Re: Loopstock aftershock - gestural control

[Andre LaFosse <altruist@altruistmusic.com>]

Richard Zvonar wrote:
> I've developed several control panels in Max, to give random access
> to deeper levels of parameter control on various processors.
[.....]
> I was using these systems on a Powerbook until at one gig the
> computer died. Since I wasn't inclined to repair or replace it at the
> time, I retired the computer and stuck to simple front panel control.

One thing I like about the drum machine idea is that it's an extremely
basic MIDI task, which could almost certainly be applied with any $50
pawn shop drum machine in town.  (The one I was using was already
"obsolete" when I bought it back in 1988).  So it's not a serious drag
to have to worry about the approach being based on one
expensive/esoteric controller.

I wonder how easy it would be to send program change data from a drum
machine, in order to control a Repeater in an elegant real-time manner...?

> It's been somewhere between a liberating discipline and a cumbersome
> drag to "perform" the Eventides with just the front panel keypads and
> soft knob, but I haven't been doing enough gigs to make interface
> building a pressing matter.

I gotta say that seeing what you were doing definitely increased my
appreciation of your set at the gig.  It all SOUNDED great, but when I
actually walked over to the side of the stage and looked over your
shoulder, it FELT more like a performance, you know?  I found myself
sort of missing that aspect in some of the other sets that night; I was
loving the way things sounded, but wishing that I could engage it in a
visual sense as well.

I know Torn has talked a lot about wanting to find ways of implementing
visual, gestural parameter commands in a performance context, in order
to help draw the audience into the process.  I got the feeling last
night that the drum machine interface was helping in that respect: I
could very visibly reach over and hit a button, and suddenly the loop(s)
would change in a really obvious way.

--Andre LaFosse
http://www.altruistmusic.com