The evolution of what we now call “DJing” is inseparable from the turntables and mixer. So, what happens when you enter the digital domain and you really don’t need to refer to either device? Many digital DJ controllers have simply mimicked those previous inventions, with virtual tables and a mixer-style layout. To some extent, they must, not only for familiarity but to even make it possible to perform the kind of tasks DJs expect.

Then again, the computer, endless shapeshifter that it is, can do whatever you like. And so we’re beginning to see mass-market controllers marketed at DJs – not just the laptop performer, but DJs and DJ software – that goes in new directions.

Novation Twitch is one such effort. New Yorker Abe Duque takes up the Road Test series for Dubspot. I rather enjoy the lo-fi video as he flies New York to Munich; I could almost imagine the entire video being shot that way. (There you go, CDMers: I now have no excuse not to shoot some video tests for y’all on my smartphone.) And, uh, yeah, been there. Maybe the most ringing endorsement for the Twitch is how snugly it fits into the carry-on bag. I’m pretty sure that’s one of the superb UDG Gear line carrying both his laptop and Twitch.

Getting down to the actual review, Abe Duque – whatever impatient YouTubers may say in comments – does a fine job of coherently covering all of the features fairly and in detail.

Highlights:

• The Twitch is clearly set up to integrate with Serato, though there’s also a Traktor overlay. I’ll be eager to see how it works with Ableton Live, though, as the layout would seem to apply nicely to that.
• Having faders double as effects wet/dry controls is a clever twist, and reveals the intention of the Twitch to focus a DJ performance on mucking around with individual songs and not just queuing, beat matching, and mixing.
• The highlight is probably the slicing control, which uniquely couples the touch strip with pads.

You begin to see how a Twitch performance would come together, with two-deck slicing and dicing and effects controls. Of course, that could be accomplished with other means, but the Twitch embodies a lot of what we’ve seen in the DIY scene and homebrewed controllers, assembling a layout that conceptually reflects all of this track-mangling in the hardware’s physical form. In fact, it’s hard not to think that that scene influenced the Twitch.

This kind of track manipulation was common both with the Akai MPC and Ableton Live. Curiously, the design of the Akai APC40 for Live really doesn’t make that sort of performance very easy, focusing instead on clip launching and mixing.

In practice, Twitch looks promising. It does face a lot of competition. For Serato alone, there are various controller options, and Serato loyalists can expect this and other control surfaces to cater to their needs. The big entry we know is on the horizon is Native Instruments’ upcoming controller and software – something the company has already revealed in some detail prior to its official release. In fact, it’ll be tough to judge Twitch without having seen in person whatever NI has cooked up, as it appears their offering could focus even more closely on the sample triggering / looping notion, again within a DJ paradigm (Traktor).

DIYers, many carrying the banner of “controllerist,” have been pushing DJing in this direction for some time, and back to its original roots, DJing has embraced more inventive ways of really transforming tracks and not just playing them. Now, as those ideas seep into the mainstream, we’ll see if the line between DJing in the sense of playing tracks – and live performance, more as you’d expect in the instrumental vein – continues to blur.
Dubspot Lab Report: Novation TWITCH DJ Controller – Road Test w/ Abe Duque

Oh, yeah, and for something completely different DJ controller-wise, see Dubspot’s take on the compact Allen & Heath Xone: K2.

There’s lots of new stuff for musicians. Sometimes, the best thing to do is to leave some of it out, and skip to what’s really interesting.

Neil Bufkin did a great job last year covering NAMM for CDM, shooting some lo-fi, informal videos that got right to the heart of what we wanted to know. So, I’m pleased to share Neil’s work again, since unless you’re following forums (fora?) closely, you might miss it.

He picked out some of our absolute favorites. Highlights: Moog sums up the Minitaur in one, excellent word (“knobby”!), the Arturia shows off its sound shapers, Teenage Engineering flaunt their DIY prowess (hint: you can make your own inputs for next-to-nothing for the OpLab), and we get some up-close highlights of other hardware, too.

Bonus: I’ve included a quick upload from my, cough, phone of the QuNeo hardware. We’ll wait to shoot prettier videos when this gear actually ships. In the meantime, find a really old CRT (maybe from an old Commodore) and plug into that, if you can.

Minitaur: It’s Knobby!

I didn’t get to shoot a video, because I was too busy for the few minutes I had with the Minitaur just playing. The controls are simple, elegant, and – here’s why you know it’s a Moog – absolutely every conceivable position of the parameters sounds brilliant. It’s a bit spooky, or unfair, or something. I’ll have a full hands-on hopefully around April from Berlin. Here’s a tour with the Chief Engineer of Moog.

(For more of why we love Moog Chief Engineer Cyril Lance, see him show us the Moogerfooger Cluster Flux.)

Moog also posted some celeb visitors to their booth jamming away and making this thing sound even better; see other tidbits from their Twitter stream.

Arturia Minibrute

It has a name that sounds Moog-like, and it might be an analog hardware synth, but make no mistake: this synth is all-French, and un-Moog. The feel of playing it different, it has a great rotary-controlled arpeggiator, and the sound shapers and oscillator mix controls can take it into some very different sonic territory. I made repeat visits to the booth just to wrap my head around the feel, and got to really love it.

