The PowerMate from Griffin is an affordable, very compact USB knob with glowing blue LED feedback and push-and-turn functionality (so it’s a button, too). But using just one knob may not be all that useful for control. We’ve already seen Robert Hodgin VJing with four PowerMates, but our friends Bill Van Loo and Joshua Schnable have come up with a novel solution. Using Schnable’s custom software built in Pure Data (Pd), they’ve not only mapped the PowerMate to MIDI, but using switches and the push function allow you to control four or eight channels at once using just the one knob.

At the end of last week, they offered a first look at the solution, with a basic demo in Ableton Live (though any MIDI-capable software will work), and downloadable Pd patch and manual to get you started. The patch is open source-licensed.

announcing CTRL4 + CTRL8: MIDI Control for Griffin PowerMate + PureData

Of course, if you’d rather use OSC or create an instrument right in Pd, you can do that, too, with this as a template. But if you want to get up and running with your PowerMate – even if you’ve never used Pd – this should be quite accessible.

Check it out in action in the video below. More documentation is coming.

The manual itself is written from the Mac perspective, but with any MIDI loopback tool on Windows, it should work, too – and I believe some people are even using the PowerMate on Linux. If anyone wants to share how you’re using this on another platform or with another setup, that’d be great, in a noisepages post/blog or anywhere you like – just let us know. (Documentation, suffice to say, is a huge part of going open source.)

This might be worth trying with similar hardware like the (discontinued but still available) Logitech NuLOOQ Navigator, as well. (The NuLOOQ is more expensive list, but looks like prices are as low as $30, and it adds additional controls like a ring on the top.)

Griffin PowerMate

Logitech NuLOOQ Navigator

FIRST LOOK: Joshua Schnable’s CTRL8 Powermate/PD control software from chromedecay on Vimeo.

Some time ago, we ran a story on a boutique German synth called the Rozzbox. Laden with knobby goodness, the Rozzbox was available only in limited quantities, and only to those fortunate enough to be in Germany (or somehow miraculously got in touch with the creator and pried one from his hands).

Tweakers rejoice! The Rozzbox has finally made it to the US, with distribution being handled by Big City Music. Still only available in limited quantities, we suspect that the Rozzbox will go fast – even at nearly $1950USD. Its unique architecture sets its tone somewhere between a broken-DX7-run-through-a-Sherman-Filterbank and an old-school gaming system turned synth. Full specs available on the Big City Music site, and demos available on the Rozzbox site (in German).

Ed.: Looks like this one has tweaked the interest of Chris @ Audio Damage, too.

And here’s a video in action from the folks at Big City Music that gives you a sense of its range of timbre. (Sure you can make it more musical when you take it home and off the chaos of the show floor!)

Don’t knock physical faders: they work. And with proliferating options, somewhere out there, there’s a control surface for you. The latest candidate: Codanova’s new VMX, yet another control surface for self-powered use via USB or standalone MIDI operation. 59 assignable controllers, including 2 jog wheels, a cross-fader, and various faders and knobs. The jog wheels are a nice touch, and the controls look promising as far as quality, particularly the ergonomically-shaped crossfader.

I asked creator Gilles Moncaubeig for some advice about where to buy this. In Europe, you can buy from R-Digital, playback.fr, and Mix Experience. It’s even on an eBay.fr store for 389,00 EUR. In the US, opt for Mix Experience as they will ship from Europe to our shores.

Sure, these new-fangled touchscreens are fascinating, but I can still do a lot with physical faders for a fraction of the price (and with my eyes closed, something that can’t be said for the touchscreen). Got a control surface you love? Hit comments and let us know.

Recently: Faderfox Live/DJ MIDI Controllers Hit 2nd Generation; Worldwide Shipping

Attention, fans of boxes with knobs: I haven’t abandoned you. Especially not when boutique synths seem to be all the rage. Here’s the latest, via Gearjunkies:

L.L. Electronics RozzBox [non-German readers, just click specs]

No plastic here: aluminum with maple sides. Inside, you’ll find a 4-operator FM synth with adjustable glide (looks like you could route it for virtual analog, too) and the usual filters, envelopes, LFO modulation, etc. The synth looks really flexible, and there are some especially nifty features: external audio input, integrated ring modulation (exterminate! — uh, cough, sorry), built-in sequencers that also function as modulation, and even a tube distortion / filter option. MIDI input / output, even envelope follower in, and, for you true analog junkies, an optional control voltage (CV) input.

Gorgeous, compact, flexibly-designed, and it’s not another cheap Moog clone. Now the only question is, where / when / how much? I’ll get back to you if I hear more.

For some of the most bizarre and unusual music-sound installation art, look no further than Burning Man. Burning, indeed: this desert-based event has in the past featured Eric Singer’s Max/MSP-controlled pyrophone, a propane-powered flaming sound organ. (And, incidentally, that installation is making a repeat appearance this year.)

And what better activity when in the middle of the desert than tweaking knobs and producing strange electronic grooves? That’s the idea behind improbable orchestra, an interactive table full o’ knobs for collaborative soundmaking. Build one yourself: check out the copious design notes. Basic specs: the free Pure Data graphical multimedia development environment is running sounds, gutted Pentium PC with custom power supply, custom circuit board connecting the knobs and fiddly bits thorough a Parallax basic stamp board. (Lots more specs on their site, missing only details of the Pd patch.)

“But,” says you, “I hate knobs. Give me lasers, man.” Sure! You obviously want the interactive Aeolian laser harp, which suspends a series of laser beams through which you can walk to trigger sound. It’s the creation of former NYU ITP faculty member Jen Lewin, now based in Colorado and doing interactive sculpture full-time. She has other fantastic projects like interactive butterflies.

Are you going to Burning Man — or have a project of your own you want to tell us about? Drop me a line!

improbable orchestra
Laser harps
Pyrophone [ CDM ]
Art of Burning Man [burningman.com]