ipad controllers future direction for tuning?

with generalized controllers like this:
http://www.sky-light.jp/hex/hexoscfull.html

and various open ended things like this:
http://www.cmsoftwaredesigns.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=57&Itemid=67

it seems that there's already a lot of multi-touch MIDI stuff being developed. If this development keeps up, it seems likely we won't have to have specialized hardware controllers and can just use a single main multi-touch device to get a lot of alternately tuned wonderment.

What do folks here think about this stuff?

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "AaronW" <aaron@...> wrote:
> What do folks here think about this stuff?

I like musical phrases that are produced with something a little more sophisticated than a series of on/off switches. Unless we're all going to become organists, or harpsichordists.

Yeah, I like microtones, but I like nuances - like touch - even more.

I agree with you, but there's even velocity sensitivity possible here. The easiest solution is just pressing a slightly different place, like some apps that output different velocity by where you hit the key on the screen. BUT, there's other options. Some people have worked on developing velocity sensitivity based on offset in the device's positioning / accelerometer.

Then there's the use of the microphone to pick up the simple volume of the finger hitting the screen. Not flawless, but clearly works:
http://createdigitalmusic.com/2009/10/21/going-mobile-velocity-sensitive-touch-pads-on-an-iphone-igog-says-yes/

Obviously, that's only be good for recording with headphones with little background noise and not for live performance.

But the combination of these things would work for generalized note layouts etc.

And there's after-the-fact options such as Notion software's ability to do velocity overdub where notes can be entered first and then velocity overlaid using a velocity sensitive controller.

I know none of this will ever replace my fretless guitar or the human voice or a trombone, but it's still intriguing! (isn't it?)

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "jonszanto" <jszanto@...> wrote:
>
> --- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "AaronW" <aaron@> wrote:
> > What do folks here think about this stuff?
>
> I like musical phrases that are produced with something a little more sophisticated than a series of on/off switches. Unless we're all going to become organists, or harpsichordists.
>
> Yeah, I like microtones, but I like nuances - like touch - even more.
>

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "AaronW" <aaron@...> wrote:
>
> I know none of this will ever replace my fretless guitar or the human voice or a trombone, but it's still intriguing! (isn't it?)

Oh, absolutely. My comment was more in lines with "oh, well, microtonal live playing/recording is still a ways off for now (for me) in this way..."

The other thing for (me) to keep in mind is that absence of something isn't always bad, it is just different, if looked at in the proper light. Lemons/lemonaid, etc.

On 13.05.2010, at 02:41, AaronW wrote:
> I agree with you, but there's even velocity sensitivity possible > here. The easiest solution is just pressing a slightly different > place, like some apps that output different velocity by where you > hit the key on the screen. BUT, there's other options. Some people > have worked on developing velocity sensitivity based on offset in > the device's positioning / accelerometer.

It might be an option to use the size of the area touched as a continuous controller, it is then quasi responding on pressure applied by a finger. No idea whether the iPhone/iPad actually allows for this..

Best wishes,
Torsten

--
Torsten Anders
Interdisciplinary Centre for Computer Music Research
University of Plymouth
Office: +44-1752-586219
Private: +44-1752-558917
http://strasheela.sourceforge.net
http://www.torsten-anders.de

http://createdigitalmusic.com/2010/05/15/roger-linn-imagines-a-new-multi-touch-instrument-and-help/#more-11033

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "AaronW" <aaron@...> wrote:
>
> with generalized controllers like this:
> http://www.sky-light.jp/hex/hexoscfull.html
>
> and various open ended things like this:
> http://www.cmsoftwaredesigns.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=57&Itemid=67
>
> it seems that there's already a lot of multi-touch MIDI stuff being developed. If this development keeps up, it seems likely we won't have to have specialized hardware controllers and can just use a single main multi-touch device to get a lot of alternately tuned wonderment.
>
> What do folks here think about this stuff?
>

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Kalle Aho" <kalleaho@...> wrote:
>
> http://createdigitalmusic.com/2010/05/15/roger-linn-imagines-a-
> new-multi-touch-instrument-and-help/#more-11033

Saw that. What a woeful demo! Linn's a smart guy, but that
thing will never be useful for anything but synthwankery.
Which admittedly, is a sizable market.

iPad is definitely the touch platform to target. I have
designs for a microtonal keyboard app, but mainly as something
to test different mappings and prototype physical designs.
Hex OSC is already pretty close, but their keys are too small
and you need an OSC synth to escape 12-ET.

To answer an earlier question, a couple years ago there was a
company promoting iPhone velocity/pressure-sensitivity via the
size of the fingerprint. They were trying to sell it as a
library for making apps. They had an unfinished demo app that
didn't work very well, and they seem to have dropped off the
radar since. My guess is that the first company to produce a
good velocity/pressure-sensitivity touch display will be Apple.

-Carl

That Roger Linn thing is great.

I think what I'm really talking about isn't the absolute potential for some strange tech instrument thing, it is the simple affordability and practicality of multi-touch devices becoming common. In another 5 years, we will probably see a huge percentage of the public having general multi-touch computers with various capabilities. Then, instead of investing a lot of money in complex hardware that achieves only a single function, there will only be a small cost for very flexible software to run on the thing people already have. When really capable and easy-to-use microtonal software for these things becomes available... well, I'm optimistic about the potential.

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Carl Lumma" <carl@...> wrote:
>
> --- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Kalle Aho" <kalleaho@> wrote:
> >
> > http://createdigitalmusic.com/2010/05/15/roger-linn-imagines-a-
> > new-multi-touch-instrument-and-help/#more-11033
>
> Saw that. What a woeful demo! Linn's a smart guy, but that
> thing will never be useful for anything but synthwankery.
> Which admittedly, is a sizable market.
>
> iPad is definitely the touch platform to target. I have
> designs for a microtonal keyboard app, but mainly as something
> to test different mappings and prototype physical designs.
> Hex OSC is already pretty close, but their keys are too small
> and you need an OSC synth to escape 12-ET.
>
> To answer an earlier question, a couple years ago there was a
> company promoting iPhone velocity/pressure-sensitivity via the
> size of the fingerprint. They were trying to sell it as a
> library for making apps. They had an unfinished demo app that
> didn't work very well, and they seem to have dropped off the
> radar since. My guess is that the first company to produce a
> good velocity/pressure-sensitivity touch display will be Apple.
>
> -Carl
>