TESSERAKT 01
TRANSFORM
Operators
operators/Elementary operations on MIDI events and values. Delay a note, mirror a pattern, reshape a range or extract a particular event. Each device gives you a small operation to compose with.
Browse operators ↗A modular environment for live interactionMAX FOR LIVE / MIDI / OSC
TESSERAKT2.0
Compose the
relationships.
Small operations. Connected worlds. Behaviours that unfold through interaction.
A family of Max for Live devices for composing with MIDI, OSC and signal flow — from a single transformation to a system you perform with.
THE SECOND ITERATION
Building on the published TesserAkt library, 2.0 brings its architecture into focus through second-order cybernetics: the performer belongs inside the system.
01—04 / RELATIONAL FIELD4D → 2D
A visual metaphor for a connected instrument
Operators · transform an event
Elementary MIDI operations: delay, mirror, scale, select or trigger.
MIDI / events & controlOSC / connections & exchangeSIGNAL FLOW / relations over time
01 / THE ARCHITECTURE
From an operation
to an unfolding behaviour.
Four levels of articulation. Combine them to shape how events become relationships, and how relationships become a performance.
02
CONNECT
Bridges
bridges/Connections between different sources and forms of data. Bring sensor information into a musical setup, translate between MIDI and OSC, or connect control streams to notation and visuals.
Browse bridges ↗03
ARTICULATE
Morphisms
morphisms/Higher-level devices that articulate transformations into musical relationships. Here the focus expands from what happens to one event to how a process shapes patterns, gestures and structures over time.
Browse morphisms ↗04
ORGANISE
Agents
agents/The upper layer organises behaviour across a performance: cueing, prompting, repeating or coordinating events. An agent gives a process a role within the encounter between performer and system.
Browse agents ↗The repository also contains core utilities and further experiments supporting this architecture. Individual device repositories hold their own patches and documentation.
02 / SECOND-ORDER CYBERNETICS
The performer
is inside
the loop.
You shape the system.
The system shapes your next gesture.
Tesserakt 2.0 approaches performance as a circular relationship: listening, acting and adjusting are part of the same process. The performer decides what to attend to, how to interpret a response, and when to change the connections.
That is its second-order perspective. A feedback cable alone is not enough: the person observing, configuring and playing the instrument is also a participant in what unfolds.
ONE POSSIBLE ENCOUNTER
You play a phrase. Its timing becomes control information. That information reshapes a response. You hear the response, adjust your next phrase, and perhaps change the mapping itself.
↳ Listen · act · reconfigure · listen againA compositional perspective, not a claim that every device learns or acts autonomously. “Agent” names a role in the architecture.
03 / CONTINUITY & PRACTICE
A new articulation.
An existing practice.
Tesserakt grew from the Fraktale Lab within Atlas of Smooth Spaces, the artistic research project at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw).
This second iteration builds on that published library. The archive remains a reference for its earlier work; the current repositories document the developing environment.
Explore the existing archive ↗Build your own relations.
Use the Max for Live devices in Ableton Live, connect the pieces your setup needs, and shape a performance from their interaction. Check each device’s documentation for its requirements and routing.
The website is a presentation of the environment. The devices run in Max for Live.