Good morning,
INSTRUMENT O’ THE WEEK
This weeks instrument is the laser harp, first invented when somebody realized that lasers could be mixed with harps in an unholy alliance of lasers, hands, and midi interfaces. Suck on that!
It’s also very easy to build your own. Once you’ve done that, it’s childs-play to put together your very own [...]
Hello, my friends. It’s Tuesday, and you know what that means:
INSTRUMENT - OF - THE WEEK
This week we have information on the Axis 64 Midi Controller from C-thru-music. The keyboard on this controller is unique. The surface is covered with 192 keys that play 64 different notes. The keys are arranged in such a way [...]
Hey. I know these aren’t actually musical instruments. These are sequencers. Tangible hardware sequencers.
So why am I printing this? Because YOU try to find a new instrument every week. That’s what I thought.
What? You say we’ve never even covered the didgeridoo or the french horn? I don’t care. If you want to write IOTW, you’re more than welcome to. Until then, all you’re going to get are mixers, sequencers, and midi-directed microwaves. Asshole.
Anyways, the basic idea is that you have several instruments, some sort of input device to read the location of some objects and a lot of free time on your hands. Which is why you read this whole page to begin with.
This pocket sound performer allows you to create ‘hi-score’ music, which basically means it’ll sound like you’re killing a cat in a video game until you learn how to play the damned thing right. It uses a six LED display to help you figure out the song from mario 3. It has analog output that can be plugged in to your Gakken, and from the video it looks like it might even have a MIDI port.
If anybody could send me a test unit of one of these, I’d probably be happy for about 3 weeks.
This is Omer Yosha’s AirPiano. The device plays notes based on the proximity of your hands to a bunch of infrared light sensors. It really is a beautiful mix of a theremin and a normal piano. Yosha says:
I’m an Interface Design student from the FH Potsdam (near Berlin), i have a musical background, and the idea to create an AirPiano developed as i was playing around with the Arduino board, Processing and some IR sensors in my free time. It was fun controlling MIDI through moving my hands in the air, so i eventually found a way to set it all up in a way that makes sense and that is easy to control.
The concept behind the AirPiano is having a matrix in the air, with virtual keys & faders. The location of each key must be very clear for the user and easily learnt. The AirPiano is therefore only one example of an application that could adopt this concept. Since it is only the first prototype i built, it features at the moment a matrix with 3 layers, 8 keys for each layer. As long as a key is triggered, a note plays and an LED underneath the virtual key turns on (unfortunately it is hard to see it on the videos). The LEDs give the user additional feedback. The device is connected through USB and communicates with the AirPiano Software, which allows the user to assign each key/fader with a Note/Controller number, Channel and Velocity as well as transpose and save/load presets. The AirPiano Software can communicate with any MIDI instrument/sequencer. It is of course a polyphonic controller.
The AirPiano is not only fun to play, it also invites to experiment, to explore endless arrangements and develop new playing techniques. It might be useful for DJ performance, as a music therapy instrument or as a toy.
I’m at the moment trying to look for investors and people that could help me take this idea further. I presented the prototype two months ago in the Hannover Messe and received very good feedback. The concept is protected as a Provisional U.S. Patent Application.
Neat!
This b16 mini patch synthesizer is made only by Benjamin Fisher of Chimera Synthesis. It allows you to interconnect 15 different potentiometers to create infinitely unique sounds and loops in an easy manner. It also allows you to send MIDI signals out into other musical instruments, or even your microwave.
The bC16 miniature patch synthesizer packs a fully featured VCO, LFO, envelope generator, analog VCA, VCF, noise sources & ring modulator all in a CD sized case CNC machined from 10mm high-grade acrylic plastic.
Fifteen color coded potentiometers control key functions, connections between synthesizer sections are done using twenty-five 2mm mini-banana sockets.
Powered by either six AAA batteries or by an external (not supplied) 9 to 12v source, the bC16 can be used free standing (internal headphone amplifier), linked to an external keyboard/sequencer or MIDI-CV converters, combined with other bC16’s, etc…
Internal MIDI interface allows control (monophonic) of the VCO frequency, pitchbend, modulation, portamento and portamento rate.
Somebody finally made a MIDI controlled microwave! YES! Somebody also made a cute video for it!
This milk truck uses a bunch of solenoids and a midi keyboard to play music on half-full (half-empty?) bottles of milk. A neat idea, but you can probably see why this wouldn’t work so well for an ice cream truck.
This man’s organ can make almost any sound - 30 years before MIDI.
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