One of the reasons why I love Super Mario Maker, or really any video game with a robust level editor, is seeing how far dedicated individuals will push the tools. I live to see the kinds of shenanigans these folks pull off that the original creators never intended, programming working calculators or whatever out of the background blocks you jump off of.
But this kind of technological creativity is by no means limited to video games. I’ve always assumed Microsoft Excel was a powerful program. But I also assumed its power was mostly in service of boring stuff like data entry. That’s certainly what I use it for. However, my entire conception of Excel has now been totally turned upside by this working music composition software created with the ubiquitous office app.
Where to even start with this. This Digital Audio Workstation, xlStudio, was created by electronic musician Dylan Tallchief as a more fleshed-out version of his Excel drum machine from a few months ago. If you, like me, are confused as to how Excel can make any sounds in the first place, it’s by generating the MIDI files than are then played by your computer’s synthesizer or an external device.
Really, that’s how all DAW work, albeit real DAW can use outside plug-ins to expand their potential sound library. But xlStudio isn’t totally inflexible. You can export files compatible with Ableton software. More delightful, the format of Excel itself makes it fairly intuitive for common DAW tasks including separate tabs for inputting individual notes on the piano roll or mass entering chords with shortcuts. It’s time to get back on the vaporwave train.
If that sounds cool, you can hear what xlStudio is fully capable of for yourself by downloading it for free. “Take On Me” never sounded so… workplace-y.
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