Comments on: Bjork + ReacTable and Lemur = Tangible Interactive Musical Fun

By: CDM + Yuri » Preview: Weather Report Tangible Music Interface for Surface Temperatures

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:47:31 +0000

[...] underlying technology comes from the open Reactivision library, as used in the ReacTable (popularized recently on the Bjork [...]

By: Create Digital Music » Weather Report: Multi-Touch + Surface Temperature = Music on Earth

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 20:30:11 +0000

[...] It was custom built and uses custom software written in Max/MSP/Jitter and Reaktor, as well as Reactivision (like the ReacTable). [...]

By: Create Digital Music » Microsoft Goes Multi-Touch at Midnight; Musicians Might Look Further into Future

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 05:30:09 +0000

[...] Numerous outlets are reporting that Microsoft is expected to introduce its gestural, multi-touch technology, called PlayTable. I’m not quite sure why the product name sounds ripped off from the ReacTable. But, while I’m interested to see what Microsoft is doing, I’ll give the ReacTable the edge, unless Microsoft open-sources its software, builds a library for Processing, and starts touring with Bjork. (I’ll take Radiohead + PlayTable. No? Not happening?) [...]

By: robidog » Blog Archive » Bjork + ReacTable and Lemur = Tangible Interactive Musical Fun

Mon, 14 May 2007 20:58:31 +0000

[...] (via creat digital music) [...]

By: Machines

Machines — Sat, 12 May 2007 02:29:26 +0000

Thanks, Peter. Investigation on their site still says something about a Spring release, so I’m hoping it’s not that far around the corner. Hopefully their sense of time isn’t like NI’s…LOL!

By: Peter Kirn

Peter Kirn — Fri, 11 May 2007 17:24:41 +0000

That’s correct. The Messe announcement was all TBD.

By: Machines

Machines — Fri, 11 May 2007 16:39:38 +0000

So I’ll take the lack of response on the Dexter as a “nobody knows anything yet.”

By: DJ McManus

DJ McManus — Thu, 10 May 2007 20:54:01 +0000

Its a start.

This technology offers a very flexible way to control multiple parameters in a dynamic way. It just seems that nobody has found a way to apply it to anything in a musical sense yet.

I think the real place for these controls will be with visual artists controlling video manipulations.

By: Ian Page-Echols

Ian Page-Echols — Thu, 10 May 2007 19:21:00 +0000

I was also there. I thought that showing so much of the Lemur and the Reactable type thing was akin to showing somebody playing with a mixer for a whole show. Would anyone show a mixer for most of a show?

From where I was it seemed like the Lemurs were controlling filters and envelopes, the table was more obvious what was going on. Hard to make it obvious what you are doing when controlling samples, but the table method is definitely better than sitting behind a laptop. Even if you can’t tell what the people are doing, they’re at least not hiding or checking their email. Seems that tablet pcs could do something similar for most performers.

I’m sure if you were closer or farther away it would seem more or less like these devices were actually doing anything.

By: Peter Kirn

Peter Kirn — Thu, 10 May 2007 15:53:26 +0000

I don’t envy anybody trying to get the balance right on these things. Of course, it does seem that the sonic bits that interest me that the engineer tends to bury. On one band I was covering for Keyboard, a big venue outside Nashville, the engineer promised he’d push the level on the keyboards a bit just for me and the player. ;)

It’s funny, because we talk a lot on this site about how things look to the audience in terms of telling that there’s something happening live … but the sound is really key, too. (Well, as you’d expect!)