Millioniser 2000: 80s-tastic MIDI Harmonica Whose Time Has Come?
“It comes from tomorrow …but it’s here today.”
Well, now it is tomorrow. And yesterday’s tomorrow still looks futuristic. Try this test: show someone the video above for the Millioniser 2000, a MIDI harmonica designed by Ronald Schlimmer. Tell them this is a 2009 video designed to go viral, a fakery of 80s cheese. After all, the instrument itself looks impossibly futuristic. Surely this wasn’t really designed in 1979. Surely the close up thigh shots of the backup singer girls in the back are tongue-in-cheek parody.
Your friends will believe you. Of course, you’ll be lying.
It did indeed come from tomorrow – and speaking from tomorrow, I’d like my instrument back. The MIDI harmonica has sophisticated breath control, a compact form factor, clever controls for adjusting pitch, and — well, you know, all the goodness of the harmonica but with an easier pitch layout to figure out. From comments, we see that it does go well with our futuristic instruments, meaning you don’t have to get retro-sounding synths – you could get something more 2009-appropriate.
Rock Erickson -The first American called to Europe to play and record with Walter Mueller’s Millioniser 2000. Harmonica like in principal giving the end user complete control over synthesizer and midi functions with the sensitivity of your own breath. This instrument is a one of a kind powerhouse. The video starts off by showing the functions of Millioniser 2000 and then merges into the on stage video which was shot in London. Rick Fenn of “Lie For A Lie” Sony Music was the music director and lead guitarist along with Charlie Barret from The FIXX on bass. The Millioniser Breath Controller units that I’m currently using in the studio are breathing new life (literally) thru their capability to dynamically control some of the most popular software and rack synths ( Garritan Personal Orchestra, Roland Sound Canvas, Yamaha VL70 ect ) and samplers like SampleTank & Tascam Giga Studio ) in both the mono and polyphonic arena. If you have comments or questions please post here or email rock@millioniser.com
Oh yeah – and this all looks strikingly similar to the (less sophisticated) iPhone apps from Smule, featured in today’s interview.
All I know is, I desperately want one. And you might even be able to build one — the microcontroller inside, a Moto 68705, is the equivalent of what you can get very cheaply now.
Who were these forward-looking folk? According to Wim Dijkgraaf’s history of the instrument, you can thank Swiss harmonica player Walter Muller (”Walt Miller”), Ronald Schlimmer of SM Elektronik (that name should be familiar – think a lot of the sensors used in music projects now), and the good folks of Acorn Computers for assembly, who in turn had their own ahead-of-its-time products like the BBC Micro and the self-named Acorn. (The Acorn drove the original version of the Sibelius notation product now owned by Digidesign/Avid. Sibelius engineers swore they never got the performance out of Windows and Mac OS that they once had on the Acorn.)
Via our friend Elijah B. Torn and Matrixsynth.
Anyone out there who knows how to get this, yes, I want one. I’ll start working out and seeing if I can make my physique transparent, as that’ll help.
Lesson learned: tomorrow is yesterday.
Via comments: RA has more links, plus promising news that there may be indeed be a modern update of this instrument.
http://www.musicweb.ch/millioniser_2000.asp (long demo)
http://www.musicweb.ch/millioniser_geschichte.asp (sound demos and great pics)
22 Comments
Leave a CommentLZR
Just wow. This one looks like *a lot* of fun.
July 22, 2009 @ 7:15 am
Daniel
I pray that somewhere out there is a futuristic blue grass band playing with one of these but dressed like Sun Ra
July 22, 2009 @ 7:35 am
UTM
If someone could just make a clip-on hardware adapter for the side of an iPhone and come up with the software (perhaps just an OSC controller mod)… this may come back to the future now. Or soon at least. Great video!
