netpd: Massively Multiplayer Music Online

I have never quite gotten over my teenage dream that it's only a bullet through a non-vital part of my brain that would be required to remap my neural pathways and make me just a kick-ass musician. In music, I'm a pleb: "I know what I like!" I say, as the more musically gifted sneer in contempt. I can't even read notes; I am barely competent in Guitar Hero, Still, I like to think that some random head trauma could just flick the switch in my mind to give me a gift in music.

While I experiment with trepanning, though, I've got a new way to indulge my musical side: netpd.

Imagine a massively multiplayer music studio, connected worldwide over the Internet. Log in, and everyone sees a set of synths, effects, sequencers, or other custom patches. Everyone’s looking at essentially the same screen, and can add beats, trip out effects, slide the bpm up and down, and reprogram synths — all at once. That’s the basic idea of netpd.

A thousand monkeys jamming in unison will eventually produce the complete works of Tangerine Dream. Netpders! Prepare for the musically inept to swagger confidently into your electrophonic midst!

netpd: Massively Multiplayer Music Online, Collaboratively (or, if you like, in a cage) [Create Digital Music]