Andy Matuschak
@andymatuschak.org
More wonder, more insight, more expression, more joy!
Currently exploring tools that augment human memory and attention.
https://andymatuschak.org
Twitter: andy_matuschak
Mastodon: @[email protected]
Currently exploring tools that augment human memory and attention.
https://andymatuschak.org
Twitter: andy_matuschak
Mastodon: @[email protected]
Most recently, I thought about it when looking at this photo of me at age 3 playing with Kid Pix. So free! No need for the art to be great! The opposite of what Alan's talking about, and yet some of my happiest childhood memories.
Anyway. How do you grapple with this quote?
Anyway. How do you grapple with this quote?
August 5, 2025 at 4:52 AM
Most recently, I thought about it when looking at this photo of me at age 3 playing with Kid Pix. So free! No need for the art to be great! The opposite of what Alan's talking about, and yet some of my happiest childhood memories.
Anyway. How do you grapple with this quote?
Anyway. How do you grapple with this quote?
It's useful sometimes as a sort of pump: is there a deeper, more powerful version of this idea I'm thinking about?
August 5, 2025 at 4:52 AM
It's useful sometimes as a sort of pump: is there a deeper, more powerful version of this idea I'm thinking about?
In what senses is the quote true or useful? One thing I like about it is that it takes for granted that the listener (me!) can work on great ideas, make a great contribution. Most work doesn't even try. But it's worth trying. The sentiment makes me want to set my sights higher.
August 5, 2025 at 4:52 AM
In what senses is the quote true or useful? One thing I like about it is that it takes for granted that the listener (me!) can work on great ideas, make a great contribution. Most work doesn't even try. But it's worth trying. The sentiment makes me want to set my sights higher.
It's also misleading: you can't "only work on great ideas" because you can't know ahead of time which seedlings will become great.
August 5, 2025 at 4:52 AM
It's also misleading: you can't "only work on great ideas" because you can't know ahead of time which seedlings will become great.
Held as a lens, it really has pushed me to work on projects that have felt a lot more meaningful, long-term. But it's also corrosive: it crowds out playful curiosity, tinkering, etc. Alan's own history is full of that.
August 5, 2025 at 4:52 AM
Held as a lens, it really has pushed me to work on projects that have felt a lot more meaningful, long-term. But it's also corrosive: it crowds out playful curiosity, tinkering, etc. Alan's own history is full of that.
BTW: I found this paper through Google Scholar alerts for SpaceInk, a paper with a creative marginalia design that I still really want in my reading software. buff.ly/Z6JK6wV
This paper shares two authors (Emmanuel Pietriga, Caroline Appert). I'm glad they're still thinking about these topics!
This paper shares two authors (Emmanuel Pietriga, Caroline Appert). I'm glad they're still thinking about these topics!
June 19, 2025 at 10:19 PM
BTW: I found this paper through Google Scholar alerts for SpaceInk, a paper with a creative marginalia design that I still really want in my reading software. buff.ly/Z6JK6wV
This paper shares two authors (Emmanuel Pietriga, Caroline Appert). I'm glad they're still thinking about these topics!
This paper shares two authors (Emmanuel Pietriga, Caroline Appert). I'm glad they're still thinking about these topics!
There's so much very thoughtful design work and writing in this paper! I really admire the commitment to modelessness, to informality, to the nonlinear realities of the creative process, to the expressivity of ink. I wish my reading and writing environments had half this thoughtfulness.
June 19, 2025 at 10:19 PM
There's so much very thoughtful design work and writing in this paper! I really admire the commitment to modelessness, to informality, to the nonlinear realities of the creative process, to the expressivity of ink. I wish my reading and writing environments had half this thoughtfulness.
Also supporting theme-and-variation: EtherPen can fuzzy-search for a selection (including only by pitch or duration). So if a sequence is repeated but transposed or doubled in time, that'll show up too. There's also a novel minimap representation.
