Ableton Live has a number of robust touch solutions, but a creation from Graham Comerford called Yeco takes things to another level. It’s finally a Live touch controller that provides full views of clips, unlimited parameter controls, and extras like drum pads. There are even undo and redo shortcuts. The cost: free, downloadable now. It’s presently Windows-only (both 32-bit and 64-bit versions), but a Mac version is coming early September. The implementation is really elaborate and beautiful, giving you a much wider set of functionality than existing iPad apps and the like, which tend to focus on basic clip launching, transport, and mixing.
So, wait a minute — how are you using touch without something like an iPad? Well, Apple’s magical tablet isn’t the only hardware exploring touch. We should shortly see a crop of Windows 8 tablets, a number of which will be Intel-based machines that can run Live; I hope we get to test some of these. In the meantime, there are displays that can work on the Mac and Windows. (Sensomusic Usine is one of the few tools that has taken advantage of this on the Windows side.)
Graham tells CDM he’s currently using a Dell ST2220T. These are plentiful and inexpensive, but he says the lag is frustrating. I asked him for some other tips.
3M’s C3266PW is a high-end solution if there are any rockstars out there. (It’s pricey.)
It’s what’s on the horizon that looks best, and this isn’t just limited to tablets – especially as the industry gets hip to the potential of touch. Graham points us to ZeroTouch, which looks very promising for music once it’s shipping:
Peau Productions is building some excellent-looking gear that you can use right now – complete with frames, podiums, and mounts:
http://www.peauproductions.com/store/
For his part, Graham – while offering this template for free – is offerings services for custom versions of Yeco, touch MIDI controllers, and custom Touch OSC layouts.
Developers, take note: this is built in the amazing-looking, open-source Kivy cross-platform framework (Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android), all in compact, elegant Python.
Exciting stuff. We’ll be watching as this develops.
http://www.multitouchmusic.com/