Akai MAX49

So now that you’re looking for a keyboard with MIDI and CV to go with all these new sound modules, here’s a surprising candidate – Akai. Yes, we’re utterly relieved to see the company that was recently making tiny keyboards for iPhones and things with only USB MIDI on them return to MIDI DIN and CV.

In my hands-on with the MAX49, I was very impressed by the feel. The keybed feels terrific and just springy enough, and the pads are more traditional MPC-style pads shared on the new MPC controllers. They’ve also sorted the velocity response. (That is, they aren’t the pads readers were complaining about on previous Akai keyboards.) Also, the red color that looks so garish in the product photos looks very nice in person; it’s a high-gloss, thick finish that is reminiscent of car paint.

Here’s a more detailed look at all the features via Neil:

Smithson Martin Emulator

It’s likely spendier than what at least some readers will want – especially with the iPad as an everyman’s alternative – but I really enjoy Neil’s detailed look with Smithson Martin at the custom control layouts on the Emulator hardware.

Our friends at The Verge also take a look at the new hardware. (I’ve become a great fan of Joseph Flatley’s general tech writing, so I’m really pleased to see him covering the music tech area … and Joseph, one of these days we’ll be in the same place at the same time.)

Teenage Engineering OP-1 Update, Oplab

While some may resent the gloss of marketing around their work, the truth is, the Teenage Engineers are also doing some great engineering. The OP-1 updates take a synth that was conceptually interesting and make it more musically inspiring and productive, finally starting to realize some of its original potential.

And then there’s Oplab. At $300, it’s not an Arduino – but what it is is a unique, programmable combination of CV, MIDI, and USB hosting (that’s the key) to which you can connect virtually any hardware or custom sensor or hardware creation. Some onlooked misunderstood what it was initially, comparing its pricing to boxes that only to CV-to-MIDI conversion, and missing the advantages of USB hosting.

Here’s a better look at what it actually does, and I can guarantee, having talked to the TE crew, that there will be more details to come. I hope that this will also inspire other DIY projects, even those not involving the Oplab per se, so we’ll document those aspects, too.

Again, The Verge gives us a second look with a nicer camera.

Livid

Livid has been very, very busy of late. And their latest controller, in collaboration with Richie Hawtin and M-nus, is an extraordinary example of what iteration can do for hardware. The first pad-and-fader-and-knob controllers from Livid were very, very good. This is even better. Quietly, Livid is making the kind of all-around controller many musicians will appreciate, even as big makers struggle to find the formula artists want.

Since I hear there’s some association between M-nus, techno, and Berlin, let’s hope we can get a closer hands-on. Anyone interested in that? Show of hands?

Watch This Space

We have more photos and hands-on details of new tech from NAMM to bring you. I’m working through them slowly, as is my speed, so we can go into the stuff we really care about in greater detail. And since I can’t only look at new gear, new music coverage coming, as well. Be seeing you.

Novation has unveiled their newest product, a line of USB MIDI keyboards called Impulse. Shipping in September, they’ll run street/dealer prices of US$249.99 for the 25-key, $349.99 for 49 keys, and $399.99 for 61 keys.

This pits Novation squarely against some similar MIDI keyboards, including the M-Audio Axiom to which I gave the nod in a Keyboard Magazine round-up I wrote. (It even has a similar control surface layout.) The Novation picks up on some of the issues I noted, and adds some unique features:

• Aftertouch. Keybed quality is paramount for obvious reasons. What’s typically missing, for those who like it, is aftertouch support, available here.
• Full DAW control. Available on the Axiom but previously missing on Novation’s offering, you get 8 knobs, 9 faders and buttons, and an LCD for controlling your DAW. (Only one fader on the 25-key model, since all of that wouldn’t fit.
• Automap. It wouldn’t be a Novation keyboard without the company’s Automap feature. Whether that’s good or not depends on whether you like the functionality; I’ve tended to find it a bit fiddly at times, though the implementation with Propellerheads’ Reason is fantastic. (Hosts are a big part of the variable here.)
• Pads that do more. This one’s rather interesting: you get drum pads set up to do arpeggios, rolls, and Ableton Live clip launching. You could do that with any pads, but neat to see it on the keyboard, and I’m curious to learn more about the specific implementation.

My only regrets? The basic keyboard still fits into more or less the same category as what we’ve seen – possibly a worthy choice if you’re new, but probably not if you already have a controller keyboard. That may be what sells and what people want, so I don’t begrudge these companies making keyboards like this, and the cost is pretty incredible. I just long for some variety – which may mean looking to higher-end custom jobs rather than mass keyboards.

And I can’t really say I’m in love with the styling, either, to say the least. I’ll have to see it in person, and your taste may absolutely vary (you don’t need me to tell you what you like); I just would love to see something that’s both conservative and modern, not either bland or tending to be garish. (This just looks sporty in the way those gaming PCs do to me.) Again, custom keyboards may be the only route; watch for some coverage of that soon. (But seriously, Novation — a lot of folks I know really liked your previous styling.)