June 19, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Also supporting theme-and-variation: EtherPen can fuzzy-search for a selection (including only by pitch or duration). So if a sequence is repeated but transposed or doubled in time, that'll show up too. There's also a novel minimap representation.
Notes (both engraved and handwritten!) can be selected and directly manipulated in pitch and time.
EtherPen also allows you to select only the pitches or durations of notes—useful for theme-and-variation. e.g. copy pitches and paste them over notes in a different bar without affecting their rhythm.
EtherPen also allows you to select only the pitches or durations of notes—useful for theme-and-variation. e.g. copy pitches and paste them over notes in a different bar without affecting their rhythm.
June 19, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Notes (both engraved and handwritten!) can be selected and directly manipulated in pitch and time.
EtherPen also allows you to select only the pitches or durations of notes—useful for theme-and-variation. e.g. copy pitches and paste them over notes in a different bar without affecting their rhythm.
EtherPen also allows you to select only the pitches or durations of notes—useful for theme-and-variation. e.g. copy pitches and paste them over notes in a different bar without affecting their rhythm.
On the "main" staves, engraved notes, handwritten notes, audio files all co-exist in continuous playback. So you can capture one section by humming, one section by drawing, and one through formal notation. (You can also take a photo and anchor it to a measure, but it won't yet be OCR'd!)
June 19, 2025 at 10:18 PM
On the "main" staves, engraved notes, handwritten notes, audio files all co-exist in continuous playback. So you can capture one section by humming, one section by drawing, and one through formal notation. (You can also take a photo and anchor it to a measure, but it won't yet be OCR'd!)
EuterPen can interpret handwritten music (e.g. for playback or manipulation) *without* needing to replace your ink with engraved notes. In fact, you can non-destructively switch between handwritten and engraved representations. This lets composers visually indicate what's still work-in-progress.
June 19, 2025 at 10:18 PM
EuterPen can interpret handwritten music (e.g. for playback or manipulation) *without* needing to replace your ink with engraved notes. In fact, you can non-destructively switch between handwritten and engraved representations. This lets composers visually indicate what's still work-in-progress.
Staves can be created within a pensieve, and they work just like in the "real" score: they can be played, manipulated, and copied into the main score.
June 19, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Staves can be created within a pensieve, and they work just like in the "real" score: they can be played, manipulated, and copied into the main score.
EuterPen relaxes many of those constraints, but it also offers dedicated scratch spaces, "pensieves", for non-linear exploration. Pensieves can be global or spatially anchored below staves (using a SpaceInk-like gesture).
The pensieve can hold ink, engraved music, audio files, imagery, etc.
The pensieve can hold ink, engraved music, audio files, imagery, etc.
June 19, 2025 at 10:18 PM
EuterPen relaxes many of those constraints, but it also offers dedicated scratch spaces, "pensieves", for non-linear exploration. Pensieves can be global or spatially anchored below staves (using a SpaceInk-like gesture).
The pensieve can hold ink, engraved music, audio files, imagery, etc.
The pensieve can hold ink, engraved music, audio files, imagery, etc.
The paper: buff.ly/CWYlNfP
A demo video: buff.ly/V9mbNQV
Music engraving software suffers from the tyranny of formality[1]: musical notation has to follow lots of rules (e.g. 4 beats per bar in common time). That really gets in the way when jotting down ideas.
[1] buff.ly/T9DXqcG
A demo video: buff.ly/V9mbNQV
Music engraving software suffers from the tyranny of formality[1]: musical notation has to follow lots of rules (e.g. 4 beats per bar in common time). That really gets in the way when jotting down ideas.
[1] buff.ly/T9DXqcG
June 19, 2025 at 10:18 PM
The paper: buff.ly/CWYlNfP
A demo video: buff.ly/V9mbNQV
Music engraving software suffers from the tyranny of formality[1]: musical notation has to follow lots of rules (e.g. 4 beats per bar in common time). That really gets in the way when jotting down ideas.
[1] buff.ly/T9DXqcG
A demo video: buff.ly/V9mbNQV
Music engraving software suffers from the tyranny of formality[1]: musical notation has to follow lots of rules (e.g. 4 beats per bar in common time). That really gets in the way when jotting down ideas.