July 22, 2009 @ 9:26 am
Joshua Schnable
Find someone with a MIDI accordion and you’d have the “stage presence” of a live laptop set down…
July 22, 2009 @ 9:28 am
redvoid
This reminds me of my Yamaha BC-1 breath controller from 1986 to control my Yamaha DX7 combined with a Hohner Melodica from the same era or earlier. The Akai EWI is another example. Midi breath control after all is Continuous Controller #2 (CC#2) so its not an afterthought. Hopefully the newfound popularity of the Smule iPhone apps will reignite development of new breath control products. Being a long time midi musician and trombone player I can have a lot of fun with that.
July 22, 2009 @ 9:54 am
Create Digital Music » Millioniser 2000: 80s-tastic MIDI Harmonica … | Wildtonemusic
[...] here to read the rest: Create Digital Music » Millioniser 2000: 80s-tastic MIDI Harmonica … Posted in Talk About Music | July 22nd, 2009 Leave a [...]
July 22, 2009 @ 10:07 am
ra
Oh boy. I own a promo record for that by “the faceless society”, found in a thrift store here in Switzerland, the home of the Millioniser. No, I will not rip the record, it’s incredibly bad (really bad in a bad mid-eighties easy listening way ). This was apparently marketed as a replacement for real instruments, mostly for one man bands. But check the following link for equally bad demos and wonderful photos (and the complete history of the Millioniser in German):
http://www.musicweb.ch/millioniser_2000.asp (long demo)
http://www.musicweb.ch/millioniser_geschichte.asp (sound demos and great pics)
Apparently they were/are working on a new Millioniser, a Midi-Controller. It’s named Millioniser 2005, so maybe it’s gonna come from the past.
July 22, 2009 @ 11:37 am
decrepitude
Seriously?
Man, CDM is always surprising me. Nice one guys, Now if I could just pick my jaw up off the floor.
July 22, 2009 @ 11:39 am
Peter Kirn
Well, credit where it’s due — Matrixsynth caught this one first. ;)
July 22, 2009 @ 11:42 am
ra
I just listened to the wonderful soundfile from Walter Mueller’s introduction speech at the world premiere (day 2) of the Millioniser in Basel, Switzerland (where I live and where the Millioniser apparently was developed). Most of it is in Swiss German, so I translate you some tiny bits:
Day one of the world premiere was in Zurich, Switzerland for an audience from the World Harmonica Association. After the presentation, the harmonica people apparently couldn’t stop trying out the new instrument. Mueller says this is a proof that the instrument doesn’t need a lot of practice – so making it easy seems to have been a goal.
He introduces the band that’s gonna play a demo set (excerpts in separate soundfile), the drummer is introduced as “Mr. Linn” – it’s a Linndrum. He says that “today’s Rock and Pop scene” is excluded intentionally, because he “doesn’t have the hair for that anymore” and because it will be in the video shown later on. I guess that’s the wonderful/gruesome video posted here.
July 22, 2009 @ 12:01 pm
Wilbo
My mind is blown. Greatest thing ever.
July 22, 2009 @ 3:16 pm
Damon
Well, the more MIDI the better…
July 22, 2009 @ 6:26 pm
Rock E.
Hello Everyone,
I have read your posts and am glad the Millioniser is causing some dialogue.
I have 2 Millioniser 2000’s currently in the studio. They have worked all these years. Now I am connecting them via midi to control hardware & software synths, and samplers such as GigaStudio and SampleTank. A few tweaks to the software to accept the data and you can have some of the most heart felt string sections or grungy drum beats, using your tongue and left panel on the Millioniser control unit to roll out a rhythm. Sax licks, and bending screaming electric guitars are a breeze with the tools on board the M2000 control unit. Synth sounds and samples really come to life with the personal energy from the user.