The product:
http://www.novationmusic.com/products/midi_controllers/impulse/

Video and more pics:

Walk into a club, and it seems far too often you’ll find a DJ operating Serato or Traktor with their laptop touchpad. At best, you might get a digital vinyl system that’s mostly spinning around and looking pretty. (Some people do amazing things with scratching; some love the feel of cueing on vinyl. Some don’t do much at all.) But at least digital DJs can’t say they don’t have options. Native Instruments’ Kontrol S2 is the latest entry, a two-deck version of their S4 we saw earlier. That hardware is impressive-looking, with unique electromagnetic technology that builds up greater resistance as you make bigger moves.

If that appealed to you, but you wanted a two-deck, two-channel mixer rather than four and four, the S2 should appeal. Native has also released a video with DJ and controllerist advocate Ean Golden showing off what it can do.

The S2 and S4 also sheds some bulk and weight – a marginal, not a radical amount, but enough to make a difference to those traveling. Compare the S4 to the S2 (S4 in parentheses):
Depth: 4.4cm (vs 5.2cm)
Height: 29.2cm (vs 32.2cm)
Width: 43.8cm (vs 50cm)
Weight: 2.7 kg (vs 3.4kg)

Of course, as I look at the amount of space Ean has on that table, it occurs to me that this remains the principle problem. We’ve seen some compact controllers, but they often don’t provide this kind of control. For cramped live situations, DJing can be tough. So that may mean either making tinier controllers or having DJs find a way to fight for more space and new performance venues.

What strikes me is that, in the time since the S4 came out, we’ve seen loads of other options – even one from Ean himself. And that’s a good thing: today’s Traktor user can choose from almost any imaginable hardware, and a few DIY options, for making a custom performance. I hope to see more DJs taking advantage of that. Some of our recent coverage:

Scratch This: A DIY Project Repurposes DJ Controllers as Scratch Inputs; Recycling DJ Gear

Not a Turntable, Not a Knob: A New Inertial Sensor Music Controller, as Artists Explore

New Performance Controllers: Midi-Fighter Pro will Face Grid+Fader Rivals

Novation + Serato Touchstrip Twitch; Pics + Inside Details on the DJ ‘Controllerist’ Collaboration

Closest to the S4/S2:
Virtual DJ Controllers: New Hardware for Serato, Traktor from Pioneer, Numark”

Faderfox 4midiloop: True, Four-deck, Four-effect Traktor Control [lacks jog wheels, but you do get Faderfox's unparalleled quality and more mixing and fx controls - ideal if you want to use your own decks or jogs, too]

And we should note, while it’s a mixer rather than a controller, our friend Minus was all over A&H’s DB4 DJ mixer:
Allen & Heath Xone:DB4 DJ Mixer: Hands-on Preview with Ambivalent (Minus)

All of this means it’s a very good time to be doing creative, performance-oriented (“controllerist”) DJ sets. And frankly, if there’s not enough room at the club where you’re a patron or a player or both, maybe it’s time to go find some space and stretch out those controllerist arms of yours.

On that note, let’s look at some pretty photos of the S2, since NI obliged. (Hint to manufacturers: if you’re jealous of this kind of coverage, just send us some good pictures and videos, already. All tech journalists are biased by product makers actually sending stuff that’s easy for us to post! Mmmm… pictures.)

Traktor Kontrol S2 Product Page

Can minimalist controller design make even two knobs into a digital instrument? We’ll soon see. The arc, the new controller from monome designer Brian Crabtree, contains just two high-resolution encoders (known to us in everyday usage as “knobs”). It makes no sound; every minute rotation and a push-button action are telegraphed to a computer. Everything that would make it musically interesting, then, is up to the makers of interactive software on the computer. At their disposal are interactive, brightness-adjustable LED displays that ring those encoders.

At US$500 (or $800 for a four-knob model), the results aren’t cheap, challenging even loyal fans of the grid controller monome. What you get for your dollars, at least according to the creator, is materials and handmade construction. The case is made out of solid, sustainable walnut, the facing from aluminum. In grainy Internet video, it may look like there’s plastic around the rings; it’s not – it’s glass. The slip mat is felt, sourced from small farms. I almost hesitate to point these things out, as it might make it seem as though the arc is expensive for the sake of being expensive, and that wouldn’t be fair; ultimately, it’s the arc’s small-quantity, handmade, local construction that drives up the price, relatively speaking, in the iPhone world in which we live.

Anyway, whether you buy one or not, I think it’ll be the question of how software can rise to the challenge of the arc’s provocatively-minimal design that’s more interesting. Brian has shot a first video experiment with one demo, in which you can see those LEDs providing feedback with the software, showing the position of loop points. Even this video only scratches the surface: Brian hopes that this won’t just be a monome companion, but that some will find ways of using it on its own.

A recent post on the official monome site provides additional details:

• 256 steps per revolution, with integrated push button
• 64 leds per ring, each led independently has 16 levels of brightness
• arc two: 6” x 3.5” x 1.5”
• arc four: 10.5×3.5” x 1.5”
• Ordering Feb. 18, ships first week March
• Initial run: 50 of each. (Yeah, that’ll sell out fast, even in this economy.)

A design like this rightfully raises questions – even doubts – so I’ve spoken with Brian to see how he sees his latest creation.

CDM: Who is this for? Is it primarily a companion to the monome, or might you imagine people using it as a controller on its own?

