seejayjames

Pretty impressive, nicely packaged, easy to use. Good price too....definitely worth a look for all those into new instrument designs.

Curious about people's thoughts. Sure, many of us on here could create something like this with Arduino and Max (and probably have), but they've put it all together in a great way, which is a ton of work in itself after you get the tech stuff working...

beamz-laser-instrument

I would take issue with the designers' contention that it "engages and intrigues accomplished musicians", is there expressivity and intimate control here? It appears to be instantly playable and not much else. Furthermore, it does 'look good' but i'd rather see a bunch of tactile sensors and scrappy wires hanging out of an Arduino, which offered a higher degree of intimate control, than something flashy but simplistic. Also, Tim Swingler's Soundbeam has been around for over 10 years.....

I would take issue with the designers' contention that it "engages and intrigues accomplished musicians", is there expressivity and intimate control here? It appears to be instantly playable and not much else. Furthermore, it does 'look good' but i'd rather see a bunch of tactile sensors and scrappy wires hanging out of an Arduino, which offered a higher degree of intimate control, than something flashy but simplistic. Also, Tim Swingler's Soundbeam has been around for over 10 years.....
http://www.soundbeam.co.uk/


I definitely agree on one front, that I personally like having total control over complex parameters, the "wires hanging out of the Arduino" etc. But that's a bit of the "curse" of Max, we understand all the possibilities, and we then make things that can really do anything, but the patches can become incomprehensible to anyone but the most experimental people. (Depends on your abilities of GUI design though.)

I also cringe at the idea of people that try out new musical instruments being turned off by control and complexity, and wanting it to "just work and sound great without me having to think", but unfortunately that's where many people are, and given that there's tons of areas I'm not familiar with, I might want something similar in a different area. So it's a balance that's often tough to tread.

Luckily, with today's technology for publishing videos and other information, we can "package" things however we want, and cater to many different audiences. And Max provides everything we need to make a killer, control-everything kind of app, but with a "basic" mode (hidden $1 :) which will draw the most casual user in, and hopefully hook them into exploring more deeply.

Luckily, with today's technology for publishing videos and other information, we can "package" things however we want, and cater to many different audiences. And Max provides everything we need to make a killer, control-everything kind of app, but with a "basic" mode (hidden $1  :) which will draw the most casual user in, and hopefully hook them into exploring more deeply.


Ross Kirk and Andy Hunt are the 'go-to' guys for this type of debate..

Andy Hunt's book "The Pragmatic Programmer" looks especially interesting, will check it out. Thanks for the tip!

Since reading this book, I have implemented many of the practical suggestions and tips it contains. Across the board, they have saved my company time and money while helping me get my job done quicker! This should be a desktop reference for everyone who works with code for a living.

...thanks for keeping this short thread 'live' daffne; one of the projects I work for has recently invested in a couple of Beamz, and I'll be able to do a slightly more objective review of them shortly.

Beamz laser instrument