cbannis

This is part of a series of sketches exploring the potential to bridge the gap between sound visualization and musical instrument. With multi-touch interaction it is possible to manipulate multiple characteristics of a sound--visually, and simultaneously. This shift has the potential of bringing the experience of synthesizer as music instrument to a whole new place. This approach allows the performer to have a more tactile and immediate experience of the synthesizer and also creates a visual reference for the audience. In the performance of electronic music it is fairly common that the audience is alienated from the process and performance of the musician. This project hopes to create a common visual language and experience for the electronic musician and the audience by enhancing the perception of sound and music on both sides.

mult-touch-the-bass

This looks pretty sweet. Is any of it going to be available to download or share?

This project is in a prototype phase. The innovation is more in the approach than in the code right now. All of the ingredients (processing libraries mostly) are available for download. If you are interested, I link too these on my site. www.subcycle.org

I don't want to be a party pooper, but I can't see a more tactile experience moving my fingers up and down a flat surface. A tactile experience comprises both the motor as well as sensory parts, the latter of which still being replaced by feedback from our eyes in case of multi-touch screens. Once that's solved, we can talk business and start impressing classically-trained musicians who spend large parts of their lives in small practice rooms to gain fine-control over their instruments.

That said, I openly admit that I also use multi-touch screens, but I know of their shortcomings when it comes to the tactile experience!

I don't want to be a party pooper, but I can't see a more tactile experience moving my fingers up and down a flat surface. A tactile experience comprises both the motor as well as sensory parts, the latter of which still being replaced by feedback from our eyes in case of multi-touch screens. Once that's solved, we can talk business and start impressing classically-trained musicians who spend large parts of their lives in small practice rooms to gain fine-control over their instruments.
That said, I openly admit that I also use multi-touch screens, but I know of their shortcomings when it comes to the tactile experience!

I have to respectfully disagree. I think that multi-touch is just the beginning of a new generation of user experience based controls. Although some small multi-touch screens and poorly made UI's can actually take a step back, there are a lot of examples of new interactive systems (reactable, etc) that make the user experience far more engaging and accessible. I personally think that methods like multi-touch can make software, and software development far more appealing and accessible, like max/msp. I also think you can look at new phenomenon's like the iphone and rockband which both reach audiences from grandma to grand kids.

On a side note, cbannis, check out my companies new software contest to win a 30" multi-touch LCD which have just launched. We are hoping to get software just like this to try and promote multi-touch software availability and capabilities. You can get more info here if you're interested (

The shots on you page look sweet, let me know if you do more with it

I have to respectfully disagree. I think that multi-touch is just the beginning of a new generation of user experience based controls. Although some small multi-touch screens and poorly made UI's can actually take a step back, there are a lot of examples of new interactive systems (reactable, etc) that make the user experience far more engaging and accessible. I personally think that methods like multi-touch can make software, and software development far more appealing and accessible, like max/msp. I also think you can look at new phenomenon's like the iphone and rockband which both reach audiences from grandma to grand kids. 

On a side note, cbannis, check out my companies new software contest to win a 30" multi-touch LCD which have just launched. We are hoping to get software just like this to try and promote multi-touch software availability and capabilities. You can get more info here if you're interested (http://demandevolution.com/contest)

Wow, thanks for the feedback. This is a fascinating dialog.

I agree that tactile is definitely not a good word to use for this project. More tactile than a mouse? probably. That said...

The goal is to explore the potential of multi-touch. The goal is not to replace physical or traditional instruments in any way. You can blame Native Instruments for that.

I am much more interested in finding new ways of perceiving, experiencing and performing the types of sounds that I have been getting in my studio for the last couple of years. I am tired of the same old ubiquitous control surface and want to bring visual context and rich visual texture to that experience.

Wow, thanks for the feedback. This is a fascinating dialog. 

I agree that tactile is definitely not a good word to use for this project. More tactile than a mouse? probably. That said... 

I am much more interested in finding new ways of perceiving, experiencing and performing the types of sounds that I have been getting in my studio for the last couple of years. I am tired of the same old ubiquitous control surface and want to bring visual context and rich visual texture to that experience.


mult-touch the bass :)