Argot

Argot (noun) – ar·got | \ ˈär-(ˌ)gō  , -gət  \

: the language used by a particular type or group of people : an often more or less secret vocabulary and idiom peculiar to a particular group

(Merriam-Webster)

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Argot is an expressive, sample-based instrument inspired by the properties of the human voice, designed for live performance and fully customizable user voicebank creation.

Argot is free to download as an editable patch for Max/MSP and is open-source, distributed under the MIT License.

Play "syllables" live, dynamically constructed from a bank of samples.

Sound design in Argot is based around categorizing samples as different types of phonemes: "onsets" (consonants) or "rimes" (vowels). When a note is played, any pair of onset and rime is combined and blended to form a "syllable". This (and vocal-inspired features like legato and growl) transform any collection of samples into an immediate and reactive singular voice.

Use your own voice — or craft a language entirely new.

Voicebanks are fully editable and customizable. You can record your own voice and turn it into something you can play on the keyboard, but what makes Argot special is that it applies the same phonetic rules to any sounds you upload. Make Argot sing in syllables of drum hits and string pads, or guitar plucks and chiptune waveforms. Through this, Argot becomes an environment for experimental and emergent sound design. Let the combinations surprise you. 

             

Gestural control with a device you already have: the computer mouse.

Argot is designed with ease of adaptability in mind and includes features to turn any 5-button computer mouse or other device into an intuitive and expressive controller. No need for an expensive speciality device – Argot works with what you have. With one hand on a MIDI controller and the other on a mouse (or alternative), melodies with changing syllables can be made seamlessly, perfect for live performance. 

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Features:

• Unique phonetic sampling engine that dynamically combines and blends audio samples into "syllables" to be played as a melodic voice.
• 3 included preset voices and 10 savable user preset slots.
• Completely customizable voicebanks with up to 14 samples (9 onsets, 4 rimes, and one growl), each with independent playback settings (such as loop points, transposition, etc.).
• Gestural/expressive control for live syllable construction. 
• Vocal-inspired playback parameters like vibrato, portamento, legato, and growl.
• Robust support for configuration of 5-button computer mice and other HID/MIDI devices as expressive controllers.
• MIDI Aftertouch support for dynamics.

Requirements:

• Max/MSP by Cycling ' 74 on macOS or Windows (tested on Ver 8.3.0 and on macOS 11.6 Big Sur).
• A MIDI controller.
• A 5-button computer mouse or other MIDI/HID device (mouse support for expressive control available on Mac only).

Full documentation and installation instructions included the downloadable manual.

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Argot was originally created as my Master's thesis for the MS in Music & Technology degree at Carnegie Mellon University. Special thanks to Professors Jesse Stiles and Thomas Sullivan for being members of my thesis committee, and thanks to the rest of the Music & Technology faculty as well.

Also thanks to Emily Wang for gifting me an illustration of the mascot, which I've included on this page and in the manual.

Please let me know if you have any questions or issues with Argot by sending me an email at: wblamkin [at] gmail [dot] com. I would also love to see any projects made using it!

For more information on myself and other projects I’ve worked on, you can visit my website, my Bandcamp page, or my itch.io page.

Copyright © 2022 William Lamkin.