When we did the World Premiere in Zurich, Switzerland the Millioniser 2000 promotion came across as the must have for the bands of the day. That was presumptuous on our part. Walter was so excited with Millioniser after so many years of hard work, set backs and sinking everything he had into it that the whole promotion came across as catering to the harmonica crowd.(Walter is a famous harmonica player and has left his mark with his innovative contributions. http://www.millioniser.info/EN/walt_miller.asp)
Walter told me that he envisioned the Millioniser as an extension for keyboard players (if they would accept the technology)so they could take the front line and experience for themselves as well as give a different experience to the audience with the Millioniser’s ability to deliver total human expression to what ever it is plugged into and wail the roof off the house simply because you can. You don’t have to be a harmonica player to reap the benefits of Millioniser. What makes Millioniser so unique and powerful is that you are actually executing note sounds via your lip position on the Millioniser control unit leaving your left and right hand free to execute pitch bends, octave jumps, patch changes, trills, poly and mono switches all while playing in motion.
Ronald Schlimme is Walter Mueller’s right hand man who I think has 2 brains :), He is the man who makes it work.
I am glad to hear ALL your comments. Healthy discussion is irreplaceable. I will try to post in the next 14 hours a video on the Youtube account that we did for the former Soviet Union called Svah-Bo-Dah (freedom) where the Millioniser 2000 powered apx 80% of all instruments and sounds.
If I can help in any way answer any questions you may have please make contact. Maybe we could colaborate a project or song using Millioniser with something you may have in mind. Perhaps together we can make clear what the Millioniser truly is and capable of.
Ideas/Concepts?
rock@millioniser.com
Thanks
July 22, 2009 @ 6:59 pm
Rock E.
Here is the correct functioning link regarding Walter Mueller of Millioniser 2000.
http://www.millioniser.info/EN/walt_miller.asp
There is also more info on some of the other pages on that site.
July 22, 2009 @ 7:09 pm
Untergegangene Instrumente: Millioniser 2000 « DIGITAL AUDIO SERVICE
[...] Ich bin sprachlos ob der Brillianz dieses Videos aus dem Jahr 1979 – zu Schade, dass der Millioniser 2000 heute kaum mehr bekannt ist. Peter Kirn hat die komplette Story. [...]
July 23, 2009 @ 1:49 am
Matt
Looks like he’s playing a bar of chocolate !
July 24, 2009 @ 8:55 am
jack
POST MORE THINGS LIKE THIS FOREVER ALWAYS PETER PLEASE
July 24, 2009 @ 11:00 am
Rock E.
Hi, Regarding the Svah-Bo-Dah music video w/Millioniser 2000.
Master video is getting located. Should post to Youtube in next 10 days. Going to post a Halloween video we did using Millioniser 2000 along with Bass harmonica and 2 foot chord harmonica. Mixing it up a bit. Traditional merges with Electronic.
genre/different
This will post by 7-25-09 AM or sooner.
Thanks
rock@millioniser.com
July 24, 2009 @ 4:59 pm
rob
I soooo want one.
July 24, 2009 @ 6:39 pm
Latest harmonica how to play news – The Garden State Harmonica Club monthly meeting will be held on … | Harmonica - Harmonicas - Hohner - Blues
[...] Create Digital Music » Millioniser 2000: 80s-tastic MIDI Harmonica … [...]
July 31, 2009 @ 1:17 pm
George Harris
I am not a harmonica player, but interested in electronic instruments. I first heard of the the “Millioniser 2000″ on a cassette attached to the “Electronic Soundmaker and Computer Music Magazine” in February 1985. I recently played that cassette again and dismissed the instrument as a relic of the past, a “dead end”. I was surprised to read that someone was considering an updated version to be made available in the future. I will be watching developments.
August 5, 2009 @ 3:55 pm
Rock E.
Hello All, Please visit http://www.millioniser.com/
We are working on soon launching some audio/video clips that display Millioniser using software samples and the expressive control it has over them by using “Harmonica Note Execution Principal”.
Feel free to comment and contribute.
Rock
Millioniser USA
August 25, 2009 @ 1:20 pm
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