#square controller

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Electrix Tweaker Now Available

News of the Electrix Tweaker has been floating around the internet for a little more than a month, and early demos of the unit at trade shows such as BPM gave us a few clues about this odd looking controller.  Now that it’s actually available to buy, reviewers are getting their chances to put it to the test and see if it’s worth the price tag.  The first thing anyone will notice about the controller is its shape.  At 11 inches by 10 inches, its square shape sets it apart from other devices that are much more appealing and closer to the golden ratio that we’re pulled to.

[embed width="656"]http://youtu.be/h6soZMwr3zI[/embed]

Everything except for the two faders opposite of each other are brightly lit with colorful LED’s, so it may be hard to keep up your thug appeal with Easter pinks and green glaring at your face.  To the left of the unit are 3 push encoders (3 to the right as well), which I think are classy to have on a controller of this type.  LEDs on each encoder visually show you the value of each knob, instead of having to rely on marked knobs or “feeling”.  Front and center, you are given a small button grid display, with a large pad display directly above. http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2012/11/12/electrix-tweaker-now-available

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Bhoreal: RGB Grid as Open Source Hardware

We would like to see unusual form become the norm of DJ equipment, but just like every other facet in life, the box wins.  Our houses are a gigantic box, our computer screens are box, and our cars are a box on wheels – naturally DJ equipment would be shaped as a box as well, right?  Maybe it is the golden ratio that draws us to perfect rectangles, but squares and square shaped units are just as desirable.  The Novation Launchpad is the perfect example of a squared device that comes symmetrically laid out on each side.  Producers and DJs love them and will continue to as long as we desire the box shape. [embed width="656"]https://vimeo.com/midbcn/wearebhoreal[/embed] The Launchpad, and more specifically, its shape, is something of an old idea.  Controllers have actually been built in this design before, but at higher cost and by companies who cannot mass produce them as well.  Why should a single company own the rights to the idea of a box?  The Bhoreal RGB grid seeks to slash the ownership of the design, by offering an open source design for MIDI controllers.  It plays on the same square grid shape, so you can be sure that users will have an affinity towards it. http://createdigitalmusic.com/2013/04/bhoreal-rgb-grid-as-open-source-hardware-even-ready-made-wireless/

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The Meganome

I wonder where the term square came from.  I don’t mean the geometric shape or the term that gets tossed around math classes, but the term square which is given to nerds or people that live too normal of a life.  It is easy to laugh and call someone a square because their lives are quite simple and ordinary – but the square, at least in our reality, is king.  Everything is a square in some shape or form.  A house a made of six squares and so is a car.  Wallets and credit cards do not come in oval or circular shapes; there come in share or rectangle shapes – so ultimately it is the square which will win. [embed width="656"]http://youtu.be/b_LLdJ9gqk8[/embed] Controllers tend to stick to the square shape.  Why is that?  Clearly it would be much easier to deliver equal pressure to a round or finger-shaped pad, yet it is the square which usually wins on any controller deck.  I think it has to do with the way our eyes respond to shapes.  It is easier to count a group of squares that line up with each other and harder to do the same with circles.   Mononomes and other devices that only use squares are smart; it helps us organize. http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2013/04/29/meganome-arduino-midi-controller/

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Electrix Tweaker Controller

There are plenty of controllers that look like cookie cutter designs of each other.  Each manufacturing company wants to create the latest and greatest, but they live in fear of overextending their creativity.  This happens all the time.  Numark has been adept that trying new things, only to discover that they didn’t catch on the way they thought it would.  Sony, who only has a little part of the DJ industry, knows what it is like to create something revolutionary (like the Minidisc) only to see it flop in real time.  It’s risky when you want to decide on a new direction for your company, which is why we see controllers playing it safe. The laptop controller, like the LPD8, is about is simple as it gets.  There are more than a handful of these with the same layout and feel; there will not be a shortage any time soon.  The Kontrol F1 design is also a form factor what we will continue to see.  The Electrix Tweaker is, on the other hand, one of a kind.  It has been reviewed before, but I can understand why a DJ would want a chance to get at this controller.  It is eccentric in all ways, yet beautiful. http://djmag.com/content/electrix-tweaker-controller