Brian: fundamentally it’s for people who are interested in exploring new methods of interaction. the arc is simply a high-resolution encoder and a bunch of lights. like the open decoupled grid, it’s a blank canvas which provides the same opportunity to invent, share, and generally think differently about process.

while certainly it makes sense integrated into larger systems or paired with a grid device, i’m hoping the extreme constraints will also prompt ambitious, minimalist performance tactics. and it’s not simply a fancy volume knob. the visual feedback has sufficient depth to facilitate much more exacting use of the input. i do see the possibility of interesting two-knob applications that make good use of visual feedback and various modes.

Price seems to be a debate no matter what things cost, so let’s ask it another way – realizing many people aren’t familiar with what goes into manufacturing and how that impacts price, where does the cost of an arc go? What are the major sources of its cost, specifically?

like the grid devices before it, the arc had several tricky design challenges. it’s often more difficult to achieve a minimalist aesthetic, which is perhaps counter-intuitive.

the materials, sources, and people we chose to work with account for the cost. the enclosure is milled solid black walnut, harvested in central pennsylvania. aluminum work, anodizing, glass cutting (that is not plastic), laser cutting, sheet metal fabrication, circuit assembly, and pcb manufacturing all happen in the eastern US. we’re deeply invested in our local economy.

there’s no one part that makes the device expensive– it’s the total number of custom parts that seem somewhat cheap on their own– and there are a lot of them. i’ll be sharing some photos of the construction process when we get a chance.

of course, there’s the fact that these devices are hand-made in very small batches– we don’t get huge discounts on quantity orders.

but comparing prices is a bit silly– we’re not really competing with yamaha or novation or the like. if you truly appreciate what goes into these devices and what they do (and don’t do), i think you will find the pricing fair and reasonable.

With just two encoders on the main model, there’s a lot of focus, obviously, on just these controls. In practical use, as you get your hands on this thing, how much do you find having the additional resolution makes a difference? Can you really make movements small enough to take advantage of it?

tiny movements can be tracked– 256 steps per revolution– and the large knob allows for greater physical control. high resolution is a major benefit. there’s room for more subtle gesture in controllers, and i’m hoping room for thoughtful, slow, and maybe even quiet musical contours.

the integrated pushbutton allows for press-sweep-release gestures, toggling, or however the application would like to interpret the data. in a way it doubles the input streams per knob– turning while pressed, turning while depressed. with the correct app design this feels remarkably natural.

How are those messages sent via OSC?

there’s a simple format similar to other monome devices. we’re about to release a new serial-osc server (called serialosc) which will make for a much more plug-and-play experience.

encoders send out delta values: +1, -1, -2 for example. they don’t have an absolute position, so it’s up to the software to count and transpose these values. it makes for much more interesting translation of what knob movement means– for example you could map a single “tick” to be 1 normally but 0.1 when holding the button down– coarse/fine movement.

the led ring has a flexible and detailed set of messages. set a single led, set all leds to one value, set a range of leds to a value, or send a whole array of 64 led values in one OSC packet. these optimizations allow for incredibly fast refresh rates, resulting in very smooth animation.

the leds support variable brightness with 16 values per led. i see a lot of potential here– layers, waveform mapping, background vs. foreground, reactive metering…

As I recall from our conversation, USB connections are different than on the monome, yes? Will you use USB class for control as well as serial-over-USB? How will the arc connect to software?

we’re using ftdi again. long boring story! some other time.

Ed.: FTDI refers to a chip manufacturer. Long story short, this involves having a USB device act as a standard, non-USB serial port, which involves drivers. (Fun fact: those drivers are now rolled into recent kernels on Linux, which makes life easier for free software users.) The arrangement works, and in the past people have appreciated the performance they get out of the arrangement. It does (likely) knock out the possibility of using your arc with an iPad.

Why only two (or four) encoders, and not more?

you can already get more encoders elsewhere, but without resolution of input or output. we generally don’t like reinventing things that already exist.

for this project i think having too many elements detracts from the focus. we’d prefer a high degree of detail.

What patches have you seen created so far for this?

that’s a funny question given only one prototype exists at the moment! but the monome forum seems to have already brainstormed several pages of possibilities– one user even created a flash app for realizing detailed diagrams.

the community really surprised me on this one. i figured new apps would come about quickly once the actual devices were out in the wild, but never did i imagine apps were getting first versions before the hardware was ready.

The first run is limited, but if it’s a big success, do you anticipate making larger runs later?

certainly, though we’ll follow our same methods which have proved successful over the years– releasing in editions, and trying to create enough to meet demand but not much more. it’s still just kelli and me building, and it’s not great to have extra parts laying around.

Brightness you noted was addressable; how would you control brightness on the LED rings?

/enc/ring/set n x s
where n = encoder number, x = led number, s = state/brightness (0-15)

Presumably if people wished to add, say, accelerometer and/or tilt, they could do so? (This wound up creating interesting variations to control on the monome.)

i’ve done a huge redesign of the electronics, modularized and standardized. we’re working on a tilt upgrade that should be a matter of plugging in a small ribbon cable.

Will any component of this, beyond bundled software, be released under an open source license, or is it already? (I think perhaps the USB chip you’re using already is?)

i’m looking at licenses (some which you referred me to) and expect to post firmware and schematics and everything. it’s not realistic for people to make a DIY version (complicated boards, insanely tiny parts), and we won’t be making a kit version (though we will have an encoder module that will plug into the new mk).

most importantly, the protocol will be open source. both the serial and OSC protocol. so smartphone emulators and arduino clones will be possible and encouraged.

