|
Alternative Midi Controllers
StoreTags: midi, microtonal, HyperNerd
Viewed 1901 times. 15 people liked this blog. You can rate it below if you haven't already.
People who enjoyed reading this: j_chot, infradead, Roshi, yghartsyrt, Otterfan, DrexonField, jogn, daswesen, sAMsKi, mapmap, Leo, SenorFrio, Fognozzle, mixedtape, antfactor
-->
I've been thinking about how I can start writing/performing music in non-equal tempered, non diatonic pitch systems/scales. I'm sure this is probably waaay too nerdy for some of yalls but--I don't want to play normal keyboard instruments anymore, because I'm against using equal tempered, 12-tone pitches in my music now, and the typical midi keyboard is just set up exactly for this--it's got 7 white keys--a major scale--and 5 more black ones--get get a 12 toned equal tempered scale. I kind of want to move past that.
I was interested in getting a monome, because it is pretty perfect for this--it's just a grid of buttons. I may still get one, I don't know--but it's so damn expensive.
I've been looking for controllers where it's possible to set up your own system, or do your own thing.
I've seen a lot of keyboards that re-map 12 tone pitches in a different way so it's easier to play super fast shred circles of fifths, like this:
link
but that's not really what I was interested in.
I've seen some cool stuff like this:
link
But, it's designed to be more of a keyboard for doing work-type tasks, and I doubt you could play chords with it, haha. But it looks really interesting.
This thing looks awesome,
link
But of course it's obscenely expensive, and also doesn't really have that 'empty grid' knd of feel.
link
This thing is cool, but I think my mind might explode if I tried to figure out how to play it, haha.
on a random note, these gloves are cheap, and apparently easily modded for music..
link
So does anyone have any ideas? links? thoughts? about this sort of thing? I'm sure there are all kinds of things out there i've never thought of.
I Guess it's the modern age where everybody wants to have it exactly their own way.. maybe I could just get over myself and map some funky scales on a normal keyboard, haha. But really... I'd like to try something different.
Thanks! | |
Comments
01/30/08
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
j_chot
Yeah, I'm the same way, exept I decided that I don't want to use my hands to make music. strictly big-toes from here on out.
why would you do that ricemutt? all the best composers used diatonic scales.
burt bacharach would mever write in microtonal
01/30/08
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
ricemutt
well, maybe I want to do that because I'm not one of the best composers ;)
If I want to play music in normal scales, I play a mean classical guitar, or I can go ahead and play .... ANY INSTRUMENT EVER MADE IN THE PAST 30000000 years. But for what i'm exploring with my electronic music is different than that.
01/30/08
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
ricemutt
I mean, I spent maybe three hours last night learning where all the three-string major and minor triads are on the fretboard--i'm not hating on traditional music here, haha. I'm just trying to see what options there are for also doing something different.
01/30/08
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
j_chot
have you tried wearing a turban while you compose?
01/30/08
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
ricemutt
no, but women's underwear and long socks helps.
STOP POOING ON MY THREAD JCHOAD!!!
01/30/08
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
celibacyclub
i just want some really solid knobs and faders
01/30/08
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
j_chot
like doepfer? their midi stuff is like a damn tank. and affordible too.
01/30/08
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
ignatius
01/30/08
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
celibacyclub
yeah like doepfer.
all the neet-o ones are discontinued though.
theres one on ebay with 64 knobs though..
64 knobs!!!
01/30/08
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
infradead
have you tried wearing a turban while you compose?
i'm sure he didn't mean this...
what he meant was wearing a turban and a mustache.. the 'stache is the key
why does it have to be a new controller? why not use a standerd one in new ways...
i know on my xl-7 i could set up non-western tunings if i took the time to program them in(i never did) why can't a computer and you do the same thing?
set something up so that it only uses the white keys and have every 19 or so be an octave.. you'd need a full sized midi controller and the knowledge how to do it but how hard could it be?
this would give you the best of both worlds.. use of existing gear and stanne and wonderful tunings..
01/30/08
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
Roshi
Do something like two parallel ribbon controllers on a plank? They could be 'tuned' a 5th apart, and you could hold it upright and play it like a bass..or well, cello
There was some awesome tutorial on building ribbon controllers using mylar...I'll have to look for it.
01/30/08
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
Roshi
whoa sonic pallette blew my mind
01/30/08
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
Roshi
I think this was the page: link
01/30/08
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
Roshi
Also, DX synths are tunable to microtones and such...that plus pitchbend might be a nice option
01/30/08
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
yghartsyrt
i'd say ribbon controller aswell. but that glove is really cooland easy to set up. maybe using a wi in the same way might be a good idea. tracking it's potision and tilt to determine pitch for example.
Register / login
|
^
EM411 is Copyright 2001-2008 EM411.com
All rights reserved. | Contact | RSS
|
