGB Music Color Sequence document. which is on the Internet.
• Added “Open Local File...”. It opens a RGB Music Color Sequence document from your local disk.
• Improved paste into mosaic.
• Fixed some bugs.
RGB Music Theatre: Opening (left), Playing (right)
If you like to show a menu bar or a task bar double click on the background color.
 
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What's New in 19:
• A cursor changes to a drag-and-drop icon when you can drop an image.
• Mosaic can be copied and pasted through clipboard directly. Paste size must be under 40 x 40 pixels. If you copy an image in PhotoShop, the image has to be 100%. Otherwise you cannot set a correct pixel size, when you paste into a Mosaic. (Change Mosaic menu, Copy Mosaic, Paste Image into Mosaic)
• PING snapshot can change size. Under 800 x 600 pixels. (Camera icon menu, Snap Mosaic Image > PING Image Size... )
• Mosaic pattern can be color sequence files. (Camera icon menu, Export PING Color Sequence...)
• Improved Rotate, Flip Mosaic and some bugs fixed.
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What's New in 18:
• Added: Okinawa scale (C, E, F, G, B) in "Change Mosaic" menu. Okinawa is southern islands in Japan. They have their own musical scale. It is close to Javanese scale. Listen the sample in "Mona Lisa Scale Variations".
• Added: 5 Exchange RGB colors in "Change Mosaic" menu. Functionally it is same as exchanging instruments of RGB color, but it is modified from a color score.
• Added: 7 Invert RGB colors in "Change Mosaic" menu.
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What's New in 17:
• Added: PMD (Play Midi Data) script editor. Create RGB music first, then open the editor. Click on the "C" on document icon at the right side of the window. (fig. right: small red circle) There is a PMD grammer and samples palette in the editor. You can modify your RGB music by the script like "C4 D E F G A B C5" and numbers. The basic grammer of the script is HyperTalk play command created by UDI.
• You can change the last note length of your RGB Music. (fig. right: large red circle)
• Now you can save a whole data of the RGB MusicLab window into one document. Save changed mosaic data was separated from a RGB Music data. Click on the Mona Lisa on document icon.
• Improved "Donator code". You don't need to type a donator code at the every update. It's in the preferences folder.
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What's New in 16:
• Change Mosaic menu has one time "Undo".
• "Snap Mosaic Image" has PING format. JPEG makes uneven colors on a mosaic cell.
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What's New in 15:
• Scales are added: Pentatonic Major, Pentatonic Minor, Pentatonic Blues, Whole Tone are in "Adjusted Half Step and Replace to No Sounds". Custom Scale setting is only in "Replace to No Sounds". And Grayscale is also added. Please see "Change Mosaic" menu(fig. right).
• Added "Out of the range colors are No Sounds" in Color Range Editor. Too low and too high sounds are cut by this setting. Image pixels of no sounds will be closer to a primary color or black.
 • There are two Panpot selections (fig. Left). Left radio button keeps same panpot values of each RGB score from the beginning to the end. It is set by a sliding bar. Value 0 is the most left, 10 is the most right, 5 is the center. Right radio button changes Panpot setting by a pitch tone. A lower note panpot is left and higher is right. Probably this setting is good for three same instruments like a piano solo. When the right radio button is selected, a sliding bar does not work, and you can not set "Create GarageBand 4 MIDI"..
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About Scales
Major Scale: C D E F G A B, Natural Minor Scale: C D D# F G G# A#, Melodic Minor Scale: C D D# F A B, Harmonic Minor Scale: C D D# F G G# B, Pentatonic Major: C D F G A C, Pentatonic Minor: C D# F G A# C, Pentatonic Blues: C D# F F# G A#, Whole Tone: C D E F# G# A#, Gypy Scale: C D D# F# G G# B. You can set other musical scales using "Custom Scale Setting"(fig. above).
Grayscale is a visual art term. It is a range of gray shades from white to black. In the RGB MusicLab a pixel has same three RGB values that color is gray. RGB value "120,120,120" is a gray pixel and center C of the musical note. It is three notes but it is mono-tone, if you set three same instruments.