Because the hardware is not available under an open source license and cannot be freely redistributed, I wouldn’t call monome or arc “open source hardware.” At the same time, it’s different in significant ways from conventional proprietary hardware, and it does have genuinely open source protocols and software. Perhaps “modifiable” is another word. Without getting stuck on labels, how would you describe what the monome is? And you’ve talked about some other priorities you have that exist outside the open source discussion that seem they also merit conversation; can you comment on that?

i agree, it may need another name.

i’m slightly ambivalent about the label “open source hardware.” it’s come to mean more than simply having the sources available, which was my original goal. people should absolutely know how their equipment works and be able to modify it if desired. it’s turned into a different conversation, about freedom– the most anonymous free-market sort of freedom. and this is a good conversation to have, but it somehow left the realm of sharing and went somewhere else. i wish more people were interested in discussing resource use, materials, and local economics– these are very real issues concerning physical goods. the open source hardware debate seems to have inherited too much from the open source software ideology.

overall i’m a proponent of communicating with people. if you’d like to use someone’s work, contact them and chat about it. licenses are only a starting point.

Side note – OSC messages + Arc

TheAlphaNerd posts via comments this excerpt of Brian on the forums. This should be considered a draft of the OSC implementation, but I think is interesting nonetheless.

To simplify this… there are 64 leds per encoder. There are 16 stages of brightness. Leds can be changed as a group or individually

“most of this is still tentative, could endure minor refinements before the end of the month.

in short:

from device:
/enc/delta n d
where n is encoder number, d is change (ie 1, -1, +2)
/enc/key n s
where n is encoder number, s is state (0,1)

the refresh is incredibly fine and fast, so unless you’re really throwing the knob, you rarely get beyond 1 or -1 on delta.

that said, it’s “up to you” to keep a counter when writing your own apps. i’ll be making a bunch of “helper” apps and templates to provide high-level functionality to app writers.

one thing to consider– being able to set rotation limits (setting ranges), “chunking” the display into 16 sections, having the rotation speed (fine vs course) be set by the button press.

what about a rotating led cycle that’s an LFO (or sample playback)? turning the know pulls at the velocity like a turntable. push down the knob and it applies a friction brake. hold it down and spin one way to give it a serious push, let go and it runs free.

etc.

protocol to device:
/enc/ring/set n x s
set led x (0-63) of encoder n to state s (0-15)
/enc/ring/all n s
set all leds of encoder n to state s (0-15) like /clear on monome grids
/enc/ring/map n d[64]
map array d (64 values) to encoder n, like /frame on grids”

It’s still early days for the arc, as it awaits production and more patches and creativity. I hope to offer more on it as that happens.

What if a gaping product hole for musicians were filled by a game company instead of a musical instruments company? There’s no need to imagine: pick up the new Rock Band 3 keyboard, and you’ll see what I mean.

Consider: most sub-$100 and compact keyboards have dumped 5-PIN MIDI DIN ports in favor of USB only – little comfort if you want to plug a keyboard into that DIY sound module or eBay treasure. (Alesis’ QS25 is one exception, but even a $150 M-Audio Oxygen is USB-only.)

And keytars? Fuggedaboutit. Strap-on keyboards or keytars are a great way to play keyboard lines, but they’ve tended to be freakin’ huge. They really do feel like strapping a full-sized keyboard on your shoulder, which can kill the joy of playing them. And the current “entry-level” model, Roland’s Lucina AX-09, has a street of US$600 or more. eBay bidders have made used items similarly pricey.

So, forget for a second that a game is involved. What if I told you you could get a cute, light little keyboard with MIDI DIN, intelligent MIDI mappings, and two great-feeling synth action octaves, all in a strap-on form factor with battery power, for $80?

Yeah. That’s what I thought. So whether you’re a hardened gamer or just looking for a nice, mobile keyboard controller, here’s an in-depth look at how MIDI works on the new Rock Band 3 Wireless Keyboard Controller – forever to be known to everyone outside Harmonix and Mad Catz as “the Rock Band keytar.”

The Hardware, Impressions

Hardware specs:

• 25 velocity-sensitive keys. (Velocity already gives a leg up over some stuff you can get on eBay. No aftertouch, though.)
• TRS port for stomp or expression pedals. (Right now, that means the bass drum pedal, until we figure out a DIY solution. It uses a little 3.5mm jack; working on finding out voltage specs.)
• 1-axis touch strip which maps to modulation and pitch.
• 5-pin MIDI DIN port.
• Xbox 360 (or PS3) game pad, wireless Xbox operation. (For wireless MIDI, you’re on your own.)
• Three AA batteries. (No external power.)
• Optional stand accessory. (This looks cute; I didn’t pick it up yesterday but may yet.)
• 4.6 lbs.

US$80 street, and also available bundled with the Rock Band 3 game.

I’ve handled a lot of “shoulder-mount keyboards,” and the simple reality is, a lot of them have pretty awful ergonomics. The Rock Band keyboard is about the best I’ve handled. It’s light enough that you can hold it in one hand, and compact enough that it’s about the width of a typical adult waist. That means it actually feels like a keytar sized to be played as a keytar.

