John Keston has announced a Gestural Music Sequencer Generative Music Contest for users of his GMS music sequencer.

GMS is a Gestural Music Sequencer developed in Processing. The application samples video and displays it either normally or inverted so it looks as though you’re looking into a mirror. Each frame is analyzed for brightness, then the X and Y data of the brightest pixel is converted into a MIDI note.

GMS is available as a free download for Mac & Windows.

Details on the contest below.

The rules for the competition are simple. Create an instrumental track using the GMS. Every layer in the composition must be generated by video input fed into the GMS either through a camera, or by loading a pre-recorded video clip. There are no limitations as to what software or hardware is used to interface with the GMS in order to create the instrument sounds and produce the piece.

Editing and looping of the GMS MIDI output is allowed within reason. Please refrain from looping phrases that are shorter than one bar, or shifting several notes to tailor the melodies. I suggest experimenting with the note and duration probability distributions. All the drums and rhythmic patterns must be created using the GMS as well.

Write one-hundred to three-hundred words about how you produced your track and post it as a comment to this entry with a link to a 192Kbps or better MP3 file of the complete track. Links to a bio or videos about your process are great too. The track must be licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. The tracks will be judged by a panel of representatives from Unearthed Music and myself. The submission deadline is Tuesday, June 1, 2010. Thanks, and have fun!