[1] buff.ly/T9DXqcG
Assemble:
"The lunch rotation works this way: if you are present for a meal, you get one point. The people with the most points at the start of the week, at our Monday morning meeting, are allocated a day that week to cook. Every time someone cooks, we rub off five eating points from their tally."
"The lunch rotation works this way: if you are present for a meal, you get one point. The people with the most points at the start of the week, at our Monday morning meeting, are allocated a day that week to cook. Every time someone cooks, we rub off five eating points from their tally."
June 17, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Assemble:
"The lunch rotation works this way: if you are present for a meal, you get one point. The people with the most points at the start of the week, at our Monday morning meeting, are allocated a day that week to cook. Every time someone cooks, we rub off five eating points from their tally."
"The lunch rotation works this way: if you are present for a meal, you get one point. The people with the most points at the start of the week, at our Monday morning meeting, are allocated a day that week to cook. Every time someone cooks, we rub off five eating points from their tally."
Lots of details on process and logistics, but I particularly liked this sweet little system for figuring out who makes lunch (is there any creative-collaborative technology more enabling than a daily group lunch??)
Q: Can you briefly explain the lunch rota?
(cont…)
Q: Can you briefly explain the lunch rota?
(cont…)
June 17, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Lots of details on process and logistics, but I particularly liked this sweet little system for figuring out who makes lunch (is there any creative-collaborative technology more enabling than a daily group lunch??)
Q: Can you briefly explain the lunch rota?
(cont…)
Q: Can you briefly explain the lunch rota?
(cont…)
Or maybe the trick is just to spend enough time together so that our personal lives, experiences, and ideas merge into one another to the point that the question of individual ownership fades away on its own."
June 17, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Or maybe the trick is just to spend enough time together so that our personal lives, experiences, and ideas merge into one another to the point that the question of individual ownership fades away on its own."
… We all benefit from being able to appropriate each other’s productions and opinions without having to credit each other, even though it is true that there is a fine line between appropriation and theft. It also allows more room to change our minds. (cont…)
June 17, 2025 at 8:40 PM
… We all benefit from being able to appropriate each other’s productions and opinions without having to credit each other, even though it is true that there is a fine line between appropriation and theft. It also allows more room to change our minds. (cont…)
Q: How did/do you feel about sharing the authorship of your art?
åyr:
"It is as annoying as it is liberating. When we try to write with individual voices, we end up editing each other to the point that the whole separation of voices loses its point. (cont…)
åyr:
"It is as annoying as it is liberating. When we try to write with individual voices, we end up editing each other to the point that the whole separation of voices loses its point. (cont…)
June 17, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Q: How did/do you feel about sharing the authorship of your art?
åyr:
"It is as annoying as it is liberating. When we try to write with individual voices, we end up editing each other to the point that the whole separation of voices loses its point. (cont…)
åyr:
"It is as annoying as it is liberating. When we try to write with individual voices, we end up editing each other to the point that the whole separation of voices loses its point. (cont…)
… A pregnant time, rich in possibilities and open to the unknown. What division of labour can these moments of fallowness have? It is here that a productivist reading of a collective faces a serious blockage. It misses the beauty and dilemmas of collective work."
June 17, 2025 at 8:40 PM
… A pregnant time, rich in possibilities and open to the unknown. What division of labour can these moments of fallowness have? It is here that a productivist reading of a collective faces a serious blockage. It misses the beauty and dilemmas of collective work."
… We bring different affinities, skill sets and aptitudes to the process of making. These inflect the work. But a collective’s life is also between moments of making. A waiting, replete with fallow, unspoken, unwritten, lingering time. (cont…)
June 17, 2025 at 8:40 PM
… We bring different affinities, skill sets and aptitudes to the process of making. These inflect the work. But a collective’s life is also between moments of making. A waiting, replete with fallow, unspoken, unwritten, lingering time. (cont…)