The keyboard action is just a basic, unweighted synth action, but feels solid enough, and velocity response is consistent. I have to admit: I was very surprised by the quality of the keyboard. You could easily put this alongside so-called “pro” unweighted keyboards in the sub-$200 range and, blindfolded, no one would ever guess this was a game keyboard. I have no idea who built the action (it’s labeled “made in China”), but there would be no shame whatsoever in using it.

One oddity: F3, C4, and F4 each have raised ridges on the left-hand side of the keys, in order to delineate the keyboard’s five zones for gameplay. With proper keyboard technique, though, you won’t even feel them, since the pads of your fingers will hit the middle of the keys. (That is, unless you have larger fingers.)

You also get a standard set of game controllers, and everything either sends a MIDI message or is used to toggle features on the keyboard. Not a button goes to waste.

The touchpad on the neck is probably the weak spot of the design. It’s usable, and conveniently located, but its response is pretty hard to control exactly. It’s also hard to hold down the overdrive button while using it, which is the only way to get to pitch. Then again, your left hand is likely busy holding the keyboard, anyway, just as on all keytars, so a pedal seems the better solution for anything really expressive. I’ll see how I adjust to it over time, though.

MIDI Mapping

As with the guitar, operation is simple: plug in a MIDI cable.

Yeah, okay. There is something to be said for old-fashioned MIDI, huh?

Once you’ve plugged in, you get some surprisingly robust MIDI implementation:

Keyboard: 25 keys transmit normally, with velocity. (No aftertouch. I’m glad we get velocity.)

In drum mode, the keyboard transmits General MIDI drum parts, which is, of course, handy for playing drum patches. (It’s also handy for confusing the hell out of you if you didn’t know that’s what it did.)

Touch controller: 1-axis modulation. Hold down the “Overdrive” button, and while that button is held, it sends pitch bend – which makes pitch bend nearly unusable. (Too bad they didn’t just make the Overdrive button a straight toggle.) Works well enough for Modulation, though.

Octave: Octave up and down shift uses the X and B keys (on Xbox, or the left and right action keys), just as on the guitar – and just as on the guitar, you get four up, four down. Octave feedback is available on the LEDs.

Program change: Top and bottom action keys increment or decrement, respectively, program change. (Y and A on Xbox.)

D-pad buttons: As on the guitar, these toggle functions, though for the keyboard all four are mapped instead of three. Up turns on and off drum mapping, right changes the pedal to foot controller, down changes pedal to channel volume, and left changes the pedal to expression.

Transport controls: The Back, Guide, and Start buttons on the Xbox gamepad correspond to Stop, Continue, and Start MIDI messages, respectively – so if you’re tracking your next Rock Band Network song in Reaper, you can control your takes right from the keyboard.

Pedals: There’s one pedal port on the side. More on how to use this soon; I haven’t yet tried it. It’s a 3.5mm jack, but I have to find out the voltage. Stomp should work fine with a standard Rock Band drum pedal, and in the default mode, you can use that for a damper pedal. For expression, you need something that sends analog voltage.

Panic: Press the Back, Guide, and Start buttons simultaneously to switch all notes off. (Curiously, this appears not to be the same as on the guitar, but I can only test the keyboard to know for sure.)

MIDI channel: 1. Always. It’s always MIDI channel 1.

Note that there is no accelerometer output from the keyboard. Too bad; that would have been fun (and likely more useful than the two-fingered salute you have to do to get pitch bend from the touch strip). In fact, this sounds like a ripe opportunity for a little hack – maybe a strap-on board that transmits accelerometer and MIDI via Bluetooth.

Applications

Bottom line is, this thing is a joy for controlling computer synths or hardware, and may have just become my portable keyboard of choice, just because it’s fun to strap on. Of course, if you don’t care about the “keytar” form factor, any number of inexpensive keyboards will give you real pitch and mod wheels and some knobs. But if you want to play a keytar, this game controller has become, bizarrely, a must-buy.

As we find out more about the pedals, I’ll share that. In the meantime, enjoy.

With the iPad available now and more touch-enabled devices likely coming soon, we finally have hardware that can be both display and controller, visual feedback and input device. While tactile control will maintain its place, these devices can augment performance controls, acting as compositional brains, and can serve as studio creation tools.

Yesterday, we got a glimpse of something called “MB Control,” a custom Ableton Live controller that got a number of people excited for its eminently-practical control layouts. It’s based on the popular, promising, and open source Live Control project, one we’re watching closely, but with its own twists. Today, I have more details on that project from co-creator Bjorn, who has long been a maker of wonderful tutorials and devices for Ableton at The Covert Operators and works here with Uruguay’s International Feel. The bad news is, for now, this isn’t something you’ll be able to get your hands on – it’s not for sale because it’s so particular to the needs of its creators. But the good news is, it demonstrates a number of useful techniques, and at least some devices are on their way. (It’s also further evidence that a runtime for Max for Live could set this community on fire, if Ableton and Cycling ’74 were to decide to go in that direction.)

The project is powered by TouchOSC, the iPad’s apparent killer-app OSC touch controller, and Max for Live.