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What's New in 14:
• Bug fixed: Revert data was saved in some conditions instead of scale data.
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What's New in 13:
• Mosaic color can be changed by a selected scale. Scales are Major Scale, Natural Minor Scale, Melodic Minor Scale, Harmonic Minor Scale and Gypsy Scale. You can select from "Change Mosaic" menu them. There are two kinds of selections. "Adjust Half Step" is not applicable RGB values are adjusted a half step up or down, it depends on the note. "Replace to No Sounds" is not applicable RGB values are replaced to no sounds that is RGB value 0. They will be same as rests in the music. Mosaic color will be closer to a primary color or black. Please listen the sample music "Gypsy Smile".
What's New in 12:
• Velocity setting has more variations: Select "Range" or "Meter" first. You can set any number of 10 to 0 velocity. When you set "Range", RGB MusciLab assigns the first value to next value on each pixel automatically by its brightness. When you set "Meter", Intervals of Notes enable. If you set same notes length and Intervals "3, 3, 3, 3", it takes regular triple time. And you set Intervals "3, 3, 3, 5", it takes irregular rhythm.
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The Smile / 0:57 by Kenji Kojima was "3, 5, 3, 3 (Red)", "3, 3, 5, 3 (Green)", "3, 3, 3, 5 (Blue)". Each color music was taken separately, and combined.
• You can set no line breaks.
• Bug fixed: Rotate 90CW and 90CCW did not have correct line breaks.
What's New in 11:
• Added Modulation. It is a vibration effect from 0 to 10. You can find it the right of Acoustic setting.
• Added Meter that is a rucurring pattern of velocity setting. You can select "Range" or "Meter" of velocity. If you select "Velocity: 10-6", "Intervals of Notes: 5" and "Meter". The first note is velocity 10, and other 4 notes are velocity 6. Probably you can recognize the differences clearly when you select "Every Notes is same length". Please listen a sample which I made. The tile is X_Plants / 2:34.
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What's New in 10:
 • RGB Diagram was added in Color Range Editor. It shows mapping and quantities of RGB values in an image.
• Bug fixed: Right after drag-and-drop a new image, color range editor did not work correctly.
What's New in 09:
• Color Range Editor can adjust too low or too high sounds in the range setting.
Select "Open Color Range Editor" from "Change Mosaic" menu (fig. left). Color Range Editor opens (fig. right). There are R, G, and B color range controllers. The lowest RGB value is 0, and the highest value is 255. You can adjust RGB color ranges between them. You can recognize two values, one is number of RGB, another is keynotes like C0, C2, C4. Center C is RGB value 120 or 121, and keynote C4.
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Selection "Push into the Range" is, if a color value is out of the range, it's changed the lowest value or the highest value. But colors which are inside of the range are not changed. "Proportional Arrange" is whole color values are shrunk in the range proportionally.
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Changed color range (fig. left). Too low and too high sounds are adjusted.
• Added: "Create for GarageBand 4 MIDI". Apple GarageBand could not import a MIDI file of version 8. GarageBand 2, 3 can import version 08 files. If you like to create a MIDI file for GarageBand 4, check mark it. But the MIDI file cannot be converted to the original mosaic image.
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What's New in 08:
 • MIDI file which was created by RGB MusicLab can be converted to the original mosaic image. It demonstrates a RGB Music is converted true RGB color data.
Drag & Drop a RGB Music MIDI file onto the mosaic image. If you like to stop, type "Command key + Period" on MacOS, or "Control key + Period" on Windows.
MIDI file must be made by Separated RGB Parts, otherwise it does not show correct colors.
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What's New in 07:
 • Color/Sound Editor can change a color of a mosaic cell. Select "Open Color Sound Editor" from "Change Mosaic" button menu.
Listen Sound: Double click a color square. Ctrl key + Click on a color square -> Open color palette. and change clicked color.
• Mosaic Image shows RGB value by mouse moves.
• Click on a mosaic: Listen sounds of the color.
• Fixed some bugs.
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How to Create Your RGB Music
There are additional information. Please read "What's New" too.
