Tag Archive for 'controller'

live looping setup

Published by matthew venn on April 5, 2009 in news. 1 Comment

I’ve recently updated my live looping setup. The biggest improvement is made by using the looper instrument in live8. This finally allows me to create loops around my patterns, rather than having to fit my patterns around a prefixed tempo.

My system uses a few puredata patches to manage the user interface. The wiimote and the bcr2000 handle all control and feedback requirements via puredata.

If you’re interested, here is an archive of all the config files.

osculator + puredata = useful portable midi controller for ableton live

Published by matthew venn on September 5, 2008 in howto and news. 0 Comments

I found the wii and osculator difficult to use with ableton live. This is because I want to automate lots of parameters with midi, and it is annoying to change the midi controller number in osculator and then learn that in ableton. I’d also need to disable the other acceleration controllers so live would learn the right parameter.Is there another way of doing this with just osculator? I should probably ask the forum…So, anyway – here is my solution. A patch for puredata and a patch for osculator. Instructions:

  • download puredata and this patch: wii-solo.zip 
  • load the wii osculator patch and attach the wii
  • load the pure data patch called wii-solo.pd
  • set the midi preferences in puredata: input from osculator, output to iac (enable in apple os midi preferences if necessary)
  • now press some buttons on the wii, you should see activity lights in the puredata patch when you press the + or – button.
  • + and – step up and down through the controller numbers
  • 1 and 2 output just that single controller to make it easy to learn
  • controllers only sent if you press the b button (I find this easier to work with and cuts down midi bandwidth to live)

making a usb footpedal

Published by matthew venn on April 12, 2007 in howto and projects. 0 Comments

electronics

So I bought a pcline usb keyboard for £5. I was waiting for something to crop up on ebay or from a friend, but finally I got a new one from pcworld. I gutted the keyboard and kept the pcb:

Working out the wiring matrix was easy using a multimeter.

hardware

Lou Smith helped me make the box; he has access to a very nice workshop! One peice of ply, routed 2 slots for the switches.

Back is a 2mm peice of perspex. This pic is before the wires and pcb were put in.

After the wiring is in and checked!

limitations

  • 10ms latency
  • max simultaneous keystrokes is six – resource

in use

  • the switches I bought were pretty ropey because they were so old. I needed to open them all up and clean the contacts. Lucky for me they were easy to open
  • I still need some rubber to stop it sliding around
  • it works very well as a loop controller, but has no analogue controls. I’ve started using a wiimote for that.

    resources

latency stuff, looks like 10ms : http://community.cedrus.com/showthread.php?t=107