Bjorn writes:

This project is a customized Ableton Live studio controller made with Max For Live devices for Mark from International Feel Recordings.

http://soundcloud.com/international-feel/

After trying various control solutions ranging from Lemur Clip Launchers to ST8′s LiveControl, there still was a need for a customizable studio controller solution. Most of the solutions currently available are focused on Live Performance. There’s isn’t really anything out there to jam an arrangement with that works in a practical musical sense for studio heads.

In Mark’s case, he was looking for a Clip Launcher that could display 1 Scene of 40 Tracks wide. A change like that isn’t so easily made to a python script.
He also wanted 3 types of sequencers. That would definitely get tricky with python scripts and 3rd party MIDI drivers. So the project ended up being a customized version of ST8′s LiveControl, but entirely built in Max For Live.

MB Control Features:

• A Drum Sequencer that can be dropped onto any MIDI Track in Live. Up to 8 instances are supported which can be selected and controlled from the iPad. It has all the features of a basic X0X sequencer (and more besides). You can change the Rate/Range/Direction/Length/Velocity/Pitch of any sequencer lane individually, you can control all the lanes at once and you can even control all the sequencers at once. There is a randomization feature that allows you to specify the density of a randomized pattern.
• A Melodic Sequencer. Its almost identical to the Drum Sequencer. It also supports up to 8 instances and it has a feature to lock the pitches of all the lanes to the transposition features of the Bouncer Sequencer. It also allows various melodic scales to be selected.
• A Bouncer Sequencer like people know from on the tenori-on. Its supports 2 times 8 notes with 16 steps. There are a few extra buttons to transpose the sequence to a different pitch. The Melodic Sequencers have a Transpose Lock buttons that allows them to follow the transposition of this sequencer.
• 48 Track Clip Launcher of 1 Scene deep. A very useful Clip Launcher if you have lots of tracks and want to control all clips on a scene individually. Has a feature that shows how many clips are in any given track. It also supports group tracks and allows folding/unfolding on the clip slot of the group track. A button underneath each Clip Slot allows control over Arm/Solo/Mute and Stop Clip.
• A Mixer with control over the Volume/Pan/Send A/Send B/Arm/Solo/Mute. The Mixer follows whatever Clip was triggered last. If you trigger a clip on track 9, the Mixer will display track 9 to 18 automatically.
• Device Controller. Its like Automap with 16 Sliders. You can select any device and control all of its parameters. Devices can also be hidden if required.
• 16 Macros Device. Its like Macros in a Rack but there are 16 of them. And they can be assigned to any device regardless of which track they’re in. This device is integrated in the Device Controller page as a simple switch and allows users to personally tailor their multi device control onto one screen, thus keeping it in line with the ‘arrangement jamming’ principle.
• XY Controller. 5 XY Pads to control multiple device parameters.
• Drum Pads. A MIDI Device that can be dropped on any MIDI Track you wish to play on.
• Keys. A Keyboard that can be dropped on any MIDI Track you wish to play on, with velocity, Octave buttons, modwheel and Pitch Bend.
• Arturia Moog Editor. A custom controller layout for the [Arturia Moog emulation] VST. It is a device that converts the incoming OSC to CC data that the VST accepts.
• Most pages have global controls like Overdub/Record/Transport and switching MIDI Quantization between Off and 1/16ths.

This project is finished as far as Mark is concerned. He has the controller he wished for and it works entirely to his specifications. It’s all running very smooth in Max For Live and the response on the iPad is great. TouchOSC keeps improving so that means that eventually we’ll have more than 7 colors to work with and lots of cool little features surely to come. The day this project was finished, TouchOSC 1.6 came out with the ability to change colors and hide objects. Something that’ll be off great use for making customizable interfaces.

MB Control (in it’s current form), is not for sale.

It is far too personalized to be useful to everybody. I will release some of the devices individually soon. As for the core ‘brain’ patch that controls everything, I will keep improving on that until I’ve got a device that supports Clip Launchers of all sizes. Regardless of how many tracks/scenes you want to display. All you should need is ANY OSC controller, configure it to your liking, type in your IP somewhere and never have to set it up again.

Once a M4L runtime is available then we will definitely consider making this (and possibly different versions of it) available commerically.

Thanks to Bjorn for all this great info.

By way of comparison, below is a video of the LiveControl project, which now has a new homepage:
http://livecontrol.q3f.org/livecontrol/

As you can see, there are a variety of approaches to how to make the controller – software setup useful for music.

LiveControl for the iPad/iPod from ST8 on Vimeo.

As expected, Native Instruments has announced Traktor Kontrol S4, an all-in-one integrated hardware controller and software system for digital DJing. The hardware does look extensive. Highlights:

• Integrated audio interface
• Four-channel mixer section
• Full support for looping, effects control, browsing for tracks in the library
• Sample Decks, controlled from the hardware, allow beat-synced sample manipulation, with a live Loop Recorder for sampling an external audio input or resampling a mix from the DJ app
• Multicolor backlighting and LED

The Kontrol S4 also promises better jog wheel support, using NI’s own electromagnetic technology to generate high-resolution touch information. (Unfortunately, NI uses their own proprietary NHL protocol; it’d be nice to make use of that control signal in other applications using something like OSC.) NI says they’ll also add external time-code control in a future update; for now, there’s not support for control vinyl for those who prefer conventional decks to jog wheels.

