The next step in translating these interactions into usable components of artistic installations was to create software-based versions that can be used easily. To do that I began working on data parsing for blockchain data into Max/MSP. This was the first time I accessed the Blockchain API and it was rather difficult to understand at first. Using normal HTTPS GET requests I was able to access information on the latest block and then use the hexadecimal hash address as the source for my transcoding.
It toook a long time to figure out what objects to use to break apart and transcode this information but as is the standard practice with Max/MSP, I worked on it for about 3 weeks and then found an object that could do exactly what I needed to do. That being said, my preliminary work was not lost because it allowed me to parse the information in multiple ways and to create basic hexadecimal to MIDI note translaters.
I’d like to figure out how to take all these objects to the next level and combine them into an actual Max Package with help patchers and reference pages. I think I just need to dig in a little deeper so that I can understand the workflow for taking a group of objects and turning them into a polished and publishable package./