Today's music controllers are configurable by design, allowing you to map their controls into a variety of commercial music-production applications. Computer-generated music takes on an entirely new quality (for both the player and the listener) when you physically control the sounds. The video demo makes this look quite seamless I ran out of time before my press deadline, but I think it's my next big adventure.Īs an experimental musician who likes to fool around with gadgets, to me a "music controller" is much more than just a physical interface to a DAW or sequencing software (not that there's anything wrong with that). There are also M4L patches for integration with Max for Live (Tape Op #76). It was a simple matter to launch MonomeBridge and then a Monome application, making sure the prefixes matched ("mlr" for mlr), and I was running my favorite Monome software on the Ohm 64. MonomeBridge is a standalone app that sits in the background and acts as an OSC/MIDI message router between the Ohm 64 and software written for the Monome. This app is fun, although I think it could be improved by laying out the on-screen controls in the actual shape of the controller. This provides fine-grained adjustment of a wide range of sound-shaping To get at all the soft-synth parameters, you use the bottom row of buttons on the controller to "point" the controller at a group of on-screen controls. To me, this is what it's all about, shaping the music with your hands -literally sound sculpting. Basically you play chords on the pad with one hand and tweak all the synth's parameters with the other. OhmSound is a straightforward frequency-modulation synthesizer. As a budding Max/MSP programmer, it's always great to have new patches to peruse for my own learning. Ohm64Editor is written in Max/MSP, and the Max/MSP code is available for download. Once configured, you can save your configuration to the Ohm 64's on-board memory so it is ready to go next time you fire it up. Other dialogs allow you to program the lights and MIDI port assignments. Or you can select from a list of preset scales and chord maps. A Quick Edit feature provides batch configuration via a comma-delimited string of MIDI values, which instantly reconfigures the entire controller and can be saved as a preset. Press a button on the Ohm 64 controller, and an edit dialog pops up at the corresponding virtual button, where you can change the button's MIDI or CC setting. Hints appear when mousing over each screen element. Ohm64Editor software displays a graphic representation of the controller on-screen, with a step-by-step tutorial mode enabled by default. Since the Ohm 64 is native MIDI, it requires no driver to be installed. I immediately assigned the unit to control my default software synthesizer, SimpleSynth, and begin playing notes. Plugging it in for the first time, the Ohm 64 lit up with an eerie purple glow and shortly thereafter appeared in my Mac's MIDI configuration. In contrast to the nearly precious quality of the Monome devices, the Ohm 64 seems utilitarian and solid. The central control-grid's 64 back-lit buttons have short travel and a distinct "snap" on both press and release (though they wiggle sideways more than the Monome's buttons). The controls are solid and feel like they will hold up over long use. It's a rectangular wood block (17' x 11.5' x 2'), and its top-mounted metal panel (silver like a Mac) holds an abundance of knobs, faders, and buttons. The Ohm 64 has the look and feel of a sturdy, useful, DJ-oriented control surface. I had the opportunity to demo the Ohm 64. The founders of Livid have been building controllers and software for video and music production since 2000, but their first big hit was the Ohm 64 controller, and most recently they've released a stripped-down work-alike called Block. One small-production shop to emerge from the fray is Livid, an eight-man operation out of Austin, Texas, that actually predated Monome. This natural market progression is a good thing, providing a range of price points to get in on the fun. Monome's success story, and the beauty and utility of their simple controller, ignited an industry that is now filled with DIY controller kits, small-production hand-built controllers, and big-industry all-plastic copycats. Suddenly, it seemed everyone wanted a 40h, and the little company called Monome became famous overnight. The Monome controller inspired a new musical direction for me. I used the 40h to play with (and learn) a variety of music-creation software, and the crazy sounds coming from my speakers could not be denied. (After a lot of configuring) I held in my hands a box of blinking buttons -each light controlled by music software, each button a unique input. #62) and plugged it into my computer's USB port. It all started in 2006 when I bought a Monome 40h (Tape Op
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