This video captures Tristan Wurst’s first performance with his FTIR Multitouch controller.

This is a Lemur-like multi-touch device, with zoom, a 3D controller for sound application using Max/MSP/Jitter & Ableton live. All the Buttons, faders, Pots, Pads XY are 3D objects (.obj).

Music, Multitouch table & Program (patches) by Tristan Wurst.

Marco Kuhn’s Play Box is a multi touch user interface, which, along with his Play Live software, can control Ableton Live.

Play Box Features:

• multi-touch and object interaction
• 22 ” TFT display , 1680 x 1050 pixel
• robust
• plug`n play

Play Live Features:

• GUI Elements support multitouch interaction
• you can control 32 tracks and 127 scenes, that are 4064 clips
• track controls mute, solo, record, send1, send2, pan, level

Kuhn hopes to build and sell Play Box & Play Live. No availability or pricing information has been announced.

More details at the Hi-Pi site and at CDM.

Sunday Synth Jam: This is the latest video demo of Christian Bannister’s work in progress, Touch Loop Navigator (name subject to change!) – a multi-touch sound manipulation program.

A few months back, we featured Bannister’s Low Frequency Entity. He’s been busy since then.

I love how this combines VJ and DJ concepts, with some hardcore sound manipulation, in an interface that not only looks like it would be fun to use, but would be fun an audience, too.

New in this build of the app:

• 3D sound visuals for the texture of the sound.
• Switching between song segments with controller (old Kaoss pad in front of screen) and no I am not using Live (yet)
• Random color when new sound is selected
• Integration of the joystick array (my Costa Rica project 2007.12.28)
• Real-time effect controls (distortion, bitcrush, delay/feedback, timestretch FX)
• Zoom and rate control of the sound
• One shot effects on USB keypad next to the controller

“The essence of a new instrument is simply an elegant and effective method for manipulating sound,” says Bannister.

This is one of the most interesting new electronic music interfaces in a long time – and, it looks like a taste of the future.

Algoriddim has upgraded DJay, their mixing software for iTunes, to version 3.

Many new features have been added, including Automatic Beat and Tempo Detection, Auto-Cut Scratching, Beat-Matched Looping, enhanced Audio FX, Automix Queue, Auto-Gain and MIDI Learn.

Algoriddim DJay 3 retails for $49.95.

If you’ve used DJay 3, leave a comment!

Features:

• Automatic Beat & Temp Detection is djay’s on-the-fly song analysis that calculates the beats per minute (BPM) and exact location of each beat, laying the groundwork for a host of other features including Auto-Sync, looping and beat-synchronized effects.
• Auto-Sync djay’s automatic beat and tempo detection allows you to easily match the playback speed of two songs for a perfect transition with the click of a single button. djay calculates the volume perceived by the human ear for each song and automatically ensures that all your songs play at the same volume level. This allows you to seamlessly fade one song into the next without sudden changes in loudness.
• Real-time effects, scratching, pitch-shifting and more with solid sound quality and improved low latency. djay’s new audio engine builds upon the Mac’s extended audio support and claims to meet the highest standards in digital audio processing.
• Auto-Cut Scratching automatically applies the rhythmic pattern of the currently playing song to your scratches in real-time. Create sounds like professional scratch DJs and go beyond the possibilities of the analog world. A breakthrough in digital scratching.
• The Automix Queue lets you queue up your favorite tracks in advance. Enable Automix and let djay take care of the mixes while you cruise the party. Or use the queue to build a playlist on-the-go from your audience’s song requests. Plug in your favorite MIDI controller and easily map all features in djay to the buttons and sliders on your controller using MIDI-Learn. With Beat-Matched Looping, you can continuously loop part of a song perfectly in sync with the beat.
• Spice up your mix with djay’s new audio effects including beat-synchronized echo to various reverb types with adjustable wet/dry settings.

Gary Kellum an Alain Crevoisier have created a cheap process for turning physical objects into musical instruments and other multi-touch controllers.

Can you imagine printing out a music sequencer? Or printing out a photo of a Roland TB-303 and then being able to play it?

Here’s a summary of how it works:

The system makes it possible to turn any flat surface, such as walls, wood boards, etc, into a musical controller by using computer vision technologies to track the interactions made by the musician, with hands, mallets or sticks.