1. Drag-and-Drop your image file onto the right panel, or open an image from the file menu. You can use JPEG, PING and GIFF images. They are not only photographs, but drawings of these file formats. Also You can drag and drop an image from Safari(MacOS) or IE(Windows) onto the right panel directly. But if the image has a link info, RGB MusicLab rejects it. And you can drop a text data of RGB MusicLab.
2. A mosaic image of the original you drop is made to the left panel. The number of cells of the mosaic is shown at the bottom of the mosaic. RGB MusicLab converts a music from this mosaic image. You can change a large size cell or fine size cell of the mosaic. If you set a too fine size cell, you have to spend a long time for the conversion. Try large size first.
3. Select "RGB harmony" or " Separated RGB Parts" and a musical instrument. "Use Panpot" is the sound is left or right. And instruments can be set an acoustic effect. If you plan that you will put a MIDI file into another program later such as Apple GarageBand, you may not need the Panpot setting. The right of Panpot are, Acoustic and Modulation(vibration effect).
4. Set the tempo of the music and the note length. RGB MusicLab prepares three kind of note length. The first one is every note is same length. If you select this note icon appears and select the note. The second is dark pixel is shorter length, and the third is light pixel is shorter length.
5. RGB MusicLab reads pixels from the left to the right. You can put a rest in each line breaks. Select a rest symbol.
6. Select note length.
7. You can set a range of velocity. Velocity 10 is the strongest sound that is the darkest pixel. If you select "Velocity: 10 - 5", the lightest pixel is Velocity 5. When you select "Meter", Intervals of notes enables. 5 Intervals are the first note velocity is 10, and other note velocities are 5.
8. After you made a mosaic by a slider, you can change the mosaic to Flip Mosaic Horizontal, Flip Mosaic Vertical, Rotate 90 CW, Rotate 90 CCW, Ascending by Red value, Ascending by Green value. Ascending by Blue value, Descending by Red value, Descending by Green value, Descending by Blue value.
9. Click on "Create RGB Music". The cursor changes a busy icon during the conversion. If you like to stop it, type "Command key + Period" on MacOS, or "Control key + Period" on Windows.
10. Click on "Save Music". You can save the file to MIDI (MacOS and Windows), or AIFF (MacOS Power PC only). If you are IntelMac or Windows user and want to create AIFF files, put a MIDI file into Apple iTunes, then you can convert it to an AIFF file.
if you use MacOSX 10.5 Leopard, Save dialog layout may be broken. Click a triangle of "Save As". You can get a regular save dialog. See below. And select from "Export:" menu, "Music to Standard MIDI" or "Music to AIFF".
11. If you like to save the mosaic image and original image, click on "Camera" icon. And select a menu. A JPEG snapshot is made.
12. You can export a RGB MusicLab data by a text file. Click on the Mona Lisa document icon. You can import or drag and drop the data file.
13. Drag & Drop RGB MusicLab MIDI file onto a mosaic image, it is converted to the original mosaic image.
Email to Kenji Kojima
Version History:
Version 06b (Only MacOS):
• Fixed: "Save Music" did not work on Intel Mac. Intel Mac can save MIDI file, Power PC can save MIDI and AIFF file.
Version 06:
• Fixed: Intel Mac version. it could not created and save RGB Music.
• Added Change Mosaic: Flip Mosaic Horizontal, Flip Mosaic Vertical, Rotate 90 CW, Rotate 90 CCW, Ascending by Red value, Ascending by Green value. Ascending by Blue value, Descending by Red value, Descending by Green value, Descending by Blue value.
• Added acoustic effect of instruments.
• Changed tempo from 20 to 800
• Tempo can be changed by typing number.
Version 05:
• You can set a range of velocity
• Random cell mosaic
• You can drag and drop an image from Safari(MacOS) or IE(Windows) onto the right panel directly. But the image has a link info, RGB MusicLab rejects it.
Version 03:
• Progress bar shows.
• Export and import a data of RGB MusicLab by text file.
Version 02:
• Three menu items added in Snapshot.
• Image file name location is changed to under the original image.
• Showed disable note length icon.
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