The bundle will cost you, at US$999/EUR899, but that includes the hardware controller and audio interface plus software. A hard road case will be available for US$189.

NI says both will ship this winter.

Traktor Kontrol S4 @ Native Instruments

After the jump, see the video – it’s nice to see our NYC neighbor and Dubspot faculty member DJ Shiftee, the 2009 DMC Champ. (Hmmm… we need some sort of Nerd music championship.) Even nicer: watching him live-remix the theme music from the game Tetris.

I’m curious to hear what you think, especially if you fall more in the DJ camp (though the DJ software is increasingly blurring with “live PA”-style performance tools, whatever label you may apply).

God bless you, 4/4. Yes, there’s still something about that four-beat, sixteen step bar that gets toes tapping and booties shaking and floors fouring on the… floor. So, when musician and maker Steve Cooley decided he wanted more physical control, he didn’t want some perfectly generic controls, and he didn’t want rows and columns. He wanted sixteen steps and faders alongside. The result is Beatseqr, an Arduino-powered hardware controller recently spotted at the Maker Faire outside San Francisco.

Because it’s just a controller, they’ve built Roxor, a Mac software step app that sends OSC, and Steppa, a Max/MSP patch, though other options would be viable. The idea is to combine software to make a productive “toolchain.” (I’m still surprised people don’t make more use of tools like Python for these sorts of tasks, not only for cross-platform compatibility, but even for ease. But the principle is the same.)

I like the idea and layout, and if you want one, you can even buy one for $299. (We’re talking extremely limited runs. Right now, there appears to be … one of them.) It’s a cool creation, though it makes me imagine this as a prototype for something else – something with onboard MIDI or possibly even basic onboard sound generation. I think we could be on the verge of a real explosion in new, hand-built devices of that sort. And that could mean layouts like the one found on Roland’s 808 are about to make a very big comeback, re-imagined for a new generation.

And the bottom line: it’s fun for its creator. It’s not only a solution to a problem from an engineering perspective; it represents bridging the gap from wanting something, and realizing exactly that thing you want by making it yourself. As Steve puts it:

The goal wasn’t to create a box that can do all things for all people. It’s a specific tool for a specific purpose. It is a very fun tool for improvising and performing.

If that isn’t the spirit of DIY, I don’t know what is.

http://www.beatseqr.com/blog/

What if a competition didn’t just encourage entrants to try to make a better product? What if it encouraged friendly rivalry between makers to produce entries that were also shared across the community?

That’s the idea behind Digitópia’s upcoming series of competitions, now entering its third year. Digitópia itself is based in Porto, Portugal, at the Casa da Musica. But even if Portugal isn’t exactly in your neighborhood, entrants and onlookers alike can benefit from shared, open sourced contributions.

In fact, even the prizes itself are open projects. The simple, anthropomorphic-looking controller above is a free project. It’s dead-simple, a combination of an IKEA salad bowl, a potentiometer, and ultrasonic distance sensors. But as a result, it’s also inexpensive, simple to use (particularly with the addition of Digitópia’s custom-developed software), and a flexible starting point for further work. (Actually, handling multiple ultrasonics is a bit tricky, too, relative to things like infrared, so that’s a particularly nice addition.)

First up: Max and Pd patchers, your pride is on the line.

Think your Max/MSP or Pure Data multimedia patch is the most original around? Prove it. An international competition will find the best patches, and all of them (whether made in Max or Pd) will be released under a free software license. A panel will judge the results, led by Pedro Rebelo, composer, digital artist and Director of Education at the School of Music and Sonic Arts, Queen’s University Belfast. New deadline: February 14. (That’s right, polish off your best patch, send it into battle, and then take your pumped-up sense of masculinity / femininity out for a fantastic Valentine’s Day dinner.)

There are other competitions, too. The third-annual Musical Miniatures Competition is looking for musical works or “gestures” of 15 seconds or less. (If you’ve ignored other calls for works, this one should leave you no excuse.) The sounds will be licensed under a Creative Commons license for freesound.org, adding to that communal repository of sounds. Bram de Jong, legendary developer and freesound.org guru, will judge the results. Deadline: May 28.

Produce the best sound or the best patch, and you get the controller above and accompanying software. But the for third competition, you get the futuristic controller of your dreams. You submit the idea, and Digitópia builds the results. The entrants are judged on “innovation, originality, feasibility and inclusive potential.” (Yes, it needs to be feasible in order for them to build it — no electronic music equivalents of The Homer.)

Oh, yes, and the Dreams Competition has me as the judge. Deadline: April 3. Keep a dream journal.

The beauty of all of this is that these are contests that give back. We’ll have sounds, patches, inventions, and hardware documentation for the prize and the entrants; stay tuned as that documentation becomes available.

Speaking of getting something out of this for yourself… don’t have any dream ideas? No good at Max and Pd patching? For an absurdly-cheap €15 for three whole days of seminars, Digitópia will teach you patching skills in these two tools. Jeez, for that price, you could afford a flight to beautiful Portugal and still come out ahead. No details on the new seminars for spring up yet, but I’ll put up a notice when they are. (I’m also teaching a seminar at Digitópia the first week of June.)

Digitópia Competitions 2010

Digitópia – Platform for the Development of Digital Music Communities