These new musical interfaces can be used to control standard sound modules or effects processors, by defining zones on their surfaces and then assigning them musical commands, such as the triggering of notes or modulation of parameters.

It’s not difficult to extrapolate on this and imagine PDF files that are musical instruments! You’d download them, print them out and be able to play them.

Here’s a link to a PDF that documents their research: Transforming Ordinary Surfaces Into Multi-Touch Controllers.

via wired

Bartelby of Pance Party performs Morgasm using a custom built FTIR LCD Multitouch controller.

Ableton Live is controlled with a custom Max/MSP patch programmed by Bartleby.

The Max Mutltiouch Framework (MMF) was developed by Mathieu Chamagne, in conjunction with Project Overtone.

via andrewcoenen:

iOSC (App Store Link) is a remote control application that uses the OSC (Open Sound Control) protocol to turn your iPhone into a music control surface.

Using the OSC protocol over your device’s built-in Wi-Fi connection, iOSC communicates with other compatible hardware and software nodes on your network. You can also remote control the middleware such as Max MSP, Processing, ActionScript (FLOSC) and many other devices that support the OSC protocol from your iPhone.

It sells for $2.99. 

If you’re using iOSC, let us know how your using it and what you think of it!

Features of iOSC:

• Ability to prevent errors during the live with large size parts. 
• Ability to set from “Parts Set” as default.
• Customize Parts colors or label names. 
• Customize OSC messages. 
• Multi-host functions *You can register different Hosts for each Parts. Now iOSC enables you to control multiple hosts simultaneously. 

How to use:

• First, go the settings. 
• Press the EDIT button, and tap the part that you want to set. 
• Make sure to set the appropriate host. (Added host can be commonly used for all Parts.) If you only set the host, a default OSC message will be sent.

How to delete the list:

• To delete the set from Main menu, tap Edit then flick it. 
• To delete the host from Host List, flick it.

This video captures a demo of Randy Jones’ $50 multi-touch interface prototype – an 8 x 8 touch sensitive array sampled at 1300 Hz. 

The project is part of Jones’ M.Sc Thesis, Intimate Control for Physical Modeling Synthesis.

Abstract:

Physical modeling synthesis has proven to be a successful method of synthesizing realistic sounds, but providing expressive controls for performance remains a major challenge. This thesis presents a new approach to playing physical models, based on multidimensional signals. Its focus is on the long-term research question, “How can we make a computer-mediated instrument with control intimacy equal to the most expressive acoustic instruments?” In the material world, the control and sounding properties of an instrument or other object are intimately linked by the object’s construction. Multidimensional signals, used as connections between a gestural controller and a physical model, can in principle provide the same intimacy. This work presents a new, low-cost sensor design capable of generating a 2D force signal, a new implementation of the 2D digital waveguide mesh, and two experimental computer music instruments that combine these components using different metaphors. The new instruments are evaluated in terms of intimacy, playability and plausibility. Multidimensional connections between sensors and a physical model are found to facilitate a high degree of control intimacy, and to reproduce as emergent behavior some important phenomena associated with acoustic instruments.

[PDF]

via Make

Algoriddim’s music player and DJ software djay 2.2 has been updated – now letting you control almost all functions through intuitive Multi-Touch finger gestures on notebook trackpads.

“djay allows users to control almost all aspects of its user interface faster and more precisely than using the keyboard — similar to real physical devices, but much more versatile,” according to algoriddim CEO Karim Morsy.

djay supports a variety of trackpad gestures.

Similar to using the iPod’s click-wheel, users can use rotate gestures on the trackpad to quickly browse djay’s built-in iTunes library and throw a selected song on one of the turntables with an intuitive swipe gesture. Two-finger gestures allow scratching MP3s on the virtual turntables, crossfading between songs and adjusting speed, volume and equalizer sliders just like with a real turntable and mixer setup.

Two-finger gestures are supported on all Mac notebooks featuring two-finger scrolling, making the feature available to most users with iBook, PowerBook, MacBook or MacBook Pro computers. For even more control, users of the MacBook Air and the latest MacBook and MacBook Pro models can use the additional three-finger swipe and rotate gestures.

djay is available for $49.99 or €39.99 as an immediate download from the algoriddim website, or as a product box from the Apple Online Store and Apple Retail Stores worldwide. A demo is available at the Algoriddim site.

This is a demo for a Multitouch Pinball instrument.

