Comments on: Before the Wii: Max Mathews’ Original Wireless Electronic Baton, and More Electronic Baton History

By: some lightning links « Infraredmusic

some lightning links « Infraredmusic — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:29:26 +0000

[...] Create Digital Music have a bit of history here. [...]

By: Peter Kirn

Peter Kirn — Fri, 19 May 2006 18:35:10 +0000

Hey John,
I wasn’t familiar with the Air Drums. Have they been immortalized anywhere on the Web? (Do you own any or know anyone who does?)

By: DJ Oxygen

DJ Oxygen — Fri, 19 May 2006 16:42:16 +0000

I was at Berklee and studied under Dr. Boulanger around the time that the Radio Baton was being developed and it and the Nintendo Power Glove were being used for composition adn performance. Really amazing stuff, especially considering that was 15 years ago. Live performances were absolutely incredible to watch.

By: John Worthington

John Worthington — Fri, 19 May 2006 03:47:34 +0000

You’re also missing the PalmTree Air Drums, created by Pat Downes. They consisted of two wands that generated up/down/left/right/rotate left/rotate right with velocity.

In addition to generating MIDI, the Air Drums could be used to process incoming MIDI. For example, moving the want to the left could take the incomming MIDI up a certain number of steps.

By: Peter Kirn

Peter Kirn — Thu, 18 May 2006 19:09:54 +0000

Thanks, Crix. I was mistakenly under the impression that one was related to another. Updating the story, though now I’ll have to do some more homework on the complete legacy of wireless batons. ;)

By: Severine

Severine — Thu, 18 May 2006 18:18:17 +0000

A good example of compositions using the radio baton is by Dr.Boulanger. It’s realllllyyyy cool!
Scroll down to his radio baton compositions and while you’re at it you can also listen to his csound pieces.

http://www.csounds.com/boulanger/index.html

By: crix madine

crix madine — Thu, 18 May 2006 18:12:13 +0000

Sorry about the last comment. I didn't use the xhtml markup tags properly. I meant to say... Another pioneer in this area of radio batons that deserves mention is Don Buchla with the Thunder and Lightning controllers and later the amazing Marimba Lumina.

By: crix madine

crix madine — Thu, 18 May 2006 18:06:09 +0000

Another pioneer in this area of radio batons that deserves mention is Don Buchla with the controllers and later the amazing .