Pocket Gamelan: a Pure Data interface for java phones

This paper describes software tools used to create java applications for performing music using mobile phones. The tools provide a means for composers working in the Pure Data composition environment to design and audition performances using ensembles of mobile phones. These tools were developed as part of a larger project motivated by the desire to allow large groups of non-expert players to perform music based on just intonation using ubiquitous technology. The paper discusses the process that replicates a Pure Data patch so that it will operate within the hardware and software constraints of the Java 2 Micro Edition. It also describes development of objects that will enable mobile phone performances to be simulated accurately in PD and to audition microtonal tuning implemented using MIDI in the j2me environment. These tools eliminate the need for composers to compose for mobile phones by writing java code. In a single desktop application, they offer the composer the flexibility to write music for multiple phones.