The bizarre project combines MAX, PureData, a MIDI controller and a multi-touch webcam. The positions of the balls affect DSP effects.

The first comment on YouTube declares that “That is slightly more fun to watch than paint drying or gras growing.”

What do you think? Is there any hope for this as a musical device or should the multitouch pinball instrument keep its day job?

This short demo video explores the various ways the BricK Table tangible and multi-touch interface can be used for creating and composing music.

Brick Table was created by Jordan Hochenbaum and Owen Vallis. An open-ended interface, Brick Table has been used in both the installation settings as well as live performance.

JazzMutant has announced the upcoming release of a new firmware for their Lemur multitouch-screen controller.

The version 2 firmware update offers a host of new object features. Workflow improvements, scripting additions and other features allow the controller to be used with some of the most popular software applications around, with Ableton Live users, in particular, benefiting from some of the new features. 

What’s new:

• Breakpoint object: offers total control of synthesiser or sampler envelopes with a multi-segment envelope editor to allow you to really get inside a sound. Rather than assigning knobs to these sound shapers, jump right in and directly tweak an on-screen representation of the envelope.
• Gesture object: this emulates a trackpad control with advanced gesture recognition and has three novel ways to interact with your sound. You can send different control messages to your computer simply by pinching, rotating or tracing your fingers.
• Alias: now you can easily produce a copy or alias of a controller object that sends exactly the same information to your computer. This takes up less memory and is much less time consuming than setting up a new object with identical characteristics. Manipulating the original or its doppelganger can now control the same computer parameters but from different interface screens. Moving one will automatically update its “mirror image”.
• Tabbed Container: containers are virtual panels that contain a selection of controls. Tabbed containers allow you to change the contents of this panel at the tap of a finger. This feature allows you to greatly improve interface layouts.
• Mouse and keyboard control: now Lemur’s objects can be used to remotely control the mouse cursor or computer keyboard.
• Workflow improvements: setting up your custom performance interface is a breeze with the improved and new-look Jazzeditor. Workflow improvements include the ability to simply drag objects from the new palette into the work area – any custom-made modules from your library will also appear here. It’s now no longer necessary to select a MIDI or OSC target for each parameter within an object – just choose a “parent” target and you’re done. There’s also a new ‘colour chooser’ to make your interfaces visually distinctive.
• Extended scripting abilities: a new multi-line script pane opens up a whole new world of possibilities. You can now modify the physical behaviour, appearance or size of an object in real time. Add a ball to a Multiball object by touching a pad, or zoom in on a fader for ultimate precision. These scripts can act locally or be received from the computer. For Ableton users that means it is now possible to receive clip names and colours and display them on the Lemur. Any changes in your Live set are automatically reflected on the Lemur.

The public beta of the v2 firmware update will launched at AES (October 3rd to 5th) with the full version released Q4 2008. The full update will be free.

via MacMusic

DrawSound (pdf link) is a musical instrument that combines multi-touch input technology with the expressive character of drawing.

The instrument is intended to be used in two different art projects, The SINE WAVE QUARTET, and aeo.

via Califaudio

Is Apple planning a multi-touch DJ application?

Read Apple’s patent application, and let me know what you think:

[0145]FIG. 23 illustrates another embodiment of the invention for manipulating the replay and recording of audio or musical files. As shown in FIG. 23, a music application 830 can display a pair of virtual turntables 842 and 843, on which two musical records 834 and 835 are playing, the records being one of a single or a LP record. The records 834 and 835 can be graphical representations of a digital musical file (e.g., song A and song B) that are being replayed via the music application 830. In other words, the records can be graphical imprints of the musical files as if the musical files were imprinted on physical records.

[0146]Like a pair of physical turntables, stylus 844 and stylus 855 can be graphical icon indications of a playback queue, the position of which can be varied by touching the queue on a touch sensitive display screen and dragging the icon to the desired position on the graphical record. The moving of the stylus would cause a jump in the playback point of the corresponding song, as on a physical turntable.

[0147]Also like a pair of physical turn tables start/stop buttons 838 and 839 can be touched by one or more fingers to toggle the start or stop/pause of the song reproduction. Speed variants bars 840 and 841 can be linearly adjusted to control the playback speed of the songs. Windows 831 and 833 can graphically reproduce the frequency representation of the reproduced songs, while window 832 can display the frequency representation of the actual output of the music application 832, which can be simply one of the songs being reproduced, or a mixed/combination of the songs. Mixing/pan bar 850 can be manipulated to modulate or demodulate the two songs being reproduced.

