MIDI Mad Science and Mayhem (Soundhackers #5 "Controller Crazy")
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Transcript of MIDI Mad Science and Mayhem (Soundhackers #5 "Controller Crazy")
Leif Bloomquist
Soundhackers Meetup #5 “Controller Crazy”
@ New Adventures In Sound ArtArtscape Wychwood Barns, Toronto, ON
June 26th 2014
MIDI Mad Science and Mayhem
1. Introduction
2. SonicWear SoMo as a MIDI Controller
3. LEAP Motion as a MIDI Controller (demo)
4. MIDI Interfaces for the Commodore 64 and VIC-20 (demo)
5. midifire16 MIDI-controlled flame effects controller
6. Organic Evolution: MIDI-Controlled Pipe Organ concerts series
7. MIDIMapperX
8. Contact info
Controller Crazy!
• “Classically trained” in clarinet and percussion including several summers at the International Music Camp in North Dakota, USA
• Have been dabbling with music, composing, and technology since the 1980s
• Moved to Waterloo in 1992 to study Systems Design Engineering
• Moved to Toronto in 1997 and discovered the Ambient Ping, Riot Art and other experimental music communities
• Occasional “live” gigs as Schema Factor / Interweaver
• Playing with the tech is half the fun!
• In general I release my tools and techniques open-source
• Enable other electronic musicians to build on ideas!
• “Day job” in software engineering at MDA, creators of the Canadarm
Introduction
• Some early experiments with Arduino-based accelerometers and MIDI (NAISA TransX 2013)
• Discovered Loretta Faveri’s SonicWear project at OCADU in 2013
• Exactly what I was looking for!
• Wrote some Arduino code and found some open source applications to adapt it to a MIDI controller to use in any audio software
SonicWear SoMo as a MIDI Controller
SonicWear SoMo as a MIDI Controller
SonicWear SoMo
Wireless Serial/USB Driver
loopMIDI (Only needed on Windows)
“Hairless MIDI Bridge”
DAW(Ableton, FL Studio, MAX, etc.)
• Interactive input device that tracks hand and finger positions through infrared sensors
• Music is a natural fit!
LEAP Motion as a MIDI Controller
• Several music apps in the LEAP “Airspace” store:GECO, Chordion Conductor, AirHarp, AeroMIDI…
• Chose GECO MIDI, simple and intuitive ($9.99)
• Windows or MacOS
LEAP Motion as a MIDI Controller
demo
LEAP Motion as a MIDI Controller
LEAP Motion
LEAP Motion Driver
loopMIDI (Only needed on Windows)
GECO MIDI
DAW(Ableton, FL Studio, MAX, etc.)
LEAP Motion Visualizer
• I adore my Commodore 64!
• The C64’s longevity has been in part to its innovative SID (Sound Interface Device) chip and its distinctive sound (specs next page)
• SID chip was designed by Robert "Bob" Yannes, who went on to found Ensoniq
• Highly sought after by DJs and composers
• Subculture of remixing classic game tunes
• “Chiptunes” music generated by classic video games and computers (Nintendo, GameBoy, Atari, Commodore…)
• There were several MIDI products during the heyday, with more coming
Commodore MIDI Projects
• Three separately programmable independent audio oscillators (8 octave range, approximately 16 - 4000 Hz)
• Four different waveforms per audio oscillator (sawtooth, triangle, pulse, noise)
• One multi mode filter featuring low-pass, high-pass and band-pass outputs with 6 dB/oct (bandpass) or 12 dB/octave (lowpass/highpass) rolloff. The different filter-modes are sometimes combined to produce additional timbres, for instance a notch-reject filter.
• Three attack/decay/sustain/release (ADSR) volume controls, one for each audio oscillator.
• Three ring modulators.
• Oscillator sync for each audio oscillator.
• Two 8-bit A/D converters (typically used for game control paddles, but later also used for a mouse)
• External audio input (for sound mixing with external signal sources)
• Random number/modulation generator
MOS Technology 6581 SID Specifications
• “MIDI SID Software Integrated Applications and Hardware” released in 2006
• Based on the previously released Prophet64 cartridge (no MIDI)
• Sequencer
• Mono Synthesizer (TB-303 style sequencer)
• Bassline (TB-303 style sound)
• Drummer (TR-909 style interface)
• MIDI Input
(I have no involvement in this, just a satisfied customer. www.prophet64.com )
Commodore MIDI Projects – MSSIAH 64
• Brand new MIDI cartridge for the Commodore 64 coming August 2014
• Includes:
• Synthesizer software Pro 16 by Steinberg
• MIDI version of Cynthcart synthesizer
• SID-Wizard Tracker
• Much more
(I have no involvement in this either, I just think it’s super cool and supported the successful StartNext campaign: www.startnext.de/en/kerberos )
Commodore MIDI Projects - Kerberos
Commodore MIDI Projects - VICMIDI
• The Commodore 64 is well served by MIDI interfaces, but what about its predecessor, the VIC-20?
• VIC-20 has its own distinctive sound
• Three pulse waveform channels and one “noise” channel
• Create some incredible drones and beatingfrequencies
• 15 new waveforms were discovered by “viznut” (Finland) in 2003
Commodore MIDI Projects - VICMIDI
• No commercial MIDI interfaces were ever made
• “Electronics, The Maplin Magazine” published schematics and some simple code for MIDI back in the 1980s
• Francois Leveille and David Viens (Montreal) built a prototype several years ago, which I took over
• Code updated to be a full-featured MIDI implementation
• Hardware design was picked up by Jim Brain of
Retro Innovations (2nd Prototype shown)
• Gearing up for a small production run “soon”
Updates: www.go4retro.com
Commodore MIDI Projects - VICMIDI
demo
Organic Evolution
• St. Andrew’s Latvian Lutheran Church in downtown Toronto (College/Jarvis)
• Casavant Frères pipe organ built in late 1800s
• Refurbished/upgraded a few years ago by Classic Organ Works (Markham)
• These upgrades included MIDI control of the organ!
• Concert series demonstrating the technical and artistic possibilities 2007- www.organicevolution.net
midifire16
• Solid-State Relay board for controlling Flame Effects
• Hardware designed by Seth Hardy of Site 3 Fire Arts / Propane and Electrons
• Controlled through MIDI – 16 channels• Note On to turn flames on, Note Off to turn
flames off• Safety features: Separate power, triggers,
timeouts
• Arduino compatible
• Open Source: Board designs and code on GitHub
• Live tests this summer!
• “What could possibly go wrong?”
midifire16
MIDIMapperX
• VST (Virtual Synth Technology)
• Use with any Digital Audio Workstation
• Allows you to specify and “map” custom MIDI messages
• Convert Note On/Note Off or CC messages to any other MIDI message (even SysEx!)
• Great for controlling custom hardware
• Currently Windows-only, but working with VST Library developer for MacOS/Linux port (built on .NET/Mono)
• Open Source [MIT License], code on GitHub
www.schemafactor.com/midimapperx/
MIDIMapperX
• www.schemafactor.com (music)
• www.jammingsignal.com (blog)
• www.facebook.com/SchemaFactor
• @schemafactor
Looking for opportunities to collaborate!
Contact Info