#gesture midi

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Numark Orbit Demo

The idea of using some sort of gaming controller as MIDI controller is nothing new.  There have been many successful attempts by regular hackers to use a Nintendo Wii guitar or a Wiimote to act as a gesture interpreting device for MIDI control.  The best part is that these amateurs have shown just how easily a technology can be adapted, given the right set of tools and a good chunk of time.  You would think that these companies are watching the amateurs and their interaction with the gear they’ve produced – and they have.  For the first time in a while a company has actually designed a product around a well known hack; turning a MIDI controller into a “controller” in the gaming sense of the word. The Numark Orbit is a playful step in the right direction and looks like something that belongs with a gaming system rather than a DJ setup.  Still, there are many that see the value in a controller than doesn’t have to be placed on the table to use.  As an added bonus Numark has thrown in a piece of software to help map the device for visual learners.  Toy or not, this device is definitely remarkable. http://www.digitaldjtips.com/2013/04/musikmesse-2013-numark-orbit-demo/

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A Tangible Sequencing Instrument

When I was a child I had access to all sorts of musical instruments – some of them were very hard to understand.  The piano was a mystery to me for a very long time until I got to see one of them opened up and tuned by a professional.  On the other hand, drums were very straightforward and even the snare drum was easy to deconstruct as a sum of all of its parts.  Still, there were other musical instruments that I had experienced where I could not understand exactly how they work – even more, I could not figure out how a person could even think to build such a machine. [embed width="656"]http://youtu.be/GcHN8h6XP98[/embed] The music box was one of the biggest mysteries to me.  It was wound up with spring, and on its playback it would play music with perfect tone and perfect timing.  It used a wheel that simply scrolled around in a big circle, hitting tuned piece of metal like a flat toothed comb.  Today we consider something like this a piece of history, but that same concept can be used with digital technology.  This time it uses optical sensors and feedback to a computer to create those notes digitally. http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2013/05/19/teeter-tangible-sequencing-instrument/

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Apple Wants to Pull Orphion Music App Over Touch APIs

Apple users have long since had the benefit of sheer volume of apps that are available for them to tinker with.  For every drum machine that is listed in the Google Store, there are ten or twenty different iOS app that can do the same thing, and even do it better.  Apple does not have any shortage of apps being sent through their stores, and because of this, Apple really can pick and choose who they want to support and who they won’t.  The ironic part of this is that developers have noted how hard it is to get updates submitted to their apps, and this happens because of Apple’s stringent selection process. While they do like variety and apps in large numbers, they take certain steps to make sure an app won’t harm users’ devices, and also to make sure that an Apple update along with this app won’t cause serious issues.  DJs and producers who use touch and gesture based apps should know that these aren’t simply toy applications.  They require a bit more control than the something like a game, so Apple is keen to make sure that there isn’t too much meddling going on underneath the surface. http://createdigitalmusic.com/2013/06/hands-off-apple-wants-to-pull-orphion-music-app-over-touch-apis/

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NATIVE INSTRUMENTS GESTURE CONTROLLED DJ SYSTEM

Here is an amazing idea that has been thought of before, but was never possible until now.  Imagine that you have your regular DVS system in front of you.  For most of is it will consist of a laptop, a controller of some sort, a mixer, and even a few turntables if you still use digital vinyl.  When we get deeper into the system we realize that most of what we need to do is controlled by hand movements on your controller or key inputs into your computer.  No matter how much of the system we try to automate by using hand gestures – it still does not eliminate the fact that we need to use keyboard to type in information. Imagine if we could just look at a song with our eyes and the computer would know to select it.  Imagine if our facial gestures like an eyebrow moving up and down could scroll this list of songs up and down for our choosing.  This still sounds like science fiction to me – but one day this will be possible and it will also be considered normal.  When this finally happens, we can completely eliminate the need for a standard keyboard. http://www.loudat.com/pioneer-native-instruments-gesture-controlled-dj-system

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Add Multi-Touch Expression To Your Existing Keyboard

If you want to know where DJ technology is going to be in the future, you don’t need to look much farther than the standard club mixer to see where it has come from.  Let’s break it down into components rather than actual mixers, since each Brand has their own take on the top tier and budget friendly mixer.   Crossfader technology has changed so much, but few will actually know what is going on inside their mixers when they fade left to right.  Old crossfaders used contact on each side of it to signal the mixer to either cut or channel audio.  While it was direct and worked well, it also got very beat up as a result. Later mixers put much more focus on performing the same task, but without having to take as much abuse.  Optical faders were the next up on the plate, which used “light” as a method of marking position on a fader.  Then we moved on to capacitance technology, which used sort of an invisible force field to detect where the fader was positioned.  Today, capacitance technology is used in just about everything from smartphones to controllers, and they will most likely be implemented in pianos. http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2013/07/29/touchkeys-promises-to-add-multi-touch-expression-to-your-existing-keyboard/

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DJ Player and Myo Armband – wireless iOS gesture control

Gesture and motion control is all about taking baby steps while looking at the big picture.  The guys who have developed sensors that can accurately interpret what the hand want to – they have no idea about how this will all work logistically with computer programs.  Therein lies the real problem.  Not everything works better when it is touch free; and for some actions and motions – it pays to actually to have a dedicated button there that lets you know when something is on and off. The placement of the actual sensor is very important here.  While some items keep the sensor stationary while the hand moves in front of it – others attach the sensor directly to the hand to receive input.  Which method works best?  I would think that positioning a sensor on the body can be a much more trick task, since the body can make some weird positions.  Some may have this sensor located on the hand or even the finger – while others have actually made use of sticking it somewhere else.  No matter where the sensor is place, it doesn’t magically add creativity in a performance – it must be well thought out in order to be something of significance. http://djworx.com/dj-player-myo-armband-wireless-ios-gesture-control/#.U2vdBPldW1A

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Skoog 2

There is no shortage of weird or strange MIDI controller out there, but I’m very thankful that such things actually exist.  I have seen it all, from your traditional controllers with a keyboard layout, to odd shapes and sizes that are meant to be actuated in nontraditional ways.  Occasionally there is a design that seems like it would be very useful, such as a cube shaped controller with six sides – but then once you get it in the studio you discover that it is hard to mentally break ourselves from what a controller is supposed to look and feel like. The Skoog 2.0 has perhaps the most fitting name of any odd shaped controller that I’ve seen in a while.  It has six sides like a cube and it is mean to be used with two hands.  You can wave a single hand over an area to trigger and effect, but you can also squeeze the thing for another type of command.  Rarely is anything squeezed on a keyboard or a MIDI controller that we know of.  Some say that this type of device would be very useful when trying to activate effects or something with color on an x/y scale. http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2014/11/10/skoog-2-an-accessible-wireless-midi-controller/