[0148]During song reproduction, the records 834 and 835 can be manipulated similar to a physical record. For instance, rapid back and forth movement of a record can cause the sound effect of a record “scratching,” as disc jockeys often do on physical turn tables.

It sure sounds like a multi-touch DJ program; but Apple may just be using patents to stake out some territory.

I’m not sure about that turntable on the left, though…..

US Patent Office via MacNN, Skratchworx

This video demonstrates making a cheap multitouch control surface, the MTmini:

For this to work, all you need is a room with (at least) some light. The results will be best when the room lighting is even (no bright lights shinning from one direction onto the multitouch pad).

When you place you fingers on the surface, shadows are created where your fingers are. The webcam sees these shadows and sends the image to the tracking software which tracks the shadows.

When you see these things being made out of cardboard boxes, you realize that there’s going to be an explosion of new music interfaces based on multi-touch in the next couple of years. 

Brick is a very cool multi-touch & tangible user interface table created by Jordan Hochenbaum and Owen Vallis, two undergraduate students at California Institute of the Arts. The idea for Brick came out of a conversation between Jordan and Owen, discussing how to sonify data in a way that was both musical and meaningful for the user.

“Weather Report” uses Brick to sonify real-time weather data (surface temperature):

On the screen you see a map of the U.S. showing the current surface temperature (represented by color). As you take the drawing object and draw a path across the map, for example my drive from Chicago to Los Angeles, it triggers sounds that are linked to those geographic locations. The interesting thing is that is also tracking the surface temperature of the areas your a journeying though, and using that data to filter the audio. Once you stop drawing, it will automatically begin looping your path.

At the same time, you can place two other objects on the table and depending on how you rotate them, they will play different sounds (percussion, clicks, pops, field recordings…). Once you find what you like, you stop rotating and they two will automatically begin looping…what you now have is sort of a mini composition. And because the data is being driven by surface temperature, which is updated every hour via the internet, you will constantly be getting new and different results from hour to hour, day to day…month to month…and so forth

More details at the Brick site.

A demo of Josh Boughey’s Stribe, a DIY 8-channel multi-touch controller for music or video software.

Description: The Stribe is designed to be used in conjunction with a monome 40h or as a stand-alone instrument. By combining these interfaces with suitable software I hope to add a continuous control element to the electronic musician’s software control arsenal. It is designed for stage use, to provide an expressive, fun, and intuitive way to control both music and video. It’s size, durability, and tactile properties are designed to be appropriate for both hand-held and desktop use.

Details:

• The low-resolution 16 x 64 LED display is controlled in real time by either firmware or host software, or both.
• MIDI or OSC communication to compatible hardware and software is achieved via patches written in Max/MSP.
• Touchstrips down the center of each channel trigger events in the software and the firmware, which drive the display, creating a haptic feedback loop.
• Each of these eight “channels” has two 64-led-tall columns, e.g. a left and a right.
• The Stribe can act as a touch controlled meter bridge, or as an interactive, animated 16 x 64 led display.
• Oriented horizontally, the Stribe can more intuitively interface with step-sequencer type applications, allow direct manipulation of granular synthesis sampling or allow the user to perform “scratch” like gestures.

via Stretta

Lemur Demo vol.01

Description:

This is the Jazz Mutant Lemur, set up with a custom template to act as a simple sampler, sort of like an MPC.

Here’s the second part:

Click here to view the embedded video.

via glitchboy

The video comes from Jeff Han, a consultant at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences’ Department of Computer Science.

According to Han, ” My research interests have historically been real-time computer graphics and real-time computer vision, but I’ve taken on a more recent focus on human-computer interfaces and machine learning.”

From Han’s site:

“We’ve been experimenting with a wide variety of application scenarios and interaction modalities that utilize multi-touch input information. These go far beyond the “poking” actions you get with a typical touchscreen, or the gross gesturing found in video-based interactive interfaces. It is a rich area for research, and we are extremely excited by its potential for advances in efficiency, usability, and intuitiveness. It’s also just so much fun!”

“Our technique is force-sensitive, and provides unprecedented resolution and scalability, allowing us to create sophisticated multi-point widgets for applications large enough to accomodate both hands and multiple users.”